My Maternal 22nd. Great Scottish Grandmother, Margaret MacLachlan (MacDougall)

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Clan MacLachlan is one of the oldest Scottish Highland clans. There are numerous spellings used by people around the world who originate from the clan, including MacLachlan and MacLaughlin. If your name is Claflin, Ewan, Ewing, Gilchrist, Lachlan or MacEwan you are also part of the clan.

The clan is descended from Lachlan Mor (‘Great Lachlan’) a powerful chieftain who lived on the shores of Loch Fyne in the 13th century. 

Lachlan Mor is said to be descended from Anrothan O’Neill an Irish prince who left Ireland in the 11th century. A further line of descent is claimed from Anrothan O’Neill to the High King of Ireland, Niall Noigiallach, who ruled in the 4th to 5th century. 

The first documentary evidence of the clan's ownership of the land known as Strathlachlan on the east of Loch Fyne was in 1292, when Gilleskel Maclachlan received a charter from John, King of Scots.Old Castle Lachlan’s existence was first acknowledged in a document dated 1314. 

In 1680 the Maclachlan lands were made a barony by Charles II of England. To this day the chief of the clan is styled as Baron of Strathlachlan.  http://www.oldcastlelachlan.com/about/clan-maclachlan

The Old Castle is a fifteenth century fortress occupying a rocky headland overlooking Lachlan Bay on the east side of Loch Fyne. It was the major building of the local clan, the MacLachlans. There has been a castle on the site since at least 1314.

Old Castle Lachlan is of great historic, cultural and architectural significance. Up until the 18th century it was the focal point for a village and 13th century church that stood close by.  Coastal paths and signs lead to different parts of the historic settlement, all within easy walking distance and well worth the wander.

The old castle fell to ruin after the Clan of MacLachlan supported Bonnie Prince Charlie in the 1745 Jacobite rebellion.  Their chief joined the Prince's army but was killed at the ill fated Battle of Culloden (1746) by a cannon ball. It is said that when the MacLachlan chief was killed at Culloden, his horse returned alone from the battlefield and swam across the loch to get home. The riderless horse signaled to the clans people that their chief had fallen in battle. The horse would not leave the castle and remained there until it died. It is also said that shortly after this defeat, an English warship then sailed up the loch and bombarded the castle, although the evidence for this is unclear. Certainly, the castle was abandoned following Culloden and never inhabited again.

Name: Margaret MacLachlan (MacDougall), daughter of Gilchrist Gillechriosd MacLachlan, 1st. Clan Chief and daughter of Lachlan and Grandaughter of Rorie. 

Born: 1177 in Stratchlachlan, Argyll, Scotland

Married: circa 1197 in Argyll, Scotland to Duncan MacDougall, 2nd. Clan Chief of Dunollie and Lorne
    
Children: (6)

Lady Lorn MacDougall (1200-????)

Eoghan "Ewan" MacDonnchadh MacDougall (1217-1268)

Alexander MacDougall (1228-1310)

Malcolm MacDougall (1230-????)

Gill MacDougall    (1232-????)

Duncan MacDougall  (1234-????)

Death: 1248 in Argyll, Scotland

Burial: 1248 Ardchattan Priory, Ardchattan, Argyll, Scotland