Somerled mac Gillebride Lord of Argyle

  Noted events in his life were:

• Dates & Events. ²³⁵
Somerled led an attack on the Norwegians, and expelled them from Morven. He made himself king of Morven, Lochaber and northern Argyle. He added the southern districts of that country before 1135. He was granted the lands of Man, Arran and Bute, which King David I gained by expelling the Norwegians in 1135.

• Background Information. ⁷⁸³
Somerled, king of the Isles, lived during the reign of Malcolm, the Fourth, of Scotland. he was slain in battled about 1164. He had, by his second wife, Elffrica, daughter of Olave the Red, King of Man, three sons, Dugall, Reginald and Argus. After Somerled's death, the Isles, with exception of Arran and Bute, which had come to him by right of his wife, descended to Dugull, his eldest son by his second marriage. After Dugull's death, his brother Reginald, assummed the titled of King of the Isles.

~The Scottish Nation, p. 105

• Background Information. ⁸⁸⁷
Somerled was the son of Gillibrede. The only thing known about Gilibrede is that he was a supporter of Donald Bane, the brother of Malcolm, in his claim to the Scottish throne. Gillibred may have lost his holdings because of this support. Somerled recovered his paternal inheritance, and made himself master of a large portion of Argyle, and assumed the titled Lord or Regulus of Argyle, and became a very powerful chief in Scotland.

Somerled married Ragnhildis, the daughter of Olave the Red, King of Man sometime around 1140. They had three sons, Dugall, Reginald and Angus. [Orkneyinga Saga, p. 383] Olave the Red ruled the Isle of Man peacefully for forty years until he was murdered, about 1154, by the sons of Harald, who made a claim to half the kingdom of the Isles.

Somerled invaded Man with a fleet of fifty-three ships, and laid waste to the Island, and removed Godred the Black, son of Olave the Red, of Norway, who had taken over after the death of his father, in about 1158. There are two stories of how he died. One says he died in battle while invading Scotland. The other, that he was assassinated in his tent.

Somerled's sons all shared in the possessions held by the Lord of Argyll. Besides his three sons with the daughter of Olave the Red, he had other sons who shared in the division of land. The South Isles, Mull, Coll, Tiree, and Jura became part of the share that went to Dugall. Isla and Kintyre went to Reginald. Bute went to Angus. Arran, was possibly divided between Reginald and Angus. Angus was killed, with his three sons, by the men of Skye, leaving Dugall and Reginald to rule as the "Kings" of the Isles. Their rule was at the same time as another Reginald, the son of Godred the Black, was styled King of Man and the Isles.

From Dugall, sprang the House of Argyle and Lore, called MacDugall. From Reginald, sprang the famlies of Isla, descended from his son Donald, which became the MacDonalds, and that of Bute, descending from Reginald's son Ruari, stlyed MacRuari.

~History of the Western Highlands and Isles of Scotland, p. 9

• Web Reference: Charles Cawley's Medieval Lands, Somerled.
The Extracta ex Cronicis Scocie records that "Sumerlendus regulus Ergadie" rebelled against King Malcolm for 12 years, landed at Renfrew from Ireland, and was killed "et filium suum Gillecolanem", among passages dealing with events in 1164 [Extracta ex Cronicis Scocie, p. 72]. The Annals of Ulster record that "Somharlidh Mac Gilla-Adhamhnain and his son were killed" in 1164 [Annals of Ulster, 1164.4, p. 146]. The Book of Clanranald records that that no battle was fought and that Somerled was killed in his tent, after which his followers dispersed [Balfour Paul, Vol. V, Macdonald Lord of the Isles, p. 30, citing MacVurich, Book of Clanranald]. Somerled married the daughter of illegitimate daughter of Olav King of Man & his mistress. The Chronicon Manniæ et Insularum records that "Olavus filius Godredi Crovan" had many concubines by whom he fathered "filios tres…Reignaldum, Lagmannum et Haraldum et filias multas", adding that one daughter married "Sumerledo regulo Herergaildel" [Oliver, J. R. (ed.) (1860) Monumenta de Insula Manniæ, Vol. I (Douglas, Isle of Man), Chronicon Manniæ et Insularum, p. 144].

• Web Reference: Somerled from Wikipedia.

Somerled married Ragnhildr Óláfsdóttir, daughter of Óláfr Guðrøðarson and Unknown, about 1140. (Ragnhildr Óláfsdóttir was born about 1120 in Isle of Man.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Marriage Record. What Somerled mac Billebride could not gain by force of arms against the Norwegians, he aquired through marriage to the dauther of Olaf the Red.