Iain Ciar MacLeod

Iain Ciar MacLeod (Scottish Gaelic: Iain Ciar MacLeòid) (1330 – c. 1392) is considered to be 4th Chief of Clan MacLeod. He was the eldest son of, and is thought to have succeeded his father, Malcolm, in the years spanning 1360–1370. Clan tradition states that he was the most tyrannical of all MacLeod chiefs. His wife supposedly was as cruel as he was; she is said to have had two of her daughters buried alive in the dungeon of Dunvegan Castle when they attempted to leave the clan. Iain Ciar was killed in an ambush in about 1392. He was succeeded by his second and only surviving son, William Cleireach.

Life

According to the twentieth-century clan historian, R.C. MacLeod, Iain Ciar is estimated to have been born in the year 1330, or possibly later; he was the eldest child and succeeded his father,

The manuscript relates a story in which Iain Ciar was hunting deer with the leading men of his clan. The forest on

The Bannatyne manuscript states that the first seven chiefs of Clan MacLeod were buried at Iona.^[3] The choir of Iona Abbey, for the most part, dates from the early sixteenth century. Within the centre of the choir there is a large stone which once contained a monumental brass, traditionally said to have been a MacLeod marker.^[4] The stone formed a matrix which at one time contained the brass inlay (tradition states that it was a silver inlay). It is the largest carved stone on the island, measuring 7 feet 9.25 inches (2.37 m) by 3 feet 10 inches (1.17 m).^[5] R. C. MacLeod speculated that perhaps Leod and five of his successors were buried beneath—however, in his opinion Iain Ciar was buried elsewhere.^[3]

MacLeod stated that there was another MacLeod tombstone on Iona, which was supposed to have been the stone of a sixteenth-century

The manuscript states that one of Iain Ciar's daughters married Lachlan MacLean of Duart and another married Cameron of Locheil—both had issue.^[1][7] Two were murdered, as noted above, before marriage.

References