depicted in the late thirteenth-century
Armorial Wijnbergen.
Ailéan mac Ruaidhrí In the wake of the Scots' acquisition of the Isles, and Dubhghall's death within the decade, Clann Ruaidhrí disappears from the Scottish historical record. When the kindred finally reemerges in 1275, it is in the person of Ailéan himself, by then a prominent Scottish magnate, and representative of Clann Ruaidhrí. That year, Magnús' illegitimate son,
Guðrøðr, led a revolt on Mann against the Scottish Crown, and Alexander III responded by sending a massive invasion force to restore royal authority. Of the recorded Scottish commanders, two were members of Clann Somhairle:
Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill, Lord of Argyll, and Ailéan himself. The Clann Somhairle dimension to this campaign, as agents of the Scottish Crown's authority, clearly exemplifies the extent at which the kindred had been incorporated into Scottish realm. In 1284, Ailéan was one of the many Scottish magnates who attended a government council at
Scone which acknowledged
Margaret, granddaughter of Alexander III, as the king's rightful heir. The inclusion of Ailéan, and two of his Clann Somhairle kinsmen—Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill and
Aonghus Mór mac Domhnaill, Lord of Islay—further illustrates the kindred's incorporation within the Scottish realm.
Lachlann Mac Ruaidhrí, and Ruaidhrí Mac Ruaidhrí depicted in the fourteenth-century
Balliol Roll. In 1293, in an effort to maintain peace in the western reaches of his realm,
John, King of Scotland established the
shrievalties of
Skye and
Lorn. The former region—consisting of
Wester Ross,
Glenelg, Skye, Lewis and Harris, Uist,
Barra,
Eigg,
Rhum, and the
Small Isles—was given to
William II, Earl of Ross, whilst the latter region—consisting of
Argyll (except
Cowal and
Kintyre),
Mull,
Jura and
Islay—was given to Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill. Despite the king's intentions, his new sheriffs seem to have used their positions to exploit royal power against local rivals. Whilst Clann Domhnaill was forced to deal with their powerful Clann Dubhghaill rivals, Clann Ruaidhrí appears to have fallen afoul of the
Earl of Ross over control of Kintail, Skye, and Uist. Evidence of the earl's actions against Clann Ruaidhrí is revealed in correspondence between him and the English Crown in 1304. In this particular communiqué, William II recalled a costly military campaign which he had conducted in the 1290s against rebellious Hebridean chieftains—including Lachlann himself—at the behest of the then-reigning John (reigned 1292–1296). Ailéan seems to have died at some point before 1296. That year,
Edward I, King of England invaded and conquered Scotland. One of the Scottish king's most ardent supporters had been Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill, a fact which appears to have led Edward I to use the former's chief rival,
Alasdair Óg Mac Domhnaill, Lord of Islay, as his principal agent in the maritime west. In this capacity, this Clann Domhnaill chief attempted to contain the Clann Dubhghaill revolt against English authority. of
Alasdair Óg Mac Domhnaill, a Clann Somhairle opponent of Lachlann and Ruaidhrí. The struggle between the two Clann Somhairle namesakes seems to be documented in two undated letters from Alasdair Óg to Edward I. Whilst the first reveals that Clann Ruaidhrí warred against Clann Domhnaill with Clann Dubhghaill, the latter letter corroborates this alignment and violence, and also evinces cooperation with the
Comyn kindred as well. These dispatches seem to reveal that Lachlann and Ruaidhrí were focused upon seizing control of Skye and Lewis and Harris from the absentee Earl of Ross, a man who endured imprisonment in England from 1296 to 1303. The bitter strife between Clann Ruaidhrí and Clann Domhnaill depicted by these letters seems to indicate that both kindreds sought to capitalise on the earl's absence, and that both sought to incorporate the islands into their own lordships. In specific regard to Clann Ruaidhrí, it is likely that their campaigning was an extension of the conflict originating from the creation of the shrievalty of Ross in 1293. There is further evidence of Clann Ruaidhrí cooperation with the Comyns in the years 1299 and 1304. Two years later,
Robert Bruce VII, Earl of Carrick, a
claimant to the Scottish throne, killed his chief rival to the kingship,
John Comyn of Badenoch. Although the former seized the throne (as Robert I) by March, the English Crown immediately struck back, defeating his forces in June. By September, Robert I was a fugitive, and appears to have escaped into the Hebrides. According to a fourteenth-century chronicle, Ailéan's daughter,
Cairistíona, played an instrumental part in Robert I's survival at this low point in his career, sheltering him along Scotland's western seaboard.
