5/10/2023 0 Comments Clan lord bounties![]() In the following years, two interregnums were presided over by the Guardians of Scotland while House Balliol and House Bruce, along with 12 other hopefuls, joined the race for the crown in what came to be known as The Great Cause. When King Alexander III died, aged 44, from a fall from his horse in 1286, Scotland was plunged into crisis and family blood ties were severed.Īlexander III left no successors and Scotland’s powerful houses sought to take advantage of the empty throne. By this time, the three Somhairle families (Clan Dubhghaill, Clan Ruairhri and Clan Domhnaill) were in bitter dispute. Aonghas was forced to swear fealty to him or forfeit his Clan Somhairle inheritance.Īonghas was succeeded by his son, Alasdair Óg Mac Domhnaill (born circa 1260). ![]() Under his watch, the Norwegian sovereignty of the Isles fell to the successful and violent invasion by the Scottish king, Alexander III, to bring the Hebrides into the realm of Scotland. Raghnuill, or Ranald, inherited his father’s title as King of the Isles and it is his son, Dòmhnaill Mac Raghnuill (Donald, Son of Ranald), who is the eponymous progenitor of Clan Donald.Īonghus Mór Mac Dòmhnaill, son of Raghnuill, was born circa 1248 and is generally regarded as the first of the MacDonalds. Somerled’s daughter, Bethoc, became prioress of Iona Nunnery. From there he kept the sea lanes clear between the Irish Sea and Europe and protected his warbands by setting up a chain of supply harbours guarded by forts across his 25,000-mile kingdom of islands and lochs.Īfter his fall in the Battle of Renfrew in 1164 against King Malcolm IV’s forces, the great sea-lord Somerled was succeeded by an unknown number of sons and a daughter, and what was left of his vast kingdom was divided between the three sons of his marriage to Ragnhildis, Olaf the Red’s daughter: Ruaidhrí Mac Raghnaill (MacRuari, now part of Clanranald and Glengarry), Dughall (MacDoughall) and Raghnuill, of Clan Donald. Now Rìgh Innse Gall, King of the Isles, Somerled directed his maritime power from his base at Finlaggan on Islay. ![]() These boats were instrumental in the MacDonalds command of the Hebrides until the coming of the mounted gun in the late 16th century. What made this galley different from the longboat was the addition of a stern rudder which rendered the craft fast and manoeuvrable, perfect for raiding and transporting goods and men. ![]() He favoured the Hebridean Galley, a clinker-built vessel based on the Viking longboat, powered by oars and sails. Through marriage to the King of Man (Olaf the Red)’s, daughter, cunning and belligerence, Somerled seized the Kingdom of the Isles from his brother-in-law in 1156 and expelled the Norsemen from the Western Isles.Ī simple rudder was one of the main reasons for Somerled’s successful command of Scotland’s north-western seaboard. Half Viking and half Celtic Irish, Somerled held the unique position as overlord of the Kingdoms of Scotland and Norway which later emerged into the Regulus, or Lordship, of the Isles. Although the story of Clan Donald began long before the immemorial timeline, their history can be traced from the 12th century BC through a warlord named Somhairle MacGillebride MacGilladamnan (Somerled): head of the ancient Race of Conn and lineal heir of the Dál Riata, the Kingdom of the Scots.
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