Clan Sweeney is an Irish clan of Scottish Highlands origin. The Mac Suibhne family did not permanently settle in Ireland before the beginning of the 14th century, when they became Gallowglass soldiers for the Ua Domnaill dynasty of Tír Chonaill. The clan also claims an Irish descent from a prince of the Uí Néill dynasty. However this is doubted by other commentators, see Wikipedia page Suibhne mac Duinnshléibhe
Origins Leabhar Clainne Suibhne states that after Áed's death, although his older brother Domnall was the rightful heir, Ánrothán was chosen instead to be king. Ánrothán then gave up the kingship to his brother and made for Argyll, Scotland where he married a daughter of the King of Scotland. Ánrothán's great-grandson was Suibhne, from whom the clan derived its name.
The history from Leabhar Clainne Suibhne may be a fabrication that provides the clan with a pedigree connecting them to the Milesian kings of Ireland, although historian W. D. H. Sellar believes this history may be genuine. However others believe this history is not genuine, see Wikipedia page Suibhne mac Duinnshléibhe
MacSweens of Scotland
In the 13th century the MacSweens controlled lands across central Argyll, extending as far north as Loch Awe and as far south as Loch Fyne.Castle Sween Retrieved on 19 June 2007 Their principal seats included Lochranza Castle on the Isle of Arran, Skipness Castle and Castle Sween at Knapdale, which is probably Scotland's oldest surviving stone-built castle.
The MacSweens held this lordship of Knapdale and lands in Kintyre until 1262. That year Dugall MacSween granted or surrendered to Walter Stewart, Earl of Menteith the lands of Skipnish (Skipness), Killislate (South Knapdale) and other lands in the parish of KilcalmonellThe Scots Peerage, p.130-131 in Kintyre. Following this the Earl granted several churches in Knapdale to the monastery of Kilwinning, showing that he now had control of both North and South Knapdale. Also in the same year Alexander III of Scotland granted Lochranza Castle, another MacSween castle, to Walter Stewart, Earl of Menteith.Lochranza Retrieved on 26 June 2007
In 1263 Haakon IV of Norway sailed down the western coast of Scotland with an invasion fleet from Norway. With the arrival of the royal fleet Norse control in the Western Isles and Argyll was re-established, and the Norwegian king's force was strengthened by Islesmen. Among those pressed into his service were the deposed MacSweens of Knapdale, under Murchadh MacSween. The MacSweens seemed to have been of doubtful loyalty as they were forced to also surrender hostages to guarantee their support.Kingship and Unity, p.111-120. Haakon had "given" Arran to Murchadh, but ultimately, the Norwegian invasion was defeated at what is known today as the Battle of Largs. Other sources believe that the Battle of Largs was inconclusive.
The Earl of Menteith still controlled Knapdale in 1293, and in 1301 Knapdale was being held by his successor, Sir John Stewart (Sir John Menteith).The Kingdom of the Scots, p.373 It was then that John MacSween approached Edward I of England, asserting that one of the king's enemies, Sir John Menteith, had deprived MacSween of his inheritance. Between 1301 and 1310, John MacSween was in the service of the English in the hope of keeping alive his family's claim against the Menteiths.Robert Bruce, p.80
During the Great Cause, which led to the First War of Scottish Independence, the MacSweens were supporters of the powerful MacDougall Lords of LorneCASTLE SWEEN Retrieved on 26 June 2007 who supported John Balliol as patriots, as long as John was king of Scotland.Robert Bruce, p. 231 However, in 1301, John Macsween, Lord of Knapdale, joined Angus Og Macdonald, by then Lord of the Isles, in a campaign against Alexander MacDougall, Lord of Argyll and Lorne, for his murder of Angus Og's elder brother, Alexander Og Macdonald in Ireland in 1299.Barrow, G.S.W., Robert Bruce, at p. 239 (1965)
After the murder of John Comyn, the nephew of Balliol, by Bruce and his companions in 1306, the First War of Scottish Independence became at one and the same time a civil war. The Balliols, Comyns and MacDougalls taking the side of the English in opposition to the Macdonalds and the Bruce, crowned Robert I of Scotland on 25 March 1306.
