Clan Donald is one of the oldest, largest and most famous of all the
Highland clans.
Celts: Its Celtic roots goes back into antiquity, beyond the 6th
Century AD, to the great clans in what today is Ireland: Conn of the 100
Battles; Cairfre Riada, founder of Dal Riada in Antrim, Eire, and Colla Uathais.
Vikings: Our Viking foundation goes back to Ingiald "Ill-Ruler" and
Olaf "Tree-Hewer" in 7th Century Sweden and Norway.
Best of Two Worlds: All of these traditional blood lines came
together in the 12th century in Somerled MacGillebride MacGilladamnan, the
historic founder of Clann Domhnaill. Our ancestors were regarded as the heads of
the ancient race of Conn, and the lineal heirs of the kings of the Dalriadic
Scots.
Norse–Gaels of mixed Gaelic and Norse ancestry and culture dominated
much of the Scottish and Irish Sea regions from the 9th to 12th centuries.