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The Lords, or Kings of Galloway ruled over Galloway
Galloway

Galloway is an area in southwestern Scotland. It usually refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and Stewarty of Kirkcudbright . It is part of the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland....
, in south west Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
, for a large part of the High Middle Ages
High Middle Ages

The High Middle Ages was the periodization of history of Europe in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
.

Many regions of Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
, including Galloway and Moray
Mormaer of Moray

The Mormaerdom or Kingdom of Moray was a lordship in High Medieval Scotland that was destroyed by King David I of Scotland in 1130. It did not have the same territory as the modern local government council area of Moray, which is a much smaller area, around Elgin, Moray....
, periodically had kings or subkings, similar to those in Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
 during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
. The Scottish monarch was seen as being similar to a high king (Ard-Righ in Gaelic). The Kings of Galloway would have either paid tribute to the Scottish monarch, or at other times ignored him.

The Kings of Galloway are fairly well recorded in the 12th and 13th centuries, but the records are incomplete or conflicting at other times.






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The Lords, or Kings of Galloway ruled over Galloway
Galloway

Galloway is an area in southwestern Scotland. It usually refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and Stewarty of Kirkcudbright . It is part of the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland....
, in south west Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
, for a large part of the High Middle Ages
High Middle Ages

The High Middle Ages was the periodization of history of Europe in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
.

Many regions of Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
, including Galloway and Moray
Mormaer of Moray

The Mormaerdom or Kingdom of Moray was a lordship in High Medieval Scotland that was destroyed by King David I of Scotland in 1130. It did not have the same territory as the modern local government council area of Moray, which is a much smaller area, around Elgin, Moray....
, periodically had kings or subkings, similar to those in Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
 during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
. The Scottish monarch was seen as being similar to a high king (Ard-Righ in Gaelic). The Kings of Galloway would have either paid tribute to the Scottish monarch, or at other times ignored him.

The Kings of Galloway are fairly well recorded in the 12th and 13th centuries, but the records are incomplete or conflicting at other times. Later on, the kings were known as "lords" at the Scottish court, and "kings" at home, finally becoming "Lords" in both arenas.

The boundaries of the Kingdom of Galloway were ill defined, and varied over time. During many periods Galloway was much larger than it is today, and took in parts of southern Ayrshire
Ayrshire

Ayrshire is a registration county, and former counties of Scotland in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine, North Ayrshire....
, such as Carrick
Carrick, Scotland

Carrick is a former comital district of Scotland which today forms part of South Ayrshire. The word Carrick comes from the Scottish Gaelic language word Carraig, meaning rock or rocky place....
, Upper Douglasdale and Nithsdale
Nithsdale

Nithsdale , also known by its anglicised gaelic name Strathnith or Stranit. It is possible that Strath Nid actually represents the Cumbric Ystrad Nidd as Cumbric was the dominant language in this area from before Roman times until the 11th or 12th Century whereas Gaelic influence here was late and transient....
. The area appears to have been the main bastion of Scottish Gaelic culture south of the Highlands
Scottish Highlands

The Scottish Highlands include the rugged and mountainous regions of Scotland north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east....
 in medieval times.

Suibne mac Cináeda (d.1034) is the first recorded king of the Gall-ghàidhil, the people of Galloway, although it is not until about 1138 that the succession is properly recorded. The line appears to have continued until 1234. King Fergus of Galloway
Fergus of Galloway

Fergus of Galloway was Lords of Galloway from an unknown date , until his death in 1161. He was the founder of that "sub-kingdom," the resurrector of the Bishopric of Whithorn, the patron of new abbeys , and much else besides....
 seems to have been of Norse
Norsemen

Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who speak one of the North Germanic languages as their native language. The meaning of Norseman was "people from the North" and was applied primarily to Nordic people originating from southern and central Scandinavia....
-Galwegian heritage, and may have been descended from earlier princes. He took the throne of Galloway some time between 1110 and 1120. When he died in 1161 Fergus left Galloway to his two sons, Uchtred
Uchtred, Lord of Galloway

Uchtred mac Fergusa was Lords of Galloway from 1161 to 1174, ruling jointly with his half-brother Gille Brigte, Lord of Galloway - . They were sons of Fergus of Galloway; their mothers' names are unknown, but Uchtred may have been born to one of the many illegitimate daughters of Henry I of England....
 and Gille Brigte
Gille Brigte, Lord of Galloway

Gille Brigte or Gilla Brigte mac Fergusa of Galloway , also known as Gillebrigte, Gille Brighde, Gilbridge, Gilbride, etc, and most famously known in French sources as Gilbert, was Lords of Galloway ....
 (Gilbert). In 1174 Uchtred died after being brutally blinded and mutilated by his brother Gille Brigte and Gille Brigte's son, Máel Coluim (Malcolm). When Gilla Brigte died a few years later, it was Uchtred's son Lochlann
Lochlann, Lord of Galloway

Lochlann or Lachlan, , also known by his French name Roland, was the son and successor of Uchtred, Lord of Galloway as the "Lord" or "sub-king" of eastern Galloway....
 (Roland) who took possession of Galloway. Gilla Brigte's surviving son Donnchad
Donnchadh, Earl of Carrick

Donnchad mac Gille Brigte was the first Mormaer or "Earl of Carrick" of Carrick, Scotland.In 1176, he was handed over by his father Gille Brigte, Lord of Galloway to King Henry II of England as a hostage, to ensure the good behaviour of the former....
 (Duncan) was made 1st Earl/Mormaer of Carrick
Earl of Carrick

The Earl of Carrick was the head of a comital lordship of Carrick, Scotland in south-western Scotland. The title emerged in 1186, when Donnchadh, Earl of Carrick, son of Gille Brigte, Lord of Galloway, became Mormaer or Earl of Carrick, Scotland in compensation for exclusion from the whole Lord of Galloway....
.

