Ruaidhrí Mac Ruaidhrí

Clann Ruaidhrí

Ruaidhrí was an illegitimate son of Ailéan mac Ruaidhrí, a son of Ruaidhrí mac Raghnaill, Lord of Kintyre, eponym of Clann Ruaidhrí. Ailéan had another illegitimate son, Lachlann Mac Ruaidhrí, and a legitimate daughter, Cairistíona. It was Ruaidhrí's generation—the second generation in descent from Ruaidhrí mac Raghnaill—that members of Clann Ruaidhrí are first identified with a family name derived from this eponymous ancestor. Clann Ruaidhrí was a branch of Clann Somhairle. Other branches of this overarching kindred included Clann Dubhghaill and Clann Domhnaill. Ailéan disappears from record by 1296, and seems to have died at some point before this date. Although Cairistíona seems to have been Ailéan's heir, she was evidently supplanted by her brothers soon after his death.

Conflict amongst Clann Somhairle

In 1296, Edward I, King of England invaded and easily conquered the Scottish realm. Amongst the Scots imprisoned by the English were many of the Ross elite, including William II, Earl of Ross. The earl remained in captivity from 1296 to 1303, a lengthy span of years in which the sons of Ailéan capitalised upon the resulting power vacuum. Like most other Scottish landholders, Ruaidhrí's brother rendered homage to the triumphant king later in 1296. Lachlann was married to a daughter of Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill, Lord of Argyll. The latter had been a staunch supporter of the Scottish king, a fact which appears to have led Edward I to use the former's principal rival, Alasdair Óg Mac Domhnaill, Lord of Islay, the chief of Clann Domhnaill, as his primary agent in the maritime west. In this capacity, Alasdair Óg attempted to contain the Clann Dubhghaill revolt against English authority.

The struggle between the two Clann Somhairle namesakes seems to be attested not long after Alasdair Óg's appointment in April 1296, and is documented in two undated letters from the latter to Edward I. In the first, Alasdair Óg complained to the king that Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill had ravaged his lands. Although Alasdair Óg further noted that he had overcome Ruaidhrí and thereby brought him to heel, the fealty that Ruaidhrí swore to the English Crown appears to have been rendered merely as a stalling tactic, since Lachlann then attacked Alasdair Óg, and both Clann Ruaidhrí brothers proceeded to ravage Skye and Lewis and Harris. At the end of the letter, the Clann Domhnaill chief implored upon Edward I to instruct the other noblemen of Argyll and Ross to aid him in his struggle against the king's enemies.

In the second letter, Alasdair Óg again appealed to the English Crown, complaining that he faced a united front from (Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill's son) Donnchadh Mac Dubhghaill, Lachlann, Ruaidhrí, and the Comyns. According to Alasdair Óg, the men of Lochaber had sworn allegiance to Lachlann and Donnchadh Mac Dubhghaill. In one instance Alasdair Óg reported that, although he had been able to force Lachlann's supposed submission, he was thereupon attacked by Ruaidhrí. The Clann Domhnaill chief further related a specific expedition in which he pursued his opponents to the Comyn stronghold of Inverlochy Castle—the principal fortress in Lochaber—where he was unable to capture—but nevertheless destroyed—two massive galleys which he described as the largest warships in the Western Isles. Much like the first letter, Alasdair Óg called upon the English king for financial support in combating his mounting opponents.

Campaigning for and against Robert I

In February 1306, Robert Bruce VII, Earl of Carrick, a claimant to the Scottish throne, killed his chief rival to the kingship, John Comyn 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 appears to have escaped into the Hebrides. According to the fourteenth-century Gesta Annalia II, Ruaidhrí's sister, Cairistíona, played an instrumental part in Robert I's survival at this low point in his career, sheltering him along Scotland's western seaboard.

Cairistíona's connections with the Mar kindred may well account for her support of the Bruce cause. One possibility is that her husband, Donnchadh, was a younger son of Uilleam, Earl of Mar. Another possibility is that Donnchadh was instead a son of Uilleam's son, Domhnall I, Earl of Mar. Certainly, Domhnall I's daughter, Iseabail, was the first wife of Robert I, and Domhnall I's son and comital successor, Gartnait, was the husband of a sister of Robert I. In any case, later the next year, at about the time of Edward I's death in July 1307, Robert I mounted a remarkable return to power by first consolidating control of Carrick. In contrast to the evidence of assistance lent by Cairistíona to the Scottish king, Lachlann is recorded to have aligned himself closer with the English, as he appears to have personally sworn fealty to Edward I in August 1306, and petitioned for the lands of a supporter of the Bruce cause.

In October, there is evidence indicating that a certain Cristin del Ard delivered messages from the English Crown to William II, Lachlann, Ruaidhrí, and a certain Eóin Mac Neacail. The latter appears to be the earliest member of Clann Mhic Neacail on record. At about this time, this clan seems to have been seated on Skye and Lewis and Harris, and it is possible that the comital family of Ross had cultivated Clann Mhic Neacail as an ally against Clann Ruaidhrí shortly after the creation of the shrievalty of Skye in 1293. Cristin was a close associate of William II, and the fact that the English Crown seems to have used the earl as a conduit for communications with Clann Ruaidhrí and Clann Mhic Neacail appears to indicate that the earl had brought the northwestern territories of these families back within his sphere of influence. Whatever the case, William II played a key role in Robert I's misfortunes at about this time, as the earl captured the latter's wife and daughter—Elizabeth and Marjorie—and delivered them into the hands of Edward I. The correspondence delivered by Cristin could have concerned this particular episode, and may evince an attempt by the English Crown to project pro-English power into the Isles against Robert I and his supporters.

