Origins:

                                                                    Lawrence Durrell

Cemetery at Kil Leavy

Dr. Seamus McAteer gets down on all fours to join Kristen McAteer who is studying
the ancient Gaelic writing on a flat tomb stone. Kristen shares the
doctor's interest in the old language, and in Irish history, to be sure.

Legend has it that some time in the tenth century, Brian Baru, High King of Ireland, decided that the world would be a better place if his subjects had surnames. In those days, the king's word was law, and so the story goes, the Irish gave up their ancient naming traditions, and took on surnames. Whether or not the story is literally true (and it is almost certainly an over simplification), we know that it was at about that time that surnames came into legal use in Ireland.

Up until then there was little regularity in Irish names, and so if Sean had a son, Seamus, the latter would be known as "Seamus, son of Sean", or "Seamus Mhac Sean," and his son Sean (named after his grandfather), would be "Sean Mhac Seamus." Of course Seamus might equally refer to his son as "Sean O'Sean". Present day surnames often start with "Mhac" or the modern equivalent, "Mc", but there are also the "O" names, such as "O'Brolchan." The "O" prefix means "grand-son of" as apposed to "son of." As you can see, there is some inherent disorder in such a system, and it is not helpful to genealogists, to be sure. Whatever its faults, this system did not give up easily, and systems like it were still in force in Holland and Scandinavia until recently.

The process by which our kin arrived at their name (assuming it was they who did so), is not known. You will find it thoroughly discussed however, in the articles in this section.

The old clan name was "Mhac an t'Saoir." As nearly as we can make out, it was pronounced "mack-an-teer" which is very close to the most common present day rendering, "McAteer." It is as much a title as a name, and though it is variously translated as "son of the carpenter" or "son of the wright", the most historically accurate translation is probably "son of the craftsman." A "saoir" was a skilled tradesman, and that old Gaelic word is still in use as a surname today, as "Sear" or "Sears."

Some of our correspondents have brought it to our attention that there is a tendency in some areas to pronounce "McAteer" as "mack-an-teer" or "mac-ken-teer." We have found this to be true in at least one very Irish corner of our own country, and we think it may arise from an old folk memory of the name, dating back to the days before Irish surnames were standardized in writing.

Today "McAteer" is just one of a baffling variety of names which properly belong to Clan Mhac an t'Saoir, and of course, there is some confusion or ambiguity attached to most of them. One thing we can say is that they all come from the same old Gaelic name or title. (Well, nearly all do. There is some confusion there too.)

In what follows, you may notice that the same name will appear under many different spellings. That is because we have tried to preserve the quoted texts unchanged, and because many predate the establishment of spelling conventions, you may have to do some interpreting.

Let's start with the origin of the Mhac an t'Saoir name, well over a thousand years ago, and once we have explored that topic, we can turn our attention to the twenty-five odd derivative names, such as McAteer, Matier, McTeer and so on.

Theories:

Since we first wrote on this subject, we have learned a great deal more about our own history, as well as that of Ireland and Scotland. Much of the raw data behind this learning is to be found in the group discussions which follow, but as those discussions occupy well over a hundred pages of text, this article will be a brief synopsis. Let us review the four major origin theories for Clan Mhac an t'Saoir. After that we can make some comments on theories in general, and problems with particular theories.



The St. Ciaran Origin:

The name McAteer arises from the now archaic name "Mhac an t'Saoir", which (as we saw earlier), means "son of the carpenter or wright" in the old Gaelic tongue. Most interpretations favour carpentry over other smithies, although at least one authority states that the word Saoir was used equally for carpenters and stone masons. Our own Clan Committee wrote:

"To research the name McAteer, we must return through the misty space of twice a thousand years to the beginning of the end of the pagan era, and the commencement of Christian times. The native Irish language has changed radically since those times; but strange to relate the word Saor, has come down to us via old, middle and modern (Gaelic) speech, spelt and pronounced now as it was in the beginning. Saor means a carpenter or a stone mason. The Saor was one of the most important members of ancient and middle age Irish society.

The first Saor of note described in our seanachas (history) was a chariot maker to the high king of Tara, and his son Ciaran 'Son of the Saor' was the founder of the famous university monastery of Clon Mac Noise, in the 6th century. The name McAteer is the same today as it was then. It is however, spelt differently. The son of the Saor, in Irish, is Mac An t-Saoir ( the genitive case, 'of the' prefixes 't' to Saoir). The word Mac means son, hence Mac an tSaoir. Constant usage over the centuries has dropped the 'n' to give the sound Mac an t'Saoir spelt phonetically as McAteer. In times of persecution and during the penal years, Gaelic and Catholic names were a death sentence, and so Saor became Carpenter, Freeman, Searson, Seary, etc."

