Welcome...cousin?

My links to Scotland seem to be through Ireland. Me mither's mither's da was a Sweeney. According to some people all Irish Sweenys are descended from clan MacSuibhne which was effectively kicked out of Scotland after the battle of Bannockburn in 1314...and then settled and became quite influential in Ireland. Nevertheless those that remained became clan MacQueen( although you will find MacSweens) in Scotland.

All that said, I know several Swans who wear the MacQueen tartan and I am of the opinion from talking to them and looking at all the variations and the ways the pronunciation has morphed that a good case can be made for Swan being a variant of Suibhne.

The real dilemma for me has always been which tartan...since my putative ancestors came to Argyll from Ireland in the 10th century and returned to Ireland in the 14th and since tartans and kilts were unknown until probably 2 centuries later...I'm not sure the MacQueen tartan is truly mine to claim. The only thing that sustains me is that my earliest ancestors had no surname until they had been in Scotland for some time. But by the time they left for Eire in the 14th century they were definitely macSuibhnes.