Old World: Irish & Scottish

(My family in history/Old world: Irish & Scottish)

During the Old Stone age, a land bridge extended between Denmark and Britain, and between Britain and Ireland. Many Pleistocene animals passed over this terrain bridge from the continent to Ireland, among which were the mammoth, hippopotamus, grizzly bear, brown bear, reindeer, the great Irish deer, red deer, wild boar, horse, fox and badger; not found in this ancient landscape were hyena, saber tooth tiger or Man.

Over the eons, the land bridge sank…

During the late Neolithic period, two peoples came by boat to settle inErin, these were;

•  The long headed, light eyed and fair skinned, Northern Europeans, and
•  The long headed, dark eyed and dark skinned, Southern Europeans.

From these two races was derived the bulk of the population of Erin, prior to the coming of the Gael.

The Gael or Milesians were a tall people, with long skulls and red, yellow gold or flaxen colored hair, straight noses and rosy white skin. They originally came from theNetherlands, the Elbeand Holstein and from recesses in the Baltic coast.

But the direct ancestors of the Gael, who first fought to settle in Erin, migrated from northwestern Europe to Spain, where they flourished—until the latter years in the life of a chieftain named, Breogan. And it is through Breogan that we follow the Irish and Scottish pedigree to Matilda of Scotland, wife of Henry I, King of England and toward the present [2].

[The interlacing lines of the Celtic Knot stands for “no beginning, no ending, the continuity of everlasting love and binding together or intertwining of two souls or spirits.”  The Celts did not record the meanings behind the designs they recreated  but scholarly speculation is that the symbols represented basic tenants of life, mankind and spirituality. The continual looping of the designs suggests themes of eternity and interconnectedness. Interwoven figures of people and animals may have represented the interdependent nature of life.  Two of more knots laced together symbolized lovers, God and man, and so on. Some ancient Celtic symbols have changed in meaning over time, having been influenced by the introduction of Christianity and the influence of other cultures. Circle knot represent eternity or the eternal cycle of life, death and rebirth. Triangles represent the threefold dominion of earth, sea, and sky or God, Son, and Holy Spirit. Square knots are shield knots, symbols of protection. Interlaced animals and men represent relationship, or emphasize the interdependence of mankind and nature. <http://www.celticcolours.com/celtic-symbols-and-meanings.aspx>]

In ancient times Ireland was known to her residents as Erin.[1]

Breogan
Of Spain, had two sons, Bile and Ith.

Bile
Of Spain, had a son, named,

Golamh
Golamh-The Soldier, was later in life known as Milesius.

When Golamh had grown, he wandered to Scythia and married Sreng, daughter of the king. Later he went toEgypt where he married Scota, daughter of Pharaoh (Necro II ?). Princess Scota returned to Spain with Milesius and brought with her the Stone of Scone, the pillow rock used by Jacob when he had his famous dream. This rock still remains with her descendants-the kings of Great Britain and Ireland.

The descendants of Breogan had prospered in Spain, but hard times came with a drought and famine which lasted 25 years. During this time, the families strength was being wasted against other tribes over sovereignty of Spain. The clan held council and decided to invade Erin. Golamh’s uncle, Ith, was sent to reconnoiter the island. While in Erin, the local kings became suspicious and men were sent to intercept and kill Ith before he returned to his clan inSpain.

Ith was mortally wounded just before his boat sailed, where upon he died at sea.

To avenge his death, the sons of Golamh mustered 30 ships and 900 men and sailed for Erin. Among the crew were Golamh’s Egyptian wife, Scota and their sons Eber and Heremon.

Eber landed with his ships in Kerry, in southwest Erin, fought a battle near Tralee and routed the enemy. During this battle, Scota was slain.

Genealogical Relationship of Erin’s  Early Gaelic Settlers

[S: =son, D: =daughter]

Heremon Eochaid
After several more battles, Heremon and his brother assumed a joint sovereignty over the island; Heremon taking the northern half and Eber taking the southern half. A year later, the brothers quarreled and fought a battle, during which Eber was defeated and slain.

