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McCann and MacCann come from the Gaelic Mac Cana, lords of Clann Breasail on the southern shore of Lough Neagh in County Armagh. Woven cotton blankets, a printed throw, two mugs, a House of Maccann garden flag and a framed ornament carry the family crest on the Irish National Tartan, alongside a Celtic harp McCann tee.
McCann and MacCann are anglicized forms of the Gaelic Mac Cana, which Rev. Patrick Woulfe files under Mac Canna and reads as Mac Anna, “son of Annadh.” Clerks also wrote it M’Canna, MacKann and MacAnn. The McCann, MacCann and Maccann pieces here all carry that one Irish name.
The family were lords of Cinel Aonghusa, also known as Clann Breasail or Clanbrassil, on the south side of Lough Neagh in County Armagh. When Amhlaeibh Mac Cana, lord of Cinel-Aenghusa, died in 1155, the Annals of the Four Masters called him the “pillar of the chivalry” of all Cinel-Eoghain, and he was buried at Armagh. The McCanns held Clanbrassil under the O’Neills until the early seventeenth century, and the town of Lurgan still carries them in its Irish name, Lorgain Bhaile Mhic Cana, “the long low ridge of McCann’s settlement.” In modern times the Dublin actor Donal McCann (1943–1999) and the Dubliners singer Jim McCann (1944–2015) took the name onto the stage and into the Irish charts.
Choose the McCann woven cotton blanket or the House of MacCann woven blanket to match the recipient's spelling. Both show the family crest on the Irish National Tartan. The printed polyester throw and framed Christmas ornament carry McCann; accent mugs are available as McCann and MacCann, and the garden flag displays House of MacCann. A McCann T-shirt pairs the name with a Celtic harp for parade days and family reunions.
Follow Amhlaeibh Mac Cana from the 1155 annal to the Irish name of Lurgan in our McCann surname history of Clanbrassil and Lough Neagh.
