McSweeney is a surname of Norse-Gaelic origin. It is the Anglicized form of the Gaelic Mac Sween or Swein, meaning "son of Suibhne". Despite claims that the personal name Suibhne is of Irish origin and derived from suibneus, suaimhneas, meaning "easy-going", or "pleasant", the eponymous ancestor of the McSweeneys was of Norse-Gaelic descent. According to the Annals of Tigernacht, Swein, Son of Cinaid (Kenneth), King of the Gal-Gaidhil, Died 1034 AD. Claims of the McSweeneys being of Irish origin and descendants of the O'Neills are entirely false and would appear to have been made up for two purposes - firstly to smooth their way into medieval Tyr Connail, where they conquered territory and became kingmakers, protectors and fosterers to the O'Donnells, who ruled that part of Ireland, and secondly, so it wouldn't appear that the O'Neills were having to rely on foreigners to do their fighting for them - especially as the 'cessing' of galoglas
warriors would have been costly to the local population, as each man would have been awarded land and cattle. Although the McSweeneys undoubtedly had Irish connections going back centuries, Swein was actually a descendant of the Ui Imair, or House of Ivar (The 'Boneless'). Notable people with the surname include:
Ailis McSweeney (born 1983), Irish sprinter specialising in the 100 metre event
Alex McSweeney, British actor who appeared on the TV show EastEnders (2003–2004)
Alf McSweeney, printer who founded the magazine Race Walking Record in 1941, and edited the magazine for 16 years
Barry McSweeney, Irish scientist and the first Chief Science Advisor to the Government of Ireland
Dave McSweeney (born 1981), English footballer, senior career began in 2000
This page lists people with the surnameMcSweeney. If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.
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Irish people are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common history and culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has been continually inhabited for more than 10,000 years. For most of Ireland's recorded history, the Irish have been primarily a Gaelic people. From the 9th century, small numbers of Vikings settled in Ireland, becoming the Norse-Gaels. Anglo-Normans also conquered parts of Ireland in the 12th century, while England's 16th/17th century conquest and colonisation of Ireland brought many English and Lowland Scots to parts of the island, especially the north. Today, Ireland is made up of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The people of Northern Ireland hold various national identities including British, Irish, Northern Irish or some combination thereof.
Neil is a masculine name of Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish Niall which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion". As a surname, Neil is traced back to Niall of the Nine Hostages who was an Irish king and eponymous ancestor of the Uí Néill and MacNeil kindred. Most authorities cite the meaning of Neil in the context of a surname as meaning "champion".
McClintock is a surname of Scottish and Irish Gaelic origin deriving from an anglicization of a Gaelic name variously recorded as M'Ilandick, M'Illandag, M'Illandick, M'Lentick, McGellentak, Macilluntud, McClintoun, and Mac Illiuntaig from the 14th century onward. The name is found mostly in County Donegal. The surname "McClinton" is an anglicization of the same Gaelic name. Notable people with the surname include:
Ciarán or Ciaran is a traditionally male given name of Irish origin. It means "little dark one" or "little dark-haired one", produced by appending a diminutive suffix to ciar. It is the masculine version of the name Ciara.
Curtin is a surname which is most common in the Province of Munster in Ireland. It takes several variant forms transliterated from the Irish language, such as: Mac Cruitín, Mac Curtain or Ó Cruitin, most of which are anglicised as Curtin. The literal translated meaning of the Irish elements of the name are Mac + Cruit + -ín, hence Little Hunchback, or Little Crooked One, but also Son of the Harp, or One associated with the art of the Irish Harp, which ties in with a traditional role in Gaelic culture. It is believed there are multiple Curtin families with different origins, the most famous of which is the bardic family which stems from Co. Clare. In the census of 1659 in Counties Cork, Kerry and Limerick similar sounding names such as Mac Curatine and O' Curataine were treated as synonymous although they are not the same clan. Curtayne is a variant surname chiefly in south Munster.
Cotter is a surname that originates in England and Ireland. It can also be an Anglicization, chiefly in North America, of a similar-sounding German surname.
