made it increasingly difficult for the Gaelic Irish to hold position and land within Irish society, and thus the name MacShane was eventually shortened to McShane by Owen's son Neil "Clochna" M'Shane, and then again during the 18th and early 19th centuries, Owen's great grandson Patrick translated the surname from the Gaelic "Mac Shane" which is the Ulster dialect spelling of "son of John" to the English "son of John" or Johnson. Johnson, and to a lesser extent Johnston, was commonly used in counties Tyrone, LondonDerry, and Armagh until roughly the 1920s. Over the 20th century, many of the Irish branches returned to the Gaelic spelling. This family is still active and viable in Ulster, America, and Australia. Concentrations of McShane/Johnson families around the world are in: Co. Londonderry & Co. Armagh, Northern Ireland; Glasgow, Scotland; Hobart, Australia; Cape Town, South Africa; Ontario, Canada; and Pennsylvania, USA. The family leadership is closely involved in the greater O'Neill clan activities. A variety of the name is McShine, attested among black people is such Caribbean islands at Saint Vincent and Trinidad – who are apparently descended from the intermarriage of Scottish immigrants with local blacks and/or from slaves who had taken their master's surname with this variation. List of persons with the surname Andrew J. McShane (1865–1936), American, mayor of New Orleans Charlotte McShane, a Scottish born Australian triathlete Edward J. McShane (1904–1989), American mathematician Harry McShane (1891–1988), Scottish socialist and labor reformer Harry McShane (footballer) (born 1920-2012), Scottish football player Ian McShane (born 1942), English actor James J. P. McShane (1909–1968), US marshal – civil rights; Kennedy bodyguard James McShane (1833–1918), Canadian businessman and politician; mayor of Montreal Jamie McShane, American actor Jim McShane, Australian rules footballer Jimmy McShane (1957-1995), Northern Irish singer, known as the front-man of Italian musical act Baltimora Joe McShane, former Australian rules footballer John A. McShane (1850–1923), American politician Joseph M. McShane (born 1949), American, President of Fordham University and the University of Scranton Luke McShane (footballer) (born 1985), English footballer Luke McShane (born 1984), English chess player Michael J. McShane (born 1961), American judge Mike McShane, ice hockey coach Mike McShane (born 1957), American actor and improvisational comedian Patrick McShane (1858–1903), Australian cricketer Paul McShane (born 1986), Irish football player See also Hugh McShane O'Neill, early documented McShane clan member O'Neill Dynasty MacShane Shane O'Neill References Sources Church Lands of County Armagh, by Michael Glancy