Name: Sir Kenneth MacKenzie, 7th. Laird of Kintail, son of Chief Alexander Alistair “Ionriac” MacKenzie, 6th. Laird of Kintail, and Anna Margaret MacDougall
Born: 1454 in Cromarty, Ross-shire, Scotland
First Spouse Married: before 1472 in Scotland to Margaret MacDonald
Children: (1) Kenneth Og MacKenzie
Second Spouse Married: before 1483 in Scotland to Agnes Fraser of Lovat
Children: (5) Iain (John), Alexander, Roderick Rory, Catherine, and Kenneth MacKenzie
Died: 7 February 1491 in Beauly, Inverness-shire, Scotland
Buried: February 1491 in Beauly Priory, Beauly, Inverness-shire, Scotland
John was the son of Kenneth Mackenzie, 7th of Kintail (d.1492) by his second wife, or reputed wife, Agnes Fraser but was made legal by the Pope in 1491.
The Mackenzies’ origins lay in the Northwest Highlands, but the centre of their power had by the end of the 15th century shifted to Easter Ross. John succeeded his half-brother, Kenneth (died 1498-99) in the chiefship while still a minor. It is likely that he achieved his majority in 1501, which suggests that he was born in about 1480.John is said to have been sent to be educated at Court in Edinburgh (pursuant to an Act of 1496, a legal requirement for boys in his station of life). However, the terms of a bond subscribed by him in favour of the Earl of Huntly suggest that he remained illiterate.
His Uncle Hector Roy Mackenzie had command of the clan as guardian to the young chief John. In 1511 a summons was made against Hector for his actions against John, which was to deny John access to Eilean Donan Castle.That he was a man of proved valour is fully established by the dis- tinguished part he took in the battles of Flodden and Pinkie. The Earl of Cromarty informs us that, ” in his time he purchased much of the Brae-lands of Ross, and secured both what he acquired and what his predecessors had, by well ordered and legal security, so that it is doubtful whether his predecessors’ courage or his prudence contributed most to the rising of the family.”
He was buried in the family aisle at Beauly.
The name Mackenzie, or MacCoinneach in Gaelic, means literally, “Son of Kenneth”. The original Kenneth, who lived in the 13th Century, was descended from a younger son of Gilleoin of the Aird, from whom can also be traced the once powerful Earls of Ross.
The MacKenzies were, without doubt, of Celtic stock and were not among the clans that originated from Norman ancestors. We know little about the generations immediately following Gilleoin, but in 1267 Kenneth was living at Eilean Donan, a stronghold at the mouth of Loch Duich. He must have been an important vassal, for the Earl of Ross appears to have married Kenneth’s aunt and thus strengthened the relationship which already existed between the two families.
Clan MacKenzie rose rapidly in importance during the 15th Century through the acquisition of lands extending across Scotland from the west to east coasts, in the counties of Ross and Cromarty, and parts of Sutherlandshire.
The Lords of the Isles were so powerful and claimed the allegiance of so many clans that they very soon came into conflict with the King. The earliest of their rebellions took place in 1428 after James I had imprisoned the Lord of the Isles and several chiefs who were attending a Parliament at Inverness.
Clan Castles:
The first castle to be associated with the Mackenzie clan is Eilean Donan castle on Loch Duich in Kintail. Latterly, the power of the clan shifted east and the seat of the Mackenzie chiefs was at Brahan, which was requisitioned during World War Two. The condition of the building deteriorated to such an extent that it was completely demolished in the 1950s. The home of the present Clan chief is castle Leod in Strathpefer.
Eilean Donan castle lies on the shores of Loch Duich in the heart of Kintail. It was here during the late 13th century that the MacKenzie story begins, when Coineach MacCoineach – Kenneth son of Kenneth– gave his name to the clan: which in Gaelic means son of the fair one.
Clan MacKenzie Genealogy 
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