Ruaidhrí Mac Ruaidhrí, and Cairistíona Nic Ruaidhrí depicted in
Balliol roll. Lachlann disappears from record in the second decade of the century, and seems to have been succeeded by his brother, Ruaidhrí. Although Cairistíona was Ailéan's sole legitimate offspring, it is unlikely that members of Clann Ruaidhrí would have regarded legitimate birth as the sole qualification of succession. In fact, as the leading male member of Clann Ruaidhrí, it is probable that Ruaidhrí himself possessed control of the kindred's wide-ranging territories. Nevertheless, Ruaidhrí seems to have only gained formal recognition of his rights to the lordship after Cairistíona's resignation of her own claims. There is reason to suspect that Cairistíona's stake in the lordship posed a potential threat to Ruaidhrí and his descendants. Certainly she was married to a member of the comital family of Mar, a kindred that was in turn related in marriage to Robert I and his family. Furthermore, Cairistíona and her husband had a son, Ruaidhrí, who potentially could have sought royal assistance in pursuance of his mother's claims. The name Cairistíona bestowed upon this son could indicate that he was not only named after his maternal grandfather, but that he was regarded as a potential successor to the Clann Ruaidhrí lordship. Cairistíona resigned her claims with the condition that, if her brother died without a male heir, her like-named son would secure the inheritance. , depicted upon the apparent
effigy of
Feidhlimidh Ó Conchobhair, father of Dubhghall's son-in-law,
Aodh na nGall. On one hand, it is possible that the king orchestrated Ruaidhrí's succession to the lordship as a means of securing support from one of the most powerful families on the western coast. Whatever the case, Ruaidhrí was likely already regarded as the rightful chief, and the charter itself undeniably brought him under
feudal dependence of the Scottish Crown. Ruaidhrí's provincial lordship encompassed the mainland territories of
Moidart,
Arisaig,
Morar, and
Knoydart; and the island territories of Rhum, Eigg, Barra,
St Kilda, and Uist. This dominion, like the great lordships of
Annandale and
Galloway, was comparable to any of the kingdom's thirteen earldoms. There is evidence to suggest that Ruaidhrí assisted the Scottish Crown in its campaigning against the English in Ireland, and that he lost his life in the crushing Scottish defeat at the
Battle of Faughart in 1318. According to the sixteenth-century
Annals of Loch Cé, a certain "'
" and a "'" were slain in the onslaught. This source is mirrored by several other
Irish annals including the fifteenth- to sixteenth-century
Annals of Connacht, the seventeenth-century
Annals of the Four Masters, the fifteenth- to sixteenth-century
Annals of Ulster, The precise identities of the men named by such sources are unknown for certain, although they seem to have been the heads of Clann Ruaidhrí and Clann Domhnaill, and the former man may well have been Ruaidhrí himself. One set of annals describes the fallen gallowglasses as "noble". The following year, in 1317, Clann Ruaidhrí was a participant in another crushing defeat, when the forces of
Connacht vanquished those of
Bréifne. According to one set of annals, seven score gallowglasses of a certain "
Mac Ruaidri" were slain in the encounter.
Raghnall Mac Ruaidhrí, and Cairistíona Nic Ruaidhrí . According to a fourteenth-century chronicle, Cairistíona Nic Ruaidhrí was instrumental in the survival of the king early in his reign. Ruaidhrí was survived by a daughter,
Áine, and an illegitimate son,
Raghnall. The latter may well have been under age at the time of Ruaidhrí's death, Although Cairistíona is recorded to have resigned her claimed rights to a certain Artúr Caimbéal after Ruaidhrí's death, it is clear that Raghnall eventually succeeded in securing the region, and was regarded as the
chief of Clann Ruaidhrí by most of his kin. It is possible that this record refers to a member of Clann Ruaidhrí, and that it demonstrates the contrast of relations between Clann Ruaidhrí and the Scottish Crown in the 1320s and 1330s. If correct, the man in question may be identical to Raghnall himself, which could indicate that his forfeiture was related to Cairistíona's attempt to alienate the Clann Ruaidhrí estate from him and transfer it into the clutches of the
Caimbéalaigh kindred (the Campbells). Another possibility is that the forfeiture was instead ratified in response to undesirable Clann Ruaidhrí expansion into certain neighbouring regions, such as the former territories of the disinherited Clann Dubhghaill. Although Cairistíona's resignation charter to Artúr is undated, it could date to just before the forfeiture. The list of witnesses who attested this grant is remarkable, and may reveal that the charter had royal approval. These men all seem to have been close adherents of Robert I against Clann Dubhghaill, and all represented families of power along the western seaboard. An alliance of such men may well have been an intimidating prospect to the Clann Ruaidhrí leadership. In fact, the forfeiture could have been personally reinforced by Robert I, as the king seems to have travelled to
Tarbert Castle—a royal stronghold in
Kintyre—within the same year. was constructed by
Áine Nic Ruaidhrí. According to the fourteenth-century chronicle, it was one of the principal fortresses along the western seaboard. Unlike the
First War of Scottish Independence, in which Clann Ruaidhrí participated, Raghnall and his family are not known to have taken part in the
