Clans and Families of Ireland and Scotland

Clans and Families of Ireland and Scotland

VIII. The Laigin

The Laigin, or Dumnonii, were the third ethno-tribal group to come to Ireland, coming from Gaul shortly

before the Gaels themselves, sometime during the first century B.C. Branches of the Dumnonii settled

first in the Devon-Cornwall area before others moved on to Ireland (Chapter III).

In southern Britain their kingdom gave its name to Devon (Dumnonia). In the time of King Arthur (ca.

A.D. 500), as the tribe most closely associated with that great Pendragon, these Devon Domnonii

established a dual kingdom which included the north coast of Brittany (Domnonie), from whose royal

house eventually sprang the House of Stewart (which house inherited the crown of the Scots in 1371

and that of England in 1603). The Stewarts are covered under the chapter on the Normans, having

come to Scotland in the wake of Norman conquest of England, in which they served as allies of the

dukes of Normandy.

In Ireland the Dumnonii were generally known as the Laigin, and originally became overlords in the

southeastern and central regions, and in Connacht. From there they later spread to other parts of

Gaeldom, as we shall see.

Tribes of the Laigin

The Cianacht

The Cianacht encompassed the OConnors (O Conchobhair) of Keenaght, and the Luighne. The

OConnors were lords of Keenaght, County Derry, until dispossessed by the OKanes shortly before

the Anglo-Norman invasion in the twelfth century. The Luighne were of County Sligo, where they had

settled as fighting men to the Northern Gaels in the early centuries A.D. The Cianacht were closely

related to the Dealbhna and Saithne.

The OGaras were once one clan with the OHaras, and together their territory, Luighne, included the

modern baronies of Corran and Leyney in South Sligo, and Gallen and North Costello (Sliabh Lugha) in

Mayo. About the end of the tenth century the two families separated, and divided the territory between

them, the OGaras taking the Mayo portion. They were driven from their territory by the Jordans,

Costellos and other Anglo-Norman settlers, and resettled in Greagraidhe, in Sligo, now the Barony of Coolavin, and were later known as lords of

Coolavin. They built their stronghold, Moygara, at the northeastern extremity of Lough Gara. Branches

went to Munster before the end of the sixteenth century, and are known as Geary or Guiry. The

ODuanys or Devanys of Sligo are a branch of the OGaras.

The Dealbhna Eathra and Dealbhna Nuadat

The Dealbhna Eathra and Dealbhna Nuadat were closely related to the Cianacht and Saithne. They

originally comprised a single tribal kingdom in the Roscommon-Offaly area, but in course of time the

various branches of the Deal bhna became separated under different overlordships, just as the Ui Maine

became separated from their collateral kinsmen to the northeast of the Shannon, the Oirghialla, by the

growing apart of the North Gaels which itself resulted in the ultimate overkingdoms of the Connachta

and Ui Neill. The Dealbhna Eathra were situated to the east of the Shannon around Clonmacnoise, as

a semiindependent tribal kingdom nominally subject to the Southern Ui NieII. Their chief families in

medieval times were the MacCoghlans and OConrahys.

The MacCoghlans (Mac Cochla in) descend from Cochlan, lord of Dealbhna Eathra in 1053. The heads

of the family were for centuries the lords of Dealbhna Eathra, and the territory of their tribal kingdom

was in later times called after them "Delvin (Dealbhna) MacCoghlane." Their territory cornprised the

modern barony of Garrycastle, in County Offaly. They were once very powerful, and had ten strong

castles in the Garrycastle area. The OConrahys (O Conratha) are a branch of the MacCoghlans.

The Deal bhna Nuadat were centered on the other side of the Shannon, between it and the River Suck

in County Roscommon, and were tributary to the Ui Maine. Their later representatives are the OHanlys

of Connacht.

The OHanlys (O hAinle) were chiefs of Cinel Dobhtha, called in later tirnes Tuaohanly and Doohy

Hanly, being a district along the River Shannon north of Lough Ree. The OHanleys held this territory

as late as the seventeenth century as tributaries of the OConnor Don of Ui Maine. In the late sixteenth

century several related gentlemen of the name were given in succession the office of "Seneschal"

("Royal Officer") of "Tohahohanly" under Queen Elizabeth I.

The Saithne

The Saithne were closely related to the Cianacht and Dealbhna. They originally inhabited a territory in

the southern part of the kingdom of Brega, the kingship of which they in ancient times had shared with

kindred groups. Their lands in Brega lay southeasterly, midway between the River Boyne and the River

Liffey. Their later representatives were the OCaseys.

