A Kaighin Coat of
Arms?
Updated March 9th, 2015
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For any Kaighin
wondering if our family has an official Coat of Arms or other armorial
bearings, the best answer I can give is… no.
With the exception of a couple of prominent families, there are no
recognized Manx family arms. A very
critical discussion of this topic can be found here. According to someone named Minniebell Perkins, prior to his death in 1981, Chevelier John Alexander McCaughan, 43rd Head
of the house of McCaughan, the last recognized chief of Clan MacEachain, wrote in a report for the Heraldry of Ireland
that the surname “Kaighin” and its Manx variants (i.e. Kaighen, Kaighan, Caighan, etc.) was a phonetic derivative of MacEachain and bearers of the name were clan members. I
can unequivocally state that the Manx Kaighins are NOT members of Clan MacEachain.
Our MacEachan ancestor arrived in the Isle of Man just prior to the
turn of the 12th century, well before the clan system developed in
Scotland, so any allegiance or family connection to those with the same name
in Scotland was lost long before there was an official clan. Many of the online
Coat of Arms retailers and the “fast fact genealogists” who want to sell you
their product will tell you that the Kaighins are descended from Clan
MacEachan, the hereditary chiefs of ClanRanald of
MacDonald, and thus have you believe that we are MacDonalds. This myth is borne from a flawed assumption
based solely on the fact that Kaighin is a phonetic derivative of
MacEachan. While this fact is true,
the ClanRanald MacEachans
are descended from Eachann MacRory,
born c.1450, the second son of Roderick (Rory) MacAllen,
third chief of ClanRanald of MacDonald. The MacEachans
(Kaighins) were established long before this in the Isle of Man, so any
allegiance or family connection to those with the same surname in Scotland
was lost long before there was an official clan. I was taken in by this myth early in my
research, because the earliest records I had known about referring to
Kaighins in the Isle of Man were the Manorial Rolls of 1515. The existence of a handful of Kaighins at
that time made for a plausible scenario even if they would have had to have
been sons or grandsons of Eachann MacRory. Further
research revealed evidence of Kaighins as early as about 1200 residing in
Kirk German, Isle of Man, where BallaKaighin
(Kaighin’s farm) in that parish was their likely residence and is still there
as a testament to their existence. So,
in case you’ve already purchased one of these MacDonald Coat of Arms, I’m
here to tell you it’s rubbish. |
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Submissions, corrections or suggestions gratefully received by the editor at kaighin@iname.com Copyright 2004-2015, Gregory D. Kaighin, All rights reserved |
