Failte Gu Tir Chlainn Dhòmhnaill Eiraght

Welcome to the lands of Clan Donald Heritage.  We are in transition to a new server that will make this an even more informative and entertaining source to learn the history & culture of your Clan Donald ancestors.

Our purpose is to provide information of interest to those with ancestors named Macdonald, McDonald, McDonough, MacDonnell, McConnell, McDaniel or any of the other various English spellings of the Gaelic name mhic dhòmhnaill (pronounced 'ic hoonell  when speaking Gaelic,  and  mucoonell,  mucdoonell , or mucdoonald by those speaking English).  There are also hundreds of family names associated with Clan Donald branches that together make us the largest of the Highland clans.  This is our heritage. 

This web site is not affiliated with any Clan Donald organization, but we encourage active involvement in your local Clan Donald organization.   We have provided links to the official Clan Donald, USA,  Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and UK web sites.   All these organizations are under the direction of the High Council of Clan Donald Chiefs. Additional Regional Clan Donald, USA web sites are listed on the official Clan Donald, USA web site.  These sites include calendars of local Clan Donald events.  Becoming involved in activities in your area is the best way to keep your heritage alive.   The object of this web site is to provide information on Clan Donald traditions in an entertaining, multimedia format. 

We have a proud heritage.   The Gaelic word eiraght means "heritage" in the sense of expectation, responsibility, birthright, or inheritance more than just one's ancestry.   By learning about our ancestors' culture we learn something significant about ourselves.  In the Celtic sense heritage is not just a past history to be proud of.  Heritage includes a responsibility that it be passed on to our posterity.   It is hoped that this web site will help those who have Clan Donald Heritage keep it alive by learning and teaching it to others.   

This web site has been compiled mainly from Donald J. Macdonald's authoritative history of Clan Donald.  Along side the text this site provides original online maps, photographs, and 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.   We gain an understanding of our ancestors by learning about their culture (Celtic or Gaelic), their language (Gaelic words' meanings provided in parenthesis), and where they lived (meanings of place-names are given and shown on the maps).   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 their history as told by their seanchaidh (pronounced shawn-a-eh, Gaelic meaning oral historians).   In the introduction to his history of Clan Donald Donald J. Macdonald explained the legends give us a detailed look at what our Celtic ancestors considered character flaws and attributes.