From Dál Riata to the Gall-Ghàidheil.

The distinctive pattern of Norse settlement names in western Scotland, together with two seemingly unrelated historical events, the disappearance of Dál Riata from contemporary records and the mysterious appearance of a new ethnic group, the Gall-Ghàidheil, in the Irish annals, appear to be inter-linked phenomena. By examining the extent and nature of Norse place-names it becomes possible to suggest a geographical origin for the Gall-Ghàidheil, which this is suggested to be the territory of Dál Riata.