Somerled
Encyclopedia
Somerled was a military and political leader of the Scottish Isles in the 12th century who was known in Gaelic as rí
Innse Gall ("King of the Hebrides
"). His father was Gillebride. The name, a common one amongst the Viking
s, means summer traveller and is a kenning
for Viking
.
wrote that:
There is agreement that his father was "Gillibrigdi" (variously spelled) and that his grandfather was Gilli Adamnáin. Solam and its variants consistently appears as his great-grandfather, but earlier than this there can be little certainty. These sources generally lead back to the legendary figure of Colla Uais
.
The name "Gofraid" also appears in all the different versions, and in addition to Monro's claim that Somerled was a member of "Clan Gothofred " in a poetic address to Aonghus of Islay
, Clann Somairle is described as having "sprung from Síol nGofraidh" (the seed of Gofraid). Woolf (2005) identifies this as referring to Godred Crovan
rather than Gofraid ua Ímair
or Gofraid mac Fergusa
as has been claimed, although as Crovan died in 1095 this would require far fewer intermediate names than the annals suggest.
, of Kintyre
(Cinn Tìre) when he marries Raghnailt the daughter of Olaf
(or Amhlaibh), King of Mann and the Isles. The year 1153 saw the deaths of two kings: David I of Scotland
and Olaf of Mann. There was much confusion and discord as a result and Somerled took his chance, making offensive moves against both Scotland
and Mann and the Isles, the latter having been inherited from Olaf by Somerled's brother-in-law, Goraidh mac Amhlaibh.
A summoning was sent, from Thorfin the most powerful jarl of the Hebrides, to Somerled Dougal
—Somerled's own son by his wife, the daughter of the Manx king—to move so he might be "King over the Isles". In 1156 Goraidh was defeated during the Battle of Epiphany
against 80 ships of Somerled's fleet and the two enemies partitioned the isles between them. Goraidh kept the islands north of Ardnamurchan
with Somerled gaining the rest. However, two years after this Somerled returned to the Isle of Man
with 53 warships. He defeated Goraidh again in battle
and this time forced him to flee to Norway
. Somerled's kingdom now stretched from the Isle of Man to the Butt of Lewis
.
Thus both Viking
and Scot
formed one people under a single lord, coming to share a single culture and one way of life — they were to become a powerful and noted race known as the Gall-Gaidheal, literally meaning 'Foreign-Gaels'. It was upon the seas that their power was situated under the rule of the Kings of the Isles; yet new enemies arose in the east.
made inroads in the west coast and eventually Somerled assembled a sizable army to repel them. He landed an invasion fleet on the shore of the Clyde near Inchinnan
and advanced towards Renfrew
and the centre of the Stewarts' territory, where the Battle of Renfrew
was fought in 1164. Much confusion surrounds the manner of the battle, and indeed whether a battle occurred at all, but what is certain is that Somerled was killed, either assassinated in his tent as he camped or from a spear wound suffered in an early phase of the battle. The leaderless fleet then retreated from the area.
n world saw much change in methods of rule and administration which ultimately resulted in more strongly centralized, unified kingdoms such as Denmark
and Norway
. However, this did not happen in the Kingdom of the Isles, which was instead absorbed into the greater Kingdom of Scotland
, albeit its place in that state and the loyalty of its inhabitants to the King of Scots would remain peripheral and temperamental for centuries to come.
In 2005 a study by Professor of Human Genetics
Bryan Sykes
of Oxford
led him to the conclusion that Somerled has possibly 500,000 living descendants—making him the second most common currently-known ancestor after Genghis Khan
. He subsequently wrote that Roughly a quarter of Macdonalds, a third of McDougalls, and 40 percent of Macalisters are direct paternal descendents of Somerled ... it has been estimated that there are there are 200,000 men who carry Somerled's Y-chromosome as proof of their descent from the man who drove the Norse from the Isles. Sykes's research led him to conclude that Somerled was a member of the Y-DNA R1a1 Haplogroup
, sometimes considered the marker of Viking descent among men of deep British or Scottish ancestry. http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/stu/somerled.html
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/norse.htm Sykes' work has not been peer-reviewed, however it has been published. http://www.oxfordancestors.com/images/pdf/geneticstructureofahighlandclan.pdf
Y- Dna of Somerlend
http://www.ourfamilyorigins.com/scotland/founderscots.htm
He also fathered:
By his wife, Ragnhildr, daughter of Óláfr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles, and Óláfr's unnamed concubine:
's novel Lord of the Isles (1983).
