The
first recorded arrival of the Gallowglass
was in 1259. Prince Aedh O’Connor of Connaught, son of King Feidhlim married a
princess, daughter of Dubhgall MacRory King of the Hebrides. As part of her dowry
she brought with her a force of 160 Gallowglasses. They came for the most part
from Inse Ghall (The Hebrides) and were Gaelic speaking Scots with Vikings. Because
of their Viking blood they earned the name from the words gall (foreign) and óglaigh
(a warrior). The Scots themselves were Irish, mainly the Dal Riada from North
Ireland who had traveled to Western Scotland and Hebrides.
| They earned their reputation the hard way, and were the biggest
reason the chiefs Ui Neill slowed the English advance northward from the Pale
several hundred years. Many of them got grants of land from the Irish chiefs and
went on to found some of the most respected septs of the Ireland. The best known
of there are: MacSúibhne (MacSweeney), MacDomhnaill (MacDonnell), MacSíothaigh
(MacSheehy), MacDubhgaill (MacDougall), MacCaba (MacCabe) and MacRuari (MacRory).
Lesser known Gallowglass families include MacAulay, MacSorley, MacNeill, MacGreal,
MacAnGhearr (Short/ Shortt / McGirr), MacAnGallóglaigh (MacGallogly / English),
MacClean (MacAlean / MacLean / MacClane), MacAilín (MacCawell / Campbell
/ MacCampbell / Allen / MacEllin), MacAlister (MacEllistrum / MacAllister / MacAlistrum),
MacAlexander, Agnew (O’Gnimh / O’Gnimha / O’Gnive) and MacPhaidín (MacFadden).
|
The Clann Dubhghaill
or MacDougals (Mac Dubhghaill) descend from Dubhghaill, King of the Hebrides and
Lord of Lorn (North Argyle) who was the son of the great Somerled and brother
of Reginald (or Ranald), ancestor
of the Clann Dhomnuill, or MacDonalds. Lorn was held by Dubhghaill under the Scottish
crown, while the Hebridian islands under his control were held of the King of
Norway. Dunollie Castle in Oban Bay was the principal stronghold of the MacDougal
chiefs, whose power declined after their defeat at the hands of King Robert I
the Bruce in the Pass of Brander in 1309. The MacDougals were related by marriage
to the Bruce’s rivals, the Cummins, and thus backed them during the period leading
up to the battle of Bannockburn in 1314. As a result, the MacDougals were forfeited
and lost their vast island territories, although they were later restored to the
mainland Lordship of Lorn by King David II (after their seventh chief married
a granddaughter of Robert I). Eventually the MacDougalls lost the lordship of
Lorn, which (like many other old Scottish Dignities) passed almost inevitably
to the covetous House of Stewart. The family further suffered as a result of their
support for the Jacobite cause during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Nevertheless, based upon their proverbial connection with Lorn, the family has
ever been known, both officially and informally, as the MacDougalls of Lorn.
The
Scots had likewise, at an early period, their kerns and galloglasses; and in Shakespeare's
Macbeth is mentioned -- "the merciless MacDonald from
the Western Isles (or Hebrides), with his kerns and gallowglasses." Dalriada,
The MacDonnells of the Hebrides landing in Antrim and Derry early 13th century.
The clan would eventually split from Muircertach
of the Leather Cloaks into two affiliated entities, the "MacNeill" of Bara,
and the "McNeill" of Gigha/Colonsay, under Torquil MacNeil in 1427. While both
assumed their own Crests and Tartans, for centuries the McNeill of Gigha/Colonsay
bore allegiance to the Chieftains of Barra . After 1493 the two branches of MacNeils
took opposite sides in the long running feud between the MacDonalds of Islay and
the MacLeans of Duart, Barra MacNeils sided with the MacLeans while the Gigha
MacNeils fought on the side of the Clan Donald.
In 1493, following the
forfeiture of the Lords of the Isles, a feud erupted between the Clan MacLean
of Duart and the Clan MacDonald of Islay and Kintyre. The MacNeill's of Bara sided
with the MacLean's [for whom they had been hereditary pipers and harpists] while
the McNeills of Gigha/Colonsay allied themselves with the MacDonalds.
In one of the earliest references to their appearance the Annals of the Four Masters,
records the death of a Scottish galloglass captain "MacNeill", who was killed
fighting for the O'Rourke's. The O'Rourkes's owned vast landholdings and were
the dominant clan in what was later to be County Leitrim. In the Gaelic divisions
which preceded the seventeenth century, most of Leitrim, along with Cavan, was
part of the kingdom of Bréifne. Leitrim became known as Bréifne
O’Rourke, while Cavan was Bréifne O’Reilly. The O’Rourkes ruled the territory
for more than 700 years until the final dispossessions of the seventeenth century.
A number of the sept (branch of a clan) remained in the North West of Ireland
and became established in Hi Fiachrach, which at one time encompassed what is
now Mayo and Sligo in Connaught. The McGrails were described in Milesian Families
as being of the "Hy-Brune" tribe. Some sources claim that the McGrail Clan is
of Dalriadan origin, and specifically from the line of King Dalriadan Fergus Mor
MacEarca. This King was banished from Ireland along with 350 chiftains, in 327
AD.
In the 17th and 18th Century, the McNeill's sent 58 families from the
Western Isles of Scotland to Ireland, and they originally settled in Antrim and
Derry. This was a time of great social upheaval and religious turmoil in Scotland,
where the native Catholic population was being forced to convert to the "new"
church. Those who resisted were either banished, hanged, or burned alive. Many
of the MacNeills, however, remained true to their Faith, owing in part, to the
strength of their Chieftains and the might of their arms in the Hebrides and Western
Isles.
A branch of the Dumbartonshire MacAulays came to the Glens of Antrim
with the MacDonnells in the early sixteenth century and these are the ancestors
of most of the MacAuleys in Co. Antrim. In the mid-nineteenth century MacAuley
was the most common name in the barony of Lower Glenarm and was also very common
in Carey. This Donegal name
is from MacColl, Gaelic Mac Colla, the name of a gallowglass family introduced
there from Argyllshire in the sixteenth century. Colla was a Gaelic personal name
and Colla Uais, a semi-legendary Irish king of the fourth century, is claimed
as the great ancestor of the MacDonalds. The MacCalls or MacColls, long settled
in Argyllshire, were of the race of Clan Donald but in practice followed the Stewarts
of Appin. Although of no connection with the Ulster MacCalls or MacCauls, there
has been some intermingling of the two names (MacCall).
Some notable Chieftains
of Bara include Neil MacNeill (5th chief) who led the Clan in helping defeat the
Norse at the Battle of Largs in 1293. His son, fought with Robert the Bruce. In
the 1600's the15th chief, Rauri MacNeill ("Rauri the Turbulent") , was a skilled
seaman and notorious pirate, who used Castle Kisimul as his base of operation
and stronghold. He was imprisoned in Edinburgh in 1610 after being deposed by
his nephew and replaced by his son. The MacNeill Clan fought on the side of the
Jacobites in 1715, and were led by Roderich Dhu (18th chief). Later, in the aftermath
of the second rebellion, the English would invade Bara in their hunt for Charles
Edward Stewart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie"), and the reigning MacNeill arrested and
held for a yeare in London.