The OCaseys (O Cathasaigh) were originally lords of Saithne, in the north of the present County

Dublin, until they were dispossessed by the Normans under Sir Hugh de Lacy soon after the

Anglo-Norman invasion (twelfth cenwry). Afterwards they became an important Erenagh (church)

family, being hereditary keepers of Kilarduff and Dunfeeny in County Mayo, Cloondara and Tisrara in

County Roscommon, and Devinish in County Fermanagh.

The Ciarraighe Locha na nAirne

The Ciarraighe Locha na nAirne were originally part of a greater kingdom, the tribal kingdom of

Ciarraighe, centered at Cruachu (the ancient capital of Connacht). This kingdom was fragmented by the

Ui Briuin of the North Gaels during the late eighth century or early ninth century. They may have been,

in more ancient times, closely related to the ancestors of the Oirghialla, the allies of the North Gaels

(in the Heroic Age tales of the North, the "Ulster Cycle," Cruachu is the center of the Gaelic-Laiginian

alliance). The Ciarraighe were indigenous to Connacht. Their main representatives in the Middle Ages

were the OKierans (O Ceirin) of northwest County Mayo. The native territory of the OKierans was in

the south of the barony of Costello, but they were reduced in power there by the Anglo-Norman

encroachment, and branches in Donegal and Clare became more important.

The Ciarraighe Luachra

The Ciarraighe Luachra were the original tribe of North Kerry, a branch of the Ciarraighe. Before the

Anglo-Norman invasion had had a semiindependent kingdom between Tralee and the Shannon. Their

chief family was that of OConnor (O Conchobhair) of Kerry, whose stronghold was at Carrigafoyle, near

Ballylongford. They held the Barony of lraghticonor in the extreme north of County Kerry after the

southern part of their territory was encroached upon by the Fitzmaurices of Clanmaurice and other

Norman settlers. The OConnors held lraghticonor down to the reign of Elizabeth, when it was

confiscated by the English and given to Trinity College.

The Eile

The Eile were originally a tribe of western Kings County (Offaly), where place-names recall their early

residence in that region. After the battle of Druim Derge (A.D. 516), at which battle they were decisively

defeated by the expanding southern Ui Neill, they migrated to the area known after them as "Ely" in the

south of Offaly and including northeast Tipperary. Their chief families in later times were the OCarrolls

of Ely, the OMahers, the ORiordans and the OFlanagans.

The OCarrolls (O Cearbhaill) descend from Cearbhaill, Lord of Ely, who was one of the leaders at the

famous battle of Clontarf in 1014. The head of the OCarrolls was originally lord of all Ely, but after the

Anglo-Norman invasion their power was restricted to South Offaly, which was subsequently called Ely OCarroll.

The Ui Cairin or OMahers (O Meachair) are of the same stock as the OCarrolls, and were lords of Ui

Cairin, now the Barony of Ikerrin, in the old Ely territory in Tipperary. After the Anglo-Norman invasion,

Ikerrin was added to Ormond, but The OMaher (chief of the sept) was left in control of the territory as

tributary to the Butlers, the Anglo-Norman earls of Ormond, under whom they flourished.

The ORiordans (O Rioghbhardain) are a branch of the OCarrolls of Ely, and probably descend from

Rioghbhardan, son of Cucoirne O Cearbhaill, Lord of Ely, who fell at the battle of Sliabh gCrot in 1058.

As late as 1576 a "Gaven O Rewrdane" was a "freeholder" in Ely OCarroll, and one of the most

important followers of Sir William OCarroll. By this time branches had spread into Leix and Kilkenny,

but even earlier the greater portion of the sept had removed to Cork and Limerick. In 1597 Maurice

ORiordan of Croome was attainted by the English, his lands being given to a George Sherlocke.

The OFlanagans (O Flannachain) are of the same stock as the OCarrolls of Ely, and were chiefs of a

territory known as Cineal Arga, now the barony of Ballybrit, in southeast Offaly.

The Ui Faitghe

The Ui Failghe, closely related to the Eile, had probably separated from them by A.D. 516, the year of

the defeat of the Eile at Druim Derge by the Southern Ui Niell. The Ui Failge descend from Failge

Berraide, who a few years earlier had won the battle of Fremainn Mide (A.D. 510). This victory probably

accounts for their being able to remain in the more northerly portion of Offaly while their cousins, the

Eile, were forced to migrate south. The chief families of the Ui Failghe include the OConnors of Offaly,

the OMooneys, MacColgans, OHennesseys, OHolohans, ODempseys and ODunnes.

