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Donald MACDONALD, 8th Lord of the Isles

Donald MACDONALD, 8th Lord of the Isles

Male Abt 1351 - 1423  (~ 72 years)

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  • Name Donald MACDONALD  [1
    Suffix 8th Lord of the Isles 
    Born Abt 1351  Western Isles, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    FamilySearch ID GSLZ-BNP 
    MilitaryService 24 Jul 1411  [2
    fought in the Battle of Harlaw 
    TitleOfNobility   [2
    9th Earl of Ross 
    Name Domhnall mac Domhnaill of Ross  [2
    Name Donald of Harlaw  [2
    Buried 1423  Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Died 8 May 1423  Dingwall, Ross-Shire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Person ID I594767843  Carney Wehofer 2024 Genealogy
    Last Modified 2 Jan 2023 

    Father John "Iain" Islay MACDONALD, Carrach,   b. 1305, Finlaggan Castle, Isle Of Islay, Argyll, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1386, Ardtornish Castle, Morven, Argyll, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 81 years) 
    Mother Lady Margaret STEWART, Princess of Scotland,   b. 1336, Dundonald Castle, Kyle, Ayrshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 6 May 1410, Lochaline, Argyll, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 74 years) 
    Married 14 Jun 1350  Kyle, Ayrshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    Family ID F536729020  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Mariota LESLIE, Countess of Ross,   b. 1363, Leslie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1429, Dingwall, Ross-Shire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 66 years) 
    Married 8 Oct 1395  Dingwall, Ross-Shire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Children 
     1. Alexander MACDONALD, 10th. Earl of Ross,   b. Jul 1396, Dingwall, Ross-Shire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 7 May 1449, Dingwall, Ross-Shire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 52 years)
     2. Mariota MACDONALD OF THE ISLES,   b. 1398, Dingwall, Ross-Shire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 20 Jul 1448, Cromarty, Cromartyshire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 50 years)
     3. Agnes MACDONALD,   b. Abt 1400, Dingwall, Ross-Shire, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1463, Glenorchy, Argyll, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 63 years)
     4. Anna MACDONALD,   b. Abt 1405, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location
     5. Angus MACDONALD, Bishop of the Isles,   b. 1410, Ardtornish Castle, Argyll, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1470, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 60 years)
    Last Modified 2 Jan 2023 
    Family ID F536729019  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • Donald, Lord of the Isles (Scottish Gaelic: D?mhnall; died 1423), was the son and successor of John of Islay, Lord of the Isles and chief of Clan Donald. The Lordship of the Isles was based in and around the Scottish west-coast island of Islay, but under Donald's father had come to include many of the other islands off the west coast of Scotland, as well as Morvern, Garmoran, Lochaber, Kintyre and Knapdale on the mainland.

      Donald was the grandson of King Robert II of Scotland and first cousin of King Robert III; he took pride in his royal blood, even adopting the royal tressure to surround his coat of arms.

      While it is customary to portray the Lords of the Isles as divorced from the mainstream of Scottish political life, and as representatives of a brand of lordship distinct from the rest of Scotland, this view obscures the fact that Donald was only one of many magnates who held large lordships with little interference from the crown in late 14th and early 15th century Scotland.[1] The Douglas kindred of southern Scotland and the Albany Stewarts had similar roles as Donald.

      Early rule
      Donald spent some of his first years as Lord of the Isles suppressing a revolt by his brother John M?r. John was Donald's younger brother, and resented his meagre inheritance. Although he was recognised as heir-apparent (t?naiste), he only received patches of land in Kintyre and Islay. The rebellion started in 1387 and went on into the 1390s, and John obtained the support of the MacLean kindred. However, John and the MacLeans were eventually forced to submit to Donald, and by 1395 John M?r had been forced into Ireland. There he entered the service of King Richard II of England and later established a MacDonald lordship in Antrim.

