Reply to Elwyn -
Thanks so much for your interesting comments. Yes, before "borders" ruled the world, it was the wind, the currents and where one could find sustenance that determined who went where and when. I understand quite a few "professional soldiers" (we call them mercenaries) also made the crossing from time to time. And of course many Macdonalds of the Hebrides made the coast of Antrim home.
Douglas
Douglas,
Yes the mercenaries were called galloglass (sometimes gallowglass) and were invited to Ireland and given land in return for their fighting skills (used against other Irish tribes and also the English). The McLoughlins on the Inishowen peninsula in Donegal are reportedly descendants of such galloglass from the Hebrides.
“Another important theme was the emergence of the Gaelic speaking Lordship of the Isles (1336 – 1493) led by the MacDonalds of Islay, one outcome of which was the establishment of a branch of that family in Antrim, for long active in the Gaelic worlds of both Ireland and Scotland. A further important link was the introduction of galloglasses and redshanks, Scottish mercenaries mainly from Argyll, to Ireland between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries.” (Antrim & Argyll – Some aspects of the Connections p 3).
There’s quite a good story about the ownership of Rathlin which may even have some basis in fact. In 1617 the English Crown’s right to grant Rathlin to the MacDonalds/McDonnells as part of their Antrim estate was challenged by George Crawford, a landholder at Lisnorris in Kintyre, who claimed it was part of Scotland and not Ireland. A long legal battle followed which was eventually decided in the McDonnells favour. Part of the legal case involved snakes. It was pointed out that Ireland has no snakes and Scotland does. Some snakes were released on Rathlin and they all died, so clearly Rathlin was Irish. QED.
In 1942 Nils Holmer reported of Rathlin that: “…the population used to be fishermen and sailors and a considerable intermarriage with (Mainland) Irish and Scots may be expected. Thus, of the nineteen persons listed as Irish speakers, three have mentioned Scottish parents or grandparents, three have supposed that their ancestors came from Scotland, while the rest know of no other than their Irish. As for those who believe their ancestors were Scots, it must be remembered that there is a common theory in the island that every single family of those living there now are descended from Scots settlers who came to the island after the complete massacres in the sixteenth or seventeenth century.
…Leaving the truth value of the historical evidence of a transplantation of inhabitants aside, it still remains a fact that the connections with Scotland are important.” (Antrim & Argyll – Some aspects of the Connections pp 99/100.)
