Show ContentsMcCale History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The Gaelic name used by the McCale family in ancient Ireland was Mac Ciele, which is derived from the word ciele, which means companion.

Early Origins of the McCale family

The surname McCale was first found in County Mayo (Irish: Maigh Eo) located on the West coast of the Republic of Ireland in the province of Connacht, from before the 12th century.

Early History of the McCale family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our McCale research. Another 62 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early McCale History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

McCale Spelling Variations

Names during the Middle Ages were often recorded under several different spelling variations during the life of their bearers. Literacy was rare at that time and so how a person's name was recorded was decided by the individual scribe. Variations of the name McCale include MacHale, McHale, MacHail, McHail, McCale, MacCale and others.

Early Notables of the McCale family

More information is included under the topic Early McCale Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States McCale migration to the United States +

Many destitute Irish families in the 18th and 19th centuries decided to leave their homeland, which had in many ways been scarred by English colonial rule. One of the most frequent destinations for these families was North America where it was possible for an Irish family to own their own parcel of land. Many of the early settlers did find land awaiting them in British North America, or even later in America, but for the majority of immigrants that arrived as a result of the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s the ownership of land was often a long way off. These Irish people were initially put to work on such industrial projects as the building of bridges, canals, and railroads, or they worked at manufacturing positions within factories. Whenever they arrived, the Irish made enormous contributions to the infant nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the earliest immigrants to bearer the name of McCale were found through extensive research of immigration and passenger lists:

McCale Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Patrick McCale, who landed in Virginia in 1715 [1]


  1. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)


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