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Clan MacAlister
We know our ancestor was not one of the Scottish Kings, as has been suggested by one researcher. Alexander I died without heirs in 1124. The second Alexander, a great grandson of his brother David, had but one son, Alexander III, but the latter monarch's sons preceded him in death, and after a struggle the royal line passed to Robert Bruce. But it is possible that our Alexander was a member of another illustrious family with a lineage just as impressive and in many ways more interesting, a Celtic-Norse royal family who ruled the Islands for hundreds of years. Moore, Woulfe and Kelley all link our name with the Clan Mac Alister of Scotland and Ireland, an early branch of the family of the "Lords of the Isles".* Man is only one of the islands that adjoins Ireland and Scotland, and not even the largest. But it is further from the other islands than it is from Ireland, Scotland, and England (See map), and by virture of it's position in the middle of the Irish sea apart from the other Islands it has established an identity of its own. To the north of the narrow neck of water that separates Northern Ireland from Scotland is a large group of islands adjoining the coast of Scotland known collectively as the Herbrides. Today they are part of Scotland. But at that time the boundaries of what are today Ireland and Scotland were in a state of constant flux. Over the centuries as the Celtic royal line grew and subdivided their territories family members fought each other for dominion of the Islands. When the Vikings conquered the Islands they intermarried with Celtic leaders, and created new challenges to the islands' suzertainity.
Godred Crovan was born on the Isle of Islay to a prominent Viking family. He conquered Man in 1057, and created the Kingdom of Man and the Isles. Godred ruled from Dublin, and spent little time on Man, but his descendants were to rule Man, except for brief intervals until 1265 when it passed to the Scottish Crown. Godred's son Olaf or Olave was his successor, and after Olaf another Godred. But the second Godred's sister, Raganhildis or Affrica , had married Somerled, "Regulus of Argyll", who claimed to be a descendant of the Celtic kings, although he was definitely at least part Viking. Somerled wrested control of most of the islands away from Godred in 1165, leaving him only Man and the northern Islands of Lewis and Skye. Somerled established his own kingdom "of the Isles", and although it was sub-divided among his family, his heirs kept the name "Of the Isles", and later adopted the title "Lord of the Isles", which was in use until 1493. This was the period when the great clans of Scotland were born, a period of family warfare and political intrigues. The descendants of Somerled's son Dugall became known as the Clan MacDougall, and grandson, Donald of the Isles, was the progenitor of the Clan Mac Donald, the most powerful and influential of them all. Alastair (also written as Alistair, Alister, Alisdair or simply Alexander) was to become a popular name in all the related clans that descended from this Somerled. Two different men by that name are on record as being the progenitor of the Clan MacAlister, who may have been our own Alexander.
Most historians say the Clan descended from the younger of Donald's two sons. We don't know a lot about this Alastair.Mor, who lived in the 13th century just after the reign of Alexander I in Scotland. Apparently he was the first in his family to carry the name. Alastair's older brother Angus Mor inherited the family titles and most of the land, although Alistair was probably given part of Kintyre. Balfour Paul says Alistair was one of the witnesses to his brother's charter to Paisley Abbey, and also mentions a son named Donald who later commanded a chosen group of highlanders sent by his cousin Angus Og to meet with Robert Bruce. I have yet to discover anything more about this Donald or any siblings he may have had. According to the Annals of Ulster, Alistair Mor was killed in 1299 in a battle with a kinsman, ironically also named Alastair. This was Alastair of Argyll, Lord of Lorn, the 4th chief in the Mac Dougall line. The second Alastair credited with being the source for the Clan McAlistair was a nephew of Alistair Mor. He was known as Alastair of the Isles, Alastair of Islay, or Alastair Og. The eldest son of Angus Mor, he was chief of the Clan Mac Donald and heir to the MacDonald lands and titles, but lost them for opposing Robert Bruce in his claims to the Scottish crown after the line of Alexander III died out. When Bruce won the kingom he awarded Alastairs's lands and titles to the latter's younger brother, Angus Og, who had supported him, and imprisoned Alastair in Dundonald Castle where he died. Our confusion about which Alastair the MacAlastairs spring from can be traced to a discrepancy between the official MacDonald genealogies and an