MacNeils of Barra and MacNeills of Gigha: Two Scottish Clans or One?

[@DanielleR-l1p]

I am a McNeil from the Argyle area, and it’s interesting as I go back and see the lineage, my line, is interwoven with the Bruce clan, which I find interesting.

[@fionamacneill7859]

There are actually three branches of us MacNeills. I grew up in a home with a father who played piobreachd, pipe major of the pipe band . I attended Highland Games as an infant on. In those days, long before computerss, the tartan we wore was the Macneil of Barra. My kilt for Highland Dancing was that tartan. I went to Barra in 1981, still believing we were of the Macneil of Barra, the chief came to visit us on his travels. (Robert Lister Macneil.) I grew up on the tales of Barra, among the stories which were family history. With the access to records from the Mormon site, and then computers, I traced our heritage to a third born son of the Macneil of Barra. This meant that Donald of Crear, the ancestor who was not firstborn, did not get the castle, but a small island of the inner Hebrides. His cousin owned Colonsay, so the two of them exchanged islands, like we once traded baseball cards. A clue to some of this heritage is the Macneils of Barra, in fact Barra was steeped as a Catholic region, whereas Colonsay was Protestant. . Of course, Colonsay was riskier to own, and life was hard on Colonsay, and was taken in the 1715 uprising. Our ancestors at that time appear to have migrated to the Isle of Mull, and Kintyre Peninsula area. There had been clansmen from Colonsay in the first uprising of 1715. So, by the time my own children were piping and dancing, some of the kilts I made were MacNeill of Colonsay tartan. Most of the kilts I made for my children's weddings were Barra tartan. The use of computers changed alot. The resources of databases, graveyards in other places, opened up a new world of research and genealogy. Overt time I was able to connect with others in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, who shared ancestors.The first to immigrate was Alan MacNeill from Balevullin,Mull. Then the rest of the family, including his parents, followed to Nova Scotia and finally Prince Edward Island. They stuck together with Camerons, MacFaddens, marrying into the family, who also came from the area of Mull it seems. I grew up hearing the story of Niall, who left Ireland to go to Africa to find a woman of royal heritage to wed, and that is how Scota arrived . The King of Ireland would be claimed by a race at sea and the first to touch the shore of Ireland would be crowned King. Niall, as he came closer to the shore, cut off his hand, and threw it ashore, thus winning the contest and was crowned the High King of Ireland. Thus the Red Hand of Ulster. The tales of all the branches are rich, and enriched growing up, with knowledge of where we came from and our connection to the sea, as both my father and grandfather were sea captains. So, these tales laid the groundwork for stories which arose out of grace notes and a dinner table where salt and pepper shakers became buoys and ships. You can take the MacNeill away from the sea, but you cannot take the sea out of the MacNeills. Fiona MacNeill

[@John_Mack]

I have been tracing my family's roots back to Scotland. There are Mack's all over the borderlands that I can find as early as 1650. The name is listed as a Sept of Home and an allied family for MacKay and MacDuff. Y-DNA at least for my ancestor shows a connection to Lennox via MacFarlane. We don't know for certain when the Surname was created. A Mack is listed with a grant of Arms with the Lord Lyon. The Book of MacKay, suggests that Mack is an anglicized version of MacKay as they can be found in Berwickshire. Still, there is a suggestion that Mack came from the name Maccus, which is also where the name Maxwell comes from (Maccuswell). Obviously, some Scots when they came to America shortened their names, however, we believe that this is not the case in our lineage.

[@thescottishclans]

Loch Sloy!!!

[@spiritualistgirl]

The macus...sounds englishy...Latin ...theoos...us....so.mac....son.of...aye...feels.more.correct...justa.wee.mcneill..lassie....fay..doin...hope.we.just.end.up.realisin...we.are.aw,!...joak...tamsons...weans!!..

[@JanetSandonato]

My direct grand fathers branch came to Nova Scotis settled in Cape Braitin.

[@tohwasworld3297]

Did the Macneil's of Gigha intermarry with Clan Donald heavily?

[@Falcarragh]

We were Gallowglas "soldiers" for the Mac Donalds

[@KingEdwardtheTurbulentNeill26]

I've read somewhere that the Vikings adopted the last name's of the Irish clans like the MacNeils of Barra and the O'Neills of Niall of the nine hostages which is where the confusion of the clans origins. All i know about my family's history is that they used to live in Inveresk before they moved and settled in England when Robert Neill became the Mayor of Manchester. On my family tree as well that my dads dad did that says that I'm from the Njàl clan from Iceland.

[@brucecollins641]

@kingedwardtheturbulentneil26. lol you are one o many that have read that nonsensical tale. macneil/ o'neil are scottish clans of norse origins. nothing to do with the mythical,made up tale of nial of the nine hostages. type in......who was queen scotia princess scota grave and other facts guidebook to life........you will see the origins of the mythical nial o the nine hostages .then......macneil clan shocked as dna checks force re-write of history....then.....origins-macneil and beyond|jeff macneil.......neil stems from the norse nils/nels. irish monks back in the day adapted other nations histories to suit ireland. the mythical columba being another one..