The McAteer legend rests on the founding of Clonmacnoise Monastery, by St. Ciaran Mhac an t'Saoir, in the sixth century (Toynbee puts it at 548 AD). Clonmacnoise Monastery is a fact of history, and you can visit the site today. It is a beautiful place to see, and interestingly it lies almost exactly at the geographic centre of Ireland.

Indeed, St. Ciaran Mhac an t'Saoir is liberally mentioned in history and to date no one has found an earlier use of the name. St. Ciaran is therefore regarded by many as the first McAteer. His was a very busy and short life, and it is almost certain that he died without issue. There is no heresy here. St. Ciaran was a priest, and in those days priests often had families, just as ministers do today, and rabbis have done for thousands of years. It was not until much later under Pope Urban II (elevated in 1088) that celibacy became the rule in the Roman Catholic clergy.

Legend has it that St. Ciaran was the son of the chariot maker to the high king of Ireland, whence the title "son of the craftsman." We initially doubted that St. Ciaran could have been the son of an Irish chariot maker, because we doubted whether chariots were ever used in Ireland. Archaeologists have since dug up the remains of Irish chariots, which makes this theory more credible.

Certainly with so eminent a person as St. Ciaran in the family, any brothers or close kin who survived him might well have cherished and preserved their history until such time as surnames came into general use in the tenth century. At that point "Mhac an t'Saoir" might well have been adopted as a surname. Even if the descendants themselves had not taken up the saint's title, it is hard to believe that they would not have been for ever after so labeled by their neighbours.



A Scottish Origin:

Although the Scottish dialect of Gaelic differs slightly from the Irish, "Mac an t'Saoir" was a known Scottish name, and the same derivation applies in Scotland. There Mac an t'Saoir usually gave rise to MacIntyre. This theory holds that McAteers are MacIntyres, who crossed the Irish Sea for various reasons, and changed their names to the Irish form, better to fit in. The theory is supported by records of Scottish "Mac an t'Saoirs" landing in Ireland as far back as the 10th century, where some did indeed change their name to McAteer.

There seem to be at least three sources of McAteers in Ulster. There are the original Irish McAteers, who never left Ireland, and are still living fairly close to their place of origin, which some think may be in the middle of County Tyrone, while others place it in the islands of the Irish Sea.

Starting about 1300 A.D., landed Irish families feeling the pressure of the Norman invasion, began hiring "gallowglasses" or mercenaries out of Scotland. The Scots were better armed, and had more experience resisting Norman incursions. Some of these gallowglasses were MacIntyres. This influx went on until about 1450 A.D., so by the time the "Plantation of Ireland" began in the 1600's, the gallowglass MacIntyres were McAteers, and as Irish as anyone. They were Roman Catholic because Protestantism only came to Scotland late in the reign of Henry VIII, who came to the throne in 1509 A.D.

After the death of Elizabeth I of England, and her successful handling of the Irish uprising under Hugh O'Neill in 1600, a narrower intellect took power, in the form of James I. In 1607, King James began his confiscation of Irish lands, in what would become known as the "Plantation of Ireland." Under this plan, Irish properties were confiscated and turned over to loyal English, Scottish, and Welsh landlords. By 1641, over a hundred thousand such "settlers" had crossed into Ireland. They were basically an occupying force, and room was made for them by dispossessing Irish farmers and townsfolk. These new settlers were Protestant (recently so in the case of the Scots), and their stay began on unfriendly terms. Unfortunately for Ireland, this was the happiest of the new times. After the overthrow and execution of James I, in 1649, the English parliament unleashed a new regime upon the Irish. Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, arrived to govern Ireland. Few despots since that time have been able to measure up to Cromwell in ruthlessness, and his deeds still inspire horror today.

Most of the "Plantation Irish" have held onto their religion and folk ways. It is not yet clear when or why they converted from MacIntyre to McAteer. It is possible that they never did - that they remained Mhac an t'Saoirs until recently, when officialdom would have converted them to the new spelling of that name. But why then are there McIntyres in Ireland?

