Iye Roy Mackay, 10th of Strathnaver

Iye Roy Mackay, 10th of Strathnaver (died 1517), was the tenth chief of the ancient Clan Mackay, a Scottish clan of the Scottish Highlands.

Early life Iye Roy Mackay, 10th of Strathnaver, was the eldest son of Angus Roy Mackay, 9th of Strathnaver, and his wife who was a daughter of Mackenzie of Kintail, chief of Clan Mackenzie.

Feud with the Rosses

Iye Roy Mackay's father, Angus Roy Mackay, had been killed in 1486 at the Battle of Tarbat in a feud over lands with the Clan Ross. Historian Angus Mackay however disputes the account given by Sir Robert Gordon, 1st Baronet, who himself was a son of Alexander Gordon, 12th Earl of Sutherland, and who says that at this battle the Mackays were supported by a force provided by the Earl of Sutherland. Mackay states that the feudal superiority of the Earls of Sutherland over the Mackays, as claimed by Sir Robert Gordon, "nowhere existed save in his own fertile imagination".

Battle of Flodden According to the Blackcastle MS (which was written by Alexander Mackay of Blackcastle who had access to the Mackay chief’s family charters and papers) when James IV of Scotland resolved to invade England, Iye Roy Mackay of Strahtnaver accompanied by his brother John Rivach Mackay, at the head of a contingent from Strathnaver, fought at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. Iye Roy Mackay escaped with his life, but his brother John was killed along with a number of clansmen.

Family Iye Roy Mackay, 10th of Strathnaver, married a "celebrated beauty" who was a daughter of Norman, son of Patrick O’Beolan of Carloway on the Isle of Lewis. O’Beolan was the lineal descendant of the family of Applecross, a well known priestly family whose progenitor was St. Maolrubha. This marriage did not conform with canon law, but Iye Roy Mackay secured from James IV of Scotland a precept of legitimation for his two surviving sons, John and Donald. Iye Roy Mackay and his wife had the following children: John Mackay, 11th of Strathnaver, who succeeded his father in 1517. Donald Mackay, 11th of Strathnaver, who succeeded his brother John in 1529. Angus Mackay, who was killed fighting the Rosses, near Tain, before 1511. A daughter, who married Hugh MacLeod of Assynt and had two children: Neil and Helen. Helen MacLeod married her first cousin, Iye Du Mackay, 12th of Strathnaver, to whom she had Donald Balloch Mackay the progenitor of the Mackay of Scoury family, and another son, John Beg Mackay. A daughter, who married the Honl. Alexander Sutherland of Killipheder, son of John, Earl of Sutherland.

Iye Roy Mackay, 10th of Strathnaver died towards the end of 1517.