NASA Landsat image of the Cowal peninsula and the isle of Bute. Parts of Kintyre and Knapdale, the lands of the Cenél nGabráin, can be seen on the left side; the lands of the Cenél Loairn lie beyond the top left corner of the image; Dumbarton Rock, chief place of the kingdom of Alt Clut, lies further up the river Clyde seen in the middle right.

Comgall mac Domangairt was king of Dál Riata in the early 6th century. He was the son of Domangart mac Ferguso and grandson of Fergus Mór. The Annals of Ulster report his death in 538, 542 and 545. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (948x1280, 2244 KB)Scotlands Cowal peninsula. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (948x1280, 2244 KB)Scotlands Cowal peninsula. ... Cowal is a peninsula of Argyll in the Scottish Highlands. ... Bute shown within Argyll and Bute Bute is one of the islands of the lower Firth of Clyde in Scotland. ... Kintyre shown within Argyll Kintyre is a peninsula in western Scotland in the south-west of Argyll. ... Knapdale shown within Argyll Knapdale is a rural area of Argyll and Bute in the Scottish Highlands, adjoining Kintyre to the south, and divided from the rest of Argyll to the north by the Crinan Canal. ... Strathclyde (Welsh: Ystrad Clud) was one of the kingdoms of ancient Scotland in the post-Roman period. ... The River Clyde, looking eastwards upstream, as it passes beneath the Kingston Bridge in Central Glasgow. ... Dál Riata (also Dalriada or Dalriata) was a Goidelic kingdom on the western seaboard of Scotland and the northern coasts of Ireland, situated in the traditional Scottish and Northern Irish counties of Argyll, Bute and County Antrim. ... Fergus Mór mac Eirc (Scottish Gaelic: Fergus Mòr Mac Earca) was a legendary king of Dál Riata. ... The Annals of Ulster are a chronicle of medieval Ireland. ...

Cenél Comgaill

Nothing certain is known of Comgall beyond the fact of his death, but he significant as the eponymous founder of the Cenél Comgaill, one of the kindreds of Dál Riata named by the Senchus fer n-Alban. The Senchus, in fact, speaks of the Crich Comgaill, but the Annals of Ulster use the term cenél. An eponym is a person (real or fictitious) whose name has become identified with a particular object or activity. ... The Senchus Fer n-Alban was an ancient text created at some time during the 10th century and attributed to the 7th century. ...

The Senchus says that Comgall had one son, Conall, and that Conall had seven sons, although six are named, Loingsech, Nechtan, Artan, Tuatan, Tutio, Coirpre. It may be that Coirpe was a later addition as the Senchus speaks of the people of Coirpre as being distinct from the sons of Erc. As with all claimed early genealogies, this need not be taken as reliable information. Unlike Cenél nGabráin and Cenél Loairn, no later genealogy traces back to the Cenél Comgaill. Gabrán mac Domangairt was king of Dál Riata in the middle of the 6th century. ... Loarn mac Eirc was a legendary king of Dál Riata who may have lived in the 5th century. ...

The Irish annals speak relatively rarely of the Cenél Comgaill. A recent interpretation suggests, however, that the kindred may have been important in the Gaelicisation of the Picts, as a certain Dar Gart mac Finguine of the Cenél Comgaill married the Pictish princess Der Ilei, and the Pictish kings Bridei and Nechtan mac Der Ilei were the result of this marriage. An number of Irish annals were compiled up to and shortly after the end of Gaelic Ireland in the 17th century. ... The Pictish Strathpeffer eagle stone, Highland, Scotland. ... Bridei IV (Gaelic: Bridei mac Derile) was king of the Picts from c. ... Nechtan IV (also known as Nechtan mac Derile) was king of the Southern Picts from 706-724, and a member of the Strathclyde Dynasty. ...

The Cenél Comgaill are thought to have been centred in Cowal, which is plausibly derived from Comgall or Comgaill, and the isle of Bute. They may also have controlled the isle of Arran to the south. The royal centres of their kingdom are not certainly known. Dunoon may have been important. The late 6th or early 7th century Saint Blane was associated with Bute, but modern scholars are less certain that his traditions are authentic. The monastery at Kingarth associated with Saint Blane is mentioned in the annals. It lies close to the Dunagoil fort, which might be a plausible royal centre, but it is not clear that this was occupied in the corresponding period. Cowal is a peninsula of Argyll in the Scottish Highlands. ... Bute shown within Argyll and Bute Bute is one of the islands of the lower Firth of Clyde in Scotland. ... Arran shown within Argyll The Isle of Arran (Scots Gaelic: Eilean Arainn) is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde (430 km2). ... The Holy Loch seen across the Firth of Clyde with Dunoon on the left The PS Waverley leaves Dunoon Pier, to sail up the Firth of Clyde. ... Saint Blane (Old Irish Bláán) was a Bishop and Confessor in Scotland, born on the island of Bute, date unknown; died 590. ...

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