M'Ildonich / MacMaoldonich / MacGilledonich

The eponymous of this name was Gilledonich or Maoldonich mac Malcolm mac Mhaolain, the progenitor also of the de Lanys or Lennies of that Ilk (see the sept of Leny page). He appears on the record in Galloway in the 1180s as Gilledoneng mac Coleman (Coleman being another phonetic form of Callum or Malcolm), along with his brother Gillenin (i.e. Gillenevin or Gille-Naoimh) the namefather of the MacNivens.

According to the Leny family tree the MacMaoldonichs had their seat in Strathearn in Perthshire, though the few individuals so far found bearing this surname appear more often in Argyll, alongside MacMillans and other names related to the clan in that part of Scotland. So we find Finlay M'Moldonich in Craignish in 1549, and a Donald M'millan alias M'ildonich marrying Christian M'coll in 1779 in the parish of Kilninver & Kilmelford.

The late clan historian the Rev. Somerled MacMillan reported that some Macmillans on Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, have a tradition of being descended from one Maoldomhnuich Mor who is said to have settled on Harris (the southern part of the same island as Lewis) seven generations ago.