old manuscript known as the Manuscript of 1450. I have not seen it, but it quoted by a couple of writers, most notably Eyre-Todd: "The MacAlastairs trace their descent in the famous MS of 1450, from the great-grandson of Somerled, Angus Mor MacDonald, Lord of the Isles in the latter part of the 13th century." After telling the story of Alastair losing out to Angus Og for opposing Bruce, Eyre-Todd adds," From their descent as legitimate heirs male of the forfeited Alexander of the Isles, the MacAlastairs may claim to be the actual representatives of the mighty Somerled." This Alastair had six sons named Reginald, Angus, Somerled, Black John, Charles and Godfrey, who we are told, went to Ireland as mercenaries and settled there. This would have been about 1310. In so doing they were following an established tradition. Rea says "these men" of the Isles and Argyll were first seen (in Ireland) as mercenaries in 1257. wearing coats of mail,. and carrying huge battle axes. " These Scottish dscendants of the Vikings known as "gallowglasses" or "galloglaigh" (foreign soldier in the Irish Gaelic) fought with the Tir Chbonaill army against the Normans of Henry II of England. Adds MacLysaght "(the McDonnels/McDonalds) came to Ireland as a military body in the 13th century, and having established themselves as gallowglasses to the most powerful chiefs in the north of Ireland, they gradually acquired territory of their own as grants for military service and by marriage. " Hayes-McCoy identifies the families of Somerled, Black John and Charles in Ireland with the "MacDonnels" . I have not found any further mention of Reginald, Angus, or Godfrey or their descendants and don't know what became of them. We do know there were MacAlisters in this part of Ireland by the 15th century. MacLysaght says they established themselves in the 14th century, after first coming over as galloglaigh, chiefly in the service of the McDonnels.
A map of Ireland from MacLysaght's book showing the lands of the clans of Ireland during the period froom 1300-1600 shows a large section of the land on the coast near the McDonnels as belonging to the MacAlisters. The land records from this area need further study, as the timing is unclear. Some writers suggest that the MacAlisters may not have immediately emerged as a separate clan. Eyre-Todd, referring to the Clan in Scotland, says the family did not "attain the dignity of an independant clan" until the 15th century." We should also be aware that although clan affiliations were important, surnames were only just starting to come into use in at this time. They were not common in Scotland for another century. It is possible too, that the MacAlisters in Scotland found it politically more prudent to be descendants of Alister Mor than his disgraced nephew. Eyre-Todd, Adam, and others says the territory of the clan Mac Alister in Scotland was in South Knapdale (Kintyre), and the ancient seat of the chief was at Ard Phadruig, on the north of West Loch Tarbet, which is near the Loup. and Tarbet Castle where the family was prominent at the end of the 15th century. The MacAlisters of the Loup and Tarbet, the so called leading families of the Clan always claimed descent from Alasdair Mor. I found it interesting, however, that one of their leaders was named Ian Dubh or Black John like the son of Alastair of Islay. Says Grant of the Clan, "The earliest of all off-shoots of Clan Donald, the Macalisters remained comparatively small. They occupied lands in Kintyre and their chiefs generally followed their more powerful kinsman, MacDonald of Dunyveg, but they survived there long after (the Lord of) Argyll had obtained possession of Kintyre" (and ejected the Dunveg MacDonalds, then known as the McDonnels.) The Dunyveg MacDonalds, who would become the most powerful branch of the family in the 15th century also had Irish connections. The founder of this group was John Mor the Tanistear, the second son of John the lst Lord of the Islands ( a grandson of the Angus Og who replaced Alastair of Islay as the leader of the MacDonald Clan in 1308.) John Mor's older brother, another Donald, had inherited the title of Lord of the Isles, while John apparently inherited much of the family holdings on Islay and Kintyre. As a result of a feud with his brother, however, John was expelled for a time from Islay , and also became a gallowglass. In 1399 John married Margery Byset or Bisset, heiress of the Glens of Antrim, and founded a MacDonnel Lordship there which he added to the family holdings in Islay and Kintyre. The question is did the MacAlisters precede or follow John to Ireland. The timing is important, because Woulfe and Kelly seem to suggest that we may be descended from this Irish branch of the Clan. Both list Callister as a derivative of the name MacAlastair, which they describe as the name of a family related to the MacDonalds which settled in County Antrim. Since William "MacAlexander" was