Background
It has been argued that Nechtan son of Derile should be identified with the Nechtan son of Dargart mentioned in the Annals of Ulster in 710. Dargart is taken to be the Dargart mac Finguine who died in 686, a member of the Cenél Comgaill kindred of Dál Riata. On this basis, and because Bede mentions that the Picts allowed for matrilineal succession in exceptional cases, it is thought that Der-Ilei was Nechtan's mother.
Other brothers and half-brothers of Nechtan and Bridei would include Ciniod or Cináed, killed in 713, Talorgan son of Drest, a half-brother or foster-brother, held captive by Nechtan in the same year, and perhaps Congas son of Dar Gart who died in 712. A number of later figures, including the Talorgan son of Drest, king of Atholl, executed by drowning in 739, and the Talorgan son of Congus, defeated in 731 and likewise drowned in 734, and his unnamed brother, may be associated with Nechtan's family.
Bede claimed that relations between the Picts and Northumbria were peaceful in his time. However, the Annals of Ulster for 711 report a Pictish defeat at Northumbrian hands, "in Mag Manonn", presumably in the area around Stirling where the kingdom of Manau had once been, where Finnguine son of Deile Roith was killed. Nothing more is known of Finnguine, but as he bore Nechtan's paternal grandfather's name, it may be that he was a kinsman of the Pictish king.
Read more about this topic: Nechtan Mac Der-Ilei
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