On 9th June, 597, St Columba died, and this day has been established as Scotland’s day of diasporas, celebrating the diversity of those living in Scotland in the 21st Century. This is my lecture to the recent Donegal-Diaspora conference, “Hands of History”, held in Letterkenny, County Donegal.
The Venniconian Kingdoms: Donegal’s migratory links to the rest of the North West of Ireland including Ulster Scots migratory patterns’‐
Dr Ian Adamson OBE, President of the Ullans Academy
Could I first express my appreciation to Professor Paul Arthur of the University of Ulster for inviting me to my favourite County in Ireland apart from Down , where I was born. Could I also express my thanks to Helen Brooker, Chair of the Ullans Academy and Nikki Tumelty for their help in the preparation of my script.
Set as Ulster is at the North Eastern corner of Ireland, facing Britain across a narrow sea and separated from the rest of Ireland by a zone of little hills known as Drumlins, marshland, lakes and mountains, the characteristics of her language and people have been moulded by movements, large and small, between the two islands since the dawn of human history. P.L.Henry has described the difference between Ulster and the rest of Ireland as: “One of the most deeply rooted, ancient, and from a literary point of view, most productive facts of early Irish History.” Furthermore, “Ulster’s bond with Scotland counterbalances her lax tie with the rest of Ireland. To say, once more, that this applies only to modern times and to dialects of English would be to miscalculate grossly. Here too the mould was fixed in ancient times and modern developments continue ancient associations.
We need but think of the Pictish (ancient British Cruthin) Kingdoms in both areas, of the Ulster-Scottish Kingdom of Dalriada from the last quarter of the 5th to the close of the 8th century, of the Scottish Kingdom founded under Gaelic leadership in 842, of Irish relations with the Kingdom of the Hebrides and Argyll from the 12th century, particularly the immigration of Hebridean soldiers (gallowglasses) from the 13th to the 16th century. The Gaelic form of this word, Galloglaigh, (i.e. Gallagher) occurs as a common family name in Donegal. There was a constant coming and going between North East Ireland and Western Scotland. The Glens of Antrim were in the hands of Scottish Macdonalds by1400, and for the next two hundred years Gaelic-speaking Scots came in large numbers. The 17th century immigration of a numerous Scots element need not to be considered outside the preceding series. It has brought for example Presbyterian Scots with names as familiar on this side as McMenemin and Kennedy, who must be considered rather in the light of homing birds.”
The original language or languages of Ulster have long been subsumed but elements of an old British tongue may be traced in the personal names of the oldest inhabitants, the Cruthin and Ulidians whose political influence declined following defeat by the Gaelic Ui Neill at the Battle of Moira (637) and Crew Hill (1004). The earliest certain evidence for a Celtic language in Ireland dates to c. 100 AD. This is Old British, spoken by five British Tribes , ie the Brigantes, Gangani, Manapii, Velabori and Coriondi, who first came to occupy the south of Ireland following the campaigns of Julius Caesar in Gaul and then Great Britain.These are not likely to have been the only British Celts to have come. We must add British warlords, monks and, of course, the slaves such as St Patrick.
With Jordan Potts and Her Majesty
With Jordan, Her Majesty and her representative, the High Sheriff Brian Kingston