Origin of the McCown Surname

The McCown surname is derived from Eoghainn.  Until St. Patrick preached the Gospels in the
5th century, the there was no Irish Gaelic language equivalent for the Hebrew name John.

They settled on Eoghainn (pronounced as Owen) as the Irish Gaelic equivalent of John.  Owen
is the root of the McCown surname using Mc preceeding Owen for McOwen.  There are several
other spelling variant of the surname both in Ireland and in Scotland.  For example, in the Nith
River Valley of Strathclyde, both McCowns and McGowans take their name from Owen the Bald,
King of Strathclyde in the 8th century.  This is the only instance I know of where McGowan is
used for McCown rather than the literal use of McanGabhan which means son of the smith or
metal worker.

McCown/Maguire Results

Dear Bill,

 

My head is swimming with Maguire history and DNA.  Maguire history, although convoluted, is not a challenge; the DNA aspect of your genealogical search is another matter.  Unless you have a background in this science, understanding genetic patterns and relationships is like trying to decipher Greek.  With that caveat, here is what I have

found:

 

DNA testing shows that you, your cousin and Jim McKown are descendants of Donn Mor Maguire (AD1302), the first King of Fermanagh.  Donn Mor was a descendant of the Three Collas, descendants of Milesius of Spain, who defeated their cousins the Red Branch Knights of Ulidia.  Descendants of the Collas eventually joined with kindred and other unrelated families to found the Kingdom of Aighialla, which encompassed the counties of Fermanagh, Cavan and Monaghan.   In DNA terms, from what I have read, you, your cousin Sam and Jim McKown all belong to the Airghialla 2 Modal group, specifically L513 – P66+, and apparently are the only Maguires to belong to the P66+ category.

 

The Maguire clan history also tells us that the Maguires are related to the MacQuarrie family of Scotland, who come from an island near Mull.  This Scottish connection is not unusual, since many Scottish clans actually have Irish founders. The Mc Queen/McSweeny clan of Inishowen, Donegal are descended from Conn of the Hundred Battles, High King of Ireland, and the McKenzies (McKinneys) are descended from the Norman Fitzgeralds who were driven from Ireland into Scotland. Indeed, the Buchananns, whom you reference as a DNA match, are descendants of Anselan Buey Ocahan, son of the King of Ulster, who fled Ireland in 1016 and emigrated to Argyll in Western Scotland.

Bottom line: the Scottish names on your list of DNA connections may well have similar Irish bloodlines.  Some of the O’Neills disguised their names as Johnston after the English strongly urged the Gaels to anglicize their names.

 

Names like McMahon, McManus, McAuley, McDonald, Burns and Donohoe all appear to belong to the Kingdom of Airghialla, a loosely connected group of families which came to share the same geographical location.

 

Historically, the Insurrection of 1641 was led by the Maguire family.  As you and I know, Trinity College has a website which records the actual testimony of the English and Scottish settlers who described the atrocities committed against them by the Irish rebels.  In Fermanagh and elsewhere, Rory Maguire, son of Sir Conor Maguire of the senior branch of the Maguires, was considered the Captain of the Irish rebels.  I no longer have access to the Clogher Record, but I think I remember reading that Rory had married the widow of a prominent Fermanagh English undertaker, and had moved into her estate in, or near, the Barony of Lurg, Fermanagh.

 

We both know the1641 Deposition, which we previously discussed, stated that Capt Rory Maguire, Hugh mc Adeganny (the priest), Donagh oge, Brian Carragh, Redmond Maguire, and Pat and Cahill McChoen  all took part in a massacre at Magheraculmoney in Lurg.

 

In the 1642 Deposition of Alice Champyn, in the Barony of Clankelly, in the Manor of Castle Coole, she names Don Carragh Maguyre, gent, Edmund Carragh Maguyre of Annaharde, and Redmond McOwin Maguyre gent of Fermanagh as murderers of her husband.  Members of the Maguire family who survived execution by the English, were on the run and had good reason to drop their surname and assume the Christian name of an ancestor as their surname – perhaps becoming McCown.

