about the McCulloughs.

The name McCullough is Celtic in origin. The surname may have derived derived from the Scottish “McCulloch” but was interpreted from a local Ulster context. However, the relationships between the McCulloughs and Clan McCulloch present a riddle, and no single answer will solve the riddle.

It is clear that some McCulloughs clan trace their line back to Clan McCulloch of Galloway Scotland. These members of Clan McCulloch may have little or no recent “Irish” in their family lines or DNA. Other McCulloughs and McColloughs have a distinct Y chromosome DNA that indicates they did not have any modern common ancestor with the McCullochs of Galloway. However, it should be noted that Galloway, Scotland and Antrim, Northern Ireland have at times been under common rule, there is no way of knowing whether our ancestors, may have viewed themselves as members of a common tribe.

Short of taking a Y DNA test as described here, a descendant of Irish McCulloughs or Scottish McCullochs may not know if they are a descendant of one of the known Clan McCulloch lines (e.g., Myreton, Galloway; Plaidis; or Oban), or a distinct Northern Ireland family line. But, even if one is not a member of the same Y DNA haplogroup doesn’t settle the issue of identity, affinity, and what might quite loosely be called kinship. Again, not all clan members were or are related by blood.

In recent years there has been a surge of interest in genealogy and DNA. Our aim is to foster the genealogical and DNA study of McCullough names of all variations, promote our common cultural heritage, examine the historic relationships between the McCulloughs and McCullochs. To learn more about the project, visit us at www.clanmcculloch.org.