surnames.ie

Irish surname · 71st most common in 1911

McDonnell

Also spelt MacDonnell

McDonnell is from the Gaelic Mac Domhnaill, 'son of Domhnall'. Most Irish McDonnells descend from the Scottish Clan Donald, whose gallowglass captains settled in Ireland and whose Antrim branch, the MacDonnells of the Glens, became Earls of Antrim. Smaller native families of the name lived in Fermanagh and Clare.

Irish Mac Domhnaill · Mac DónaillIrish Mac Dhomhnaill · Mac Dhónaill
1901 census
8,966
#72 · 20 per 10,000
1911 census
8,860
#71 · 20 per 10,000
1926 census
7,293
#68 · 25 per 10,000
Most numerous
Dublin
Highest share: Mayo

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

Scottish & Gaelic Mainly Scottish Gaelic, from the Clan Donald of the Isles, with two smaller native Irish families of the same name in Fermanagh and Thomond.[1][2]

Mac Domhnaill
Modern spelling: Mac Dónaill
“son of Domhnall”[1][3][4]
Woulfe's headword, which he gives as the source of MacDonnell and MacDonald alike. Gaois gives Mac Dónaill as the modern spelling.
Mac Dhomhnaill
Modern spelling: Mac Dhónaill
“son of Domhnall (spoken form)”[5][3]
Woulfe says this form, with the D softened, was usual in speech even where the name was written MacDonnell, which explains the English MacConnell. In Mayo he heard it pronounced Ó Comhnaill.

The name is built on the personal name Domhnall, usually explained as “world-mighty”. Woulfe's gloss; Wikipedia breaks it into elements meaning 'world' and 'might' or 'rule'. The same name, usually anglicised Donald or Daniel, also lies behind O'Donnell.[1][4][6]

Pronunciation

McDonnell: mak-DON-ul

Place

Where the McDonnells lived

How common the name was in each county, as a share of the population, in the three surviving full censuses of Ireland. Use the buttons to compare years.

Donegal: 3.1 per 10,000 (52 people) Waterford: 8.7 per 10,000 (72 people) Dublin: 34.9 per 10,000 (1,676 people) Kilkenny: 13.2 per 10,000 (99 people) Carlow: 17.1 per 10,000 (62 people) Limerick: 22.4 per 10,000 (321 people) Louth: 60.8 per 10,000 (383 people) Tipperary: 14.2 per 10,000 (216 people) Roscommon: 50.4 per 10,000 (474 people) Meath: 35.3 per 10,000 (230 people) Wicklow: 18.7 per 10,000 (114 people) Cavan: 16.3 per 10,000 (149 people) Cork: 14.1 per 10,000 (556 people) Clare: 23.1 per 10,000 (241 people) Galway: 23 per 10,000 (419 people) Mayo: 81.3 per 10,000 (1,562 people) Sligo: 18.3 per 10,000 (145 people) Leitrim: 3.5 per 10,000 (22 people) Offaly: 10 per 10,000 (57 people) Laois: 15.9 per 10,000 (87 people) Kildare: 9.4 per 10,000 (63 people) Kerry: 9.6 per 10,000 (153 people) Monaghan: 16.8 per 10,000 (120 people) Wexford: 1.5 per 10,000 (15 people) Longford: 23.5 per 10,000 (103 people) Westmeath: 25.1 per 10,000 (151 people) Tyrone: 11.3 per 10,000 (162 people) Antrim: 11.6 per 10,000 (553 people) Armagh: 18.1 per 10,000 (217 people) Fermanagh: 19.6 per 10,000 (119 people) Londonderry: 7.4 per 10,000 (103 people) Down: 5.4 per 10,000 (164 people)
fewerup to 86 per 10,000

Share of each county's census population. 1926 covers the 26 counties of the Irish Free State only.

Highest concentration · 1911

Mayo

81 per 10,000

1,562 McDonnells · 4.03× the national share

Highest share, 1911

  1. Mayo 81
  2. Louth 61
  3. Roscommon 50
  4. Meath 35
  5. Dublin 35
  6. Westmeath 25
  7. Longford 24
  8. Clare 23

Per 10,000 residents. A concentration index above 1 means the name was commoner there than nationally.

