page_title: Cuilén
section_title: Clann Áeda meic Cináeda power centre
hierarchical_section_title: Cuilén / Clann Áeda meic Cináeda power centre
caption_attribution_description: Cast of 10th century Viking hogback stone (grave marker) from Govan Old Parish Church in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, Scotland.
context_page_description: Cuilén was an early King of Alba.
  He was a son of Illulb mac Custantín, King of Alba, after whom he is known by the patronymic mac Illuilb of Clann Áeda meic Cináeda, a branch of the Alpínid dynasty.
  During the 10th century, the Alpínids rotated the kingship of Alba between two main dynastic branches. Dub mac Maíl Choluim, a member of a rival branch of the kindred, seems to have succeeded after Illulb's death in 962. Cuilén soon after challenged him but was defeated in 965. Dub was eventually expelled and slain in 966/967. Whether Cuilén was responsible for his death is uncertain.
  Following Dub's fall, Cuilén appears to have ruled as undisputed king from 966–971. Little is known of Cuilén's short reign other than his own death in 971. According to various sources, he and his brother, Eochaid, were slain by Britons. Some sources identify Cuilén's killer as Rhydderch ap Dyfnwal, a man whose daughter had been abducted and raped by the king. Rhydderch was evidently a man of eminent standing, and seems to have been a son of Dyfnwal ab Owain, King of Strathclyde, and could have possibly ruled the Cumbrian Kingdom of Strathclyde at the time of Cuilén's death.
context_section_description: The remarkable rotating succession of the Alpínid dynasty was similar to that practiced in Ireland by the Cenél nEógain and Clann Cholmáin branches of the Uí Néill, a dominant Irish kindred that monopolised the kingship of Tara between the eighth- and tenth centuries. This alternation amongst the Uí Néill was facilitated by the considerable distance between the two segments. The inability of either branch to dominate the other, and therefore cut off their rivals from key resources, enabled such a rotating scheme to succeed.
  The similarities between the regulated Irish and Scottish successions suggest that the power centres of the two Alpínid branches were also separated. By the early eleventh century, after the final fall of Clann Áeda meic Cináeda, the opposing Clann Custantín meic Cináeda branch faced challenges to the kingship from the Moravian-based Clann Ruaidrí. This could indicate that Clann Áeda meic Cináeda was similarly seated north of the Mounth in Moray, with the power base of Clann Custantín meic Cináeda situated in the south. That the latter kindred was hostile to the men of the north may be evidenced by the record of Máel Coluim mac Domnaill's invasion of Moray preserved by the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba. Furthermore, both this dynast and his son, Dub, are stated by Chronica gentis Scotorum to have been killed by Moravians. In contrast to these records of conflict, there is no evidence of hostility between Clann Áeda meic Cináeda and the men of Moray.
  On the other hand, the fact that king lists locate Dub's demise to Forres might indicate that Clann Custantín meic Cináeda was instead based in the north. Moreover, the fact that the Prophecy of Berchán records that Custantín mac Áeda retired to St Andrews, a site where his descendants, Illulb and Cuilén, are also said to have been buried, coupled with the location of Cuilén's death in the south against the Cumbrians, could reveal that Clann Áeda meic Cináeda was centred south of the Mounth. Such a location may also be evidenced by the aforesaid deaths of the Abbot of Dunkeld and the satrap of Atholl, men who seem to have fallen supporting the cause of Cuilén against Dub.
caption: A hogback grave slab on display in Glasgow. Such monuments may be indicative of Scandinavian settlement in Perthshire and Fife. The aforesaid evidence of Scandinavian influence upon Cuilén's immediate family could indicate that his kindred was involved with such immigration.[29]
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