Ranald MacDonald (founder of Clanranald)
Ranald MacDonald was the eponymous ancestor of the MacDonalds of Clanranald. He was a son of John MacDonald, Lord of the Isles (d. 1386), and his first wife Amie MacRory. John granted Ranald the lands of Garmoran, which he had acquired through his marriage to Amie. This grant may have been a form of compensation for Ranald's exclusion from the main inheritance of the family, which fell to Donald, the eldest son of John's second marriage. The Uists were later detached from Garmoran and given to Ranald's younger brother, Godfrey.
Ranald died at Tioram Castle in 1386, and was buried on Iona. A cross-shaft found on Texa bears the following Latin inscription: HEC EST CRUX REGNALDI JOHIS DE ISLA ("this is the cross of Ranald [son of] John of Islay").[1] The shaft depicts a Hebridean warrior armed with an axe, which may well be the earliest surviving depiction of a MacDonald. From Ranald descend the MacDonalds of Clanranald, and the MacDonells of Glengarry.[2]
Citations
- ^ Moncreiffe 1967: p. 60.
- ^ Munro; Munro 2004.
References
- Moncreiffe, Iain (1967), The Highland clans, Bramhall House.
- Munro, R. W.; Munro, Jean (2004), "MacDonald family [MacDhomnaill, MacDonald de Ile] (per. c.1300–c.1500), magnates", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/54280, retrieved 5 July 2011
{{citation}}:|format=requires|url=(help); External link in|format= - Oram, Richard D. (2004), "The Lordship of the Isles: 1336–1545", in Omand, Donald (ed.), The Argyll book, Birlinn, pp. 123–139, ISBN 1-84158-253-0.