Aonghus Mór

Clann Domhnaill

Aonghus Mór was a son of Domhnall mac Raghnaill, eponym of Clann Domhnaill. As such, Aonghus Mór can be regarded as the first Mac Domhnaill. Clann Domhnaill was the junior-most of three main branches of Clann Somhairle. The other two branches were Clann Dubhghaill and Clann Ruaidhrí, respectively descended from (Domhnall's uncle) Dubhghall mac Somhairle (died 1175×) and (Domhnall's elder brother) Ruaidhrí mac Raghnaill (died 1247?). According to oral tradition dating to the eighteenth century, Aonghus Mór was fostered by the eponymous ancestor of Clann Duibhshíthe. The date of Domhnall's death and Aonghus Mór's succession is unknown, although the latter was certainly representing the family by 1260s, seemingly indicating that the former was dead or retired by this time.

Aonghus Mór was married to a member of the Caimbéalaigh kindred (the Campbells). According to early modern 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, and the mother of Aonghus Mór's younger son, Aonghus Óg (died 1314×1318/c.1330). Like his Clann Somhairle kinsman, Eóghan Mac Dubhghaill (died c.1268×1275), Aonghus Mór evidently named his first-born son, Alasdair Óg (died 1299?), after Alexander III, King of Scotland (died 1286). The kindred's adoption of this royal name appears to be indicative of the spread of Scottish influence into Isles, and could be evidence of the kindred's attempt to align itself closer to the Scottish Crown. Certainly, Clann Somhairle's employment of the name contrasts the continued preference of Scandinavian names borne by the neighbouring Crovan dynasty, a family that also held authority along Scotland's western seaboard. Whatever the case, a daughter of Aonghus Mór married Domhnall Óg Ó Domhnaill, King of Tír Chonaill (died 1281). Whilst Alasdair Óg was certainly the ancestor of later Clann Domhnaill gallowglass families in Ireland, he may well have been the eponymous ancestor of Clann Alasdair in Kintyre. Another son, Eóin Sprangach, was the ancestor of the Ardnamurchan branch of Clann Domhnaill. There is evidence to suggest that Aonghus Mór may have had yet another son named Domhnall. Although various historical records and chronicle-accounts concerning the period make note of this man, with some of these sources styling him "of Islay", the precise identity of this individual is uncertain.

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, Earl of Carrick (died 1318) 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, King of Scotland (reign 1371–1390).

Attestations of uncertain date

Unlike some of his Clann Somhairle kinsmen, there is little known of Aonghus Mór's career. Details of his father's life are even more obscure. One source that may cast light upon the latter—and potentially concern Aonghus Mór himself—is the thirteenth–fourteenth-century Chronicle of Mann. According to this source, an aged chieftain named "Dofnaldus" was held in high esteem by Haraldr Óláfsson, King of Mann and the Isles (died 1248), but after the latter's unexpected death, and the subsequent assassination of his brother Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson (died 1249), the kingship was seized by their rival kinsman Haraldr Guðrøðarson (reigned 1249–1250), who in turn had Dofnaldus and his infant son imprisoned. The episode concerning Dofnaldus concludes with him and his son successfully escaping their captors through divine intervention, and the compiler of the chronicle stating that the recorded events were provided in person by the chieftain in question. There is reason to suspect that Dofnaldus and his infant son are identical to Domhnall and possibly Aonghus Mór himself. Haraldr Óláfsson certainly associated himself with the Hebrides throughout his reign, a fact which could in turn indicate that the chieftains whom he had held in highest esteem were indeed Hebrideans.

There are several charters that may have bearing upon Aonghus Mór's early career. At some point he issued several undated charters to the monastery of Paisley. One of these was a payment and promise of protection to the monks of this religious house, not unlike an earlier grant by his paternal grandfather, Raghnall mac Somhairle (died 1191/1192–c.1210/1227). Aonghus Mór's other charter concerned his grant of the church of St Ciarán in Kintyre to the monastery. This particular charter refers to both a king and prince named Alexander. Although these two can be understood to refer to Alexander II, King of Scotland (died 1249) and his son and successor, Alexander III—an identification that would date the endowment to 1241×1249—another possibility is that the names instead refer to the latter and his like-named son, Alexander (died 1284). If this latter identification is indeed correct, the charter would instead date to 1264×1284. The grant itself stresses that the transaction was made "for the welfare of my lord Alexander, illustrious king of Scots" ("pro salute domini mei Alexandri illustris regis Scotie"), a declaration that may be evidence that Aonghus Mór was attempting to align himself with the Scottish Crown.