The OConnors (O Conchobhair) of Offaly were a powerful and warlike sept of the northeast of what is

now County Offaly. They descend from Conchobhar, son of Fionn, Lord of Offaly, who died in A.D. 979.

From their stronghold at Dangan, now Philipstown, they successfully defended their territory from the

English of the Pale (i.e. County Dublin) for more than 300 years. They were finally dispossessed by the

English about 1550. The OMooneys (O Maonaigh) of around Ballymooney in County Offaly are a

branch of the OConnors.

The Clann Cholgan included the families of MacColgan, OHennessy and OHolohan. The MacColgans

(Mac Colgan) were chiefs of the territory around Kilcolgan in the extreme northeast of County Offaly.

The OHennessys (O hAonghusa) shared the lordship of Clann Cholgan (i.e., their clan-name was

applied to the territory they possessed) with their kinsmen the OHolohans (O hUallachain). Their

territory comprised the present barony of Lower Philipstown, a district adjoining the hill of Croghan,

near Kilbeggan, and lying just east of the

OConnors in northeast Offaly. A branch of the OHennessys were chiefs of Gailenga Beg, the district

between Dublin and Tara, until they were dispersed into Offaly as a result of the Anglo-Norman

invasion. Some of the OHennessys spread early into Tipperary and Glare. In County Glare they are

now known as Henchy or Hensey.

The Clann Mhaolughra or ODempseys (O Diomasaigh) were chiefs of the territory known after them as

Glann Mhaolughra on the River Barrow, which comprised the baronies of Portnahinch in Leix and Upper

Philipstown in Offaly. They were very powerful, and owing to the friendly terms they had with the

English during the reign of Elizabeth I (ca. 1590), their lands escaped confiscation until after the fall of

James II (ca. 1690). Their patron saint was St. Evin, who established the church at Monasterevan.

The Ui Riagain or ODunnes (O Duinn) were chiefs of Ui Riagain in the northwestern corner of County

Leix. They were, along with their kinsmen the OConnors and ODempseys, one of the chief families of

Leinster. A branch of the family possessed a territory around Tara until dispersed about the same time

as the OHennesseys of that area (see above). The clan-name Ui Riagain, Anglicized Iregan, may

reflect some relation to the sept of ORegan (O Riagain) of the Southern Ui Neill, one of the Tribes of

Tara, which settled in Leix after the Anglo-Norman invasion.

The Feara Cualann

The Feara Cualann, or "Men of Cuala," originally inhabited the territory of that name, Cuala, which

included a large portion of the present counties of Dublin and Wicklow. Their chief representatives in

later times were the OCullens and OMulryans.

The OGullens (O Cuilinn) were chiefs around Glencullen in County Wicklow, in which area they have

dwelt to this day. Though they were overshadowed as a power in the area by the OByrnes and

OTooles about 1300, Cullen of Gullenstown was counted as one of the leading gentry of County

Wexford as late as 1598, and they appear to have retained considerable influence. Kilcullen, on the

Wicklow border of County Kildare, is named for them.

The OMulryans (O Maoilriain) originated in Leinster, but settled around the north Tipperary-Limerick

border sometime during the thirteenth or fourteenth century. They became very numerous and powerful

in their new home, the territory which is now the baronies of Owney in Tipperary and Owneybeg in

Limerick. In the year 1610, William Ryan surrendered to the King of England all his rights to the lands

of "Owney O Mulrian," in order to receive them back as a royal grant, by letters of patent. These land

were later lost, however, in the mass confiscations of the seventeenth century. The name is numerous

and respectable in Limerick and Tipperary.

The Ui Ceinnsealaigh

The Ui Ceinnsealaigh were the most powerful tribe of Leinster, and usually held the provincial

overkingship until the time of the AngIo-Norman invasion (which their representative, King Dermot

MacMurrough of Leinster, helped bring about). The center of their power lay around the Diocese of

Ferns, in northern Wexford. Their chief families were the Kavanaghs, Kinsells, OMurphys and

OMorchoes.