 

In the Fermanagh Census 1669 for Lurg, we find: Edmund McCone (Culmaine) and Cuchonagh O’Kohan (Cluncagh).  Later, we find John McCone of Collcan as a 1788 poll elector, as well as McKown in Aghalucher, and McCown in Galoon.  There are also McCoens listed in Fermanagh in 1659.

 

Without further specific information, you’ll have to be content with the remarkable information which you have collected at this point in your journey.  You are a Maguire of the main royal line.  That’s quite an accomplishment!

 

 

Gail

McCown, Scots or Irish blog is back Again

This blog has been inactive since Nov 2013, but now I have regained control and plan to keep it
updated.  Some rascal stole my gmail account and I just recovered the account.

First, let me suggest that you do an online search for a paper called "The Tribe Within"  It deals with
the history of L513 and L21 which mainly occur in Northern Ireland and Scotland.  It deals with a
tribe called the Veneti which the Roman Empire pronounced as Weneti and this tribe is the progenitor of L513 and L21.  The Veneti designed and built the best boats of the time.  They had
high prows and were built of a particular variety of oak wood and they had leather sails all of which
made them able to withstand the fierce storms of the North Atlantic Ocean as well as rot which was
not the case with cedar wood at least in ships.  This paragraph uses terms that are familiar mostly
to men who have been tested by Family Tree DNA.  If you are a male and want to track your families
deep history these tests are an excellent place to start especially this week because the Y-DNA tests
are heavily discounted in price.

The Veneti were also the progenitors of the Dal Riata of Eastern Ulster.  Some of the Dal Riata
migrated to Scotland and controlled the western seaboard while the Picts controlled the rest of
Scotland.  The paper lists many surnames including McCown, McKown and McCowan as well as the
names of the several major septs of the Maguire clan plus many other surnames as well.

Many of us have been tested for the "Big Y Test" which tests for SNP's or deep subclades and for
STR's which show Y-DNA matches.  I have been tested to 12, 25, 37, 67 and 111 STR's which is
currently as high as these tests are offered.  Brad McGuire is the administrator of the Airghialla
Mag Uidhir (Maguire) group.  Airghialla was also known as the kingdom of Oriel and preceded the
earliest of the Maguire chiefs.  Brad is currently engaged in a project to shed more light on the history
of the Maguire's and I look forward to sharing the results of his project to you.

I also look forward to the next update to this blog.

At Last, More New Testing and Thrust

It seems that this blog is heavily dependent on a need for a great deal of
patience, money for new tests as they occur and a constant and abiding
hope for breaks in test results.  Family Tree DNA has just offered a new
test which they call the Big Y which has the potential for finding up to
10 million SNP's.  I invested a hefty sum for this test on 11-18-2013 to
find out more about how the three McCown/McKowns relate to the
Maguires of Co. Fermanagh.  The results are not expected before Feb.
2014 but what is hoped is that it will produce a closer time line between
us and the rest of the Maguire Sept.  This test will show our very deep
ancestry via Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP's) that show ancestry
before surnames came into common use in Ireland about 950 AD.

The three McCown/McKowns are closely related by markers which show
relatedness since surnames came into common use and specifically how
our SNP P66+ anchors SNP 513 which is shared by all of those related
to the Maguires  ties into this.  Our most recent find from William Roulston
of the Ulster Historical Association is that on 18 June 1611, pardons were
approved for the following men:  Edmond McGuire McOwen, gentleman of
Co. Tyrone, Patrick Grome McEdmond McOwen, Brian Magwire McOwen
and Terrence O'Neile.  At that time, native Irish were required by law to
stay on the land and Edmond petitioned for an amnesty in the event that
these men were forced off of their land at no fault of their own.