Rí
Rí, or very commonly ríg , is an ancient Gaelic word meaning "King". It is used in historical texts referring to the Irish and Scottish kings and those of similar rank. While the modern Irish word is exactly the same, in modern Scottish it is Rìgh, apparently derived from the genitive. The word...
Innse Gall ("King of the Hebrides
Hebrides
The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...
"). His father was Gillebride. The name, a common one amongst the Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
s, means summer traveller and is a kenning
Kenning
A kenning is a type of literary trope, specifically circumlocution, in the form of a compound that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly associated with Old Norse and later Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon poetry...
for Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
.
Ancestry
There are a number of competing versions of Somerled's pedigree in the annals. For example, Dean MonroDonald Monro (Dean)
Donald Monro was a Scottish clergyman, who wrote an early and historically valuable description of the Hebrides and other Scottish islands and enjoyed the honorific title of “Dean of the Isles”.-Origins:...
wrote that:
This Somerle wes the sone of Gillebryde M’Gilleadam, name Vic Sella, Vic Mearshaighe, Vic Swyffine, Vic Malgheussa, Vic Eacime, Vic Gothefred, fra quhome they were called at that time Clan Gothofred, that is, Clan Gotheray in Hybers Leid, and they were very grate men in that tymes zeire.
There is agreement that his father was "Gillibrigdi" (variously spelled) and that his grandfather was Gilli Adamnáin. Solam and its variants consistently appears as his great-grandfather, but earlier than this there can be little certainty. These sources generally lead back to the legendary figure of Colla Uais
Colla Uais
Colla Uais , son of Eochaid Doimlén, son of Cairbre Lifechair, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. His given name was Cairell...
.
The name "Gofraid" also appears in all the different versions, and in addition to Monro's claim that Somerled was a member of "Clan Gothofred " in a poetic address to Aonghus of Islay
Aonghas Mór
Aonghas Mór , also known as Aonghas a Íle and Aonghas mac Domhnaill , was the son of Domhnall mac Raghnaill, eponymous progenitor of Clan Donald.Aonghas Mór has been called "the first MacDonald" by one historian, namely...
, Clann Somairle is described as having "sprung from Síol nGofraidh" (the seed of Gofraid). Woolf (2005) identifies this as referring to Godred Crovan
Godred Crovan
Godred Crovan was a Norse-Gael ruler of Dublin, and King of Mann and the Isles in the second half of the 11th century. Godred's epithet Crovan may mean "white hand" . In Manx folklore he is known as King Orry.-Ancestry and early life:...
rather than Gofraid ua Ímair
Gofraid ua Ímair
Gofraid was a Norse-Gael king of Dublin and, for a short time, king of Northumbria...
or Gofraid mac Fergusa
Gofraid mac Fergusa
Gofraid mac Fergusa was said to be a ruler in Hebrides and perhaps the Isle of Man in the 9th century. His existence, at least in the form presented in the Irish annals, is questionable....
as has been claimed, although as Crovan died in 1095 this would require far fewer intermediate names than the annals suggest.
Life
Somerled first appears in historical chronicles in the year 1140 as the Regulus, or KingMonarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
, of Kintyre
Kintyre
Kintyre is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The region stretches approximately 30 miles , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south, to East Loch Tarbert in the north...
(Cinn Tìre) when he marries Raghnailt the daughter of Olaf
Olaf I of the Isle of Man
Olaf Godredsson , sometimes known in secondary sources as Olaf I, was a 12th century ruler of the Isle of Man and the Hebrides. Some secondary sources style Olaf "King of Mann", or "King of Mann and the Isles"...
(or Amhlaibh), King of Mann and the Isles. The year 1153 saw the deaths of two kings: David I of Scotland
David I of Scotland
David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...
and Olaf of Mann. There was much confusion and discord as a result and Somerled took his chance, making offensive moves against both Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and Mann and the Isles, the latter having been inherited from Olaf by Somerled's brother-in-law, Goraidh mac Amhlaibh.
A summoning was sent, from Thorfin the most powerful jarl of the Hebrides, to Somerled Dougal
Dubgall mac Somairle
Dubgall mac Somairle was a 12th century Scottish nobleman...
