MacDonnell of Antrim

Last updated

Arms of McDonnell of Antrim. Arms of McDonnell of Antrim.svg
Arms of McDonnell of Antrim.

The MacDonnells of Antrim (Gaelic: Mac Domhnaill), [1] 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 (Clan Donald South), 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. [2]

Contents

The MacDonnells of Antrim were a sept of the Clan Donald of the royal Clann Somhairle, that the English crown had attempted to cultivate since the early 14th century in its efforts to influence the course of politics in Scotland. The MacDonnells established a growing presence in Ireland throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, and played a crucial role in the politics of 17th century Ireland. The MacDonnell's achieved much success in Ireland largely to cultural and familial connections to the Gaelic nobility of Ireland.

Today the surname is predominantly spelled McDonnell in Ireland and abroad, although many McConnells are also of the same family, as that is the Gaelic pronunciation of the Mac Domhnaill. Most of the leadership of the Clan wrote their name as a variant of McConnell up until the 17th century, including Sorley Boy MacDonnell himself. [3] Many of the present-day McDonnells have a common descent from Sorley Boy MacDonnell.

History

Origins

The MacDonnells of Antrim are descended from John Mor MacDonald, chief of the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg. John Mor MacDonald was the second son of Good John of Islay, Lord of the Isles, 6th chief of Clan Donald, through John of Islays second marriage to Princess Margaret Stewart, daughter of King Robert II of Scotland.

John Mor MacDonald married Margery Byset, daughter of the Mac Eoin Bissett, Lord of the Glens of Antrim. Although the MacDonnells would a century and a half later claim that her dowry included the lordship itself, this is false because the Mac Eoin Bissetts remained in possession of it into the early or mid 16th century. [4] However following the death in battle, in support of his friends and kinsmen the O'Neills against the O'Donnells, of the last known Mac Eoin Bissett in 1522, [5] the recently arrived MacDonnells appear to have started making their own gains in the region and eventually used the earlier marriage to claim they had rights to the Bissett lordship. The MacDonnells already possessed Dunnyvaig Castle on the Isle of Islay and lands in Kintyre, Scotland.

The MacDonnells of Antrim did not become a separate branch of Clan Donald until 1558, when they were part of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg, when Somhairle Buidhe MacDonnell obtained the lordship of the territory in Ireland from James MacDonald, 6th of Dunnyveg. [2]

15th century

John Mor was assassinated by James Campbell in 1427. John's son Donald Balloch MacDonald, the second chief, led the clan when they fought and won at the first Battle of Inverlochy (1431). This was in support of their cousin Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross, 3rd Lord of the Isles and 8th chief of Clan Donald. The MacDonalds were supported by the Clan Cameron. They fought against the Royal forces of the Earl of Mar who was supported by the Clan MacKintosh.

The third Chief, Sir John Mor, with his heir John Cathanach and three grandsons, were apprehended through the treachery of the Macdonald of Ardnamurchan and were executed in Edinburgh for treason. One of his sons, Alexander, fled to Ireland. MacIain of Ardnamurchan, who had also betrayed Alexander MacDonald of Lochalsh, was himself killed in 1518 by those who he had betrayed.

16th century

On the death of James MacDonald, the sixth chief of the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg and Antrim, the Antrim Glens were seized by one of his younger brothers, Sorley Boy MacDonnell (Somhairle Buidh:Somhairle of the yellow hair). Somhairle is best known for establishing the MacDonnell clan in Antrim and resisting the campaign of Shane O'Neill and the English crown to expel the clan from Ireland.

In 1565 under Sorley Boy MacDonnell the Clan MacDonnell of Antrim and Dunnyveg fought the Battle of Glentasie against Shane O'Neill.

In April 1583 the MacDonnells, led by Sorley Boy MacDonnell, who had been fighting in the McQuillan-O'Cahan feud on the side of the McQuillan clan decided to backstab their allies. In the ensuing battle of Aura Edward McQuillan was killed bringing about the McQuillans rule over The Route as well as their seat of Dunluce Castle.