The Kavanaghs (Caomhanach) descend from Domhnall (Donal) Caomhanach, son of Diarmaid Mac

Murchadha (Dermot MacMurrougb), King of Leinster at the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion (died

1171). He was called "Caomhanach" as a result of his having been fostered by the Co-arb

(blood-related successor) of St. Caomhan at Kilcavan near Corey. The adoption by his descendants of

Kavanagh (i.e., "belonging to St. Caomhan") as a family name is unusual: It is, like Kinsella below, one

of the very few non-patronymic names used among the pre-Norman Gaelic population. The patrimony of

the family included extensive districts in counties Carlow and Wexford, where the name is very

common.

The Kinsellas (Cinnsealach,) descend from Enna Cinnsealach, brother of Domhnall Caomhanach

(Kavanagh) and son of Dermot MacMurrogh. They possessed most of the barony of Gorey in the north

of County Wexford, where they remain to this day, but they remained much less numerous than their

kinsmen, the Kavanaghs. Their lands were formerly referred to as "the Kinsellaghs." A branch of the

Kinsellas, the OMurphys (O Murchadha) of Muskerry, settled early in County Cork, where they

became connected with the barony of Muskerry in the west-central part of that county.

The OMorchoes, or OMurphys (O Murchadha) were chiefs of Ui Feilme, now the Barony of

Ballaghkeen in the northeast of County Wexford, all along the coast. They maintained their

independence and identity as a clan down to the first part of the seventeenth century, and are now very

numerous throughout Leinster.

The Ui Dunlainge

The Ui Dunlainge anciently inhabited the Liffey Plain, the territory around the River Liffey, just to the

northwest of the Wicklow Mountains. They were very important in north Leinster, and held the provincial

overkingship of Leinster itself from 738 to 1042, alternating it between their chief clans, the Ui

Dunchada, Ui Faelain and Ui Muiredaig. Their representatives in later times were the OByrnes and

OTooles.

The Ui Faelain included the OByrnes (O Broin) and their kinsmen the MacKeoghs or Kehoes (Mac

Eochaidh) of Leinster. The OByrnes descend from Bran, son of Maolmordha, King of Leinster in 1014.

Maolmordha died fighting on the side of Earl Sigurd of Orkney against Brian Boru, High-King of Ireland,

at the battle of Clontarf in 1014).

The OByrnes originally possessed what is now the northern half of County Kildare, which was called

after the Ui Faelain. They were driven from this territory by the Normans, soon after the Anglo-Norman

invasion, after which they retired to the fastness of the nearby Wicklow Mountains. Here they became

very powerful, and at the head of the Wicklow clans they terrorized the invaders, first the

Anglo-Normans, and later the English, both of whom they defeated in many a fierce engagement. Their

territory in these times was known as Criochbhranach, and Included the Barony of Newcastle with

parts of the baronies of Ballinacor and Arklow.

The Ui Muireadhaigh or OTools (O Tuathail) descend from Ughaire, King of l.einster (died 956), and

were chiefs of what is now the southern half of County Kildare, which bore the designation of Ui

Muireadhaigh after their clan-name. They were driven from this territory by Walter de Riddlesford soon

after the Anglo-Norman invasion, afterwards retiring to the mountain fastness of Wicklow, like their

OByrne kinsmen. Here their new territory comprised first Ui Mail on the western slope of the

mountains, and later Feara Cualann, in the north. Here, in alliance with their kinsmen the OByrnes,

they carried on incessant warfare with the invaders, Anglo-Normans and later English, which continued

over more than 400 years. They maintained their independence as a clan down to the close of the reign

of Elizabeth I (ca. 1600), after which the whole of Fercuolen was confiscated by the English. The

OTooles however retained considerable property for a time, and a branch of the family settled as well

in west Connacht, where they became numerous.

The Ui Maine

The Ui Maine were the great Laiginian tribe whose original territory comprised adjoining parts of what

are now the counties of Galway, Roscommon, Clare and OfaIly. The Ui Maine were closely related to

the Oirghialla, for their ancestors were the same as those of the Oirghialla, being the ancient Laiginian

allies of the great tribe of the North Gaels (the names of three of their respective original sub-tribal

groups duplicate each other- the Cann Bhreasail. or Ui Breasail (Macha); the Ui Fiachrach Finn, or Ui

Fiachrach Arda Stratha, and the Clann Chearnaigh. The Ui Maine separated from the Oirghialla at the

same time that the Ui Neill differentiated from their North-Gaelic kinsmen, the Connachta (see Chapter

IX). As the Ui Neill and their Oirghialla allies moved eastward into the rest of Ulster, the Connachta

moved southwards into the rest of Connacht, and thus did their L.aiginian allies, the Ui Maine, acquire

what would become their tribal patrimony.

