2021 Featured Clan
The International Association of Clan MacInnes is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this summer...a year late due to the pandemic.
About Clan MacInnes
In 1970, seven MacInnesses from the southeastern states gathered at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games and decided to create the Clan MacInnes Society to preserve MacInnes heritage and to promote Scottish culture and history. Today the Society has evolved into IACM, an international organization with hundreds of members spread across the world. Clan MacInnes has hosted a tent at GMHG every year since 1971.
One of the oldest Scottish clans, Clan MacInnes dates to 501 AD. Its origin story tells that three sons of an Irish ruler left Northern Ireland and settled on Scotland’s west Argyll coast to form the Kingdom of Dalriada. For centuries, MacInneses were farmers, fierce warriors and archers settled in the Western Highlands, primarily Morvern, where Clan MacInnes was known as the Keeper of Kinlochaline Castle. The MacInnes Chief and his five sons were murdered in their sleep circa 1358, its lands lost, and the MacInnes Chieftainship has been dormant since. Kinlochaline Castle was abandoned in 1690, sat empty 400 years, was restored in 2000 and is now a private residence.
CLAN PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS
- Annual Scholarships awarded since 1972 to encourage and preserve Scottish culture.
- Preservation of Clan-related sites in Scotland include Kiel Church in Morvern, Eilean Munda burial isle near Glencoe, Leitir Fura croft settlement on Isle of Skye, St. John’s Episcopal Church in Ballachulish, and the oldest known MacInnes grave in Scotland at Kilmore, Isle of Skye.
- Clan Marker Project has placed markers at five significant MacInnes sites: Kiel Church door and plaque in Morvern in 1997, grave marker in Glasgow for forgotten Victoria Cross hero in 2004, memorial bench at St. John’s Church in Ballachulish in 2010, MacInnes Cairn in Antigonish, Nova Scotia in 2013, and MacInnes pave stone at Grandfather Mountain in 2017.
- Clan Archive, initiated in 2002, contains nearly 500 items noting past and present MacInness in history, academics, government, military, commerce, science and the arts.
- Publications & Quarterly Newsletter. IACM has published a newsletter since 1971. The current Clan MacInnes Archer became a quarterly in the 1990s. IACM has also published six books: Brief Clan History, Clan Timeline, Clan Stories & Coloring Book, An Amazing Presence history, American’s Guide to Auld Scots Tongue, and Food of Our Scottish Ancestors cookbook.
- Clan Database includes over 35,000 names and member genealogies. The DNA Database Project verifies genealogy and links to collective genealogies worldwide.
- Clan Tours: 1995, 1997, 2000, 2009 and 2018 to Scotland and 2006 to Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
- Extensive Website with links since 1994