Alaster, the eldest son of Sorley Boy was killed in 1585, his head was placed on a spike at Baile-atha-cliath (Dublin). [6]

17th century

The arms of the MacDonnells of Antrim, as displayed at Dunluce Castle. Dunluce Castle - Arms of McDonnell of Antrim.jpg
The arms of the MacDonnells of Antrim, as displayed at Dunluce Castle.

Randal MacDonnell was a personal friend and courtier of King Charles I. Upon the commencement of the Bishops' Wars between Charles I and the Scottish Covenanters, he offered to lead a sea-borne expedition against the Covenanter regime on behalf of King Charles. This request was granted, but in the end the plans were frustrated by the antipathy of Thomas Wentworth and the success of the Covenanters against the King. [7]

By 1645, however, the Scottish Covenanter regime had broken their truce with King Charles by intervening in the English Civil War on the side of the English Parliament. Randall MacDonnell once again requested to assist the King by orchestrating an expedition from Ireland. This had the joint aims both of weakening the Covenanter regime on behalf of the King, and of reclaiming lands from Clan Campbell. The Catholic MacDonnells were pitted against their Campbells foes, who were at the forefront of the puritanical Protestant Covenanter regime. [8] This time, the plans for an expedition came to fruition, with Alasdair MacColla (also known as Alexander MacDonnell) leading a force of men from Waterford to Scotland. Rallying his Clan Donald kinsmen, and joining with the Marquess of Montrose, despite being outnumbered they inflicted a series of crushing defeats on larger enemy forces. [9]

Perhaps their crowning achievement was when, in a daring winter campaign, the Clan Donald forces undertook a surprise march through the snow-covered mountains into the Campbell heartlands of Argyll, which were considered impregnable. They then scored an overwhelming victory against the Campbell force that was arrayed against them at the battle of Inverlochy, with the chief Archibald Campbell ignominiously fleeing for his life on a barge as the men of his clan were being slaughtered in battle. Alasdair MacColla then occupied Argyll, and the chief Randall MacDonnell arrived to join him, but the successes of the Scottish campaign were to be undone by the defeat of King Charles in England. Many MacDonnell troops fell back to Ireland, where they opposed the Cromwellian invasion. [10]

MacDonnell forces supported King James II in the Williamite War in Ireland. [11]

Castles

See also

Citations

  1. ↑ "Dunluce Castle, Ulster-Scots translation" (PDF). Department of the Environment (Northern Ireland). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  2. 1 2 Lee, Sidney, ed. (1893). "MacDonnell, Sorley Boy"  . Dictionary of National Biography . Vol. 35. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 59–60.
  3. ↑ Hill, George (1873). An Historical Account of the Macdonnells of Antrim. London. p. 44.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ↑ State Papers, Henry the Eighth. Volume II. pp. 7, 27. See also the circa 1540 Book of Howth for a similar list of the lords in Ireland.
  5. ↑ Annals of the Four Masters 1522.9
  6. ↑ "Annals of Loch Cé (1585)". Corpus of Electronic Texts. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  7. ↑ Gentles, I. J. (2007). The English Revolution and the wars in the three kingdoms, 1638-1652 (1st ed.). Harlow, England: Pearson/Longman. pp. 187–210. ISBN   978-0-582-06551-2. OCLC   71173890.
  8. ↑ Stevenson, David (1980). Alasdair MacColla and the Highland problem in the seventeenth century. Edinburgh: Donald. ISBN   0859760553.
  9. ↑ Darcy, Eamon (2013). The Irish rebellion of 1641 and the wars of the three kingdoms. Royal Historical Society. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press. pp. 47–65. ISBN   978-1-78204-070-5. OCLC   847594746.
  10. ↑ Stevenson, Highland Warrior; Alasdair MacColla and the Civil Wars.
  11. ↑ McDonnell, Hector (1996). The wild geese of the Antrim MacDonnells. Dublin: Irish Academic Press. ISBN   0-7165-2609-3. OCLC   36469715.

