The Haunting of Doe Castle

Clan Sweeney is an Irish clan of Scottish origin. The Mac Suibhne family did not permanently settle in Ireland before the beginning of the 14th century, when they became Gallowglass soldiers for the Ua Domnaill dynasty of Tír Chonaill. The clan also claims an Irish descent from a prince of the Uí Néill dynasty, Ánrothán Ua Néill, son of Áed, son of Flaithbertach Ua Néill, King of Ailech and Cenél nEógain, died 1036. Through this descent the clan can claim a descent from Niall Noigíallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages).

In the 13th century the MacSweens controlled lands across central Argyll, extending as far north as Loch Awe and as far south as Loch Fyne. Their principal seats included Lochranza Castle on the Isle of Arran, Skipness Castle and Castle Sween at Knapdale, which may be Scotland’s oldest surviving stone-built castle.

The MacSweens held this lordship of Knapdale and lands in Kintyre until 1262. That year Dugall MacSween granted to Walter Stewart, Earl of Menteith the lands of Skipnish (Skipness), Killislate (South Knapdale) and other lands in the parish of Kilcalmonell in Kintyre. Following this the Earl granted several churches in Knapdale to the monastery of Kilwinning, showing that he now had control of both North and South Knapdale. Also, in the same year Alexander III of Scotland granted Lochranza Castle to Walter Stewart, Earl of Menteith.

In 1263 Haakon IV of Norway sailed down the western coast of Scotland with an invasion fleet from Norway. With the arrival of the royal fleet Norse control in the Western Isles and Argyll was re-established, and the Norwegian king’s force was strengthened by Islesmen. Among those pressed into his service were the deposed MacSweens of Knapdale, under Murchadh MacSween. The MacSweens seemed to have been of doubtful loyalty as they were forced to also surrender hostages to guarantee their support. Haakon had “given” Arran to Murchadh, but ultimately, the Norwegian invasion was defeated at what is known today as the Battle of Largs.

The Earl of Menteith still controlled Knapdale in 1293, and in 1301 Knapdale was being held by his successor, Sir John Stewart (Sir John Menteith). It was then that John MacSween approached Edward I of England, asserting that one of the king’s enemies, Sir John Menteith, had deprived MacSween of his inheritance.[8] Between 1301 and 1310, John MacSween was in the service of the English in the hope of keeping alive his family’s claim against the Menteiths.

During the Great Cause, which led to the First War of Scottish Independence, the MacSweens were supporters of the powerful MacDougall Lords of Lorne who supported John Balliol as patriots, as long as John was king of Scotland. However, in 1301, John Macsween, Lord of Knapdale, joined Angus Og Macdonald, by then Lord of the Isles, in a campaign against Alexander MacDougall, Lord of Argyll and Lorne, for his murder of Angus Og’s elder brother, Alexander Og Macdonald in Ireland in 1299.

After the murder of John Comyn, the nephew of Balliol, by Bruce and his companions in 1306, the First War of Scottish Independence became at one and the same time a civil war. The Balliols, Comyns and MacDougalls taking the side of the English in opposition to the Macdonalds and the Bruce, crowned Robert I of Scotland on 25 March 1306.

This was an era of constantly shifting alliances, and in 1301 John MacSween was in alliance with Aonghus Óg Mac Domhnaill, Lord of Islay (died 1314×1318/c.1330) against the MacDougalls of Lorne. In 1307 the MacDougalls were the bitterest of Robert the Bruce’s enemies, and the man in command of the rebellion against Bruce was Sir John Menteith, who had previously removed the MacSweens from their castle in Knapdale.

By 1310, when Bruce had most of Argyll and the North Channel in his favour, the English encouraged John MacDougall, the son of Alexander MacDougall and now the ousted Lord of Lorne, to raise a fleet in 1311, based on the eastern coast of Ireland. MacDougall was aided in part by the MacSweens, including John and his brothers Toirdelbach and Murdoch. It was around this time in 1310, that Edward II of England granted John and his brothers their family’s ancestral lands of Knapdale, provided they could recover it from Sir John Menteith. It is possible, therefore, that this event could have been the “tryst of a fleet against Castle Sween”, recorded in the Book of the Dean of Lismore, which tells of the failed attempt by John MacSween to recapture Castle Sween. With the failure to recapture their lands in Scotland, the MacSweens permanently left for Ireland.

A plate from The Image of Irelande, by John Derricke, published in 1581. The chief sitting at his table, entertained by his bard and harper is thought to be a “Mac Sweyne”.

A contingent of the MacSweens eventually re-established themselves at Donegal as Gallowglass mercenary soldiers and became the progenitors of Clan Sweeney. Some of those who stayed on in Scotland formed into the Clan MacQueen, a branch of whom later joined the powerful Chattan Confederation. According to Niall Campbell, 10th Duke of Argyll, other MacSweens who remained in Scotland became known as the MacEwens of Otter, whose chiefly line may have become extinct in the 17^th century.

The earliest record of a Mac Suibhne, in relation to the clan, is of Murchadh Mac Suibne in 1267. Murchadh’s father was Máel Muire an Sparáin of Castle Sween in Knapdale, who was himself the son of Suibne. Murchadh became a prisoner of Domnall Ó Conchobair and was handed over to the Earl of Ulster, in whose prison Murchadh is said to have died.

Once set up in Ireland the Clan Sween controlled large territories, and was divided into three branches:

Mac Suibhne Fánad (Mac Sweeney Fanad)

Mac Suibhne na d’Tuath (Mac Sweeney Doe)

Mac Suibhne Boghaineach (Mac Sweeney Banagh)

Rathmullan was the seat of MacSuibhne Fanad for the next 400 years, during which time their influence extended from Donegal into Connacht and Munster. In Donegal, their principal seats were Doe Castle and Rahan Castle near Killybegs.

In Scotland, the inauguration of the MacSuibhne Clan chiefs had taken place at Iona, where they were also buried. In Ireland they were inaugurated in Kilmacrennan, County Donegal, where MacSuibhne Fanad became influential allies of the O’Donnell of Tyrconnell. The remains of the Sweeneys who went to Ireland are interred outside the walls of Castle Doe, Donegal.

The historian James Logan, in The Scottish Gaël, remarked how the Mac Swineys were notable for their hospitality. At a seat of theirs, Clodach Castle, there was a stone set near the highway which was inscribed with an open invitation to travellers to make for Clodach for refreshment. At some point, one of the family overturned the stone and after were said to have never prospered. Logan also noted that the war-cry of the Mac Sweins was “Battalia-abu” (The noble staff, victorious), from the battle-axe they bore in their Arms.