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The Cruthin () or Cruithne () were a people of early medieval Ireland. Their heartland was in Ulster and included parts of the present-day counties of County Antrim, County Down and Londonderry. Although the evidence is that they were Gaels, their name is believed to be the Irish equivalent of * Pritanī, the reconstructed native name of the Celtic Britons, and Cruthin was sometimes used to refer to the Picts, but their relationship to these peoples is unclear.
The Cruthin comprised several túatha (tribal territories), which included the Dál nAraidi of County Antrim and the Uí Echach Cobo of County Down. These were part of the kingdom of Ulaid (Ulster). Early sources distinguish between the Cruthin and the Ulaid folk, although the Dál nAraidi later claimed in their genealogies to be na fír Ulaid, "the true Ulaid".Ó Cróinín 2005, pp. 182-234. The 17th century Leabhar na nGenealach claims that the Conaille, the Loígis and the Sogain are also of Cruthin descent.Byrne 2001, pp. 39, 236.
By 773 AD, the annals had stopped using the term Cruthin in favour of the term Dál nAraidi, who had secured their over-kingship of the Cruthin.
For political reasons, some modern Ulster Scots Ulster unionism claim descent from the Cruthin and argue they were the original British inhabitants of Ulster. This has been rejected by historians and archaeologists (see #Modern politics and culture).
It is suggested that Cruthin was not what the people called themselves, but was what their Exonym.
The name Cruthin survives in the placenames Duncrun (Dún Cruithean, "fort of the Cruthin") and Drumcroon (Droim Cruithean, "ridge of the Cruthin") in County Londonderry, and Ballycrune (Bealach Cruithean, "pass of the Cruthin") and Crown Mound (Áth Cruithean, "ford of the Cruthin") in County Down. These placenames are believed to mark the edges of Cruthin territory.
A Cruthin king of Ulster, Áed Dub mac Suibni, is said to have killed the High King, Diarmait mac Cerbaill, in 565. Another Cruthin king, Dubsloit Ua Tréna, is said to have killed Diarmait's son Colmán Mór.Byrne 2001, pp. 94-95.
In 563, according to the Annals of Ulster, an apparent internal struggle amongst the Cruthin resulted in a Cruthin chief Báetán mac Cinn making a deal with the rival Northern Uí Néill, promising them the territories of Ard Eólairg (Magilligan peninsula) and Fir Lí (Coleraine barony). As a result, the Battle of Móin Daire Lothair (Moneymore) was fought between them and an alliance of Cruthin kings, in which the Cruthin suffered a devastating defeat. Afterwards the Northern Uí Néill settled their Airgíalla allies in the Cruthin territory of Eilne, which lay between the River Bann and the River Bush. The defeated Cruthin alliance meanwhile consolidated itself within the Dál nAraidi dynasty.
Their most powerful historical king was Fíachnae mac Báetáin, King of Ulster and effective High King of Ireland in the early 7th century.
Under their king, Congal Cláen, the Cruthin were routed by the Uí Néill at Dún Ceithirn (Sconce Hill, near Articlave)Smyth 1989, p. 101 in 629, although Congal survived. The same year, the Cruthin king Mael Caích defeated Connad Cerr of the Dál Riata at the Battle of Fid Eoin.
The decisive Battle of Mag Rath was fought in 637. An alliance between Congal Cláen and Domnall Brecc of the Dál Riata was defeated, and Congal was killed, by Domnall mac Aedo of the Northern Uí Néill. This established the supremacy of the Uí Neill in the north.
The Annals record a battle between the Cruthin and the Ulaid at Belfast in 668.
In 681 another Dál nAraide king, Dúngal Eilni, and his allies were killed by the Uí Néill in what the annals call "the burning of the kings at Dún Ceithirn".