Involvement in Irish affairs

The first certain record of Aonghus Mór in contemporary sources dates to February 1256, when the English Crown commanded that he, and other unnamed men from Scotland, were not to be received in Ireland. In the mid thirteenth century, leading members of Clann Somhairle were clearly involved in Irish affairs. In 1247, a certain Mac Somhairle was slain whilst resisting an English invasion of Tír Chonaill. Dubhghall raided western Ireland and slew the English Sheriff of Connacht in 1258. The year after that, a daughter of Dubhghall married Aodh na nGall Ó Conchobhair (died 1274), with the latter receiving the bride's tocher of one hundred and sixty gallowglass warriors commanded by Dubhghall's brother, Ailéan (died ×1296). The year before this, Aodh na nGall had been one of several leading Irishmen who relinquished their claims to the high-kingship of Ireland in favour of Brian Ó Néill, King of Tír Eoghain (died 1260), a man committed to combating the Anglo-Irish in Ulster. Unfortunately for this group of Irish confederates, their combined forces were utterly crushed by the Anglo-Irish at Downpatrick in 1260, with Brian amongst the slain.

Whilst the Uí Conchobhair clearly enlisted Hebridean military assistance from Clann Ruaidhrí—with members of the kindred potentially present at the catastrophe at Downpatrick—it is apparent that the Cineál Chonaill also enjoyed connections with Clann Domhnaill, as a daughter of Aonghus Mór is known to have married Domhnall Óg Ó Domhnaill, King of Tír Chonaill (died 1281). A product of this union was Toirdhealbhach Ó Domhnaill (died 1303), a man who is recorded to have seized the kingship of Tír Chonaill from his reigning half-brother, Aodh, by way of overseas military assistance from Clann Domhnaill in 1290. If Aonghus Mór had been involved with Brian and his insurrection, such a relationship could account for Aonghus Mór being singled out by the English ordinance of 1256. The fact that this directive stated that the Scottish king would name other figures to be denied access to Ireland could indicate that these men were regarded as threats by the Scottish Crown. Such could have been the case if alliances between Irishmen and Islesmen were undertaken in the context of lending mutual assistance to each other.

It is conceivable that the overseas support lent to the Irish insurrection was ventured in the context of not only countering the English Crown in Ireland, but of also opposing the westward extension of Scottish royal authority. In fact, another ordinance dating to just weeks before Brian's defeat—and almost certainly related to the uprising itself—directed the Anglo-Irish justiciar to arrest any Scottish subjects who were actively seeking confederacies with the Irish that might be to the king's detriment. In the 1230s and 1240s, the Scottish Crown progressively attempted to expand its lordship into Argyll and the Isles. One example of this expansion that appears to have specifically concerned Aonghus Mór was the king's grant of the rights of the church of Killean to the Diocese of Argyll. Earlier in the century, this church had been under the patronage of Aonghus Mór's uncle, Ruaidhrí, and it is likely that Aonghus Mór himself considered its patronage as his own heritable prerogative.

Clann Somhairle and the kingship of the Isles

In 1248, the year after the fall of Mac Somhairle, two leading members of Clann Somhairle travelled to Norway seeking the kingship of the northern Suðreyjar from Hákon Hákonarson, King of Norway (died 1263). The two kinsmen were Eóghan Mac Dubhghaill (died c.1268×1275) and Dubhghall mac Ruaidhrí (died 1268), chiefs of Clann Dubhghaill and Clann Ruaidhrí respectively. Although the entirety of the Suðreyjar roughly encompassed the Hebrides and Mann, the precise jurisdiction which Dubhghall and Eóghan competed for is uncertain. For instance, the northern Hebridean islands of Lewis and Harris and Skye appear to have been held by the Crovan dynasty, then represented by the reigning Haraldr Óláfsson. It is conceivable that Eóghan and Dubhghall sought kingship over the same jurisdiction that Hákon had awarded to Óspakr-Hákon (died 1230) about a decade before—a region which could have included some or all of the islands possessed by Clann Somhairle. In fact, it is possible that the events of 1247 and 1248 were related, and that Dubhghall and Eóghan sought to succeed Mac Somhairle's position in the Isles.

