Welcome to the website of the Kentucky Branch of the Clan MacNeil Association of America. Our hope, is to encourage all of our current members of the Clan MacNeil Association that reside within the state of Kentucky, to take part in our heritage. Please feel free to help out at any of the games or Celtic Festivals within the State. Check out the calendar/events page for further information.
An Introduction to the Clan
Clan MacNeil, standing proud as one of the fiercest of all island clans, claim descent from "Niall of the Castle", son of Aodh Anrothan (King of Aileach, Prince of Argyll, who resigned kingship to brother Domhnall in 1033). Niall came to the island of Barra in the Outer Hebrides around what is reported to be 1030 AD, and is commonly held to be the first chief of the clan. Niall began construction of Kisimul Castle ontop of an old Viking keep in Castlebay, Barra. Barra itself is thought to take its name either from St. Fionnbharr, the founder of Cork, or from St. Barr, the great-grandson of Niall of the Nine Hostages - a famous king of Ireland. There is a famous story, known throughout Scotland, of the MacNeil chief being offered a place on Noah's Ark, only to decline by succinctly stating that the great MacNeil had their own boat! However, the Clan's strength of unity was no mere fable.
The MacNeil Chiefs are notable in Scottish history for the caring treatment of the members of the Clan - taking the impoverished elderly into their own household, replacing the cattle of crofters when fortunes deprived them of their stock, and even finding widowed Clan members new partners. This sense of pride, stemming from the proud legacy of the Clan MacNeil, ensured that they stood firm in the face of any hostility, and quickly earned its reputation as a turbulent Clan.
The warlike nature of the MacNeils is exemplified in one early 17th Century Chief, Ruari the Tatar (or Turbulent), being regarded as the last of the Vikings after habitually conducting longship raids from the Barra Castle of Kisimul. This "hereditary outlaw" led King James VI to order that the fierce Clan MacNeil be destroyed, root and stem, in 1610. Few, however, were up to this job, and with characteristic loyalty to the King, the MacNeils themselves captured Ruari, placed him in chains, and delivered him to the King. This innate sense of fealty to the Crown of Scotland have led the MacNeils to be an honoured clan in the volumes of Scottish history.
MacNeils have fought in many of Scotland's battles, from the famous Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 (for which the MacNeils received lands in Kintyre by way of reward), to supporting the Stuart monarchs in the Civil War, and the Jacobite Rising of 1715. The MacNeils' efforts did not go unrewarded, with the MacNeil Chiefs receiving a Crown charter erecting all the lands of Barra into a free barony in August 1688. The Clan seat on the island of Barra was bought back by the MacNeils in 1937, after being alienated for almost a century, & the ancient Kisimul Castle restored.
The 27th chief of Barra and 47th by descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages (High King of Ireland), is Roderick "Rory" Wilson Macneil, Baron of Barra. The Clan crest is a rock resting on an ermine cap, & the motto boldly states "Vincere Vel Mori" meaning "to conquer or die".
Our Branch Commissioners are:
Jimmy & Tonya Nelson
Membership
Membership is open to any person or a spouse of any person named or descended from a person named MacNeil, in any of its; forms or spellings, or with any Sept names of Clan MacNeil. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the organization shall recognize the forms, spellings and Sept names with the Mc or O' prefix as being equally acceptable.
Clan Tartans