This was an era of constantly shifting alliances, and in 1301 John MacSween was in alliance with Aonghus Óg Mac Domhnaill, Lord of Islay (died 1314×1318/c.1330) against the MacDougalls of Lorne.Robert Bruce, p. 239 In 1307 the MacDougalls were the bitterest of Robert the Bruce's enemies, and the man in command of the rebellion against Bruce was Sir John Menteith, who had previously removed the MacSweens from their castle in Knapdale.
By 1310, when Bruce had most of Argyll and the North Channel in his favour, the English encouraged John MacDougall, the son of Alexander MacDougall and now the ousted Lord of Lorne, to raise a fleet in 1311, based on the eastern coast of Ireland.Robert Bruce, p.279 MacDougall was aided in part by the MacSweens, including John and his brothers Toirdelbach and Murdoch. It was around this time in 1310, that Edward II of England granted John and his brothers their family's ancestral lands of Knapdale,"Archaeological excavations at Castle Sween, Knapdale, Argyll & Bute, 1989-90" Retrieved on 4 July 2007 provided they could recover it from Sir John Menteith. It is possible, therefore, that this event could have been the "tryst of a fleet against Castle Sween", recorded in the Book of the Dean of Lismore, which tells of the failed attempt by John MacSween to recapture Castle Sween. With the failure to recapture their lands in Scotland, the MacSweens permanently left for Ireland.
A contingent of the MacSweens eventually re-established themselves at Donegal as Gallowglass mercenary soldiers and became the progenitors of Clan Sweeney. Some of those who stayed on in Scotland formed into the Clan MacQueen.
Arrival in Ireland The earliest record of a Mac Suibhne, in relation to the clan, is of Murchadh Mac Suibne in 1267. Murchadh's father was Máel Muire an Sparáin of Castle Sween in Knapdale, who was himself the son of Suibne. Murchadh became a prisoner of Domnall Ó Conchobair and was handed over to the Earl of Ulster, in whose prison Murchadh is said to have died.
Once established in Ireland the Clan Sween controlled large territories, and was divided into three branches: Mac Suibhne Fánad (Mac Sweeney Fanad) Mac Suibhne na d'Tuath (Mac Sweeney Doe) Mac Suibhne Boghaineach (Mac Sweeney Banagh)
Rathmullan was the seat of MacSuibhne Fanad for the next 400 years, during which time their influence extended from Donegal into Connacht and Munster. In Donegal their principal seats were Doe Castle and Rahan Castle near Killybegs.
In Scotland the inauguration of the MacSuibhne Clan chiefs had taken place at Iona, where they were also buried. In Ireland they were inaugurated in Kilmacrennan, County Donegal, where MacSuibhne Fanad became influential allies of the O'Donnell of Tyrconnell. The remains of the Sweeneys who went to Ireland are interred outside the walls of Castle Doe, County Donegal.
The historian James Logan, in The Scottish Gaël, remarked how the Mac Swineys were notable for their hospitality.The Scottish Gaël, p.336 At a seat of theirs, Clodach Castle, there was a stone set near the highway which was inscribed with an open invitation to travellers to make for Clodach for refreshment. At some point, one of the family overturned the stone and subsequently were said to have never prospered. Logan also noted that the war-cry of the Mac Sweins was "Battalia-abu" (The noble staff, victorious), from the battle-axe they bore in their Arms.The Scottish Gaël, p.200
Branches
Mac Suibhne Fánad (Mac Sweeney Fanad)
Fánad, is the peninsula between Lough Swilly and Mulroy Bay, on the north coast of County Donegal.
