The Kingdom of DalRiada
Besides the MacEwen’s of Otter, many other Clans trace their roots to Dal Riata including the Lamont’s, MacNeil’s of Barra, Gilchrist’s, Maclachlan’s, MacSorely’s, McLay’s, McSweeny’s, etc. These families have become known as the “Anradan Kindred”. Aedh is the GGGgrandson of Neil of Black Knee,
Niall mac Aedh “Neil of the Black Knee Glundubh” b 870 A.D; killed 919 A.D. fighting the Vikings in the Battle of Dublin. The O'Neills were the chiefs of the Cenel Eoghain tribe; their ancestral lands were sometimes called Tir Eoghain.
Alban Dál Riata was a magical place of dense mists and sparkling clear air and water, of sea caves and deep fjords, of steep wooded slopes coming right down to the sea, of hundreds of remote islands with safe harbors providing refuge from frequent storms, of craggy peaks and deep spectacular glens. It was a land of wonder and mystery, encouraging imaginative folklore, so fundamental to the Gáidhlig soul. Never mind the skeptics, it was the natural home of kelpies, water spirits and of the “Aes Sidhe” and "Bán Shee" who could bring fair wind or storm.
The name of the Kingdom of Dalriada, as in so many other instances in Gaelic history, originated from its tribal roots in its progenitor, “Conchobar Mhór Riata” (Great Connor, Victorious King), or Conn Cétchathach (Conn of a Hundred Battles). The name was first expressed as two words, “Dál Riata” (descendants of the Victorious King). Other translations are “Tribe of Riata,” “Riata’s Share,” and “People Of The Ridge,” perhaps a reference to their connection with Cashel. But in Old Irish, “Ri” meant king and “Ada” meant victory, so that “Riada” could be translated as Victorious King, an apt description of a king known to have won so many battles. Whatever its origin, over time the name evolved into its contracted form “Dalriada.”
Erc, King of Irish Dalriada, contemporary and nephew of Niall, according to tradition, had been described by the Bards as being of the formerly pagan sacral Ulaidian or Fir-Bolg royal house descended through the semi-legendary “Peace-King” Conchobar Mhór or Conn Cétchathach from ritual incarnations of the Celtic godspirit of the sun; and from his son “Eochu” or “Eochaidh” (the Horseman of the Heavens), equated with a male manifestation of the ancient Belgic goddess-spirit of lightning, Bolg. These references in folklore to the legendary “Tuatha de Danann” and “Fir-Bolg” people are the primary known links between Cineal ua Dhomhnuil and those possibly pre-Celtic Irishmen.
