Was the Chief of the Glencoe McDonalds descended from William the Conqueror?

[Aurora]

The old Chief of the MacIan MacDonalds of Glencoe was murdered, along with his clansman, by Campbell of Glen Lyon in 1692 - known as the Glencoe Massacre.  One of those murdered was John MacDonald of Aichroichtan, Glencoe, a close kinsman of the Glencoe Chief.  I was sent a family tree years and years ago by Roddy MacDonald of the Clan Donald Society of Edinburgh, which stated that John MacDonald of Aichtriochtan was a descendent of William the Conqueror.  The reason for my interest is that John MacDonald is the g.g.g.g.g.g grandfather of my husband.  Therefore the Glencoe Chief would also be a descendant of William.   I recently stated to a new-found relative that we were descended from William the Conqueror.  After telling her of this descent, I started to feel uneasy as to whether this descent is correct.   I am not in touch with Roddy MacDonald any more (my contact with him was 15 to 20 years ago) and I have just accessed the Clan Donald of Edinburgh website and cannot see any contact details there for Roddy.  I see there is a fair bit about the MacIan MacDonalds on the Clan McFarlane website (on this website is a tree showing Margaret McIan McDonald who married John MacIntyre of Camusnaherie (my husband's g.g.g.g grandparents).  The source is given as Roddy MacDonald. But I couldn't trace the line back to William on this website.   So I would appreciate any assistance to confirm that our MacIntyres are descended from William the Conqueror.   Thanks in advance.

[whiteout7]

Iain 'Fraoch' Macdonald Chief of the MacIan MacDonalds of Glencoe is in the peerage
Nothing obvious unless decent was through an unknown female line of Stewarts?

http://www.thepeerage.com/p14693.htm#i146930

http://www.glencoescotland.com/about-glencoe/history/

Nothing obvious for John MacDonald of Aichroichtan in Clan McFarlane by Roddy MacDonald
http://www.clanmacfarlanegenealogy.info/genealogy/TNGWebsite/getperson.php?personID=I24725&tree=CC


Famous decendants of William the Conqueror of England
http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Famous_Descendants_of_William_the_Conqueror_of_England

"Finding the DNA of William the Conqueror is not that easy. He has no documented living male-line descendants."
http://originhunters.blogspot.co.nz/2013/07/conquering-williams-dna.html

" Do you have a connection to William the Conqueror? There is an estimate that 25% of the population of England is related to Bill the Conq. From a y-DNA perspective, this percentage would be lower. If you have one of these surnames; Bartelott, Beaumont, Bruce, Clifford, Corbett, D’Arcy, Devereaux, Giffard, Molyneaux, Montgomery, Mortimer, Norton, Osbern, Pearsall, Ramsey, Spencer, St. Clair, Stewart, Talbott, Umfreville (Humphrey) or Warren and match the 37-marker William the Conqueror Modal Haplotype (WCMH), you may be related."

[Aurora]

Thank you so much for all your replies.  It is certainly an interesting subject, raising the possibility of descent from William the Conqueror.  I mentioned my correspondence with Roddy MacDonald.  I have just unearthed what he sent me in 2000 (16 years ago).  What I received was not really a family tree, more a relationship chart.  It is headed "Kinship of Duncan MacIntyre, Reverend" (this is my husband's g.g.g. grandfather, Reverend Duncan MacIntyre of Killmallie Parish, Lochabar (Invernesshire?).  Reverend Duncan was the son of Margaret MacIan MacDonald and her husband, John MacIntyre of Camusnaherie (on Loch Leven near Ballachulish).  Reverend Duncan married Jean MacIntyre, daughter of James MacIntyre of Glen Noe (on Loch Etive near Oban).  James was designated 3rd Chief of Clan MacIntyre.   This relationship chart from Roddy  is 24 pages long and makes fascinating reading.  On page 18 is listed "Normandy, William Conqueror of England, King, December, 1027 - 21st great-grandfather"  that is, 21st g. grandfather of our Reverend Duncan MacIntyre.  Other Normandys are listed, including "Richard I, The Fearless of, Duke, 974 A.D. 23rd g. grandfather" and William I, Longsword of, Duke abt 891 A.D. 25th g. grandfather".
Other fascinating entries and the kinship to Rev. Duncan are:-
"Olafson, Magnus 3, Barelegs of Norway, King 1073 A.D., half first cousin 21 times removed" (I guess by the time you get to the half first cousin, 21 times removed, the bloodline is a bit diluted!!)
MacKenneth, Malcolm 2 of Scots, King about 954, A.D., 24th g. grandfather"
MacSorley, Dugal of Lorne, King before 1164 A.D., 17th great-granduncle"
Plantagent, Henry 2 of England, King 25 March, 1133, half first cousin, 20 times removed"
MacConstantine, Donald 2 of Scots, King before 877 A.D., 27th great-grandfather.
According to Roddy, there are also a lot of Vikings hanging on the branches of our family tree - Thorn, Skull Cleaver of Orkney, Helgo the Lean, Rognvald the Wise, Halfdan the Black, Olaf the Sharp Sighted, Richard the Good, Infiald the Wicked, Heakon the Imperious, Haakon the Mighty, Ljot the Renegade and Thorstein the Whistler.  This is all wonderfully exciting but I would still like confirmation about our descent from William!!   from Aurora.

 

[Skoosh]

Robert the Bruce's father or grandfather was more or less kidnapped by the countess of Carrick an heiress who had her wicked way with him & founded the dynasty. Her three sisters were married off to Campbell, Macdonald & MacLean chiefs ensuring the loyalty of the island chiefs to Bruce himself. Possibly this is the origin of that Norman descent.

Skoosh.

[davidft]

Not sure about Lady Carrick being the origin of the Norman descent, i could not find a connection.

However Robert I's (Robert the Bruce) father was a descendant of William i, albeit via an illegitimate line.

William I the Conqueror de Normandie, King of England 1027-1087
|
Henry I Beauclerc de Normandie, King of England 1068-1135
|
Robert Fitzroy de Gloucester, earl of Gloucester ca 1090-1147
|
Maud FitzRobert ca 1120-1180
|
Hugh de Keveliock Le Meschin, Earl of Chester 1147-1181
|
Maud Le Meschin 1171-/1233
|
Isobel of Scotland 1195-1251
|
Robert de Brus, Lord of Annandale 1210-1295

(NB dates are for their life's span)

[Skoosh]

John, the first Lord of the Isles' second wife was Margaret Stewart daughter of King Robert II & as John (Iain) of the Iles was the progenitor of  the various branches of Clan Donald & that could be the link to William I of England. The Glencoe MacDonalds were known as MacIain, the MacDonell's of Keppoch were descended from Alexander (Alasdair Carrach) third son of John, Lord of the Isles.

The Kings of Scots of course had a better claim to the English crown, through Malcolm Canmore's  English wife Margaret, than the descendants of William the Bastard.
Just sayin! 

Skoosh.