The surname McGallin has also been spelled McGalin, McGallion, McGallian. We are interested in trying to use DNA testing to help connect persons with an ancestor with this surname. We also believe that the names McGullion and McGillion may be variants of the same name. Although our main focus will be Y DNA testing, we are also interested in Family Finder tested persons. The following paragraphs detail information concerning the origins, history and etymology of the McGal....n surname as I believe it to be, based on my research. In the late centuries BC a race or tribe of people came to Ireland that were called the Gailioin. These were a mythical people, but scholars and researchers believe they were a real people that evolved into early historical times as the Gailenga. The Gailioin had a prominent role in the mythological Irish heroic tale, Tain Bo Cualinge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley). Queen Medbh (Maeve) leader of the raid was so fearful of them that she had the Leinster warriors dispersed throughout the army so that their ranks were spread so thin that no more than five of them served together as one unit. The queen feared them because, according to her, they were so skilled in fighting and warfare that, if left in tact as a unit, their warrior skills would allow them to gain the recognition and glory of the fight at the expense of the army as a whole. It is interesting to note that the Gailioin were at once praised and despised in ancient times. The druids (early Celtic religious leaders) cast spells on them and discredited them to the point of driving them out of Ireland to surrounding islands. Their exile was temporary and they returned to the mainland by early historical times. The Gailioin are also associated with the Laighin. Some historians believe that the Laighin and Gailioin were but two different names for the same people. Others believe the Laighin and Gailioin were associated tribes in Irish mythology. The name Gailioin has several variations. Galion, Galian and Gailioin are but three of the ancient variations of the name. At first look, the name because of its many spellings, might be taken as an American corruption of an original Irish Celtic name. But, that would not be true. Galian and Galion, as the name of an ancient tribe or race, are two ancient forms of the name that are remarkably similar to todays surnames; “McGallian” and “McGallion.” The Gallen, Gallin or Gallon on the other hand, I believe, came about later in medeival times as anglicizations of Gallion or Gallian. The Irish today pronounce the name as “Gallon” which phonetically can be spelled in a number of ways, i.e., Gallen, Gallon, Gallin, Galin and even Galun. By early historical times, 5th- 6th century AD, the Gailioin were known as the Gailenga and were divided into two groups, the Gailenga Brec and Gailenga Mor or Great Galienga. The Gailenga memoralized their names in Barony Gallen in County Mayo and the Barony of Morgallion in County Meath. Another place bearing the name is Sliabh Gallion (Mount Gallion) in County Londonderry. However, it is not known how or why Mount Gallion got its name. Up until about the 10th or 11th century the name Gailioin and its believed to be evolution to Gailenga and then to Gallion/Gallian would not have been a surname but the name of a tribe of people. It probably began to be used as a surname about the 10th or 11th century when the Irish first began to use surnames. It probably carried the O' prefix when it first began to be used as a surname. As late as the 19th century there were instances of the name spelled O'Gallion and O'Gallin. Another indicator of McGalln/McGallion/McGallian as an ancient name is its fairly widespread distribution in Ireland. The name is also found in Scotland.