kingdom · British Isles

Kingdom of Circinn

550 CE – 900 CE (approx.)

A Pictish kingdom or province in the area of Angus and the Mearns, named in early Irish annals and in the legend of the seven sons of Cruithne.

Origins

Circinn appears as one of the seven Pictish provinces in the origin legend that named them after the sons of Cruithne, and in Irish annals, which record a battle of Circinn in 598. It is usually placed in Angus and the Mearns, south of the Mounth.

Rule and society

Almost nothing is known of its government. It was probably one of the regional lordships within the Pictish kingdom, and the fertile lowlands of Angus held important church sites such as Aberlemno and later Brechin, with their carved Pictish stones.

Decline and legacy

Circinn's identity merged into the Kingdom of Scotland when Pictland became Alba in the 9th and 10th centuries. The later earldoms of Angus and the Mearns may continue its territory.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of Circinn. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-circinn
MLA
“Kingdom of Circinn.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-circinn. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of Circinn.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-circinn.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of Circinn’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-circinn (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