Description History About Tartan: THE MACDONALDS WERE the largest and most influential of all the Highland clans. At one time, they held sway over most of western Scotland, with further possessions in Ireland and the Isle of Man. Control of this northern empire was maintained by nine independent branches of the clan which, between them, produced at least twenty-seven different tartans. MAR There are various interpretations of the origins of the MacDonald’s. Some genealogists claimed that their line could be traced right back to Conn of the Hundred Battles, a semi-mythical high king of Ireland who was said to have ruled in the 2nd century AD.
