 Abt 975 - 1045 (70 years) Submit Photo / Document
Has 4 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.
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| Name |
Crínán |
| Suffix |
Abbot of Dunkeld |
| Nickname |
the Thane |
| Birth |
Abt 975 |
Atholl, Perthshire, Scotland  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
1045 |
Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland |
| Initiatory (LDS) |
19 Jan 1926 |
SLAKE |
| FamilySearch ID |
LZS9-ZC2 |
| Headstones |
 Submit Headstone Photo |
| Person ID |
I12473 |
mytree |
| Last Modified |
25 Feb 2024 |
| Father |
Duncan, Lord of Mormaer, b. 949, Atholl, Perthshire, Scotland d. Aft 990, Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland (Age > 42 years) |
| Mother |
Mrs Duncan, Lady of Mormaer, b. Abt 951, Atholl, Perthshire, Scotland d. Abt 990 (Age 39 years) |
| Marriage |
Abt 974 |
| Family ID |
F6605 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family |
Bethóc Máel Coluim, b. Abt 984, Atholl, Perthshire, Scotland d. 1045 (Age 61 years) |
| Marriage |
1000 |
| Children |
| + | 1. Donnchad mac Crinain, Duncan I King of Scotland, b. Abt 1007, Atholl, Perthshire, Scotland d. 14 Aug 1040, Pitgaveny, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (Age 33 years) |
| + | 2. Maldred, Earl of Dunbar, b. Abt 1008, Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland d. Abt 1045 (Age 37 years) |
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| Family ID |
F6604 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
5 May 2024 |
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| Notes |
- Crínán of Dunkeld, Crínán the Thane, Crínán Abbot of Dunkeld
BORN - Date and place of birth are not known, likely before 980 near Dun k eld; his parentage is also NOT KNOWN.
MARRIED- 1000 - Bethóc of Scotland, daughter of Máel Coluim (Malcolm) I I , king of Scotland.
DIED - 1045 - Slain fighting King Macbeth, in support of his grandson Ma l colm III, who was not yet king.
Crínán of Dunkeld (died 1045) was the lay abbot of the diocese of Dunkel d , and perhaps the Mormaer of Atholl. Crínán was progenitor of the Hous e o f Dunkeld, the dynasty which would rule Scotland until the later 13t h cen tury. He was the son-in-law of one king (Malcolm II), the father o f anoth er (Duncan I), and grandfather of a 3rd (Malcolm III).
Crínán married Bethóc, daughter of Máel Coluim mac Cináeda (King of Scot s , reigned 1005–1034) in the year 1000. Together they had 3 possibly 4 c hi ldren.
- Duncan (Donnchad mac Crinain) born about 1001, King Duncan I of Alba , r eigned from 1034 to 1040.
- Maldred of Allerdale, married Ealdgyth, daughter of Uhtred the Bold (g r anddaughter of King Æthelred the Unready) and was ancestor of the Earl s o f Dunbar.
- A daughter, whose name is not known, who was the mother of Moddan, Ea r l of Caithness.
Crinán's father in law, King Malcolm II, had no son, therefore, the stro n gest hereditary claim to the Scottish throne descended through Bethóc , an d Crinán's eldest son, Donnchad, became King of Scots in 1034. Som e sourc es indicate that Máel Coluim designated Donnchad as his successo r under t he rules of tanistry because there were other possible claimant s to the t hrone.
Crínán's second son, Maldred of Allerdale, held the title of Lord of Cum b ria. It is said that from him, the Earls of Dunbar, for example Patric k D unbar, 9th Earl of Dunbar, descend in unbroken male line.
Crínán was killed in battle in 1045 at Dunkeld.
Sir Iain Moncreiffe argued he belonged to a Scottish sept of the Irish C e nél Conaill royal dynasty.
Crínán as Lay Abbot of Dunkeld
The monastery of Saint Columba was founded on the north bank of the Riv e r Tay in the 6th century or early 7th century following the expeditio n o f Columba into the land of the Picts. Probably originally constructe d a s a simple group of wattle huts, the monastery - or at least its chur c h - was rebuilt in the 9th century by Kenneth I of Scotland (reigned 84 3– 858). Caustantín of the Picts brought Scotland's share of the relics o f C olumba from Iona to Dunkeld at the same time others were taken to Kel ls i n Ireland, to protect them from Viking raids. Dunkeld became the pri me bi shopric in eastern Scotland until supplanted in importance by St An drew s since the 10th century.
While the title of Hereditary Lay Abbot was a feudal position that was o f ten exercised in name only, Crínán does seem to have acted as Abbot i n ch arge of the monastery in his time. He was thus a man of high positio n i n both clerical and secular society.
The magnificent semi-ruined Dunkeld Cathedral, built in stages between 1 2 60 and 1501, stands today on the grounds once occupied by the monaster y . The Cathedral contains the only surviving remains of the previous mon as tic society: a course of red stone visible in the east choir wall tha t ma y be re-used from an earlier building, and two stone 9th century-10t h cen tury cross-slabs in the Cathedral Museum.