The FTDNATip tool which shows when a Most Recent Common Ancestor
lived and that year was 1622 AD.  That is very close to when the men listed
above were granted a pardon in 1611 AD.  At a guess, I would say that
there is an excellent chance that one of the men listed is an ancestor of
mine.

New Thrust in Maguire Genealogy and Y-DNA

As faithful readers (when a blog update becomes available know) this blog has been in
the doldrums since April 9, 2013.  In fact, I was somewhat surprised that it still exists
since it has been idle so long.  But at long last, Brad McGuire has added extra thrust to
this blog and some bright hope for the future.

First, an effort is being started to have a full Y-DNA Genome test performed and a
donor has been found to provide most of the funds to have this test performed.  Because
one of them is also a genetic distance of only four from the baseline of all of the members
of Brad's Airghialla Mag Uidhir (Maguire) FTDNA Group, Brad proposes that he be the
one to provide the Y-DNA sample to be used in this test.

Second, Charles Robert Maguire, can document his genealogy clear back to the brother
of the last ruling ruling prince of Fermanagh in the Junior line of Maguire.  His ancestor was
Lord Thomas Mor Maguire, 1400, brother to Hugh II, 1600.  It is not known to us if
Robert Charles Maguire of South Carolina is still living or not (he was in 2010) but we do
know that he had brothers and two sons. 

It is our hope to have one of this family fully tested to 111 markers and even perhaps to
be tested for the full Y-DNA Genome.  Great hope and expectations abound.

The Rest of the Cormac and Maguire/McCown Story

My source has sent additional information that counters the last issue of this blog.  It seems
that the Eoghain(Owen) was not of the Maguire line but was an early progenitor of the
Ui O'hEoghain (modern Owens, O'Howens families) and none of those are DNA matches with
me.  I was really excited with the potential break through with my deep family history, but
now that I know more about that period, I am not particularly disappointed.  After all, what I
want is what actually applies to my McCown/Maguire connection and so the lack of
dejection.  Actually, it was a ray of hope in a generally grim research.  The O'hEoghains were
a family of church men and therefor would have been a welcome part of my family tree but
apparently they were closer to being of the O'Neill sept than the Maguire sept.  Now that the
decks have been cleared, I am still interested in the McChoens in the Barony of Lurg in
northern County Fermanagh as possibly being of my surname.

Dr. William Roulston of the Ulster Historical Foundation, Belfast, shows interest in them as
well, so that is a bit of encouragement.  I have read that very few Americans of American
descent have been able to locate others in Ireland who descend from the same ancestors but
a couple of them in my Maguire group have a record of their earliest known ancestor and where
he lived in Ireland.  My hope is that maybe some of these families can be found in the same
general area and thus my line might as well.

Explanation of Possible McCown/Maguire Ancestors

Found 2 additional names among the 1641 Depositions taken at Magheraculmoney, Fermanagh.  Names included many Magwyers, a sampling: Rebels Rory, our friend Hugh mcAdeganny, Hugh Boy, Bryan Carragh, Donagh oge, Redmond, and finally, Patrick mc Choen and Cahell mc Choen.  This folio 201v document places 2 McCoens among the Magwyers of Magheraculmoney, which is a parish in the Barony of Lurg, county Fermanagh.

Now to your Mac Eoghain forebears whom you cite in your latest blog:

Father Gallachair in Clogher Record Vol 7, No.2, states that the Ui Eoghain of Fermanagh and Clogher, Tyrone, were Ui Cremthainn of the Airghilla confederation.  Eoghain, or Eoghanan, was fourth in direct descent from Cormac, the brother of Daimhin of Clogher, from whom Feargel of Tamhnach also sprang. Eoghain was a brother of Mag Uidhir, and they were both sons of Cormac.  At this time surnames were not used.  Since Owen and MagUidhir were brothers, they should have the same dna.

 

I received the above information from my very helpful genealogical friends, the Leibells.