It was only after the unexpected death of Haraldr Óláfsson in 1248 that Hákon sent Eóghan west over sea to temporarily take up the kingship of the Isles on his behalf. Eóghan, however, was not only a Norwegian dependant in the Isles, but an eminent Scottish magnate on the mainland. Although the Scottish Crown seems to have attempted to purchase the Isles earlier that decade, Eóghan's acceptance of Hákon's commission led Alexander II, King of Scotland (died 1249) to unleash an invasion of Argyll in the summer of 1249, directed at the very heart of the Clann Dubhghaill lordship. The unfolding crisis only ended with the Scottish king's untimely death in July 1249.

Scottish aggression and Norwegian subjection

About a decade later, the deceased king's son and royal successor, Alexander III, came of age and took steps to continue his father's westward expansion. In 1261, the Scottish Crown sent envoys to Norway offering to purchase the Hebrides from Hákon. Once the Norwegians rejected the offer, the Scots are recorded to have lashed out against the Islesmen in a particularly savage assault upon the inhabitants of Skye. Thus provoked, Hákon assembled an enormous fleet—described by the Icelandic annals as the largest force to have ever set sail from Norway—to reassert Norwegian sovereignty along the north and western coast of Scotland. In July 1263, this armada disembarked from Norway, and by mid August, Hákon reaffirmed his overlordship in Shetland and Orkney, forced the submission of Caithness, and arrived in the Hebrides.

According to the thirteenth-century Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar, Hákon was met in the region by Magnús Óláfsson, King of Mann and the Isles (died 1265) and Dubhghall himself. As the fleet made its way southwards, Hákon sent a detachment of vessels under the command of Dubhghall and Magnús Óláfsson to harry Kintyre whilst Hákon himself made landfall on Gigha. It is evident that Magnús Óláfsson and Dubhghall were tasked with bringing Aonghus Mór and Murchadh Mac Suibhne (died 1267) onto the king's side. Poetry embedded within the saga glorifies the subsequent ravaging of Kintyre, and it is likely that it was this rapaciousness which finally persuaded Aonghus Mór and Murchadh to come into the king's peace. Certainly the saga reveals that these west-coast magnates duly submitted before him, that the king levied a tax of one thousand head of cattle upon the Kintyremen, and that a certain fortress on the peninsula—most likely Dunaverty Castle—was surrendered to him by an unnamed knight.

In early September, Hákon's fleet of Norwegians and Islesmen entered the Firth of Clyde. When negotiations between the Scottish and Norwegian administrations broke down, the saga reveals that Hákon sent a detachment of vessels up into Loch Long, under the command of Magnús Óláfsson, Dubhghall, (the latter's brother) Ailéan, Aonghus Mór, and Murchadh. According various versions of the saga, this contingent consisted of either forty or sixty ships—a considerable portion of Hákon's total fleet. From Loch Long, the saga reveals that this detachment portaged the approximately a 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) distance between Arrochar to Tarbet, launched into Loch Lomond, and ravaged the surrounding region of the Lennox. Meanwhile, at the beginning of October, Hákon's main force clashed with the Scots at Largs, and withdrew into the Hebrides. Once regrouped with the detachment of Islesmen, the saga records that Hákon rewarded his overseas supporters. Since Eóghan had refused to aid the Norwegians cause, Dubhghall and Ailéan were awarded his forfeited island territories. A certain Ruðri (fl. 1263) is stated to have received Bute, whilst Murchadh got Arran. Aonghus Mór—who is not identified as one of the beneficiaries—already enjoyed possession of Islay.

Although the saga declares that the Norwegian campaign was an overwhelming triumph, it seems to have been an utter failure instead. Not only had Hákon failed to break Scottish power, but Alexander III seized the initiative in the following year, and oversaw a series of invasions into the Isles and northern Scotland. Recognising this dramatic shift in royal authority, Magnús Óláfsson submitted to Alexander III within the year, and in so doing, symbolised the complete collapse of Norwegian sovereignty in the Isles.

