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'Niall,

The pronunciation of a "gh" as a "v" sound is new to me.

I guess that's where the danger comes in reading old accounts.

Without doing an extensive search, I have found several MacLeas in Dingwall in the early 1800s (familysearch.com).

You got Leavensidhe (the village of Linsaig in Cowal) mixed up with "leughair", which is "reader".

It is like guttoral German "ach", as in "Bach" and the German "Ich".

<t>You might consider that "-ach" is a Gaelic suffix that serves to attach one thing to another, much like the German suffix "-er" and the English suffix "-ian".  In German, a person from Berlin is a "Berlin-er".  In English, a person from Boston is a "Boston-ian".  In Gaelic, a person from Leamhain...

<t>I was explaining to Mark McConley the technicalities of how the pronunciation of "MacDhonnshleibhe" is reduced to "McOnlea", and I thought it worth repeating here on the forum.  I've also included some thoughts on the meaning of "Donn Sleibhe". In most Scots-Gaelic surnames involving "mac" (son),...

I think we can rest pretty comfortably believing that the "(Mac)Leawes" is at least the same name as "MacDonnsleibhe", if not the same clan.

<t> The following is from a rare little book issued from the Foulis press in 1764, entitled: "The History of the Feuds and Conflicts Among the Clans in the Northern Parts of Scotland and in the Western Isles: from the year M.XX1 unto M.B.C.XIX, now first published from a manuscript written during th...