Dargart mac Finguine

Dargart mac Finguine (died 685) was a member of the Cenél Comgaill kindred, after which Cowal in Scotland is named. The only event directly connected with him in the Irish annals, based on a chronicle then being kept on Iona, is his death.

Dargart is believed to have been the father of two kings of the Picts, Bridei mac Der-Ilei and Nechtan mac Der-Ilei.

Background

Dargart is a very uncommon name, and it is presumed that the few references to someone of that name in the record all refer to the same person.^[1] That a member of the Cenél Comgaill should be noticed at all by the Iona chronicle, which focussed its attention on the Cenél nGabráin of Kintyre, is most unusual. Excepting those descendants of Comgall mac Domangairt who are included in traditional lists of Kings of Dál Riata, only Dargart, and his father Finguine Fota are mentioned by the chroniclers, in both cases on the occasion of their deaths.^[2]

Dargart's father's ancestry is recorded in one surviving genealogy, the Genelaig Albanensium, appended to a version of the Senchus fer n-Alban. This makes him a great-grandson of Comgall, although a generation may have been omitted, and records another son of his, Ferchar by name.^[3]

The report of Dargart's death—by violence, the Latin word iugulatio is used—appears in the Annals of Tigernach and the Annals of Ulster in the year of the battle of Nechtansmere, that is 685, and has later been duplicated by the Annals of Ulster under the year 692.^[4]

Descendants

Dargart appears to have married a woman named Der-Ilei, perhaps a daughter, or less probably a sister, of King Bridei son of Beli. They had at least two sons, the Pictish kings Bridei, who died c. 706, and Nechtan, who died in 732. Congal mac Dargarto, who died in 712, was very likely this Dargart's son, although whether with Der-Ilei is less certain. It is also uncertain whether Ciniod, or Cináed, mac Der-Ilei, killed in 713 was Dargart's son.^[5]

Notes

1. ^ Clancy, "Philosopher King", p. 131, note 31.
2. ^ Fraser, "Strangers", pp. 110–111.
3. ^ Bannerman, Studies, pp. 65–66 & 78; Clancy, "Philosopher King", pp. 133–134 & genealogy A.
4. ^ Annals of Ulster, AU 686.3 & AU 693.76; Annals of Tigernach, AT 686.7. Anderson, Early Sources, p. 195, note 2, prefers the second date for unstated reasons, but Fraser, "Strangers", p. 110 and Clancy, "Philosopher King", p. 131, prefer the earlier date.
5. ^ Annals of Ulster, AU 706.2, AU 712.4 & AU 713.4; Annals of Tigernach, AT 706.2, AT 713.5 & AT 732.7; Clancy, "Philosopher King", pp. 135–137 & genealogy B.

References

• Annals of Ulster AD 431–1201, CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts, 2003, http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100001A/index.html, retrieved 2008-03-23 
• Annals of Tigernach, CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts, 1996, http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100002/index.html, retrieved 2008-03-23 
• Anderson, Alan Orr (1922), Early Sources of Scottish History A.D. 500 to 1286, I (1990 revised & corrected ed.), Stamford: Paul Watkins, ISBN 1-871615-03-8 
• Bannerman, John (1974), Studies in the History of Dalriada, Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, ISBN 0-7011-2040-1 
• Clancy, Thomas Owen (2004), "Philosopher-King: Nechtan mac Der-Ilei", The Scottish Historical Review LXXXIII (2): 125–149, ISSN 0036-9241 
• Fraser, James E. (2005), "Strangers on the Clyde: Cenél Comgaill, Clyde Rock and the bishops of Kingarth", The Innes Review 56 (2): 102–120, doi:10.3366/inr.2005.56.2.102, ISSN 0020-157X 

Persondata
Name	Dargart mac Finguine
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Date of birth
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Date of death	685
Place of death