—Somerled's own son by his wife, the daughter of the Manx king—to move so he might be "King over the Isles". In 1156 Goraidh was defeated during the Battle of Epiphany
Battle of Epiphany
The Battle of Epiphany was a naval battle fought on 5–6 January or 12 January 1156, between the Norse Gofraidh mac Amhlaibh , King of Mann and the Isles and Celtic Somhairle MacGillebride , King of Cinn Tìre , Argyll and Lorne, off the coast of Islay, Scotland.-Background:Olaf I Godredsson , King...
against 80 ships of Somerled's fleet and the two enemies partitioned the isles between them. Goraidh kept the islands north of Ardnamurchan
Ardnamurchan
Ardnamurchan is a peninsula in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, noted for being very unspoilt and undisturbed. Its remoteness is accentuated by the main access route being a single track road for much of its length.-Geography:...
with Somerled gaining the rest. However, two years after this Somerled returned to the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
with 53 warships. He defeated Goraidh again in battle
Battle of the Isle of Man (1158)
The Battle of the Isle of Man was a battle fought in 1158 between the Norse Gofraidh mac Amhlaibh , King of Mann and the Isles and Celtic Somhairle MacGillebride , King of Cinn Tìre , Argyll and Lorne, on the Isle of Man....
and this time forced him to flee to Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Somerled's kingdom now stretched from the Isle of Man to the Butt of Lewis
Butt of Lewis
The Butt of Lewis is the most northerly point of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. The headland, which lies in the North Atlantic, is frequently battered by heavy swells and storms.-Lighthouse:...
.
Thus both Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
and Scot
Scot
A Scot is a member of an ethnic group indigenous to Scotland, derived from the Latin name of Irish raiders, the Scoti.Scot may also refer to:People with the given name Scot:* Scot Brantley , American football linebacker...
formed one people under a single lord, coming to share a single culture and one way of life — they were to become a powerful and noted race known as the Gall-Gaidheal, literally meaning 'Foreign-Gaels'. It was upon the seas that their power was situated under the rule of the Kings of the Isles; yet new enemies arose in the east.
Invasion and death
The StuartsClan Stuart
Clan Stewart is a Highland Scottish clan. The clan is recognised by Court of the Lord Lyon, however it does not have a clan chief recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms...
made inroads in the west coast and eventually Somerled assembled a sizable army to repel them. He landed an invasion fleet on the shore of the Clyde near Inchinnan
Inchinnan
Inchinnan is a small village in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The village is located on the main A8 road between Renfrew and Greenock, just southeast of the town of Erskine.-History:...
and advanced towards Renfrew
Renfrew
-Local government:The town of Renfrew gave its name to a number of local government areas used at various times:*Renfrew a town to the west of Glasgow*Renfrewshire, the present unitary local council area in which Renfrew is situatated....
and the centre of the Stewarts' territory, where the Battle of Renfrew
Battle of Renfrew
The Battle of Renfrew in 1164 was a significant engagement near Renfrew, Scotland. The army of King Malcolm IV of Scotland led by Walter fitz Alan was attacked by forces led by Somerled mac Gillebride , including the Celtic King of Mann and the Isles, King of Argyll, Cinn Tìre and Lorne...
was fought in 1164. Much confusion surrounds the manner of the battle, and indeed whether a battle occurred at all, but what is certain is that Somerled was killed, either assassinated in his tent as he camped or from a spear wound suffered in an early phase of the battle. The leaderless fleet then retreated from the area.
Legacy
Following the death of Somerled several powerful lords emerged from within his kingdom. The lordship was contested by two main families; that of Somerled and his descendants and that of the descendants of Goraidh mac Amhlaibh. During the 12th and 13th centuries the ScandinaviaScandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n world saw much change in methods of rule and administration which ultimately resulted in more strongly centralized, unified kingdoms such as Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. However, this did not happen in the Kingdom of the Isles, which was instead absorbed into the greater Kingdom of Scotland
Kingdom of Scotland
The Kingdom of Scotland was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England...
, albeit its place in that state and the loyalty of its inhabitants to the King of Scots would remain peripheral and temperamental for centuries to come.
In 2005 a study by Professor of Human Genetics
Human genetics
Human genetics describes the study of inheritance as it occurs in human beings. Human genetics encompasses a variety of overlapping fields including: classical genetics, cytogenetics, molecular genetics, biochemical genetics, genomics, population genetics, developmental genetics, clinical genetics,...
Bryan Sykes
Bryan Sykes
Bryan Sykes is a former Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Oxford and a current Fellow of Wolfson College.Sykes published the first report on retrieving DNA from ancient bone...
of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
led him to the conclusion that Somerled has possibly 500,000 living descendants—making him the second most common currently-known ancestor after Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
. He subsequently wrote that Roughly a quarter of Macdonalds, a third of McDougalls, and 40 percent of Macalisters are direct paternal descendents of Somerled ... it has been estimated that there are there are 200,000 men who carry Somerled's Y-chromosome as proof of their descent from the man who drove the Norse from the Isles. Sykes's research led him to conclude that Somerled was a member of the Y-DNA R1a1 Haplogroup
Haplogroup R1a (Y-DNA)
Haplogroup R1a is the phylogenetic name of a major clade of Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups. In other words, it is a way of grouping a significant part of all modern men according to a shared male-line ancestor. It is common in many parts of Eurasia and is frequently discussed in human...
