Allan Dan MacInnis | Ailean Dan Heanaidh
(1887-1980)

Allan Dan MacInnis was from Glendale Mountain Road, Inverness County. He married Sadie Downes from Glace Bay, and together they adopted two children, Joseph and Eddie MacInnis.
Allan Dan’s family was very musical. His father, Donald MacInnis (Dòmhnull Heanaidh), was a piper and a tradition bearer who immigrated to Glendale from Moidart, Scotland as a young child in 1844. Born in 1838, Donald was baptized in the ruins of An Caisteal Tioram, the historic Clan Ranald castle. Allan Dan’s mother, Cecilia MacLean, came from South Side Whycocomagh.
The MacInnis family was deeply rooted in Gaelic culture, with Allan Dan, his father Donald, and his aunt and uncle, Jane (Sìne Heanaidh) and Hugh, all contributing to the musical and cultural life of their community through their composition of many local Gaelic songs.
Allan Dan’s nephew moved in with him in the early 1960’s after his nephew (Donald “Dan” Roderick Fortune) returned from the US. Allan Dan was the brother of Dan’s mother, Margaret MacInnis. Dan was a bagpiper himself and continued to play even as he got older, he passed in 2001.