Coll Ciotach Mac Domhnaill ( en, Left-handed Coll MacDonald) (1570–1647) was a Scottish adventurer and mercenary of the

Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg, also known as Clan Donald South, ''Clan Iain Mor, Clan MacDonald of Islay and Kintyre, MacDonalds of the Glens (Antrim)'' and sometimes referred to as ''MacDonnells'', is a Scottish clan and a branch of Clan Donald. T ...

branch of

Clan Donald Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald ( gd, Clann Dòmhnaill; Mac Dòmhnaill ), is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry i ...

, who became Laird of

Colonsay Colonsay (; gd, Colbhasa; sco, Colonsay) is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, located north of Islay and south of Mull. The ancestral home of Clan Macfie and the Colonsay branch of Clan MacNeil, it is in the council area of Argyll ...

in 1623, by treachery. His name, which means "Coll the left-handed" or "the crafty", was anglicised as Colkitto. However he only used the nickname ''Ciotach'' late in his life in 1629 when it appeared in a Latin translation of a Gaelic letter where Coll refers to himself as "''Ego Collatius Kiotach Macdonnell''". In Gaelic he was referred to as ''Coll Mac Gilleasbuig'' ("Coll the son of Archibald"). However in English he was normally known as "Coll Macgilespik" or a variant of this, or as "Coll MacDonald".''Highland Warrior, Alasdair MacColla and the Civil Wars'', David Stevenson. Prologue, ''What's in a Name?'', page 2. Some English speakers concluded that "Coll" must be his military rank and that "Ciotach" was a surname. So he was also referred to as: Colonell Kittoghie, Col. Kittack, Collonell McGillespick, Colonel Coill McDonnell alias McGillespick, Col. Killa and Colonel Macdonald. Others took "Coll" or "Coll Ciotach" as places, and so they introduced "MacDonald of Coll" and "MacDonald of Kolkitto". Coll died aged 77 at

Dunyvaig Castle Dunyvaig Castle, ( gd, Dùn Naomhaig, Anglicised ''Fort of the galleys'', also known as ''Dunnyveg'') is located on the south side of Islay, in Argyll, Scotland, on the shore of Lagavulin Bay, from Port Ellen. The castle was once a naval bas ...

, being executed after he was captured by

Clan Campbell Clan Campbell ( gd, Na Caimbeulaich ) is a Highland Scottish clan, historically one of the largest and most powerful of the Highland clans. The Clan Campbell lands are in Argyll and within their lands lies Ben Cruachan. The chief of the clan be ...

opponents.

Family

The Colonsay branch of Clan Macdonald of Dunnyveg was descended from Colla Maol Dubh (d.1558),Macdonald, D. J. ''Clan Donald'', 1978, p.262 a notable cavalryman who was the fourth son of Alexander, 5th chief of the Macdonalds of Dunnyveg. Coll was a posthumous son of Colla Maol Dubh's eldest son, Archibald. He was born in Ireland; his birthplace is given as

Loughlynch Loughlynch or Lough Lynch is a townland in the parish of Billy, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies about 3½ miles south-east of Bushmills and was once the site of a lake.Joyce (1910), p.443. History Gillaspick MacDonnell’s widow, accord ...

, which is in the parish of Billy,

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

, and his mother's name as a local O'Quinn or O'Cahan (O'Kane). Coll is sometimes stated to be a convert from Protestantism to the Catholic church, but seems to have joined it long before the first Catholic mission arrived in 1623, and was noted for his encouragement and support of Catholic interests in the region.Stevenson, ''Alasdair MacColla and the highland problem in the seventeenth century'', 1980, p.43 The Colonsay branch of the family, although based in the Hebrides, were particularly closely involved with their kinsmen's interests in Antrim. He married Mary MacDonald of Sanda; those MacDonalds, another cadet branch of the Macdonalds of Dunnyveg, were also caught up in the

Wars of the Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of related conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, then separate entities united in a pers ...

, and lost their position as a result of the

Dunaverty Massacre The Battle of Dunaverty involved a battle and the siege of Dunaverty Castle in Kintyre, Scotland, in 1647. The events involved the Covenanter Army under the command of General David Leslie on one side and 200–300 Highland troops under t ...

. His son,

Alasdair Mac Colla Alasdair Mac Colla Chiotaich MacDhòmhnaill (c. 1610 – 13 November 1647), also known by the English variant of his name Sir Alexander MacDonald, was a military officer best known for his participation in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, notably ...

, was heavily involved in the wars, fighting both in Ireland and in Scotland. From his marriage with Mary MacDonald of Sanda, they had issue: *Gilleasbuig (Archibald), killed at Dunaverty Castle in 1647. *Aonghus (Angus), killed at Dunaverty Castle in 1647. *

Alasdair Alasdair is a Scottish Gaelic given name. The name is a Gaelic form of ''Alexander'' which has long been a popular name in Scotland. The personal name ''Alasdair'' is often Anglicised as ''Alistair'', '' Alastair'', and ''Alaster''.''A Dictionary o ...

(Alexander), married Elizabeth MacAlister, died at

Battle of Knocknanauss The Battle of Knocknanauss was fought in 1647, during the Irish Confederate Wars, part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, between Confederate Ireland’s Munster army and an English Parliamentarian army under Murrough O’Brien. The battl ...

in 1647. *Seamus (James) This family is alluded to in a

sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

(Sonnet XI) which has a line referring to three generations: :'' ..olkitto or Macdonnel or Galasp.'' Galasp stands in for Gillespie (anglicised name).

Family

References

Further reading