It is my hope that this will jumpstart our first connection to County Fermanagh as it names

names and the time (before the general use of surnames).  It is being sent to Dr. William

Roulston of the Ulster Historical Foundation in Belfast to see if it does indeed give us a

way around our current impass.

Spelling Variants of McOwen (McCown) in Ulster

In the Fermanagh Census of 1659, in the parishes of Aghalurcher, Enniskillen and
Magheraculmoney, there were four individuals with the surname of McCoen.  The fair
Coane also found Cucghanagh O'Kohan in the Barony of Lurg, Edmund McCone,
Culmaine, Cluncagh in the 1659 Hearth Money Rolls of Fermanagh and John McCone, of
Coolcran in the 1788 Poll Electors.

Previously, I had also found several with the surname McKown in Aghalurcher and McCown
in  Galloon parishes.  All of this causes me to wonder if our McKown and McCown were
spelled phonetically when they came to Virginia and South Carolina respectively.  The
reason I suspect this spelling problem could have possibly occurred, is that in the 1850
census of Kentucky, my great great grandfather was shown as McCowen, my great grand-
father was shown as McCown and a younger brother was shown as McKeown.  All three
lived in the same tiny village within easy walking distance of each other by the same census
taker on the same day.

I believe that all of these spellings derive from MacEoghain (pronounced "McOwen).  Our
name did come through correctly in the case of William McCown deported from England in
1748 to Port Oxford, VA and Elizabeth McKown was deported on the same voyage to
somewhere in North Carolina.  I have been in contact with a descendant of this William.

Also, in the census of 1790, there is a William McCown in York Co., South Carolina.  An
interesting thing about Jim McKown, Sam McCown and I, William McCown, is that all
three of us have good Y-DNA matches with the Maguire Sept of Fermanagh and uniquely
share Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) P66+ between the three of us.  All three of
us are closely matched at 111 markers through Family Tree DNA proving that we are closely
related going back to about 1662.  SNP's show deep ancestry and markers show ancestry in
the male line going back to about 950 AD.

FTDNA Reverses Itself and a New McCown?

After all of the fanfare about more new matches, I am now back to ground zero because
FTDNA has reversed out all of the new matches at 111 markers.  The good news is that
Rev. Bill McCown sent an email to me wanting to share his family history with me and mine with
his.  His ancestor was born in 1792 in Anderson (formerly Pendleton Co., South Carolina.  He is
now living near there.  My earliest known ancestor was Lawrence McCown, born ca 1790,
somewhere in South Carolina.  I don't believe that we will be able to connect our ancestors
unless he takes the FTDNA Y-DNA test.  I haven't heard back from him and the deadline for
the year end discounts was supposed to be on Dec. 31st.  I heard tonight that FTDNA extended
the grace  period for three more days, but now they are also past.

Some time ago, I also exchanged emails with still another William McCown who is descended
from a Scottish Rebel prisoner deported to Oxford, Maryland in 1748.  On the same ship was a
woman prisoner named Katherine McKown but she debarked in North Carolina.

A number of McCowns settled in South Carolina by 1790, at least one William McCown was
listed in the 1790 census of York Co., South Carolina.  Many others moved down from
Pennsylvania and Virginia and settled in Chester and Union Districts.  Two William McCowns
were shown in the 1790 US census in the Old 96th District of South Carolina.  It is conceivable
that Rev. Bill McCown's ancestor was one of those.

New DNA Results

Family Tree DNA (familytreedna.com) recently changed how they report matches at each level
of testing.  If you have been thinking about it, they are currently discounting the costs of the tests
and upgrades.

Since upgrading to 111 markers some time ago, I have waited patiently for more matches at that
level and due to their new method of determining matches, I now have 11 where I had only 4.
This is very encouraging to me as well as it is to others.  One member of the Mag Uidhir
Airgialla Group now has 34 matches.  There are about 60 members of the group.

