Alasdair "Colkitto" MacDonald
|
Sir Alasdair Mac Colla Chiotaich MacDhòmhnaill |
|
|---|---|
| Other name(s) | Alexander MacDonald |
| Nickname(s) | Fear thollaidh nan tighean ("The destroyer of houses") |
| Born | 1610 Colonsay, Hebrides, Scotland |
| Died | 1647 (aged 36–37) Battle of Knocknanuss, County Cork, Ireland |
| Buried | Clonmeen, County Cork, Ireland |
| Allegiance |
 Kingdom of Ireland (1641-1642) Confederate Ireland (1642-1647) Scottish Royalists (1644-1646) |
| Years of service | 1641-1647 |
| Rank | Major general |
| Battles/wars | |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth MacAlister |
| Relations | Coll Ciotach (father) |
Alasdair Mac Colla Chiotaich MacDhòmhnaill (c. 1610 – 13 November 1647), also known by the English variant of his name Sir Alexander MacDonald, was a military officer best known for his participation in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, notably the Irish Confederate Wars and Montrose's Royalist campaign in Scotland during 1644-5. A member of the Gaelic gentry of the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg, a branch of the Clan Donald active in the Hebrides and Ireland, Mac Colla is particularly notable for the very large number of oral traditions and legends which his life inspired in the Highlands.
During Montrose's campaign of 1644-5, in which the Royalist army won a series of remarkable victories, Mac Colla was given a knighthood. He died in 1647 in Ireland at the Battle of Knocknanuss.
His full name can be translated from Scottish Gaelic as 'Alexander the son of Coll the Left-Handed MacDonald'. Gaelic speakers, preferring the patronymic system, generally referred to him as Alasdair MacColla; English and Scots language speakers generally used the form Alexander MacDonald or MacColl. Mac Colla himself would have used both English and Gaelic forms: the three surviving examples of his signature, all in English language documents, use "Allexander Macdonell".
English-speaking writers of the past, not understanding the Gaelic patronymic and sloinneadh (genealogical descent) systems, often referred to him as "Collkitto", an anglicised spelling of Coll Ciotach, a nickname properly belonging to his father, Coll Macdonald. Ciotach, "left-handed", can also mean "devious" in Gaelic.
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