Aonghus Óg Mac Domhnaill (died 1314 × 1318/ 1330), or Angus Og MacDonald, was a fourteenth-century Scottish magnate and chief of Clann Domhnaill. He was a younger son of Aonghus Mór mac Domhnaill, Lord of Islay. After the latter's apparent death, the chiefship of the kindred was assumed by Aonghus Óg's elder brother, Alasdair Óg Mac Domhnaill.
Most of the documentation regarding Aonghus Óg's career concerns his support of Edward I, King of England against supporters of John, King of Scotland. The latter's principal adherents on the western seaboard of Scotland were Clann Dubhghaill, regional rivals of Clann Domhnaill. Although there is much uncertainty concerning the Clann Domhnaill chiefship at this period in history, at some point after Alasdair Óg's apparent death at the hands of Clann Dubhghaill in 1299, Aonghus Óg seems to have taken up the chiefship as Lord of Islay.
Pressure from Clann Domhnaill and other supporters of the English Crown evidently compelled Clann Dubhghaill into coming onside with the English in the first years of the fourteenth century. However, when Robert Bruce VII, Earl of Carrick murdered the Scottish claimant John Comyn of Badenoch in 1306, and subsequently made himself King of Scotland (as Robert I), Clann Domhnaill seems to have switched their allegiance to Robert I in an effort to gain leverage against Clann Dubhghaill. Members of Clann Domhnaill almost certainly harboured the latter in 1306, when he was doggedly pursued by adherents of the English Crown.
Following Robert I's successful consolidation of the Scottish kingship, Aonghus Óg and other members of his kindred were rewarded with extensive grants of territories formerly held by their regional opponents. According to the late fourteenth-century Bruce, Aonghus Óg participated in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, Robert I's greatest victory over the English. It is uncertain when Aonghus Óg died. It could have been before or after the death of an unknown member of the clan at the Battle of Faughart in 1318—a man who seems to have held the chiefship at the time. Certainly, Eóin Mac Domhnaill—Aonghus Óg's lawful son by Áine Ní Chatháin—held the chiefship by the 1330s, and became the first member of Clann Domhnaill to rule as Lord of the Isles.
Familial background
Aonghus Óg was a youngerBarrow (2005) p. 211; McDonald (2004) p. 186; McDonald (1997) p. 141. son of Aonghus Mór mac Domhnaill, Lord of Islay, chief of Clann Domhnaill.Holton (2017) p. viii fig. 2; Petre, J (2015) p. 602 fig. 1; Petre, JS (2014) p. 268 tab.; McNamee (2012a) ch. Genealogical tables § 6; Fisher (2005) p. 86 fig. 5.2; Raven (2005) fig. 13; Brown (2004) p. 77 tab. 4.1; Murray (2002) pp. 222–223 tab.; Sellar (2000) p. 194 tab. ii; Roberts (1999) p. 99 fig. 5.2; McDonald (1997) p. 257 genealogical tree i; Munro; Munro (1986) p. 279 tab. 1. The latter last appears on record in 1293, when he was listed as one of the principal landholders in Argyll. At about this period, the territories possessed by the clan comprised Kintyre, Islay, southern Jura, and perhaps Colonsay and Oronsay.McDonald (1997) p. 130. Clann Domhnaill was a branch of Clann Somhairle. Other branches included Clann Dubhghaill—the senior-most—and Clann Ruaidhrí.McDonald (1997) pp. 128–131.