County figures as a table
County190119111926Per 10k 1901Per 10k 1911Per 10k 1926
Antrim602553—1312—
Armagh188217—1518—
Carlow1026282271724
Cavan99149110101613
Clare293241221262323
Cork581556488151413
Donegal575246333
Down177164—65—
Dublin1,4231,6761,778323536
Fermanagh114119—1820—
Galway475419337252320
Kerry19315312512108
Kildare806310413918
Kilkenny9699115131316
Laois10787118191623
Leitrim312240547
Limerick327321250222218
Londonderry97103—77—
Longford117103125252431
Louth375383457586173
Mayo1,5441,5621,479788186
Meath260230219373535
Monaghan135120117181718
Offaly675762111012
Roscommon535474383535046
Sligo164145119201817
Tipperary167216174101412
Tyrone145162—1011—
Waterford567249696
Westmeath162151134262524
Wexford501532523
Wicklow147114129251923

Local strongholds in 1911

District Electoral Divisions (300+ residents) where McDonnells made up the largest share of the population. In Kilcar, Co. Roscommon, about one resident in 10 was a McDonnell.

DEDCountyMcDonnellsShare
KilcarRoscommon43 10.3%
BarrooskeyMayo33 8.6%
Kilfian, EastMayo48 8.1%
Belderg MoreMayo43 7.8%
GlenamoyMayo32 7.2%
BallycastleMayo84 7.0%
MullaryLouth52 6.9%
DysartRoscommon35 6.1%

Origins

Septs & territories

Many Irish surnames were adopted independently by unrelated families. These are the distinct McDonnell lineages described in the sources.

A surname can point you towards a place. On its own, it cannot establish a pedigree.

MacDonnells of Antrim (of the Glens)

the Glens of Antrim and the Route · Antrim

An Irish branch of the Scottish Clan Donald, first part of the MacDonalds of Dunnyveg and a separate line from 1558, when Sorley Boy MacDonnell obtained the Irish lordship from his brother James, chief of Dunnyveg. They took over the Bisset lordship of the Glens after 1522 and drove the MacQuillans out of the Route. Their chiefs became Earls of Antrim in 1620.[2][1][7][8]

McDonnells of Murlough and Kilmore

Murlough and Kilmore, in the Glens of Antrim · Antrim

Burke records this family as belonging to the Clan Ian Vohr and descending from Coll Kittach, a chief put to death by Argyll in 1647. A Dublin baronetcy created in 1872 for Alexander McDonnell, of this family, became extinct in 1875.[9]

Gallowglass MacDonnells of Leinster

Leix (Laois) and Wicklow · Laois, Wicklow

Woulfe describes the MacDonnells who came to Ireland in the 14th and 15th centuries as leaders of gallowglasses, rewarded with land for their service. One group had settled in Leinster by about the mid-15th century and acquired large estates in Leix and Wicklow.[1][10]

MacDonnells of Clankelly

Clann Cheallaigh (Clankelly barony) · Fermanagh

A Fermanagh family who were chiefs of Clankelly. Woulfe notes they were still a distinct clan with their own chief at the end of the 16th century, and Wikipedia's article on the barony also records the MacDonnell sept there.[1][11]

MacDonnells of Thomond

Thomond · Clare

Woulfe, citing Dr O'Brien's Irish dictionary, says this family was a branch of the O'Briens, descended from Domhnall, son of Muirchertach Mór O'Brien, King of Ireland. Woulfe gives no lands for them.[1]

The name over time

History

Son of Domhnall

Mac Domhnaill means 'son of Domhnall', from one of the oldest and most widely used Gaelic personal names, which Woulfe translates as 'world-mighty'. The patronymic was formed independently more than once, and Woulfe distinguishes three unrelated families: the MacDonalds or MacDonnells of Scotland, a Fermanagh family who were chiefs of Clankelly, and a Thomond family he believed was a branch of the O'Briens. The Scottish line is by far the largest, and Woulfe considered most Irish MacDonnells to belong to it.[1][4]

Clan Donald and the gallowglasses

The Scottish family took its name from Domhnall, a grandson of Somerled, the 12th-century ruler of Argyll, and its chiefs later held the lordship of the Isles. From the 14th century MacDonnells crossed to Ireland as gallowglasses, the heavily armoured professional soldiers employed by Irish lords; Wikipedia lists them after the MacSweeneys among the main gallowglass families. Woulfe says they served as a clan under their own chiefs and were paid in land, forming a settlement in Leinster by the mid-15th century. Offshoots such as the MacSheehys and MacSorleys grew into surnames of their own.[1][10][12][13]

