Aonghus Óg of Islay

Familial background

Aonghus Óg was a younger son of Aonghus Mór mac Domhnaill, Lord of Islay (died c.1293), chief of Clann Domhnaill. The latter last appears on record in 1293, when he was listed as one of the principal landholders in Argyll. At about this period, the territories possessed by the kindred comprised Kintyre, Islay, southern Jura, and perhaps Colonsay and Oronsay. Clann Domhnaill was a branch of Clann Somhairle. Other branches included Clann Dubhghaill—the senior-most—and Clann Ruaidhrí. Aonghus Óg's mother was a member of the Caimbéalaigh kindred (the Campbells). According to Hebridean tradition preserved by the seventeenth-century Sleat History, she was a daughter of Cailéan Mór Caimbéal (died c.1296), a leading member of the Caimbéalaigh. Aonghus Óg had a sister who married Domhnall Óg Ó Domhnaill, King of Tír Chonaill (died 1281); an older brother, Alasdair Óg (died 1299?), who appears to have succeeded their father by 1296; and another brother, Eóin Sprangach, ancestor of the Ardnamurchan branch of Clann Domhnaill.

In English service against Scottish patriots

When Alexander III, King of Scotland died in 1286, his acknowledged heir was his granddaughter, Margaret (died 1290). Although this Norwegian girl was accepted by the magnates of the realm, and betrothed to the heir of Edward I, King of England (died 1307), she perished on her journey to Scotland, and her death triggered a succession crisis. The leading claimants to kingship were Robert Bruce, Lord of Annandale (died 1295) and John Balliol, Lord of Galloway (died 1314). By common consent, Edward I was invited to arbitrate the dispute. In 1292, John Balliol's claims were accepted, and he was duly inaugurated as King of Scotland. Unfortunately for this king, his ambitious English counterpart systematically undermined his authority, and his reign lasted only about four years. In 1296, after the Scottish king ratified a military treaty with France, and refused to hand over Scottish castles to Edward I's control, the English marched north and crushed the Scots at Dunbar. Edward I's forces proceeded forward virtually unopposed, whereupon Scotland fell under English control.

The chief of Clann Dubhghaill in the last quarter of the thirteenth century and first decade of the next was Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill, Lord of Argyll (died 1310). The wife of this pre-eminent magnate—and mother of Eóin Mac Dubhghaill (died 1316), his son and successor—was almost certainly a member of the Comyn kindred, a family closely bound to the Balliol family. During the short Balliol regime, Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill had been appointed Sheriff of Lorn, a position which made him the Scottish Crown's representative throughout much of the western seaboard, including Clann Domhnaill and Caimbéalaigh territories. If tradition preserved by the seventeenth-century Ane Accompt of the Genealogie of the Campbells is to be believed, Clann Dubhghaill overcame and slew Cailéan Mór in the 1290s. Certainly, Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill came into bloody conflict with his Clann Domhnaill counterpart during the decade.

This Clann Somhairle infighting appears to have stemmed from Alasdair Óg's marriage to an apparent member of Clann Dubhghaill, and seems to have concerned this woman's territorial claims. Although the opposing chiefs swore to postpone their disagreement in 1292, and uphold the peace in the "isles and outlying territories", the struggle continued throughout the 1290s. Clann Dubhghaill authority along the western seaboard was seriously threatened by about 1296, when Alasdair Óg was acting as Edward I's royal representative in the region. Certainly, Alasdair Óg appealed to the English king regarding Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill's ravaging of Clann Domhnaill territories in 1297, and may well be identical to the like-named Clann Domhnaill dynast who was recorded slain against Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill two years later. If this identification is indeed correct, this could have been the point when Aonghus Óg succeeded Alasdair Óg as chief. Seemingly in 1301, whilst in the service of the English Crown, Aonghus Óg inquired of Edward I as to whether he and Hugh Bisset (fl. 1301) were authorised to conduct military operations against Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill, and entreated the king on behalf of Lachlann Mac Ruaidhrí (fl. 1297–1307/1308) and (the latter's brother) Ruaidhrí Mac Ruaidhrí (died 1318?)—who were then aiding Aonghus Óg's English-aligned military forces—to grant the Clann Ruaidhrí brothers feu of their ancestral lands. The fact that Aonghus Óg styled himself "of Islay" in his letter could be evidence that he was indeed acting as chief at this point. Another letter, this one from Hugh to Edward I, reveals that Hugh, Eóin Mac Suibhne (fl. 1261–1301), and Aonghus Óg himself, were engaged in maritime operations against Clann Dubhghaill that year.