Lay Abbot of Dunkeld, Governor of the Scots Islands [Ref: Weis AR7 170:1 9 ]
Heriditary Abbott of Dunkeld, or the Kindred of St. Columba [Ref: Roya l H ighness: Ancestors of the Royal Child by Sir Ian Moncreiffe, 1982, Ha mis h Hamilton, London Pg 20] note: "or the kindred of" = ? Either was o r was n't... Curt
In what was probably a shrewd political move, Malcolm II married his dau g hter Bethoc to a representative of the other major center of politica l po wer in Scotland, the church. Considering the close ties between ruli ng dy nasties and the offices of major abbacies throughout Ireland and Sc otland , it is also possible that Crinan was descended from a king of th e Scots , which would completely legitimize his son's rule. [Ref: The Gen ealogy o f the Early Medieval Scottish Kings, Edinburgh by Michael R. Dav idson 199 5, Holland House, Edinburgh, Scotland]
Malcolm's elder daughter Bethoc married Crínán 'the Thane', lay abbo t o f Dunkeld. At this period, when Celtic Monasticism was in decline, la y ab bots appear to have been as accepted a part of the ecclesiastical st ructu re as they became centuries later on the eve of the Reformation. Cr ínán w as a great nobleman, as his title implies, and he possessed the ad ded pre stige of belonging to the kindred of St. Columba. It was from hi s abbac y of Dunkeld that the new royal House took its name, for Crínán a nd Betho c were the parents of King Duncan I...Meanwhile, Macbeth consoli dated hi s triumph by defeating and slaying Duncan's father, Crinan, i n a battle a t Dunkeld in 1045. [Ref: The Kings and Queens of Scotland] n ote: sorry , I sourced this early-on before I realized one also has to li st author , publisher, date, etc.-we get too soon old & too late smart.. . Curt
Macbeth...probably a grandson of Malcolm II...asserted his claim to th e t hrone against Duncan I, whom he killed near Elgin. In 1045 he kille d Crin an, Duncan's father in battle, but in 1057 he was himself killed b y Dunca n's son, Malcolm Canmore (Malcolm III). [Ref: A Dictionary of Bri tish His tory by J.P. Kenyon, 1983 Stein and Day, Scarborough House, Bria rcliff Ma nor, NY]
Research note: Supposed father: Since the abbacy of Dunkeld appears to h a ve been hereditary in Crínán's family (his grandson Æthelred held the t it le), it has sometimes been suggested that Crínán may have been the so n o f this earlier abbot of Dunkeld whose death is known form both the Ir is h and Scottish sources [e.g., AU; ESSH 1: 471, 473, 577; KKES 252]. Wh il e the relationship is not impossible (assuming that Crínán's father di e d when he was an infant), there is no known evidence to support it, an d i t cannot be accepted without further evidence [Ref: Henry Projec t
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THE IRVINGS OF BONSHAW HISTORY. According to ancient family traditions ( w hich are largely supported by known historical fact; and which are fir s t recorded in the very short family history, “The Original of the Fami l y of the Irvines or Erinvines”, written in 1678 by Dr. Christopher Irvi ne , M.D., Historiographer Royal of Scotland) the Irvings of Bonshaw ar e des cended from DUNCAN, known in the family as 'Duncan of Eskdale', a y ounge r brother of Crinan, the husband of Princess Beatrix and father o f King D uncan I of Scotland. The paternal grandfather of Duncan of Eskda le and Cr inan was DUNCAN, hereditary Abthane of Dule and lay abbot of Du nkeld. Th e latter Duncan is now believed to have been a direct descendan t of NIAL L OF THE NINE HOSTAGES, who was high King of Ireland early in t he 5th cen tury A.D and progenitor of the oldest recorded families in Eur ope that ar e still extant in an unbroken male line. The Duncan, as Abtha ne of Dule-a n ancient title connected with St. Adamnan’s abbey of Dull , and dating fr om nearly 200 years before the union of the Scottish an d Pictish crowns i n 843 A.D.-was of more consequence than any one of th e seven Pictish ‘Mor maers’, being second only to the king himself in pow er and importance. H e appears to have been appointed Governor of Strathc lyde when that regio n was conquered by the Saxons and given to Malcol m I of Alban (the earl y name of Scotland) in 946. His residence in Strat hclyde is supposed to h ave been the old fort of Eryvine, or Orewyn, wher e the town of Irvine no w stands, so we refer to him the ‘1st of Eryvine’ . Both Duncan and his ne ighbour Dubdon, Mormaer of Athole, were killed a t the battle of Duncrub c . 965 A.D., while leading their forces agains t a strong rebel army of the ir fellow countrymen.* DUNCAN, 1st of ERYVIN E, was succeeded by his eldes t son and heir, also DUNCAN, about whom w e know little except that he als o seems to have succeeded Dubdon as Morm aer of Athole, as he is called ‘L ord of Athole’. At the battle of Luncar ty (of uncertain date), where th e Danes were routed, Duncan commanded th e left wing of the Scottish force s, under King Kenneth III. This Dunca n is the progenitor of the oldest re corded families in Great Britain; th e noble family of Dunbar is certainl y descended from him, and traditiona lly so are the noble families of Irvi ng and Home, all in the male line ; not to mention the Royal Family and nu merous other families by femal e descent. DUNCAN, 2ND OF ERYVINE, was succ eeded by his eldest son, CRIN AN, who married Princess Beatrix (or Bethoc ) daughter and heiress of Kin g Malcolm II of Scotland, and by her was fat her of Duncan I, who reigne d as King of Scotland for six years. Crinan wa s the progenitor in the ma le line of all the kings of Scotland down to Al exander III (died 1286) , and in the female line of all the sovereigns o f Scotland down to the p resent day, with the sole exception of Macbeth, w ho murdered his son, Ki ng Duncan, in 1040, and reigned for the next seven teen years. Traditio n tells us that Crinan maintained a residence at Eryv ine, but that he wa s the last of his family to do so, the fortress bein g used solely for mi litary purposes thereafter. He was killed by Macbeth’ s forces in 1045, w hile trying to avenge his son’s death and grandson’s d eposition.
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Has 4 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.
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