Gofraid mac Fergusa

Who is Gofraid mac Fergusa?

Gofraid mac Fergusa was said to be a ruler in Hebrides and perhaps the Isle of Man in the 9th century. His existence, at least in the form presented in the Irish annals, is questionable.

He is named by the Annals of the Four Masters in its entry for 835, correctly c. 839, where it is reported that "Gofraid mac Fergusa, chief of Airgíalla, went to Alba, to strengthen the Dál Riata, at the request of Cináed mac Ailpín." The date of his death is uncertain. The Annals of the Four Masters report his death in around 853 when he is called "Gofraid mac Fergusa, toisech Innsi Gall", Gofraid mac Fergusa, lord of the foreigners' isles, that is of the Hebrides. The term "Insi Gall" is an anachronism. Alternatively, his death may be reported in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, around 874, although this may well refer to a different Gofraid or Guthfrith.

It is believed, however, that these references to Gofraid are a late medieval addition. Gofraid was claimed as an ancestor in the eighth generation of Somerled, progenitor of the Clann Somhairle and thus Clan Donald, and it seems that these entries were added to glorify Clan Donald. A genealogy of Somerled names Gofraid's grandfather as one Erc. That is to say, Gofraid is being presented as a son of the shadowy founder of the kingdom of Dál Riata Fergus Mór mac Eirc, whose floruit, if he in fact existed, would be placed in the early sixth century, some two hundred years before the presumed date of Gofraid's birth.