The Battle of Epiphany was a

naval battle Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Even in the interior of large la ...

fought on 5–6 January or 12 January 1156, between the Norse Godred Olafsson (Godred the Black), King of the Isles and the Norse-Gaelic Somhairle MacGillebride (Somerled), King of Cinn Tìre (Kintyre),

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

and Lorne, off the coast of

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 and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The island's capital ...

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 ...

.Paterson (2008), p. 6.Adam (1970), p. 232.''The Chronicle of Mann and the Sudreys'' (1874) p.69

Background

Olafr Godredsson, King of the Isles, was murdered on 29 June 1153 by his nephews and his son Godred became king in his place. After ascending to the throne, Godred ruled with a heavy hand, which upset some of his chiefs. Somerled who had married Raghnailt, the daughter of Olafr, was approached by a number of men headed by Thornfinn Ottarsson. Somerled agreed to their plan to overthrow Godred and replace him with Somerled's son Dubgall mac Somairle. He began preparations and began construction of 80 ships modelled on the Norse longship, known as

birlinn The birlinn ( gd, bìrlinn) or West Highland galley was a wooden vessel propelled by sail and oar, used extensively in the Hebrides and West Highlands of Scotland from the Middle Ages on. Variants of the name in English and Lowland Scots in ...

s and nyvaigs (the latter being the first ship to have a stern rudder directly in the rear of the vessel). Somerled having recognised the importance of dominating the sea, with which the Norse had successfully conquered the Isles.Paterson (2008), p. 7.

Battle

Thornfinn and Dubgall were sailing around the Isles seeking fealty for the latter as the next king. Godred became aware of their treachery and he sailed his fleet to attack.Adam (1970), p. 233. The fleets of Godred and Somerled met off Islay, to the north at Rubh' a' Mhaoil, on the night of the Epiphany on 5–6 January or 12 January 1156, and a fierce battle continued through into the next day. A stalemate occurred between the two fleets and Godred and Somerled initiated talks. The contemporary evidence for the location of the battle is slight and some authors have suggested the battle took place to the west of Islay, although Marsden (2008) favours the narrow Sound of Islay.Marsden (2008) p. 84.

Aftermath

After discussions and agreement, Godred ceded the isles to the south of

Ardnamurchan Ardnamurchan (, gd, Àird nam Murchan: headland of the great seas) is a peninsula in the ward management area of Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, noted for being very unspoiled and undisturbed. Its remoteness is accentuated by the main access ...

( Mull, Jura and Islay) to Somerled, while keeping the

Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coas ...

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated ...

and the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = " O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europ ...

. '' The Chronicle of Mann and the Sudreys'' lamented that "thus was the Kingdom of the Isles ruined".

Notes

References

* * Marsden, John (2008) ''Somerled and the Emergence of Gaelic Scotland''. Birlinn. East Linton. First published, 2000. *Munch, P.A. (ed) and Rev. Goss (tr) (1874
''Chronica regnum Manniae et insularum: The Chronicle of Mann and the Sudreys''
Volume 1. Douglas, Isle of Man. The Manx Society. Retrieved 9 January 2011. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Epiphany Islay Scandinavian Scotland Viking Age sites in Scotland Conflicts in 1156 1156 in Scotland 12th century in Scotland Military action involving Scottish islands Naval battles involving Scotland

Background

Battle

Aftermath

See also

Notes

References