McCartan - Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Mac Artáin
Meaning: “son of little Art”
Traditional stronghold: Down
Pronunciation: muh-KAR-tin; Irish Mac Artáin: mock ar-TAWN
History of the McCartan name
Mac Artáin, 'son of Artán' (a diminutive of the ancient name Art, 'bear'), were chiefs of Kinelarty (Cineál Fhaghartaigh) in central County Down, kinsmen of the neighbouring Magennises of Iveagh, with both families springing from the Uí Echach Cobo. Their lordship centred on the country around Loughinisland and Ballynahinch. The McCartans lost their lands in the seventeenth-century confiscations but, like many Down families, remained on the ground as tenants, and the name is still strongly concentrated in Down and the adjacent counties. It is sometimes shortened to Carton. In Gaelic sport the name became synonymous with Down's breakthrough football teams of the 1960s.
Variants: MacCartan · McCarten · Carton
Famous bearers of the name
- Patrick McCartan - Republican envoy to America during the revolutionary period, later a TD and 1945 presidential candidate.
- James McCartan Sr - Star forward on the Down teams that won the All-Irelands of 1960, 1961 and 1968.
- James McCartan Jr - All-Ireland winner with Down in 1991 and 1994 and later the county's manager.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Murray · Rooney · Garvey · Fitzsimons · Magennis · Savage · Gillespie · Lowry