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Origin / History of the McCanna Name

This notable Irish surname is an Anglicized form of the Old Gaelic ‘MacCana’, a patronymic of the personal byname ‘Cana’, from ‘cano’, wolf cub.  Traditionally, Irish family names are taken from the heads of tribes, revered elders, or some illustrious warrior, and are usually prefixed by ‘Mac’, son of, or ‘O’, denoting ‘grandson, male descendant of.  The territory of this great sept lay on the southern shores of Lough Neagh, and the MacCanas were lords of Clanbrassil, a district in County Armagh originally occupied by the O'Garveys.  Several members of the sept are described in the ‘Annals of the Four Masters’; the last to be mentioned in the Annals was killed in 1260.  The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Amhlaibh Mac Canna, ‘a pillar of chivalry and vigor in Cinel Eoghain’, which was dated 1155, in the ‘Annals of the Four Masters’.  Donnell MacCanna, Chief of Clanbrassil, was recorded in 1598, and the surname is still widespread in the vicinity of Lough Neagh, though uncommon elsewhere.  On October 11^th 1687, Patrick McCann and Ann McBride were married at Clones, County Monaghan.  

Coat of Arms / Crest
 A Coat of Arms is bestowed upon individuals, not families.  They are not transferable, but may be handed down and derived by family members.

A Coat of Arms granted to the M(a)cCann family is an azure shield with gold fretty, on a silver fess a red boar passant, the Crest being a salmon naiant (swimming horizontally) proper.  

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