established on Man by 1418 however, he could not have come from the Irish MacAlisters if they didn't move to Ireland until the 15th century. It's important to remember, in any case, that moving to Ireland wasn't like moving to a foreign country in the sense that our ancestor Thomas, for instance, moved to America. Antrim was only about 20 miles by sea from the lowest tip of Kintyre, about the same distance as Islay was from Kintyre at their closest points, and historically connecected by both blood and politics. The herbrides were still not firmly under the control of the Scottish kings at that time. As recently as 1257 they had still been part of the Kingdom of the Isles, which was then a vassal state to Norway, and the Lordship of the Isles was often still at odds with the Crown even though the two lines had intermarried. (John Mor's mother was the sister of Robert of Scotland.) And we should not forget that the Scots who gave Scotland her name had invaded the land of the Picts centuries before from Antrim,. In a sense they were only going home. MacLysaght. makes the point in quoting the history of the MacAlisters "...they are Irish Gaels by origin since they descend from Colla Uais, eldest of the famous three Collas of Oriel." (This is based on the assumption that Somerled was descended from the Irish kings, however, and the evidence suggests his family was really Norse, and his irish pedigrees invented by the MacDonalds. But the family WAS connected to Colla Uais through Donald's mother.) Man, of course, had been part of Ireland for thousands of years before it was conquered by the Norse. It had been conquered and ruled by Somerled until his death in 1164 when it reverted to Olave's grandson, his nephew by marriage. So Man was familiar territory to the clans. We also know from Kneen that some of Somerled's descendants settled on Man. Kneen identifies three family names known to be descended from Somerled, and his sons Engus (or Angus) and Dubgall (Dugall.) There were also Mac Donalds there. Mac Dougall and Mac Donald are said to have been the oldest patronymic surnames on Man, as they were in the Scottish highlands. But for some reason, unlike Moore and Woulfe, Kneen does not make a connection between MacAlexander and MacAlister. Probably because he finds the name written MacAlexander he suggests a Norman origin. Moore makes the point that Alexander was a common Christian name among the Normans. And Woulfe describes some of the patronymic forms of this name, such as MacAlasandair, M'Alexander, and MacAlshender. But the latter two writers agree that Callister came from MacAlister not MacAlexander. Clear. Not by a long shot. The evidence suggests a likely connection between our.family and Clan Alister, but it remains elusive. If this is the case it's doubtful that our ancestors moved to Man prior to 1300. And because William "McAlexander" was well established by 1418 it's doubtful that they arrived after about 1375. Most likely they moved to the Island about 1325-1350. Man and the Isles had come under the authority of Scotland in 1266 with the defeat of the Norse king, Haco, by Alexander III of Scotland, so Man was part of Scotland during part of this period. There were also connections with Antrtim as we have seen, and Ireland was even closer than Scotland. The MacAlister holdings in Ireland, whenever they came about, were about half way between Kintyre and Man. During the 14th century the Lordship of Man, as it was now styled, passed back and forth between Scottish and English hands, until it finally became an English possession. It was firmly in British hands in 1407 when it was awarded to Sir John Stanley I. While the Lords of the Isles (MacDonalds) still presented a threat to the Scottish Kings during this period and sometimes conspired against them with the Norman kings who then ruled England, they were now connected to the Scottish Kings by marrige and ostensively subservient to their sovereignty. John Mor's mother was the sister of King Robert (Stewart) of Scotland, so John was his nephew. Through intermarriage the Stewarts would eventually also later win the English crown. In Scotland the Mac Alisters were apparently spreading into adjoining lands. X says by _______they were numerically stong in Arran and Bute. Black says that by the end of the 15th century MacAlexander had become a patronymic in Carrick. Grant says that "very early" some of the Clan moved to the lowlands whee they took the name Alexander. Kneen mentions the arrival of a number of immigrants from Galloway during this period. It is possible of course that our ancestors may have come from some other family. Alexander was a popular name among the Scottish aristocracy during this period, and eventually would take on the character of a national name. Sir Alexander of Paisley, led the Scottish invasionof the Island, but he was a Stewart. But there is nothing so far to suggest any other origin. |