So, although some McAteers certainly do descend from the MacIntyres, this theory does not address the basic question of where the Mhac an t'Saoirs came from in the beginning. We believe this theory to be wrong, and we only quote it here because it began to appear in the popular press.



An Aboriginal Origin:

If you look at a surname distribution map for Mhac an t'Saoir (Mac an t'Saoir in Scotland), you must surely notice that the name appears along the coast on both sides of the Irish Sea. In fact the MacIntyre homeland is more or less where it ought to be, if MacIntyres were McAteers who crossed to settle Scotland.

The theory holds that the Mhac an t'Saoirs are all the same family, and that is why their respective Scottish and Irish clan territories form a sort of circle, centred in the Irish Sea. An interesting, but unnecessary, corollary to this theory is that they descend from a very ancient line of mesolithic hunter-fisher people who inhabited the two coasts and the islands between Ireland and Scotland. MacIntyre origin legends say their people came out of islands in the Irish sea, to land at Bonawe, in Scotland. Although there has been much speculation as to which islands, and although later writers have often helped history along by citing the Isle of Skye, the original MacIntyre homeland is simply not known.

Support for the theory comes from the fact that the "Scots" were originally Irish tribes, who began crossing back into Scotland in early in the sixth century A.D. We say "back" because Ireland was originally settled from what is now Scotland. If there is any truth to the theory, the Mhac an t'Saoirs could date back to mesolithic tribes who were present by about 7,000 B.C.

Opposition to the theory comes, predictably, from Anglicized Scotts who tend to reject any idea of a connection with Ireland, despite the historical fact that the Scots came out of Ireland. Such a stance is easy to understand. Early in the eighteenth century, the English overlords began massive evictions of the highland Scots, under the Highland Clearance Act. The entire highland culture, and most of the highlanders, were eliminated from their homeland. That is why the ancient land of the MacIntyres is largely forested today. Such Scots as remained in place, did so on English sufferance, and unsurprisingly became vocally pro-English, some even to the point of denying that the Highland Clearance took place.



A Donegal Origin:

This is perhaps the most closely researched and scholarly of the theories, and we owe it to the pains-taking research of John McLaughlin. John is historian for Clan McLaughlin of Donegal, and he lent his efforts to our research, because the Mhac an t'Saoirs were neighbours of his people, and therefore of some interest.

John finds that Mhac an t'Saoir was originally more of an honorific title than a name, and it pops up in history in various places in Ireland without much continuity in time or place. It is a title given to people (usually clergymen) of unusual faith and piety. It only begins to appear as a surname in the north of Ireland around the tenth century, where it may denote a branch of the O'Brolchans of Donegal and Derry (Londonderry).

The O'Brolchans were a pious lot indeed, and were very much involved with the church, and with the building of churches. They are well situated in Donegal to be a source of the Mhac an t'Saoirs, and they certainly had the right inclinations. While there is no documentary proof that we descend from the O'Brolchans, there is a lot of evidence which suggests some connection, and John has unearthed O'Brolchans surnamed Mhac an t'Saoir as early as 1097 A.D. No other theory to date is based on as broad and careful scholarship. John's theory will truly come of age if he is able to demonstrate a solid connection between Mhac an t'Saoir and O'Brolchan.



Some assorted origin theories:

In previous centuries it was very fashionable to be able to trace your lineage to someone who took part in the Crusades, or better still, to some origin in the Holy Lands. Many royal families in Europe are fond of tracing themselves back to the family of Christ (the Stuart kings of Scotland are among them), and there is at least one American preacher who can show that the United States was founded by the "Lost Tribe" of Israel. Not to be left out, a clergyman in our family came up with a Biblical allusion, whose implications must be perfectly clear. He suspected that the McAteers were descended from a gentleman mentioned in the Old Testament, by name of "Ater." His son would have been McAter, to be sure.

We also picked up a Norman connection, whereby McAteer comes from McTier, which comes from Matier, which comes from "la matiere," the French word for "material." One problem with this theory is that the Normans only landed in Ireland in 1189 AD, long after McAteer was an established surname. Another is that Matier is not seen in France today.



Carpenters or Masons:

This may be a good point at which to discuss this very emotional topic. Some McAteers favour masonry as the family craft, and they are able to point to people in their immediate family who were indeed masons. We were recently entertained in a stone house in Ballyholland which was built by a father and son, both of whom would qualify as masons, so there is no doubt that we have a history of masonry in the family. One of the most famous and accomplished dry stone masons in Scotland was a McAteer, and his walls are still standing today, and are much admired.

This notwithstanding, there is no history of any "Mhac an t'Saoir" ever having changed his name to "Mason," which would have been at least as acceptable in English society as "Carpenter." The name was changed to Carpenter, Wright, and Freeman, according to MacLysaght.

In earlier editions of this page, we said the name had never "been translated to Mason," which is not literally true. In his "Surnames of Scotland" Black translates the name as "son of the mason." Historian John McLaughlin points out that Maelbrighe Mhac an t'Saoir O'Brolchan held the title of "Prime Mason of Ireland." This latter reference might be an unusual translation. So far we have not found any Masons who trace their lineage back to Mhac an t'Saoir. If you know of such a case, we would be grateful to hear from you.

A closer look at the theories:

Let us go back to the beginning. As the Paleolithic (old stone) Age came to a close, the ice sheet which had covered much of the northern hemisphere was retreating northward, leaving behind it a vast grassy savannah. Animal life exploded into this vacuum, and great herds of various ungulates thundered across the grass lands. This was the golden age of paleolithic man, to which we owe most of the artifacts in museums, and the best of the cave paintings. Paleolithic man in turn exploded onto the savannah in pursuit of the great herds of buffalo, oxen, and elk.

The grass lands were soon invaded by trees, and huge forests sprang up all across Europe, Asia, and North America. Established forest offers little food for grazing animals, so the great herds were replaced by birds, squirrels, and deer which survive in forest meadows, and along rivers. Thus the Paleolithic Age gave way to a much thinner epoch, the Mesolithic (middle stone) Age. Mesolithic man had a much more difficult life, and survived in small groups around lakes, along rivers, and along the sea coast. His life was not unlike that of the Amerinds and Inuit (Eskimo). He lived by hunting and fishing, and along the coasts, where lumber was scarce, he fished from boats made of animal skin, stretched over a wooden frame.

Mesolithic Man was still there when the Neolithic (new stone age) farmers began their invasion of Europe, first along the valley of the Danube, and later along all the great river valleys. They lived by clearing forest and farming the cleared land. The neolithic farmers coexisted with the mesolithic hunter-fishers for millennia. There is evidence of a flourishing trade between these two peoples, where the neolithic farmers would trade farm products for fresh fish, and game with their mesolithic neighbours. There was probably a lot of cross fertilization (both genetic and occupational), as Europeans are not divided along such lines today.

The Neolithic or "Danubian" farmers began arriving in Ireland about 4000 BC. They may well have built their own boats for the crossing, but it seems likely that it was unnecessary, as the Mesolithic aboriginals would have been well established along the two coasts and among the islands of the Irish Sea. These people could have carried the Danubians across to Ireland, and carried them back again more than four thousand years later, when the Irish began returning to Scotland about 525 AD. McEvedy says this began after 525 AD, but he does not show Scottish settlement in Scotland before 562 AD.

The distribution of the Irish and Scottish Mhac an t'Saoirs on either side of the Irish Sea situates them well to have been descendants of the mesolithic hunter-fishers.

The history of the MacIntyres holds that the family arrived in Scotland at Loch Etive, by sea, from islands "to the west". In his book on the MacIntyres, Alan McNie suggests the Isle of Skye, but other versions are less specific, and it seems likely that the name of the islands in question is "lost in the mists of time". It seems equally unlikely that the Scottish Mhac an t'Saoirs predate their Irish namesakes, as Saint Ciaran Mhac an t'Saoir had founded Clonmacnoise in Ireland by 548 A.D., which predates the Scottish nation itself.

Some "experts" have written that MacIntyre is a clanless name, because there is no particular concentration of the name in Scotland, and certainly not around Loch Etive, which is forested wilderness today. In fact, the MacIntyres were forced off their lands during the Highland Clearance, and that is why the present day clan is based in the USA, and not in Scotland. Apologists are busy rewriting the history of the Highland Clearance. Some deny it ever took place, while others say that the numbers are greatly exaggerated (Holocaust denial?). However, when the smoke cleared, Highland culture had vanished.

In Scotland, MacIntyres were definitely a clan, and were concentrated around Loch Etive, around Ben Cruchan, near Oban, just across the Irish Sea from Ulster. They established a town there, called Bonawe (which means "mouth of the Awe"), and settled the land right up to Loch Awe. If you visit you will find that Bonawe is nowhere near the mouth of the Awe. Some years ago, what townspeople were left, moved across Loch Etive and took their town name with them.

The tendency of Mhac an t'Saoirs to cluster along the coast, on either side of the Irish Sea, or if there is any truth to the legends, to inhabit islands in that sea, seems odd. Agriculturalists generally head inland, away from the salt air of the sea, to heavily forested areas where the soil is better for farming. Why then, this predilection for barren coastal lands, unless these people were somehow tied to the sea?

It makes some sense under our Aboriginal Origin Theory. As the neolithic farmers cleared the forests for farming, the mesolithic hunter-fishers would have become more and more dependent on fishing, and would have been relegated to the coasts. They would have lived by fishing, boat building with wood-working as an occupational spin-off, the weaving of ropes and sails, and non-agricultural tool making. What better people to inhabit the islands of the Irish sea?

There are two MacIntyre legends, and both have to do with boats. More specifically, with boats in need of repair. In the first legend, our hero who is a MacDhonuill (MacDonald), finds himself at sea in a leaking boat. He finds the leak and stops it up with his thumb, which member he then chops off with his hatchet, and hammers the bloody stub into the hole. Thus was earned the appellation "Mac an t'Saoir", which according to this account is the short form of "saoir na h ordaig" or "thumb carpenter". One hopes this legend is fabulous!

In the second legend, he makes the holes in someone else's boat, and when that unfortunate gentleman finds himself sinking, he is forced to bargain with the Mhac an t'Saoir side, in order to be saved. Both these legends are to be found readily in any public library, so we won't recount them in detail here. Note however, that they both involve a Mhac an t'Saoir repairing a boat. This may have a deeper significance.

Recently we were told of a similar McAteer legend. We came upon this version quite by accident. It is obviously the Irish version of the first Scottish legend. Our hero, who is an O'Donnell, finds himself at sea in a leaking boat. He plugs the leak with his finger, and then chops it off for a cork, thus saving all aboard and earning the title of Mhac an t'Saoir for his grateful descendants.

The story was of great interest to the gentleman (a McAteer) who brought it to our attention, because he had lost a finger in an industrial accident. It happened to be the same finger his father had lost years before. Not surprisingly, the story rang true for him. Two things strike us; first that in the context of an industrial accident the story becomes more believable. A man working frantically to save a leaking boat might well loose a finger, and such heroics would lose little in the telling. The second striking thing is that there is an Irish version at all. Does that not suggest some connection between Irish and Scottish clans?

Evidence for just such a link appeared in an unexpected form. John McLaughlin, historian for Clan McLaughlin, uncovered a link between the O'Donnels and the Mac Donalds while digging into the history of Irish families represented in Donegal. It seems the MacDonalds were allies of the O'Donnels, and there is some record of each clan coming to the aid of the other in times of trouble. The MacDonalds, like the O'Donnels, must have had some maritime tradition, as their motto is "By land and by sea." Could these two be two sides of the same family? If so, it strengthens the theory that the Mhac an t'Saoirs on both sides of the Irish Sea may have a common origin.

There are a number of points which the Irish and Scottish Mhac an t'Saoirs have in common, apart from their similarity of name and their distribution on opposite sides of the Irish Sea. The wood-working trade tends to be associated with boat building, whereas houses were built mainly by masons. Skill in both weaving and joinery is necessarily associated with sailing folk, who must weave sails and nets, braid rope, and build ships. The MacIntyres were associated with weaving, and the McAteers with the Irish linen industry. Both the McAteers and MacIntyres have a history of involvement in the arts. The bardic tradition is strong in both families. The MacIntyres were hereditary pipers to Clan Menzies.

If this theory is correct, and the McAteers and MacIntyres are one family, then they may be among the most ancient families of the Gaelic world. As L. G. Pine points out in his "Story of Surnames," Irish pedigrees are the most ancient in Europe, so you may be sure of a reasonably ancient root regardless, but there is something reassuring in being able to point to 9,000 years of folk history. The theory is disputed in light of the possibility (also unproven) that the McAteers arise from the O'Brolchans, whereas the MacIntyres descend from the MacDonalds, as suggested in their origin legends. The reader will have to decide for him or herself.



Which theory do the McAteers accept?