Related Research Articles

Somhairle Buíodh MacDonnell, also spelt 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clan Donald</span> Scottish clan

Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randal MacDonnell, 1st Marquess of Antrim (1645 creation)</span> Irish marquess (1609–1683)

Randall MacDonnell, 1st Marquess of Antrim (1609–1683) was a Roman Catholic landed magnate in Scotland and Ireland, son of the 1st Earl of Antrim. He was also chief of Clan MacDonnell of Antrim. He is best known for his involvement, mostly on the Royalist side, in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunluce Castle</span> Medieval castle on coast of Northern Ireland

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg</span> Scottish clan

Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg, also known as Clan Donald South, Clan Iain Mor, Clan MacDonald of Islay and Kintyre, MacDonalds of the Glens (Antrim) and sometimes referred to as MacDonnells, is a Scottish clan and a branch of Clan Donald. The founder of the MacDonalds of Dunnyveg is Eòin Mòr Tànaiste Mac Dhòmhnaill, a son of Iain Mic Dhòmhnaill and Margaret Stewart of Scotland, daughter of King Robert II. Members of the clan actually pronounced and spelled their name M'Connall due to the Gaelic pronunciation of the name Mac Domhnuill thus giving rise to the surname McConnell and its variants. While historically recognised as a clan by the Court of the Lord Lyon, it is now an armigerous clan as it no longer has a chief. The last chief was Sir James MacDonald, 9th of the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg or Clan Donald South, who died in London in 1626.

Coll Ciotach Mac Domhnaill (1570–1647) was a Scottish adventurer and mercenary of the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg branch of Clan Donald, who became Laird of Colonsay in 1623, by treachery. His name, which means "Coll the left-handed" or "the crafty", was anglicised as Colkitto. However he only used the nickname Ciotach late in his life in 1629 when it appeared in a Latin translation of a Gaelic letter where Coll refers to himself as "Ego Collatius Kiotach Macdonnell".

Events from the year 1558 in Ireland.

Somhairle Mac Domhnaill, called by English speakers Sorley McDonnell, was a renowned soldier for the Gaelic cause in Ireland and Scotland during the Thirty Years War and the patron who commissioned two 17th-century manuscript collections of poems, Duanaire Finn and The Book of O'Connor Donn.

Events from the year 1565 in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redshank (soldier)</span>

Redshank was a nickname for Scottish mercenaries from the Highlands and Western Isles contracted to fight in Ireland; they were a prominent feature of Irish armies throughout the 16th century. They were called redshanks because they went dressed in plaids and waded bare-legged through rivers in the coldest weather. An alternative etymology, illustrated by Jamieson by a quote from Sir Walter Scott, is that it referred to the untanned deer leather buskins worn by Highlanders, although Jamieson notes that Scott's source, John Elder of Caithness, actually stated its origin was from their habit of going "bare-legged and bare-footed". The term was not derogatory, as the English were in general impressed with the redshanks' qualities as soldiers.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Route, County Antrim</span> Medieval territory in Gaelic Ireland

The Route was a medieval territory in Gaelic Ireland, located on the north-east coast of Ulster. It stretched between Coleraine and Ballycastle and as far south as the Clogh River. Originally part of Twescard, a county of the Earldom of Ulster, it was later ruled by the MacQuillans and then the MacDonnells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Bay Castle</span> A castle in Northern Ireland

Red Bay Castle is situated in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, on a headland projecting into the sea north of Glenariff situated on the road to Cushendall.

Clan MacAuley of the Glens was a small Irish clan that descend from south-western Scotland, who originally come over to Ulster to serve as galloglass mercenaries. They held lands in the Glens of Antrim in modern County Antrim and the chief was at one time known as Lord of the Glens. In 1559, the clan participated in the Battle of Aura, in which the McQuillans were defeated by the MacDonnells. The MacAuleys and MacPhoils arrived midway through the battle, and had planned on siding with the McQuillans and O'Neills, but the chief of the clan was persuaded by Sorley Boy MacDonnell to join forces with the MacDonnells.

James MacDonald, alias McDonnell, 6th Chief of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg, Scottish-Gaelic lord, died 1565.

Alexander Carragh MacDonnell, also spelt MacDonald, was the 5th lord of Dunnyveg, Scotland, alive c. 1480–1538.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mac Eoin Bissett family</span> Family

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 Scottish-Gaelic lord, died about 1476.

References

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.