Ferchar mac Connaid

Ferchar mac Connaid was king of Dál Riata (in modern Scotland) from about 642 until 650.

He was a son of Connad Cerr and thus probably a member of the Cenél Comgaill, although some older reconstructions make him a member of the Cenél nGabráin. His death appears in the Annals of Ulster for 694 along with a number of other entries which appear to be misplaced by 45 years. The Duan Albanach grants him a reign of 16 years, which may mean that he ruled jointly with Domnall Brecc before becoming sole king, but the reign lengths of the Duan are problematic and this may be an error.

Ferchar is the only descendant of Connad Cerr known to have held the kingship of Dál Riata. The genealogies in the Senchus fer n-Alban do not include Ferchar and his kin.

References

  • Anderson, Alan Orr (1990), Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500–1286, vol. 1 (2nd ed.), Stamford: Paul Watkins, ISBN 1-871615-03-8
  • Bannerman, John (1974), Studies in the History of Dalriada, Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, ISBN 0-7011-2040-1
  • Clancy, Thomas Owen (2004), "Philosopher-King: Nechtan mac Der-Ilei" (PDF), The Scottish Historical Review, LXXXIII (2): 125–149, doi:10.3366/shr.2004.83.2.125, ISSN 0036-9241
  • Fraser, James E. (2005), "Strangers on the Clyde: Cenél Comgaill, Clyde Rock and the bishops of Kingarth" (PDF), The Innes Review, 56 (2): 102–120, doi:10.3366/inr.2005.56.2.102, hdl:20.500.11820/e670fb4f-de72-45e6-a296-bac902d35e51, ISSN 0020-157X
  • CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork includes the Annals of Ulster, Tigernach, the Four Masters and Innisfallen, the Chronicon Scotorum, the Lebor Bretnach (which includes the Duan Albanach), Genealogies, and various Saints' Lives. Most are translated into English, or translations are in progress.
Preceded by King of Dál Riata
642–650 		Succeeded by