Hiya Kayleigh, and welcome to Rootschat, there are many knowledgable and helpful people here, I am sure you'll make progress!
Looking at the list of boards I do not see one specifically for introductions, though there is one for "beginners" and possibly there should be such a thread there,... you'd catch a wider number of viewers than those just interested in Jacobites.
"Ceilidh" is pronounced same as your name, it means a party, always with lots of singing and dancing.
Your interest in old things is great, collecting and looking at bottles and such from centuries past helps you to learn the context of your ancestors lifes, not just who they were, but what thay ate, what that worked at, what the general interests of the society your greats came from. A good start for your studies.
With genealogy most advise you do not start with an ancient supposed ancestor and try to prove your descent, but rather start with the details you know of yourself, then work backwards; try to find where your granny MacDonald was born, married, died, her parents, and back. If you do have a strong family story of being descended from Jacobites certainly do try to follow descen of the exiled MacDonalds, though keeping in mind your jacobite ancestor may have been a MacLeod or some else, and the story carried down through a granddaughter who married a MacDonald.
In general, MacDonalds were clustered in the south west highlands and islands, though over the centuries they were becoming scattered around the country.
Also in your searches remember that standardized spelling is relatively recent; your ancestors may show up as "MacDonald", "McDonald", Macdonnell, or dozens of variations.
Best of luck in your wee voyage of discovery!
Donald.
