Ailín II, Earl of Lennox

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Mormaer Ailín II of Lennox was the son of Mormaer Ailín I, and ruled Lennox from somewhere in the beginning of the 13th century until his death in 1217.

Unlike many other Scottish Mormaers, he played little role in the wider society of the Scottish kingdom. Lennox at the time was a frontier region between the Scottish Gaelic lands of central Scotland and the Norse Gaelic lands of Argyll, and the Mormaerdom seems to have lacked the status accorded to the other Mormaerdoms. Either because of this lack of status, or because of the lack of interest in national affairs, Ailin's attendance was not recorded at the coronation of King Alexander II, at Scone in 1215.

Ailin was a famous patron of poets, notably the Irish poet Muireadhach Albanach. who dedicated a poem to him.

He married the daughter of Gille Críst, Mormaer of Menteith. Ailin had 11 sons, Maol Domhnaich, Muireadhach, Dùghall, Maol Chaluim, Amhlaibh, Donnchadh, Gilla Críst, Henry, Christian, Corc, Fearchar and a daughter named with the Latinate name Eva.

Ailin was dead in 1217.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Neville, Cynthia J., Native Lorship in Medieval Scotland: The Earldoms of Strathearn and Lennox, c. 1140-1365, (Portland & Dublin, 2005)
Preceded by
Ailín I
Mormaer of Lennox
d. 1217
Succeeded by
Maol Domhnaich