Beginnings Kintyre, like Knapdale, contains several
Stone Age sites; at
Ballochroy is a trio of
megaliths aligned with land features on the
island of Jura, while a number of burial cairns still stand at
Blasthill (near
Southend, Argyll). Remains from the
Iron Age are no less present, with the imposing
Dun Skeig, a
Celtic hillfort, located at the northern edge of Kintyre. The history of the presumed
Pictish inhabitants of Kintyre is not recorded, but a 2nd-century BC stone fort survives at
Kildonan (near
Saddell), and it is not implausible that they continued to use Dun Skeig. The tip of Kintyre is just from
Ulster, and there has long been interaction across the
straits of Moyle, as evidenced by Neolithic finds in Kintyre, such as flint tools characteristic of
Antrim. In the early first millennium, an Irish invasion led to
Gaelic colonisation of an area centred on the Kintyre peninsula, establishing the Gaelic kingdom of
Dál Riata. The latter was divided into a handful of regions, controlled by particular kin groups, of which the most powerful, the
Cenél nGabráin, ruled over Kintyre, along with
Knapdale, the region between
Loch Awe and
Loch Fyne (
Craignish,
Ardscotnish,
Glassary, and
Glenary),
Arran, and
Moyle (in
Ulster). The kingdom thrived for a few centuries, and formed a springboard for Christianisation of the mainland.
Sanda, an island adjacent the south coast of Kintyre, is strongly associated with
Ninian, the first known missionary to the Picts, and contains an early 5th century chapel said to have been built by him. In 563,
Columba arrived in Kintyre, to pay his respects to the kings of Dal Riata, before continuing to
Iona, where he established a base for missionary activity throughout the Pictish regions beyond.
Norwegian dominion Dál Riata was ultimately destroyed when
Norse Vikings invaded, and established their own domain, spreading more extensively over the islands north and west of the mainland. Following the unification of
Norway, they had become the Norwegian
Kingdom of the Isles, locally controlled by
Godred Crovan, and known by Norway as
Suðreyjar (Old Norse, traditionally anglicised as
Sodor), meaning
southern isles. The former territory of Dal Riata acquired the geographic description
Argyle (now
Argyll): the
Gaelic coast. In 1093,
Magnus, the Norwegian king, launched a military campaign to assert his authority over the isles.
Malcolm, the king of Scotland, responded with a written agreement, accepting that Magnus' had sovereign authority of over all the western lands that Magnus could encircle by boat. The unspecific wording led Magnus to have his boat dragged across the narrow
isthmus at
Tarbert, while he rode within it, so that he would thereby acquire Kintyre, in addition to the more natural
islands of Arran and Bute. Supposedly, Magnus's campaign had been part of a conspiracy against Malcolm, by
Donalbain, Malcolm's younger brother. When
Malcolm was killed in battle a short time later, Donalbain invaded, seized the Scottish kingdom, and displaced Malcolm's sons from the throne; on becoming king, Donalbain confirmed Magnus' gains. Donalbain's apparent keenness to do this, however, weakened his support among the nobility, and Malcolm's son,
Duncan, was able to depose him. A few years later, following a rebellion against Magnus' authority in the Isles, he launched another, fiercer, expedition. In 1098, aware of Magnus' actions, the new Scottish king,
Edgar (another son of Malcolm),
quitclaimed to Magnus all sovereign authority over the isles, and the whole of Kintyre and Knapdale. In the mid 12th century,
Somerled, the husband of Godred Crovan's granddaughter, led a successful revolt against Norway, transforming Suðreyjar (including Kintyre) into an independent kingdom. After his death, nominal Norwegian authority was re-established, but de facto authority was split between Somerled's sons and the
Crovan dynasty. The exact allocation to Somerled's sons is unclear, but following a family dispute,
Donald, Somerled's grandson, acquired Kintyre, together with Knapdale,
Islay, and
Jura. Donald's father,
Reginald, established
Saddell Abbey, in 1207. In the mid 13th century, increased tension between Norway and Scotland led to a series of Battles, culminating in the
Battle of Largs, shortly after which
the Norwegian king died. In 1266, his more peaceable successor ceded his nominal authority over Suðreyjar to the Scottish king (
Alexander III) by the
Treaty of Perth, in return for a very large sum of money. Although Alexander III generally acknowledged the semi-independent authority of Somerled's heirs, he did not give them back control of the mainland territory which Scottish forces had taken during the strife, including parts of Kintyre.
Early Scottish rule In 1293, king
John Balliol established
shrieval authority by creating the post of
sheriff of Kintyre. Shortly after,
Robert de Bruys launched a civil war challenging John for the throne. By this point, Somerled's descendants had formed into three families - the
MacRory, the
MacDougalls, and the
MacDonalds; the MacDougalls took John's side, while the MacDonalds and MacRory backed de Bruys. When de Bruys defeated John, he declared the MacDougall lands forfeit, and gave them to the MacDonalds.
The head of the MacDonald family married
the heir of the MacRory family, thereby acquiring the remaining share of Somerled's realm, and transforming it into the
Lordship of the Isles, which lasted for over a century. After 4 years and 3 children, however, he divorced Amy, and married Margaret, the daughter of
Robert II, the Scottish king, who gave him the remaining parts of Kintyre, along with the whole of Knapdale, as a dowry. In 1462, however,
John, the then Lord of the Isles, plotted with
the English king to conquer Scotland;
civil war in England delayed the discovery of this for a decade. Upon the discovery, in 1475, there was a call for forfeiture, but a year later John calmed the matter, by quitclaiming Ross (Easter, Wester, and Skye), Kintyre, and Knapdale, to Scotland.
The Campbells and later At an uncertain date before 1481, the sheriffdom of Kintyre became
Tarbertshire, based at
Tarbert at the northern end of Kintyre; in that year, Tarbertshire was expanded to include Knapdale. However,
comital authority remained absent following the
quitclaim from the Lord of the Isles; following a law and order crisis in the region, king
James IV of Scotland appointed
Archibald Campbell, the Earl of Argyll as governor of
Tarbert Castle, with implied authority over nearby castles such as
Skipness. Following the
Scottish Reformation, the MacDonalds (opponents) and
Campbells (supporters) came into more direct dispute. In 1607, after a series of hostile actions by the MacDonalds, King
James VI ordered their lands in Kintyre to be transferred to
Archibald Campbell, heir of the earlier Archibald. Under pressure from the
Campbells, the
sheriff court moved to
Inveraray at the extreme northeast of Tarbertshire, near the heart of Campbell power; somewhat inevitably, in 1633 shrieval authority was annexed by the
sheriff of Argyll.
Archibald's son, a dedicated supporter of
the religious reformers, developed a plan to establish a large settlement, around the village of Kinlochkilkerran, at the south of Kintyre, composed of loyal
Presbyterians from
Lowland Scotland, in order to outnumber and undermine the local
Catholic population, and reduce resistance to the state's religious reforms. Under his son,
Archibald, this became
Campbeltown. Their actions also had the effect of diluting Gaelic culture, gradually replacing it with a Lowlands one.
Comital powers were abolished by the
Heritable Jurisdictions Act, leaving only the shrieval unit. In 1899, counties were formally created, on shrieval boundaries, by
a Scottish Local Government Act; Kintyre became part of the
County of Argyll. Following late 20th century reforms, it is now within the wider region of
Argyll and Bute. ==Towns and villages in Kintyre==