second war (from 1332 to 1341). In fact, Raghnall certainly appears on record by 1337, when he aided his third cousin,
Eóin Mac Domhnaill I, Lord of the Isles, in the latter's efforts to receive a
papal dispensation to marry Raghnall's sister, Áine, in 1337. At the time, Raghnall and Eóin were apparently supporters of
Edward Balliol, a claimant to the Scottish throne who held power in the realm from 1332 to 1336. By June 1343, however, both Raghnall and Eóin were reconciled with Edward's rival, the reigning son of Robert I,
David II, King of Scotland, and Raghnall himself was confirmed in the Clann Ruaidhrí lordship by the king. depicted in
Balliol Roll. At about this time, Raghnall received the rights to
Kintail from
William III, Earl of Ross, a transaction which was confirmed by the king that July. There is reason to suspect that the king's recognition of this grant may have been intended as a regional counterbalance of sorts, since he also diverted the rights to Skye from Eóin to William III. It is also possible that Clann Ruaidhrí power had expanded into the coastal region of Kintail at some point after the death of
William III's father in 1333, during a period when William III may have been either a minor or exiled from the country. Whatever the case, the earl seems to have had little choice but to relinquish his rights to Kintail to Raghnall. Bitterness between these two magnates appears to be evidenced in dramatic fashion by the assassination of Raghnall and several of his followers at the hands of the earl and his adherents. Raghnall's murder, at
Elcho Priory in October 1346, is attested by several non-contemporaneous sources. At the time of his demise, Raghnall had been obeying the king's
muster at
Perth, in preparation for the Scots' imminent invasion of England. Following the deed, William III deserted the royal host, and fled to the safety of his domain. Although he was later to pay dearly for this act of disloyalty, the episode itself evidences the earl's determination to deal with the threat of encroachment of Clann Ruaidhrí power into what he regarded as his own domain. Despite this dramatic removal of William III's main rival, the most immediate beneficiary of the killing was Eóin, a man who was also William III's brother-in-law.
Diminishment in 1346. Following Raghnall's death, control of the Clann Ruaidhrí estate passed to Eóin by right of Áine. Although the latter appears to have been either dead or divorced from Eóin by 1350, the Clann Ruaidhrí territories evidently remained in Clann Domhnaill possession after Eóin's subsequent marriage to Margaret, daughter of
Robert Stewart, Steward of Scotland. David himself died in 1371, and was succeeded by his uncle, Robert Stewart (as Robert II). In 1372, the recently crowned king confirmed Eóin's rights to the former Clann Ruaidhrí territories. The year after that, Robert II confirmed Eóin's grant of these lands to
Raghnall Mac Domhnaill—Eóin and Áine's eldest surviving son—a man apparently named after Raghnall himself. , a region that appears to have been granted to a member of Clann Ruaidhrí. Although severely diminished, there is evidence indicating that Clann Ruaidhrí continued on for several generations. Members of the family were noted gallowglasses in Ireland at about this time. One such man, the gallowglass commander of
Toirdhealbhach Ó Conchobhair, King of Connacht was notably slain in 1342. The annal-entries noting this man are the last sources to specifically note Clann Ruaidhrí gallowglasses in Ireland. Nevertheless, there is reason to suspect that a certain Eóghan—granted the
thanage of
Glen Tilt by Robert Stewart at some point before 1346—was an Irish-based brother of Raghnall and Áine, brought back to Scotland to serve the military forces of the expanding Steward. As in Scotland, it seems that the Clann Ruaidhrí ruling line dwindled and faded away in Ireland in the fourteenth century. The attempt by Cairistíona to divert the Clann Ruaidhrí lordship into the hands of Artúr Caimbéal, almost a century before, could indicate that Alasdair Mac Ruaidhrí and Eóin Mac Artair had continued a feud that stemmed from Cairistíona's contested inheritance and her connections with the Caimbéalaigh. (MS 1467) showing Clann Ruaidhrí pedigrees. Another family that may have benefited from connections from Clann Ruaidhrí was
Clann Néill of Barra. In 1427, Giolla Adhamhnáin Mac Néill is recorded to have been granted Barra and Boisdale from
Alasdair Mac Domhnaill, Lord of the Isles. Giolla Adhamhnáin's father was Ruaidhrí Mac Néill, a man who appears on record (without a
territorial designation) in 1409. The fact that Ruaidhrí Mac Néill seems to be the first member of Clann Néill to have borne a name alluding to Clann Ruaidhrí, coupled with the fact that Giolla Adhamhnáin is known to have held Barra and Boisdale—insular territories formerly controlled by Clann Ruaidhrí—could indicate that Clann Néill's right to these lands came through a line of descent from a Clann Ruaidhrí heiress. On one hand, this could indicate that Ruaidhrí Mac Néill's father, Murchadh Mac Néill, had married a daughter of Raghnall. On the other hand, Giolla Adhamhnáin's charter appears to indicate that the estates passed into the possession of his family by way of its descent from his maternal grandmother, a woman who could have been an heiress of Clann Ruaidhrí. Another possibility is that Clann Néill's stake in the region specifically rested upon a marital alliance with Clann Domhnaill. In fact, the seventeenth-century
Sleat History claims that Clann Néill gained Boisdale from Áine's son, Gofraidh Mac Domhnaill. ==Notes==