Fire & Sword - Sorley Boy MacDonnell and the Rise of Clan Ian Mor, 1538-1590
Title: Fire & Sword - Sorley Boy MacDonnell and the Rise of Clan Ian Mor, 1538-1590
Author: J. Michael Hill
Publisher: The Athlone Press, London
Date: 1993ISBN: 0485114372
Hardback - 1st Edition with original dustcover. xiii - 321pp.Illustrated with 10 maps and MacDonnell genealogical table. Bibliography.
Synopsis
Sorley Boy MacDonnell (Somhairle Buidhe Mac Domhnaill - c.1505–1590) was a leading Gaelic-Norse warlord and chief of Clan Ian Mòr, the MacDonnells of Antrim. His nickname Buidhe (“fair-haired” or “yellow”) stuck, but it was his iron resolve that really defined him.
He was born into the powerful MacDonald of Dunyvaig and the Glens kindred, a branch of Clan Donald with lands straddling Islay, Kintyre, and the Antrim coast of Ulster. This sea-spanning lordship made the MacDonnells both influential and deeply suspicious to the English Crown.
Sorley Boy spent much of his life fighting to hold Antrim against intense pressure from England, especially from the Earls of Essex and Sussex. He was captured more than once, lost sons in brutal fighting, and saw castles destroyed — yet he endured. In a classic piece of late-life triumph, Queen Elizabeth I eventually recognised him as Lord of the Route, effectively legitimising what he had fought decades to defend. He died an old man by the standards of his age, having outlasted most of his enemies.
Clan Ian Mòr
Clan Ian Mòr takes its name from Iain Mòr Tanister, Sorley Boy’s father. It is essentially the Antrim MacDonnells, a cadet branch of Clan Donald, but one with a distinct identity forged in Ulster.
Key characteristics of the clan:
Seafaring warriors with strong Hebridean–Ulster links
Central to the survival of Gaelic lordship in northeast Ireland
Patrons of Gaelic culture, language, and kinship traditions
Frequently at odds with English authority and neighbouring Irish lords
Their power base included strongholds like Dunluce Castle, which became an iconic symbol of MacDonnell rule in Antrim.
Sorley Boy and Clan Ian Mòr represent one of the last successful resistances to Tudor expansion in Ireland — not by outright victory, but by endurance, adaptation, and political cunning. They also embody the fluid Gaelic world of the 16th century, where Scotland and Ireland were bound together by the sea rather than divided by it.
Condition Notes
A near perfect copy of this work with unclipped dustcover and clean and bright pages throughout.
Please check the images associated with this Book to gain a clear insight into the book's condition and if you require further details please send an email enquiry. Please remember the book you are seeing in the image is the copy your are purchasing.