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Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald (sometime abbreviated to McDonald) ( ), is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. Historically the chiefs of the Clan Donald held the title of Lord of the Isles until 1493 and two of those chiefs also held the title of Earl of Ross until 1476.
The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grants of coats of arms, and serving as the judge of the Court of the Lord Lyon, recognises under Scottish law the High Chief of Clan Donald. There are also numerous branches to the Clan Donald and several of these have chiefs recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms; these are: Clan Macdonald of Sleat, Clan Macdonald of Clanranald, Clan MacDonald of Keppoch, Clan MacDonald of Glencoe, Clan MacDonell of Glengarry, and Clan MacAlister.
There are also notable historic branches of Clan Donald without chiefs so-recognised, these are: the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg, Clan MacDonald of Lochalsh, and the MacDonalds of Ardnamurchan. The MacDonnells of Antrim are a cadet branch of the MacDonalds of Dunnyveg but do not belong to the Scottish associations and have a chief officially recognised in Ireland.
Tradition gave Somerled a Gaelic descent in the male line,MacDonald, Donald J. Clan Donald. as the medieval seanchaidhean (Gaelic historians) 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.Gregory, p. 10. Thus Clan Donald claimed to be both Clann Cholla and Siol Chuinn ( Children of Colla and Seed of Conn). Possibly the oldest piece of poetry attributed to the MacDonalds is a brosnachadh (an incitement to battle) which was said to have been written in 1411, on the day of the Battle of Harlaw. 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). The Macdonald Bardic Poetry Part 1 by Professor W. J. Watson Retrieved on 9 October 2007 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.
However, a 2005 DNA study has shown that Somerled was of Norsemen descent in his male line. 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.Sykes, p.214. This distinct Y-chromosome R1a1 haplotype found in Scotland has been regarded as often showing Norse descent in the Britain and Ireland.
In 1411, Donald secured Dingwall Castle which was the principal seat of the Earldom of Ross, after he had defeated the powerful Clan Mackay who were supporters of the Stewart confederacy at the Battle of Dingwall. This in turn resulted in the Battle of Harlaw on 24 July 1411, fought between Donald of Islay's forces and those of Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany, led by Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar. It is believed there were 10,000 men in Donald's army at the Battle of Harlaw,. (2025). 9780199234820, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199234820 Although he inflicted a decisive victory, he did not go on to Aberdeen but took his army back to the Western Highlands. In the aftermath, Albany tried to take control of Ross but was unsuccessful.According to Donald Gregory, whose manuscripts are cited in the Highland Papers for May 1914, "Macdonald enjoyed the Earldom of Ross all his lifetime without any competition or trouble...but as long as the king was captive in England, the Duke of Albany the Regent used all his power to oppose him and impair his greatness, being vexed he lost the Battle of Harlaw." (Highland Papers, vol. 1, at p. 34). and By 1415 the Earldom of Ross was with Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany. Donald prepared for war and proclaimed himself "Lord of Ross". However, the Duke of Albany appointed his own son John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Buchan as the new Earl of Ross.
In 1429 the Battle of Lochaber took place where forces led by Donald's son, Alexander of Islay, 3rd Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross, fought against the royalist army of James I of Scotland. Two years later the Battle of Inverlochy (1431) took place; While chief Alexander of Islay, Lord of the Isles was imprisoned by King James I, the Clan MacDonald were led by his nephew, Domhnall Ballach, who defeated Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar's royal army. The armies of the MacDonald Lords of the Isles were the only magnate forces in Scotland capable of inflicting defeats on the Crown at this time. The Battle of Inverlochy in 1431 is one example of this and the Battle of Lagabraad in Ross in 1480 is another. James I finally conceded to Alexander's rule in the Isles and Ross. Thus, the MacDonald chiefs would succeed as the Earls of Ross: firstly Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross, son of Donald of Islay and Mariota, Countess of Ross, succeeded to the earldom as confirmed by a charter dated September 1437, following the assassination of James I of Scotland in February of the same year. Secondly, Alexander's son John of Islay, Earl of Ross who surrendered the earldom in 1475 to the King.
According to 17th century historian Sir Robert Gordon, 1st Baronet who himself was a younger son of Alexander Gordon, 12th Earl of Sutherland, in 1455 the Battle of Skibo and Strathfleet took place where John of Islay invaded Sutherland but was defeated by the Clan Sutherland who were led by Robert Sutherland, brother of John Sutherland, 7th Earl of Sutherland.
The MacDonnells of Antrim in Ireland were a sept of Clan Donald. MacDonnell migration to the Glens and Rathlin Island increased in the early 16th century after the clan had rejected overtures from an increasingly powerful James IV, King of Scotland. State Papers, Henry the Eighth. Volume II. pp. 7, 27
The 1638–1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms caused huge dislocation and damage throughout the British Isles; in 1641, the Scottish Covenanter government sent an expeditionary force that joined the vicious and bloody Irish Rebellion. All sides committed atrocities, leading to a series of tit-for-tat responses, exacerbated by long-standing animosities; in 1642 on Rathlin Island, soldiers from a predominantly Clan Campbell-recruited unit led by Sir Duncan Campbell threw scores of MacDonnell women over the cliffs to their deaths on rocks below. (2025). 9780349115641, London: Abacus. ISBN 9780349115641 p.143 The Carolingian Era , macdonnellofleinster.org. Retrieved 28 August 2008
Scotland initially stayed neutral in the First English Civil War but became involved in 1643; the shifting alliances only make sense if one understands that in Scotland, both Royalists and Covenanters agreed that the institution of monarchy was divinely ordered, but disagreed on the nature and extent of royal authority in relation to that of the church. (2025). 9780198743118, OUP Oxford. ISBN 9780198743118 This makes it hard to categorise clans as wholly "Royalist", "Catholic", or later "Jacobite".