The Scots' retaliatory campaign against the Islesmen was evidently commanded by Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan (died 1289), William, Earl of Mar (died ×1281), and Alan Hostarius (died 1275). According to the fourteenth-century Gesta Annalia II, it was these magnates who oversaw the Scots' ravaging of the islands. This account is corroborated by the thirteenth-century Magnúss saga lagabœtis, which states that Scottish forces invaded the Isles in the summer after Hákon's campaign, and forced the submission of Aonghus Mór and other adherents to the Norwegian cause. Evidence from the Scottish exchequer, concerning the Earl of Mar's reception of monetary aid for commanding two hundred serjeants on behalf of the king in the Hebrides, further validates these accounts.

Despite these retributory actions, the Scottish Crown was only partially successful in turning Clann Somhairle onside as Dubhghall stubbornly refused the recognise Scottish overlordship. Nevertheless, in 1266, almost three years after Hákon's abortive campaign, terms of peace were finally agreed upon between the Scottish and Norwegian administrations. Specifically, with the conclusion of the Treaty of Perth in July, Hákon's son and successor, Magnús Hákonarson, King of Norway (died 1280), formally resigned all rights to Mann and the islands on the western coast of Scotland. In so doing, the territorial dispute over Scotland's western maritime region was finally settled.

Incorporation within Alexander III's realm

In the wake of the Norwegian withdrawal, and the violent extension of Scottish royal authority into the Isles, Aonghus Mór had no choice but to submit to the Scots. He was forced to hand over his son—seemingly Alasdair Óg, his eldest son and heir—who was consequently held at Ayr as a hostage of the Scottish Crown for Aonghus Mór's good behaviour. The fact that his son was accompanied by a nurse suggests that he was merely a young child at the time. In his submission, Aonghus Mór formally acknowledged that he would suffer disinheritance if his loyalty to the Scottish Crown was called into question again, whilst the other barons of Argyll swore to rise against him in the name of the king if such an eventuality came to pass.

Western magnates such as those of Clann Somhairle were rarely present at the Scottish royal court, although on certain occasions they participated in important affairs of state. For instance, in 1284, Aonghus Mór attended a government council at Scone which acknowledged Alexander III's granddaughter, Margaret (died 1290), as the king's rightful heir. The inclusion of Aonghus Mór and three of his Clann Somhairle kinsmen—Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill and Ailéan—further illustrates the kindred's incorporation within the Scottish realm.

Factionalism after Alexander III's death

Other evidence of the kindred's incorporation within Scotland concerns the formation of alliances with various factions within the realm. Whilst Clann Dubhghall forged ties with the dominant Comyn kindred, Clann Domhnaill evidently aligned itself to the Bruce kindred. This latter partnership appears to owe itself to the unsettled period immediately after Alexander III's unexpected demise in March 1286. Although the leading magnates of the realm had previously recognised Margaret as his legitimate heir, there were two major factions in the realm that possessed competing claims to the kingship. At the beginning of April, Robert Bruce, Lord of Annandale announced his claim to the throne, whilst John Balliol (died 1314)—a magnate backed by the Comyns—seems to have declared a claim of his own before the end of the month.

It is possible that the Bruce faction regarded its claim to be weaker to that of Comyn-Balliol faction. In September, members of the faction concluded a pact, known as the Turnberry Band, in which certain Scottish and Anglo-Irish magnates—including Aonghus Mór and his son Alasdair Óg—pledged to support one another. Although the precise purpose of the pact is uncertain, it is possible that it was somehow connected to the Bruce faction's claim to the throne. In the bond, the participating Scottish magnates swore to support two prominent Anglo-Irish magnates: Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster (died 1326) and Thomas de Clare, Lord of Thomond (died 1287). In fact, Thomas' father-in-law died the same year leaving him with claims in Connacht and Ulster. This could indicate that one of the purposes of the bond was to further the ambitions of Richard and Thomas in north-west Ireland, and enable the latter to secure possession of his northern inheritance from the clutches of his chief competitor, John fitz Thomas (died 1315), and the numerous native kindreds of the region. One aspect of the pact, therefore, could have concerned the curtailment of overseas connections between Clann Domhnaill and Irish kindreds opposed to the earl, such as the Uí Domhnaill an the Uí Néill. In fact, the bond coincided with an immense show of force by Richard in Connacht and Ulster. This campaign saw the earl exact hostages from Cineál Chonaill and Cineál Eoghain, depose (Brian's son) Domhnall Ó Néill (died 1325) from the kingship of Tír Chonaill, and replace the latter with a more palatable candidate. Aonghus Mór could well have contributed to the earl's operation.