The OKelIys (O CeaIlaigh) were chiefs of the Ui Maine, and as such ruled over a large area in Galway

and Roscommon down to the reign of Elizabeth I, at the end of the sixteenth century. They came to be

regarded as one of the "Three Connachts" along with the North-Gaelic tribes of Ui Fiachrach and

Ui Briuin, although they were Laiginian (the original "Three Connachts" included the Ui Neill, who

branched eastwards and started a new and separate dynasty in the early 5th century A.D.). The

MacKeoghs (Mac Eochadha) are a branch of the OKeIlys, and were formerly chiefs of Moyfinn in the

Barony of Athlone in County Roscommon.

The OFahys (O Fathaigh) were chiefs of a territory known as Poblewinterfahy (Pobal Mhuintir Ui

Fhathaigh), which lay in the Barony of Loughrea in south-central Galway. They remained in possession

of these lands down to the Cromwellian confiscations of the mid-seventeenth century. Fahysvillage, in

Loughrea, recalls their presence there.

The OHorans (O hUghroin; later O hOghrain) are a branch of the Ui Maine, and were originally seated

around Clonrush in the south of County Galway, where they remained numerous and held large estates

down to the Cromwellian confiscations of the mid seventeenth century. A branch migrated early to

County Mayo, where they became co-arbs (hereditary successors) of St. Mochua at the abbey of

Balla.

The OSheehans (O Siodhachain) are a Ui Maine sept of Galway that in the High Middle Ages

(tenththirteenth centuries) were hereditary trumpeters to The OKelly. They later spread into

neighboring County Clare, and became attached to the ruling dynasty there, under the Ui

Toirdealbhaign or OBriens, and as a result came to be regarded as Dalcassian.

The Clann Bhreasail were settled in southeastern County Galway between Lochrea and Ballinasloe.

Their chief family was that of ODonnellan (O Domhnallain), the head of which family resided at his

castle at Ballydonnellan in the clan territory. The family was famous as ollavs (professors), and

produced several famous poets, mentioned in the Annals.

The Clann Uadach or OFallons (O Fallamhain) were lords of a territory in the barony of Athlone which

comprised the parishes of Camma and Dysart, in the south of what is now County Roscommon. The

ruins of their castle are at Milltown, in the parish of Dysart.

The Siol nAnmchadha or OMaddens (O Madain were of the same stock as the OKellys, from whom

they separated and became independent about 1050. They descend from Madadhan (slain A.D. 1008),

son of Gadhra Mor, chief of the Ui Maine from 1014 to 1027. The clan-lands, called after them Siol

nAnmchadha, comprised the modern barony of Longford in the southeast of County Galway, and also

the parish of Lusnagh in County Offaly, on the other side of the Shannon. They held these lands under

the Burke overlordship and remained in possession down to the Cromwellian confiscations of the mid

seventeenth century (some of their confiscated estates were restored to them under the Act of

Settlement in 1677). In 1612, Donal OMadden, "captain of his nation," settled all of his estates,

including his manor and castle of Longford, on his son and heir, Anmchadh, or Ambrose, OMadden, in

tail male.

The Ui Diarmada included the OConcannons (O Concheanainn) and OMullens (O Maolain). The

OConcannons were chiefs of Corca Mogha (Corcamoe) in the northeast of County Galway. Their chief

resided at Kiltullagh, in the parish of Kilkerrin, which is also called Corcamoe after their territory. The

OMullens are of the same stock as the OConcannons, and their territory bordered on that of

OConcannon, in northeast County Galway.

The Ui Fiachrach Finn included the OMullallys (O Maolalaidh)"grandson of the speckled chief") and

ONaghtens (O Neachtain). The Ui Fiachrach Finn originally inhabited the fertile plain of Maonmhagh,

being the area surrounding Loughrea in south-central Galway, but were dispossessed by the Burkes

soon after the Anglo-Norman invasion, and forced to seek territory elsewhere.

The OMullallys settled in the parish of Tuam in northern Galway, their new territory comprising the

lands known as Tulach na Dala (Tullaghnadaly), or Tolendal, four miles north of the town of Tuam. The

OMullallys were ardent Jacobites, adhering to the Stewart cause in the wars of the seventeenth

century. James Lally of Tullindaly sat as representative of Tuam in King Jamess parliament of 1689.

