The Clan

A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and ancestral decent. Sometimes the lineage details are unknown and then clan members may be organized around a founding member. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolic, where the clan shares a specific common ancestor that is a symbol of the clan’s unity.

Clans can be most easily described as tribes or sub-groups of tribes. The word is derived from ‘clann’ meaning ‘family’ in the Irish and Scottish Gaelic languages. The word “clan” was taken into English about 1425 as a label for the tribal nature of Irish and Scottish Gaelic society. Clans preceded more centralized forms of community organization and government. Historically, they are located in every country. Members may identify with a coat of arms or other symbol to show they are an independent clan.

In Scotland, a clan became an important and traditional social unit in the Scottish Highlands. A clan consisted of a number of families claiming a common ancestor and following the same hereditary chieftain.