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Níall of Carrick (also Neil) was the second man to bear the title Mormaer, or Earl, of Carrick. He was successor of mormaer Donnchadh of Carrick. Originally he was believed to be the son of Donnchadh, however, it is now believed that he was more likely his grandson, the son of Donnchadh's oldest son and heir Cailean mac Donnchadh. Cailean, also known as Colin and Nicholaus of Carrick, predeceased his father and therefore upon Donnchadh's death in 1250, the title of Mormaer came to Niall. It has been suggested that Cailean's wife, Niall's mother, was a daughter of Niall Ruadh, briefly king of Tir Eoghain. Niall's grandfather Donnchadh held lands in Ireland, such a marriage of his son would have reinforced Donnchadh's Irish alliances and would account for the use of the name Niall. It would also explain the strong alliance with the Ó Neill held by Niall's grandsons. As the son of Cailean, Niall had one sister, Afraig, who married Gilleasbaig of Menstrie, a baron of Clackmannanshire who was the first attested man to bear the surname "Campbell".

Niall married Margaret Stewart, daughter of Walter Stewart, 3rd High Steward of Scotland and together they had four daughters, the eldest of which was Margaret, better known as Marjorie, or Marsaili. On 12 September 1255 Níall, having no male heirs, granted the chiefship of the clan to his nephew Roland and his heirs, giving them all the powers in respect to the ceann ceneóil (head of kin). This grant was confirmed by King Alexander III at Stirling in 1276.

Niall died in 1256 and was succeeded by his daughter Marjory, who took the title 3rd Countess of Carrick. The latter passed the mormaerdom on to her son Robert the Bruce, who became King Robert I of Scotland.

Notes

1. Barrow, Robert Bruce, 3rd ed., p. 430, n. 26
2. Barrow, Robert Bruce, pp. 34–35;, 430, n. 26
3. SCOT'S pEERAGE vOLUME ii, PAGE 426, https://www.electricscotland.com/books/pdf/ScotsPeerageVol2.pdf
4. Ansell, Michael, Black, Ronald, and Cowan, Edward J. (eds.) (2022), Galloway: The Lost Province of Gaelic Scotland, John Dewar Publishers Ltd., pp. 32 - 64, ISBN 9781399926928
5. United Kingdom Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, 5th Report. p. 613.
6. Lundy, Darryl. "Margaret, Countess of Carrick". The Peerage. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
7. "The Ancestry of Robert the Bruce". Baronage. Retrieved 14 August 2016.

References

• Barrow, G. W. S., Robert Bruce and the community of the realm of Scotland, 3rd ed., (Edinburgh, 2005)
• MacQueen, Hector L., "Survival and Success: the Kennedys of Dunure," in Steve Boardman & Alasdair Ross (eds.) The Exercise of Power in Medieval Scotland 1200-1500, (Portland, 2003), pp. 67–94

• 1256 deaths
• Nobility from South Ayrshire
• Mormaers of Carrick
• 13th-century mormaers