Your starter for 10 - Where does the name McINAW originate?

[rye470]

Can anyone help me with the origins of the name McINAW? Please.

A few weeks ago I decided to have a bash at my husbands tree. I hadn't really looked at it because, to be quite honest, he really isn't interested.
Thinks I spend too much time looking for 'deid folk'. Anyway, after a conversation with his sister, and for my own children, I decided to have a try.

It took a few weeks to trace his G Grandfathers birth, due to the fact that he had changed his name from McInaw to McNay. Having found that one, I went to SP for anything McInaw. Anyone on SP is basically related in some way to my husband, as there are so few of them.

The first census entry in Scotland for the family is 1861 in Muirkirk, Ayrshire. It states that the parents, Peter and Margaret, and their son Michael, were born in Ireland and states that the younger son, Patrick, was born in Muirkirk. This would have been around 1847, so where are they on the 1851? No joy on ancestry, just the same info as SP and Family Search just gives a '0' matches for anything McINAW in both Ireland and Scotland.

So, where do the Irish McInaws come from? Can anyone help? I'm beginning to think they made this name up to avoid detection, by anyone, ever. They are giving me serious grey hair because, naturally, I can't give up.

So, if any of you lovely people out there have even the tiniest clue, please let me know.......................their driving me nuts.


Christine.

[AndrewP]

Hi Christine,

After much playing with the spelling, I have found them in Muirkirk in 1851, as the McAna family. Peter, Margaret and 4 children - three (including Patrick) born in Muirkirk and one (Michael) in Ireland.

As a bonus, they were in Muirkirk in 1841 as the McInaw family. Peter, Margaret and three children (including Michael), all born in Ireland. The older two children were not at home in 1851 - they were old enough to have left home by then, or they had died. They appear to have come to Scotland from Ireland sometime between 1839 and the 1841 census.

So this gives at least six children born to the couple. The one assumption made is that all of the children in the family group in 1841 are their children and not nephews, nieces or the like, as the 1841 census does not show the relationships betwen the people.

I see no sign of the Muirkirk births on the IGI or SP so far. I am guessing that they were not baptised in the Established Church of Scotland, or at least not recorded as such. Were they Roman Catholic (least chance of being in the OPRs)?

Also, there is no obvious sign of any of the children having died (in Muirkirk) between 1855 and the 1861 census. On that basis the children who were there in 1851 and not 1861 had died pre-1855 or had left home and shown no obvious trace in the 1861 census elsewhere.

All the best,

Andrew

[DavidWW]

I'd believe that neither McAna or McInaw is correct

It's an absolute classic, - I'd put money on an Irish accent being complicit, quite possibly Ulster, - the "a/i" interpretation is classic, - there's others such as "i/u" and "a/e", cf McMullan in Ulster instead of McMillen.

But I don't believe that the real surname is McAna or McInaw.

The closest that I can get in MacLysaght's "The Surnames of Ireland" is McAnawe (cognate with Kinnawe according to MacLysaght), but McAnaul could also easily be have been heard as and spelt as McAna or McInaw.

This situation is the most difficult that I know, in the sense of the name being so short that wildcards can be difficult to apply, plus the fact that you can end up uncertain as to what letter or letters have "dropped" off the end, i.e. been elided.

David

[rye470]

Andrew and David,

Many Many Thanks for your efforts on my McInaw problem, you both get 10 points each.

Andrew,

I thought I had tried every combination of letters and possibilities, but obviously not. I'm pretty sure that's the correct family, there are too many similarities. I've found three children's marraige's and deaths that I can tie directly to Peter and Margaret, and a few I've just to find the last link. As to religion, Yes, they appear to have been Roman Catholic up until the marraige of my husband's grandmother (McInaw/McNay), who appears to have 'turned' at this time.

David,

Thank you for the variations that could be applied in this case. I have so many Irish lines in my tree it has almost become 2nd nature to try pronouncing names with an Irish accent. I would never have come up with the names you did.


Once again, Many Thanks to you both.

Christine



P.S. David, enjoying 'Digging up your Roots'. Loved last weeks lady and her clock.

[DavidWW]

....snipped....................
David,

Thank you for the variations that could be applied in this case. I have so many Irish lines in my tree it has almost become 2nd nature to try pronouncing names with an Irish accent. I would never have come up with the names you did.
....snipped...........

Its very simple when you have McLysaght's and Black a short stretch away on a bookshelf, plus Bell for Ulster surnames (no entries in your case) and Reaney & Wilson for English names (didn't consult here!).

P.S. David, enjoying 'Digging up your Roots'. Loved last weeks lady and her clock.

Great to hear, Do you listen live on the web, or use the listen again facility on the BBC website?

David

[rye470]

Hello David,

Definately the listen again feature on the BBC for me. Your 'live' at 6.00am EST and I'm afraid that's way too early for me. I haven't even had my first dose of caffeine yet. I also have the luxury of listening when it suits me. Empty house I find is the best.


Christine.

[teabag]

Hi Christine I know this is a long shot since your post in an old one. After I retired two year ago it seemed like a good idea to trace the family as a passtime. like yourself I traced them to Muirkirk and it turns out they were all the same family.
McInaw, McAna, McNaw and finally McAnaw which is my name. Peter, who died in 1882 was my Gt.Gt Grandfather.
My goal was to find them in Ireland, my own father said it was Donegal but I have had no joy. wondering if you managed to trace them. thanks Tom

[jfs]

Hi Tom'
Like you I have joined this thread rather late. My Gt Gt Grandfather was also Peter McInaw and I have managed to find out quite a bit about my side of the family.
They came over from Ireland about 1838 and settled in Muirkirk where work was plentiful in the local Iron Works
Peters wife Margaret unfortunately died as a result of an accident followed several years later by their son John who took his own life. Peter himself died the year after his son in 1882.
The result of all this heartache could have been one of the reasons for the name change.
I have been informed, but to date have not proven, that the McInaws came from a small village between Donegal and Letterkenny. Their name was not McInaw in Ireland but the informant did not know what the name there was.
If you can add anything further to this, I would be interested in hearing it

Regards

jfs

[SarahND]

Hello Tom and jfs!
Sorry I missed welcoming you first time around, Tom. Let's hope Christine will also come soon to join in the discussion!

All the best,
Sarah

[teabag]

Hi sarah, Thanks for the welcome. looking forward to some more posts, it would be nice to hear from Christine.

Regards Tom