Clan MacLea

Clan MacLea or Livingstone
Mac Dhunnshleibhe and Mac an Léigh
Crest: A demi-man representing the figure of Saint Moluag Proper, his head ensigned of a circle of glory Or, having about his shoulders a cloak Vert, holding in his dexter hand the great Staff of Saint Moluag Proper and in his sinister hand a cross crosslet fitchée Azure.
Motto	NI MI E MA'S URRAIN DHOMH
Slogan	CNOC AINGEIL
Profile
District	Argyll
Plant badge	Grass of Parnassus
Chief
Niall Livingstone of Bachuil
Baron of the Bachuil
Seat	Bachuil, Isle of Lismore

The Clan MacLea is a Highland Scottish clan, which was traditionally located in the district of Lorn in Argyll, Scotland, and is seated on the Isle of Lismore. There is a tradition of some MacLeas Anglicising their names to Livingstone, thus the Clan Livingstone Society's website also refers to clan as the Highland Livingstones. The current chief of Clan MacLea was recognised by Lord Lyon as the "Coarb of Saint Moluag" and the "Hereditable Keeper of the Great Staff of Saint Moluag."

There are conflicting theories of the etymology of MacLea, MacLay and similar surnames, and they could have multiple origins. The name may be an Anglicisation of Mac an Léigh (Scottish Gaelic), meaning son of the physician. In addition to MacLea, the Gaelic language surname Mac an Léigh is also anglicized to McKinley (surname) and MacNulty. The leading theory today, however, is that the name MacLea is derived from the patronymic Mac Dhunnshleibhe, meaning son of Donn Sléibhe (son of + the brown haired, or chieftain + of the mountain). In 1910 Niall Campbell, 10th Duke of Argyll maintained that the surname MacLea evolved from the name Maconlea, which was originally Mac Dhunnshleibhe. By the eighteenth century the standard form of the name had become MacLea or other forms with similar spellings (MacLeay, McClay, etc.). This is largely a distinction without significance, though, as Mac an Léigh is a nickname surname which was given to the Mac Dhunnshleibhe by the indigenous populations in both Ulster and the Scottish Highlands and which was, eventually, adopted as a substitute surname by the Mac Dhunnshleibhe themselves. The Mac Dhunnshleibhe royals were also one of Ireland’s ancient hereditary medical families.