Content deleted Content added
you can't add original research into articles; you have to follow reliable sources |
mNo edit summary |
||
| (40 intermediate revisions by 29 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{Short description|Irish branch of Clan Donald}}
[[File:Dunluce Castle - Arms of McDonnell of Antrim.jpg|thumb|175px|right|The arms of the MacDonnells of Antrim, as displayed at [[Dunluce Castle]].]]▼
The '''MacDonnells of Antrim''' ([[Goidelic languages|Gaelic]]: ''Mac Domhnaill''),<ref>{{cite web|title=Dunluce Castle, Ulster-Scots translation |url=http://www.doeni.gov.uk/niea/dunlucecastleus.pdf |publisher=Department of the Environment (Northern Ireland) |accessdate=15 November 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120903154513/http://www.doeni.gov.uk/niea/dunlucecastleus.pdf |archivedate=3 September 2012 |df= }}</ref> also known as the '''MacDonnells of the Glens''', are a branch of the primarily [[Scotland|Scottish]]-based [[Clan Donald]] in [[Ireland]]. Initially part of [[Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg]] ('''Clan Donald South'''), the MacDonnells of Antrim became their own branch in 1558 when [[Sorley Boy MacDonnell|Somhairle Buidhe MacDonnell]] obtained the lordship of the territory in Ireland from [[James MacDonald, 6th of Dunnyveg|James MacDonald, 6th chief of the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg]].<ref name="National Biography pp.59-60">{{cite DNB|wstitle=MacDonnell, Sorley Boy|volume=35|pages=59-60}}</ref> The MacDonnells of Antrim were a sept of the powerful Clan Donald of the royal Clann Somhairle, (see Lords of the Isles), that the English crown had attempted to cultivate since the early 14th century in its efforts to influence the course of politics in Scotland. The MacDonnells established a growing presence in Ireland throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, and played a crucial role in the politics of 17th century Ireland. Today the surname is predominantly spelled [[McDonnell (surname)|McDonnell]] in Ireland and abroad. Many of the present day McDonnells have a common descent from [[Sorley Boy MacDonnell]].▼
[[File:Arms of McDonnell of Antrim.svg|thumb|right|Arms of McDonnell of Antrim.]]
▲The '''MacDonnells of Antrim''' ([[Goidelic languages|Gaelic]]: ''Mac Domhnaill''),<ref>{{cite web|title=Dunluce Castle, Ulster-Scots translation |url=http://www.doeni.gov.uk/niea/dunlucecastleus.pdf |publisher=Department of the Environment (Northern Ireland) |
The MacDonnells of Antrim were a sept of the [[Clan Donald]] of the royal Clann Somhairle, that the English crown had attempted to cultivate since the early 14th century in its efforts to influence the course of politics in Scotland. The MacDonnells established a growing presence in Ireland throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, and played a crucial role in the politics of 17th century Ireland. The MacDonnell's achieved much success in Ireland largely to cultural and familial connections to the Gaelic nobility of Ireland.
Today the surname is predominantly spelled [[McDonnell (surname)|McDonnell]] in Ireland and abroad, although many McConnells are also of the same family, as that is the Gaelic pronunciation of the ''Mac Domhnaill.'' Most of the leadership of the Clan wrote their name as a variant of McConnell up until the 17th century, including [[Sorley Boy MacDonnell]] himself.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hill|first=George|title=An Historical Account of the Macdonnells of Antrim.|year=1873|location=London|pages=44}}</ref> Many of the present-day McDonnells have a common descent from [[Sorley Boy MacDonnell]].
==History==
Line 8 ⟶ 14:
John Mor MacDonald married [[Margery Byset]], daughter of the [[Mac Eoin Bissett]], Lord of the [[Glens of Antrim]]. Although the MacDonnells would a century and a half later claim that her dowry included the lordship itself, this is false because the Mac Eoin Bissetts remained in possession of it into the early or mid 16th century.<ref>''State Papers, Henry the Eighth. Volume II''. pp. 7, 27. See also the circa 1540 ''Book of Howth'' for a similar list of the lords in Ireland.</ref> However following the death in battle, in support of his friends and kinsmen the [[O'Neill dynasty|O'Neills]] against the [[O'Donnell dynasty|O'Donnells]], of the last known Mac Eoin Bissett in 1522,<ref>[[Annals of the Four Masters]] 1522.9</ref> the recently arrived MacDonnells appear to have started making their own gains in the region and eventually used the earlier marriage to claim they had rights to the Bissett lordship. The MacDonnells already possessed [[Dunnyvaig Castle]] on the [[Isle of Islay]] and lands in [[Kintyre]], [[Scotland]].
The MacDonnells of Antrim did not become a separate branch of Clan Donald until 1558, when they were part of [[Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg]], when Somhairle Buidhe MacDonnell obtained the lordship of the territory in Ireland from James MacDonald, 6th of Dunnyveg.<ref name="National Biography pp. 59-60"/>
===15th century===
John Mor was assassinated by James [[Clan Campbell|Campbell]] in 1427. John's son [[Donald Balloch MacDonald]], the second chief, led the clan when they fought and won at the first [[Battle of Inverlochy (1431)]]. This was in support of their cousin [[Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross]], 3rd [[Lord of the Isles]] and 8th chief of [[Clan Donald]]. The MacDonalds were supported by the [[Clan Cameron]]. They fought against the Royal forces of the [[Earl of Mar]] who was supported by the [[Clan MacKintosh]].
The third Chief, Sir John Mor, with his heir John Cathanach and three grandsons, were apprehended through the treachery of the [[Clan MacDonald of Ardnamurchan|Macdonald of Ardnamurchan]] and were executed in [[Edinburgh]] for treason. One of his sons, Alexander, fled to Ireland.
