Quick Facts
Biography
Máel Coluim I of Strathclyde was ruler of the Kingdom of Strathclyde, the probable son of one of his predecessors, King Dyfnwal III of Strathclyde; he was brother of Amdarch, who possibly held the throne in 971.
Máel Coluim was king of the Cumbrians by 973, the year for which Florence of Worcester related the Strathclyde king had met King Edgar of England at Chester. Máel Coluim was one of eight kings who allegedly met Edgar and rowed his boat on the River Dee (Afon Dyfrdwy). Another of the kings supposedly present was king Kenneth II of Scotland, and a "Maccus, king of very many islands"; (Maccus mac Arailt) of the eight kings listed, only these three Scotland-related kings have their kingdoms named.
Máel Coluim I's existence is confirmed by one other source. The Irish annals give Máel Coluim's father as Dyfnwal, and a death date of 997. The Annals of Ulster reported his obituary as Mael Coluim m. Domnaill, ri Bretan Tuaiscirt, moritur (i.e. "Máel Coluim, son of Dyfnwal, King of the Britons of the North, dies"). The father is presumed to be King Dyfnwal III of Strathclyde, making Amdarch of Strathclyde his brother.