The Bruces and Stewarts also had stakes in north-west Ireland, with the latter kindred eventually possessing claims to territories that had formerly been held by predecessors of John Balliol. The participation of the Menteith/Stewart kindred in the Turnberry Band could have also concerned its part in the hostile annexation of the Clann Suibhne lordship in Argyll. Forced from its Scottish homeland, Clann Suibhne evidently found a safe haven in Tír Chonaill on account of an alliance forged with Domhnall Óg. Not only was the latter's son and successor, Aodh, the product of a union with a member of Clann Suibhne, but Domhnall Óg himself had been fostered by kindred. The fact that Murchadh is known to have died imprisoned by Richard's father could in turn indicate that the earls of Ulster were opposed to Clann Suibhne's resettlement in the region. Clann Domhnaill's part in Toirdhealbhach's defeat of Aodh in 1290 meant that the forces of Clann Domhnaill were engaged supporting the cause of Aonghus Mór's maternal grandson against that of a maternal descendant of Clann Suibhne. Whether this action was a direct result of the bond is uncertain, although it seems likely that Aonghus Mór's part in the pact concerned the value of the military capacity at his kindred's disposal.

Kin-strife under the regime of John Balliol

By the death of Alexander III, the Clann Domhnaill holdings seem to have included Kintyre, Islay, southern Jura, and seemingly Colonsay and Oronsay. Whilst Aonghus Mór is regularly described with a patronymic referring to his father, Aonghus Mór's son tend to be accorded the territorial designation "of Islay". In 1292, the English Crown granted Aonghus Mór and Alasdair Óg safe conduct to travel and trade between Scotland and Ireland. 1292 is also the year in which a particularly violent feud between Clann Domhnaill and Clann Dubhghaill is first attested. The 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 Aonghus Mór, Alasdair Óg, and Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill, swore to Edward I, King of England (died 1307) that they would postpone the feud, and pledged to uphold the peace in the "isles and outlying territories", the bitter internecine struggle continued throughout the 1290s.

In February 1293, at the first parliament of John, King of Scotland, three new sheriffdoms were erected in the western reaches of the realm. In the north-west, William, Earl of Ross was made Sheriff of Skye, with a jurisdiction that appears to correspond to the territories formerly held by the Crovan dynasty before 1266. In the central-west, Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill was made Sheriff of Lorn, with a jurisdiction over much of Argyll. In the south-west, James Stewart, Steward of Scotland (died 1309) was made Sheriff of Kintyre. The creation of these divisions dramatically evidences the steady consolidation of royal authority in the west in since 1266. Remarkably, representatives of Clann Domhnaill failed to attend the king's inaugural parliament. Only a few months later, Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill—the Scottish Crown's leading representative in the west—was commanded to bring Aonghus Mór and two other regional landholders to do homage before the king. Although it is unknown if Aonghus Mór obeyed the summons, the pledge by the barons of Argyll—to rise up against him in the event of his infidelity—may date to about this time. Whatever the case, it is apparent that by the 1290s the Scottish Crown demanded and expected unquestioned loyalty from Clann Somhairle.

Aonghus Mór seems to have died in about 1293. According to Hebridean tradition preserved by the eighteenth-century Book of Clanranald and the Sleat History, he died on Islay, with the latter source locating his burial on Iona. Alasdair Óg's undated renewal of Aonghus Mór's charter concerning the church of St Ciarán seems to be evidence that the later had been succeeded by the date of its issue. Certainly, Alasdair Óg appears to have succeeded Aonghus Mór by the mid 1290s.