Clan Mackinnon

Clan MacKinnon (Scottish Gaelic: Clann MhicFhionghain [ˈkʰl̪ˠãũn̪ˠ vĩçˈkʲiŋɣɛn]) is a Highland Scottish clan from the islands of Mull and Skye, in the Inner Hebrides.

Popular tradition gives the clan a Dalriadic Gaelic origin. The 19th-century historian W. F. Skene named the clan as one of the seven clans of Siol Alpin, who according to Skene could all trace their ancestry back to Alpin, father of Cináed mac Ailpín. Popular tradition has been until recently to consider Cináed mac Ailpín the first King of Scots and a Gael, however recent research speculates Cináed was a Pictish king and possibly even a Pict himself. Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk speculated that Clan MacKinnon belonged to the kindred of Saint Columba, noting the MacKinnon arms bore the hand of the saint holding the Cross, and the several Mackinnon abbots of Iona.

Though little is known of the early history of the clan, it is likely to have served under the Lords of the Isles. After the forfeiture of the Lordship of the Isles in 1493 the clan would have gained some independence, and was at various times allied or at war with neighbouring clans such as the MacLeans and the MacDonalds. The clan supported the Jacobites in the 17th and 18th centuries, and tradition has the chief of the clan aiding in the escape of Bonnie Prince Charlie in his flight to France. Because of their support for the last Jacobite rising the MacKinnon chiefs lost the last of their ancient clan lands.