Ludovic Stewart the Duke of Lennox

The Redshanks that settled in east Donegal were part of two distinct groups.  The initial settlement were Redshanks associated with Clann Chaimbeul and came from mid Argyll.  They came to Ireland from 1569 through 1600.  The second group came in after the confiscation of Ó Dónaill lands.  The primary undertaker in old Portlough Precinct was the 2nd Duke of Lennox, Ludovic Stewart.  Many of the people he brought with him to Ireland were from his estates in the Lennox district of Scotland.  This primary clans living there were the Colquhons, Mac Parláin, Mac Gríogair, and Galbraith.  The early records for Portlough include many men by this name and septs of those families.  The Lennox District includes Loch Lomond and the lands around it.  In the 17th Century this area was still very much part of the Scottish Gaeltacht.  The clans there had a reputation for being particularly warlike.  The settlement of Ludovic Stewart was very successful, despite English observations that the Duke had not settled his lands or made any improvements on them.  The English did not distinguish any major differences between Scottish Gaels and Irish Gaels in the early 1600s however.