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The House Of MacAlpin |
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Eochaid and Giric
878-889
Eochaid was the son of a daughter of Kenneth MacAlpin, whose name has gone unrecorded by history and Run Macarthuragail, King of Strathclyde. His paternal grandfather was Artgal, King of Strathclyde, who had died at the hand of Aodh, the brother of Constantine I.
He ruled jointly with Giric or Grig, (Gaelic - Griogair mac Dhunghail) the murderer of his uncle and Scotland's previous King, Aodh 'Swiftfoot'. Giric was probably of Pictish descent. Very little is actually known about either of them. It is thought that Eochaid was a minor for whom Giric may have acted in a capacity as Protector or Regent.
Bernica was over-run by the Picts and the monastery of Lindisfarne plundered. Giric annexed the Cumbrian district South of the Solway to the Kingdom of Strathclyde. He also liberated the Picts of Galloway from the dominance of the Angles.
Eochaid and Giric tried to strengthen their position by conciliating the Scottish Church, which they freed from the various exactions and services to which it had been until then liable to. Which was correctly seen at the time as a bid for popularity.
After ruling for eleven years they were both deposed, reportedly during an eclipse of the sun, Giric being killed at Dundern, Perthshire in 889. The fate of Eochaid is not recorded, although he may have been sent into exile. They were succeeded by Eochaid's cousin Donald II. Click for Tanist Genealogy