Magnús Óláfsson was a King of Mann and the Isles. He was a son of Óláfr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles, and a member of the Crovan dynasty. Magnús' realm encompassed Mann and parts of the Hebrides. Some leading members of Magnús' family—such as his father—styled themselves "King of the Isles"; other members—such as Magnús and his brothers—styled themselves "King of Mann and the Isles". Although kings in their own right, leading members of the Crovan dynasty paid tribute to the Kings of Norway and generally recognised a nominal Norwegian overlordship of Mann and the Hebrides. Magnus was driven out by King Alexander III.
Castle Rushen, where Magnús died in 1265. By the mid thirteenth century the castle had become the power-centre on Mann. The castle dates to the late twelfth- or early thirteenth century.
Looking south-east from Tarbet harbour, on the north-western shores of Loch Lomond. After dragging their vessels overland from Loch Long, Magnús and his Hebredian comrades launched their ships from what is today Tarbet, and plundered the islands and shores of Loch Lomond.
Magnús' surviving 1256 charter.
Thirteenth-century coffin-lid which may be that of either Magnús, his brother Rǫgnvaldr, or their father Óláfr.
The Kingdom of the Isles was a Norse-Gaelic kingdom comprising the Isle of Man, the Hebrides and the islands of the Clyde from the 9th to the 13th centuries AD. The islands were known to the Norsemen as the Suðreyjar, or "Southern Isles" as distinct from the Norðreyjar or Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland. In Scottish Gaelic, the kingdom is known as Rìoghachd nan Eilean. The territory is sometimes called the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles, although only some of the later rulers claimed that title. The historical record is incomplete, and the kingdom was not a continuous entity throughout the entire period. At times the rulers were independent of external control, although for much of the period they had overlords in Norway, Ireland, England, Scotland or Orkney. At times there also appear to have been competing claims for all or parts of the territory. The islands have a total land area of over 8,300 square kilometres (3,205 sq mi) and extend for more than 500 kilometres (310 mi) from north to south.
Signature page from the Annals of the Four Masters
Folio 32v of the Book of Kells which may have been produced by the monks of Iona and taken to Ireland for safekeeping after repeated Viking raids of the Hebrides.
Modern Dumbarton Castle, the site of the 9th-century siege by the Uí Ímair
A posthumous "Sihtric" coin from the British Museum, minted at Dublin c. 1050