View source for Comgall mac Domangairt

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{no footnotes|date=January 2013}}
{{short description|6th-century Gaelic king}}
[[Image:Cowal peninsula landsat.png|thumb|right|150px|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 Strathclyde|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 Réti]] and grandson of [[Fergus Mór]]. The ''[[Annals of Ulster]]'' report his death in 538, 542 and 545, the ''[[Annals of Tigernach]]'' in 537.

==Comgall==
Nothing certain is known of Comgall beyond the fact of his death, but he is 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'' in a report of {{c.}} 710.

The ''Senchus'' says that Comgall had one son, [[Conall mac Comgaill|Conall]], and that Conall had seven sons, although only six are named: Loingsech, Nechtan, Artan, Tuatan, Tutio, and Coirpre. It may be that Coirpre 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, although one from the early 8th century survives appended to a copy of the ''Senchus''.

==Cenél Comgaill==
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 [[Dargart mac Finguine]] of the Cenél Comgaill married the Pictish princess [[Der-Ilei]], and the Pictish kings [[Bridei IV of the Picts|Bridei]] and [[Nechtan IV of the Picts|Nechtan]] mac Der Ilei were the result of this marriage.

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 reportedly 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.

==See also==
*[[Origins of the Kingdom of Alba]]

{{s-start}}
{{succession box |
  before=[[Domangart Réti]]|
  title=[[List of Kings of Dál Riata|King of Dál Riata]]|
  after=[[Gabrán mac Domangairt]]|
  years=unknown
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Kings of Dál Riata}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation |authorlink=John Bannerman (historian) |last=Bannerman |first=John |title=Studies in the History of Dalriada |publisher=Scottish Academic Press |location=Edinburgh |year=1974 |isbn=0-7011-2040-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/studiesinhistory00john }}
* {{citation |authorlink=Dauvit Broun |last=Broun |first=Dauvit |title=The Irish Identity of the Kingdom of the Scots in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries |publisher=Boydell |location=Woodbridge |year=1999 |isbn=0-85115-375-5 }}
* {{citation |last=Fraser |first=James E. |authorlink=James E. Fraser (historian)|title=Strangers on the Clyde: Cenél Comgaill, Clyde Rock and the bishops of Kingarth |journal=The Innes Review |volume=56 |year=2005 |pages=102&ndash;120 |issn=0020-157X |issue=2 |doi=10.3366/inr.2005.56.2.102 |url=https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/11940450/Strangers_on_the_Clyde.pdf |hdl=20.500.11820/e670fb4f-de72-45e6-a296-bac902d35e51 |hdl-access=free }}
{{refend}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comgall Mac Domangairt}}
[[Category:6th-century deaths]]
[[Category:Kings of Dál Riata]]
[[Category:6th-century Scottish monarchs]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:6th-century Irish monarchs]]