Brad McGuire has suggested that FTDNA has stopped counting some of the fast moving markers
but we won't know for sure until we hear that from FTDNA.  Also, both Brad McGuire and a
scientist from FTDNA have suggested that many more Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP's)
will soon become available to test and these are perhaps even more important than the Single
Tandem Repeats (STR's) or markers in establishing relationships.  That is all for now.

Out of Touch

My blog has fallen far behind because I have not been able to straighten out my password
difficulties with blogspot.  That said, there has been nothing new to report.  Hopefully, that
will change since I have received an email from someone who matches me closely at both
37 and 67 markers with the McManus surname.

Y-DNA to the Rescue?

Two of my DNA contacts came up with some interesting ideas.  First, Brad McGuire mentioned
that the three of us with Maguire DNA but the McCown/McKown surname, were also the same
value, 16, on marker DYS 464b.  Then Pat Meguire, adm. of the McGuire Surname Group
suggested that since about 25% of his group were also 464b=16, that perhaps this indicated
a particular Maguire family line that we could trace back in time.  Then, Brad McGuire
suggests that the following markers and values in combination could identify those with
a McGuire surname that should be tested for SNP P66+.  That would then tie that particular
line of Maguires to which the McCown/McKown lines are descended.  Sounds good to me,
now all that is left to be done is to find Maguires with those specific marker/values and get
them to test for SNP P66+.  The markers and values are as follows: DYS 390=25, DYS 481
=24, DYS 640=12 and DYS 464b=16.

Brad McGuire is the adm. of the Airgialla Mag Uidhir Group and also points out that some
markers mutate faster than others  and that some SNP's mutate within a given family.  For
example, all five of the markers that separate me from being an exact match for the Maguire
modal at 25 markers are fast mutating and he mentioned that fast mutating markers could
take 3,000 to 4,000 years to mutate.  To me, that would put past mutations well before the use
of surnames became common in Ireland, about 1,000 AD.  I don't know yet whether
mutations repeat over the years and began at different times or if they vary within a single
family line.  I hope to have more on this later because I surely am at my limit tonight.

Latest on Genealogical Contacts

First, let me say that I have to post every five or six weeks to keep the blog alive.  That being
said, I have had a contact with a woman who has an ancestor with the McCowan spelling.  She
and I both have the surname, Dye, in our family trees.  She is currently on a trip to visit
relatives who have more information on their Dye ancestors to see if we have any in common.

Mine is the mother of my paternal grandmother and her name was Margaret Delilah Dye and
Margaret's father was John Dye whose father was Shippe Dye with a connection to the
Goodnight family.  I have no idea whether that is the same line that owned the Goodnight
Ranch in Texas and whose surname appears in the name of the Goodnight-Loving Cattle
trail.  If it is, none of it washed off on us.

Another interesting thing about this contact, is that her maiden name was Cone and Cone is
certainly a version of Co'an or Cowan or Owen which would relate to my surname.  I hope to
inform you whether or not our Dye connection is related to hers.  Dye appears to be a fairly
common surname.

A Good Source for County Fermanagh Records

Navigate to Fermanagh-Gold and then join the forum.  That will allow you to download many
records listed by experts.  Two of these experts are Yvette Sage and John Cunningham.  On
the home page, scroll down to John-Cunningham and see the records he listed along with
Yvette Sage.  Scroll down further, and you will find Yevette-Sage.  She has listed records
that you can download and further down, you can download her CD---at no cost to you.

There is a downside to this in that by joining the forum you will receive many emails from
other forum members.  I suggest just reading the titles, and if these don't interest you, then
just delete that email.  I believe the John Cunningham, mentioned above was our tour guide
in September 2010 when we visited practically every county in what was formerly known as
Ulster.  John is a historian, a genealogist and a speaker of Gaelic as well.  He picked us up at
the Belfast Airport and drove clear across northern Ireland to Fermanagh in less than three hours.