      Conflict with the Stewarts
      Suppression of the revolt enabled Donald to turn his attention northwards and eastwards. Most of the area to the north and east of the Lordship, that is Skye, Ross, Badenoch and Urquhart, was under the control of Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, famously known as the "Wolf of Badenoch". The Stewarts had been building up their power in the central Highlands and north of Scotland since the death of John Randolph, 3rd Earl of Moray in 1346. Alexander had acquired control of the lordship of Badenoch, the earldom of Buchan and the Justiciarship of Scotia. He had been appointed "Lieutenant of the North", giving him the flexibility to exercise total control over most of Scotland north of the mounth. Alexander was at once the de facto ruler of northern Scotland as well as the means by which the crown itself exercised control.

      However, there had been complaints over the activities of his caterans (war bands). More importantly, Alexander's position had become threatening not only to the crown, but also to Euphemia I, Countess of Ross, her son Alexander and the titular Dunbar Earl of Moray. Late in 1388, soon after becoming Guardian of the Kingdom, Robert Stewart, Earl of Fife (created Duke of Albany in 1398) deprived Alexander of the Justiciarship. The assault of Alexander's position continued into the 1390s. Donald and his brother Alexander of Lochaber were in a perfect position to benefit. In 1394, the latter entered a 17-year agreement with the Earl of Moray, taking over Alexander Stewart's role as "protector" of the wealthy comital and episcopal lands in the Moray lowlands. The MacDonalds were in possession of Urquhart Castle by the end of 1395, and had given control of the Duart Castle to Maclean of Duart.

      The Guardian soon turned his hostility against Donald and his family. Alexander of Lochaber had been using his role as "protector" to further his own lordship, including granting episcopal lands to his military followers. In 1398, Robert Stewart (now Duke of Albany) was called upon to take action, but the well-prepared expedition in the end came to nothing. Lochaber continued his activities, and in a raid of 1402 burned the burgh of Elgin along with the manses of the canons belonging to Elgin Cathedral. For this he was excommunicated by William Spynie, bishop of Moray. Later in the year Alexander visited Spynie to seek forgiveness and was thereafter absolved.

      Ross claims
      Donald himself was causing still further concern when in the same year, following the death of Alexander Leslie, Earl of Ross, Donald pressed the claims of Mariota, Alexander Leslie's sister and Donald's wife, to the possession of Ross. Donald attempted to gain control of the earldom. Sometime after 1405 but before 1411, Donald gained control of Dingwall Castle, the chief seat of the earldom. In the year after the death of the nominal king, Robert III, Donald sent emissaries to England, to make contact with the heir of the Scottish throne, the captive James Stewart. King Henry IV of England sent his own emissaries to Donald in the following year to negotiate an alliance against Albany.

      With control over the principal seat of the earldom of Ross and support of the exiled heir to the Scottish throne, in 1411 Donald felt strong enough to march against Albany's main northern ally, Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar. At the Battle of Harlaw, Donald failed to inflict a decisive victory, and withdrew back to the western highlands. In the aftermath, Albany was able to retake Dingwall and seize control of Easter Ross. In 1415, the heir of Alexander Leslie, Euphemia II, resigned the earldom to Albany. Donald prepared for war and proclaimed himself "Lord of Ross". Although Albany appointed his own son John Stewart to the earldom, Donald's wife continued to regard herself as the rightful Countess.

      Donald died in 1423 in Islay. He was succeeded by his son Alexander.[2]

      Marriage and children
      He married Mary Leslie, Countess of Ross. They had at least three children:

      Alexander Macdonald, 10th Earl of Ross who died on 7 May 1449
      Angus Macdonald
      Anna Macdonald who married Duncan Maclagmayn

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_of_Islay,_Lord_of_the_Isles

      When Donald MacDonald was born in 1364,The Isles of Scotland,his father, John, was 38 and his mother, Margaret, was 22. He had one daughter with Mariota Leslie in 1410. He died in 1423 in Dingwall, Ross-shire, Scotland, at the age of 59.



  • Sources 
    1. [S1160] FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 2 Jan 2023), entry for Agnes MacDonald, person ID GN6X-8VK. (Reliability: 3).

    2. [S1160] FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 2 Jan 2023), entry for Donald MacDonald, person ID GSLZ-BNP. (Reliability: 3).

    3. [S1160] FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 2 Jan 2023), entry for John "Iain" Carrach MacDonald, person ID LY3F-MB4. (Reliability: 3).