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"Remember the people from whence you came"

The Clan MacIntyre crest is a hand holding a dirk and the proud MacIntyre clan motto, "Per ardua" meaning (Through difficulties).

Near to the town of Oban on the west coast of Scotland is the beautiful Glen Noe, on the side of Loch Etiveside.  It was here, around 1360, that the Macintyres, after ariving from the Western Isles where they were closely associated with the MacDonald clan, established their territory.  These lands were held on tenure from the Campbells of Glenorchy for an annual tribute to be paid-in sumertime- of a snowball and a white calf. This was easier than it sounds, at Glen Noe backs onto the mountain of Ben Cruachan which reaches 3,700ft. in height and was often capped in snow.

The Clan bred white cattle so the white calf presented no problem to them.  It was the MacIntyres themselves who graciously offered to pay financial recompense rather than the original arrangement and the Campbells readily accepted.  This then became a rent and the cost was increased to such a level that the MacIntyres were forced to leave their lands.  Thus in 1783 one of the three sons of the Chief, James MacIntyre, emigrated to Canada and by 1808 their estates had been sold.  Many of this branch of the Clan then emigrated to America.  By 1792 the Chief had died in America and his descendants were said to live in Fulton, New York.  In 1921 the Chief of the Clan was an American businessman.

The MacIntyres are famed for their musical talents and were readily sought after by other Clans for their piping skills.  They were hereditary pipers to MacDonald of Clanranald and to the Menzies chiefs.  Famous piping tunes and dirges were written by John MacIntyre and are still played to this day.  Duncan Ban MacIntyre who was born in Glenorchy in 1724 had the distinction of being Scotland's finest, and last, poet to write in the tradition of Gaelic nature poetry.  Imprisoned for sometime in 1746 for writing a poem against the government, he died in Edinburgh in 1812 and a memorial was erected to him in Greyfriars Churchyard, Edinburgh.

The most well known of the Clan resides in New Zealand, he is the Rt. Hon. Duncan MacIntyre who held a number of senior government posts and was Deputy Prime Minister during the 1980s. Although the Clan is now spread throughout the World, all should be aware of their roots and in the words of the old Gaelic proverb,  "Remember the People from whence you came".

The origin of the name MacIntyre is from the Gaelic 'Mac-an-T'soir', meaning "son of the wright carpenter".