Historical account of the Macdonnells of Antrim

PRINCES OF THE ISLES.
hundred and sixty galleys up the Clyde, as far as Renfrew, the place appointed for disembarkation.
Here, "the mighty Somerled" was destined to fall by the hand of an assassin named Maurice
Macneill, whom the Scottish king had bribed to commit the foul deed. His remains were conveyed
to Iona, and there sorrowfully deposited in the tomb of his fathers. (19) He is described as having
been "a well-tempered man ; in body shapely, and of a fair piercing eye, of middle stature, and
quick discernment." The same chronicler, Hugh Macdonald of Sleat, enumerating Somerled's
children, says : — " He had Dugall, a natural son, of whom are descended the Dugalls of Lorn."
But the chronicler is most probably mistaken in this statement of Dugall's illegitimacy, for several
trust-worthy authorities mention him as Somerled's eldest legitimate son, by the daughter of Olave
the Red, king of Man. Somerled had probably a residence in Lome, (see p. 8, supra), and when
dividing his possessions among his sons, this noble territory was given to Dougall — an almost
conclusive proof of the latter's legitimacy. The district of Lome was so called originally from
Loam, the eldest brother of Fergus Mor, and in the sixth and following centuries, had been, no
doubt, considered the most desirable portion of the new Scottish Dalriada. Here the early Irish
immigrants have left their traces perhaps more distinctly than in any locality throughout the
Western Highlands. Besides Dunstaffnage Castle, already referred to, there was also in Lome the
celebrated fortress of Dunolla or Dunolly, near Oban, originally built, it is believed, by an early
Dalriadic king. Here, too, are the remains of many churches, dedicated to early Irish missionaries,
(19) His fathers. — The most interesting notices of this
island probably ever printed may be found in Reeves's
edition of Adamnan's Life of St. Columba, pp. 413 — 433.
Iona, properly Hy, "lies off the Ross of Mull on the
southwest, being separated from it by a channel, about
an English, mile broad, called by Adamnan fre/ium Ionia:
insula, in after times named the Bay of Finfort, and now
commonly known as the Sound of Iona." Hy was so
early and intimately associated with the spread of Chris-
tianity in the British islands, and throughout the northern
countries of Europe, that it soon came to be regarded as
a thrice hallowed spot, and, therefore, eagerly to be de-
sired as a place of burial. Not only was it sought for this
purpose by the leading families of the Isles, but even by
many kings of Scotland, Ireland and Norway. The
family to which Somerled belonged supplied many of the
earliest and most distinguished abbots to the religious
establishment founded there by St. Columba; and within
its holy precints the lords of the Isles, with few excep-
tions, found their last resting-place. St. Oran, or Odhran,
was the first of the christian community buried in the
Island, " and it is a remarkable fact," says Dr. Reeves,
"that the principal and now only cemetery in Hy is
called Reilig Orain, after him, instead of the patron saint,
and has been so for many centuries. " The following is
dean Munro's account of this cemetery and its occupants: —
"Within this isle of Columkill there is ane sanctuarie
also, or kirkzaird, callit in Erische Religoran, whilk is a
verie fair kirkzaird, and weill biggit about with stane and
lyme. In this sanctuarie ther is three tombes of stane
formed like little chapels, with ane braid grey marble or
whinstane in the gavill of ilk ane of the tombes. " These
three flags, or slabs, bore respectively the inscriptions
Tumulus Regum Scotie, Tumulus Regum Hibemie,
Tumulus Regum Norwegie. In the first tomb are buried
forty eight Scottish kings ; in the second, four Irish
kings ; and in the third, eight Norwegian kings. Of
these tombs only vestiges now remain, and the "moulder-
ing heap " representing them is locally known as
Tomaire-nan-Righ, ' the Ridge of the Kings.' "Within
this sanctuarie," adds Monro, " alsoe lyes the maist pairt
of the Lords of the Isles with their lyneage, twa clan Lynes
with their lyneage, McKinnon and McGaure with their
lyneage, with sundrie others, inhabitants of the haill
Isles." The oldest tombstones found by Dr. Reeves were
two bearing Irish inscriptions. " Here it is said," he
adds, " were buried the Scotch kings, down to Malcolm
Ceann-more ; here Egfrid, the Northumbrian king was
buried in 684; hither were removed the remains of king
Godred in 1188 (Chron. Mann), and of Haco Ospac in
1228 (Ibid). Of these kings no monuments remain, and
the chief part of the interesting tombstones that are found
there, belongs to Clanns Finnguine, Gilla-Eoin, and
Guaire, since known as the McKinnons, McLeans, and
McQuarries, whose pedignees still preserved, attest their
noble extraction." (Adamnan's Life of St. Columba,
edited by Reeves, p. 418 ) Referring to the wanton
neglect of the human remains in this sacred place, a
Scottish writer expresses himself as follows : — " It is,
indeed, astonishing that the noble and ancient families
above-mentioned, as connected with these remains, do
not insist with the Duke of Argyle (the owner of the
Island), either upon effectually preserving the bones and
monuments of their ancestors from violation, or allowing
them to carry them off to their present family vaults.
This is peculiarly incumbent upon the Macdonnells,
Macleans, Mackinnons, Macleods, and Macquarries. "
(James Macdonald's Hebrides, p. 706). This was writ-
ten in the year 181 1, but, so far as we know, the families
referred to paid no attention to the writer's remonstrance.