| This is an anglicisation of MacDonald that has been in use in
Scotland, particularly Edinburgh, from the fourteenth century. In Ulster it is
most common in Co. Antrim and to a lesser extent Co. Armagh. Fairly early on
the clan name of the great MacDonalds, Lords of the Isles, began to be spelt in
a variety of ways, including Donaldson, Donillson and Donnelson, forms recorded
in old charters of the MacDonnells of Antrim (from whom the present Earl of
Antrim descends). In the 'census' of 1659 Donnellson appears as a
'principal name' in Co. Antrim (see Connell, MacDonald and MacDonnell).
Around 1900 Donaldson was being used interchangeably with Donnelly (see
Donnelly) in parts of the Coleraine district of Co. Derry.
GLOSSARY
| Clan |
From the Gaelic clann which means literally
'children'. |
| Mac- |
From the Gaelic mac, meaning 'son' |
| O' |
From the Gaelic Ó, meaning 'grandson',
'grandchild' or 'descendant'; Ní is the femine form of Ó, meaning 'daughter' or
'descendant' |
| Plantation (Ulster) |
The redistribution of escheated lands after the
defeat of the Ulster Gaelic lords and the 'Flight of the Earls' in 1607. Only
counties Donegal, Derry, Tyrone, Armagh, Fermanagh and Cavan were actually
'planted', portions of land there being distributed to English and Scottish
families on their lands and for the building of bawns. |
| Sept |
A family group of shared ancestry living in the
same locality |
| Undertakers |
Powerful English or Scottish landowners who
undertook the plantation of British settlers on the lands they were granted. |
| Gaelic |
This word in Ireland has no relation to
Scotland. As a noun it is used to denote the Irish language, as an adjective
to denote native Irish as opposed to Norman or English origin. |
| Erenagh |
From the Irish Gaelic airchinneach, meaning
'hereditary steward of church lands'. A family would hold the ecclesiastical
office and the right to the church or monastery lands, the incumbent at any one
time being the erenagh. |
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