How the Glens came to the MacDonnells

The Antrim MacDonnells descend from John Mór, son of John of Islay, Lord of the Isles, who married an heiress of the Bissets, lords of the Glens of Antrim. The MacDonnells later claimed that the Glens came with her as a dowry, but Wikipedia notes that the Bissets kept the lordship until their last known chief was killed in 1522. Only then did the MacDonnells take control, and Woulfe dates their permanent settlement in Antrim to about 1520. They became a branch separate from the Dunnyveg MacDonalds in 1558.[2][1][14][15]

Sorley Boy MacDonnell

The founder of MacDonnell power in Ulster was Sorley Boy (Somhairle Buidhe, 'yellow-haired'), born at Dunaneeny Castle near Ballycastle. Given the lordship of the Route in 1558, he pushed the MacQuillans out and took Dunluce Castle. He was captured by Shane O'Neill in 1565 and held until 1567, when the MacDonnells killed O'Neill at Cushendun. In July 1575 English forces under Francis Drake and John Norris massacred his followers' families on Rathlin Island. He recovered Dunluce in 1585, submitted in Dublin in 1586 and died in 1590.[7][16][17][18]

Earls and Marquesses of Antrim

Sorley Boy's son Randal fought alongside Tyrone in the Nine Years' War but later made his peace, becoming Viscount Dunluce in 1618 and Earl of Antrim in 1620; he completed a new castle at Glenarm shortly before his death in 1636. His son, also Randal, was a Catholic royalist made Marquess of Antrim in 1645, who sponsored Alasdair Mac Colla's expedition to Scotland. The family backed James II, and the 3rd Earl was attainted in 1689 but restored in 1697. Glenarm Castle remains the seat of the Earls of Antrim, whose title passed through the female line in 1791.[8][19][20][2][15]

Other Irish MacDonnells

Not every MacDonnell is of Scottish descent. The MacDonnells of Clankelly in Fermanagh still had their own chief in the late 16th century, and the Thomond family traced itself to the O'Briens. Burke records arms taken from a monument in MacDonnell's chapel in Ross Abbey, Co. Galway, for a Connacht family of the name. The 18th-century Irish-language poet Seán Clárach Mac Domhnaill was known in English as John MacDonnell Claragh. Because Mac Domhnaill was so widespread, a family's county is the best guide to which line it belongs to.[1][11][9][21]

Places linked to the name

  • Glens of Antrim, Co. Antrim — Former Bisset lordship that became the heartland of the MacDonnells of the Glens.[2][1]
  • Dunluce Castle, Co. Antrim — MacQuillan stronghold taken by Sorley Boy, later the seat of the Earls of Antrim until its abandonment after 1690.[18][7]
  • Dunaneeny Castle (Dún an Aonaigh), Co. Antrim — Castle near Ballycastle where Sorley Boy was born; home of the Dunnyveg and Antrim chiefs.[7][22]
  • Glenarm Castle, Co. Antrim — Castle completed by the 1st Earl of Antrim in 1636 and still the family seat.[15][8]
  • Rathlin Island, Co. Antrim — Scene of the 1575 massacre of the families and followers of the MacDonnells.[17][7]
  • Clankelly (Clann Cheallaigh), Co. Fermanagh — Barony of the native Fermanagh MacDonnells.[11][1]

Everyday lives

The McDonnells in the census

Who the McDonnells were in the 1901 and 1911 censuses (and 1926 where recorded), set against everyone in Ireland in the same census.

McDonnells All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the McDonnell bar

Religion, 1911

Catholic +23.5 points vs Ireland
McDonnells 97.1%
All of Ireland 73.6%
Church of Ireland −11.6 points vs Ireland
McDonnells 1.6%
All of Ireland 13.2%
Presbyterian −9.1 points vs Ireland
McDonnells 1.0%
All of Ireland 10.1%
Methodist & other −2.8 points vs Ireland
McDonnells 0.3%
All of Ireland 3.1%

Irish language

Spoke Irish, 1901 +4.1 points vs Ireland
McDonnells 19.4%
All of Ireland 15.3%
Spoke Irish, 1911 +4.6 points vs Ireland
McDonnells 18.1%
All of Ireland 13.5%
Spoke Irish, 1926 · 26 counties +1.0 points vs Ireland
McDonnells 14.5%
All of Ireland 13.5%

