Battle of Traigh Ghruinneart

Battle of Traigh Ghruinneart; Scottish Gaelic: Blàr Tràigh Ghruineart
	Part of the Scottish clan battles
	; Cairn marking the spot where Sir Lachlan Mor Maclean fell in battle
Date	5 August 1598
Location	Islay, Scotland55°49′19″N 6°21′18″W / 55.822°N 6.355°W
Result	MacDonald victory
Belligerents
Clan Donald	Clan MacLean
Commanders and leaders
Sir James MacDonald	Sir Lachlan MacLean †
Strength
300–500 men	800–1,000 men
Casualties and losses
30 dead; 60 wounded	280 dead

The Battle of Traigh Ghruinneart or in Scottish Gaelic Blàr Tràigh Ghruineart or sometimes called the Battle of Gruinart Strand was a Scottish clan battle fought on 5 August 1598, on the Isle of Islay, in the Hebrides. It was fought between the Clan Donald and Clan Maclean.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] A tràigh or stand is the flat area of land bordering a body of water, a beach, or shoreline.

^ Reverend Angus Macdonald and Reverend Archibald Macdonald (1900). The Clan Donald, Volume 2. A fierce battle was fought at a place called Traigh Ghruinneart, at the head of Loch Gruinneart. The Macdonald leader is said to have displayed some strategy at the beginning of the day. By making a semi-retrograde movement, he secured the advantage of getting his men posted on a hill, and at the same time avoided the discomfort which his adversaries experienced of having the glare of the summer sun in his eyes. In the end, the Clan Donald, having repulsed the Maclean vanguard, and thrown them back upon the main body, threw the whole force into confusion, with the result that they were totally routed, and the brave Sir Lauchlan, with 80 of his kinsmen and 200 of his common soldiers, were left dead upon Traigh Ghruinneart. Lauchlan Barrach Maclean, who was severely wounded, escaped with the survivors to the galleys. Nor did the Clan Donald get off scatheless. About 30 of them were slain and 60 wounded, while Sir James, who was dangerously wounded by an arrow through the body, was during most of the following night left for dead among the slain.
^ Conflicts of the Clans: The Death of Sir Lauchlan Maclean in 1598. Foulis Press. 1764. Sir Lauchlan Maclean's ambition, together with his desire of revenge, thrust him on to claim the inheritance of the whole Isle of Islay, being always the possession and ancient inheritance of the Clan Donald, all which Maclean thought easily now to compass, Sir James Macdonald (the just inheritor thereof) being young, and his father, Angus Macdonald, aged. ...
^ Murder Under Trust by Nicholas Maclean-Bristol. Tuckwell Press. 1999.
^ John Patterson MacLean (1889). A History of the Clan MacLean from Its First Settlement at Duard Castle, in the Isle of Mull, to the Present Period: Including a Genealogical Account of Some of the Principal Families Together with Their Heraldry, Legends, Superstitions, etc. R. Clarke & Company. p. 224. ... He fell in a clan battle with the MacDonalds of Islay, on August 5, 1598.

[clan-1] Reverend Angus Macdonald and Reverend Archibald Macdonald (1900). The Clan Donald, Volume 2. A fierce battle was fought at a place called Traigh Ghruinneart, at the head of Loch Gruinneart. The Macdonald leader is said to have displayed some strategy at the beginning of the day. By making a semi-retrograde movement, he secured the advantage of getting his men posted on a hill, and at the same time avoided the discomfort which his adversaries experienced of having the glare of the summer sun in his eyes. In the end, the Clan Donald, having repulsed the Maclean vanguard, and thrown them back upon the main body, threw the whole force into confusion, with the result that they were totally routed, and the brave Sir Lauchlan, with 80 of his kinsmen and 200 of his common soldiers, were left dead upon Traigh Ghruinneart. Lauchlan Barrach Maclean, who was severely wounded, escaped with the survivors to the galleys. Nor did the Clan Donald get off scatheless. About 30 of them were slain and 60 wounded, while Sir James, who was dangerously wounded by an arrow through the body, was during most of the following night left for dead among the slain.

[ConflictsClans-2] Conflicts of the Clans: The Death of Sir Lauchlan Maclean in 1598. Foulis Press. 1764. Sir Lauchlan Maclean's ambition, together with his desire of revenge, thrust him on to claim the inheritance of the whole Isle of Islay, being always the possession and ancient inheritance of the Clan Donald, all which Maclean thought easily now to compass, Sir James Macdonald (the just inheritor thereof) being young, and his father, Angus Macdonald, aged. ...

[3] Murder Under Trust by Nicholas Maclean-Bristol. Tuckwell Press. 1999.

[duard-4] John Patterson MacLean (1889). A History of the Clan MacLean from Its First Settlement at Duard Castle, in the Isle of Mull, to the Present Period: Including a Genealogical Account of Some of the Principal Families Together with Their Heraldry, Legends, Superstitions, etc. R. Clarke & Company. p. 224. ... He fell in a clan battle with the MacDonalds of Islay, on August 5, 1598.

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