Clan MacKenzie History & Genealogy

Castle Leod

The original seat of the MacKenzies of Tarbat & Cromartie and the home of the current chief near Strathpeffer

Glenshiel

The site of a battle in 1719 between the MacKenzies, with their Jacobite allies, and the Hanoverian forces

Eilean Donan

The original castle was once the seat of Clan MacKenzie in Kintail

Loch Kinellan

The crannog (artificial island), now covered in trees, was the old home of the MacKenzie chiefs in Easter Ross

Loch Maree

A view from the west, near Gairloch which was the home of one of the oldest branches of the clan

Inverewe House

Set amidst the famous gardens created by a MacKenzie on the west coast near Poolewe

Loch Assynt

The ruins of Ardvreck Castle which became a MacKenzie stronghold after its capture from the MacLeods in 1672

The Kessock Bridge from Kilmuir

The bridge connects the Black Isle, most of which was at one time held by the MacKenzies, to Inverness

Information about the MacKenzies, past and present, at home and around the world
compiled in Scotland by the Seanchaidh (Historian & Genealogist) of the Clan
Please click here for intro & site index

The MacKenzies - Clann Choinnich in the Gaelic - were, by the 18th century, the most powerful clan in the northern highlands under the chiefship of the Lords of Kintail and Earls of Seaforth. Their stag's head badge and motto (Cuidich 'n Righ - Help the King) illustrates how they rose to prominence in the 16th century in the service of the crown, and the title of their earldom celebrates their acquisition in the 17th century of the island of Lewis, on the coast of which is Loch Seaforth. Though the MacKenzie homeland was in Ross, branches of the clan became established in many other parts of Scotland.

The MacKenzies and the Campbells - who rose to prominence in the southern Highlands at much the same time as the MacKenzies in the north - are the only Highland clans to have been granted two earldoms by the crown. The 3rd Earl of Seaforth's second cousin Sir George MacKenzie of Tarbat was made Earl of Cromarty/Cromartie in 1703. The present Chief of the Clan is the current Earl of Cromartie whose crest is the burning mountain with the motto Luceo non Uro ("I shine not burn"). "Cabarfeidh", as the chief is known within the clan, is the now the head of a family with branches around the world.

Septs and Related Names

Clunes	Cross	Kemp	MacBeath	MacBeolain	MacIver	MacKenna	MacLeay
MacThearlaich	MacVanish	Mawhinney	Murchison	Reach/Rioch	Smart	Tallach	Tuach

Many so-called septnames are in fact phonetic versions of the clan surname or of one of the above names.

For a full list of documented spelling variations and phonetic versions of the clan surname please click here.