Shift of allegiance to the Bruce cause

In February 1306, Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick (died 1329), a claimant to the Scottish throne, murdered his chief rival to the kingship, John Comyn, Lord 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 seems to have escaped into the Hebrides. There is no certain record of Aonghus Óg between 1301 and 1306. If the fourteenth-century historian John Barbour (died 1395) is to be believed, however, Aonghus Óg played an instrumental part in Robert I's survival. Specifically, John Barbour's The Bruce relates that, after Robert I was defeated at Methven and Dalry in the summer of 1306, the king fled into the mountains and made for the coast of Kintyre, where he was protected by Aonghus Óg himself. Although the The Bruce maintains that Aonghus Óg harboured the king at Dunaverty Castle, contemporary evidence reveals that Robert I's men were already in possession of the fortress by March, having acquired it from a certain Maol Coluim (died 1307?). In fact, in the immediate aftermath of John Comyn's murder, Robert I secured control of several western fortresses (including that of Dunaverty), seemingly in an effort to keep a lane open for military assistance from Ireland or the Hebrides.

According to The Bruce, Robert I stayed at the castle for three days before fleeing to Rathlin Island. There is reason to suspect that John Barbour conflated his account of the king's landing on the island and his flight to the castle. These incidents could therefore refer to one episode in which the king fled Kintyre to a Clann Domhnaill castle on Islay—perhaps Dunyvaig Castle—the next northern-most island. Certainly, contemporary sources reveal that Dunaverty Castle succumbed to an English-backed siege in September. Quite where Robert I fled to after leaving Kinytre is uncertain. He could have spent time in the Hebrides, Ulster, or Orkney. Certainly, the fourteenth-century Gesta Annalia II states that the king was assisted by Cairistíona Nic Ruaidhrí (fl. 1290–1318)—a woman with Hebridean connections—and it is possible that the king indeed set sail for a Clann Ruaidhrí or Clann Domhnaill island. Certainly, Edward I himself thought that Robert I was hidden somewhere amongst the "Isles on the Scottish coast".

The catalyst behind Clann Domhnaill's shift of allegiance from Edward I to Robert I likely lies in local Hebridean politics rather than Scottish patriotism. Whilst Edward I's destruction of the Balliol regime in 1296 resulted in Clann Dubhghaill finding itself out of favour with the English regime, Clann Domhnaill seems to have sided with the English Crown in an effort to earn royal support in its localised power struggle with Clann Dubhghaill. To the leading kindreds on the western seaboard, internecine rivalries appear to have been more of a concern than the greater war over the Scottish Crown. Aonghus Óg's documented service to the English Crown in the years after Alasdair Óg's apparent death was almost certainly undertaken in the context of pursuing his kindred's struggle against Clann Dubhghaill. Pressure from Clann Domhnaill and other supporters of the English Crown evidently compelled Clann Dubhghaill into coming onside with the English in the first years of the fourteenth century. Whilst Robert I's subsequent murder of John Comyn undoubtedly galvanised Clann Dubhghaill's new-found alignment with Edward I, it also precipitated Clann Domhnaill's realignment of support from the English Crown to the Bruce cause. Although Edward I ordered Hugh and John Menteith (died 1323?) to sweep the western seaboard with their fleets in 1307, the evanescent Scottish monarch remained at large, seemingly harboured by Clann Domhnaill and Clann Ruaidhrí.

Rewarded service to the Scottish Crown, and a contested chiefship

In 1307, at about the time of Edward I's death in July, Robert I mounted his remarkable return to power, first striking into Carrick in about February. By 1309, Robert I's opponents had been largely overcome, and he held his first parliament as king. Clann Domhnaill clearly benefited from their support of the Bruce cause. Although no royal charters associated with the kindred exist from this period, there are seventeenth-century charter indices that note several undated royal grants. For instance, Aonghus Óg was granted the former Comyn lordship of Lochaber and the adjacent regions of Ardnamurchan, Morvern, Duror, and Glencoe; whilst a certain Alasdair Mac Domhnaill received the former Clann Dubhghaill islands of Mull and Tiree.

Although the indices fail to note any Clann Domhnaill grants concerning Islay and Kintyre it is not inconceivable that the kindred received grants of these territories as well. Later in the fourteenth century, Aonghus Óg's son, Eóin Mac Domhnaill, was granted the territories of Ardnamurchan, Colonsay, Gigha, Glencoe, Jura, Kintyre, Knapdale, Lewis, Lochaber, Morvern, Mull, and Skye. It is possible that the basis for many of these grants laid in the kindred's military support of the Bruce cause, and stemmed from concessions grained from the embattled king in about 1306. If this was indeed the case, the fact that Robert I later granted a significant portion of these territories (Lochaber, Kintyre, Skye, and lands in Argyll) to other magnates suggests that his conceivable concessions to Clann Domhnaill may have been undertaken with some reluctance.

