Clan MacDonald
by Ken Willis
Motto: per mare per terras (by sea and land”)
Clan Donald is one of the largest Scottish clans. There are numerous branches to the clan. Several of these have chiefs recognised by theLord Lyon King of Arms; these are: Clan Macdonald of Sleat, Clan Macdonald of Clanranald, Clan MacDonell of Glengarry, Clan MacDonald of Keppoch, and Clan MacAlister. Notable branches without chiefs so-recognised are: the MacDonalds of Dunnyveg, MacDonalds of Lochalsh, the MacDonalds of Glencoe, and the MacDonalds of Ardnamurchan. The MacDonnells of Antrim do not belong to the Scottish associations and have a chief officially recognised in Ireland.
Origins
The Norse-Gaelic Clan Donald traces its descent from Dòmhnall Mac Raghnuill (d. circa 1250),[4] whose father Reginald or Ranald was styled “King of the Isles” and “Lord of Argyll and Kintyre”.[5] Ranald’s father, Somerled was styled “King of the Hebrides”, and was killed campaigning against Malcolm IV of Scotland at the Battle of Renfrew in 1164. Clan Donald shares a descent from Somerled with Clan MacDougall, who trace their lineage from his elder son, Dugall mac Somhairle.[6] Their dynasties are together commonly referred to as theClann Somhairle. Furthermore they are descended maternally from both the House of Godred Crovan and the Earls of Orkney, through Somerled’s wife Ragnhildis Ólafsdóttir, daughter of Olaf I Godredsson, King of Mann and the Isles and Ingeborg Haakonsdottir daughter ofHaakon Paulsson, Earl of Orkney. It remains uncertain if the Clann Somhairle are also descendants in some manner, through one or another of the above dynasts, of the House of Ivar, but this is commonly argued.[7]
Gaelic tradition gave Somerled a Celtic descent in the male line,[5][8] as the medieval Seanachies traced his lineage through a long line of ancestors back to the High Kings of Ireland, namely Colla Uais and Conn of the Hundred Battles.[9] Thus Clan Donald claimed to be bothClann Cholla and Siol Chuinn (Children of Colla and Seed of Conn).[10] Possibly the oldest piece of poetry attributed to the MacDonalds is abrosnachadh (an incitement to battle) which was said to have been written in 1411, on the day of the Battle of Harlaw.[10] The first lines of the poem begin “A Chlanna Cuinn cuimhnichibh / Cruas an àm na h-iorghaile,” (Ye children of Conn remember hardihood in the time of battle).[10] A later poem made to John of Islay (1434–1503), last of the MacDonald Lords of the Isles, proclaims “Ceannas Ghàidheal do Chlainn Cholla, còir fhògradh,” (The Headship of the Gael to the family of Colla, it is right to proclaim it), giving MacDonald’s genealogy back to Colla Uais.[10]
However a recent DNA study has shown that Somerled may have been of Norse descent in his male line.[11] By testing the Y-DNA of males bearing the surnames MacDonald, MacDougall, MacAlister, and their variants it was found that a substantial proportion of men tested shared the same Y-DNA and a direct paternal ancestor.[12] This distinct Y-chromosome R1a1 haplotype found in Scotland has been regarded as often showing Norse descent in the British Isles.[11] According to the Clan Donald USA DNA Project about 22% of tested participants have this signature, most importantly including the chiefs,[13] but despite the sensational claims it remains unclear whether Somerled himself was of paternal Norse ancestry. A non-paternity event remains a possible cause.[14]
Famous Battles