Lochlann married Helen, the daughter of Richard de Moreville, Constable of Scotland, and inherited his father-in-law's title. Their son Alan was the most powerful of the lords, but on his death in 1234 he left only daughters. King Alexander II of Scotland
Alexander II of Scotland

Alexander II , King of Scots, was the only son of William I of Scotland and Ermengarde of Beaumont. He was born at Haddington, East Lothian, East Lothian, in 1198, and spent time in England before succeeding to the kingdom on the death of his father on 4 December 1214, being crowned at Scone on 6 December the same year....
 broke the line of Galloway's lords by rejecting the claim of Alan's illegitimate son Thomas
Thomas of Galloway

Thomas Macduallen, known as Thomas of Galloway, was an illegitimate son of Alan, Lord of Galloway , Constable of Scotland and the last Clan MacFergus Lord of Galloway....
. In response Gille Ruadh
Gille Ruadh

Gille Ruadh was the Galwegian leader who led the revolt against King Alexander II of Scotland. Also called Gilla Ruadh, Gilleroth, Gilrod, Gilroy, etc....
 led a revolt against Alexander. This failed however, and Galloway was divided amongst the French husbands of Alan's three living daughters, Roger de Quincy
Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester

Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester was a medieval nobleman who was prominent on both sides of the Anglo-Scottish border, as Earl of Winchester and Constable of Scotland....
 (married to Ela
Helen of Galloway

Helen of Galloway, , also known as Ela, was the daughter and co-heiress of Alan, Lord of Galloway and Hilda or Helen de L'Isle] daughter of Rognvald Sumarlidasson, Lord of the Isles and Fonia of Moray.....
), John de Balliol (married to Derborgaill) and William de Forz
William de Forz, 4th Earl of Albemarle

William de Forz, 4th Earl of Albemarle played a conspicuous part in the reign of Henry III of England, notably in the Mad Parliament of 1258....
 (married to Cairistiona).

The Laws of Galloway remained in force until 1426, and it is thought that these originally derived their authority from the kings of the area.

Some consider the Kennedy family to have taken a similar role.

List of Lords of Galloway




Rulers French Name Reigns
  • ?Suibne
    Suibne mac Cináeda

    Suibne mac Cin?eda was a king of the Norse-Gaels . His death is recorded by the Annals of Ulsterand the Annals of Tigernach in 1034.Although sometimes associated with Galloway, which may possibly derived from the Gall-G?edil, he is possibly the eponymous ancestor of the Sweeney who were found in Knapdale, in the area of Loch Sween whe...
  • -
  • ?Echmarcach
    Echmarcach mac Ragnaill

    Echmarcach mac Ragnaill was the Gall-Gaidhel King of the Lord of the Isles, Dublin , and much of Galloway.Echmarcach's long career brought both glories and failures....
  • -
  • Fergus
    Fergus of Galloway

    Fergus of Galloway was Lords of Galloway from an unknown date , until his death in 1161. He was the founder of that "sub-kingdom," the resurrector of the Bishopric of Whithorn, the patron of new abbeys , and much else besides....
  • Uchtred
    Uchtred, Lord of Galloway

    Uchtred mac Fergusa was Lords of Galloway from 1161 to 1174, ruling jointly with his half-brother Gille Brigte, Lord of Galloway - . They were sons of Fergus of Galloway; their mothers' names are unknown, but Uchtred may have been born to one of the many illegitimate daughters of Henry I of England....
  • Gille Brigte
    Gille Brigte, Lord of Galloway

    Gille Brigte or Gilla Brigte mac Fergusa of Galloway , also known as Gillebrigte, Gille Brighde, Gilbridge, Gilbride, etc, and most famously known in French sources as Gilbert, was Lords of Galloway ....
  • Lochlann
    Lochlann, Lord of Galloway

    Lochlann or Lachlan, , also known by his French name Roland, was the son and successor of Uchtred, Lord of Galloway as the "Lord" or "sub-king" of eastern Galloway....
  • Alan
    Alan, Lord of Galloway

    Alan FitzRoland was the last of the MacFergus dynasty of quasi-independent Lords of Galloway. He was also hereditary Constable of Scotland....
  • ---
  • -
  • ---
  • -
  • ---
  • ---
  • Gilbert
  • Roland
  • ---
  • d. 1034
  • -
  • d. 1065
  • -
  • d. 1161
  • 1161-1174
  • 1174-1185
  • 1185-1200
  • 1200-1234


See also

  • Gille Ruadh
    Gille Ruadh

    Gille Ruadh was the Galwegian leader who led the revolt against King Alexander II of Scotland. Also called Gilla Ruadh, Gilleroth, Gilrod, Gilroy, etc....
     for the Revolt of the Galwegians after 1234.
  • Archibald the Grim