Review: Aedan of the Gaels by Keith Coleman

Synopsis: This is the first full-length work devoted to Aedan mac Gabrain, 6th century king of Dal Riata in Scotland. An associate of the famous St. Columba, he was the first recorded king to be ordained in the British Isles and was the most powerful ruler in his generation. His astonishing military reach took him from Orkney, Pictland, Ireland, Northumbria and the Isle of Man. 

This book details his dominant career, which came to a shattering end after decades of warfare at the Battle of Degsaston in AD 603. Beyond the record of warfare, there is a unique and tantalising accumulation of legend concerning Aedan, from stories about his birth, to tales of him in battle with Irish heroes. English sources mention him and he is one of the few Gaelic kings to feature prominently in Welsh tradition, where he is remembered as a uniquely powerful player in the north of Britain. Modern writers highlight Aedan as the father of a prince named Arthur, which has led to his place in Arthurian studies. Aedan's prominence in his era qualifies him as a fascinating figure, whose life and legend are accessibly explored in this exciting account of this unique ruler.

Aedan macGabrain (r. 574–608) was a 6th century Irish warlord of the Dal Riata (Riada) - an area which encompassed the western seaboard of Scotland and the north-eastern corner of Ireland, on each side of the North Channel. At its height in the 6th and 7th centuries - the period under Aedan and his successors - it covered what is now Argyll in Scotland and part of County Antrim in Northern Ireland. After a period of expansion, Dál Riata eventually became associated with the Gaelic Kingdom of Alba.

The sources for Áedán's life include Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum; the Annals of Ulster and the Annals of Tigernach; and Adomnán's Life of Saint Columba. The Senchus fer n-Alban, a census and genealogy of Dál Riata, purports to record his ancestry and that of his immediate descendants. However, - not one of these sources are contemporary, which makes a re-telling of his life rather difficult. And thus with few concrete fact about him, any considerations are based upon supposition and guesswork, and many points are thus open to dispute.

Much of the earlier history of both Ireland and Pictland is shrouded in a mist that hovers between reality and legend and mythology, and this earlier period is often view through a much later lens.

Coleman does his best to utilise the historic sources, archaeological evidence, and myths and legends, to shed some light onto this period and its ruler. He uses comparative examples to "fill out" a proposed timeline and biography. The early histories were mainly oral except when documented by clerics usually in the form of a Vitae of their patron, and always from a distance and with an agenda or moral in mind. Much of what is covered is - as mentioned - open to interpretation and this itself is explored and placed in context.

Having said that, I enjoyed reconnecting with one of the larger than life, mysterious, yet real characters of history. And like today, the lines of reality are sometimes blurred with those of myth.

Further Reading:

The Annals of Ulster

The Annals of Tigernach

Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum

Life of Saint Columba