Internet turns Scottish clans into global tribe

By Chloe Fussell

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - When the ancient system of Scottish tribes risked fading away two decades ago the 30th chief of the Carmichael clan turned to the Mormon Church.

That's where Richard Carmichael of Carmichael found thousands of genealogical records and the addresses for people around the world who shared his surname.

Today, many of the 140 officially recognized clans have morphed into massive online associations, whose ranks have been swelled by enthusiastic Americans, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans keen to have a link to their Scottish heritage.

Descendants abroad are often delighted to discover that hundreds of years after the MacDonalds and MacDuffs first organized themselves into loose family associations that many kilt-wearing clan chiefs still live on the ancestral lands and pass their titles down to the next generation.

"It's very difficult to take on a role that's historic and redundant. In the 80s, we often heard that the clans were finished because no one lived in the locality any more," Carmichael told Reuters.

"A few of us fought hard to defy that and the clan has got back on course. The world wide web has made the global clan a reality."

When Carmichael became chief in 1981 -- taking over the clan's estate north of Glasgow -- he used the Mormon Church's extensive genealogical records to track down thousands of Carmichaels and sent every one an invitation to a gathering.

One hundred and fifty of the Carmichael descendants traveled to the revived clan gathering that year, and the chief resolved to hold them every few years. He estimated the clan numbers around a quarter of a million people around the world.