There is considerable discussion, and sometimes debate on the various ideas presented here. To adopt an official position as a clan would only make sense if very substantial evidence emerges. We at the website differ from other groups within the clan, in that we are users of, and believers in, demographic mapping and statistics. Our maps suggest to us that both the Scottish and Irish Mhac an t'Saoirs are all one family. We like the idea that our people descend from mesolithic tribes, because it gives us the dignity of nine thousand years of Irish history.

In the interests of good scholarship we hereby declare our own bias. We are declaring it because, despite our best efforts, it may colour our thinking. You may want to adjust for that.



What about the Celts?

                                                                    Thomas D'arcy McGee

Every good Irishman knows that the Irish are the Celts, and the Celts are the Irish. Well, the Celts were an exciting people. They were proud, defiant, and war-like. The Romans describe them as huge red-haired, red-bearded barbarians, with frightening blue eyes. Roman descriptions of Celtic women are even more thrilling, as these are held to be more dangerous than the men. Naturally, we all want to be Celts.

The reality is slightly less exciting. The peaceful Danubians were a fact in Ireland by about 4,000 B.C., and they quickly set about farming and nation building. Long before the first Celts had seen Ireland, most of the country, and all the good arable land, had been brought under the plough. This makes us wonder where the Celts lived when they landed?

It is a valid question, because the Celts too were farmers. They could have slaughtered the Danubian Irish to make room for themselves, but there is scant evidence of any huge battles. Certainly, to eliminate the non-Celtic people would have entailed a lot of bloodshed, for which there is also no evidence. In fact, there is no evidence of a massive Celtic invasion. It now seems more likely that the Celts arrived piece-meal, in small groups, and moved in peacefully with their new Irish neighbours. Dates for the arrival of the Celts, or Celt related peoples, vary greatly, from about 2,000 B.C to a few hundred years B.C. Hilltop forts appear in Ireland in about 1100 B.C. The appearance of fortifications and weapons could herald the arrival of the warlike and troublesome Celts, but there is no other evidence at that time.

If you look at a crowd of Irishmen, there is red hair and blue eyes to be sure, but it is certainly a minority share. If present day understanding of Irish history is close to the truth, this follows perfectly, because the Celtic share could not be more than a small minority in the Irish gene pool. The Irish are a much older people than that. Irish society had flowered and had entered its monument building phase, between 3,000 and 2,000 B.C. Archaeologists noe think the huge passage tomb at Newgrange (built of over 200,000 tonnes of rock), predates the Great Pyramid of Cheops. The Irish were using sophisticated farming methods, and building huge monuments in Ireland, thousands of years before the first Celt arrived.



Nicknames:

We will take up the subject of nicknames here, although it may seem out of context, because it may change how you understand the topics which follow.

Nicknames are as old as man himself, and are to be found nearly everywhere man is found. In Ballyholland, where there is a concentration of McAteers, the various branches of the family are all nicknamed. For example, there are the "High" McAteers, the "Do-all" McAteers, the "Connie" McAteers, and so on. The Do-all McAteers were named as a result of an interesting event, and there is a somewhat comical story which goes with the nickname. The High McAteers were so named because of their tall stature, so at first it appears that is all there is to it. However, not even nicknames are given out so lightly, and you can be sure that there was an event associated with this naming. The event may not be an important one, and it may have been forgotten, but it is significant because it nails the nickname down firmly to one moment in history. Surprisingly many nicknames have come down to us with their origin tale intact.

In any case, the nicknames have stuck, and they follow their branch of the family, usually accompanied with their own particular tale or legend, with an amazing tenacity. Today, in personal phone lists, people will be filed not under "M" for McAteer, but under say "C" for Connie. In short, the nicknames provide a way of distinguishing one branch of the family from another, and they almost replace surnames in so doing.

The point here is that we have a natural tendency to categorize people in some useful way, by assigning labels. The labels are chosen for various reasons (physical stature, an event, . .). These nicknames carry an interesting origin tale which helps you remember them, and which "nails" the name down to a particular family and at particular point in history. Once labeled, the nickname will stick to a family like glue. A lesser point is that nicknames are not thrown about casually. They seem to be awarded by some process of popular consensus.

Once you have seen nicknames in action, it is hard to believe that (a) surnames are anything other than "legalized" nicknames, and (b) that there has ever been a time in history when people did not have family names, officially or otherwise.



