Alasdair MacColla

Alasdair MacColla (c. 1610–1647) was a Scottish-Irish soldier. His full name in Scottish Gaelic was "Alasdair Mac Colla Chiotaigh Mac Domhnaill" (in English: Alasdair the son of Colla the Left-handed MacDonald). He is sometimes mistakenly referred to in English as "Collkitto", a nickname that properly belongs to his father. He fought in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, most notably in Scotland. He died at the Battle of Knocknanauss in 1647.

MacColla was born in the Western Isles of Scotland in the early seventeenth century into Clan Donald. His early life encompassed both Gaelic Ireland and the Gaelic western Highlands of Scotland - as the MacDonalds had a presence in both countries. Like his father, Colla, Alasdair made his name as a soldier, being particularly noted for his use of a Scots broadsword called the claymore. In his young days, he saw fighting against the Campbell clan, with whom the MacDonalds had a long running feud over territory and power. This enmity was deepened by religious factors. The Campbells were Presbyterians, whereas the MacDonalds, among whom a Franciscan mission had settled, were Roman Catholics.

Civil War in Ireland and Scotland

However, MacColla really came to prominence with the onset of the conflict known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The MacDonald clan, which was spread over northwestern Scotland and northeastern Ireland, sided with the Royalists and Irish Confederates. Their deadly enemies, the Clan Campbell, sided with the Scottish Covenanters. Early in the war, MacColla was forced to flee the Western Isles, which were attacked by a Covenanter/Campbell force. Colla, his father was taken prisoner by the Campbells. On the outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1641, MacColla found himself in Antrim, under the command of Randal MacDonald, the chief of the Irish MacDonalds. MacColla, who was a Catholic, quickly became involved in fighting the Protestant settlers in east Ulster. He was implicated in some s of Protestant civilians, but also scored some notable military victories. However, under the command of the leader of the Ulster Catholics, Sir Phelim O'Neill he was defeated and wounded in the battle of Glenmaquin near Raphoe. He was rescued by Dónall Geimhleach Ó Catháin. The Scottish Covenanters landed an army in Ulster and drove the Irish Catholic forces out of the greater part of the province.

In 1644, he was selected by the Supreme Council of Confederate Ireland to lead an expedition to Scotland to aid the Royalists there against the Covenanters. He was given a command of 1500-2000 men, mostly from Ulster. When in Scotland, MacColla linked up with the Royalist James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose. He was also able to raise men among his MacDonald clansmen and other anti-Campbell Scottish clans. In the subsequent Scottish Civil War, MacColla and Montrose won a series of victories at the battles of Tippermuir, Aberdeen, Inverlochy, Auldearn, Alford and Kilsyth. MacColla also took the opportunity to pillage the Campbell lands, killing all the men he could find there. However, he and Montrose parted company because MacColla's priorities lay in the western Highlands, whereas Montrose wanted to secure the Lowlands and ultimately England for the Royalist cause. As a result, both of them were defeated separately by the Covenanters in 1646.

MacColla has been credited with inventing the tactic of the Highland charge in the Civil Wars - where his men ran at enemy infantry, fired a volley at close range and then closed hand to hand. This proved remarkably effective in both Ireland and Scotland, due to the musket's slow reloading time and the poor discipline and training of many of the troops MacColla's men faced.

MacColla's men committed a series of atrocities against the civilians of clan Campbell. During his two periods in occupation of Argyll, the Campbell territory in 1645 and 1647, MacColla had all men of military age killed, whether they were in arms or not. On one infamous occasion, MacColla had a whole barn full of Campbells (including women and children) burned, in an incident known as the "Barn of Bones".

Defeat and death

MacColla's father, who was a prisoner of the Campbells, was killed in retaliation for his son's atrocities in the Campbell country. MacColla himself retreated to Kintyre and then to Ireland, where he re-joined the Irish Confederates in 1647. His troops, (both Irish survivors of the 1644 expedition and Scottish Highlanders) were split up and assigned to the Leinster and Munster armies, with MacColla attached to the latter. MacColla's men were mostly killed in the Confederate defeats at the Battle of Dungan's Hill in County Meath and then at the Battle of Knocknanauss in County Cork. Alasdair MacColla himself was killed by English Parliamentarian soldiers at Knocknanauss after he had been taken prisoner.

After his death, MacColla became a figure of minor folklore in Gaelic Ireland and Scotland. He is commemorated in the Scottish Gaelic poetry of Iain Lom MacDonald and in Ireland by a piece of traditional music named "MacColla's March" or "Alasdair MacColla" that dates from the mid seventeenth century and is still performed, notably by the band Clannad.