The McGee Name

Primary county: Donegal TyroneAntrim

History and Origins

Because Aodh was among the most popular personal names in medieval Ireland — shared by kings, saints, and warriors across every province — the surname Mac Aodha (son of Aodh) developed independently in multiple families. McGee, as a distinct cluster of Mac Aodha families, is primarily an Ulster surname, with the strongest concentrations in Donegal and Tyrone. There were also Mac Aodha families in Connacht and Munster who anglicised differently, producing McHugh, McCoy, and other variants.

The Ulster McGees

The Ulster McGees were primarily settled in the Fanad Peninsula and Rosguill Peninsula of Donegal, in the barony of Kilmacrennan, and in parts of County Tyrone. They were part of the broad Cenél Conaill tribal grouping of northwest Ulster — the people descended from Conall Gulban, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages — which also produced the Gallaghers, O'Donnells, and McSweeneys. The McGees of Donegal held small to middling territorial positions within this tribal world, producing clergy and warriors documented in Ulster annals from the medieval period.

The Flight of the Earls and Ulster Plantation

The Flight of the Earls in 1607 — when the great Ulster lords O'Neill and O'Donnell fled to the Continent — marked the effective end of the Gaelic Ulster order. The subsequent Ulster Plantation of 1610 dispossessed many native Irish families of their lands and introduced large numbers of Scottish and English settlers. McGee families in Donegal and Tyrone experienced the dispossession common to Catholic Gaelic families in the Plantation era, retreating to marginal lands and the western coastline. By the eighteenth century, McGee was a well-distributed Ulster surname among the Catholic communities of Donegal and the Presbyterian communities of Antrim and Down — reflecting the dual Scottish and Irish origins of the name.

Famine and Emigration

Donegal was severely affected by the Great Famine of 1845–1852. The county's predominantly subsistence-farming Catholic population was devastated, and emigration to the United States, Scotland, and England accelerated dramatically. McGee families emigrated in large numbers, joining established Irish-American communities in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. Canada also received a significant McGee emigrant community, particularly from the Ulster Protestant stream.

The Diaspora

The McGee diaspora is among the most geographically dispersed of any Irish surname, reflecting the name's spread across Catholic Donegal, Presbyterian Antrim, and the Scottish Highlands (where Mac Aodha became MacKay). American McGees are found across the eastern seaboard — New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland — with secondary concentrations in the Midwest. Canada received a substantial McGee community, particularly Ontario and Quebec, through both the Famine-era Catholic emigration and the earlier Protestant Ulster migration.

The most celebrated McGee in North American history is Thomas D'Arcy McGee (1825–1868), the Leinster-born Irish nationalist, poet, and politician who became one of the Fathers of Canadian Confederation — assassinated in Ottawa in 1868, the only Canadian federal politician to be murdered in the country's history. His death shocked both Canada and the Irish diaspora. D'Arcy McGee remains one of the most significant figures in Irish-Canadian history.

Notable McGee Families

• Thomas D'Arcy McGee (1825–1868) — Irish-born Canadian statesman, poet, and journalist, one of the Fathers of Canadian Confederation. Assassinated in Ottawa in 1868 — the only Canadian federal politician to be murdered in office.
• Willie McGee (1917–1944) — Controversial American prisoner executed in Mississippi, whose case attracted international attention including from Albert Einstein and Albert Camus.
• Fibber McGee (Jim Jordan, 1896–1988) — American radio comedian who voiced the beloved 'Fibber McGee and Molly' show — one of the most popular radio programmes in American history (1935–1959).
• Barry McGee (born 1966) — American street artist and fine art painter of Irish descent, one of the central figures in the San Francisco Mission School art movement.