MacGhille eoin History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Scotland-Alt
• Scotland
• Ireland

Etymology of MacGhille eoin

The sea-swept Hebrides islands and the west coast of Scotland are the ancestral home of the MacGhille eoin family. Their name comes from a devotion to St. John. The surname is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic Mac Gille Eathain, a patronymic name meaning "son of the servant of Saint John." The Clan is descended from Eachan Reaganach, (brother of Lachlan the progenitor of the Macleans of Duart). These two brothers were both descended from Gilleathain na Tuaidh, known as 'Gillian of the Battleaxe', a famed warrior of the 5th century. Eachan, or Hector was given the lands of Lochbuie from John, the first Lord of the Isles, some time in the 14th century.

MacGhille eoin Coat of Arms Creation

The Macleans claim descent from one Gill-Eathain na Tuaighe, so called from his carrying as his ordinary weapon a battle-axe ; and they have for their crest a battle-axe surrounded by a laurel or cypress branch. This they are said to have adopted from the following incident in their founder's career :

Gill-Eathain was engaged, with others, in a stag hunt at Beinn Talaidh in Mull, and wandered away from the rest of the party in pursuit of his quarry. The mountain suddenly became enveloped in mist and he lost his way. For three days he wandered about unable to recover his track. On the fourth day, utterly exhausted, he crept under a laurel bush, where, after fixing the handle of the battle-axe in the earth, he lay down and slept. On the evening of that day his friends saw the head of the battle-axe above the bush, and found Gill-Eathain alseep on the ground with his arm round the handle.

This clan has two slogans, " Bets no beatha " (Death or life), and "Another for Hector." The second slogan had its origin in an incident, at the battle of Inverkeithing in 1651, which demonstrates the devotion of the clansmen to their chief. In July of that year Cromwell's forces, under General Lambert, opposed the Scots army, under Holborn of Menstrie. Holborn with his cavalry fled soon after the battle began. Sir Hector Roy Maclean of Duart was there with 800 men. They were encircled by the English and were being cut to pieces. Sir Hector's clansmen saw that the English objective was to get their chief. They therefore flocked round him, and at every attempt on their chief's life a clansman threw himself upon the enemy and fell, one after the other exclaiming " Another for Hector " until eight Macleans lay dead ere Sir Hector himself fell. 1

Early Origins of the MacGhille eoin family

Early History of the MacGhille eoin family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our MacGhille eoin research. Another 139 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1310, 1320, 1370, 1411, 1500, 1560, 1582, 1604, 1620, 1630, 1645, 1649, 1650, 1651, 1658, 1666, 1670, 1674, 1687, 1716, 1745 and 1890 are included under the topic Early MacGhille eoin History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

MacGhille eoin Spelling Variations

Medieval translation of Gaelic names could not be referred to as an accurate process. Spelling was not yet standardized, and names in documents from that era are riddled with spelling variations. MacGhille eoin has been written as MacLean, MacLaine, MacLane, MacLeane, MacClean, MacClain, MacClaine, MacGhille Eoin (Gaelic) and many more.

Early Notables of the MacGhille eoin family

Notable amongst the Clan from early times was Hector MacLean, Lord of Dowart (c.1560-c.1630), Scottish Lord of the Clan MacLean; Francis Cleyn (Clein, Franz Klein) (c. 1582-1658), a painter and tapestry designer; Sir John Maclean, 1st Baronet, (1604-1666); Sir Hector Maclean, 2nd Baronet of Morvern (c.1620-1651), the 18th Clan Chief of Clan Maclean from 1649 to 1651...
Another 56 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early MacGhille eoin Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the MacGhille eoin family to Ireland

Some of the MacGhille eoin family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 67 words (5 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the MacGhille eoin family

Many of the ancestors of Dalriadan families who arrived in North America still live in communities along the east coast of Canada and the United States. In the American War of Independence many of the original settlers traveled north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the ancestors of many Scots began recovering their collective national heritage through Clan societies, highland games, and other patriotic events. Research into the origins of individual families in North America revealed records of the immigration of a number of people bearing the name MacGhille eoin or a variant listed above: James Elizabeth, Anne, Daniel, James, Lettice, McLean who were all on record in Charles Town [Charleston], South Carolina in 1767; Duncan McLean, who settled in Boston in 1766.