Clan MacAlister

History

The MacAlisters are Clan Alasdair, the descendants of Alasdair Mòr, a son of Donald, from whom Clan Donald takes its name. Donald was a grandson of Somerled, the twelfth-century lord of Argyll. Clan Alasdair tradition places Alasdair Mòr in the thirteenth century and says he was killed in 1299 in a clash with his cousin Alexander MacDougall, perhaps a quarrel over Mull. We have not found that date in a contemporary record. The clan society notes that most authorities now accept him as the founder, but the early generations rest on tradition more than documents.

For a long time the MacAlasdairs were the senior cadet branch of Clan Donald rather than a clan in their own right. According to the clan society, they emerged as an independent clan in the fifteenth century. Their heartland was Kintyre and the neighbouring islands, and the original seat is placed on the north-west side of West Loch Tarbert. The chiefly family became known as MacAlister of Loup. In 1493 their chieftain is recorded as Ian Dubh.

In time the clan divided into four families. Loup was the chiefly line, with Tarbert and Glenbarr as the next two. The Alexanders of Menstrie were the last: they moved to central Scotland in the early fourteenth century and adopted the Lowland form of the name. Many other MacAlisters crossed to the north of Ireland and settled in the south-west Lowlands.

The four families fared differently. Tarbert went bankrupt and lost its lands in 1746, and the branch never recovered. Loup, weighed down by debt, sold its Kintyre estates in 1795 and moved to Ayrshire. Glenbarr rose later, on money earned through the East India Company, and bought much of the land that Loup had held. Their house, Glenbarr Abbey, became the Clan MacAlister Centre after Angus Macalister gave it to the clan. Sources differ on when, and we have not settled the year.

The chiefship remains with the Loup line. The Council of Scottish Clans & Associations names William St John Somerville McAlester of Loup and Kennox as Chief of the Name and Arms of MacAlister, and he was recognised by the Lord Lyon in 1991. The clan has a strong following overseas, and societies in North America and Australia keep its history and its tartans alive.