From this time on the House of Eber and the House of Heremon have been warring over kingship of the island.[3]

Heremon became the sole king and reigned for 15 years.

Heremon Eochaid, grandson of the Egyptian Pharoah, married Tea Tepi, who is recorded as being alive in 580 BC. Tea Tepi was daughter of Zedekiah (619-587), King of Judah.

The Gael, like the Germans of the time, did not apply themselves to agriculture. Their principle wealth consisted of flocks and herds of cows, pigs, sheep and horses.

The various grades of society were bound together by ‘stock taking.’ At each level, the inferior social class paid food rents from their livestock to the higher.

And so the with the passing generations, the people known as the Gael became part of the island population of Erin.

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Tara—The Royal Home
Tara was the fortified royal home of the Ard Ri (High King) of Erin, the ceremonial and administrative seat of ancient Gaelic royal power. The remains of Tara stand on the summit and down the sides of a gently sloping, round, grassy hill, 500 feet above sea level and 200 feet from the surrounding plains. The ruins are located 26 miles northwest of Dublin and 5-1/2 miles southeast of Navah, in Meath County, Ireland.

Tara is perhaps the most famous of Irish sites, with a history going back to the Second Millennium BC to the Bronze age, then forward to its abandonment in the 6^th Century AD.

Under the Gael,Tara essentially the first national Irish capital. It was here that during the inauguration of the Ard Ri that a great feast was held, through the symbolism of the feast, the king was united with his land in a ritual marriage.

The structures which can still be seen are the ramparts or defenses that surrounded and protected the royal homes and civic structures; the wooden houses have long since disappeared.

Description of Tara
The principle fortification was Rath Righ, the oval shaped structure occupying the top of the hill. Being some 853 feet in diameter on the longest axis, it consisted of two walls, one of stone and one of earth, with a ditch in between.

Inside Rath Righ, are two side by side mounds, which were the Forrad and Tech Cormac. The Forrad having two ramparts and two ditches was a place of public meeting and a judgment seat.

A visitor to the Forrad during the time of Tara’s occupation wrote, “And in what was considered the highest point of the city the king had a fair and well built castle, and in that castle he had a hall, fair and spacious, and in that hall he was wont to sit in judgment”.

Also within the ramparts of Rath Righ, is Tech Cormac (Cormac’s house), home of the king that reigned 254-277 AD; this circular rath has an extreme diameter of 244 feet.

Near the northern periphery of Rath Righ is the 66 foot in diameter and 13 foot high “Mound of the Hostages”. In ancient times there was a timber house on the 25 foot diameter flat top of this mound, in which the hostages lived. In very early times, before it took the name Mound of Hostages, it had been a prehistoric “passage grave”.

Also on the periphery of Rath Righ is a worn down 40 foot in diameter and 6 foot high “mound of the cow”, which history tells us was the grave of a celebrated, legendary cow.

To the north of Rath Righ as the Rath of Synods. Three great Christian synods are recorded as having occurred here; 1) When St. Patrick preached at this location in 433 AD, 2) When St. Ruadan pronounced the curse which caused Tara to be abandoned and 3) in 697 when Adamnan procured acceptance for the law exempting women from taking part in battles.

Outside of Rath Righ, on the north slope of the hill are the remains of the Banqueting Hall. This consists of two parallel mounds, the remnants of the side walls of the old hall, which was over 759 feet long and 46 feet wide. This banquet and convention hall was a great timber building standing 45 or more feet high and having 12 doors, it was ornamented, had carvings and was painted in a variety of colors. The interior was subdivided, with compartments partitioned off to accommodate guests according to rank and dignity. At banquets, the great company of guests were seated in exact order of dignity and priority.

The great conventions at Tarawere intended to be held every third year, but are thought to have been held less frequently. When a convention was held, provincial kings, minor kings and chiefs and the most distinguished representatives of the learned professions of law, history, poetry, medicine, etc. attended. The conventions, which also included feasts and games started about October 28 and lasted for two to four weeks and occasionally as long as six weeks. During the convention, the Provincial kings had separate houses for themselves and their retinue; there was one house with separate compartments for queens and attendant ladies. There was another house for the poets and professionals, in which they held their “sittings”.

