Scottish Blog

Somerled was a leader of and ruler in Scotland during the 12th century.

As Somerled (also known as Sorley) was alive and ruling during a time and place when there were no easy methods of information archiving, the date of his birth and death are not known, although an approximation of his time in power can be made. It is believed that Somerled was in control of the area stretching between the Isle of Man and the Butt of Lewis between 1158 and 1164.

The first historical mention of Somerled was in 1140. At tis point he was already King of Kintyre, he is recorded as marrying Raghnailt, the daughter of the King of the Isle of Man.

In 1153 Somerled gained the opportunity to make a political and military move to gain more land, when both the King of Scotland, David I, and the King of Isle of Man, Amhlaibh.

By 1156 Somerled had made progress in his endeavour when he defeated his prime contestant for the Isle of Man, Goraidh, with his fleet of 80 warships. This resulted in the two parties relegating their forces on either side of the isle for a period of two years, after which Somerled once again defeated his enemy. This was the peak of his power.

Closer to 1164, Somerled felt threatened by the expansion of the Stewart family whose power was reaching towards the West. To try and combat this Somerled assembled his forces and faced the Stewarts at a battle at Renfrew in 1164. No details of the battle were ever recorded with some historians even casting doubt as to its occurrence, but none disagree that that period led to the assassination of Somerled and the downfall of his empire.