===16th century===
On the death of James MacDonald, the sixth chief of the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg and Antrim, the Antrim Glens were seized by one of his younger brothers, [[Sorley Boy MacDonnell]] (Somhairle Buidh:''Somhairle of the yellow hair''). Somhairle is best known for establishing the MacDonnell clan in Antrim and resisting the campaign of [[Shane O'Neill (Irish chieftain)|Shane O'Neill]] and the English crown to expel the clan from Ireland.
In 1565 under Sorley Boy MacDonnell the Clan MacDonnell of Antrim and Dunnyveg fought the [[Battle of Glentasie]] against
In April 1583 the MacDonnells, led by [[Sorley Boy MacDonnell]], who had been fighting in the McQuillan-O'Cahan feud on the side of the [[Clan McQuillan|McQuillan clan]] decided to backstab their allies. In the ensuing battle of [[Battle of Aura|Aura]] Edward McQuillan was killed bringing about the McQuillans rule over [[Route, County Antrim|The Route]] as well as their seat of [[Dunluce Castle]].
Alaster, the eldest son of Sorley Boy was killed in 1585, his head was placed on a spike at Baile-atha-cliath ([[Dublin]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100010B.html |title=Annals of Loch Cé (1585) |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |date= |work=Corpus of Electronic Texts |publisher= |accessdate=15 September 2010}}</ref>▼
▲Alaster, the eldest son of Sorley Boy was killed in 1585, his head was placed on a spike at Baile-atha-cliath ([[Dublin]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100010B.html |title=Annals of Loch Cé (1585)
===17th century===
▲[[File:Dunluce Castle - Arms of McDonnell of Antrim.jpg|thumb|175px|right|The arms of the MacDonnells of Antrim, as displayed at [[Dunluce Castle]].]]
[[Randal MacDonnell, 1st Marquess of Antrim (1645 creation)|Randal MacDonnell]] was a personal friend and courtier of King Charles I. Upon the commencement of the [[Bishops' Wars]] between Charles I and the [[Scottish Covenanters]], he offered to lead a sea-borne expedition against the Covenanter regime on behalf of King Charles. This request was granted, but in the end the plans were frustrated by the antipathy of [[Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford|Thomas Wentworth]] and the success of the Covenanters against the King.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gentles|first=I. J.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/71173890|title=The English Revolution and the wars in the three kingdoms, 1638-1652|date=2007|publisher=Pearson/Longman|isbn=978-0-582-06551-2|edition=1st|location=Harlow, England|pages=187–210|oclc=71173890}}</ref>
By 1645, however, the Scottish Covenanter regime had broken their truce with King Charles by intervening in the [[English Civil War]] on the side of the English Parliament. Randall MacDonnell once again requested to assist the King by orchestrating an expedition from Ireland. This had the joint aims both of weakening the Covenanter regime on behalf of the King, and of reclaiming lands from [[Clan Campbell]]. The Catholic MacDonnells were pitted against their Campbells foes, who were at the forefront of the puritanical Protestant Covenanter regime.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stevenson |first1=David |title=Alasdair MacColla and the Highland problem in the seventeenth century |date=1980 |publisher=Donald |location=Edinburgh |isbn=0859760553}}</ref> This time, the plans for an expedition came to fruition, with [[Alasdair MacColla]] (also known as Alexander MacDonnell) leading a force of men from Waterford to Scotland. Rallying his Clan Donald kinsmen, and joining with the Marquess of Montrose, despite being outnumbered they inflicted a series of crushing defeats on larger enemy forces.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Darcy|first=Eamon|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/847594746|title=The Irish rebellion of 1641 and the wars of the three kingdoms|date=2013|publisher=Boydell Press|others=Royal Historical Society|isbn=978-1-78204-070-5|location=Woodbridge, Suffolk|pages=47–65|oclc=847594746}}</ref>
Perhaps their crowning achievement was when, in a daring winter campaign, the Clan Donald forces undertook a surprise march through the snow-covered mountains into the Campbell heartlands of Argyll, which were considered impregnable. They then scored an overwhelming victory against the Campbell force that was arrayed against them at the [[battle of Inverlochy (1645)|battle of Inverlochy]], with the chief Archibald Campbell ignominiously fleeing for his life on a barge as the men of his clan were being slaughtered in battle. Alasdair MacColla then occupied Argyll, and the chief Randall MacDonnell arrived to join him, but the successes of the Scottish campaign were to be undone by the defeat of King Charles in England. Many MacDonnell troops fell back to Ireland, where they opposed the Cromwellian invasion.<ref name=stevenson>Stevenson, ''Highland Warrior; Alasdair MacColla and the Civil Wars''.</ref>
MacDonnell forces supported King James II in the [[Williamite War in Ireland]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=McDonnell|first=Hector|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/36469715|title=The wild geese of the Antrim MacDonnells|date=1996|publisher=Irish Academic Press|isbn=0-7165-2609-3|location=Dublin|oclc=36469715}}</ref>
==Castles==
Line 32 ⟶ 47:
*[[Kinbane Castle]]
*[[Red Bay Castle]]
*[[Dunnyvaig Castle]]
==See also==
Line 51 ⟶ 66:
==Sources==
*[http://www.clandonald-heritage.com http://www.clandonald-heritage.com]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100704070440/http://www.finlaggan.com/page/20.asp MacDonald Family Tree]
{{Scottish clans}}
▲{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2010}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonnell
[[Category:MacDonnell of Antrim| ]]
[[Category:Irish families]]
[[Category:Gaelic families of Norse descent]]
[[Category:Gaels]]
| |||