Contested Clann Ruaidhrí succession

Although Cairistíona was the sole legitimate offspring of their father, it is unlikely that members of the kindred regarded legitimate birth as the sole qualification of succession. In fact, there was little distinction between legitimate and illegitimate offspring in Gaelic Scotland, as society tolerated temporary sexual unions amongst the elite as a means of furthering the continuation of the male line of the clan. As the leading male member of Clann Ruaidhrí at this stage, it is probable that Ruaidhrí himself possessed control of the kindred's wide-ranging territories. Nevertheless, Ruaidhrí seems to have only gained formal recognition of his rights to the lordship after Christina's resignation of her own claims, by way of a charter confirmed by Robert himself.

There is reason to suspect that Cairistíona's stake in the lordship—and her close connections with Robert I—posed a potential threat to Ruaidhrí and his descendants. Furthermore, Cairistíona and Donnchadh had a son, Ruaidhrí, who potentially could have sought royal assistance in pursuance of his mother's claims. The name Cairistíona bestowed upon this son could indicate that he was not only named after his maternal grandfather, but that he was regarded as a potential successor to the Clann Ruaidhrí lordship. Certainly, Cairistíona resigned her claims with the condition that, if her brother died without a male heir, and her like-named son married one of her brother's daughters, Cairistíona's son would secure the inheritance. Although the charter outlining her resignation is undated, it seems to have been granted early in the reign of Robert I, possibly before the end of the first decade the century.

On one hand, it is possible that the king orchestrated Ruaidhrí's succession to the lordship as a means of securing support from one of the most powerful families on the western coast. On the other hand, the fact that Cairistíona—a close personal ally of Robert I—had been superseded by Ruaidhrí—a man with a comparatively chequered political career—could indicate that the latter's consolidation of control more likely stemmed from internal family politics than from royal interference. Whatever the case, Ruaidhrí was likely already regarded as the rightful chief, and the charter itself undeniably brought him under feudal dependence of the Scottish Crown. Ruaidhrí's provincial lordship encompassed the mainland territories of Moidart, Arisaig, Morar, and Knoydart; and the island territories of Rhum, Eigg, Barra, St Kilda, and Uist. This dominion, like the great lordships of Annandale and Galloway, was comparable to any of the kingdom's thirteen earldoms.

Death in support of the Scottish Crown

There is evidence to suggest that Ruaidhrí assisted the Scottish Crown in its campaigning against the Anglo-Irish in Ireland, and that he lost his life in the crushing Scottish defeat at the Battle of Faughart on 14 October 1318. In 1315, Robert I's younger brother, Edward Bruce, Earl of Carrick, 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 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- to sixteenth-century Annals of Connacht, the seventeenth-century Annals of the Four Masters, the fifteenth- to sixteenth-century Annals of Ulster, and the seventeenth-century Annals of Clonmacnoise. The precise identities of these men are unknown for certain, although they seem to have been the heads of Clann Ruaidhrí and Clann Domhnaill, and the former man may well have been Ruaidhrí himself. The title accorded to the slain Clann Ruaidhrí chieftain could well refer to the Clann Ruaidhrí lordship inherited from Ruaidhrí's father.

Another major engagement that featured Clann Ruaidhrí was the final defeat of Ruaidhrí Ó Conchobair, King of Connacht at the hands of Feidhlimidh Ó Conchobair, when a certain Donnchadh Mac Ruaidhrí and one hundred gallowglasses fell with the king. One set of annals describes the fallen gallowglasses as "noble". The following year, in 1317, Clann Ruaidhrí was a participant in another crushing defeat, when the forces of Connacht vanquished those of Bréifne. According to one set of annals, seven score gallowglasses of a certain "Mac Ruaidri" were slain in the encounter.

Although Ruaidhrí seems to have ensured the continuation of his kindred by formally coming to terms with Robert I and campaigning in Ireland with the latter's brother, there is evidence indicating that the Clann Ruaidhrí inheritance was contested by Cairistíona after his demise. Ruaidhrí was survived by a daughter, Áine, and an illegitimate son, Raghnall. The latter may well have been under age at the time of Ruaidhrí's death, and it is apparent that Cairistíona and her confederates attempted to seize control of the inheritance. Although Cairistíona is recorded to have resigned her claimed rights to a certain Artúr Caimbéal after Ruaidhrí's death, it is clear that Raghnall eventually succeeded in securing the region, and was regarded as the chief of Clann Ruaidhrí by most of his kin. Despite Raghnall's success in securing control of his ancestral estate, after his own demise these territories passed into the possession of Áine's husband (or former husband), Eóin Mac Domhnaill I, Lord of the Isles, chief of Clann Domhnaill.