A Brief History of the Clan Macneil

Clan MacNeil claim descent from Niall, a descendant of Aodh O'Neil, twentieth in descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages the famous founder of the U'Neill dynasty of High Kings of Ireland. Niall established himself on Barra in 1049 and is considered the first chief of the Clan MacNeil.

The fifth chief, Neil MacNeil, was described as a Prince at a Council of the Isles in 1252 and aided in defeating the Norse at the battle of Largs in 1263. His son, the sixth chief, Neil Og MacNeil fought with Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn and was rewarded with lands in Kintyre.

Another branch of the MacNeils established themselves on the island of Gigha under Torquil MacNeil in 1427. After 1493 the two branches of MacNeils took opposite sides in the long running feud between the MacDonalds of Islay and the MacLeans of Duart, Barra MacNeils sided with the MacLeans while the Gigha MacNeils fought on the side of the Clan Donald.

The MacNeils were famous for their sailors and quite often for their lawlessness on the high seas. The fifteenth chief of Barra, Ruari MacNeil, was known as a "hereditary outlaw" and was dubbed "Ruari the

turbulent". He has also been described as the last of the Vikings, raiding ships of all sorts from his island fortress of Kisimul Castle. Ruari eventually had a writ issued against him by the King, was captured by his own nephews and taken in chains to Edinburgh in 1610. His son, Neil Og then became chief.

Neil Og's grandson, Roderick Dhu (the Black), led his fellow clansman at Killiecrankie fighting staunchly for the Jacobite cause. He rallied the Clan MacNeil once more to the aid of the "Old Pretender" in the Rising of 1715.

The 21st chief, General Roderick MacNeil was in economic ruin and had to sell the Island of Barra in 1838. Roderick had no children of his own and the chiefship then passed to a cousin whose line had emigrated to the New World.

In 1937 Kisimul castle and most of the Island of Barra were brought back into the family when Robert L. MacNeill, a descendant of the 22nd chief, returned from the United States, purchased most of Barra and spent his life restoring Kisimul Castle. His son, the 46th chief, is a law Professor and divides his time between Scotland and the United States.

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Related History

The Picts

The Picts were a mysterious warrior people of ancient Britain. According to tradition, the Picts migrated from the shores of Brittany around the 15th century BC. They sailed northward to Ireland, but were refused permission to settle there by the ancient kings of that land. However, the Picts were granted permission to settle in the northeastern part of Scotland on the condition that each Pictish king marry an Irish princess, thus providing the Irish with a colony whose rulers were of royal Irish blood. This Pictish settlement was ruled by a matriarchal hierarchy.

The Boernicians

The Boernicians, who were a mixture of Scottish Picts, Angles, and Vikings, were one of the ancient clans of the Scottish-English borderlands. Considered to be the ancient founding peoples of the north, the Boernicians inhabited the tract of rugged territory that stretches from Carlisle in the west to Berwick in the east. In the 4th century,Scotland was composed of five different kingdoms, which were each home to a different race: the Gaels, Vikings, Picts, Britons, and Angles all held land, each had their own realm.

The Vikings

The Vikings, a Scandinavian people of astounding vitality, first began their invasion of Scotland in 794. However, the first wave of mass Viking migration occurred around 888, when King Harold of Norway defeated an unruly faction of northern clans who then abandoned their homeland. In search of a new place to live, they migrated to the sea-swept Orkney Islands in the north of Scotland under the leadership of their chief, Earl Sigurd. This settlement was permitted by the Scottish king and the kings of the Isle of Man, who allowed the Viking exiles to make their homes in the Orkney and Shetland Islands in return for a payment of 20,000 shillings. ​

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Clan Macneil Septs

Septs are families that followed another clan’s chief. These smaller septs would then be part of the chief's larger clan. A sept might follow another chief if two families were linked through marriage, or, if a family lived on the land of a powerful laird, they would follow him whether they were related or not.

If you have genealogical ties to the surname Macneil or any of Clan Macneil's Sept family names shown, you were born into the Clan Macneil and we’d love to have you join us!

Clan

A clan is a social group made up of a number of distinct branch-families that actually descended from, or accepted themselves as descendants of, a common ancestor. The word clan means simply children.

Mac or Mc (and sometimes O)

Scottish surnames frequently have the prefix Mac or Mc which means  “son of” The prefix was added either to the father’s first name, or nickname.  It could also be added to the father’s occupation.

There was a period of time known as the "Gaelic revival" in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when there was a push to revive and use the Gaelic language in Scotland and Ireland. During this period, there was some encouragement to use Gaelic forms of names, rather than anglicized versions. However, it was not a ban on the use of Mac, Mc, or O' in names. It was more of a cultural movement and not enforced by law. Keep this in mind if you're doing family research since it likely had an impact on record keeping.

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