Somhairle Mac Domhnaill (c. 1580 – c. 1632), called by English speakers Sorley McDonnell, was a renowned soldier for the Gaelic cause in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

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 ...

during the

Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an es ...

and the patron who commissioned two 17th-century manuscript collections of poems, ''Duanaire Finn'' and ''The Book of O'Connor Donn''.

Early life

Mac Domhnaill was born in the Glens of

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 ...

about the year 1580 to Séamas Mac Domhnaill of Dunluce, son of the renowned

Sorley Boy MacDonnell Sorley Boy MacDonnell (Scottish Gaelic: ''Somhairle Buidhe Mac Domhnaill''), also spelt as MacDonald (c. 1505 – 1590), Scoto-Irish chief, was the son of Alexander Carragh MacDonnell, 5th of Dunnyveg, of Dunyvaig Castle, lord of Islay and ...

) and Máire Ní Néill of the Clandeboy O'Neills. The English conquest of 1601 ended any hopes of Somhairle's to succeed to his father's lands.

Rebel

He was party to the Irish rebel conspiracy of 1615. When the rebellion fell through he escaped to Scotland to take part in a MacDonald rising. In the space of a few months he overturned Campbell control of hereditary MacDonald lands in

Islay Islay ( ; gd, Ìle, sco, Ila) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The isl ...

, Jura,

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 ...

and

Kintyre Kintyre ( gd, Cinn Tìre, ) is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The peninsula stretches about , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south to East and West Loch Tarbert in the north. The region immediately north ...

, but fled to Ireland when

Archibald Campbell, 7th Earl of Argyll Archibald Campbell, 7th Earl of Argyll (c. 1575–1638), also called ("Archibald the Grim"), was a Scottish peer, politician, and military leader. Life Campbell was the son of Colin Campbell, 6th Earl of Argyll and Agnes Keith. His nickn ...

, led an army against them. In 1616 he captured a ship in

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight Roll-on/ro ...

and continued the fight in the

Inner Hebrides The Inner Hebrides (; Scottish Gaelic: ''Na h-Eileanan a-staigh'', "the inner isles") is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, whic ...

. He then captured a French ship and sailed to

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Ó Néill and

Ó Domhnaill The O'Donnell dynasty ( ga, Ó Dónaill or ''Ó Domhnaill,'' ''Ó Doṁnaill'' ''or Ua Domaill;'' meaning "descendant of Dónal") were the dominant Irish clan of the kingdom of Tyrconnell, Ulster, in History of Ireland (1169–1536), medieval ...

they were allowed their freedom.

Soldier

As a captain in the Spanish army, Mac Domhnail was commissioned to raise a company of musketeers in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

. He took part in the Bohemian campaign in the

and fought at the head of his company in the Verdugo regiment in the

Battle of White Mountain ), near Prague, Bohemian Confederation(present-day Czech Republic) , coordinates = , territory = , result = Imperial-Spanish victory , status = , combatants_header = , combatant1 = Catholic L ...

, 1620. He returned to the Netherlands in 1624 and spent some time in the garrison of

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

, with the Franciscan priest Brian Mac Giolla Coinnigh as chaplain to his company He is believed to have spent his final years in penury in the

Irish College of St Anthony The Irish College of St Anthony, in Leuven, Belgium, known in ga, Coláiste na nGael, french: Collège des Irlandais à Louvain and nl, Iers College Leuven, has been a centre of Irish learning on the European Continent since the early 17th ce ...

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

, where he died about 1632. Some years later, Mac Domhnail's son, Séamas mac Somhairle Mac Donmhnaill, served as lieutenant to his kinsman, Alastair mac Colla Chiotaigh Mac Domhnaill (

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 ...

), in Scotland (1644–45), and in Ireland afterwards, before serving in the Spanish army in the Netherlands.

Patron of the Arts

In the period spent in Ostend he commissioned the writing of two manuscripts, a collection of Fenian Lays, ''Duanaire Finn'', and a collection of bardic poetry, ''The Book of O'Connor Donn''. The collection of Lays in ''Duanaire Finn'', written by the scribe and soldier Aodh Ó Dochartaigh in 1627, was published by Dr

Eoin Mac Néill Eoin MacNeill ( ga, Eoin Mac Néill; born John McNeill; 15 May 1867 – 15 October 1945) was an Irish scholar, Irish language enthusiast, Gaelic revivalist, nationalist and politician who served as Minister for Education from 1922 to 1925, Ce ...

and Gerard Murphy in three volumes between 1908 and 1953. Both books were bequeathed by Mac Domhnail to the Irish College in

In literature

Mac Domhnaill is depicted as an historical character in

Darach Ó Scolaí Darach Ó Scolaí is an Irish novelist, playwright, publisher, and artist living in the County Galway Gaeltacht of Connemara. He was awarded the Oireachtas Prize for Literature in 2007 for his novel,'' An Cléireach''. Writing His 2007 novel' ...

' novel

An Cléireach ''An Cléireach'' (Gaelic: The Clerk) is a novel by the Irish writer Darach Ó Scolaí, published in 2007 and winner of the 2007 ''Oireachtas Prize for Literature''. It also won Gradam Uí Shúilleabháin in 2008. Set during the English Civil War ...

References

*Gerard Murphy, ''Duanaire Finn III'', Irish Texts Society 1953 *

Hector McDonnell The Hon. Hector John McDonnell (born 1947) is a Northern Irish painter, etcher, and author, specializing in architectural art, landscape, and portrait work. Early life A younger son of Randal McDonnell, 8th Earl of Antrim, by his marriage to the ...

, ''The Wild Geese of the Antrim MacDonnells'', Irish Academic Press 1996 {{DEFAULTSORT:Macdomhnaill, Somhairle 1580s births 1632 deaths Somhairle People of Elizabethan Ireland People from County Antrim