Topics

• About the Mcilhagga One-Name Study
• Variants
• Origin of the surname
• Historical occurrences
• Frequency of the name
• Distribution of the name
• Links
• Contact Details

About the Mcilhagga One-Name Study

I was brought up to believe not only was I 'last of the line' but also that I had no living McIlhagga relatives. Then in 1994 my help was sought from Canada to trace a birth place. I had found a McIlhagga third cousin! Collecting names became addictive and I registered with the Guild of One-Name Studies. I was soon to discover that my brick wall was somewhere in the middle of Ulster.

Variants

There have been many variants in the past but only three exist today to my knowledge, McIlhagger, McIlhaga and McElhago. I am not convinced that other names which have been associated with the 'clan' are in fact variants, viz. McIlharg(e)y, Ma/eharg, McHarg, and a DNA test seems to have confirmed this.

Origin of the surname

It is generally accepted that McIlhagga is a Scottish name though its Gaelic form is found in both Scotland and Ireland: Mac Ghille Sagairt, 'the Son of the Servant (or Devotee) of the Priest'. It is possible that the priest was Mochuda, otherwise St. Carthage, Abbot and Bishop of Lismore (Ireland) in AD 555.

Historical occurrences

Very few of the 'Clan' have any claim to fame.

• Gillescop MacI(l)hagain was Steward to the Earl of Carrick in 1196.
• Michael Macylhaggow was a witness to the Laing Charters in 1527.
• James McElhago was an incorporator of The Bridgetown Library, New Jersey in 1765.
• John McElhagga won the Military Medal in World War One.
• Lt.Cdr. Liston Burns McIlhagga was mentioned in despatches in World War Two.
• James Spence McIlhagga was the first Alderman elected in 1980 for the town of Ballymena.
• Robert McIlhagger has been Professor of Engineering in The University of Ulster since 1991.

Frequency of the name

My historical records at present contain the names of some 2000 men and 2000 women and there about 600 'Clan' members alive today in Great Britain and Ireland, Canada and the USA, Australia and New Zealand, one in the West Indies, one in Portugal and one in Spain.

Distribution of the name

It is probable that the name's origins are in Ayrshire, Scotland; that it went across to Ulster at the time of the Seventeenth Century Plantations and then spread across the world at the time of the Irish and Scottish Potato Famines. Today there are more McIlhaggas in Ulster than anywhere else.

Links

A blog can be found at http://McIlhagga.blogspot.com

A DNA Project can be found at http://familytreedna.com/public/McIlhagga/default.aspx

Contact details

For further information, contact:

Rev Donald McIlhagga
Argyll House,
14 Castle Street,
Norham,
Berwick-upon-Tweed
TD15 2LQ
UNITED KINGDOM
E-mail:

This page last updated 13 January 2012.

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Profiles of other one-name studies registered with the Guild may be found here.