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This information i found while resherching the familly name it may be of use to you. Written By: The Rev. Robert Wayne Swinea 1223 Canter Goodland, Kansas 67735 If you, like myself, have wondered for some time now as to exactly where our name “Swinea” came from then I am relieved to share with you that our name has nothing to do with pigs or swine in any form. Our name comes from the ancient Gaelic (the old language of Ireland and Scotland) name of “Suibhne” In Gaelic the “b” and “h” are silent so it was pronounced as “Suine”. “Suibhne” means “little hero”. This was the name of one of our ancestors who was living in Scotland and founded Castle Swin in about 1200AD. Suibhne’s grandson took the name MacSuibhne (son of Suibhne) and it is from this MacSuibhne that we are all descended. MacSuibhne translates into English as any and all of the following: Sweeney, Sweeny, Sweney, Swinney, Swinny, Swiney, Swinea, Swinnea Swayne, etc. To begin our odessey of the Swinea family we must start in 1033 AD when Adeh was the King of Ireland. Adeh was one in a long line of Irish Kings who could trace his own family tree back 1699 years before the birth of Christ. When Adeh died he left two sons; Domnall and Anradhan. (see chart) The elder son, Domnall, became King of all of Ireland so his younger brother, Anradhan, sailed north to Scotland. While he was in Scotland Anradhan conquered much territory with his armies and eventually married a Scottish princess of the Royal House of Argyll. By this marriage Anradhan had married into the great clan of MacDonald of the Isles. This means that Swinea men are entitled to wear the Scottish Kilt made of Mac Donald of the Isles Tartan. Now men, I wouldn’t advise wearing a kilt unless you have the legs for it. HA! For the next hundred years or so our family prospered not only in Ireland but also in Scotland. Our hereditary occupation was that of being professional soldiers known as “gallowglasses”. Gallowglasses is a Norse word that literally means “commander of troops”. The MacSuibhne’s, much like the Japanese Samurai, were faithful fighting men who served their masters through thick and thin. From a study of ancient warfare and armor we can determine the kinds of weapons and armor that the MacSuibhne’s carried with them into battle. Their personal armor consisted of a conical iron helmet fastened under the chin by a leather strap, a chain mail shirt that extended from the neck to the ankles and covered the arms to the wrists, over all of this they wore a large woolen yellow war-coat, they also carried a large shield that had an 18 inch spike extending from it. They also carried a long bow with a quiver of arrows, a 50 inch long two-handed broadsword known as a Claymore, a small (24 inch) sword carried in the left hand point downward concealed by the shield. The crowning piece of equipment carried by the MacSuibhne’s was a large battle-axe with a hook opposite the blade to “hook” opposing cavalry off of their horses. The MacSuibhne’s, did not use horses themselves preferring to run everywhere they vent. The family motto “Strike for Victory” certainly fit these hearty and fierce warriors of their day. Sometime toward the middle of the 13th century, after a foster-father of one of the MacSuibhne’s was killed by the O’Breisleins who lived in Ireland, all hell literally broke loose. The Scottish MacSuibhne’s massed their huge army and sailed to Ireland and killed all of the O’Breisleins and took their lands and possession. This was in the days of “an eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth”. Thus, the MacSuibhne returned to Ireland. The group of MacSuibhnes who came to Ireland remained there and established themselves into three great clans in what is now called County Donegal in Northern Ireland. When the MacSuihhnes were not fighting for hire they raised cattle and sold then to the Continental countries. By the 14th century the MacSuibhnes had married Irish women and had adopted Irish Catholicism. By this time they wore now fully an Irish clan in three great parts; MacSuibhne Fanad, MacSuibhne Banagh and MacSuibhne na dTuath, more commonly called MacSweeney of the Battleaxes. Certainly out coat-of-arms reflects our “battleaxe” heritage. (see illustration) In the year 1500 a branch of the MacSuibhne Fanad clan migrated south to Munster (County Cork) where they were soldiers for the MacCarthys who were fighting against the English presence in Ireland. Under the leadership of James Fitzmaurice the MacSweeneys and MacSheehys sacked an English stronghold in Killmallock in 1591. It is written that it took three days to carry off all of the booty after the battle. A more recent descendant of this branch of the MacSweeneys was Terrance MacSweeney Lord Mayor of Cork in 1920. Terrance was a poet who wrote about the English “It is not those who can inflict the moat that will triumph but those who can bear the most.” Terrance died in an English prison after a lengthy hunger strike. It is written of him that he did more for the cause of a free Ireland than anyone else of his age or this. Meanwhile, back in the North, the rest of the MacSweeneys were also distinguishing themselves in battle. From 1400 until Ireland’s defeat by Oliver Crowell’s army in 1652 the MacSweeneys fought on the side of Irish Catholics for Irish independence. Under the Catholic King of England, James II, there were no fever than eleven Mac Sweeneys who were officers in his army. “No family in Irish history has presented a more united snd unbroken front to the foes of Ireland than the clan MacSweeney. They were a fierce, warlike race, though displaying many of the virtues that would make them pre-eminent in the present day. FAITHFULNESS was undoubtedly their dominant characteristic as evidenced by the fact that their services were in great demand as lieutenants or marshals and standard bearers among the princes of Ireland.” (O’Neil; Irish Pedigrees) “Whenever we find detailed the history of a desperate case among the MacCarthy Mor, Prince of Kerry; the O’Sullivan Beare, Prince of Cork; or the O’Donnell, Prince of Tirconnell; calling for reckless bravery and unquestioning loyalty there we find the Mac Sweeneys of one or the other branches of the family being chosen to undertake the task.”1 “All authorities agree in describing the Fanad branch of the Mac Sweeneys as the principal representatives of the family. The barony of Fanad comprised a rocky, mountainous peninsula interspersed with fertile valleys and glens and nearly surrounded by Lough Swilly on the north and east, by the Atlantic ocean on the north and Mulroy bay on the west. Here the Mac Sweeneys of Fanad built the Castle of Rathmullen (now a Cistercian Abbey) at the entrance to and overlooking beautiful Lough Swilly, and here the family held princely sway for over four hundred years, while following their overlords, the O’Donnells, Princes of Tirconnell, as standard bearers and faithful lieutenants through all of the desperate wars waged by the different members of that princely house. Indeed, at times, the family grew so powerful and arrogant, they even questioned the authority of the O’Donnells and refused for generations at a time to even pay the customary tribute. But there is no instance on record anywhere when the Mac Sweeney of Fanad ever failed the O’Donnell of Tirconnell in his hour of need.”2 When hopes for Irish Independence from England were finally crushed by Oliver Cromwell in 1652 some 30,000 Irish soldiers were sent into exile to France and Spain. Many more civilians were sold into virtual slavery to the West Indies and to the Crown colony of Virginia.