King Kenneth I
(Kenneth MacAlpin, King of Scots)

c.810 - 858

Scottish monarch. The first to unite Scotland as one Kingdom. He was both King of Dalriada (the Gaelic-speaking people of Irish descent living in the west of Scotland) and the Picts (the mysterious aboriginal Scots). Unity came about partially through battle - Kenneth defeated the Picts in 843 - and partially through intermixing of the populations as the Dalriadans moved east to avoid Viking attack.

Kenneth developed the monastery on the site of Dunkeld Cathedral to receive the relics of St. Columba. He died at Forteviot, and is buried on the Island of Iona.

Use the tabs on the right of this page to see other parts of this entry

©2013 The Editors of The Gazetteer for Scotland
Supported by: The Robertson Trust,  The Royal Scottish Geographical Society,
  School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh.