Clan Mackintosh
Scottish clan

Clan Mackintosh (Clann Mhic an Tòisich) is a Scottish clan from Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. The chiefs of the clan are the Mackintoshes of Mackintosh. Another branch of the clan, the Mackintoshes of Torcastle, are the chiefs of Clan Chattan, a historic confederation of clans.
History
Origins of the clan
The Scottish Gaelic word toisiche means leader and can also be translated as chief. The seanachies of the Clan Mackintosh claim that the first chief of the clan was Shaw, second son of Duncan MacDuff, Earl of Fife of the royal house of Dál Riata. In 1160 Shaw MacDuff accompanied Malcolm IV of Scotland on an expedition to suppress a rebellion in Morayshire. In about 1163 he was also made constable of Inverness Castle and was granted land in the Findhorn valley. The heartland of the clan was the lands of Petty which was also the burial place of the chiefs. In 1179 Shaw MacDuff was succeeded by his son who was also called Shaw and was confirmed in his patrimony by William the Lion.
Scottish-Norwegian war
In 1263, during the Scottish–Norwegian War, Ferquhar Mackintosh, the fifth chief led his clan at the Battle of Largs against the army of Haakon IV of Norway.
The public source identifies “Clan Mackintosh” as scottish clan. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Clan, Mackintosh and Scottish.
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This entry incorporates text from “Clan Mackintosh” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.