There is reason to suspect that the Clann Domhnaill chiefship was contested during this period. For example, the royal grants to Aonghus Óg and Alasdair Mac Domhnaill—a man whose identity is uncertain—could be evidence that these two were competitors. Furthermore, another apparent claimant to the chiefship, a certain Domhnall styled "of Islay"—whose identity is likewise uncertain—was present at the parliament of 1309. Furthermore, The Bruce states that when Robert I fled to Dunaverty Castle in 1306 he was fearful of treason during his stay there. Although this source further claims that Aonghus Óg lent the king assistance at the castle there may be reason to question this identification. The Bruce was certainly influenced by later political realitites, and was composed during the reign of Robert II, King of Scotland (reign 1371–1390), the father-in-law of (Aonghus Óg's son) Eóin Mac Domhnaill. The fact that this son of Aonghus Óg ruled as chief when the poem was composed could account for the remarkably favourable light in which Aonghus Óg is portrayed. Furthermore, the claim that Aonghus Óg was Lord of Kintyre at the time of the Dunaverty episode could be a result of the fact that, by the time the The Bruce was composed, Eóin Mac Domhnaill was married to a daughter of the Robert II, and had gained this contested lordship by way of her tocher.

Participation in the Battle of Bannockburn

In about November 1313, Robert I declared that his opponents had one year to come into his peace or suffer permanent disinheritance. Seemingly in consequence of this declaration, Edward II announced a massive invasion of Scotland. On 23–24 June, the English and Scottish royal armies clashed near Stirling at what became known as the Battle of Bannockburn. Although there are numerous accounts of the battle, one of the most important sources is The Bruce, which specifies that the Scottish army was divided into several battalions. According to this source, the king's battalion was composed of men from Carrick, Argyll, Kintyre, the Hebrides, and the Scottish Lowlands. Although the size of the opposing armies is uncertain, the Scottish force was undoubtedly smaller than that of English, and may well have numbered somewhere between five thousand and ten thousand. The battle resulted in one of the worst military defeats suffered by the English. Amongst the Hebridean contingent, the The Bruce notes Aonghus Óg himself. According to this source, the king's battalion played a significant part in the conflict: for although it had hung back during the onset of hostilities, the battalion engaged the English at critical point in the fray. Whatever the case, just as with the episode at Dunaverty, John Barbour's association of Aonghus Óg with Bannockburn could well be influenced by later political realities.

Clann Domhnaill's part in the Bruce campaign in Ireland

Aonghus Óg—or at least a close relative—may have played a part in the Scottish Crown's later campaigning against the Anglo-Irish in Ireland. In 1315, Robert I's younger brother, Edward Bruce, Earl of Carrick (died 1318), launched an invasion of Ireland and claimed the high-kingship of Ireland. For three years, the Scots and their Irish allies campaigned on the island against the Anglo-Irish and their allies. Although every other pitched-battle between the Scots and the Anglo-Irish resulted in a Scottish victory, the utter catastrophe at the Battle of Faughart cost Edward his life and brought an end to the Bruce regime in Ireland. According to the sixteenth-century Annals of Loch Cé, a certain "Mac Ruaidhri ri Innsi Gall" and a "Mac Domnaill, ri Oirir Gaidheal" were slain in the onslaught. This source is mirrored by several other Irish annals including the fifteenth–sixteenth-century Annals of Connacht, the seventeenth-century Annals of the Four Masters, the fifteenth–sixteenth-century Annals of Ulster, and the seventeenth-century Annals of Clonmacnoise. The precise identities of these men are unknown for certain, although they could well have been the heads of Clann Ruaidhrí and Clann Domhnaill. Whilst the slain member of Clann Ruaidhrí seems to have been Ruaidhrí, the identity of the Clann Domhnaill dynast is much less certain. He could have been Alasdair Óg (if this man was not the one who had been killed in 1299), or perhaps a son of Alasdair Óg. Another possibility is that he was Aonghus Óg himself, or perhaps a son of his. An after-effect of the continued support of Clann Domhnaill and Clann Ruaidhrí to the Bruce cause was the destruction of their regional rivals like Clann Dubhghaill. In fact, the albeit exaggerated title "King of Argyll" accorded to the slain Clann Domhnaill dynast in many of these annal-entries exemplifies the catastrophic effect that the rise of the Bruce regime had on its opponents like Clann Dubhghaill. By the mid-part of the century, Clann Domhnaill, under the leadership of Aonghus Óg's succeeding son, was undoubtably the most powerful branch of Clann Somhairle.

