Alasdair Mór mac Domhnaill was a younger son of

Domhnall mac Raghnaill Domhnall mac Raghnaill was a Hebridean noble in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. He is the eponymous progenitor of Clan Donald (''Clann Dhòmhnaill'', "Children of Donald"). For this reason some traditions accumulated around him in the la ...

—the eponymous ancestor of

Clan Donald Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald or Clan McDonald ( ), is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. Historically the chiefs of the Clan Donald held the title of Lord of the Isles until 1493 and two of those chiefs a ...

. He first appears on record in 1253, when it is recorded as witnessing a charter by his brother,

Aonghus Mór Aonghus Mór mac Domhnaill (died 1293) was a leading figure in the thirteenth-century kingdoms of the Kingdom of the Isles, Isles and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland. He was a son of Domhnall mac Raghnaill, the eponym of Clann Domhnaill, a branc ...

, to

Paisley Abbey Paisley Abbey is a parish church of the Church of Scotland on the east bank of the River Cart, White Cart Water in the centre of the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire, about west of Glasgow, in Scotland. Its origins date from the 12th century, base ...

. According to the 19th century Clan Donald historians Angus and Archibald Macdonald, Alasdair Mór must have been a prominent man as he is the only recorded brother of Aonghus Mór. He is recorded in the

Annals of Connacht The ''Annals of Connacht'' (), covering the years 1224 to 1544, are drawn from a manuscript compiled in the 15th and 16th centuries by at least three scribes, all believed to be members of the Clan Ó Duibhgeannáin. The early sections, commenc ...

, in the year 1299, as being a man noted for being a "generous and bounteous man". In that year he was slain in a conflict with Alasdair of Argyll and the MacDougalls. He is said to have had at least five sons: Dòmhnall, Gòraidh, Donnchadh, Eoin and Eachann. Alasdair Mòr was succeeded in the representation of his

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

by Dòmhnall. Today he is considered to be the eponymous ancestor of

Clan MacAlister Clan MacAlister is a Scottish Clan. The clan is the earliest branch to have split off from Clan Donald, claiming descent from Alasdair Mòr, son of Domhnall founder of Clan Donald. From Alasdair Mòr the clans takes its surname ''MacAlister''; t ...

References

Clan MacAlister Medieval Gaels from Scotland Nobility from Argyll and Bute 13th-century Scottish people Year of birth unknown {{Scotland-noble-stub