[@brucecollins641]

@kingedwardtheturbulentneill26.........what you read is a piece of mythical nonsense.....nial o the nine hostages is a made up tale..like much of irelands history. type in........macneil clan shocked as dna checks force rewrite of history......then.........macneill and beyond - jeff macneill.....at least one american with a wee bit savvy.. am surprised that in this day and age people actually believe that nonsense o nial o the nine hostages. same with st columba.....more nonsense.

[@brucecollins641]

@kingedwardtheturbulentneill26........niall o the nine hostages is a mythical made up tale. the name neil comes from the norse lands. type in.....macneil clan shocked as dna checks force rewrite of history.......then.....maneill and beyond-jeff macneil........at least one american with a bit o savvy..........type in... pirates of the hebridean-true highlands............

[@BuckRoberts-s3s]

The castle from the Barra MacNeil crest finds its way into US army in the 1840s. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corps_Castle and is eventually adopted by the Army Corps of Engineers. I'm not sure about castles in heraldry or even if the castle is.

[@allymac1314]

Excellent video. I'm a Gigha MacNeill and have always known we're two separate clans.

[@BuckRoberts-s3s]

MacNeils were royalty on their own but also married into European nobility. The English Talbots. The French Rober (Illegitimate descendants of 2nd Dyanasty French Royals and High ranking nobility from Austria.) Who escaped to Sweden, Finland, and The Americas with their heads. In America Roberts and MacNeil are close cousins.

[@celticviking1945]

I'm looking for any hints about a Y-DNA branch is composed of MacNeil, MacNail, White, and Lowery. Closely related to a branch of MacDougall. Genealogies trace back roots to Northern Ireland, Barra, Islay. This is a Clan Colla branch, not Norse in origin.

[@brucecollins641]

@celticviking1945.........norse-gall in origin or even the earlier pictish peoples of scotland. the three collas is a mythical made up tale. type in.......the three collas- an altenative explanation......then......leinster clandonnels: the queens majesties gallowglass wild irish......then......clan macdonald | history tartan & battles, highland titles.......donal/donnel is how we pronounce donald in scotland. so is macneil scottish.....these clans woud eventually make inroads to ireland...macneil/o'neil also scottish.

[@JanetSandonato]

Clan Mac Neil of Nova Scotia, Canada. Vancouver, Canada.

[@TempestFirestrike]

The heraldry is more similar than people probably realize, the red hand of Ulster on both suggests a connection the Niall of the nine hostages hence the nine graves circling one of them, they both have the Lion rampant as well as well as both having the same ship and both alluding to water, variations can occur to reflect different achievements between branches and distinguish them as well...

[@Mairiain]

Those aren't graves circling the red hand of Ulster. They're fetterlocks :)

[@TempestFirestrike]

@@Mairiain that would make even more sense since that can mean a kind of shackle, hence 9 hostages...🤔

[@brucecollins641]

@@TempestFirestrike lol, niall o the nine hostages is a mythical tale....mac/mc o'neil are scottish clans of norse origin. o'neil simply means of the clan neil. sae with o'donnel....of the clan donald. the wee apostrophe after the o replaces the f.

[@brucecollins641]

@tempestfirestrike...macneil is a scottish clan of norse origins. niall of the nine hostages is a mythical tale. type in...macneil clan shocked as dna rewrites history....then......macneil and beyond - jeff macneil.....these tales were believed at the time of the mythical niall........am very surprised that in this day and age people still believe that..

[@brucecollins641]

macneils a scottish clan of norse origins..

[@Mairiain]

Genetics only work if you are male. If you have no living male relatives from your clan who you can reach, then you won't ever be able to find out which McNeill clan you come from. My ancestors, for example, can be traced back to northern Ireland (Ballycastle, Antrim) but I can't find out where they were before this. Very frustrating :)

[@brucecollins641]

@mairiain........mac/mc neil is a scottish clan of norse origins, as is o'neil.....of the clan neil... it probably entered ireland with the scottish gallowglass warrior clans in the 1200s. same with o'donnel...of the clan donald..

[@spiritualistgirl]

I am a mcneill, but so far I can get back to early 1700s, they were neill.. But mind the time just post culldoen.. Or Preston pans.. I was fascinated to find no Viking from my dad but my MacDonald mother.... Yah..stillll....I ter..marriageing!..lol....slancha!!

[@celticviking1945]

My Y-DNA test confirms that my closest male relations are McNeils who claim to come from Argyll.

[@jessicastepbach6410]

From the Argyll area tracked through ancestry.

[@spiritualistgirl]

A Viking ship is still there from 1266! In largs.. And the barra.. Treats castle kisimul.. N...red ha d of ulster.. Perhaps they we were From Egypt then Ireland .. So the story goes.....

[@brucecollins641]

@spiritualistgirl.........egypt and ireland??? they are of they are a scottish clan of norse origins.

[@brucecollins641]

@@JanWoods-d3p do you actually believe that tale? type in.......who was queen scotia? princess scotia grave and other facts.........you will also see the mythical origins of nial of the nine hostages. it's a fictional tale written in the 1600s. the books of ireland are all made up or adaptations of other nations histories. type in........scotia-wikipedia......

[@brucecollins641]

@@JanWoods-d3p lol...do you actually believe that?..a think you should research a bit deeper. type in........who was queen scotia? princess scotia and other facts guidebook to life.......she never existed. mac/mcneil are a scottish clan of norse origins as o'neil. there is no mention of the queen or her husband in egypt or greece