McPhillips (surname)
Encyclopedia
Although some historians claim the McPhillips surname is of Scottish origin, the surname is found predominantly in Ireland
, in the counties of Cavan
, Fermanagh
and Monaghan
. In Ulster, the McPhillips are in Gaelic MacPilib or MacPhilib. Other historians claim they are a branch of the McMahons clan of Oriel
, descendants of the coarb of Clones Abbey
, Philip MacMahon
.
In Scotland
, different variations of the surname can be found in Inverness-shire
and Argyllshire. The most common version is McKillop
, which can be represented in Scottish Gaelic as MacFhilib and MacPhilip.
in the 12th century and was soon gaelicized to Pilib. The surname is of patronymic
form and derives from the Gaelic Mac Pilib, meaning "son of Philip", which was adopted by many Irish clans. But in the Irish Annals
, the surname was particularly common in South Ulster
& was used interchangeably among the McMahons of Oriel
, O'Reilly
s of Breifne
& Maguire's of Fermanagh
between the 14th-17th centuries. Sean mac Pilib of the O'Reilly clan was ruler of East Breifne from 1392-1400 and was succeeded by Giolla Iosa mac Pilib. Tomas Mór mac Pilib of the Maguire clan ruled Co. Fermamagh from 1395-1430. His grandson, Seán mac Pilib meic Thomáis Mhóir was ruler from 1486-1503.
Historian Peadar Livingstone
also claims it is possible that some Maguire's of Fermanagh
may have anglicised to McPhillips, but generally the surname owes its origins to Pilib mac Séamus Mac Mathghamhna
(Philip MacMahon). He was related to the Kings of Oriel and he was the coarb of Clones Abbey
up until his death in 1486. His son Séamus mac Pilib Mac Mathghamhna
was Bishop of Derry
from 26 November 1503 up until his death in 1519. The surname, which was found to be the 31st most numerous in its homeland of County Monaghan
in 1970. It's almost exclusive in Dartry
where its the 7th most common surname.
In Connacht
, Phillips is an Anglicisation
of McPhilbin
which is one of the Hibernicised
branches of the Burke clan. The surname was used interchangeably with McPhillips, but most later dropped the Mc/Mac prefix.
is made of an attendant called Seán MacPhilib. He fled Ireland with the O'Donnells. He and 13 others choose to remain in Leuven
, and followed Owen Roe O'Neill
into the Spanish Army of Flanders
, while the rest travelled to Rome
. The regiment were fighting the Dutch during the Eighty Years' War. The McPhillips clan of Dartry
in County Monaghan were also involed in the Irish Rebellion of 1641
.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, in the counties of Cavan
County Cavan
County Cavan is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Cavan. Cavan County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Fermanagh
County Fermanagh
Fermanagh District Council is the only one of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland that contains all of the county it is named after. The district council also contains a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore and Kilskeery road areas....
and Monaghan
County Monaghan
County Monaghan is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Council is the local authority for the county...
. In Ulster, the McPhillips are in Gaelic MacPilib or MacPhilib. Other historians claim they are a branch of the McMahons clan of Oriel
Airgíalla
Airgíalla or Airgialla was the name of an Irish federation and Irish kingdom which first formed around the 7th century...
, descendants of the coarb of Clones Abbey
Clones Abbey
Clones Abbey is a ruined monastery that later became an Augustinian abbey in the twelfth century, and its main sights are ecclesiastical. The Abbey was formerly known as St. Tighernach Abbey, and was referred to locally as the "wee abbey". Parochial and monastic settlements were separated, and it...
, Philip MacMahon
Pilib mac Séamus Mac Mathghamhna
Pilib mac Séamus Mac Mathghamhna was a famous canon chorister of Clogher, parson of Dartry and coarb of Clones Abbey.He was a successor of St. Tigernach in Clones and had for the greater part all the Fourths of the bishop of Oriel and the farming of the priors of Lughbadh and Fermanagh, he was...
