233 
The name Mac Aodh signifies ‘Son of Hugh,’* and is pro- 
nounced in Scotland, as wellas the south of Ireland, according 
to the provincial sound of the syllable Aodh, Mackay ; but in 
the middle of Ireland, Mackew ; and in Ulster, Magee. The 
family which bore it was akin to the Mac Donnells, and was 
commonly knownas ‘ Macgee of the Rinns of Islay.” When 
the Mac Donnells sought a permanent footing in Ireland, the 
Magees followed their fortunes, and obtained a settlement on 
the north-east coast of the county of Antrim. The tradition 
of the family, as stated by John Magee, the owner of the pre- 
sent document, is, that his ancestor, John Magee, who was 
cousin to Somhairb Boy Mac Donnell, came to Ireland with 
that chieftain to assist him in wresting the Route and Glynns 
from the Mac Quillins, and that, having rendered important 
services to him at the battle of Aura, he received, as a reward, 
the four quarterlands of Ballyukin,-and two adjacent to Aura, 
in the parish of Culfeightrim, which continued in the posses- 
sion of the family until the time of the present representative’s 
grandfather. 
It may be observed, also, that the peninsula on the coast 
of Antrim, near Larne, which was formerly called Rinn 
Shevny, having been occupied by the Magees in the early 
part of the sixteenth century, exchanged its ancient name for 
‘Mac Guyes-Isle,’ or ‘Island Magee,’ the latter of which it 
bears at the present day. . 
The Mac Donnell who made the above grants was Donald, 
Lord of the Isles, who died in 1427.{ His next brother, John 
of Islay, was ancestor of the Earls of Antrim.§ 
however, that though the names Mac Gee and Mackay are of the same ori- 
gin, the families so called were perfectly distinct. 
* Mak-Kye, 1. Filius Hugonis.—Collectan. de Reb. Alban. p- 27. From 
Hugh Mac Donnell of Sleate, his son, John, and grandson, Donald, derived 
their patronymic of Hughson, a name now written Hewson. See Douglas, 
Peerage of Scotland, p. 363, a. 
+ Collectan. de Reb. Alban. pp. 297, 310. 
{ Douglas, Peerage of Scotland, p. 360. 
§ Ibid., p. 359. 
VOL. V. U 
