The Dál nAraidi

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]

Overview of the Dál nAraidi

The Dál nAraidi or Dál Araide ([ˈdaːl ˈnaraðʲə], "Araide's part"; sometimes Latinised as Dalaradia or Anglicised as Dalaray) was a Cruthin kingdom, or possibly a confederation of Cruthin tribes, in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages. It was part of the over-kingdom of Ulaid, and its kings often contended with the Dál Fiatach for the over-kingship of the province. At its greatest extent, the borders of Dál nAraidi roughly match those of County Antrim, and they seem to occupy the same area as the earlier Robogdii of Ptolemy's Geography, a region shared with Dál Riata. Their capital was Ráth Mór outside Antrim, and their eponymous ancestor is claimed as being Fiachu Araide.^[1]

The Cruthin (Old Irish pronunciation: [ˈkɾˠʊθʲɪn̠ʲ]; Middle Irish: Cruithnig or Cruithni; Modern Irish: Cruithne [ˈkɾˠɪhn̠ʲə]) were a people of early medieval Ireland. Their heartland was in Ulster and included parts of the present-day counties of Antrim, Down and Londonderry. They are also said to have lived in parts of Leinster and Connacht. Their name is the Irish equivalent of Priteni, an ancient name for the Celtic Britons, and was sometimes used to refer to the Picts. However, there is a debate among scholars as to the relationship of the Cruthin with the Britons and Picts.^[2]

By 773 AD, the annals stopped using the term Cruithne in favour of the term Dál nAraidi, who had secured their over-kingship of the Cruthin.

Were the Cruthin actually Picts?

Based on findings of Dr. Jim Wilson, Britains DNA designated S530 as Pictish^[3], which, therefore, quickly eliminates "Pictish". Additionally, Professor T. F. O'Rahilly proposed that the Qritani/Pritani were the first Celts to inhabit Great Britain and Ireland and describes them as "the earliest inhabitants of these islands to whom a name can be assigned". ^[4]

Per the Wikipedia entry for the Cruthin and their relation to Picts:^[5]

Early Irish writers used the name Cruthin to refer to both the north-eastern Irish group and to the Picts of Scotland. Likewise, the Scottish Gaelic word for a Pict is Cruithen or Cruithneach, and for Pictland is Cruithentúath. It has thus been suggested that the Cruthin and Picts were the same people or were in some way linked. Professor T. F. O'Rahilly proposed that the Qritani/Pritani were the first Celts to inhabit Great Britain and Ireland and describes them as "the earliest inhabitants of these islands to whom a name can be assigned". It has also been suggested that Cruthin was a name used to refer to all the Britons who were not conquered by the Romans – those who lived outside Roman Britain, north of Hadrian's Wall.

Other scholars disagree, pointing out that although Cruthin was used to translate Picti into Irish, Picti was never used to translate Cruthin into Latin. Professor Dáibhí Ó Cróinín believes that the "notion that the Cruthin were 'Irish Picts' and were closely connected with the Picts of Scotland is quite mistaken" while Professor Kenneth H. Jackson has said that the Cruthin "were not Picts, had no connection with the Picts, linguistic or otherwise, and are never called Picti by Irish writers". The Cruthin cannot be distinguished from their neighbors by archaeology. The records show that the Cruthin bore Irish names, spoke Irish and followed the Irish derbfine system of inheritance rather than the matriineal system sometimes attributed to the Picts.

It is suggested that Cruthin was not what the people called themselves, but was what their neighbours called them.

• BY3368
• L1403