Every day the Ard Ri feasted with his company in the great banqueting hall. The hall was also used for transactions of important business, such as making new regulations for the whole country and examining and checking the kingdoms historical records. These functions were performed by experts.

West of the Banqueting Hall is Rath Caelchon, named after a chief ofMunster, a contemporary of Corme MacArt. Caelchon died at Tara and the rath was built in commemoration of him.

The 258 foot in diameter, Rath Graine received it’s name from Princess Grainne who, according to legend, eloped with a lieutenant in her fathers army. In the location where Rat Grainne was built, there was a marsh whose water derived from Tober Well. The marsh was drained and dried prior to construction of Rath Grainne and the Fothad of Rath Grainne. South of Rath Righ is Rath Laegaire (Rath Laery), being some 300 feet in diameter, it is surrounded by two great ramparts.

West of Rath Righ is Laegh well, which signifies “calf” (calf well) the well is now dried up.

The houses of the general body of the people who lived near Tara were scattered on the slope and over the plains east of the hill.

Tara was home to many of our Gaelic ancestors. Now, over 2,000 years later, we view this home and ancient town site through photographs taken several thousand feet above where they once walked loved, slept and transacted the important business of the day. They could not have conceived of a technology which produced the cameras and aircraft that made the photographs possible. Did Conla Cruaich Cealgach ever look up through the space that would one day be the flight path of an aircraft taking photographs of his Tara? Did he feel a nebulous swirl of his descendants as they began to dimly see back through time, into his world?

Continuing the Genealogical Line of Descent
The following list compares the names of our ancestors between Ugaine More and Eochaidh Foltleatham (from the above pedigree) both in their Ango-Gaelic and Latinized versions.[5]

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This genealogical table continues the pedigree with Latinized spellings from a 14^th Century Codex known as, The Poppleton Manuscript.[6]

In the Third Century AD, a great famine developed in the province of Munster, Erin. During this time, a man named Cairbre Riada, son of Conaire, son of Mogh Lamha, led a party of is tribe to the north of Antrim (located in NE Erin) and another across the sea to Alba (Scotland).

The party landing in Alba used force of arms to obtain a settlement amongst the Pics. The people of this new settlement retained the name of their founding father and were called the Dal Riata of Alban, those which remained in North Antrim were known as the Dal Riata of Erin.

The Dal Riata of Erin lived in a territory roughly 15 miles by 30 miles in size. This territory was located on the NE seaboard of Erin, bordered by the sea on the north and east, by the Bush River on the west and the territory of Lathatna on the south.

And the decades passed…

Pedigree continued from previous list

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Military Census of Erc’s descendants in Alban during the late 7^th Century

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Kenneth Macalpin
Kenneth was regarded as having been a brave and able prince. His pedigree derived him from the Dal Riata of NE Ireland, through a line of kings in the west of Scotland for more than 300 years. He succeeded his father to the throne in 839 and was king of Argyll for two years. Also in 839, the Norsemen invaded and defeated the Picts. This afforded Kenneth the opportunity to obtain the Pictish throne, which he held in conjunction with the  crown of Argyll for another  14 years. His kingdom then included the districts of Argyll and counties of Perth, Fife, parts of Forgar, Dumbaryon and Stirling, with Sconeas the chief seat of royalty.

Before about 1100 AD, the kingship was referred to as “King of the Albans”, after about 1100 AD the kingdom began to be referred to as Scotland.

Kenneth had two sons and three daughters; we are descended from his son, Constantin.

Kenneth is remembered as the destroyer of the Picts and founder of the Scottish dynasty. He died in his dun at Fortevoit on the Earn River in he year 860 AD.

Constantin
Constantin ascended to the throne upon the death of his father in 860. He soon found himself face to face with the Norsemen. The Norse invasion of northern Alban had increased in intensity. The invaders were entering the inland areas by the multitude of coastal inlets, as they moved they ransacked everything looking for treasure, they killed the inhabitants and carried off others as slaves. Their invasions, which inflicted much suffering and confusion on the Picts, now fell on the Dal Riata.

