Could somebody please help me understand why my rich:messages is not working?

<rich:messages id="error"
 globalOnly="false"
 layout="table"
 ajaxRendered="true"/>

Does it need to be in a form? in a region? In the same form/region as the jsFunction that added the message?

I've tried all of the above. Here is my message adding code which I can put a breakpoint on to prove it is actually happening.

FacesContext.getCurrentInstance().addMessage( "id", new FacesMessage( "Error updating route trips: " + e.getMessage() ) );

I have also tried replacing the "id" with "null" (no quotes around the null) with no change.

What else might be causing the messages keep from showing up? I don't ever even see them even for split second.

I've used it in simpler pages with no problem, but this page is huge and I don't have the first clue what else to look for.

Thanks