Where is Inishowen?
Inishowen is the name of a peninsula on the northern coast of Ireland. Most of Inishowen lies within County Donegal in the republic of Ireland but a small area lies within County Derry in Northern Ireland. Both of these counties lie within the province of Ulster.
Does the MacLochlainn surname have any variant forms?
Yes. The surname has been anglicised into many different forms. In Ireland the standard modern anglicisation is McLaughlin but other forms can occur overseas.
What is a sept and what is a clan?
In historical usage the Irish term clann ('family'/anglicised spelling 'clan') is identical with sept, an English term for a group of families who bear the same surname, live in the same area, claim a common male line ancestor and operate as a body corporate under the ordinary control of a chief. In modern usage sept has been truncated to mean a group of families who bear the same surname, live in the same area and claim a common male line ancestor. To distinguish historical from modern usage I adopt the convention of using clan to denote a sept in its extended historical sense as a body corporate under the ordinary control of a chief.
Are the MacLochlainns of Inishowen still a sept?
Yes. There are several hundred MacLochlainn families living in Inishowen and in the areas immediately adjacent to it.
Are the MacLochlainns of Inishowen still a clan?
No. The MacLochlainns of Inishowen ceased to operate as a clan in the seventeenth century when the underlying socio-political system collapsed in the wake of the English conquest of Ulster.
Does everyone bearing the MacLochlainn surname descend from the MacLochlainns of Inishowen?
No. At least two other septs in Ireland and one in Scotland also bear the MacLochlainn surname so only those of the surname whose male line ancestry can be traced to Inishowen or to an area immediately adjacent to it can be said to descend from the MacLochlainns of Inishowen.
Is a clan society the same as a clan?
No. A clan society is nothing more than a modern association of people
sharing a surname interest.
So I need to differentiate surname, family, sept, clan and clan society from each other?
Yes. A lot of people wrongly assume an equivalence between these terms.
Are Irish clans and septs similar to Scottish clans and septs?
No. In Scotland a complex 'clan system' developed in which the clan grew beyond the kingroup to include unrelated families dependent on the chief such as his tenants. These unrelated dependents became known as septs of the clan so the meanings are very different.
Is there a MacLochlainn of Inishowen Tartan?
No. Ireland has none of the Scottish paraphernalia of tartans, badges and plant badges.
My grandfather was named X and lived in Y. Where do I fit into the MacLochlainn of Inishowen Genealogy?
I have no idea. The MacLochlainn genealogy has not been captured generally since the seventeenth century which is well before the time your grandfather was born.
I cannot trace my emigrant ancestor to a specific locality in Ireland. Are there any records in Ireland in which the addresses of emigrants are recorded?
No. The only way to trace a locality is by looking to see if
their former address was recorded in their country of destination.
Do all of the MacLochlainns of Inishowen alive today descend from the handful of lines traceable beyond 1700?
No. The genealogy narrows at several points because the lines no longer traced have become obscure for want of records rather than extinct for want of children. Most of the MacLochlainns of Inishowen alive today descend from these obscure lines, there are far too many of them around for it to be otherwise.
Is there a King of Ireland, King of Aileach, Lord of Inishowen, etc today?
No. This is because their ordinary jurisdiction over the underlying territory has been lost. As is the case with such former territorial jurisdictions elsewhere in Europe it is possible that they continue in titular form as titles asserted in the abstract divorced from ordinary control of an underlying territory but this is not the norm in Ireland. In any event they would lack the grandiose paraphernalia of styles of address, dynastic orders, etc that evolved elsewhere in Europe subsequent to their cessation in ordinary form.
Is there a clan chief?
No. The MacLochlainns of Inishowen ceased to operate as a clan in the late seventeenth century so there has been no chiefship conferring ordinary jurisdiction over the clan since that time nor can such a chiefship be revived as the clan is now defunct. As is the case with such former familial jurisdictions elsewhere in Europe it is possible that a chiefship does continue in titular form as a title asserted in the abstract divorced from ordinary control of an underlying clan. At one time the Irish state offered courtesy recognition as 'chief of the name' to those who could prove that they were the senior living genealogical representative of a former chief but a number of people abused the process and so the practice has now been discontinued. I understand that a serious claim of descent from a former MacLochlainn of Inishowen chief was being considered for recognition at the time the process was discontinued.
Can the arms displayed on this site be used by anyone bearing the MacLochlainn surname or its variants?
No. As sept arms they can be used only by MacLochlainns of Inishowen or their male line descendants.
(excluding context, minor editing and reformatting)
December 2007 - A genetics and genealogy page created here
July 2006 - The lordship of Inishowen page expanded here
February 2006 - The political geography of the north page expanded here
CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts
Electronic editions of the texts of various Irish annals, genealogies, saints' lives, etc.
http://www.ucc.ie/celt/
ISOS: Irish Script on Screen
Digital images of Irish manuscripts held at various repositories.
http://www.isos.dias.ie/
eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
Electronic edition of the Royal Irish Academy dictionary of Old and Middle Irish.
http://www.dil.ie/
Two Conversations
Fragments of an ancient mythological cycle concerning the inundation of a kingdom by the waters of Lough Foyle.
http://thegeekmovement.com/karen/celtic/ccandyouth.html
Sengoídelc: Quotations from Early Irish Literature
A collection of some of the vivid proverbs, maxims, similes, etc to be found in early Irish literature.
http://www.sengoidelc.com/
Scéla: List of Medieval Irish Narratives
An extensive catalogue of medieval Irish narrative tales.
http://volny.cz/enelen/
McLaughlin of Donegal
A site that fits the MacLochlainn genealogy together incorrectly on the basis of a flawed nineteenth century edition of the genealogical text.
http://members.aol.com/lochlan/clanmac.htm
Sinn Féin: Building an Ireland of Equals
The most prominent MacLochlainn in Ireland today is Mitchel McLaughlin who is a leading member of the political party Sinn Féin.
http://www.sinnfein.ie/
Irish Chiefs
An investigation of the dubious claims of some of those recognised as 'chief of the name' by the Irish state.
http://homepage.eircom.net/~seanjmurphy/chiefs/
The Kings of the Isle of Man
An article on the genealogy of the Norse kings of Mann and the Isles showing their intermarriage with the MacLochlainn kings of Ireland.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~medieval/man.htm
Ulster Place-Name Society
The origin and meaning of placenames in the north of Ireland.
http://www.ulsterplacenames.org/