Clan Maclean

also MacLean, McLean

Of Mull and Duart, Gillian of the Battle Axe's line.

Origin: Argyll & the West Coast, Scotland
Motto: Virtue Mine Honour
Famous bearer: Lachlan Mor MacLean (c.1554–1598), 14th chief of Duart
Register: Scottish clan

Territory of Maclean

The seat of Clan Maclean

Seat vacant

Chief

No one leads the Clan Maclean community yet. When the movement opens, you can stand for its leadership, or help elect whoever does.

Current mission

No shared goal set yet. Once Clan Maclean has leadership, it sets the public focus: a restoration, a gathering, a real-world project that helps its own.

The Maclean clan is being rebuilt. Join the waiting list for the movement today, and you help decide who leads it and what it does.

Help rebuild the Maclean clan →

Motto

Virtue Mine Honour

What does the Maclean name mean?

From 'Gilleain', Gillian of the Battle Axe, a 13th-century warrior said to descend from the kings of Dalriada.

The history of Clan Maclean

Tradition holds that the Macleans descend from Gilleain-nan-Tuagh, Gillian of the Battle Axe, a descendant of the kings of Dalriada. Gillian fought against King Haakon of Norway at the Battle of Largs in 1263.

The first recorded mention of the Macleans of Duart is in a Papal Dispensation of 1367, allowing the chief to marry Mary MacDonald, daughter of the Lord of the Isles. The Isle of Mull, off Scotland's north-west coast, was the principal seat, the MacDonald dowry funding the purchase of substantial parcels of the island.

The Macleans supported Charles I against Parliament. Sir Hector Ruadh Maclean and 500 of his clansmen were slain at Inverkeithing in 1651. In 1876 Sir Harry Maclean resigned from the British Army to join the Sultan of Morocco's, where he became military leader and personal adviser to the Sultan.

Champions of the Maclean name

The bearers whose lives are inseparable from this surname. Each has its own page — biography, achievements, geography, connection to the family.

Sorley MacLean
The Raasay-born schoolteacher who made twentieth-century Gaelic a modernist literary language.

Step Into History

Walk the streets and seats the Maclean name knew — a photoreal walk through time, on foot.

Step Into History · New

Walk Iona Abbey in 1500Enter →

The holy isle at its medieval height — the abbey, the high crosses and the kings' graves, under the Lordship of the Isles.

Step Into History · New

Walk Dunvegan Castle in 1600Enter →

The sea-girt seat of the MacLeods on Skye — the keep, the Fairy Tower, and the Fairy Flag in the chief's hall.

Notable bearers of the Maclean name

Lachlan Mor MacLean (c.1554–1598), 14th chief of Duart

Stories of Clan Maclean

Lachlan Mor at Traigh Ghruinneart
1598
On the fifth of August 1598, on the long strand of Traigh Ghruinneart on the north coast of Islay, Lachlan Mor MacLean, fourteenth chief of MacLean of Duart, in his forty-fourth year, was killed in a feud action against the MacDonalds of Islay. The feud was over the Rinns, the western peninsula of Islay, claimed by both houses. Lachlan Mor had landed at Bunnahabhain at the head of about a thousand of his Mull and Tiree clansmen and had marched west across the island looking for the MacDonald force. Sir James MacDonald of Islay, the young chief, had assembled about six hundred men and waited for him on the strand. Tradition holds that Lachlan Mor consulted a Hebridean seeress on the morning of the action, who told him three things he must avoid that day: he must not drink from a particular well, he must not land at a particular bay, and he must not face a particular dwarf. By the tradition, he did all three. He was killed by an arrow loosed by a MacDonald retainer called Du-Sith, the black peace, a red-haired man traditionally rendered as a dwarf. His body was buried in Kilchoman churchyard, half a mile from where he fell.
Read the story →

Frequently asked

What does the surname Maclean mean?

From 'Gilleain', Gillian of the Battle Axe, a 13th-century warrior said to descend from the kings of Dalriada. Tradition holds that the Macleans descend from Gilleain-nan-Tuagh, Gillian of the Battle Axe, a descendant of the kings of Dalriada.

Where does the Maclean family come from?

The Maclean family is rooted in Argyll & the West Coast and The Highlands & Islands, in Scotland. Within that, the name was particularly concentrated in Lorn & the Inner Isles and Skye. The atlas page for the name records the historical territory it has held over the centuries.

Is Maclean a Scotland surname?

Yes, Maclean is a Scotland surname. Its editorial home in this atlas is Scotland, where the historical territory and family record of the name are concentrated.

How old is the Maclean surname?

Tradition holds that the Macleans descend from Gilleain-nan-Tuagh, Gillian of the Battle Axe, a descendant of the kings of Dalriada. European hereditary surnames crystallised broadly between the 12th and 14th centuries, and the Maclean name took its modern form within that long settlement.

What is the Maclean family known for?

Of Mull and Duart, Gillian of the Battle Axe's line. Tradition holds that the Macleans descend from Gilleain-nan-Tuagh, Gillian of the Battle Axe, a descendant of the kings of Dalriada.

What is the Maclean motto?

The motto of the Maclean family is "Virtue Mine Honour". Family mottoes were registered with the chief of the name and carried on the heraldic arms and battle-banners.

Who is the most famous Maclean?

The best-known bearer of the Maclean name is Lachlan Mor MacLean (c.1554–1598), 14th chief of Duart. Their life and connection to the family are profiled in full on the dedicated champion page.

What stories are told about the Maclean family?

The Maclean family is associated with Lachlan Mor at Traigh Ghruinneart. Each story has its own page on this site with the full account, the date, the location, and the other families involved.

What is the story of Lachlan Mor at Traigh Ghruinneart?

On the fifth of August 1598, on the long strand of Traigh Ghruinneart on the north coast of Islay, Lachlan Mor MacLean, fourteenth chief of MacLean of Duart, in his forty-fourth year, was killed in a feud action against the MacDonalds of Islay. The feud was over the Rinns, the western peninsula of Islay, claimed by both houses. The event is dated to 1598.

Is MacLean the same family as Maclean?

Yes. MacLean is a historical spelling variant of the Maclean name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Is McLean the same family as Maclean?

Yes. McLean is a historical spelling variant of the Maclean name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Where is the Maclean surname found today?

Scotland is the primary historical home of the Maclean surname. In the modern era, the name is also borne across the wider diaspora, particularly in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where families carry the line of descent from the same Scotland origin recorded on this page.

What does the Clan Rising page for the Maclean family cover?

The Clan Rising page for the Maclean family covers the meaning of the surname, the historical geography of the name, the family motto, famous bearers of the name, traditional stories and the seat of the head of the family. Each section is linked to the underlying atlas of Scotland so the name can be read in the geography that shaped it.

Who is the head of the Maclean family today?

The seat for the head of the Maclean family is currently vacant on this register. Clan Rising is rebuilding the chief and family structure for the modern era, and the family page allows readers to claim the seat or pledge to the name.