.
In Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, different variations of the surname can be found in Inverness-shire
Inverness-shire
The County of Inverness or Inverness-shire was a general purpose county of Scotland, with the burgh of Inverness as the county town, until 1975, when, under the Local Government Act 1973, the county area was divided between the two-tier Highland region and the unitary Western Isles. The Highland...
and Argyllshire. The most common version is McKillop
McKillop (surname)
McKillop and MacKillop, Mackillop are English-language surnames derived from the Gaelic-language. The names are derived from the Gaelic Mac Fhilib, meaning "son of Filib". Filib is a Gaelic form of Philip...
, which can be represented in Scottish Gaelic as MacFhilib and MacPhilip.
Etymology and early Irish origins
The Christian name Philip was brought to Britain & Ireland by the NormansNormans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
in the 12th century and was soon gaelicized to Pilib. The surname is of patronymic
Patronymic
A patronym, or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronymic. Each is a means of conveying lineage.In many areas patronyms...
form and derives from the Gaelic Mac Pilib, meaning "son of Philip", which was adopted by many Irish clans. But in the Irish Annals
Irish annals
A number of Irish annals were compiled up to and shortly after the end of Gaelic Ireland in the 17th century.Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days...
, the surname was particularly common in South Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
& was used interchangeably among the McMahons of Oriel
Airgíalla
Airgíalla or Airgialla was the name of an Irish federation and Irish kingdom which first formed around the 7th century...
, O'Reilly
O'Reilly
O'Reilly is the Anglicised form of the Gaelic Ó Raghallaigh. It is also the patronymic form of the Irish name Reilly . It is commonly found throughout Ireland, with the greatest concentration of the surname found in County Cavan followed by Longford, Meath, Westmeath, Fermanagh and Monaghan, and...
s of Breifne
Kingdom of Breifne
The Kingdom of Breifne or Bréifne was the traditional territory for an early Irish tribal group known as the Uí Briúin Bréifne...
& Maguire's of Fermanagh
Maguire of Fermanagh
List of the Macguires of Fermanagh ....
between the 14th-17th centuries. Sean mac Pilib of the O'Reilly clan was ruler of East Breifne from 1392-1400 and was succeeded by Giolla Iosa mac Pilib. Tomas Mór mac Pilib of the Maguire clan ruled Co. Fermamagh from 1395-1430. His grandson, Seán mac Pilib meic Thomáis Mhóir was ruler from 1486-1503.
Historian Peadar Livingstone
Peadar Livingstone
Rev. Peadar Livingstone was a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Clogher, Ireland.-Biography of Peadar Livingstone:Peadar Livingstone was born in 1932 and raised in Castleblayney, County Monaghan. His father was a jeweller. He entered St. Macartan's College, Monaghan in 1945...
also claims it is possible that some Maguire's of Fermanagh
Maguire of Fermanagh
List of the Macguires of Fermanagh ....
may have anglicised to McPhillips, but generally the surname owes its origins to Pilib mac Séamus Mac Mathghamhna
Pilib mac Séamus Mac Mathghamhna
Pilib mac Séamus Mac Mathghamhna was a famous canon chorister of Clogher, parson of Dartry and coarb of Clones Abbey.He was a successor of St. Tigernach in Clones and had for the greater part all the Fourths of the bishop of Oriel and the farming of the priors of Lughbadh and Fermanagh, he was...