Aonghus Óg's mother was a member of the Caimbéalaigh kindred (the Campbells).Penman, MA (2014) p. 66; Roberts (1999) p. 131; Maclean-Bristol (1995) p. 168; Munro; Munro (1986) p. 281 n. 6. According to Hebridean tradition preserved by the seventeenth-century Sleat History, she was a daughter of Cailéan Mór Caimbéal, a leading member of the Caimbéalaigh.Campbell of Airds (2000) p. 51; Munro; Munro (1986) p. 281 n. 6; Macphail (1914) p. 17. Aonghus Óg had a sister who married Domhnall Óg Ó Domhnaill, King of Tír Chonaill;Duffy (2007) p. 16; Duffy (2002b) p. 61; Sellar (2000) p. 194 tab. ii; Walsh (1938) p. 377. another sister who married Hugh Bisset;Murray (2002) pp. 222–223, 226; Bain (1887) pp. 232 § 1272, 233 § 1276. an older brother, Alasdair Óg,Petre, JS (2014) p. 268 tab.; Barrow (2005) p. 211; Sellar (2000) p. 194 tab. ii; McDonald (1997) pp. 130, 141. who appears to have succeeded their father by 1296;McDonald (1997) p. 159. and another brother, Eóin Sprangach, ancestor of the Ardnamurchan branch of Clann Domhnaill.Petre, JS (2014) p. 268 tab.; Addyman; Oram (2012) § 2.4; Coira (2012) pp. 76 tab. 3.3, 334 n. 71; Caldwell, D (2008) pp. 49, 52, 70; Roberts (1999) p. 99 fig. 5.2.
In English service against King John Balliol
When Alexander III, King of Scotland died in 1286, his acknowledged heir was his granddaughter, Margaret. Although this Norwegian girl was accepted by the magnates of the realm, and betrothed to the heir of Edward I, King of England, she perished on her journey to Scotland, and her death triggered a succession crisis.McDonald (1997) p. 160.
The leading claimants to kingship were John Balliol, Lord of Galloway and Robert Bruce V, Lord of Annandale. By common consent, Edward I was invited to arbitrate the dispute. In 1292, John Balliol's claims were accepted, and he was duly inaugurated as King of Scotland.Stell (2005); McDonald (1997) p. 160. Unfortunately for this king, his ambitious English counterpart systematically undermined his royal authority, and John's reign lasted only about four years.Stell (2005); McDonald (1997) pp. 160–161. In 1296, after John ratified a military treaty with France, and refused to hand over Scottish castles to Edward I's control, the English marched north and crushed the Scots at Dunbar. Edward I's forces proceeded forward virtually unopposed, whereupon Scotland fell under English control.Stell (2005).
The chief of Clann Dubhghaill in the last quarter of the thirteenth century and first decade of the next was Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill, Lord of Argyll.Sellar (2000) pp. 208–215. The wife of this pre-eminent magnate—and mother of Eóin Mac Dubhghaill, his son and successor—was almost certainly a member of the Comyn kindred, a family closely bound to the Balliol family.Young; Stead (2010) p. 23; Brown (2004) p. 256; Sellar (2004a); Sellar (2004b); Sellar (2000) pp. 209 tab. iii, 210; McDonald (1997) p. 162; Reid, NH (1984) pp. 111–112 tab., 467.
During the short Balliol regime, Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill had been appointed Sheriff of Lorn, a position which made him the Scottish Crown's representative throughout much of the western seaboard, including Clann Domhnaill and Caimbéalaigh territories.Cochran-Yu (2015) pp. 49–50; Young; Stead (2010) p. 40; Brown (2004) p. 258; Sellar (2000) p. 212; McDonald (1997) pp. 131–134, 163. If tradition preserved by the seventeenth-century Ane Accompt of the Genealogie of the Campbells is to be believed, Clann Dubhghaill overcame and slew Cailéan Mór in the 1290s.Boardman, S (2006) pp. 21, 33 n. 67; Sellar (2004a); Sellar (2004b); Campbell of Airds (2000) pp. 52–53; Sellar (2000) p. 212, 212 n. 130; McDonald (1997) p. 165, 165 n. 22; Argyll: An Inventory of the Monuments (1975) p. 118 § 227; Macphail (1916) pp. 84–85, 85 n. 1. Certainly, Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill came into bloody conflict with his Clann Domhnaill counterpart during the decade.Sellar (2004a); Sellar (2000) p. 212.
