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MEANING OF THE NAME
Mag Fhionnghaile — the classical spelling of the surname McGinley in its native language, Irish. The form that has been used for hundreds of years in Co Donegal and is still used today.
Mag Fhionnaile — this is the standard modern spelling in Irish. Both this and the older form are in current use. These both derive from the earlier (pre 1500 a.d.) obsolete Irish Gaelic forms of Mag Findgail, Mag Findgaile and Mag Findgoil.
The surname derives from the very old Irish words fionn meaning ‘fair haired’ and gal meaning ‘valour’. The full meaning of the surname is therefore ‘son of the fair haired valorous one’. The Gaelic ending gal is usually interpreted in a warrior sence. The originator of the McGinleys (whoever he may have been), most likely was a fearless warrior. Most Irish surnames usually start with Ó or Mac. In our surname, Mag is an occasional variant of Mac that is found with surnames following with an aspirated/silent 'F' or a vowel. The letter F is silent (as is the last G in the older Gaelic spelling). The pronunciation for the Irish form is Magunaluh or Maginaluh (both said quickly). The Mag surname forms are predominantly found in Ulster (Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Derry, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Monaghan and Tyrone). Historically, in the northern half of Ireland, there has been a tendancy to soften the hard sound of the letter ‘c’ in Mac allowing the variant Mag to develop. Mag surnames can be found in some parts of north Conacht that are close to Ulster (or had large Ulster settlement after the 1600's) such as Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo. Mag surnames are very rare in other parts of Ireland and do not occur at all in Gaelic Scotland.
In Irish Gaelic, there are differing forms for males and females. Unmarried females have the prefix Nig instead of Mag (giving a full pronounciation of Nigginuluh), while females married to a Mag Fhionnaile use the prefix Mhig (pronounced Vig with the full sound being Vigginuluh). Some example for Mag Fhionnaile are given thus:
John McGinley — Seán Mag Fhionnaile
Peter McGinley — Peadar Mag Fhionnaile
Mary McGinley — Máire Nig Fhionnaile (a daughter)
Janet McGinley — Sinéad Mhig Fhionnaile (a wife)
The same process is used for other types of Irish surnames that start with a Mac or Ó. For example Mac, Nic (pronounced Nik) and Mhic (pronounced Vik) and Ó, Ní (pronounced Nee) and Uí (pronounced Eee). Further, if the first letter can be aspirated (followed by a ‘h’ to soften or change the sound) it is so done, in the female forms (letters that can be aspirated in this case are b, d, f, m, p, s, and t). Some surnames, including McGinley are already in an aspirated state. Some names have a small ‘h’ after the Ó. These are taken away in the female forms. Examples are:John McDonald — Seán Mac Domhnaill
(pronounced Shaun Mak Doen-ull)Eileen McDonald — Eibhlín Nic Dhomhnaill (a daughter)
(pronounced Evleen Nik Own-ull)Elizabeth McDonald — Eilís Mhic Dhomhnaill (a wife)
(pronounced Eleesh Vik Own-ull)James Hanlon — Séamas Ó hAnluain
(pronounced Shaimus Oh Hanlooin)Kathleen Hanlon — Caitlín Ní Anluain (a daughter)
(pronounced Katch-leen Nee Anlooin)June Hanlon — Siún Uí Anluain (a wife)
(pronounced Shoon Eee Anlooin)Some Irish surnames start with ‘de’ such as de Brún (Brown), de Búrca (Burke), de Léis (Lacey) etc. Names of this type do not change in the female form. Some surnames are introduced English or Norman names, usually denoting where they came from. Names such as Céitinn (Keating), Feiritéir (Ferriter), Haicéid (Hackett) etc fall into this section. Names of this type do not aspirate in the female forms. Native names that describe physical features or place of origin such as Breathnach (Brannagh/Walsh) and Gallda (Gault) do aspirate. The changing sound made by aspiration is roughly as follows…
A Guide To Aspiration/Softening of Letters in Irish:
B to Bh = V (when next letter is - e -or - i -) Agata Ní Bheirn (pron. Agutuh Nee Vern) B to Bh = W (when next to a, o, u)
