On January 6th 1156 Somerled met the Norse at the Battle of Epiphany.
This little known battle is all the more extraordinary as it was a naval affair, thought to have been fought off the coast of Islay.
The western Isles and Isle of Man were part of the Kingdom of Norway, but with the King being so far away and often seen as weak the region was an area where the warlords reigned and often battled for supremacy.
At the head of this battle was a man we know mostly by the name of Somerled who was no ordinary warlord. He may have been a gall-gàidheil, or Norse-Gael, but his loyalty was biased to his Scottish ancestry, although he had his own agenda of conquest and political authority.
Against him was the Norse Godred Olafsson (Godred the Black), King of the Isles, Godred, sometimes called Godfrey by the English was Somerleds brother in law, his sister was Raghnailt, their father, Olaf, the previous King of the Isles, had been murdered by their cousins three years previously, no loyalty with these families! Godreds seat of power was Isle of Man
Godred was a harsh leader and made many enemies, some of whom approached Somerled who agreed to their plan to overthrow Godred and replace him with Somerled's son Dubgall mac Somairle.
He began preparations and began construction of 80 ships modelled on the Norse longship. Word got back to Godfred that Somerled was drumming up support and set sail to sort things out.
The fleets of Godred and Somerled met off Islay, to the north at Rubh' a' Mhaoil, on the night of the Epiphany on 5–6th January. Can you imagine the sight of two "viking" fleets lit by torch light going up against each other in the dead of the night!!!
The Battle itself was inconclusive; so the two leaders sat down and reached a compromise agreement. Somerled would have the islands of Argyll including Mull and Islay, while Godred would keep the rest including the Western Isles and the Isle of Skye. But it was an uneasy peace, and two years later they were back at it again with a second sea battle. This time the result was in no doubt: Somerled had smashed the Manx fleet, and Godred fled the scene.
Somerled’s empire now stretched from Lewis to Man, and he styled himself as the ‘King of the Isles’. Nominally he held the islands from the Norwegian Crown, but in reality he ruled as a free prince, and gave his loyalty to the Scottish king.
Somerled was later deposed and possibly assassinated by a Scottish Clan who were flexing their muscles and gaining powerful friends in the Royal court, they were The Stewarts, but that's another long story.......
