Fáilte a Chur Roimh an Tir Chlainn Domhnaill Oighreachd

That is, "Welcome to the lands of Clan Donald Heritage" in Gaelic, our ancestors' native language.  The purpose of this web site is to provide information of interest to those with ancestors named Macdonald, McDonald, McDonough, MacDonell, McConnell, McDaniel, Donaldson or any of the other English spellings of the original Gaelic name        mhic domhnaill.  There are also hundreds of family names  associated with Clan Donald and its branches that together make us the largest of the Highland clans.   The Top Menu (across the top of each page) contains links to the major categories of this web site such as the article on Donald of Islay which provides a history of the man from whom we get our surname.  Brief histories of each branch of Clan Donald can be viewed by clicking on the appropriate crest on the left border of each page or clicking  "Branches" on the top menu.  That article provides an explanation of why Clan Donald is made up of branches.  This is our heritage.

This web site is based upon Donald J. Macdonald's authoritative history of Clan Donald.   Alongside the text this site provides original online maps, photographs, and the Armadale video of ancient Clan Donald lands so those who have never seen their ancestral lands may virtually experience them, and those who have experienced them may relive their experience here.  This site is not affiliated with any Clan Donald society and its content does not necessarily convey the official policies of any official Clan Donald organization, but we encourage you to find and become involved in your local Clan Donald organization.  We have provided links to the official Clan Donald, USA,  Clan Donald, Canada, Clan Donald,UK,  Australia, and New Zealand, web sites to that end.   All of these organizations are under the direction of the High Council of Clan Donald Chiefs.   There are Regional Clan Donald web sites on the Clan Donald, USA and the Clan Donald Australia web sites that include calendars of local Clan Donald events.   Becoming involved in activities in your area is the best way to keep your heritage alive.   This web site is not just a history.   The object of this web site is to provide information to those in  Clan Donald today about the traditions and culture of their ancestors in an entertaining, multimedia format that will stimulate discussion between generations and within Clan Donald organizations.  We have a proud heritage and a responsibility to convey our heritage to our children & grandchildren as our ancestors did for over a thousand years.  The Gaelic word oighreachd (pronounced & sometimes spelled eiraght) means "heritage" in the sense of expectation, responsibility, or inheritance more than just one's ancestry.   By learning about our ancestors' culture we learn something significant about ourselves. 

We gain an understanding of our ancestors by learning about their culture, their language, and where they lived.   We will learn much about our ancestors by looking at the land which was so much a part of them, the  legends they taught their youth, and the stories told by ancient seanchaidh (pronounced shawn-a-eh, Gaelic meaning oral historians).   The meaning of Gaelic  words is provided to help you better understand the significance of place-names, slogans, and titles in your ancestors' culture that were very different from its contemporary cultures, and often many centuries ahead of its time.   For example the 12th century Kingdom of the Isles had a public education system and had elected, representative leadership not found in their contemporary European feudal kingdoms.    Their neighbors saw these differences as barbaric.  Our ancestors lived in an extremely violent age that does appear much less civilized than our current environment, but their so called "civilized" neighbors were every bit as violent as our ancestors.  

Many histories of the Highlands ignored or misinterpreted Celtic culture in order to justify the British government's punitive actions against the Highlanders.  In 1978 Donald J. Macdonald compiled a beautiful history of Clan Donald that used the oldest surviving 14th-17th century Gaelic documents to traverse the treacherous, boggy moor that centuries of misinformation had created.  In the introduction to his work, Donald J. Macdonald gave  considerable attention to the legend of  Cú chulainn (Gaelic = Chulainn's hound).  He explained  that legend's significance to Clan Donald and why it is important for us to study these legends.  They provide a window into our ancestors' Celtic crofts and an ear to the songs sung on their galleys where genealogy, cultural values, and their life's ambitions were planted in the fertile minds of the young.  We live in an age of more knowledge being available to more people than ever before.  With modern Internet resources literally at our fingertips we have greater opportunity to study the original documents than any previous generation.  This web site provides links to Donald J. Macdonald's original sources and other ancient Gaelic texts so you may study it out for yourself and come to your own conclusions.   

An underlined, brown word indicates a link to additional information concerning that word at another web site or another page of this web site (i.e. clicking on the word tartan will take you to the "Tartan Gallery" within this web site). Then you just click the back arrow at the top of your screen to return to the page you were reading.

                                     There is much more to Clan Donald Heritage

Major topics are listed on the menu at the top of each page.  Related articles and announcements are listed at the bottom of each category. The Clan Donald Heritage search engine at the top of each page can search out any topic addressed in the pages of this web site.   For example if you type in "Somerled" it will pull up 24 articles on this site about our ancestor including one entitled "Somhairlidh or Somerled?"  which considers the preference of our ancestor's original Gaelic name and how it became "Somerled" or the article that reveals "What Somhairlidh May Mean in Gaelic".  You may view the site map with a summary of every page of Clan Donald Heritage by typing "site map"in the search box or clicking on "site map" .  To find out about the webmaster of this site click on About Us.