(Philip MacMahon). He was related to the Kings of Oriel and he was the coarb of Clones Abbey
Clones Abbey
Clones Abbey is a ruined monastery that later became an Augustinian abbey in the twelfth century, and its main sights are ecclesiastical. The Abbey was formerly known as St. Tighernach Abbey, and was referred to locally as the "wee abbey". Parochial and monastic settlements were separated, and it...
up until his death in 1486. His son Séamus mac Pilib Mac Mathghamhna
Séamus mac Pilib Mac Mathghamhna
Séamus mac Pilib Mac Mathghamhna was the Bishop of Derry.He was appointed Bishop-designate of Clogher on the 5 November 1494. John Edmund de Courcy was also Bishop of Clogher around this time and he did not renounce his claim to Clogher until 1502...
was Bishop of Derry
Bishop of Derry
The Bishop of Derry is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Derry in Northern Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric.-History:...
from 26 November 1503 up until his death in 1519. The surname, which was found to be the 31st most numerous in its homeland of County Monaghan
County Monaghan
County Monaghan is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Council is the local authority for the county...
in 1970. It's almost exclusive in Dartry
Dartraighe
Dartraighe , anglicized as Dartree, Dartry or Dartrey, was a kingdom in ancient Ireland which stretched north to Clones and south to beyond the Dromore river, once belonging to the O'Boylans and McMahons....
where its the 7th most common surname.
In Connacht
Connacht
Connacht , formerly anglicised as Connaught, is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the west of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for...
, Phillips is an Anglicisation
Anglicisation
Anglicisation, or anglicization , is the process of converting verbal or written elements of any other language into a form that is more comprehensible to an English speaker, or, more generally, of altering something such that it becomes English in form or character.The term most often refers to...
of McPhilbin
Philbin
Philbin or McPhilbin are Irish surnames, which is a patronymic form meaning "son of Philip".The clan is of Norman origin, and is one of the Hibernicised branches of the Burke clan. Some would have later dropped the prefix. The clan descends from John MacPhilbín, son of Little Philip de Burgh and...
which is one of the Hibernicised
Gaelicization
Gaelicization or Gaelicisation is the act or process of making something Gaelic, or gaining characteristics of the Gaels. The Gaels are an ethno-linguistic group who are traditionally viewed as having spread from Ireland to Scotland and the Isle of Man."Gaelic" as a linguistic term, refers to the...
branches of the Burke clan. The surname was used interchangeably with McPhillips, but most later dropped the Mc/Mac prefix.
17th century and the Flight of the Earls
On the 14th September 1607, mention by Tadhg Ó CianáinTadhg Ó Cianáin
Tadhg Og Ó Cianáin was an Irish writer.He was the author of Imeacht na nIarlaí/The Earls' Departure, a diary of the Flight of the Earls, kept from September 1607 to November 1608, from Rathmullen, County Donegal to Rome. It is the earliest example in Irish of the diary genre...
is made of an attendant called Seán MacPhilib. He fled Ireland with the O'Donnells. He and 13 others choose to remain in Leuven
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
, and followed Owen Roe O'Neill
Owen Roe O'Neill
Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill , anglicised as Owen Roe O'Neill , was a seventeenth century soldier and one of the most famous of the O'Neill dynasty of Ulster.- In Spanish service :...
into the Spanish Army of Flanders
Army of Flanders
The Army of Flanders was a Spanish Habsburg army based in the Netherlands during the 16th to 18th centuries. It was notable for being the longest standing army of the period, being in continuous service from 1567 until its disestablishment in 1706...
, while the rest travelled to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. The regiment were fighting the Dutch during the Eighty Years' War. The McPhillips clan of Dartry
Dartraighe
Dartraighe , anglicized as Dartree, Dartry or Dartrey, was a kingdom in ancient Ireland which stretched north to Clones and south to beyond the Dromore river, once belonging to the O'Boylans and McMahons....
in County Monaghan were also involed in the Irish Rebellion of 1641
Irish Rebellion of 1641
The Irish Rebellion of 1641 began as an attempted coup d'état by Irish Catholic gentry, who tried to seize control of the English administration in Ireland to force concessions for the Catholics living under English rule...
.
Place Names
- McPhillips Street Station CasinoMcPhillips Street Station CasinoMcPhillips Street Station Casino is a casino located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is one of two casinos in the city McPhillips Street Station Casino is a casino located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is one of two casinos in the city McPhillips Street Station Casino is a casino located in Winnipeg,...
- McPhillips Street, Winnipeg