Lacey's thesis --- that the Donegal kingdoms were unrelated to the dynasties descended from Niall Noigiallach is very compelling and since his 'evidence' is primarily based on some of the oldest texts relating to Ireland, we have good reason within the R-M222 Project to take it seriously. Lacey draws on at least three important early text, Tirechan's Collectanea, which has been dated to about 690, a copy of which solely survives in the Book of Armagh. Secondly, he draws on the Irish Annals, most of which were written long after the events recorded, but referenced from lost Chronicles, such as the 'Iona Chronicle', as some scholars now call it. Thirdly, he cites the oldest surviving copy of Adomnan’s Life of St. Columba, a small book preserved in the public Library of Schaffhausen, a town in Northern Switzerland. The book was written before the death of Dorbbene, the scribe who compiled the book and who died in 713. It was probably written under the supervision of Adomnan himself who died in 704. Adomnan's Life of St. Columba preserves a statement cited by Lacey that is worth repeating here, as it draws on a conversation between Columba and Comgall of Bangor, who both had been present at the Convention of Druim Cett in c.575, and on their return journey stopped over at the fortress of Cethern believed to be located near Coleriane. The key sentence is in Book 1, chapter 49, and is given below with the relevant part in italics. It describes the relationship between the two saints and more importantly, Columba's relationship with the Ui Neill. "Nam mei, cognitionales amici, et tui secundum carnem cognate, hoc est, Nellis nepotism, et Cruthini populi, in hac vicina municione Cechirni, belligerantes, committent bellum. There are two modern translations of Adomnan's Life of St. Columba and both are very revealing, one by Richard Sharpe and the other by Alan and Marjorie Anderson. Sharpe translates Columba's description of his relationship with Comgall as, "for my near kindred and your [Comgall] kinsmen according to the flesh, that is, the Ui Neill and the Cruthin". However, the Andersons have a slightly different translation, "for my friends by kinship, and your kinsmen according to the flesh, that is to say the descendants of Nell [Niall], and the people of Cruthen", probably a more accurate rendering of the text. Lacey brings to light the key point, 'The word cognitionales is clearly difficult to translate in this context but Adomnan, in the phrase 'nam mie cognitionales amici', definitely seems to have been making some kind of significant distinction between the Cruithin who were kinsmen of Comgall 'according to the flesh', whereas Columba's people were, in the Anderson's phrase, only 'friends by kinship with the Ui Neill, or some variation of this idea'. Two things are implied, 'in the flesh', Columba was not a blood relation of the Ui Neill, but equally, neither was he with Comgall, who was a kinsman of the Cruthin in the 'flesh'.