MacQueen Clan History

From the gaelic ‘Mac Shuibhe’ or ‘son of Sweyn’, the MacSween clan claim kinship with the Irish high kings, of the same descent as the great clan Donald.

A number of MacQueens are said to have provided an escort at the marriage between the daughter of the clan Ranald and the chief of clan MacKintosh. After this union took place, many of them did not return to their homelands but chose to settle around the Findhorn valley. This branch of the family, known as clan Revan became part of the great federation of clans known as Clan Chattan and by the sixteenth century they were in possession of the lands of Corrybrough. They became a prominent and important family of the district.

The MacQueen clansmen are also numerous on the islands of Skye and Lewis and yet another branch of the family held lands at Castle Sween in Argyllshire.

The Hebridean branch of the MacQueens have long enjoyed a reputation as outstanding fishermen and also boast of having the Rev. Donald MacQueen as a kinsman. He was a minister on the isle of Skye in the eighteenth century and was described as “the most intelligent man in Skye”. He was looked up to by his kinsmen and also won the admiration of Dr. Samuel Johnson, who was introduced to him on his famous tour of the Western Isles.

From the eighteenth century onwards the fortunes of the MacQueen clan failed, and the chiefs are believed to have emigrated to New Zealand. The family are now widely scattered throughout Scotland and much of the English-speaking world, and the chiefship of the clan is not established at the moment.