Saint Ciaran revisited:

Saint Ciaran is considered by many to have been the first Mhac an t'Saoir (McAteer). To be sure, his is the earliest mention of the name in recorded history. John McLaughlin has suggested that in the case of Ciaran, and several other historical bearers of the "Mhac an t'Saoir" name who followed him, that the name was actually a title, given to unusually holy men, and not a surname at all. Indeed, if it were a surname, then it is at least four centuries ahead of the general appearance of surnames in Ireland.

McLaughlin has two main reasons for thinking thus. The first is that Irish surnames very seldom came from trades - they tend to be the names of other people. The second is that surnames were not in use in the fifth century, when Saint Ciaran lived, at least not as they are in use today.

Certainly, Mhac an t'Saoir pops up in history, often separated by great stretches of time and distance, so to suggest no familial connection between one bearer of the name, and the next. It is variously translated as "son of the carpenter," "son of the wright," and "son of the artificer." In each case however, it belongs to a church man, and a particularly holly one at that. Here are some of its owners:

1. St. Ciaran mac an t-Saoir, abbot of Clonmacnoise 548 A.D. 
2. Mac an tSair, Abbot of Eanach Dubh, 767 A.D. 
3. Conall, son of the artificer, a wise man and Abbot of Beannchair 773 A.D. 
4. Maelbrigte Ua Brolchain, chief artificer of Ireland 1029 A.D. 
5. Mael Brighte, son of the wright Ua Brolcain, eminent bishop of Cell-dara 
   and of the Fifth of Leinster 1097 A.D.

Nor is "Son of the Carpenter" a title to demean a cleric - St. Joseph was a carpenter, and Christ is also referred to as such. "Mhac an t'Saoir" may have been a title representing the utmost piety and faith. To be sure, our own Saint Ciaran was a model of these virtues, among others.

McLaughlin has found Mhac an t'Saoirs throughout Irish history, from the time of Saint Ciaran right up to about the tenth century, when the name emerges as a surname in Ulster. Prior to that, each bearer was a cleric of some stature. It seems reasonable to assume that when the name did find its way into legal use as a surname, that it belonged to the descendants of one of the Mhac an t'Saoirs mentioned in history. The question is, to which one?

If you accept this reasoning, then the Mhac an t'Saoirs would have been part of some other family, or at least known by some other label, up until that surname sprang into use. Looking through ancient Irish documents, McLaughlin finds what may be the first familial use of Mhac an t'Saoir, in the tenth century. Here, in Benach barony, parish of Inver, in Donegal, the Ua Brolcains (later known as the O'Brallaghans), appear using the old Mhac an t'Saoir title apparently as a surname.

The time is right, as surnames entered general use at about that time, and the place seems right. The O'Brallaghans were a part of Cenel Feradaigh, a Cenel Eoghain sept, and trace their lineage back to Niall of the Nine Hostages, High King of Ireland, circa 400 A.D. A better pedigree is hard to imagine.

The name "Ua Brolcain" has not enjoyed a comfortable coexistence with the English tongue. MacLysaght says:

"Few Irish surnames have been more barbarously maltreated as a result of the introduction of the English language into Ireland than O'Brollachidn, which for some extraordinary reason was generally given as its anglicized form, the common English name of Bradley, though in a few places, notably in Co. Derry, it is quite rationally called . . . O'Brallaghan".

By the thirteenth century, "Mhac an t'Saoir" is well established as a surname. Michael Mhac an t'Saoir was elevated Bishop of Clogher, County Tyrone, in AD 1288, so the name must have been well established by that time. Populations of McAteers appear around Ballyshannon in Donegal by AD 1659.

Some sources of confusion:

Misspelling: We encountered an unexpected source of confusion early in our work. Folk wisdom has it that names starting with "Mc" are Irish, and those starting with "Mac" are Scottish. MacLysaght, the renowned authority on Irish names, does not agree with this famous Mc/Mac difference. He points out, correctly, that there are many exceptions to the rule, on both sides of the Irish Sea. So, in his books he has replaced "Mc" with "Mac" throughout. We understand his point, but it did cause us some confusion, as we spent some time looking for MacAteers. Bear this in mind if you are reading MacLysaght.

Divergent spelling: By now you will have noticed the rich variety of spellings of various names in this article. One of the most varied names is "O'Brolchain" which no two authors spell the same three ways! Our own Mhac an t'Saoir has produced nearly twenty-five variants, just because the various Irish authorities writing it down for the first time, interpreted sound into print differently. Conventions in spelling came much later.

