Somhairle Mac Domhnail facts for kids

Somhairle Mac Domhnaill (born around 1580, died around 1632), also known as Sorley McDonnell, was a famous soldier from Ireland and Scotland. He fought in a big European war called the Thirty Years War. He was also important because he paid for two special collections of poems to be written in the 1600s: Duanaire Finn and The Book of O'Connor Donn.

Who Was Somhairle Mac Domhnaill?

Somhairle Mac Domhnaill was born in the Glens of County Antrim, Ireland, around the year 1580. His father was Séamas Mac Domhnaill, and his grandfather was the well-known Sorley Boy MacDonnell. His mother was Máire Ní Néill. When the English took control of Ireland in 1601, Somhairle lost his chance to inherit his family's land.

A Life of Adventure and Fighting

Somhairle was part of a secret plan by Irish rebels in 1615. When this plan didn't work out, he escaped to Scotland. There, he joined a rising by the MacDonald family. In just a few months, he helped the MacDonalds take back their traditional lands in places like Islay, Jura, Colonsay, and Kintyre from the Campbell family. But when a powerful leader named Archibald Campbell brought an army against them, Somhairle had to escape back to Ireland.

In 1616, he captured a ship in Larne and kept fighting in the Inner Hebrides (a group of islands in Scotland). He then captured a French ship and sailed to Dunkirk in the Spanish Netherlands. There, he and a group of Scottish fighters joined the Spanish army.

Fighting in Europe

Because of complaints from the French and English governments to Spain, Somhairle and his men had to find a safe place to stay in a monastery in Dunkirk. With help from important Irish leaders like Ó Néill and Ó Domhnaill, they were allowed to be free.

As a captain in the Spanish army, Somhairle was asked to gather a company of soldiers who used muskets (a type of gun) in Flanders. He took part in the Thirty Years War, a big war in Europe. He led his group of soldiers in the Verdugo regiment during the Battle of White Mountain in 1620.

He returned to the Netherlands in 1624. He spent some time in the army base in Ostend, where a priest named Brian Mac Giolla Coinnigh was the chaplain for his company. It is thought that Somhairle spent his last years without much money at the Irish College of St Anthony in Leuven, where he died around 1632.

Years later, Somhairle's son, Séamas mac Somhairle Mac Donmhnaill, also became a soldier. He served with his relative, Alasdair Mac Colla, in Scotland and Ireland, and then in the Spanish army in the Netherlands.

Supporting Art and Poetry

While he was in Ostend, Somhairle paid for two important books to be written. One was a collection of old Irish stories and poems called Duanaire Finn. The other was a collection of poems by bards (poets) called The Book of O'Connor Donn. The Duanaire Finn collection was written by a scribe and soldier named Aodh Ó Dochartaigh in 1627. Parts of it were later published in three books between 1908 and 1953. Somhairle left both of these valuable books to the Irish College in Leuven when he died.

Somhairle in Books

Somhairle Mac Domhnaill is shown as a real historical person in the novel An Cléireach by Darach Ó Scolaí.