Gráinne Ní Mhathúna (pron. Graunya Nee Wahoonuh)
Grace Mahony
C to Ch = a hard ‘h’ sound Áine Uí Chofaigh (pron. Aunya Eee Hofee) D to Dh = either silent or a slight ‘y’ sound or soft 'g' Íde Ní Dhálaigh (pron. Eeduh Nee Yaulee) F to Fh = silent Daifne Nig Fhionnaile (pron Dafnuh Nigg Inuluh) G to Gh = silent Tríona Ní Gharbháin (pron Treenuh Nee Arvaun) M to Mh = V (when next to letter e or i) Lára Nic Mheiric (pron Laura Nik Verik) M to Mh = W (when next to a,o,u)
Lasairíona Ní Mhocháin (pron. Lassereenuh Nee Wohaun)
Lasarina Mohan
P to Ph = an ‘f’ sound Rút Nic Pháidín (pron. Root Nik Faudeen) S to Sh = a ‘h’ sound Treasa Ní Shoracháin (pron. Trassuh Nee Horahaun) T to Th = a ‘h’ sound
Sinéad Ní Théacháin (pron. Shinaid Nee Haihaun)
From the very beginning of the use of surnames in Ireland (around the early 1100’s), our clan only used the Gaelic form of their name. To the people, no other form existed. The English form was forced on the Irish people against their wishes. Only English forms were recognised, only English forms were used on official documents, only English could be used for any business or contract. This however did not stop the native people from using their mother tongue among themselves. It was not until the middle 1600’s that the English language really took a hold in Ireland. This coincided with the illegal Plantations in most of Ulster, including Donegal. By the early twentieth century, although a large percentage of McGinleys in Donegal still spoke Irish Gaelic as their first language, they were all recognised by the English form of their name. This was so on all legal documents, all court appearances, all business transactions etc. We shall see that as far back as the mid 1600’s, notes of people called McGinley are recorded…but only by the English forms and never by the form that the people themselves would have used.
The period of Gaelic submergance in the 1700's and 1800's saw many drop the Mac/Mc prefix (in the English forms ofcourse), especially those in Mayo, hence the change from McGinnelly to the much more common Ginnelly. Those of Westmeath also largely dropped the prefix and Ginnell has become the standard form there. Ironically, going against the national trend, those in Donegal nearly always retained the Mac/Mc prefix, and infact ANY other form of the name, without a prefix, is extremely rare in Donegal now. McGinley is the usual spelling found today.
Because of the illegal dominance of this foreign language in Ireland, it is not surprising that many would forget how to spell their name in their native Gaelic tongue (many being illiterate). We find that over the last two centuries that some scholars have recorded some Gaelic surnames incorrectly, including McGinley. The noted Bishop William Reeves in his work “Visitations of Derry Diocese”, from 1850, made the presumption that the surname McGinley was at first Ó Cionnfaolaidh, first anglicised as O’Kynnele, which in time became MacKinely and McGinley. He obviously did not travel to north Donegal or ask a native Gaelic McGinley speaker! He does not explain either, why the name should start as an O name then become a Mac name! Others have copied him but changed the name to Mac Cionnfhaolaidh or Mac Ceannfhaolaidh and tried to tie the surname in with various place names or legends such as Dunkineely (south Donegal) or Cloughaneely (north Donegal). The same mistake was made in 1920 by the usually competent Father Maguire in his “History of the Diocese of Raphoe”. All the modern respected Gaelic scholars thoroughly dismiss the opinion of Reeves…..
Father Woulfe — Mag Fhionnghaile, 1923
George F. Black — Meg Fhionnghaile, 1946
Edward McLysaght — Mag Fhionnghaile, 1964
Edward McLysaght — Mag Fhionnghaile, 1982
Brian de Breffny — Mag Fhionnghaile, 1982
Robert Bell — Mag Fhionnghaile, 1988
Muiris Ó Droighneáin — Mag Fhionnaile, 1991
Ida Grehan — Mag Fhionnghaile, 1997
Seán Quinn — Mag Fhionnghaile, 2001
Seán de Bhulbh — Mag Fhionnghaile, 2002
It should be noted that the spelling given by George F. Black, - Meg -, is a known typing mistake for - Mag -.