40 McDonnells spoke Irish only in 1901.

Reading & writing

Could read and write, 1901 · aged 15+ −0.6 points vs Ireland
McDonnells 79.8%
All of Ireland 80.4%
Could read and write, 1911 · aged 15+ −1.1 points vs Ireland
McDonnells 84.7%
All of Ireland 85.8%

Family life, 1911

Household size · 1,889 households higher than Ireland
McDonnells 5.19
All of Ireland 4.83
Children born per mother · women 45–59 higher than Ireland
McDonnells 6.64
All of Ireland 6.46
Children still living −1.9 points vs Ireland
McDonnells 77.9%
All of Ireland 79.8%

Commonest occupations

Adults aged 15+, 1901 and 1911 combined.

Farmer1,658
Farmer's son817
Farmer's daughter473
General labourer281
Agricultural labourer226
House keeper205
Farm labourer189
Farm servant165
Labourer163
Domestic servant150

Born outside Ireland

1.3% of McDonnells in 1911 gave a birthplace outside Ireland.

England78
Scotland18
United States13
India3
Wales1

Median age: 24 in 1901, 26 in 1911.

Given names

First names among the McDonnells

Men and boys

  1. John1,730
  2. Patrick1,443
  3. James1,317
  4. Michael1,069
  5. Thomas902
  6. William414
  7. Joseph314
  8. Edward292
  9. Peter252
  10. Martin218

Women and girls

  1. Mary2,189
  2. Bridget1,119
  3. Margaret701
  4. Ellen584
  5. Catherine568
  6. Annie534
  7. Kate433
  8. Anne383
  9. Elizabeth288
  10. Maggie231

All three censuses combined. Top five in 1926: John, Patrick, James, Michael, Thomas; Mary, Bridget, Margaret, Annie, Ellen.

Spellings

Spellings

This page combines the spellings below, which census enumerators and families used for the same name.

Spelling190119111926Records
McDonnell8,6648,5777,113Search
MacDonnell302283180Search

Related forms

  • MacDonnell — The fuller spelling of the same name, used by the Earls of Antrim before 1836.[4][8]
  • McConnell, MacConnell — From the spoken form Mac Dhomhnaill. Wikipedia notes that many McConnells belong to the Antrim family and that Sorley Boy himself used a form of McConnell.[5][2][3]
  • MacDonald — Another English form of Mac Domhnaill and the usual Scottish spelling for Clan Donald; treated as a separate family page here.[1][4][3]
  • MacDaniel, Donaldson — Less common English forms of Mac Domhnaill listed by Woulfe.[1]
  • MacSorley, MacSheehy — Surnames of branches of the Scottish MacDonnells that settled in Ireland.[13][12]
  • Albanach (Scott) — A general Irish term for Scottish gallowglasses, especially MacDonnells, which Woulfe says became a surname.[23]

Diaspora

The McDonnells abroad

Emigration carried the name worldwide. In the 2010 United States census:

SpellingPeopleUS rank
McDonnell14,3092532nd
MacDonnell71432268th

Source: US Census Bureau, 2010 surname file (public domain).

Heraldry

Is there a McDonnell coat of arms?

Arms belong to individuals and families, so there is no single McDonnell crest. Burke's General Armory gives the Earls of Antrim a quartered shield with a red lion rampant on gold, an arm from a cloud holding a blue cross crosslet, a black galley (lymphad) on silver and a dolphin, with the motto 'Sero sed serio'. Burke gives similar quarterings and the motto 'Toujours prêt' to the McDonnells of Murlough, and different arms with a galley and a salmon to a Connacht MacDonnell family.[9]

Websites selling a single “McDonnell family crest” are selling a design, not an inheritance. Arms in Ireland belonged to individuals and their heirs, and the Chief Herald of Ireland still grants arms that way today.

People

Notable people named McDonnell

Questions

Questions about the McDonnell name

Is McDonnell Irish or Scottish?

Usually both. McDonnell is an Irish spelling of Mac Domhnaill, and Woulfe believed most Irish McDonnells descend from the Scottish Clan Donald, whose gallowglass leaders settled in Ireland from the 14th century and whose Antrim branch still holds Glenarm Castle in the Glens. There were also native Irish McDonnells in Fermanagh and in Thomond.[1][2][15]

What is McDonnell in Irish?

