Individual Details

Sir Niall "Nicol, Nicolaus" Carrick

(1202 - 1256)

[[Category:Earl of Carrick]]
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== Biography ==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) ~ which credulous fans of Mel Gibson who watched the pretence of him betraying Sir William Wallace a year later may find surprising.
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 ==
:[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niall,_Earl_of_Carrick Wikipedia]
:[http://www.thepeerage.com/p10462.htm The Peerage.com]:[http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/SCOTTISH%20NOBILITY%20LATER.htm#DuncanGallowayCarrickB Foundation for Medieval Genealogy]
: ancestry.com family trees

== Acknowledgements ==This page has been edited according to [http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Acknowledgements Style Standards] adopted January 2014. Descriptions of imported gedcoms for this profile are under the Changes tab.

    Events

    Birth1202Carrick, Ayrshire, Scotland
    Marriage1234Carrick, Galloway, Scotland - Margaret "Isabel FitzAlan, Countess of Carrick" Stewart
    Death1256Fife, Scotland
    MarriageLiving
    Reference No880302
    Reference No
    Reference No60

    Families

    SpouseMargaret "Isabel FitzAlan, Countess of Carrick" Stewart (1206 - 1255)
    ChildLiving
    ChildSir Roland de Carrick (1226 - 1275)
    ChildMarjorie "Countess of Carrick" Carrick (1252 - 1292)
    SpouseLiving
    FatherDuncan "Earl of Carrick" Carrick (1164 - 1252)
    MotherAvelina FitzAlan (1179 - 1202)
    SiblingErrick "Effrick or Elesick" Carrick (1201 - 1280)
    SiblingJohn Carrick (1204 - )
    SiblingAlexander Carrick (1206 - )
    SiblingAllan Carrick (1208 - )
    SiblingThomas Carrick (1210 - 1256)
    SiblingMartha Carrick (1215 - 1255)