Amy of Garmoran

• Name	Amy of Garmoran  [1, 2, 3, 4]
  Gender	Female
  Person ID	I27450	Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others
  Last Modified	29 Dec 2021

  
  

  Father	Roderick MacRuari,   b. of Garmoran, Scotland
  Family ID	F16391	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	John of the Isles   d. 1387, Ardtornish Castle, Argyll, Scotland
  Marriage	Abt 4 Jun 1337  [1, 5, 6]
  Divorce	Bef 1350  [2, 7]
  Children	+ 1. John of the Isles,   b. Abt 1338   d. Bef 15 Nov 1369 (Age ~ 31 years)
  Family ID	F16390	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	29 Dec 2021

  
  

• Notes

  Also called Euphemia, Amy MacRuari, Amy Macrory. From Undiscovered Scotland: In 1337, Amy MacRuari married John of Islay, Lord of the Isles. In 1344, most of Clan Rauri's lands were restored to Amy's brother, Raghnall mac Ruaidhri. Raghnall was murdered by William, Earl of Ross, at Elcho Nunnery near Perth in 1346. Amy was his sole heir and John of Islay claimed the clan's lands on her behalf. He then promptly annexed them for himself. John of Islay's ambitions were not limited to acquiring his wife's lands. He was a supporter and close ally of Robert the High Steward of Scotland, the nephew and nominated heir (and eventual successor) of King David II. In order to cement this relationship it was agreed that John of Islay should marry Robert's daughter, Margaret Stewart. John was granted a papal dispensation to divorce Amy, even though the couple had three sons together, and in 1350 he married Margaret Stewart. John of Islay was granted additional lands in western Scotland as a dowry, in return for an undertaking that his sons with Amy would be passed over in the succession in favour of any children he had with Margaret Stewart. From Amy's point of view, the only positive in what was otherwise a truly remarkable tale of betrayal was that the divorce settlement restored to her personal control the Clan Rauri lands annexed by her ex-husband four years earlier. Even this was only temporary, however, as John of Islay later succeeded in being granted a royal charter to some of the disputed lands. In later life Amy did much to develop the areas still under her control. She built or rebuilt a number of churches in the Western Isles, including Teampull na Trionaid or Trinity Church on North Uist. She is also said to have redeveloped Castle Tioram into the structure you see today. It is unclear when Amy died. After John of Islay's death in 1386, their son Ranald succeeded in gaining control over more of the disputed Clan Rauri lands. He also served as a tutor to his younger half-brother (and John of Islay's heir) Domhnall, and is remembered as the progenitor of Clan Macdonald of Clanranald and Clan MacDonell of Glengarry.

  
  

• Sources

  [S128] The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant ed. Vicary Gibbs, H. A. Doubleday, Duncan Warrand, Howard de Walden, Geoffrey H. White and R. S. Lea. 2nd edition. 14 volumes (1-13, but volume 12 spanned two books), London, The St. Catherine Press, 1910-1959. Volume 14, "Addenda & Corrigenda," ed. Peter W. Hammond, Gloucestershire, Sutton Publishing, 1998. [S800] The Scots Peerage, Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland, Containing an Historical and Genealogical Account of the Nobility of That Kingdom. Ed. James Balfour Paul. Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1904-1914. [S3887] The Clans, Septs, and Regiments of the Scottish Highlands by Frank Adam. Edinburgh and London: W. & A. K. Johnston, 1908. [S50] Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families by Douglas Richardson. Second edition, 2011. [S800] The Scots Peerage, Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland, Containing an Historical and Genealogical Account of the Nobility of That Kingdom. Ed. James Balfour Paul. Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1904-1914., year only. [S50] Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families by Douglas Richardson. Second edition, 2011., year only. [S128] The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant ed. Vicary Gibbs, H. A. Doubleday, Duncan Warrand, Howard de Walden, Geoffrey H. White and R. S. Lea. 2nd edition. 14 volumes (1-13, but volume 12 spanned two books), London, The St. Catherine Press, 1910-1959. Volume 14, "Addenda & Corrigenda," ed. Peter W. Hammond, Gloucestershire, Sutton Publishing, 1998., no date specified.