Death and descendants

Aonghus Óg seems to have died at some point after the Battle of Bannockburn—notwithstanding the Hebridean tradition preserved by the eighteenth-century Book of Clanranald and the Sleat History that dates his death to about 1300. One possibility is that he passed away between 1314 and 1318. This could well have been the case if the slain Clann Domhnaill chieftain at Faughart was indeed his son and successor. On the other hand, it is not impossible that Aonghus Óg lived as late as about 1330, after which the Clann Domhnaill lordship seems to have taken up by his son, Eóin Mac Domhnaill. In 1336, the latter was the first member of Clann Domhnaill to bear the title dominus insularum ("Lord of the Isles"). The political situation in the Hebrides is murky between this man's accession and the disaster at Faughart, and it is possible that an after-effect of the defeat was a period of Clann Ruaidhrí dominance in the region. In 1325, a certain "Roderici de Ylay" suffered the forfeiture of his possessions by Robert I. Although this record could refer to a member of Clann Ruaidhrí—perhaps Raghnall Mac Ruaidhrí (died 1346)—another possibility is that the individual actually refers to a member of Clann Domhnaill—perhaps a son of either Alasdair Óg or Aonghus Óg. If Aonghus Óg was still alive in 1325, he would have witnessed Robert I's apparent show of force into Argyll within the same year. Although Aonghus Óg's tenure as chief is remarkable in regard to his close support of the Bruce cause, the later career of Eóin Mac Domhnaill saw a remarkable cooling of relations with the Bruce regime—a distancing which may well have contributed to the latter's adoption of the title "Lord of the Isles".

Aonghus Óg married Áine Ní Chatháin, an Irish woman from Ulster. According to the Sleat History, Áine Ní Chatháin's tocher consisted of one hundred and forty men from each surname that dwelt in the territory of her father, Cú Maighe na nGall Ó Catháin, whilst the Book of Clanranald numbers the men at eighty. The Uí Catháin of Ciannachta were a major branch of the Uí Néill kindred, and the léine chneas or "train of followers" that is said to have accompanied Áine Ní Chatháin is the most remarkable retinue have arrived in marriage from Ireland in Scottish tradition. The tocher itself appears similar to an historical one dating almost a century earlier, when a Clann Ruaidhrí bride brought over one hundred and sixty warriors to her Irish husband. The tradition of the Clann Domhnaill–Uí Catháin union is corroborated by the record of an English safe-conduct instrument granted to Áine Ní Chatháin, identified as the mother of Eóin Mac Domhnaill in 1338. At a later date, Áine Ní Chatháin appears to have remarried a member of Clann Aodha Buidhe, a branch of the Ó Néill kindred.

Aonghus Óg and Áine Ní Chatháin were the parents of Eóin Mac Domhnaill. Another child of the couple may be the Áine Nic Domhnaill noted in the Clann Lachlainn pedigree preserved by MS 1467. This late mediaeval source reveals that this woman was the wife Lachlann Óg Mac Lachlainn, and mother of his son, Eóin Mac Lachlainn. Whatever the case, a certain daughter of Aonghus Óg was Máire, a woman who married William III, Earl of Ross (died 1372). Aonghus Óg appears to have also had another son named Eóin, a man from whom descended the Glencoe branch of Clann Domhnaill.

According to the seventeenth-century Macintosh History, an ancestor of Clann Mhic an Tóisigh named Fearchar married a daughter of Aonghus Óg named "Moram". The fact that Fearchar is supposed to have died in 1274, however, suggests that this source has conflated Aonghus Óg and Aonghus Mór. According to the Sleat History, an illegitimate daughter of Aonghus Mór was the mother of an early chiefly ancestor of Clann Mhic an Tóisigh. The father of this ancestor is stated to have fled to Aonghus Mór whilst on the run for committing manslaughter. Having fathered a son with Aonghus Mór's daughter, the man is stated to have campaigned with Edward Bruce in Ireland where he was slain. The Sleat History also claims that the slain man's son—the ancestor of later Clann Mhic an Tóisigh chiefs—was brought up in Clann Domhnaill territory and endowed by the kindred with lands in Lochaber and Moray. Whatever the case, there is no solid evidence of Clann Mhic an Tóisigh in the Lochaber region before the reign of Robert II.