The first Mac Suibhne to settle in Tír Conaill was Eoin, grandson of Máel Muire. It was Eoin who expelled the ruling Ó Breisléins from Fánad after 1263, and whose daughter married the Ó Domnaill, king of Tír Conaill. The male line of the ruling Mac Suibhnes soon failed after Eoin, when both his son, Suibne, and his brother, Toirdelbach, died without heirs.
Following the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 Murchad Mear, great-grandson of Máel Muire an Sparáin and grandson of the Murchadh who died while a prisoner of the Earl of Ulster, arrived at Lough Swilly with his followers.
Murchad Mear was succeeded by his son, Murchad Óc, as lord of the lands east of Bearnas Mór. One of Murchad Óc's sons, Máel Muire, became lord of Fanad, and another son, Donnchad Mór, became lord of the Tri Tuatha in north west County Donegal, which had been conquered from the Ó Báegills.
Máel Muire defeated Niall Ó Domhnaill in the battle of Achadh Móna but later became an ally of Ó Domhnaill, when Niall killed his brother, Conchobhar Ó Domhnaill, King of Tír Chonaill in 1342. Because of his aid, Máel Muire was granted the lands of Moross in the north of Fanad.
Máel Muire's successor was his son, Toirdhealbhach Caoch, who pledged to Ó Domhnaill, that he and his successors would provide two Gallowglass soldiers for every quarter of land in his territory when the Ó Domhnaills went to war.
Toirdhealbhach Caoch's son, Toirdhealbhach Ruadh, succeeded his father in 1399 but only after defeating two uncles who tried to wrest the lordship away from him. Toirdhealbhach Ruadh was aided against his uncles by Toirdhealbhach an Fhíona Ó Domhnaill, king of Tír Conaill. Toirdhealbhach Ruadh accompanied Niall Ó Domhnaill and Domhnall Ó Néill, when they defeated the English Lord Deputy at Meath in 1423. Though there are contradicting sources that record Mac Suibhne of Connacht present at this battle. In 1434 Niall Ó Domhnaill was captured by the English forces in a skirmish, though Toirdhealbhach Ruadh rescued Ó Domhnaill following the defeat at the English's hands.
In around 1438 Toirdhealbhach Ruadh is thought to have died, having ruled for thirty nine years. Afterwards his son, Ruaidhrí, succeeded him, though not without dispute. Ruaidhrí's uncle, Donnchadh Garbh, claimed the lordship and the two resolved their differences in a wrestling match in which Ruaidhrí was victorious. Ruaidhrí ruled for thirteen years when he died and was succeeded by his brother, Domhnall.
In 1456 Énrí Ó Néill, king of Tír Eoghain, with the sons of Neachtain Ó Domhnaill, invaded Inishowen. The invaders were opposed by the ruling Ó Domhnaill who was aided in part by Maol Mhuire Mac Suibhne, son of Toirdhealbhach Ruadh. Ó Domhnaill was later killed and Maol Mhuire and Ó Domhnaill's brother, Aodh Ruadh, were taken prisoner. Neachtain's son, Toirdhealbhach Cairbreach Ó Domhnaill, assumed the vacant kingship of Tír Conaill. Domhnall Mac Suibhne was then killed by his nephews (the sons of Ruaidhrí), who proclaimed Domhnall's cousin, Toirdhealbhach Bacach, as lord of Fanad.
In 1460 Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill and Maol Mhuire Mac Suibhne were released from captivity, and in the following year they both defeated Toirdhealbhach Cairbreach near Mulroy Bay. On the victory, Aodh Ruadh was inaugurated and made Maol Mhuire lord of Fanad. Maol Mhuire Mac Suibhne ruled for eleven years before being killed on Easter Tuesday, 1472 while fighting alongside Aodh Ruadh against Énrí Ó Néill. After the battle, Maol Mhuire's body was taken to Derry for burial, covered in the flag of Mac Domhnaill of Antrim, a captain of Gallowglass captured in the battle.