If you, or someone in your paternal line have not been tested for Y-DNA, this is the place to
start.  There are several good DNA services, but I have all of my experience with Family
Tree DNA and it has been a marvelous experience over the years.  A good place to start with
Family Tree DNA is at their home page.  There you will see the many types of tests offered
to track both your male (Y-DNA) and your female (mtDNA).  At the moment they are having
an excellent sale to encourage new members to be tested.

One of the chief virtues of having the DNA tests is that it allows you to find people closely
related to you since their data base is the largest of those offering the test.  Also, if you can
research your family tree, the test results can prove that relationship and that is the gold
standard of genealogy.  Another is that I contact many people and together we try to find
our ancestors---although I readily admit, that often I am the beneficiary of their guidance.

McCown and McKown on Fermanagh-Gold

There are some McCowns and more McKowns to be found on the free Fermanagh-Gold
genealogical website.  Most of these, so far, are shown in Galloon and Aghalurcher Parishes.
Parishes are, in this case, civil subdivisions of County Fermanagh.  You can go to the site
and search freely.  I was interested in information regarding just where in the county people of
our surname are located.  There is also a mailing list.  So far, the only surname bulletin boards
I have found are from Rootsweb which belongs to Ancestry.com and probably require membership
to join.

All Ireland DNA Project Study and Atlas

This just in from the Fair Coane.  The subject study is a combined genealogical and medical/scientific
study of all test subjects living in Ireland or if not, whose eight great grand parents all lived in Ireland.

They will study Y-DNA, mtDNA and whole genome.  There is to be no cost to the participants for the test other than the cost of a postage stamp to return the DNA sample(s) to the study center.  There are a couple of downsides to this.  The biggest one is that the person providing the sample will not get the results of his or her tests but rather they will be grouped with other DNA in communities that may
even cross county lines.  The other is that no mention is made of the testers testing for deep clades
and therefor, they cannot even get down to the whole haplogroup level.

In short, it doesn't come anywhere close to appealing to those of us tested by Family Tree DNA so
does it have an upside?  Perhaps.  The biggest problem for Americans of Irish descent trying to find
ancestors in Ireland has been identifying their names and where they lived.  I find it very frustrating
that I can spend hundreds of dollars on DNA and other research and still not make a connection even
with having engaged genealogists with excellent track records.

For example, how did they locate Barack Obama's ancestor in Ireland without a whole lot of input
being furnished by Obama?  John Kennedy was probably much simpler to research.



At best, the all Ireland DNA study can probably show hot spots where specific haplotypes are concentrated and thus give a clue as to where research may be most productive---but still it seems
to me that this is still like looking for a needle in a haystack and wondering if you found the right
needle.

An Embarrassment of Sorts

In a prior blog, I mis-reported my haplogroup.  It should be R1b1a2a1a1b4c and this time it has
all of the correct digits in all the right places.  I am a bit surprised that no one commented on this
faux paux since several of those who follow this blog are group administrators of groups of which
I am a member.  Perhaps the blog is stealthier than I thought.

Cousin Sam's Results are All In

Sam's haplogroup, like mine and Jim McKown's are identical at R1b1a2a1b4c,  This is the same as
the rest of those with Maguire DNA except for the letter c suffix which means that Sam, Jim and I
are all three Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) P66+ as expected.  The three of us share a
Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) in the year of our Lord 1661.  It is extremely gratifying
to have us match so very closely over a period going back to the common use of surnames in
Ulster, Ireland.  The deep subclades, unlike markers can and do show our common heritage going back
to about 3,000 b.c..

Cousin Sam's 111 Marker Results are in

Cousin Sam and I match on 108/111 markers.  His deep subclades, including SNP P66 are still
expected on Monday, March 26th.  I no longer believe that P66+ is a necessary indicator of our
relationship.  If Sam isn't P66+, the STR evidence of our relationship at 108/111markers coupled
with our documented genealogy from US census reports meets the gold standard for genealogical
proof our ancestry.  I still expect Sam to be P66+, but this SNP is subject to skipping whole gener-
ations within a single family line.