The Macneills consisted of two independent branches, the Macneills of Barra and the Macneills of Gigha, said to be descended from brothers. Their badge was the sea ware, but they had different armorial bearings, and from their circumstances, joined to the fact that they were often opposed to each other in the clan fights of the period, and that the Christian names of the one, with the exception of Neill, were not used by the other, Mr Gregory thinks the tradition of their common descent erroneous. Part of their possessions were completely separated, and situated at a considerable distance from the rest.

The chief of the Macneills of Gigha, in the first half of the 16th century, was Neill Macneill, who was killed, with many gentlemen of his tribe in 1530, in a feud with Allan Maclean of Torlusk, called Ailen nan Sop, brother of Maclean of Dowart. His only daughter, Annabella, made over the lands of Gigha to her natural brother, Neill. He sold Gigha to James Macdonald of Isla in 1554, and died without legitimate issue in the latter part of the reign of Queen Mary.

On the extinction of the direct male line, Neill Macneill vic Eachan, who had obtained the lands of Taynich, became heir male of the family. His descendant, Hector Macneill of Taynish, purchased in 1590 the island of Gigha from John Campbell of Calder, who had aquired it from Macdonald of Isla, so that it again becmae the property of a Macneill. The estates of Gigha and Taynish were posessed by his descendants till 1780, when the former was sold to Macneill of Colonsay, a cadet of the family.

The representative of the male line of the Macneills of Taynish and Gigha, Roger Hamilton Macneill of Taynish, married Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Hamilton Price Esq, of Raploch, Lanarkshire, with whom he got that estate, and assumed, in consequence, the name of Hamilton. His descendants are now designated of Raploch.

The principal cadets of the Gigha Macneills, besides the Taynish family, were those of Gallochallie, Carskeay, and Tirfergus. Torquil, a younger son of Laclan Macneill Buy of Tirfergus, acquired the estate of Ugadale in Argyleshire, by marriage with the heiress of the Mackays in the end of the 17th century. The present proprietor spells his name Macneal. From Malcolm Beg Macneil, celebrated in Highland tradition for his extraordinary prowess and great strength, son of John Oig Macneil of Gallochallie, in the reign of James VI, sprung the Macneils of Arichonon. Malcolm's only son, Neill Oig, had two sons, Hohn, who succeeded him, and Donald Macneil of Crerar, ancestor of the Macneills of Colonsay, now the possessors of Gigha. Many cadets of the Macneils of Gigha settled in the north of Ireland.

Both branched of the clan Neill laid claim to the chiefship. According to tradition, it has belonged, since the middle of the 16th century, to the house of Barra. Under the date of 1550, a letter appears in the register of the privy council, addressed to "Torkill Macneil, chief and principal of the clan and surname of Macnelis". Mr Skene conjectures this Torkill to have been the hereditary keeper of Castle Sweyn, and connected with neither branch of the Macneils. He is said, however, to have been the brother of Neil Macneil of Gigha, killed in 1530, as above mentioned, and to have, on his brother's death, obtained a grant of the non-entries of Gigha as representative of the family. If this be correct, according to the above designation, the chiefship was in the Gigha line. Torqui appears to have died without leaving any direct succession.

The first of the family of Colonsay, Donald Macneill of Crerar, in South Knapdale, exchanged that estate in 1700, with the Duke of Argyll, for the islands of Colonsay and Oronsay. The old possessors of these two islands, which are only seperated by a narrow sound, dry at low water, were the Macduffes or Macphies. Donald's great-grandson, Archibald Macneill of Colonsay, sold that island to his cousin, John Macneill of Dunmore, and had six sons. His eldest son, Alexander, younger of Colonsay, became the purchaser of Gigha. Two of his other sons, Duncan, Lord Colonsay, and Sir John Macneil, have distinguished themselves, the one as a lawyer and judge, and the other as a diplomatist.

MacNeill House On History Visit To Island Of Colonsay Inner Hebrides Scotland

Tour Scotland travel video clip, with Scottish music, of the MacNeill House on ancestry, genealogy, history visit to Island Of Colonsay, Inner Hebrides. The central part of the house, was first built by the McNeill family in 1722. This is the earliest classical Georgian country house in Argyll. It has been extended twice in between 1722 and the early 20th century.

The MacNeils of Colonsay obtained Colonsay in 1700 and owned it until 1904 when it was sold by John Carstairs McNeil. Major General Sir John Carstairs McNeill, born 28 March 1831, died 25 May 1904, was a senior British Army officer and Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was the son of Anne Elizabeth McNeill née Carstairs, and Alexander McNeill, born 1791, died 1850, brother of Duncan McNeill, Lord Colonsay, born 1793, died 1874, and of Sir John McNeill, born 1795, died 1883. His own brother was Alexander McNeill. He was educated at St Andrews University in Fife and at Addiscombe Military Seminary in what is now the London Borough of Croydon in England. McNeill was 33 years old, and a lieutenant colonel in the 107th Regiment of Foot Bengal Light Infantry, later The Royal Sussex Regiment, while serving as an Aide-de-Camp to Lieutenant General Sir Duncan Cameron during the Invasion of Waikato, one of the campaigns in the New Zealand Wars, when he was awarded the Victoria Cross. McNeill later achieved the rank of major general, and in retirement became an equerry to Queen Victoria.