What’s the difference between Scottish clans and Irish clans?
A. Although Scottish clans were originally formed by ancient Gaelic families, today Scottish clans are British and typically identify with geographical areas originally controlled by the Chiefs, usually with an ancestral castle and clan gatherings form a regular part of the social scene. Sometimes Scottish clans will be built around political alliances and strategy as opposed to genetic similarity. Today, Scottish clans operate entirely under their own system and recognition with their own traditions and regulations. The Highland clan system incorporated the Celtic/Norse traditions of heritage as well as Norman Feudal society. In the Irish system, a sept or clan always descends in blood from its tribe, even if, as occured rarely from time to time, a false genealogy had to be invented to prove that claim. the Irish words used to designate a clan or a tribe are many. At the front of the tribe or clan name you find indicators like Cinéal (‘kinship’), Uí (‘descendants’), Dál (‘share’), Cla
