Aidan was succeeded in the throne by his son Eocha-bui, or the
“yellow,” who reigned sixteen years. He carried on war with the
Cruithne of Ulster. After him came his brother Kenneth-Cear, or the
“left-handed,” who was followed by Ferchar, son of Eogan, of the race
of Lorn.
Donal, surnamed _breac_ or freckled, the son of Eocha’-bui, of the
race of Gauran, succeeded Ferchar about 637. He was a warlike prince
and had distinguished himself in the wars against the Cruithne of
Ireland. Congal-Claon, the son of Scanlan, the king of the Cruithne
in Ulster, having slain Suibne-Mean, a powerful king of Ireland,
was attacked by Domnal II., supreme king of Ireland, who succeeded
Suibne, and was defeated in the battle of Duncetheren, in 629.
Congal sought refuge in Cantyre, and having persuaded Donal-breac,
the kinsman of Domnal, to join him in a war against the latter, they
invaded Ireland with a heterogeneous mass of Scoto-Irish, Picts,
Britons, and Saxons, commanded by Donal and his brothers. Cealach,
the son of Maelcomh, the nephew of the reigning king, and as tanist
or heir-apparent, the leader of his army, attacked Donal-breac in
the plain of Magh Rath or Moyra in Down, in 637, and completely
defeated him after an obstinate and bloody engagement. Congal, the
murderer of his sovereign, met his merited fate, and Donal-breac was
obliged to secure his own and his army’s safety by a speedy return to
Cantyre. St. Columba had always endeavoured to preserve an amicable
understanding between the Cruithne of Ulster and the Scoto-Irish, and
his injunctions were, that they should live in constant peace; but
Donal disregarded the wise advice of the saint, and paid dearly for
so doing. He was not more successful in an enterprise against the
Picts, having been defeated by them in the battle of Glinne Mairison,
Glenmairison, or Glenmoreson, probably in West Lothian,[99] during
the year 638. He ended his days at Straith-cairmaic or Strathcarron,
possibly in the neighbourhood of Falkirk, by the sword of Hoan or
Owen, one of the reguli of Strathcluyd, in the year 642. His son
Cathasuidh fell by the same hand in 649.
Conal II., the grandson of Conal I., who was also of the Fergusian
race of Congal, next ruled over the tribes of Cantyre and Argyle; but
Dungal, of the race of Lorn, having obtained the government of the
tribe of Lorn, questioned the right of Conal. He did not, however,
carry his pretensions far, for Conal died, in undisturbed possession
of his dominions, in 652, after a reign of ten years. To Donal-duin,
or the brown, son of Conal, who reigned thirteen years, succeeded
Maolduin, his brother, in 665. The family feuds which had long
existed between the Fergusian races of Comgal and Tauran, existed
in their bitterest state during the reign of Maolduin. Domangart,
the son of Donal-breac, was murdered in 672, and Conal, the son of
Maolduin, was assassinated in 675.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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