Garmoran is an area of western Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It lies at the south-western edge of the present Highland Region. It includes Knoydart, Morar

Morar

Morar is a small village on the west coast of Scotland, south of Mallaig. The name Morar is also applied to the wider district around the village....

, Moidart

Moidart

Moidart is a district in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland.Moidart lies to the west of Fort William and is very remote. Loch Shiel cuts off the south-east boundary of the district. Moidart includes the townships of Dorlin, Mingarry, Kinlochmoidart and Glenuig. At Dorlin is located the ancient fortress...

, Ardnamurchan

Ardnamurchan

Ardnamurchan is a peninsula in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, noted for being very unspoilt and undisturbed. Its remoteness is accentuated by the main access route being a single track road for much of its length.-Geography:...

, and the Small Isles

Small Isles

The Small Isles are a small archipelago of islands in the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. They lie south of Skye and north of Mull and Ardnamurchan – the most westerly point of mainland Scotland.The four main islands are Canna, Rùm, Eigg and Muck...

.

The medieval lordship of Garmoran was ruled by the MacRuari

Clan Macruari

Clan Macruari was a Scottish clan. The founder of Clan Macruari is Ruaidhri mac Raghnaill, a son of Raghnall mac Somhairle who was a son of Somhairle mac Gillebride. The lands of Clan Macruari were in Bute, Uist, Barra, Eigg, Rùm, and Garmoran....

's, descendants of Somerled

Somerled

Somerled was a military and political leader of the Scottish Isles in the 12th century who was known in Gaelic as rí Innse Gall . His father was Gillebride...

, and later formed part of the Lordship of the Isles

Lord of the Isles

The designation Lord of the Isles is today a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It emerged from a series of hybrid Viking/Gaelic rulers of the west coast and islands of Scotland in the Middle Ages, who wielded sea-power with fleets of...

. Castle Tioram

Castle Tioram

Castle Tioram is a ruined castle that sits on the tidal island Eilean Tioram in Loch Moidart, Lochaber, Highland, Scotland. It is located west of Acharacle, approximately 80 kilometres from Fort William...

, at the entrance to Loch Moidart, was one of the residences of the lords of Garmoran.

In 1284 when his son the prince died, Alexander III called Ailin mac Ruaidhri, the ruler of Garmoran, (along with all the Earls and Barons of Scotland) to make them accept Margaret, Maid of Norway

Margaret, Maid of Norway

Margaret , usually known as the Maid of Norway , sometimes known as Margaret of Scotland , was a Norwegian princess who was Queen of Scots from 1286 until her death...

 as the heir. Ailin had died by 1296, by which time he had fathered two illegitimate sons, Ruaidhri and Lachlan, and Christina

Christina of Garmoran

Christina of Garmoran also known as Christina MacRuari, Christina of Mar and Christiana of the Isles was a 14th century Scottish noblewoman who was the legitimate child of Ailin mac Ruaidhri, Lord of Garmoran and chief of Clan Macruari...

, his sole legitimate heir. However, When Christina succeeded to the extensive estates of her father she resigned a large proportion of them to Ruaidhri.

In October 1346, Ranald mac Ruari was assassinated at Elcho Nunnery

Elcho Castle

Elcho Castle is located a short distance above the south bank of the River Tay approximately four miles south-east of Perth, Scotland. It consists of a Z-plan tower house, with fragments of a surrounding wall with corner towers. The Castle was built on the site of an older structure about 1560,...

 near Perth

Perth, Scotland

Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...

 as the result of a quarrel with Uilleam III, Earl of Ross

Uilleam III, Earl of Ross

Uilleam III of Ross was the fourth successor of Ferchar mac in tSagairt, as Mormaer of Ross .Uilleam came into his inheritance at a torrid time, his father Aodh dying at the Battle of Halidon Hill. Uilleam temporarily lost many of his lands. However, he returned from Norway in 1336 and regained them...

. Raghnall was the "last chieftain of the MacRuaris" and Amie mac Ruari, who married John of Islay, Lord of the Isles

John of Islay, Lord of the Isles

John of Islay was the Lord of the Isles and chief of Clan Donald. In 1336, he styled himself Dominus Insularum, "Lord of the Isles"; because this is the first ever recorded instance of the title in use, modern historians count John as the first of the later medieval Lords of the Isles, although...

, was his sole heir. John of Islay later divorced her although the "unvarying tradition" of the Gàidhealtachd

Gàidhealtachd

The Gàidhealtachd , sometimes known as A' Ghàidhealtachd , usually refers to the Scottish highlands and islands, and especially the Scottish Gaelic culture of the area. The corresponding Irish word Gaeltacht however refers strictly to an Irish speaking area...

recorded in the late 19th century was that Amie had given her husband no grounds for doing so and lived on her own on her estates until her death. The divorce annulled John of Islay's rights to her lands, although he managed to procure a royal charter to them in which her name is not even mentioned. Their son Ranald successfully petitioned for the return of much of the Macruairi lands including Garmoran. He became the progenitor of Clan Macdonald of Clanranald and Clan MacDonell of Glengarry.