Mac Colla and a group of Irish professional soldiers were sent to Scotland in June 1644 by Confederate Ireland, ostensibly to aid the Royalist party there, at the instigation of the Earl of Antrim.

[4] After leaving Montrose's forces in late 1645, Mac Colla, some of his Irish troops and a large contingent of MacDonald and other clansmen returned to Kintyre and renewed their attacks on Clan Campbell lands.

[1] Mac Colla was said, at this point, to have had about 1,500 men,[1] retaining a number of his veteran Irish troops along with some clan levies from the MacDougalls of Dunollie and the MacAulays of Ardincaple.

[6] Poltalloch was supposedly close to killing Mac Colla himself when he was struck down by an opponent armed with a scythe, though other traditions place his death elsewhere.

Mac Colla's men were claimed to have driven a number of prisoners from the battle, along with Campbell women and children from the district, into a barn which was then set alight.