McQuillan and MacQuillan are surnames of
Irish origin. There are several unrelated origins of the surnames McQuillan and MacQuillan.
The Ulster variant of the surname was claimed to be an
anglicisation of the
GaelicMac Uighilín (son of Hugelin), the name allegedly adopted by the family of Hugelin de Mandeville. The de Mandevilles were a
Cambro-Norman family and had conquered an area of north Antrim.[1] In reality the de Mandevilles sold their estates in northern
Antrim to the McQuillans of County Down. Both families had previously held the office of "constable of the bonnaght" for the Earldom of Ulster – a system adopted from the Irish where mercenaries were hired to act as a body of standing troops.[2] The McQuillans renamed the lands they acquired "
the Route", derived from their "rout", a common term then for a private army.[3]
These McQuillans played a large role in the history of County Antrim
^Bardon, Jonathan, A History of Ulster, page 45. The Black Staff Press, 2005.
ISBN0-85640-764-X
Surname list
This page lists people with the
surnameMcQuillan. If an
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