In 877 the Norsemen invaded the country in force, entered Fife. Defeated the Dal Riata and pursued them through the country. At Inverdovet, in parish Forgan, the Dal Riata made a stand, but were completely defeated. Constatnin along with many of his followers were slain.

Donald II
Donald ascend to the kingship in 889 AD. He too was forced to contend with the invasions and brigandry of the Norse, who had by this time gained possession ofCaithness, Sutherland and Ross. Donald was killed in battle in 900 AD while fighting the Norse at Dunnotter in Kincardineshire.

A few years later, in 904, King Constantin II (not our line) lead an army in an attack against the Norse at Strathern, where the Norse were defeated and their leader killed.

Malcolm I
Upon retirement of Constantin II in 943 AD, Malcolm I, the 43+ year old son of Donald II ascended to the throne. He was a bold man and attempted to extend his power beyond the SpeyRiver, but failed. He gained territory in the region south of the Forth River, which was at the time in a state approaching disintegration. Malcolm I reigned 11 years before being slain at Fetteresso, in Kincardeshire about 954.

Kenneth II
After Malcolm I death, a man named Indulf, son of Constantin II (not in our line) ascended to the throne where he reigned for 8 years before dying. After the death of Indulf, a contest for the crown broke out. On one side was Duff, son of Malcolm I, on the other side was Colin, son of Indulf. In a battle for the throne, Duff defeated Colin, but two years later Colin expelled Duff. Duff died shortly thereafter and Colin ended up being slain by the Britons in 971.

During the same year (971), Kenneth II, another son of Malcolm I (from which this pedigree continues) ascended to the throne.

Kenneth II immediately proceeded to throw up entrenchment’s at fordable points along the Forth River to defend against invasions from the south. He attacked the Britons at Strathclyde, then turned and launched two invasions into Northumberland.

Under his monarchy, the kingdom was slowly extended south in every direction. Meanwhile under the influence of the Church and due to other attracting affinities, the northern tribes were silently becoming a nation.

After reigning 24 years, Kenneth II was slain at Fettercairn in Kincardinshire in 995 AD.

Malcolm II
Malcolm II, son of Kenneth II ascended to the Kingship in 1005. He began his reign by invading Northumberland but was defeated and many of his followers were slain.

Years later, in 1018, he again attacked Northumberland, and defeated their army at Tweed. Through this victory he gained Lothian and all of the territory north of Tweed River for the kingdom. Also during his reign and without serious conflict, he incorporated the kingdom of Strathclyde into the realm.

In 1031 the great Dane, Cnut, having conquered England[8], turned northward and met Malcolm on the boarder of their domains. Malcolm submitted to Cnut, but after Cnut’s army withdrew, Malcolms oath of allegiance dissolved. Malcolm II reigned 29 years before being assassinated on25 November 1034.

Princess Bethoc
Bethoc, also known as Beatrix, was the daughter of Malcolm II and his third wife Aelguifu. Bethoc marries Crinan the Thane, Lay Abbot of Dunkeld and Lord of the Isle. Their children were Maldred and Duncan I. Son Maldred married Edith, daughter of Ughtred, Earl of Northumberland and his wife Elgiva, daughter of Aethelred II, King of England.  Bethoc’s husband Crinan was slain in battle with King Macbeth in 1045, a tale which will come to light in the preceding life story of Duncan I.

Duncan I
Duncan ascended to the throne of Alban in 1034. He married Maud, daughter of Siward, Earl of Northunberland, who was in turn related  across the generations to the Saxon line to Alfred the Great..

Duncan and Maud had four children, of whom we are descended from Malcolm III Canmore. Duncanwas a very able man, but when he ventured beyond the Spey River, his cousins, the Earl of Thorfinn and Macbeth, joined forces against him. (Macbeth was descended from Ferchar Foda), an earlier king of the Dal Riata, and thus related to the royal line. The combined forces of Duncan’s cousins were too great for his army and after a severe struggle, Duncan was slain by Macbeth near Elginin 1040 AD.