The traditional form is Mac Domhnaill, 'son of Domhnall', written Mac Dónaill in modern spelling. In speech the D was often softened, giving Mac Dhomhnaill, which Woulfe says was usual even for families who wrote the name MacDonnell.[1][5][3]

Are McDonnell and McDonald the same name?

They are English forms of the same Gaelic surname, Mac Domhnaill, and Woulfe and Gaois list both. The Antrim MacDonnells are a branch of Clan Donald, whose Scottish members generally write MacDonald, and Sorley Boy himself also appears as MacDonald. The spelling a family uses does not prove a different origin, though McDonald is treated as its own family page on this site.[1][3][2][7]

Are McDonnell and O'Donnell related?

Not as families. Both come from the personal name Domhnall, but O'Donnell is Ó Domhnaill, 'descendant of Domhnall', the name of the rulers of Tír Chonaill and several other Irish septs. McDonnell is Mac Domhnaill, mostly of Clan Donald. The two did intermarry: Iníon Dubh, a MacDonald of Dunnyveg, was the mother of Red Hugh O'Donnell.[6][1][24]

Are McDonnell and McConnell the same name?

Often. Woulfe explains that Mac Domhnaill was commonly pronounced Mac Dhomhnaill, which was written MacConnell. Wikipedia notes that many McConnells belong to the same Antrim family as the McDonnells and that the clan's leaders, including Sorley Boy, used forms of McConnell until the 17th century.[5][2]

Is there a McDonnell family crest or motto?

Not one for every McDonnell. Burke records the arms of the Earls of Antrim, featuring a lion, a hand holding a cross, a galley and a dolphin, with the motto 'Sero sed serio'. The McDonnells of Murlough used similar arms with the motto 'Toujours prêt', and a Connacht family had quite different arms. Each belonged to a particular family.[9]

Where in Ireland is the McDonnell surname most common?

In the 1911 census the largest numbers of McDonnells lived in Dublin (1,676), Mayo (1,562), Cork (556). Relative to population, the name was most concentrated in Mayo (81 per 10,000), Louth (61 per 10,000), Roscommon (50 per 10,000).

How common was the McDonnell surname in Ireland?

8,860 people were recorded as McDonnell or MacDonnell in the 1911 census of Ireland, making it the 71st most common surname. That is roughly 0.2% of the population, or 1 person in 495.

Looking for a McDonnell ancestor?

Search every McDonnell household in the 1901, 1911 and 1926 censuses, with free images of the original forms.

Search records on irishcensus.com

Evidence

Sources

  1. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Domhnaill, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  2. Wikipedia, MacDonnell of Antrim (2026)
  3. Gaois, Dublin City University, Sloinnte: Irish surnames database (cluster 'Dónal', Mac Dónaill) (2022)
  4. Wikipedia, MacDonnell (2026)
  5. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Dhomhnaill, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  6. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Domhnaill, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  7. Wikipedia, Sorley Boy MacDonnell (2026)
  8. Wikipedia, Earl of Antrim (2026)
  9. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). Entries 'McDonnell (Earl of Antrim)', 'McDonnell (Murlough and Kilmore)', 'McDonnell (Dublin, bart.)' and 'Mac Donnell (Connaught)'.
  10. Wikipedia, Gallowglass (2026)
  11. Wikipedia, Clankelly (2026)
  12. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Síthigh, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  13. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Somhairle, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  14. Patrick Woulfe, Biséid, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  15. Wikipedia, Glenarm Castle (2026)
  16. Dictionary of Irish Biography, MacDonnell, Sorley Boy
  17. Wikipedia, Rathlin Island massacre (2026)
  18. Wikipedia, Dunluce Castle (2026)
  19. Wikipedia, Randal MacDonnell, 1st Earl of Antrim (2026)
  20. Wikipedia, Randal MacSorley MacDonnell, Marquess of Antrim (2026)
  21. Wikipedia, Seán "Clárach" Mac Domhnaill (2026)
  22. Wikipedia, Dunaneeny Castle (2026)
  23. Patrick Woulfe, Albanach, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  24. Wikipedia, Iníon Dubh (2026)
  25. Census of Ireland 1901 and 1911, and Census of Population 1926, National Archives of Ireland. Counts compiled by surnames.ie from the irishcensus.com transcription (dataset 20260831130351). 1926 data © National Archives of Ireland, CC BY 4.0.

How we compile these figures: methodology.