Suibne mac Cináeda (d.1034) is the first recorded king of the
Gall-ghàidhil, the people of Galloway, although it is not until about 1138 that the succession is properly recorded. The Dynasty of Fergus appears to have continued until 1234 and the Laws of Galloway remained in force until 1426. It is thought that these laws originally derived their authority from the kings of Galloway. Contrary to some popular conceptions, there is no evidence that Galloway was ever part of the
Kingdom of Strathclyde. It does not logically follow from that that Galloway (west of the
Nith at least) lay outside the traditional area claimed by the
Kingdom of Alba, Strathclyde's
successor state in the area. Galloway, often defined as all of the area to the south and west of the
Clyde and west of the
River Annan, acknowledged the kings of Scotland as Ard Rí or over-king when politic. The year before his death, Fergus resigned Galloway into the hands of
King Mael Coluim IV of Scotland. Though it formed part of the northern mainland of Britain, Galloway was just as much a part of the Irish Sea; part of that Hiberno-Norse world of the
Gall-Gaidhel lords of the
Isle of Man,
Dublin and the
Hebrides. The ex-King of Dublin and Man,
Echmarcach mac Ragnaill, had the title
Rex Innarenn (possibly "
King of the Rhinns") attributed to him on his death in 1065. The western sections of Galloway had been firmly aligned with the Isle of Man, and Norse and Gaelic-Norse settlement names from the 10th and 11th centuries are spread all along the coastal lands of south-western "Scotland" and north-western "England".
Magnus III In the late 11th century, the Norwegian King
Magnus III Berrføtt ("Barefoot") led a campaign of subjugation in the Irish Sea area. In 1097, he sent his vassal,
Ingimundr, to take control of the Kingdom of the Isles. However, when this man was killed, Magnus himself launched the first of his two invasions, the campaigns of 1098-1099 and of 1102-1103. In the former campaign, he took control of the
Western Isles of Scotland, and deposed King
Lagmann of Man. (Incidentally, this campaign also brought him to Wales, where he killed
the Earl of Chester and
the Earl of Shrewsbury, who were at war with
the Prince of Gwynedd.) In this campaign, Magnus almost certainly brought Galloway under his suzerainty too. Magnus, moreover, gained the recognition of these conquests from the then-king of
Alba,
Etgair mac Maíl Coluim. On his second campaign, Magnus went to Man, and with a huge fleet attacked Dublin and attempted to force the submission of
Muircertach mac Toirrdelbach, the
Uí Briain King of
Munster. The campaign resulted in an alliance between the two kings, and the arranged marriage of Magnus' son
Siguðr to Muircertach's daughter
Bjaðmunjo. The alliance mitigated the threat of
Domnall Ua Lochlainn, King of
Ailech, bringing stability to the Irish Sea world, and security to Magnus' new Irish Sea "Empire." However, it all went wrong when Magnus was killed on his way back to Norway on a minor raid in
Ulster. Much of Magnus' work lay in ruins.
Fergusan Dynasty (coloured green) and surrounding lordships in the twelfth century. The
Diocese of Whithorn encompassed all Gallovidan regions except
Desnes Ioan, which fell under the Scottish
Diocese of Glasgow, and appears to have been only incorporated into the lordship during the tenure of Fergus' sons.
Fergus of Galloway took the throne of Galloway some time between 1110 and 1120. When he died in 1161 the year after taking canonical habit in Holyrood, according to the Chronicle of Holyrood, and resigning Galloway to Scotland’s King Mael Coluim IV, Galloway was left to his two sons,
Uchtred and
Gille Brigte (Gilbert). In 1174 Uchtred died after being brutally blinded and mutilated by his brother Gille Brigte and Gille Brigte's son, Máel Coluim (Malcolm). When Gilla Brigte died a few years later, in a meeting between the kings of Scotland and England and the two sons of Uchtred and Gille Brigte, it was agreed that Uchtred's son
Lochlann (Roland) would take possession of the southern part of Galloway. Gilla Brigte's surviving son
Donnchad (Duncan) was given the northern part, being made
1st Earl/Mormaer of Carrick. Lochlann married Helen, the daughter of
Richard de Moreville,
Constable of Scotland, and inherited his father-in-law's title. Their son
Alan of Galloway was the most powerful of the lords and upon his death in 1234, his holdings were divided between his three daughters and their husbands. However, an attempt was made, within Galloway, to establish Alan's illegitimate son
Thomas as ruler, but this failed when King
Alexander II of Scotland broke the line of rejected such claim for an illegitimate son to take over. In response,
Gille Ruadh led a revolt against Alexander. The attempt failed resulting in Galloway being divided amongst Alan's three living daughters who were married to Anglo-Normans,
Roger de Quincy (married to
Ela),
John de Balliol (married to
Derborgaill) and
William de Forz (married to
Cairistiona). Galloway's period as an independent political entity eventually came to an end with John de Balliol delegated as Lord.
Douglas Lords In 1369,
Archibald the Grim had been appointed Lord of Galloway by
David II of Scotland, "becaus he tuke git trawell to purge the cuntrey of Englis blude". Later he would construct his mighty fortress of
Thrieve, near present-day
Castle Douglas. •
Archibald Douglas, Lord of Galloway •
Archibald Douglas Lord of Galloway •
Archibald Douglas, Lord of Galloway •
Margaret Douglas, Fair Maid of Galloway ==List of lords of Galloway==