Irish-Scottish Roots

What's in a name? Why name a folk group Clan Suibhne? Suibhne is an Irish and Scottish name meaning "well-going." Drop the h and Suibne is pure Irish. With the h Suibhne is Irish-Scottish and/or Scot-Irish. We kept the h because we like having a wee bit of "burl." The most proper way to spell Clan Suibhne is Clann tSuibhne, but just plain Suibhne is hard enough for most to pronounce so we left it at that. Sween is the Anglicized form of Suibhne and is where the name variant Sweeney comes from.

The Sweeney's, our Sweeney's, our immediate maternal ancestry, comes from Cappoquin, Waterford, Ireland. The Sweeney's have Scottish roots too. Notably, one of the oldest standing stone castles in Scotland today is Castle Sween - located on the eastern shore of Loch Sween, in Knapdale, on the west coast of Argyll, Scotland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Sween Wow, say that 10 times.

Our grandfather, James Joseph Francis Aloysius Sweeney, emigrated to the United States in 1905. He departed Crow Hill after trade school at Mount Melleray http://www.mountmellerayabbey.org/ and came across on the SS Cymric, a steam ship of the White Star Line.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Cymric  James landed in Boston en route to Newark, NJ. James took a wife, Catherine Sheehan, our grandmother, who emigrated from Limerick, Ireland in 1904.

The Yank-Irish-Celtic Folk Trio Clan Suibhne names their music group in honor of their grandfather. If it were not for James and Catherine - Clan Suibhne Folk Trio wouldn't be here.

A Sweeney from Cappoquin, Waterford, Ireland.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappoquin

SS Cymric ~ built in Belfast ~ in this pic @ Liverpool

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