By the 8th century, the ethnic term "Cruthin" was giving way to the dynastic name of the Dál nAraide. The last use of the term is in 773, when the death of Flathruae mac Fiachrach, " rex Cruithne", is noted. By the twelfth century it had fallen into disuse as an ethnonym, and was remembered only as an alternative name for the Dál nAraide.O'Rahilly 1946, p. 345
Other scholars disagree. Historian Francis John Byrne notes that although in Irish both groups were called by the same name, in Latin they had different names, with Picti being reserved for the Picts.Byrne 2001, p. 8, 108. Professor Dáibhí Ó Cróinín says the "notion that the Cruthin were 'Irish Picts' and were closely connected with the Picts of Scotland is quite mistaken", while Professor Kenneth H. Jackson wrote that the Cruthin "were not Picts, had no connection with the Picts, linguistic or otherwise, and are never called Picti by Irish writers".Jackson 1956, pp. 122-166 There is no Archaeology evidence of a Pictish link and in archaeology the Cruthin are indistinguishable from their neighbours in Ireland.Warner 1991 The records show that the Cruthin bore Irish Gaelic names, spoke Irish and followed the Irish derbfine system of inheritance.
Historian Alex Woolf suggested that the Dál Riata were a part of the Cruthin and that they were descended from the Epidii. Dál Riata was a Gaelic kingdom that included parts of western Scotland and northeastern Ireland. The Irish part of the kingdom was surrounded by Cruthin territory.
The 17th century Leabhar na nGenealach claims that the historical Conaille of County Louth, the Loígis of County Laois, and the Sogain of Connacht, are also of Cruthin descent.Byrne 2001, pp. 39, 236.
Historians, archaeologists and anthropologists have widely rejected Adamson's theory. There is no evidence of a "Gaelic invasion", and from the historical evidence "it seems that the language and social structure of the Cruthin was identical with that of the rest of the Irish". Archaeologists such as J. P. Mallory and T. E. McNeil note that the Cruthin are "archaeologically invisible" and "there is not a single object or site that an archaeologist can declare to be distinctly Cruthin".
Much of Adamson's theories are based on the historical model put forward by Irish linguist T. F. O'Rahilly in 1946. O'Rahilly argued that "the Cruthin or Priteni are the earliest inhabitants of these islands to whom a name can be assigned", and that the Gaels did not arrive until much later.O'Rahilly 1946, pp. 15-16 341-342 Where Adamson differs is his claim that the Cruthin were not Celtic, but pre-Celtic. However, this model has also since been rejected by archaeologists and other experts. There is no evidence of large migrations to Ireland after the Bronze Age, either archaeologically or genetically. The intrusive (non-native) artifacts in Iron Age Ireland are La Tènian and Romano-British, and came from regions which were not Gaelic. Adamson's and O'Rahilly's theories are refuted by the 2017 publication of the "Irish DNA Atlas", which sets out in great detail the genealogical history and modern day makeup of the British Isles.
The asteroid 3753 Cruithne was named after the group. Cruithne: Asteroid 3753 . Western Washington University Planetarium. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
Robert E. Howard's pulp hero Bran Mak Morn was characterised as "chief of the Cruithni Picts".Howard, Robert E. (2005-05-31). Bran Mak Morn: The Last King (Kindle Locations 3037-3039). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Modern politics and culture
In the 1970s, Unionist politician Ian Adamson proposed that the Cruthin were a British people who spoke a non-Celtic language and were the original inhabitants of Ulster and Scotland. He argues that they fought against the Irish Gaels for centuries, who invaded Ulster from the south, and sees the story of the Táin Bó Cúailnge as representing this. Adamson believes that most of the Cruthin were driven to Scotland after their defeat in the Battle of Moira (637), only for their descendants to return 1,000 years later in the Plantation of Ulster. Adamson thus suggests that the Gaelic Irish are not really native to Ulster and that the Ulster Scots have merely returned to their ancient lands. His theory has been adopted by some Ulster loyalism and Ulster Scots activists to counter Irish nationalism and Irish Gaelic culture. It was promoted by elements in the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). They saw this new 'origin myth' as a way to justify their territorial claim to Ulster and the partition of Ireland. Prof. Stephen Howe of the University of Bristol argues it was designed to provide ancient underpinnings for a militantly separate Ulster identity. Historian Peter Berresford Ellis likens it to Zionism.
Sources
(2025). 9780199539703, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199539703
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