Finnlaech MacRuaidrí (mac Ruaidrí) Mormaer of Moray (abt. 980 - abt. 1020)

Born about 0980 in Scotland

Ancestors

Died about 1020 at about age 40 in Scotland

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Finnlaech (mac Ruaidrí) Mormaer of Moray was an inhabitant of Medieval Scotland. Join: Scotland Project Discuss: Scotland

Biography

”Findlaích,” “Findláech,” “Finlaic,” “Finleikr,” “Finlay,” “Earl of the Scots,” “Jarl,” “king of Alba” “Thane of Angus,” “Mormaer of Moreb,” “Mormaer of Moray”

House of Moray

Birth

Finnlaech MacRuaidrí was the son of Ruaidri MacDomnall

Genealogy

“Irish genealogies show Finnlaech as descended from Cenél Loairn, one of the ruling kindreds of Dalriada, which held kingship there in the eighth century.”^[1]

Second Wife and Child

His probable 2nd wife was Donada MacAlpin, the 2nd daughter of Mael Coluim “Malcolm II, King of Scots“ MacAlpin, and his only known child was Macbeth MacFinnlaech ^[2][3][4]

Death

Finnlaech son of Ruaidrí, king of Alba, was killed in 1020 by his own people; “his killers are named as the sons of his brother Maelbrigte.” ^[5][6]

“Soon after Sigurd’s succession we find Finleikr, a Scotch jarl, entering Caithness with a large army, and challenging Earl Sigurd to meet him in battle at the same Skidamyre in Caithness where Magbiodr had met the former earl. He was no doubt the Finlaic, son of Ruaidhri, Mormaer of Moreb or Moray, whose death Tighernac records in the year 1020…,” ^[7][8]

Research Notes

1. Mac Bethad was the son of Findláech mac Ruaidrí, Mormaer of Moray. His mother is sometimes supposed to have been a daughter of Máel Coluim mac Cináeda. This may be derived from Andrew of Wyntoun's Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland which makes Mac Bethad's mother a grand-daughter, rather than a daughter, of Máel Coluim. - Catherine Evans, Apr 24, 2013
2. “Mac Bethad, son of Findláech, son of Ruadrí, son of Domnall son of Morggán, son of Cathamal son of Ruadrí son of Ailgelach son of Ferchar, son of Fergus son of Nechtan son of Colmán, son of Báetán son of Eochaid son of Muiredach son of Loarn son of Ercc son of Eochaid Muinremuir.”^[9]
3. This should be compared with the ancestry claimed for Máel Coluim mac Cináeda which traces back to Loarn's brother Fergus Mór.Several of Mac Bethad's ancestors can tentatively be identified: Ailgelach son of Ferchar as Ainbcellach mac Ferchair and Ferchar son of Fergus (correctly, son of Feredach son of Fergus) as Ferchar Fota, while Muiredach son of Loarn mac Eirc, his son Eochaid and Eochaid's son Báetán are given in the Senchus fer n-Alban. So, while the descendants of Cináed mac Ailpín saw themselves as being descended from the Cenél nGabráin of Dál Riata, the northern kings of Moray traced their origins back to the rival Cenél Loairn. - Catherine Evans, Apr 24, 2013

Sources

1. ↑ Duncan, A. A. M. Kingship of the Scots, 842-1292: Succession and Independence (Edinburgh Classic Editions), Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd (2002, 2016), p. 60, citing, “Irish genealogies show Finnlaech as descended from Cenél Loairn, one of the ruling kindreds of Dalriada, which held kingship there in the eighth century. Eleven generations, at least 200 years after Muiredach of that kindred raided Atholl in 736, the genealogy names Morggan who was the great-grandfather of Macbeth. We have to believe that this kin had moved up the Great Glen (? c. 850) and that around 950 Morggan was established in Moray,” https://a.co/9jG4tlG
2. ↑ Dunbar, Archibald Hamilton, Sir. Scottish kings; a revised chronology of Scottish history, 1005-1625. Edinburgh: David Douglas (1899), p. 17.
3. ↑ Cawley, Charles. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy: Medieval Lands Database, chap. 1. MacBeth.
4. ↑ Broun, Dauvit Macbeth [Mac Bethad mac Findlèch]. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press (2004), citing, “Macbeth [Mac Bethad mac Findlaích] (d. 1057), king of Scots, was the son of Findlaech mac Ruaidrí (d. 1020), king of Moray, and (probably) nepos (nephew or grandson) of Malcolm II (d. 1034). ” ODNB
5. ↑ Duncan, A. A. M. Kingship of the Scots, 842-1292: Succession and Independence (Edinburgh Classic Editions), Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd (2002, 2016), p. 60, https://a.co/1wiAarW
6. ↑ The Annals of Ulster Part 590.
7. ↑ Skene, William Forbes. Celtic Scotland: A History of Ancient Alban. Volume I, History and Ethnology, p. 381, https://a.co/8UmIomO
8. ↑ Anonymous; Hjaltalin, Jon A., trans.; Goudie, Gilbert, ed.; Anderson, Joseph, notes & intro. The Orkneyinga Saga. USA: Library of Alexandria, https://a.co/cDjd8GR
9. ↑ Rawlinson B.502 manuscript

See also:

• Wikipedia: Findláech of Moray
• WikiTree. Scotland - Earl of Ross
• Wikipedia: Earl of Moray

Acknowledgments

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