MacMhuirich bardic family facts for kids
The MacMhuirich bardic family was a very important group of poets and other skilled people in Scotland. They were also known by their Scottish Gaelic names, Clann MacMhuirich and Clann Mhuirich. In English, they are sometimes called Clan Currie. This family lived mainly in the Hebrides islands of Scotland from the 1400s to the 1700s.
They believed their family started with an Irish poet from the 1200s. Legend says he came to Scotland after being sent away from Ireland. The MacMhuirich family first worked for the powerful Lords of the Isles. They were poets, lawyers, and even doctors for these leaders. After the Lords of the Isles lost their power in the 1400s, the MacMhuirich family mostly worked for the chiefs of the Clan Macdonald of Clanranald. Some family members were also musicians in the early 1500s and possibly church leaders even earlier.
Contents
History of the MacMhuirich Family
Where Did They Come From?
The MacMhuirich family said they were related to a famous poet named Muireadhach Albanach Ó Dálaigh. He lived around 1200 to 1230. Muireadhach Albanach was part of the well-known Ó Dálaigh family of poets in Ireland. He got the nickname Albanach, which means "the Scot", because he spent time in Scotland.
He supposedly lived in Scotland for 15 years. This happened after he was exiled for killing a servant of a powerful Irish lord. While in Scotland, Muireadhach Albanach worked as a poet for the Earls of Lennox. It seems some of his family also settled in that area. Muireadhach Albanach wrote a sad poem when his wife died. In it, he mentioned that they had 11 children.
A Family of Professionals
One of the first known members of the MacMhuirich family was Lachlann Mór MacMhuirich. He wrote a poem to encourage the Clan Donald before a big battle in 1411. Another family member, "Lacclannus mcmuredhaich archipoeta," was a chief poet. He signed an important document for Aonghas of Islay, whose family was the last to be called Lords of the Isles. Other MacMhuirich poets wrote poems about Aonghas's death. These poems are kept in an old book called the Book of the Dean of Lismore. From the 1490s, some family members also became church leaders.
After the Lords of the Isles lost their power, the MacMhuirich family mainly worked for the chiefs of the Clan Macdonald of Clanranald. Niall Mór MacMhuirich, who lived from about 1550 to 1613, was one of the earliest poets recorded from the family. A family member was also a seanchaidh. This means they were a storyteller and kept track of family histories. This seanchaidh wrote much of the Books of Clanranald in the 1600s and early 1700s.
One of these books, called the Red Book, tells the history of the Clan Donald. Niall wrote this part. The other book, the Black Book, has many different writings. It also includes Niall's history, but it was copied by someone from the Beaton family. The Beatons were another skilled family of doctors and scholars from the Hebrides.
Other important family members included Cathal MacMhuirich, who was active around 1625. Niall MacMhuirich (about 1637–1726) was the last truly skilled poet of the family. He was still writing in the early 1700s. In the early 1500s, some MacMhuirich family members were also Harpers (people who play the harp). In 1615, a doctor named "John oig Mc murcquhie leiche in Ilay" was recorded.
In the late 1600s, Ruairidh MacMhuirich, also known as Roderick Morison, was a famous blind harp player and poet. He worked for Chief John MacLeod until 1693. John's son, Roderick MacLeod, didn't spend much time with his people. Morison wrote a song for him, telling the chief to do his duty and support traditional Gaelic culture. Morison died in 1713. The last family member to write traditional Gaelic poetry was Domhnall MacMhuirich. He lived on South Uist in the 1700s.
The MacMhuirich Family Today
In 1959, the descendants of Clann MacMhuirich, now known as Clan Currie, chose Colonel William McMurdo Currie as their chief. He was a veteran of World War II. Before he passed away in 1992, he named Robert Currie as his successor. Robert Currie started a non-profit group called The Clan Currie Society. This society still works to share and celebrate traditional Gaelic music and poetry today.
See also
- Beaton medical kindred - another important family of learned people in Gaelic culture.
