Somhairle Buíodh MacDonnell, known as Sorley Boy MacDonnell, whose last name was also given as MacDonald, was a Gaelic chief, the son of Alexander Carragh MacDonnell, 5th of Dunnyveg, of Dunyvaig Castle, lord of Islay and Cantire, and Catherine, daughter of the Lord of Ardnamurchan, both in Scotland. MacDonnell is best known for establishing the MacDonnell clan in Antrim, Ireland, and resisting the campaign of Shane O'Neill and the English crown to expel the clan from Ireland. Sorley Boy's connection to other Irish Roman Catholic lords was complicated, but also culturally and familiarly strong: for example, he married Mary O'Neill, the daughter of Conn O'Neill. He is also known in English as Somerled and Somerled of the yellow hair.
Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles (Scottish Gaelic: Triath nan Eilean or Rìgh Innse Gall; Latin: Dominus Insularum) is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title was held by a series of his descendants, the Norse-Gaelic rulers of the Isle of Man and Argyll and the islands of Scotland in the Middle Ages. They wielded sea-power with fleets of galleys (birlinns). Although they were, at times, nominal vassals of the kings of Norway, Ireland, or Scotland, the island chiefs remained functionally independent for many centuries. Their territory included much of Argyll, the Isles of Arran, Bute, Islay, the Isle of Man, Hebrides, Knoydart, Ardnamurchan, and the Kintyre peninsula. At their height they were the greatest landowners and most powerful lords after the kings of England and Scotland.
Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald or Clan Mc Donald, is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grants of coats of arms, and serving as the judge of the Court of the Lord Lyon, recognises under Scottish law the High Chief of Clan Donald. Historically the chiefs of the Clan Donald held the title of Lord of the Isles until 1493 and two of those chiefs also held the title of Earl of Ross until 1476. Queen Mary of Denmark is member of Clan Donald.
Alasdair Mac Colla Chiotaich MacDhòmhnaill, also known by the English variant of his name Sir Alexander MacDonald, was a military officer best known for his participation in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, notably the Irish Confederate Wars and Montrose's Royalist campaign in Scotland during 1644–5. A member of the Gaelic gentry of the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg, a branch of the Clan Donald active in the Hebrides and Ireland, Mac Colla is particularly notable for the very large number of oral traditions and legends which his life inspired in the Highlands.
Dunluce Castle is a now-ruined medieval castle in Northern Ireland, the seat of Clan MacDonnell. It is located on the edge of a basalt outcropping in County Antrim, and is accessible via a bridge connecting it to the mainland. The castle is surrounded by extremely steep drops on either side, which may have been an important factor to the early Christians and Vikings who were drawn to this place where an early Irish fort once stood.
The Battle of Glentaisie, was an Irish battle fought in the north of Ulster on 2 May 1565. The result was a victory for Shane O'Neill over the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg. The conflict was a part of the political and military struggle, involving the English and occasionally the Scots, for control of northern Ireland. Although the MacDonalds were a Scottish family, based principally on the island of Islay in the Hebrides, they had long been associated with the Gaelic polity rather than the Kingdom of Scotland.
Clan MacAlister is a Scottish Clan. The clan is the earliest branch to have split off from Clan Donald, claiming descent from Alasdair Mòr, son of Domhnall founder of Clan Donald. From Alasdair Mòr the clans takes its surname MacAlister; this surname is an Anglicisation of the Gaelic MacAlasdair meaning "son of Alasdair". In the 15th century the chief of the clan was seated in Kintyre, and the clan was centred there until the 18th century, when a chief sold the family estate in preference to an estate in the Scottish Lowlands.
The MacDonnells of Antrim, also known as the MacDonnells of the Glens, are a branch in Ireland of the Scottish-based Clan Donald. Initially part of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg, the MacDonnells of Antrim became their own branch in 1558 when Somhairle Buidhe MacDonnell obtained the lordship of the territory in Ireland from James MacDonald, 6th chief of the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg.
Dunyvaig Castle, is located on the south side of Islay, in Argyll, Scotland, on the shore of Lagavulin Bay, 4 kilometres from Port Ellen. The castle was once a naval base of the Lord of the Isles, chiefs of Clan Donald. It was held by the chiefs of the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg.
Finlaggan is a historic site on Eilean Mòr in Loch Finlaggan. The Loch, the island, and Finlaggan Castle lie on Islay, around two kilometres to the northwest of Ballygrant.
Lady Agnes Campbell was a Scottish noblewoman and queen consort of Tír Eoghain. She was the mother of Iníon Dubh.
Colla MacDonnell was a son of Alexander MacDonnell, Lord of Islay and Kintyre (Cantire), and Catherine, daughter of the Lord of Ardnamurchan. He died at Kinbane Castle in 1558.
Sir James MacDonald, 9th of Dunnyveg, was the last chief of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg or Clan Donald South. He was most often known as James M'Connall from the Gaelic pronunciation of the name Mac Dhòmhnaill, the modern Macdonald spelling being the anglicization of the name.
James MacDonald, 6th Chief of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg, was a Scottish-Gaelic lord.
John Mór Tanister MacDonald, Scottish-Gaelic lord, died 1427.
The history of the Bissett family in Ireland can be studied independently from that of the originally identical family in Scotland, because of their unique experience following their arrival in Ulster in the early or mid-13th century. Here, while still remaining involved in Scottish affairs, the Bissetts would establish themselves as the Lords of the Glens of Antrim and quickly become equally, then eventually more involved in the politics of the Irish province, becoming among the most Gaelicised of all the so-called Anglo-Norman families in Ireland. The heads of the leading branch of the family soon adopted the Gaelic lineage style Mac Eoin Bissett, by which they are known in the Irish annals, and which translates as "Son/Descendant of John Byset", after a prominent ancestor born in Scotland. In a number of English and Anglo-Norman sources the same head of the family is referred to as the Baron Bissett, also with variants.
Donald Balloch MacDonald was a Scottish-Gaelic lord who died about 1476.
John Mor MacDonald, fl. 1499, was third lord of Clan Donald.
Angus MacDonald, 8th of Dunnyveg was the Chief of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg.
Archibald MacDonald, 7th of Dunnyveg, was the lord of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg.
