Clan MacIntyre

Highland Scottish clan

Clan MacIntyre (McIntyre) (Clann an t Saoir ) is a Highland Scottish clan. The name MacIntyre (from Scottish Gaelic Mac an t Saoir), means "son of the carpenter.” It is most commonly said to descend from Maurice Mac Neil a nephew of Somerled, the great 12th century leader of the Scottish Gaels. Through an ingenious strategy, Maurice secured the marriage of Somerled to the daughter of the King of Mann and the Isles, thus greatly increasing Somerled's territories. At an unknown date the clan journeyed from the Hebrides to the Scottish mainland where the chiefs established their home at Glen Noe, in Ardchattan Parish, on the east side of Loch Etive. The earliest recorded clan chiefs do not emerge until the 17th century. According to tradition, they had held the land at Glen Noe for centuries, although subject to a feudal tenure converted to money rent in later years. In 1806, however, the chief was forced to relinquish the tenancy of Glen Noe due to inability to meet the payments. He and his family subsequently emigrated to the United States. MacIntyres participated in military campaigns during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the Jacobite rising of 1745–46 but they did not operate as an independent body. Clan members served as hereditary foresters to the Lords of Lorne and as hereditary pipers to the chiefs of Clan Menzies and the MacDonalds of Clanranald. Duncan Ban MacIntyre is regarded as one of the finest Gaelic poets.

The name MacIntyre (McIntyre) (Mac an t Saoir), means "son of a carpenter", or "son of a craftsman". Iain Moncreiffe notes that some consider the name to be a trade name, equivalent to the names Wright or MacNair ("son of the heir") and attribute the existence of the surname in various parts of Scotland to the fact that the name signifies descent from various individuals who were wood workers. In 1990, Scotland's heraldic authority, the Lord Lyon King of Arms, recognised MacIntyre of Glenoe as Chief of the Name and Arms of the name MacIntyre. Although several works mention a "Black Book of Glen Noe", now lost, said to have contained the history of Clan MacIntyre, no documented record of the clan's origins has ever been discovered. There are, however, several accounts that purport to identify its founder and explain its name. The most frequently repeated story ties the MacIntyres to Somerled, who lived in the 12th century and who has been described as "one of the greatest warrior kings born to the Gaels of Alba (Scotland)." An ambitious figure almost from the outset, Somerled sought the hand of Ragnhilda, daughter of King Olav the Red, Norse King of Man and the Isles. The story of how, after being initially rebuffed by that island magnate, Somerled would ultimately succeed through the stealth of one of his kinsmen, is recorded in the history of MacDonald of Sleat. According to this account, Somerled agreed to join Olav in an expedition to raid Skye. The night before sailing, however, a ship wright or carpenter known as Maurice Mac Neil (the second name sometimes given as MacNiall or MacArill), by some accounts Somerled's nephew, secretly bored holes in the hull of Olav's ship using tallow and butter to temporarily seal them. On entering the open seas the tallow was washed away by the action of the waves and the king's ship began rapidly taking on water. Olav's urgent appeal for help was spurned by Somerled, until he consented to the previously sought marriage. Maurice then boarded the King's ship and filled the holes with wooden plugs he had previously prepared for the purpose. From that time the descendants of Maurice were called "MacIntyres," "carpenters (or shipwrights) sons". ",

The sought after marriage would take place in 1140. One line of Somerled's MacDonald descendants would become known as Kings and Lords of the Isles and over several centuries would contend with the Scottish monarchy for control of a large portion of northwestern Scotland. Another account, involving seafaring, holds that the name arose from the misfortune of a mariner afloat. In this version the clan's founder, sometimes identified as son of one of the Lords of the Isles, cuts off his thumb in order to plug a leak in his sinking vessel. The original home of Clan MacIntyre is likewise the subject of conjecture. There is general agreement that the clan arose in the Hebrides, the islands west of the Scottish mainland. Some accounts, however, identify Skye as the ancestral home, while another tradition holds Islay to have been the locale. The story of how the clan made its way to the mainland and settled along the shore of Loch Etive in the vicinity of Ben Cruachan is again shrouded in myth and magic. It is said that seeking fresh pastures for their cattle they were initially obstructed by a mountain spirit. After testing their perseverance and courage the spirit instructed them to make their new home where the white cow in their herd should first lie down to rest. This site became known as Glen Noe.

