Clan MacNeil
The Clan MacNeil of Barra is the oldest Scottish Clan: we can trace our ancestry back to king Niall of the Nine Hostages in Ireland in 379AD. The clan chief lives in Kisimul Castle: although the castle was at one time sold to raise money to pay off debts, and allowed to fall into disrepair, it was later re-purchased by the American-born Robert Lister MacNeil in 1937 and restored.
The clan motto is Vincere Vel More which means Conquer or Die. It is our proud boast that Kisimul was never captured by an enemy.
There are various branches of the clan, including MacNeil, O'Neil, and Neill. The "Mac" is optional; it means "Son of"; similarly, "O'" means "Grandson of". Our particular branch of the family has the surname "Neill". The "Mac" was dropped as a consequence of political pressure exerted on the Scots by the English. The extra "l" was added by James Neil between the birth of his sons Thomas Neil in October 1818 and David Neill in June 1821. Presumably, this was because he wanted to distinguish our branch of the family from the rest of the MacNeils. Interestingly, the family bible is labelled on the inside cover as "The Family Bible of Thomas Neill, born Saltcoats 10.11.1818".
- Legend has it that every evening, the 35th Chief, Rory the Turbulent, would send a herald and trumpeter to the battlements of Kisimul to proclaim to each point of the compass: "Hear, oh ye people, and listen oh ye nations! The Great MacNeil of Barra having finished his meal, the princes of the world may dine!"
- One rival clan chief, on hearing the MacNeils boasting about our long ancestry, commented, "I suppose you MacNeils must have been on the Ark." The reply was simple: "Nae, we had our own boat."
- Apparently, the River Nile in Egypt is so named because a Clan member had a very large estate there a few hundred years ago. And hence "Nile" is a corruption of the name "Neil".
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