With the death of Duncan I, Macbeth claimed the throne. In 1045, Crinan, father of the late Duncan, mustered all of his followers and the opponents of Macbeth and attempted to drive him from the throne. A great battle ensued during which time Crinan was killed. To Macbeth, the crown must have  now seemed more secure. However, the late King Duncan had left a wife and two sons. Duncan’s wife Maud, had the support of her father, Siward, Earl of Northumberland. Siward, in an attempt to put his grandsons on the throne, mustered a large army and naval force. King Macbeth was driven north to the hill fort Dunsinnane where there occurred a severe, but inconclusive battle. Earl Siward returned home with his army.

Malcolm III
Malcolm III Canmore (Ceann Mor=Big Head) was heir apparent and son of Duncan I.

Because of his grandfathers (Siward) campaign against King Macbeth, Prince Malcolm III gained possession of the territory between the Forth and Tweed Rivers. After gaining the support of his people, Malcolm rallied an army and met Macbeth beyond the River Dee on 15 August 1057, where Macbeth was defeated and slain.

The apparently very capable Macbeth was weakened by the effects of time and the single-minded attacks made against him. Although he was victorious in battles #1 and #2 against Duncan and Crinan, in preparing for battle #3, he was forced to flee to a fortified position and fight a defensive, inconclusive battle. With the forces that provided his continued strength weakened over time, he was then defeated and slain in the forth battle. Check…check…check…checkmate.

In 1058, Malcolm III ascended to the kinship of the Scots. At this time, Malcolm ruled bands of marauding warriors and a brutish peasantry. The people lived by barter and booty; their homes were of earth and timber behind defensive palisades.

Earlier in his life, during Macbeth’s rule, Malcolm III lived in the Anglo-Saxon royal court in Britain. After the Norman conquest of England in 1066, he returned the hospitality by giving sanctuary to the previously exiled royal family of the late Prince Edward the Exile, whose children were Edgar the Aetheling, Margaret and Christine.

In 1069, Malcolm married the exiled, Princess Margaret.

Malcolm was a brutal opportunist, ruthless, powerful and an intelligent warrior. He established a dynasty that forged a feudal state along the western European lines out of a northern Celtic tribal kingdom. He introduced the Motte-and-Baily Castle into Scotland from the Anglo- Saxon lands and adopted the efficient Norman military tactics.

Margaret was an excellent wife and had a large family by the King. Her influence over her husband and the people of Scotlandwere great. She softened and polished Malcolm’’ manners and taught him many important things. She was an accomplished Princess and a very religious woman. Dunfermline was her favorite place of residence and it was here that she had a hand in establishing a Benedictine monastery. She was devoted to St. Andrews, patron saint of Scotland and, established the Queensferry for pilgrims to cross the ForthRiver. She and Malcolm built St. Columbas monastery and church on the Isle of Iona.

In November 1093, Malcolm died while fighting at Alnwich Castle in Northumberland.

Margaret is reported to have died three days later, after hearing of the death of her husband and eldest son, on 16 November 1093. In her last words, she was thanking God for sending such tragedies to strengthen her soul.

Margaret’s saintliness was recognized and she was canonized in 1251 AD, she is now remembered as St. Margaret of Scotland.

With the children of Malcolm III and Margaret, the pedigree splits taking different family names only to rejoin generations later.
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Henry, Prince of  Scotland
In 1139 Prince Henry married Ada de Warenne, daughter of William de Warenne, who was a grandson of William the Conqueror, and Elizabeth de Vermandois, who was granddaughter of Henry I, King of France and his wife, Anne of Russia. Their daughter was Margaret.

Margaret
Daughter of Prince Henry and Ada de Warenne, married 1) Conan IV, Duke of Britany and 2) Humphrey de Bohun IV,  Earl of Hereford. Margaret and Hunphrey’’ son was Henry de Bohun, a Surety for the Magna Charta of King John. Several generations later this line produced Humphrey de Bohun VIII, who married Princess Isabella Plantagenet, daughter of Edward I, King of England. Humphrey VIII and Isabella’ great-grand daughter was Alinore de Bohun, who married Thomas of Woodstock, 7^th son of Edward III, king of England.
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