It was reported today,October 17, 2003, that Iain MacNeacail of MacNeacail and Scorrybrek, passed away at his ocean front home in Ballina, New South Wales, Australia.  He was recognized by the Lord Lyon and Council of Standing Scottish Chiefs as Chief of the Highland MacNicols.

During his tenure as Chief, Clan MacNicol succeeded is purchasing 130 acres of ancestral land above Portree, Skye and turned it into a public park.  The clan also stablilized Nicholson's Aisle (chapel) on the Island of Snizort in the River Snizort, Skye, ancient home of the Metropolitan of Western Scotland where 28 of the clan's chiefs are buried.  The Clan under The MacNeacail's direction also protected the sarcophagus of one of its former chiefs from deterioration from exposure to the weather, and contributed to the building of a footbridge from the village of Snizort to the Island.

The late MacNeacail will be succeeded by his eldest son, John Nicholson, also of Ballina and is survived by 2 daughters and a younger son, and a handful of grandchildren.  He was preceeded in death by his beloved wife, Pamela Davis MacNeacail.

Merry Jayne McMichael
Counsellor to the late Chief
Co-Founder of Clan MacNicol Society, N.A.