Alan FitzRoland (c.1175-1234) was the last of the MacFergus dynasty of quasi-independent Lords of Galloway. He was also hereditary Constable of Scotland . He was the son of Roland of Galloway and Helen de Moreville. His date of birth is uncertain, but he was born in or before 1175, as he is considered an adult in 1196.

He married firstly to an unnamed daughter of John, Baron of Pontefract and Constable of Chester; they had two daughters, one named Helen (married Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester) and another who died in 1213. His first wife was dead or divorced by 1209, when he married Margaret of Huntingdon, great granddaughter of David 1st of Scotland. By this marriage he had two more daughters: Derbhorgail and Christian (who married William de Forz, Count of Aumale ). Alan married his last wife, Rohese de Lacy, in 1229, she being the daughter of Hugh de Lacy, 1st Earl of Ulster . By one of his marriages he had a son, Thomas, who predeceased his father (not to be confused with his illegitimate half-brother, also named Thomas).

In 1212 Alan responded to a summons from King John I of England by sending 1,000 troops to join the war against the Welsh. In this year he also sent one of his daughters to England as a hostage. She died in 1213 in the custody of her maternal uncle. Alan is listed as one of the 16 men who counseled King John regarding Magna Carta.

Alan, like his forebears, maintained a carefully ambiguous relationship with both the English and Scottish states, acting as a vassal when it suited his purpose and as an independent monarch when he could get away with it. His considerable sea power allowed him to supply fleets and armies to aid the English King John in campaigns both in France and Ireland.

In 1228 he invaded the Isle of Man and fought a sea-war against Norway in support of Reginald, Prince of Man, who was engaged in a fratricidal struggle with his brother Olaf for possession of the island.

Alan died in 1234 and is buried at Dundrennan Abbey in Galloway. With Alan's death his holdings were divided between his three daughters. A popular attempt was made within Galloway to establish his illegitimate son, Thomas, as ruler, but this failed, and Galloway's period as an independent political entity came to an end.

Sources

• Curia Regis Rolls, 1935.
• Cal. Charter Rolls, 1, 1895