Etymology

Noted surname authority George Black in the

Surnames of Scotland describes the origin of the

McClure surname as deriving from:

M’ill’uidhir, “translated as son of Odhars servant. Just who this 'Ordar' was is uncertain but a reasonable explanation is that he was a Viking since the whole of South West Scotland, most of Eastern Ireland and the Isle of Man were one single Norse kingdom in the 9th and 10th centuries.

Irish surname scholar Henry MacLysaght confirmsit’s

earlier Galloway origins but indicates it may have Irish

Roots:

MacClure in Ulster is mainly a Scottish name, numerous in Galloway to which location it probably originally came from Ireland, the Gaelic form being basically the same as that for MacAleer.

Robert Bell is in agreement with both Black and

MacLysaght and additionally identifies an Irish Sept

associated with county Derry.

MACCLURE: In Ireland this is a rare name outside Ulster where it is most numerous in counties Antrim and Down. Most in Ulster will be of Scottish origin, but even these may well have been of Irish origin in the more remote past. There was a small Oriel sept of counties Armagh and Monaghan called in Gaelic Mac Giolla Uidhir. Eugene MacGillaweer, Archbishop of Armagh From 1206 to 1216, was of this sept. The name was Anglicised to MacAleer, MacClute, MacLure and, because of its sound, to Weir (see Weir). In Scotland the name MacClure and its variant MacAlear have long been recorded as common in the province of Galloway, home to many Irish names that made their way across the Irish Sea from Down and Antrim. The name was in Scots Gaelic Mac Gille Uidhir, and meant, like its Ulster counterpart, ‘son of Odhar’s servant’. It seems possible therefore that the Galloway MacClures were originally of Irish stock.

Return to Top

©  John Gilbert  
Created by SurnameOrigins
© John Gilbert                                 Created by SurnameOrigins

Etymology

Noted surname authority George

Black attributes the origin of the

McClure surname as:

M’ill’uidhir, “translated as son of Odhars servant. Just who this 'Ordar' was is uncertain but a reasonable explanation is that he was a Viking since the whole of South West Scotland, most of Eastern Ireland and the Isle of Man were one single Norse kingdom in the 9th and 10th centuries.

Irish surname scholar Henry

MacLysaght confirmsit’s earlier

Galloway origins but indicates it

may have Irish Roots:

MacClure in Ulster is mainly a Scottish name, numerous in Galloway to which location it probably originally came from Ireland, the Gaelic form being basically the same as that for MacAleer.

Robert Bell is in agreement with

both Black and MacLysaght and

additionally identifies an Irish Sept

associated with county Derry.

MACCLURE: In Ireland this is a rare name outside Ulster where it is most numerous in counties Antrim and Down. Most in Ulster will be of Scottish origin, but even these may well have been of Irish origin in the more remote past. There was a small Oriel sept of counties Armagh and Monaghan called in Gaelic Mac Giolla Uidhir. Eugene MacGillaweer, Archbishop of Armagh From 1206 to 1216, was of this sept. The name was Anglicised to MacAleer, MacClute, MacLure and, because of its sound, to Weir (see Weir). In Scotland the name MacClure and its variant MacAlear have long been recorded as common in the province of Galloway, home to many Irish names that made their way across the Irish Sea from Down and Antrim. The name was in Scots Gaelic Mac Gille Uidhir, and meant, like its Ulster counterpart, ‘son of Odhar’s servant’. It seems possible therefore that the Galloway MacClures were originally of Irish stock.
 McClure Surname Origins
 McClure Surname Origins