In 1644, Alasdair Mac Colla landed in Scotland with 1500 Irish troops to link up with the Scottish Royalists; Alasdair was from Clan Donald of Dunnyveg, which historically held lands in the western Scottish islands and North-East Ireland. They joined up with Montrose and played a leading role in the 1644–1645 campaign; this was highly successful, with victory at the Battle of Inverlochy leaving Montrose in effective control of Scotland.
Inverlochy and the entire Montrose campaign are often presented as a clan battle between Campbells and MacDonalds; while there is certainly some truth in this, many others were involved. The persistence of this idea in Gaelic folklore was partly driven by deliberate policy, since Montrose used it as a means of recruiting. Ultimately the campaign ended in failure and division, since Mac Colla's objective was to regain territories in the Western Highlands, while Montrose's was to move south and aid Charles. The two split; Mac Colla's ravaging of Campbell lands was still remembered with deep bitterness 300 years later.
In 1692 in the Massacre of Glencoe, 38 unarmed MacDonalds from the Clan MacDonald of Glencoe were murdered when an initiative to suppress Jacobitism was entangled in the long-running feud, and MacIain, who was the chief of the MacDonalds of Glencoe, was late in signing an oath of allegiance to William III of England. The event served as part of the inspiration for "The Red Wedding" as featured in books and TV series Game of Thrones.
The Clan MacDonald of Clanranald, along with the Clan MacDonald of Glengarry, and Clan MacDonald of Keppoch, fought as Jacobites at the Battle of Falkirk Muir on 17 January 1746
The Clan MacDonald of Glencoe, Clan MacDonald of Clanranald, and Clan MacDonell of Glengarry, fought as Jacobites at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746, as did the Clan MacDonald of Keppoch whose chief, Alexander MacDonald of Keppoch, was killed.
The Clan MacDonald of Sleat branch had fought for the Jacobites in the 1715 rebellion, however they actually formed two battalions (Independent Highland Companies) in support of the British Government during the 1745 rebellion and as a result the Sleat possessions remained intact. However, according to A and A MacDonald these two companies were more of a hindrance than help to the Government as they were made up of officers and men who were in entire sympathy with the Jacobite Prince Charles Edward Stuart.
| Donald Dubh | 1545 | Rebelled against the king of Scots but made an alliance with the king of England. |
| Aonghas Og | 1490 | "Bastard" son of John of Islay. Last MacDonald Lord of the Isles. |
| John of Islay, Earl of Ross | 1503 | Fought at the Battle of Bloody Bay against his son. |
| Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross | 1449 | His second son was Celestine of Lochalsh, 1st of the Macdonald of Lochalsh branch, and his third son was Hugh of Sleat, 1st of the Macdonalds of Sleat branch. |
| Dòmhnall of Islay, Lord of the Isles | 1422/3 | Fought and was victorious at the Battle of Harlaw. |
| John of Islay, Lord of the Isles | 1380 | John married:
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| Aonghus Óg of Islay | 1314×1318/c.1330 | Fought at the Battle of Bannockburn. In addition to his other sons, he had an illegitimate son, Ian Fraoch, who became the 1st of the Macdonalds of Glencoe. |
| Domhnall of Islay | ×1318? | His parentage is uncertain. He appears to have been a contender for the chiefship and may have acted as chief. He may have been the MacDonald chief killed at the Battle of Faughart in 1318. |
| Alexander Og MacDonald, Lord of Islay | 1299? | There are two views as to when this eldest son of Angus Mor died. The first is that he was killed by the MacDougalls in 1299 in Ireland (though this may have been his uncle, also named Alexander); the other is that he fought against Robert the Bruce in Galloway in 1308, was captured by Edward Bruce, escaped to Castle Sween in North Knapdale, was recaptured by Robert the Bruce and taken prisoner to Dundonald Castle in Kintyre where he died. He was succeeded in 1308 by his brother Angus Og MacDonald, a staunch ally of Robert the Bruce. Donald J. Macdonald of Castleton (1979). 9780904265217, Macdonald Publishers Ltd. ISBN 9780904265217 |
| Aonghas Mór (Angus Mor MacDonald) | c. 1293 | He was succeeded by his eldest son, Alexander Og. He was also the father of Aonghus Óg of Islay and John Sprangach of Ardnamurchan, 1st of the Macdonalds of Ardnamurchan branch. |
| Dòmhnall Mac Raghnuill (Donald) | From whom the Clan Donald takes its name. |
| MacDonald of the Isles ( MakDonnald of ye Ylis) tartan, as published in the Vestiarium Scoticum in 1842. |
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