The MacIntyres of Rannoch, were hereditary pipers to the chiefs of Clan Menzies and composed some of that clan's music. They supplied hereditary pipers to the MacDonalds of Clanranald, and a noted pibroch commemorating the battle of Sheriffmuir is attributed to one of these MacIntyres. In the 18th century two members of the clan earned considerable regard for their Gaelic poetry. James, the poet chief, (1727–1799) is best remembered for a biting satire he composed in Gaelic in response to Samuel Johnson, the English encyclopedist, who had made derogatory comments about the Scots in his famous trip to the Hebrides. The poet chief would find himself eclipsed by one of his own kinsmen, however. Born on 20 March 1724, in Druimliaghart, Glenorchy, Argyllshire, Duncan Ban MacIntyre would become known to his countrymen as "Fair Duncan of the Songs." One historian has described him as "one of the twin peaks of the century's Gaelic verse" and some have even called him the "Burns of the Highlands." His most critically acclaimed work is "The Praise of Ben Dorain," but he is well known for his poetic commentaries on contemporary events. In the Jacobite rising of 1745 which attempted to return the House of Stuart to the throne of Scotland and England, Duncan fought on the Hanoverian side and composed a humorous song after losing his borrowed sword at the battle of Falkirk in January 1746. Following that uprising, however, he composed a best selling poem attacking the portion of the Act of Proscription outlawing the wearing of highland dress and was briefly imprisoned.|group=Note When the ban against the wearing of the kilt was repealed, he celebrated with another poem, entitled Orain na Briogas or "Song of the Breeches." and was so esteemed that in his later years schoolchildren were allowed out of class to see him when he traveled to their community. He died on 6 October 1812. In 1859, a monument to the memory of Duncan Ban MacIntyre (described in contemporary press accounts as "in the druid style of architecture") was erected near Dalmally at the head of Loch Awe. In the early 19th century, the family was represented by the Rev. John MacIntyre, D. D. of Kilmonivaig. Badenoch: The MacIntyres of Badenoch are said to have been descended from a bard taken under the protection of the Clan Mackintosh chief at the end of the 15th century. The Badenoch MacIntyres were a constituent group of Clan Chattan, an alliance of clans headed by the Mackintosh chief which fought on the Jacobite side in the risings of 1715 and 1745. Cladich: The little hamlet of Cladich above Loch Awe near the road to Inveraray was a center of weaving and almost all of the inhabitants were MacIntyres. A specialty of the industry were men's hose and garters, which were prized at that time for wearing with the highland costume.

The relationship of MacIntyres in Scotland to those in Ireland is not entirely clear. Given the proximity of the two countries and the similarity of their languages, some Scottish MacIntyres undoubtedly settled in Ireland, mainly in Ulster. Dr. Edward MacLysaght, authority on Irish genealogy, does not include MacIntyre as a separate entry in his two works on Irish families. Rather, he lists MacIntyre, along with Carpenter, Freeman, O’Seery, and Searson in his entry on the name "Macateer". He likewise specifies that in Ireland MacIntyres are found chiefly in Ulster, and in County Sligo. It would appear, in Dr. MacLysaght's view, that those MacIntyres who are of native Irish ancestry originally were Macateers who changed their names.,

It is believed that some Irish MacIntyres descend from native Irish stock whose ancestors were living in the same areas in which Scottish MacIntyres settled and who assumed the Scottish surname, rather than Macateer, as an anglicization of the Irish name Mac an tSoir.