Name switching: The historic interchangeability between McAteer and MacIntyre is another problem. Few other surnames suffer as much from this effect. Documentary evidence has emerged that people traveling between Ireland and Scotland, often switched between McAteer and MacIntyre, and in some cases they did so more than once in their lifetimes, as they traveled back and forth. In an ancient case dating to the 10th century, the process took about 25 years, during which an entire settlement of MacIntyres underwent metamorphosis into McAteers. Later, the process seemed to speed up, on both sides of the Irish Sea. Recent evidence, which dates back some hundreds of years, shows MacIntyres arriving in Ireland as McAteers, and McAteers transformed into MacIntyres upon their arrival in Scotland, with such alacrity that it is hard to believe the owners of the name saw much significance in the change. Interestingly, these two branches of the family had less trouble with the notion of their kinship than is the case today. The confusion is not confined to Ulster. One of the largest concentrations of McAteers outside Ireland, is around Glasgow, where there is every variant of MacIntyre and McAteer.

Misinterpretation: When our Gaelic speaking ancestors arrived in the new world, they were received in English or French, and the local authorities were not always schooled in Irish history nor even able to communicate fluently with them. Irish and Scottish immigrants often spoke only Gaelic. Naturally there followed a lot of new spellings of surnames. A number of McAteers became McAtees at this point, particularly in the U.S.

Convergent spelling: Sometimes the old Gaelic name has been progressively reinterpreted, so in Scotland we find Mac Tier, meaning "son of the wolf" and Mac an t'Saoir, meaning "son of the craftsman" both give rise to MacTier. At least some of the Mac Tires descend from Paul, Earl of Ross and Cromarty. The Mhac an t'saoirs (MacIntyres) come from Bonawe in Argyle, and Clan MacIntyre claims the MacTires as one of its derivative names. Here we have two different sources of one single present day name.

The MacDires or MacTeires of County Sligo (based on Mac Dubh Oidhar), gave rise to a line of McDwyers and McTires, who are unrelated to us. However, some McTires are believed to arise from Mhac an t'Saoir.

The MacGuintys of County Monaghan are thought to have given rise to the MacEntees, who precede the McAtees. McAtees of this line would be unrelated to our clan. There may well be other sources of McAtee though, so it is early to preclude them from the family tree.

Data loss: Loss of records is a problem to any family researcher, but in our case it is further complicated by major losses due to civil unrest, and sudden vast migrations driven by war, famine, and plague. Record keeping was the first casualty of such times. People who do not know where they are going, cannot leave a forwarding address.

The 1922 rebellion, led by Michael Collins among others, broke out in Dublin, where the rebels occupied the Four Courts. Eventually, they were surrounded and burned out, and the fire destroyed much of the genealogical data in Ireland. You will see this event mentioned frequently in genealogical circles. Unfortunately, it has worsened the break between the Irish and New World branches of many families. Often both branches will be lost to each other for a very long time. (Two such branches reconnected at the 1994 World Gathering, and I can well remember an almost electric excitement in the air at the time.)

Research methods:

Different approaches to the same problem will yield results in different ways, and according to different schedules, but if the methods are valid, they will all yield the same result. While historians tend to use historical references, we at the website use demographics. We watch world distribution maps, and we use statistics to arrive at conclusions. For example, we looked at the name "McTyre" thinking it might be a branch of our family, but it did not follow the distribution pattern typical of Ulster names. Its distribution looked more Scottish. Later, historical evidence began to suggest the McTyres might descend from Paul MacTyre, Earl of Ross, so we felt vindicated.

We find that Ulster names will appear in the US and Canada in about a seven to one ratio, although the populations of these two countries are about nine to one. There are two effects at work here. At first, the British owned the New World, and so they picked the nicest climates for themselves, and sent the Irish and the Scots elsewhere. That is why the US and New Zealand tend to be English, and Canada and Australia are more Irish and Scottish.

Later, the British sent refugees to their colonies during the Highland Clearance and the Irish Famine, so the imbalance was preserved. We thought the Tyres might be one of our septs, but Tyre is a big name in New Zealand, and rare in Canada and Australia. We therefore conclude they are not related to us.

By the same methods, it seems likely that the McAteers and MacIntyres arise from the same source. This is not a proof - only historical evidence can supply proof - and it is the only good evidence we have for suggesting such a link. McLaughlin has arrived at the opposite conclusion, based on historical inference, but he does not claim a proof either. So, the question is still open to debate, and is treated in later articles.

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