Atholl
Atholl or Athole (Scottish Gaelic: Athall; Old Gaelic Athfhotla) is a large historical division in the Scottish Highlands. Today it forms the northern part of Perth and Kinross, Scotland bordering Marr, Badenoch, Breadalbane, Strathearn, Perth and Lochaber.
Atholl was historically a mormaerdom or earldom. The first recorded Earl of Atholl was Matad, Earl of Atholl sometime in the 12th century. In 1703 the title was made a Dukedom by Queen Anne. The title also holds numerous subsidiary titles. These include: Marquess of Atholl (created 1676), Marquess of Tullibardine (1703), Earl of Atholl (1629), Earl of Tullibardine (1606 and 1676), Earl of Strathtay and Strathardle (1703), Viscount of Balquhidder (1676), Lord Murray of Tullibardine (1604), Lord Murray, Balvenie and Gask (1676) and Baron Percy (1722). The Barony of Percy forms part of the peerage of Great Britain; all other titles belong in the peerage of Scotland.
The right of the Earls of Atholl to hold courts for the area were ended in 1746 by the Heritable Jurisdictions Act, and the district subsequently became part of the sheriffdom and later county of Perthshire.
In Scottish Gaelic the name is Athall, which derives from the Old Irish Ath-fhotla, or 'New Ireland', (Fotla being a traditional name for Ireland).
Towns and villages in Atholl include Aberfeldy, Ballinluig, Blair Atholl, Dunkeld, Kirkmichael, Logierait, Pitlochry and Weem.
Notable people
- Alexander Mackenzie, born at Logierait in 1822, politician and second Prime Minister of Canada.
See also
- Blair Atholl
- Duke of Atholl
- Earl of Atholl
- Vale of Atholl Pipe Band
- MacGillonie
- Atolovo, a Bulgarian village named after a Duke of Atholl
- Medieval Diocese of Dunkeld
- Athol, Massachusetts
Coordinates: 56°42′14″N 3°47′38″W / 56.704°N 3.794°W