McCollough/McNeir

[alunger]

MacNeir is a form of MacNair (also Macnayer, Macnuir, Macnuyer). There were Macnairs in Wester Ross who are thought to derive their name from a Mac-Iain-uidhir, 'son of dun John'. There are Macnairs in Perthshire, from M'an-oighre, 'son of the heir' (but others suggest 'son of the smith' and/or 'the stranger's son'), some in Lennox (also sometimes called Weir, who are locally thought of as a sept of Macfarlane; the Cowal (Argyllshire) Macnairs are connected with the Macnaughtons as tenants; and the Perthshire MacNairs are probably a sept of the MacNabs.

McCollough. You say: McCollough seems to come from SW Scotland (Galloway), And relates to clans Munro and Ross. Yes, there are many records of MacCulloughs in Galloway, and there were MacCulloughs in Aberdeenshire and Angus by the 15C and perhaps earlier. Three or four extended families of Ross-shire Maccullochs were dependents/followers of the Earls of Ross and at least one was dependent on the Munros of Evanton. The others may have been dependent on the Mackenzies.

I realise this tells you a lot, but doesn't really help you along your way, alunger. It may even confuse you more.

What is necessary is that you pick/choose from all of this ancestry generational bulk and choose your singular path.

I suggest you settle on following your surname path, first, (is that Maccoullogh?) and try not to get side-tracked onto the 'married to' byway. In this thread you
seem to be trying to find a Lowland or Highland connection to your ggg grandfather, who was a Maccullough (McCollough).

Would you like us to help you more?

Thank you! I definitely appreciate the info, and I'm also very open to more help from anyone who can offer more. It is a lot of bulk and I'm not sure if I know how to approach it or how to determine a singular path. I know that if I trace my own surname (Lunger) up through the paternal line It points to Germany/Austria. If that's all there is to it then I suppose my work is done, as there is no connection via paternal surname. But if the maternal connections bear any relevance then perhaps there is a connection yet to be discovered. I think at this point I'm just trying to determine if there is a Scottish connection at all. I would be curious about Highland/Lowland and other details, but not before a Scottish connection was established. I'm new to this as you most certainly have realized! Thanks again