page_title: Gofraid mac Fergusa
section_title: Evolution of a genealogical construct
hierarchical_section_title: Gofraid mac Fergusa / Evolution of a genealogical construct
caption_attribution_description: English: An excerpt from folio 50v of the Chronicle of Mann (Cotton MS Julius A VII). The excerpt reads in Latin "Godredus Crouan". The man referred to is Gofraid Crobán, King of Dublin and the Isles (died 1095).
context_page_description: Gofraid mac Fergusa is an alleged ninth-century figure attested by the Annals of the Four Masters and various pedigrees concerning the ancestors of Clann Somhairle and Clann Domhnaill. If the pedigrees are to be believed, he was a son of Fergus mac Eirc, and a descendant of Colla Uais. Likewise, the two annal-entries that note Gofraid mac Fergusa claim that he was an Airgíallan ruler, who aided Cináed mac Ailpín in 835, and died sixteen years later as a ruler of the Isles. Gofraid mac Fergusa's place in the aforesaid pedigrees is chronologically impossible. The events associated with him by the annals are not supported by any contemporary or near contemporary source. In fact, the two annal-entries that recount these alleged events are fabricated additions inserted into the chronicle at some point before the mid seventeenth century.
  As a genealogical construct, Gofraid mac Fergusa may represent Clann Somhairle's matrilineal descent from Gofraid Crobán. The latter was the eponym of the Crovan dynasty, a family from which Clann Somhairle dynasts derived their claims to the kingship of the Isles. Both kindreds vied for control of the Isles in the twelfth- and thirteenth centuries.
context_section_description: Quite how Gofraid mac Fergusa became synchronised with the historical Gofraid ua Ímair is unknown. It could well have taken place between the fourteenth- and the seventeenth centuries. As such, the chronology of Gofraid mac Fergusa's construction may be bounded between the propagation of Cináed's miscalculated accession in the 1380s, and the final compilation of the Annals of the Four Masters in the 1630s. What is more certain is that the twelfth- and thirteenth-century members of Clann Somhairle derived their claim to the kingship of the Isles through their descent from Somairle's wife, Ragnailt, daughter of Amlaíb mac Gofraid (died 1153). Ragnailt and her father were members of the Crovan dynasty, descended from Gofraid Crobán (died 1095), the dynasty's founder. Gofraid Crobán's position at the apex of the Crovan dynasty and Clann Somhairle—two competing kindreds that vied for control of the Isles—could indicate that he is the Gofraid referred to in the earliest evidence of a Clann Somhairle ancestor bearing the name. These references to Gofraid, and the "seed" or "race" of Gofraid, survive in two thirteenth-century compositions of epic praise poetry pre-dating the first attestation of Gofraid mac Fergusa.
  The reasons behind Gofraid Crobán's apparent transformation into Gofraid mac Fergusa are uncertain. One possibility is that later unease of a matrilineal descent from the Gofraid of the praise poetry led to the assumption of a patrilineal link with him. Another aspect of the transformation could have concerned a conscious rejection of Gofraid Crobán, which in turn may have led to the adoption of a genealogical link to a similarly-named historical figure like Gofraid ua Ímair. A deliberate disavowal of Gofraid Crobán could have stemmed from a slackening of pride in Clann Domhnaill's supposedly less-than-Gaelic ancestors. Another factor may have concerned the clan's continuous incorporation into the Scottish realm. As such, it is conceivable that Gofraid mac Fergusa was first put forth as an ancestor in the context of Clann Domhnaill's patriotic support of the Bruce cause during the Wars of Scottish Independence. Alternately, the formulation of the doctored annal-entries could date as late as the seventeenth century, and could have been concocted in the context of a legal dispute between Randal MacDonnell (died 1636) and a certain George Crawford. This case concerned claims to Rathlin Island, and featured genealogical evidence designed to bolster this MacDonnell chieftain's defence. In any event, the constructed link with Fergus mac Eirc presented by the pedigrees, and the fabricated connection with Cináed mac Ailpín preserved by the annals, seems to reveal that members of Clann Domhnaill wished to be closely associated with the earliest history of the Scottish realm. As such the kindred could claim a pedigree equal to that of the Scottish kings themselves.
caption: The name of Gofraid Crobán as it appears on folio 50v of British Library Cotton Julius A VII (the Chronicle of Mann): "Godredus Crouan".[32]
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