Some Clan Gunn History as it Relates to Our Family

My Direct ancestor Donald Gunn was from a branch of the Gunn Clan referred to as the McHamish Gunns.

According to the generally accepted history of the Clan, the  McHamish Gunns were descended from James, who was the eldest son of George Gunn the Coroner of Caithness. George, along with several of his sons, was killed by members of a rival clan, the Keith’s, at the Battle of St. Tears, Akergill, in 1478.

The term McHamish serves to distinguish this branch from the descendants of the Coroner’s other surviving sons who remained in Caithness. James retreated to the Strath of Kildonan in the northern part of Sutherlandshire; probably to avoid the now stronger and better connected Clans of Caithness. The Chiefs of the Clan Gunn came from this branch of the family until 1690 when the clan stronghold at Killernan was destroyed by fire. After this event, the formal organization of the clan seems to have fallen apart.

There are many resources on the History of the Gunns that can be be found online. A good place to start would be: https://www.clangunnsociety.org/clan-history/

Much of the Orthodox history of our Clan has been disputed by some researchers. For an alternative point of view, I offer the work of Alastair Gunn: http://clangunn.weebly.com

Alastair has recently self-published a book containing his research.