page_title: Dubgall mac Somairle
section_title: King of the Isles
hierarchical_section_title: Dubgall mac Somairle / King of the Isles
caption_attribution_description: English: An excerpt from folio 19v of British Library Cotton MS Faustina B IX (the Chronicle of Melrose). A trasnscription of this except appears on page 79 of: Stevenson, J, ed. (1835). Chronica de Mailros. Edinburgh: The Bannatyne Club. This transcription reads: "Sumerledus regulus Eregeithel". The excerpt refers to Somairle mac Gilla Brigte, King of the Isles (died 1164).
context_page_description: Dubgall mac Somairle was an apparent King of the Isles. He was a son of Somairle mac Gilla Brigte and Ragnhildr Óláfsdóttir. Dubgall was a leading figure of Clann Somairle, and the eponymous ancestor of Clann Dubgaill. Dubgall's career is obscure, and little is certain of his life.
  In 1155 or 1156, Dubgall was produced as a candidate to the kingship of the Isles, then-possessed by his maternal uncle, Guðrøðr Óláfsson. Later that year, Somairle defeated Guðrøðr, and the kingdom was divided between them. Two years later, Somairle again defeated Guðrøðr, and assumed control over the entirety of the realm. Whilst is possible that Dubgall was the nominal King of the Isles, it is apparent that his father possessed the real power.
  Dubgall's father died in an invasion of Scotland in 1164. At least one of Somairle's sons was slain in this defeat, and it is unknown if Dubgall was present. Whilst it is possible that Dubgall retained a degree of royal authority after Somairle's death, it is evident that his maternal uncle Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson seized the kingship before being defeated by Guðrøðr. Nevertheless, the territories seized by Somairle in 1156 were retained by Clann Somairle.
context_section_description: The year 1153 marked a watershed in the history for the Kingdom of the Isles. In June of this year—whilst Óláfr's son, Guðrøðr, was absent in Norway—Óláfr was assassinated by three Dublin-based nephews. Within months, Guðrøðr was able to overcome his kin-slaying cousins, and thereby secured kingship for himself. During the latter's reign as king, both Guðrøðr and Somairle appear to have involved themselves in military campaigns in Ireland. In 1154, for instance, troops from the Isles and the western seaboard of Scotland certainly supported Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn, King of Cenél nEógain in a defeat against the latter's rival Toirrdelbach Ua Conchobair, King of Connacht. Guðrøðr further appears to have unsuccessfully attempted to secure the kingship of Dublin. However, these setbacks suffered under Guðrøðr's rule—perhaps coupled with the rise of Muirchertach's influence in the Isles—may well have incited Dubgall's father to seize the initiative.
  In 1155 or 1156, the Chronicle of Mann reveals that Somairle conducted a coup against Guðrøðr, specifying that Þorfinnr Óttarsson—described as one of the leading men of the Isles—produced Dubgall as a replacement to Guðrøðr's rule. The fact that the chronicle identifies Dubgall as the chosen son seems to be further evidence that he was the senior-most of Somairle's sons. Nevertheless, Somairle's stratagem does not appear to have received unanimous support, as the chronicle specifies that the leading Islesmen were made to render pledges and surrender hostages unto him, and that one such chieftain alerted Guðrøðr of Somairle's treachery. Late in 1156, on the night of 5/6 January, Somairle and Guðrøðr finally clashed in a bloody but inconclusive sea-battle. According to the chronicle, Somairle's fleet numbered eighty ships, and when the fighting concluded, the feuding brothers-in-law divided the Kingdom of the Isles between themselves.
  Although the precise partitioning is unrecorded and uncertain, the allotment of lands seemingly held by Somairle's descendants in the twelfth- and thirteenth centuries could be evidence that he and his son gained the southern-most islands of the Hebrides, whilst Guðrøðr retained the northern-most. As such, Somairle could well have secured control of the Islay and Mull groupings of islands, which left his brother-in-law with Mann and the rest of the Hebrides. Two years after Somairle's initial victory of Guðrøðr, the chronicle reveals that Somairle, with a fleet of fifty-three ships, attacked Mann and drove Guðrøðr from the kingship into exile.
  With Guðrøðr gone, it appears that either Dubgall or Somairle became King of the Isles. Although the young Dubgall may well have been the nominal monarch, the chronicle makes it clear that it was Somairle who possessed the real power. Certainly, Irish sources regard Somairle as a king by the end of his career. The reason why the Islesmen specifically sought Dubgall as their ruler instead of Somairle is unknown. Evidently, Somairle was somehow an unacceptable candidate, and it is possible that Ragnhildr's royal ancestry lent credibility to Dubgall that Somairle lacked himself. It was certainly not an unheard-of phenomenon for a powerful figure to set up a son as king under his own overlordship. In fact, Magnús Óláfsson, King of Norway did just this about half a century before by marrying his young son, Sigurðr, to Bjaðmunjo, daughter of the King of Munster, and installing Sigurðr as king over Orkney and the Isles.
  There may be reason to suspect that Guðrøðr's defeat to Somairle was partly enabled by an alliance between Muirchertach and Somairle. For example, Argyllmen formed part of the mercenary fleet utilised by Muirchertach in 1154, and it is possible that the commander of the fleet, a certain Mac Scelling, was a relation of Somairle himself. If Muirchertach and Somairle were indeed allied at this point in time it may have meant that Guðrøðr faced a united front of opposition. If correct, it could also be possible that Þorfinnr participated in Somairle's insurrection as an agent of Muirchertach. On the other 
caption: The name and title of Dubgall's father, Somairle mac Gilla Brigte, as it appears on folio 19v of British Library Cotton Faustina B IX (the Chronicle of Melrose): "Sumerledus regulus Eregeithel".[54] The title can translated as "regulus of Argyll".[55]
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