A Kaighin Coat of Arms?
Updated August 16th, 2026
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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. 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 the Isle of Man by about
1313, so there was never any allegiance or family connection to those with
the same surname in Scotland. 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 1422 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 bunk. Please don’t buy into this. If you really want something to hang on the
wall, consider purchasing a Manx flag or something with the Manx triskelion
on it. Or maybe something like this?
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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 |
