Open Veils · Answer
Who was the first McCurdy from isle of Bute?
The earliest reliably documented McCurdy presence on Bute traces through the MacKurerdy/MacKirdy lineage, with the name appearing in Kilchattan parish records by the late 16th century. The WikiTree record identifies Donald Makuredy (born c.1598, Kilchattan, Kingarth Parish, Isle of Bute) as among the earliest named individuals, with his father Fingal Makuredy (born c.1575) preceding him. A 1503 royal lease — cited in the Wikipedia article on Charles J. McCurdy — records King James IV leasing the vast majority of the Isle of Bute to the MacKurerdy family, making that transaction the earliest documented formal clan association with the island. The Newcastle History column pushes the clan's possession of Bute back even further, suggesting the group obtained the island between 800–1000 A.D., though no named individual is attached to that period.
Evidence
- The genealogical record assembled around the MacKirdy/McCurdy line on Bute is layered.
- The 1503 royal lease to the 'MacKurerdy family' — cited in connection with the ancestry of Charles J. McCurdy — is the earliest dated documentary record linking the clan name to Bute as a formal legal entity, predating the parish-level birth records by roughly a century.
- The Newcastle History column, drawing on clan tradition, asserts the McCurdy group held Bute between 800–1000 A.D., likely as part of the broader Dál Riata Gaelic-Norse settlement pattern of the Clyde islands, though no personal name is recorded for that founding figure in available sources.
- The WikiTree profile for Petheric McCurdy (c.1640–c.1700) traces his line through Donald Makuredy (1598–1657, Kilchattan) and further back to Fingal Makuredy (c.1575), making Fingal the earliest named individual in that specific lineage.