By 1310, when Bruce had most of Argyll and the North Channel in his favour, the English encouraged John MacDougall, the son of Alexander MacDougall and now the ousted Lord of Lorne, to raise a fleet in 1311, based on the eastern coast of Ireland.Robert Bruce, p.279 MacDougall was aided in part by the MacSweens, including John and his brothers Toirdelbach and Murdoch. It was around this time in 1310, that Edward II of England granted John and his brothers their family's ancestral lands of Knapdale,"Archaeological excavations at Castle Sween, Knapdale, Argyll & Bute, 1989-90" Retrieved on 4 July 2007 provided they could recover it from Sir John Menteith. It is possible, therefore, that this event could have been the "tryst of a fleet against Castle Sween", recorded in the Book of the Dean of Lismore, which tells of the failed attempt by John MacSween to recapture Castle Sween. With the failure to recapture their lands in Scotland, the MacSweens permanently left for Ireland.