, sometimes considered the marker of Viking descent among men of deep British or Scottish ancestry. http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/stu/somerled.html
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/norse.htm Sykes' work has not been peer-reviewed, however it has been published. http://www.oxfordancestors.com/images/pdf/geneticstructureofahighlandclan.pdf
Y- Dna of Somerlend
http://www.ourfamilyorigins.com/scotland/founderscots.htm
Family
By his first wife, who is unknown, their children were:- Somhairle Og
- Gillecallum b. c 1135, Killed in battle in 1164 during Battle of RenfrewBattle of RenfrewThe Battle of Renfrew in 1164 was a significant engagement near Renfrew, Scotland. The army of King Malcolm IV of Scotland led by Walter fitz Alan was attacked by forces led by Somerled mac Gillebride , including the Celtic King of Mann and the Isles, King of Argyll, Cinn Tìre and Lorne...
.
He also fathered:
- Gillies
- Gall
By his wife, Ragnhildr, daughter of Óláfr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles, and Óláfr's unnamed concubine:
- DubgallDubgall mac SomairleDubgall mac Somairle was a 12th century Scottish nobleman...
(d. after 1175) - RagnallRaghnall mac SomhairleRagnall mac Somairle, or Ragnall son of Somairle, was a late 12th century and possibly early 13th century magnate, seated on the western seaboard of Scotland. He was likely a younger son of Somairle mac Gilla Brigte, Lord of Argyll and his wife, Ragnhildr, daughter of Óláfr Guðrøðarson, King of...
(d. between 1192–1227) - ÁengusÁonghas mac SomhairleAonghas mac Somhairle was a son of Somerled and Ragnhild, . Aonghas succeeded his father, inheriting lands in Garmoran, Skye, Rum, Eigg, Bute and Arran and became known as Lord of Bute and Arran...
(d. 1210) - Amlaíb
- BethócBethóc, Prioress of IonaBethóc ingen Somairle was a 13th century prioress, considered to have been the first of Iona Nunnery. She was a daughter of Somairle mac Gilla Brigte....
In fiction
Somerled is the central character of Nigel TranterNigel Tranter
Nigel Tranter OBE was a Scottish historian and author.-Early life:Nigel Tranter was born in Glasgow and educated at George Heriot's School in Edinburgh. He trained as an accountant and worked in Scottish National Insurance Company, founded by his uncle. In 1933 he married May Jean Campbell Grieve...
's novel Lord of the Isles (1983).
See also
- Lord of the IslesLord of the IslesThe designation Lord of the Isles is today a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It emerged from a series of hybrid Viking/Gaelic rulers of the west coast and islands of Scotland in the Middle Ages, who wielded sea-power with fleets of...
- Clan DonaldClan DonaldClan Donald is one of the largest Scottish clans. There are numerous branches to the clan. Several of these have chiefs recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms; these are: Clan Macdonald of Sleat, Clan Macdonald of Clanranald, Clan MacDonell of Glengarry, Clan MacDonald of Keppoch, and Clan...
- Clan MacDougallClan MacDougallClan MacDougall is a Highland Scottish clan consisting of the descendants of Dubgall mac Somairle, son of Somerled, who ruled Lorne and the Isle of Mull in Argyll in the 13th century...
- Norse-GaelsNorse-GaelsThe Norse–Gaels were a people who dominated much of the Irish Sea region, including the Isle of Man, and western Scotland for a part of the Middle Ages; they were of Gaelic and Scandinavian origin and as a whole exhibited a great deal of Gaelic and Norse cultural syncretism...
- Uí ÍmairUí ÍmairThe Uí Ímair , or Dynasty of Ivar, were an enormous royal and imperial Norse dynasty who ruled Northern England, the Irish Sea region and Kingdom of Dublin, and the western coast of Scotland, including the Hebrides, from the mid 9th century, losing control of the first in the mid 10th, but the rest...
- John MacDonald IIJohn of Islay, Earl of RossJohn of Islay was a late medieval Scottish magnate. He was Earl of Ross and last Lord of the Isles as well as being Mac Domhnaill, chief of Clan Donald....
- Scotland in the High Middle AgesScotland in the High Middle AgesThe High Middle Ages of Scotland encompass Scotland in the era between the death of Domnall II in 900 AD and the death of king Alexander III in 1286...