This Clann Somhairle infighting appears to have stemmed from Alasdair Óg's marriage to an apparent member of Clann Dubhghaill, and seems to have concerned this woman's territorial claims.Watson (2013) ch. 2; Brown (2011) p. 16; McDonald (2006) p. 78; Barrow (2005) pp. 75–76, 437 n. 10; Brown (2004) p. 258, 258 n. 1; Sellar (2000) p. 212, 212 n. 128; McDonald (1997) pp. 163–164, 171; Lamont (1981) pp. 160, 162–163; Rymer; Sanderson (1816) p. 761; Bain (1884) p. 145 § 621; Rotuli Scotiæ (1814) p. 21; Document 3/33/0 (n.d.). Although the opposing chiefs swore to postpone their disagreement in 1292, and uphold the peace in the "isles and outlying territories", the struggle continued throughout the 1290s.Barrow (2005) pp. 75–76, 437 n. 10; Brown (2004) p. 258; Sellar (2000) p. 212; Bain (1884) p. 145 §§ 622–623; Rymer; Sanderson (1816) p. 761; Document 3/31/0 (n.d.a); Document 3/31/0 (n.d.b).
Clann Dubhghaill authority along the western seaboard was seriously threatened by about 1296, when Alasdair Óg was acting as Edward I's royal representative in the region.Watson (2013) ch. 2; McNamee (2012a) ch. 2; Young; Stead (2010) pp. 50–51; Brown (2004) p. 259; McDonald (1997) p. 166; Duncan; Brown (1956–1957) p. 217; Bain (1884) p. 225 § 853; Stevenson, J (1870) pp. 187–188 § 444; Rotuli Scotiæ (1814) pp. 22–23, 40; Document 3/0/0 (n.d.b). Certainly, Alasdair Óg appealed to the English king regarding Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill's ravaging of Clann Domhnaill territories in 1297,Holton (2017) pp. 152–153; Watson (2013) ch. 2, ch. 2 n. 52; Barrow (2005) pp. 141, 450 n. 104; Fisher (2005) p. 93; Campbell of Airds (2000) p. 60; Sellar (2000) p. 212; McDonald (1997) pp. 154, 165, 190; Rixson (1982) pp. 13–16, 208 nn. 2, 4, 208 n. 6; List of Diplomatic Documents (1963) p. 193; Bain (1884) pp. 235–236 §§ 903–904; Stevenson, J (1870) pp. 187–188 § 444, 189–191 § 445; Document 3/0/0 (n.d.b); Document 3/0/0 (n.d.c). and may well be identical to the like-named Clann Domhnaill dynast who was recorded slain against Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill two years later.Holton (2017) p. 152; Sellar (2016) p. 104; Petre, J (2015) p. 606; Penman, MA (2014) p. 65, 65 n. 7; Annals of the Four Masters (2013a) § 1299.3; Annals of the Four Masters (2013b) § 1299.3; McNamee (2012a) ch. 2; Annála Connacht (2011a) § 1299.2; Annála Connacht (2011b) § 1299.2; Annals of Loch Cé (2008) § 1299.1; Annala Uladh (2005) § 1295.1; Annals of Loch Cé (2005) § 1299.1; Barrow (2005) p. 211; Brown (2004) pp. 77 tab. 4.1, 260; Sellar (2004a); Annala Uladh (2003) § 1295.1; Campbell of Airds (2000) p. 61; Sellar (2000) pp. 212–213; Bannerman (1998) p. 25; McDonald (1997) pp. 168–169, 168–169 n. 36; Lamont (1981) p. 168; Alexander mac Domhnaill (n.d.); Alexander mac Dubghaill and Alexander mac Domhnaill (n.d.); Alexander mac Dubghaill (n.d.); AU, 129/9, p. 393 (n.d.); AU, 1295/9, p. 393 (n.d.). If this identification is indeed correct, this could have been the point when Aonghus Óg succeeded Alasdair Óg as chief.McNamee (2012a) ch. 2; McDonald (1997) p. 169.
Shift of allegiance to the Bruce cause