The McCartney Family Crest
This site is dedicated to everything McCartney. Jim, Paul, Linda, Stella, Mike, Dr. Angie, Ruth, Mary, James, The Beatles and many more of this prodigious family. Here’s a little history behind the name.
McCartney (surname)
McCartney (a variant of Macartney or MacCartney) is a surname that originated in Ireland. It is not to be confused with McCarthy, which has different origins.
The McCartneys are a branch of the great family of McCarthy Mor of Munster, who were Kings of Cork and Princes of Desmond. The fifth son of Cormac Fionn (d. 1248) was Donogh Cartnach who is the ancestor of the McCartneys. Donough Cartnach left 2 sons, the eldest Donal joined Edward Bruce (King of Ireland), brother of Robert the Bruce (King of Scotland). For serving under Robert the Bruce’s standard, Donal received a grant of land in Argylleshire, called ‘Glen Artney’ (Grid 56.22 degrees North 4.0 degrees West) from the King of Scotland.
Some of Donal’s descendants later moved to Galloway and settled in Auchinleck in Kirkcudbright, Scotland. In Auchinleck in 1522 a George Macartney married Margaret McCulloch. Their grandson, Bartholomew McCartney had one child, George Macartney b.1626. This George Macartney emigrated to Ulster from Scotland. He is the original ancestor of many of the families of Macartney in Ulster and Ireland. He bought the property of Lissanoure in 1649 near Cloughmills Co. Antrim.
This notable surname is an Anglicized form of the Old Scottish Gaelic “MacArtain” or the Irish “MacCartaine”. The Gaelic prefix “mac” means “son of”, and “Artain” is a diminutive of the Old Celtic byname “Art”, bear, hero. Traditionally, Gaelic family names are taken from the heads of tribes or from some illustrious warrior. This surname is widely recorded in Scotland from the early part of the 16th Century (see below). One Thomas McCartnay or MaKartnay of Wigtownshire was noted in the Register of the Privy Council of Scotland in 1562 and a Helen Macartney is mentioned in connection with land in Dumfries circa 1588. William MacKartnay, burgess of Aberdeen, appears in records of that city, dated 1603. The surname has been prominent in north-east Ulster since the mid 17th Century. One Captain George Macartney, who came to Co. Antrim in 1630, was descended from an old family of the name in Ayrshire. Macartney is listed in Petty’s “Census” of 1659 as a principal Irish surname in the barony of Belfast and in 1666, a James MacCartney was entered in the Co. Monaghan Hearth Money Rolls. George Macartney (1737 – 1806), was created Baron Macartney of Lissanoure in 1776, and first Earl Macartney in the Irish peerage in 1792. Margaret McCartney, aged 22 yrs., a famine emigrant to New York, embarked from Liverpool on the ship “Nonantum” bound for the port of New York, on April 18th 1846. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Gilbert McCartnay of Galloway, which was dated 1529, in the “Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland”, during the reign of King James V of Scotland, 1513 – 1542. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to “develop” often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
People
Dr. Angela McCartney (born 1929) Author, Licentiate of the Victoria College of Music in London, Unitarian Reverend Minister and Dr of Business Administration (CULA), Entrepreneur & Step-Mother of Sir Paul McCartney
Bill McCartney (born 1940), American evangelist and former football coach
Bill McCartney (footballer), British footballer
Billy McCartney (born 1947), Scottish footballer
Clarence Edward Noble Macartney, a conservative Presbyterian pastor and author
Daniel McCartney, mental calculator
Forrest S. McCartney, American general and NASA manager
Franny McCartney – Jazz Singer a& Cabaret Artiste
Frederic O. MacCartney (1864-1903), Massachusetts socialist politician
George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney (1737 – 1806), British statesman, colonial administrator and diplomat
George McCartney, Northern Ireland footballer
George McCartney (British consul), British consul-general in Kashgar in China at the end of the nineteenth century
Hussey Macartney (1879-1894), Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne
Ian McCartney, Noted baseball enthusiast and Canadian political essayis
Jesse McCartney, pop singer and actor
John Ellison-Macartney, (born 1818) Irish politician
Sir John Macartney, one of the Macartney baronets
John McCartney (footballer born 1866) (1866–1933), Scottish player and manager whose career lasted from 1884 to 1929
John McCartney (footballer born 1870) (1870–1942), Scottish player for Liverpool who scored six goals; his career ended in 1898
Brandon McCartney, American rap artist
Joseph H. McCartney (1943-1992), poet and artist
Paul McCartney (born 1942), English rock musician who was a member of The Beatles and leader of the band Wings
Jim McCartney (1902-1976), Paul McCartney’s father
Michael McCartney – Famed Hawaiian Radio Personality
Mike McCartney (born 1944), Paul McCartney’s brother, singer and photographer
Ruth McCartney (born 1960), British musician, public speaker, Digital Diva, CEO & adopted paternal step-sister of Paul and Mike McCartney
Linda McCartney (1941-1998), American musician and photographer, Paul McCartney’s first wife
Heather Eastman-McCartney (born 1962), Linda McCartney’s daughter, adopted by Paul McCartney
Mary McCartney (born 1969), British photographer, Paul and Linda McCartney’s daughter
Stella McCartney (born 1971), British fashion designer, Paul and Linda McCartney’s daughter
James McCartney (born 1977), British musician, Paul and Linda McCartney’s son
John McCartney, the fictional grandfather of Paul McCartney, played by Wilfrid Brambell in A Hard Day’s Night
Mike McCartney (footballer) (born 1954), Scottish footballer, formerly manager of Gretna F.C.
Raymond McCartney, Northern Ireland politician
Robert McCartney (Australian politician) (1906 – ?)
Robert McCartney (Northern Irish politician) (born 1936), Northern Irish unionist politician
Robert McCartney (1971 – 2005), victim of a 2005 murder in Northern Ireland
Scott Macartney, American alpine skier
Tim Macartney-Snape, Australian mountain climber
Tom McCartney, New Zealand Rugby player
William Ellison-Macartney, Governor of Tasmania and Western Australia
Willie McCartney, died 1948, Scottish football manager