Clan Sweeney is an Irish clan of Scottish origin. The Mac Suibhne family did not permanently settle in Ireland before the beginning of the 14th century, when they became Gallowglass soldiers for the Ua Domnaill dynasty of Tír Chonaill. The clan also claims an Irish descent from a prince of the Uí Néill dynasty, Ánrothán Ua Néill, son of Áed, son of Flaithbertach Ua Néill, King of Ailech and Cenél nEógain, died 1036. Through this descent the clan can claim a descent from Niall Noigíallach.
Castle Sween, also known as Caisteal Suibhne, and Caistéal Suibhne, is located on the eastern shore of Loch Sween, in Knapdale, south of the forestry village of Achnamara on the west coast of Argyll, Scotland. Castle Sween is thought to be one of the earliest stone castles built in Scotland, having been built in the late 11th century. The castle's towers were later additions to wooden structures which have since vanished.
McGowan is an Irish and Scottish surname. It is an Anglicization of the Irish Mac Gabhann and Scottish surname Mac Gobhann. Belonging to the Uí Echach Cobo, located in modern-day County Down in the east of Ulster, they produced several over-kings of Ulaid. By the late 12th century, the English had expelled the McGowans to Tír Chonaill in the west of Ulster, to Breffny and to Galloway in Scotland.
The O'Neill dynasty are a lineage of Irish Gaelic origin that held prominent positions and titles in Ireland and elsewhere. As kings of Cenél nEógain, they were historically one of the most prominent family of the Northern Uí Néill, along with the O'Donnell dynasty. Some O'Neills state that their ancestors were kings of Ailech during the Early Middle Ages, as descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages.
Sweeney is a surname that is of Irish origin, derived from the Gaelic Mac Suibhne meaning "son of Suibhne". The Gaelic personal name Suibhne was originally a byname meaning "pleasant" or "well-disposed" and is associated with Clan Sweeney.
The surname Finn has several origins. In some cases it is derived from the Irish Ó Finn, meaning "descendant of Fionn"; the byname means "white" or "fair-haired". In other cases it is derived from the Old Norse Finnr, a personal name sometimes derived from a byname, or else from compound names beginning with this word element. In other cases Finn is a German surname derived from an ethnic name referring to people from Finland. Notable people sharing the surname are listed below.
McQueen, Mcqueen, and MacQueen, Macqueen are English-language surnames derived from Scottish Gaelic. There have been several differing etymologies given for the surnames; as well as several differing ways to represent the surname in modern Scottish Gaelic. The surnames are not among the most common surnames in the United Kingdom, Australia, nor the United States.
MacSween and McSween are surnames of Gaelic origin. People with those surnames include:
Suibhne mac Duinnshléibhe was a late 12th-century, and early 13th-century, lord in Argyll. He does not appear in contemporary records, although his name appears in the patronymic names of two of his sons. Suibhne appears in the 16th century Leabhar Chlainne Suibhne, which documents the early history of Clann Suibhne. This account claims that he is the ancestor of Irish clan, and that he was the builder of Castle Sween in Knapdale, Argyll. However, other sources suggest the castle was built in the late 11th century by Suibhne MacAnrahan, brother of the High King of Ireland. Suibhne is said to be identical to the "Swineruo", or Suibhne Ruadh, recorded in the Ane Accompt of the Genealogie of the Campbells, a 17th-century Clan Campbell genealogy.
Coyne is a surname of Irish origin anglicised from the Gaelic Ó Cadhain meaning "descendant of Cadhan".
Dubhghall mac Suibhne was a Scottish landholder in Argyll, and a leading member of Clann Suibhne. He was a son of Suibhne mac Duinn Shléibhe, and appears to have held lordship of Knapdale from at least the 1240s to the 1260s, and may have initiated the construction of Skipness Castle and Lochranza Castle.
The Gaelic surname Mac Suibhne is a patronymic form of Suibhne and means "son of Suibhne". The personal name Suibhne means "pleasant".
Eóin Mac Suibhne was a fourteenth-century Scottish nobleman and a leading member of Clann Suibhne. In the middle of the thirteenth century, seemingly during the 1260s, Eóin's family appears to have been ejected from its homeland in Argyll by the Stewart/Menteith kindred. It may have been during this period that members of Clann Suibhne took up residence in Ireland.
McKinley, MacKinley or Mackinlay is a Scottish and Irish surname historically associated with northwestern Ireland's County Donegal, the over-kingdom of Ulaid in northeastern Ireland and the Scottish Highlands.
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