Niall (Carrick) Carrick Second Earl of Carrick (1202 - 1256)

Born 1202 in Carrick, Ayrshire, Scotland

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (Stewart) Stewart Countess of Carrick — married [date unknown] in Scotland [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 1256 at about age 54 in Fife, Scotland

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Neil (Carrick) Carrick Second Earl of Carrick was a member of Scottish Nobility. Join: Scotland Project Discuss: Scotland

Biography

Sir Neil Carrick was a member of the aristocracy in Scotland.

The ancient province of Galloway was in the southwestern corner of Scotland and included what were to be known later as Wigtownshire, the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, and much of Ayrshire. Carrick, its northern portion, was peopled most probably by descendants of the Picts.

Neil (sometimes also Nicol or Nicolaus), 2nd Earl of Carrick, a Regent of Scotland and Guardian to Alexander III and Margaret, dtr of Henry III, 20th September 1255, having no heir male of his body, granted to his nephew, as reported above, the chiefship of the whole clan. He m Margaret (sometimes Isabel), dtr of Walter, 3rd High Steward and had issue four daughters of whom only the eldest is known:

Margaret (or Marjorie), Countess of Carrick, m Adam de Kilconcath, 3rd Earl of Carrick in her right, who d on Crusade at Acre in 1270 without issue. What followed belongs to legend and has been much embroidered by novelists, but the probability appears to be that Robert de Brus, the son of Robert de Brus, Lord of Annandale and of Cleveland (known to history as "Robert Bruce the Competitor"), newly returned from the Crusade, visited the Countess to bring her the news of her widowhood. He encountered her while she was hunting, she judged him a worthy trophy, and the consequence was his capture and enforced sojourn in her castle until he married her a few days later. Cynics and historians insist that this was a ruse to allow Alexander III to take a lenient view of their having married without his consent, and when he seized her castle and lands she regained them with payment of a fine (perhaps the same fine she would have paid for licence to marry anyway). Countess Marjorie d 1292 having brought into this world five sons and five daughers, of whom the most famous son was to become King Robert I, 4th Earl of Carrick. Her husband, Earl of Carrick in her right, resigned the earldom to his eldest son when the Countess died, and he died (some say on Crusade) before 4 April 1304 (Cal. Docs. Scot., ii. No 1493) ^[1]

Wikipedia: He may have been Donnchadh's son, or else as suggested by one recent genealogical theory, his grandson. It has been argued that Niall's father was Nichol (Cailean or Colin), son of mormaer Donnchadh by the daughter of Niall Ruadh, briefly king of Tír Eóghain.

Sources

1. ↑ The Scots Peerage : Founded On Wood's Ed. Of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage Of Scotland; Containing An Historical And Genealogical Account Of The Nobility Of That Kingdom : Paul, James Balfour, Sir, 1846-1931 : Free Download, Borrow, And Streaming : Internet Archive". 2020. Internet Archive.Marjorie, Countess of Carrick, Vol II, pps 426, 432-5

See Also:

• Wikipedia: Niall, Earl of Carrick.
• The Peerage.com
• Foundation for Medieval Genealogy