Alpin of Kintyre, King of Scotland

Male - 834


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  • Name Alpin of Kintyre, King of Scotland  [1, 2
    Suffix King of Scotland 
    Gender Male 
    Died 20 Jul 834  Galloway, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Notes 
    • Alpin of Kintyre, King of Scotland was the son of Eochaid IV 'the Poisonous', King of Dalraida and Fergusa. He died on 20 July 834 at Galloway, Scotland, killed fighting the Picts. He gained the title of King Alpin of Scotland in 843. He gained the title of King Alpin of Kintyre.

      Alpín mac Eochaid may refer to two persons. The first person is a presumed king of Dál Riata in the late 730s. The second is the father of Kenneth MacAlpin (Cináed mac Ailpín). The name Alpín is taken to be a Pictish one, derived from the Anglo-Saxon name Ælfwine; Alpín's patronymic means son of Eochaid or son of Eochu.

      Alpín father of King Kenneth

      Irish annals such as the Annals of Ulster and the Annals of Innisfallen name Kenneth's father as one Alpín. This much is reasonably certain.

      The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba usually begins with Kenneth, but some variants include a reference to Kenneth's father: "[Alpín] was killed in Galloway, after he had entirely destroyed and devastated it. And then the kingdom of the Scots was transferred to the kingdom [variant: land] of the Picts."

      John of Fordun (IV, ii) calls Kenneth's father "Alpin son of Achay" (Alpín son of Eochu) and has him killed in war with the Picts in 836; Andrew of Wyntoun's version mixes Fordun's war with the Picts with the Chronicle version which has him killed in Galloway.

      Alpín of Dál Riata

      The genealogies produced for Kings of Scots in the High Middle Ages traced their ancestry through Kenneth MacAlpin, through the Cenél nGabráin of Dál Riata to Fergus Mór, and then to legendary Irish kings such as Conaire Mór and the shadowy Deda mac Sin.

      These genealogies, perhaps oral in origin, were subjected to some regularisation by the scribes who copied them into sources such as the Chronicle of Melrose, the Poppleton Manuscript and the like. Either by accident, or by design, a number of kings were misplaced, being moved from the early 8th century to the late 8th and early 9th century.

      The original list is presumed to have resembled the following:

      1. Eochaid mac Domangairt
      2. Ainbcellach mac Ferchair
      3. Eógan mac Ferchair
      4. Selbach mac Ferchair
      5. Eochaid mac Echdach
      6. Dúngal mac Selbaig
      7. Alpín
      8. Muiredach mac Ainbcellaig
      9. Eógan mac Muiredaig
      10. Áed Find
      11. Fergus mac Echdach

      After modification to link this list of kings of Dál Riata to the family of Kenneth MacAlpin, the list is presumed to have been in this form:

      1. Eochaid mac Domangairt
      2. Ainbcellach mac Ferchair
      3. Eógan mac Ferchair
      8. Muiredach mac Ainbcellaig
      9. Eogan mac Muiredaig
      10. Áed Find
      11. Fergus mac Echdach
      4. Selbach mac Ferchair (called Selbach mac Eógain)
      5. Eochaid mac Echdach (called Eochaid mac Áeda Find)
      6. Dúngal mac Selbaig (name unchanged)
      7. Alpín (called Alpín mac Echdach)

      However, the existence of the original Alpín is less than certain. No king in Dál Riata of that name is recorded in the Irish annals in the early 730s. A Pictish king named Alpín, whose father's name is not given in any Irish sources, or even from the Pictish Chronicle king-lists, is known from the late 720s, when he was defeated by Óengus mac Fergusa and Nechtan mac Der-Ilei. For the year 742, the Annals of Ulster are read as referring to the capture of "Elffin son of Crop" (the former reading had besieged rather than captured). Whether Álpin son of Crup is related to the Álpin of the 720s is unknown.
    Person ID I2103  Bosdet Genealogy
    Last Modified 16 May 2013 

    Father Eochaid IV 'the Poisonous', King of Dalraida 
    Relationship Natural 
    Mother Fergusa 
    Relationship Natural 
    Family ID F69  Group Sheet

    Family Unknown 
    Children 
     1. Donald MacAlpin, King of Scotland I,   b. 812, Iona, Argyll, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 13 Apr 863, Scone, Perthshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 51 years)
     2. Kenneth MacAlpin, King of Scotland I,   b. 810, Iona, Argyll, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 13 Feb 857/58, Forteviot, Perthshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 48 years)
    Family ID F614  Group Sheet

  • Sources 
    1. [S180] Britain's Royal Family: A Complete Genealogy, Alison Weir, (Name: The Bodley Head; Location: London, U.K.; Date: 1999;).

    2. [S174] Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpin_mac_Echdach.