Show ContentsMcNall History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The original Gaelic form of McNall was Mac an Fhailghigh, which is derived from the word failgheach, which means poor man.

Early Origins of the McNall family

The surname McNall was first found in counties Armagh and Monaghan (Irish: Muineachán) located in the Northern part of the Republic of Ireland in the province of Ulster, where they held a family seat from ancient times.

Early History of the McNall family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our McNall research. Another 100 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1120, 1653, 1680 and 1697 are included under the topic Early McNall History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

McNall Spelling Variations

The Middle Ages saw a great number of spelling variations for surnames common to the Irish landscape. One reason for these variations is the fact that surnames were not rigidly fixed by this period. The following variations for the name McNall were encountered in the archives: McNally, McAnully, McAnalley, McAnally and others.

Early Notables of the McNall family

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


United States McNall migration to the United States +

In the 19th century, thousands of Irish left their English-occupied homeland for North America. Like most new world settlers, the Irish initially settled on the eastern shores of the continent but began to move westward with the promise of owning land. The height of this Irish migration came during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. With apparently nothing to lose, Irish people left on ships bound for North America and Australia. Unfortunately a great many of these passengers lost their lives - the only thing many had left - to disease, starvation, and accidents during the long and dangerous journey. Those who did safely arrive in "the land of opportunities" were often used for the hard labor of building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. The Irish were critical to the quick development of the infrastructure of the United States and Canada. Passenger and immigration lists indicate that members of the McNall family came to North America quite early:

McNall Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • James McNall, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1811 [1]
  • William McNall, who landed in Maryland in 1811 [1]
  • Ira McNall, who arrived in New York in 1827 [1]
  • John McNall, who arrived in New York in 1827 [1]

Contemporary Notables of the name McNall (post 1700) +

  • Bruce Patrick McNall (b. 1950), American former Thoroughbred racehorse owner, and a sports executive
  • Freeman McNall, American politician, Dry Candidate for Delegate to New York convention to ratify 21st amendment, 1933 [2]
  • Thomas George McNall (1874-1953), Canadian merchant and politician in Saskatchewan, Mayor of Regina from 1945 to 1946


  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)
  2. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 8) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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