Isabella of Atholl was

countess Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility.L. G. Pine, Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty'' ...

or ban-mormaer of

Atholl Atholl or Athole ( gd, Athall; Old Gaelic ''Athfhotla'') is a large historical division in the Scottish Highlands, bordering (in anti-clockwise order, from Northeast) Marr, Badenoch, Lochaber, Breadalbane, Strathearn, Perth, and Gowrie. Histor ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, from the death of her father

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

in 1211 until the accession of her son Padraig in 1236–7. It has often been thought that, after the death of

Thomas of Galloway Thomas of Galloway, known in Gaelic sources as Tomás Mac Uchtraigh (died 1231), was a Gall-Gaidhil prince and adventurer. The son of Lochlann, king of Galloway, Thomas was an active agent of his brother Alan of Galloway as well as the Engli ...

in 1232, she married again, this time to the powerful political figure

Alan Durward Alan Hostarius (or Alan Durward) ( gd, Ailean Dorsair) (died after 1264, or in 1275) was the son of Thomas de Lundin, a grandson of Gille Críst, Mormaer of Mar. His mother's name is unknown, but she was almost certainly a daughter of Máel ...

; this however, rests solely in the fact that Alan styles himself "Count of Atholl" in a few documents between 1233 and 1234. However, as Matthew Hammond has shown, this more is more likely to refer to fact that Alan, as a grandson of

Máel Coluim, Earl of Atholl Máel Coluim of Atholl was Mormaer of Atholl between 1153/9 and the 1190s. The ''Chronicle of Holyrood'' tells us that in 1186 Máel Coluim had an outlaw called Adam mac Domnaill killed at the altar of a church in Coupar, and burned 58 of his as ...

, probably sought to inherit the province.

Bibliography

* Anderson, Alan Orr, ''Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500-1286'', Vol. II, (Edinburgh, 1922), p. 478, n. 8 * Hammond, Matthew H., "The Durward family in the thirteenth century", in Steve Boardman and Alasdair Ross (eds.), ''The Exercise of Power in Medieval Scotland, c.1200–1500'', (Dublin/Portland, 2003), pp. 118–38 * Roberts, John L., ''Lost Kingdoms: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages'', (Edinburgh, 1997), pp. 54–5 1230s deaths People from Perth and Kinross Year of birth unknown Mormaers of Atholl 13th-century Scottish women 13th-century mormaers 12th-century Scottish women 12th-century Scottish people {{Scotland-earl-stub