Mac Giolla Fhinnéin

Rev Patrick Woulfe

Irish Names and Surnames

1923

Mac GIOLLA FHINNÉIN—IV—M'Gillinnion, M'Elinnan, M'Elynan, M'Linnen, MacAlinion, MacAlinon, MacAleenan, MacLennan, Gillinnion, (Leonard), &c; 'son of Giolla Fhinnéin' (servant of St. Finnian); a variant of Mac Giolla Fhindéin, which see. This family, which O'Donovan calls the most royal in Ireland, belongs by race to the Cinel Conaill, and is a branch of the ancient and once powerful family of O'Muldory, being descended from Giolla Finnein O'Muldory who flourished towards the end of the 11th century. Their patrimony was Muinntear Feodachain, on the borders of Fermanagh and Donegal, and their chief was sometimes styled 'Lord of Loch Erne.' The family is still numerous in the west of Co. Fermanagh, but the name is often anglicised Leonard, which disguises its origin. This is also a Scottish surname, but the Scots write it Mac Gill'innein.

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