Gille Ruadh

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Gille Ruadh [note 1] was the Galwegian leader who led the revolt against King Alexander II of Scotland. His birth, death date and origins are all unknown.

Alexander II of Scotland King of Scotland

Alexander II was King of Scotland from 1214 until his death. He concluded the Treaty of York (1237) which defined the boundary between England and Scotland, virtually unchanged today.

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Upon Alan, Lord of Galloway's death in 1234, Galloway was left without a legitimate feudal heir. Alexander II had decided to partition the lordship between the Anglo-Norman husbands of Alan's three living daughters, Roger de Quincy (married to Ela), John de Balliol (married to Derborgaill) and William de Forz (married to Cairistiona).

Anglo-Normans Medieval ethnic group in England

The Anglo-Normans were the medieval ruling class in England, composed mainly of a combination of ethnic Anglo-Saxons, Normans and French, following the Norman conquest. A small number of Normans had earlier befriended future Anglo-Saxon King of England, Edward the Confessor, during his exile in his mother's homeland of Normandy. When he returned to England some of them went with him, and so there were Normans already settled in England prior to the conquest. Following the death of Edward, the powerful Anglo-Saxon noble, Harold Godwinson, acceded to the English throne until his defeat by William, Duke of Normandy at the Battle of Hastings.

Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester English Earl

Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester ,) hereditary Constable of Scotland, was a nobleman of Anglo-Norman and Scottish descent who was prominent in both England and Scotland, at his death having one of the largest baronial landholdings in the two kingdoms.

Helen of Galloway was a daughter and co-heiress of Alan, Lord of Galloway and his first wife, a daughter of Roger de Lacy, Constable of Chester. Helen was the first wife of Roger de Quincy, Earl of Winchester. Although Helen was the first of Roger's three wives, his only descendants were his three daughters by Helen. The eldest daughter, Margaret, married William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby ; the second daughter, Elizabeth, married Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan ; the third daughter, Helen, married Alan de la Zouche.

However, Alan had left an illegitimate son, Thomas. In Gaelic succession law, Thomas was a perfectly acceptable heir. Thus the native Galwegians and the Gaelic clergy of the province rose in revolt against the Scottish king.

Tomás mac Ailein, sometimes known as Thomas of Galloway, was an illegitimate son of Alan of Galloway, Constable of Scotland and the last Mac Fearghusa lord of Galloway. After the death of his father, who left no legitimate sons, King Alexander II of Scotland planned to divide the lordship between the husbands of Alan's three daughters.

Leader of Galloway Revolt

The revolt of the Galwegians started in 1235, under Gille Ruadh's leadership. Matthew Paris says that Manx and Irish forces got involved too. Thomas received help from his father's father-in-law, Hugh de Lacy the Earl of Ulster, Hugh had his own problems which limited his participation. Thomas also seems to have gained support from Ruaidrí mac Ragnaill and the Uí Domnaill of Tír Conaill.

Matthew Paris English artist

Matthew Paris, known as Matthew of Paris, was a Benedictine monk, English chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey in Hertfordshire. He wrote a number of works, mostly historical, which he scribed and illuminated himself, typically in drawings partly coloured with watercolour washes, sometimes called "tinted drawings". Some were written in Latin, some in Anglo-Norman or French verse.

Hugh de Lacy, 1st Earl of Ulster

Hugh de Lacy, 1st Earl of Ulster was an Anglo-Norman soldier and peer. He was a leading figure in the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century, and was created Earl of Ulster in 1205 by King John of England.

Earl of Ulster Title in the Peerage of United Kingdom

The title of Earl of Ulster has been created six times in the Peerage of Ireland and twice Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since 1928, the title has been held by the Duke of Gloucester and is used as a courtesy title by the Duke's eldest son, currently Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster. The wife of the Earl of Ulster is known as the Countess of Ulster. Ulster, one of the four traditional provinces of Ireland, consists of nine counties, six of which make up Northern Ireland, the remainder are in Ireland.

Alexander soon invaded Galloway. Gille Ruadh ambushed the royal army, almost bringing it to disaster. However the Scottish King was saved by Fearchar, Mormaer of Ross. Gille Ruadh and Thomas escaped to Ireland, Alexander returned north, and Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith, was left to subdue the province, ravaging the lands and monastic establishments (Glenluce Abbey and Tongland Abbey were both sacked, and their abbots punished).

Fearchar, Earl of Ross Scottish noble

Fearchar of Ross or Ferchar mac in tSagairt, was the first of the Scottish Ó Beólláin family who received by Royal Grant the lands and Title of Mormaer or Earl of Ross (1223–1251) we know of from the thirteenth century, whose career brought Ross into the fold of the Scottish kings for the first time, and who is remembered as the founder of the Earldom of Ross.

Menteith

Menteith or Monteith, a district of south Perthshire, Scotland, roughly comprises the territory between the Teith and the Forth. Early forms including Meneted, Maneteth and Meneteth. The area between Callander and Dunblane was historically known in English as the Vale of Menteith.

Glenluce Abbey monastery in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, UK

Glenluce Abbey, near to Glenluce, Scotland, was a Cistercian monastery called also Abbey of Luce or Vallis Lucis and founded around 1190 by Rolland or Lochlann, Lord of Galloway and Constable of Scotland. Following the Scottish Reformation in 1560, the abbey fell into disuse.

Soon afterwards, Gille Ruadh returned from Ireland with a new army. The royal forces fled the province. However, for an unknown set of reasons, Gille Ruadh abandoned Thomas and gave himself up on favorable conditions to Patrick II, Earl of Dunbar. Thomas followed suit.

Ireland Island in north-west Europe, 20th largest in world, politically divided into the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (a part of the UK)

Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth.

Patrick II (1185–1249), called "5th Earl of Dunbar", lord of Beanley, was a 13th-century Anglo-Scottish noble, and one of the leading figures during the reign of King Alexander II of Scotland.

The failure of the revolt ensured the death of the Lordship of Galloway as a united and distinct sub-kingdom of northern Britain.

Notes

  1. Also called Gilla Ruadh, Gilleroth, Gilrod, and Gilroy.

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