Irvine Clan

Irvine Clan Crest: A banded sheaf of nine holly leaves.

Irvine Clan Motto: Sub Sole Sub Umbra Virens (Vigorous both under the sun and shade).

Irvine Clan History:

The surname has territorial origins and derives from both Irving, in Dumfriesshire and Irvine in Ayrshire. Robert de Hirewine witnessed a Charter in 1226, and another Charter from the Bishop of St Andrews was witnessed in 1260 by Robert de Iruwyn. A family tradition claims that there is an ancestral connection through Crinan the Thane, Abbot of Dunkeld, with Duncan, the Scottish king allegedly murdered by Macbeth.

As early as 1018, the Irvines were settled, through marriage, on lands between the River Esk and the River Kirtle, south east of Lockerbie, in Dumfriesshire, and here they built the Tower of Bonshaw.  As neighbours and supporters of the Bruce Family at Lochmaben, the Irvines were granted the Forest of Drum in Aberdeenshire by Robert I. Alexander, 3rd Laird of Drum, fought at the Battle of Harlaw in 1411, engaging in single combat with Hector Maclean of Duart. Both died as a consequence.

The 4th Laird was knighted for his role in negotiating the release of James I from captivity in England. The 7th Laird fell at the Battle of Pinkie in 1547. The 10th Laird, a supporter of Charles I, was Sheriff of Aberdeen. Over the ensuing years Drum Castle was continuously attacked and ransacked for its Royalist associations. The 14th Laird fought for the Jacobite Cause at the Battle of Sheriffmuir in 1715 and, after his death, the Drum Estate passed to a kinsman, although his successors too supported the exiled Stuarts. On his death in 1975, Henry Quentin Forbes Irvine, 24th and last Laird of Drum, bequeathed Drum Castle and 300 acres of ground to the National Trust for Scotland.

David Irving (1778-1860), born at Langholm in Dumfriesshire, wrote The Life of George Buchanan. Edward Irving (1792-1834) was born at Annan, and became Minister of the Caledonian Church in London.

Surname distribution in Scotland: The highest concentrations of the Irvine name occur in Shetland (Zetland), Renfrewshire, Argyll and Bute, Stirlingshire, Lanarkshire and Ayrshire.

Places of Interest:
Bonshaw Tower, south east of Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire. 15th century Irvine stronghold.

Drum Castle, Aberdeenshire. Home of the Irvines of Drum for over six and a half centuries. Today it is managed by the National Trust for Scotland and is open to the public.

Clan Irvine membership certificates.