Joined: May 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 546 Location: Armoy Karma: 2
McShannons of Kintyre « Thread Started on Jun 20, 2008, 6:55am »
Posted by emdee on 19th June 2008
Quote:
There is a bit of history attaching to the McShannons, my mother’s family, with connections to Ireland, Sanda and Kintyre. The name itself is one of the oldest Kintyre names, and the family is reputed to be originally descended from the followers of St Senchan, who came over from Ireland in the 6th Century. It is said that he had 12 followers, all holy men.
St Senchan apparently had his church at the Southend location of Kilmashenachan, which is on the mainland and more or less opposite the island of Sanda. When he died, his remains were buried in St Ninian’s chapel on the island of Sanda,within sight of both Kilmashenachan and Ireland.
The McShannon name has gone through all sorts of changes of spelling over the centuries.
The McShannons became hereditary harpers to the Clan Donald, Lords of the Isles from the 14th till the 16th Centuries, and operated from Dunaverty Castle at Southend and Dun Naomhaig on Islay. (The musical tradition in the family goes back a long way!) They had lots of tenancies in the Southend area over the centuries, but these have all long gone. I have a family tree that was researched by one of my uncles a number of years ago, and it traces the name back to 1505.
Re: McShannons of Kintyre « Reply #1 on Jun 20, 2008, 10:36am »
As far as I know, the name is peculiar to Kintyre, but to anyone hearing it for the first time, they automatically take it to be Irish (which historically it is, of course)
I have never tried to find out before, but does the name exist in Ireland? I am thinking about the River Shannon and possible connections with the place name.
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