Clan MacKenzie History 1400-1500

Alasdair Ionraic (Alexander the Upright) is the earliest certain MacKenzie chief to be documented, and in 1466 he appears as "Alexander Mackennych" - which is the first contemporary record of the clan surname. His son Kenneth is said to have dramatised the clan's break with the Lords of the Isles by sending his one-eyed MacDonald wife home on a one-eyed horse with a one-eyed servant and a one-eyed dog - thus provoking a Clan Donald invasion of Easter Ross that was repulsed at the battle of Pairc. This earned the victor the sobriquet Coinneach a Bhlair (Kenneth of the Battle) and is generally taken as marking the beginning of the MacKenzies' rise to prominence in Ross-shire. Kenneth's brothers Eachan Ruadh (Hector the Red) and Duncan both founded branches of the clan, as did his four sons. See Branches from Kintail.