(512
- 603)
The founder of Bangor Abbey in 555, Comgall,
was born at Magheramorne near present day Larne in County Antrim
in 512 AD, he belonged to the race of the Cruthin. Living in the
old kingdom which Milchu had ruled, know now as Dalaradia. His father
was Setna, a pictish warrior, and his mother was known as Briga.
Comgall was a contemporary of Columba or
Colimkill, who was of the Ui Neill dynasty, in fact the two studied
together at Glasnevin. The Cruthan had been long established in
Ulster but seem to have been slowly displaced by the Ui Neill's,
the Annals of Ulster records that in 563 at the battle of Moneymore
the Cruthan were defeated by the Ui Neill's
Dalaradia which encompasses South Antrim
and North Down was one of three main sub-kingdoms of Ulster, the
other two being Dalriada (North Antrim) and Iveagh (South Down).
From the fourth century onward Ulster had consisted only of that
territory now comprised of the present county's of Down, Antrim
and the eastern parts of Derry and northern parts of Louth.
At the height of its power and influence
Ulster had stretched as far south the Boyne river but due to continual
invasion by the Gaels under the kings of the Ui Neill, the above
territory only retained the right to the name of Ulster. Donegal
had been completely colonized by the Gaels and the Cruthin much
reduced. Those who had escaped fled east where they maintained their
independence due no doubt to the proximity to the major Pictish
kingdom in what is now Scotland. |