After the Jacobite defeat he retired to France with his brother Gerald. Gerald married a noble French

lady, and their son and grandson became famous in Europe under the title Count Lally de Tollendal.

The ONaghtens were chiefs of Maonmhagh before the Anglo-Norman invasion, after which they

removed to the Feadha, or Fews, of Athlone in South Roscommon, where they formed a distinct clan

down to the reign of Elizabeth I (ca. 1580).

The Oirghialla

The Oirghialla were closely related to the Ui Maine, as mentioned above. They were the Laiginian allies

of the North-Gaelic tribe of Ui Neill, which virtually monopolized the high-kingship of Ireland during the

post-fifth century historical period. The Oirghialla helped the Ui Neill effect the conquest of most of

Northern Ireland from the Ulster Erainn, and later they settled a vast territory there including the

counties of Louth, Armagh, Monaghan and Fermanagh, a territory which is called after them, Oriel. so

important were they in the Ui Neill political sphere that they were given an honorary traditional descent

(which was nonetheless fake and thinly disguised) from the great-grandfather of Nial of the Nine

Hostages, ancestor of the ONeilIs of the line of Conn. Their representatives in the later Middle Ages

include the MacBradys, OBoylans, OFlanagans, OMulroonys or Moroneys, Maguires, MacKernans,

MacAuleys, OCassidys, OCorrigans, MacManuses, MacMahons, MacCanns, OHanraghtys,

OHanlons, OLynns, MacEvoys, MacDonalds, MacDonells, MacAlisters, Maclans, MacSheehys,

Maclntyres, MacDougals, and Conns.

The MacBradys (Mac Bradaigh) were a powerful family of Breffny (Cavan and West Leitrim), being

chiefs of Cuil Bhrighed or Cuil Bhrighdein, which comprised the district around Stradone in County Cavan, a few miles to the east of Cavan town. They

are traditionally a branch of the OCarrolls of Leitrim, which family had been lords of all Oriel until the

twelfth century Anglo-Norman invasion. The MacBradys are now numerous throughout Ulster.

The Ui Chremthainn anciently inhabited the territory between Lough Erne and the River Blackwater, in

what is now County Fermanagh and the north of County Monaghan. The chief branches of the Ui

Chremthainn include the Clann Lugain, and also the OMulroonys or Moroneys and the OBoylans.

The OBoylans (O Baoigheallain) were of the same stock as the OFlanagans (O Flannagain) of

northwest Fermanagh. The OBoylans were, after the Anglo-Norman invasion, lords of all Oriel, a

widespread territory stretching from Fermanagh to Louth. Later, in the thirteenth century, their power in

Oriel was subdued by the MacMahons, and their territory was reduced to what is now the barony of

Dartry in the west of County Monaghan, an area then known as Dartraighe. They did, however, remain

powerful, and in ODugans fourteenth-century "Topographical Poem" they are called "the bold kings of

Dartry," and are praised for their horsemanship and their blue eyes.

The OMulroonys (O Maolruanaidh) were the leading clan of Fermanagh before the rise of the Maguires,

who subjugated them about 1300. A branch of the OMulroonys afterwards settled in the northeast of

County Galway, where they were chiefs of Crumhthan (Cruffan), a district comprising the modern

barony of Killyan and part of the adjoining barony of Ballimoe. For the Galway branch, the name has

changed to Moroney.

The Clann Lugain included the Maguires, MacKernans, MacAuleys, OCassidys, OCorrigans and

MacManuses. The Maguires (Mag Uidhir) are first mentioned in the Annals in A.D. 956. They rose to

great power in the later part of the thirteenth century, and became lords of Fermanagh, where the town

and castle at Maguiresbridge recalls their importance there. They were long one of the most powerful

and influential families in Ulster, and produced many great soldiers and ecclesiastics. During the reign

of James I, in the first part of the seventeenth century, much of the territory of the Maguires was

included in the vast confiscation of Ulster which followed the English conquest of the north. More land

loss followed in the Cromwellian and Williamite confiscations, for the Maguires were ardent Jacobites,

and later they were prominent among the "Wild Geese" in the service of France and Austria. As barons

of Enniskillen their chiefs were accepted as nobility at the Court of France until the title became extinct

about 1795.

The MacManuses (Mac Maghnuis) descend from Maghnus, son of Donn Maguire, chief of Fermanagh,

who died in A.D. 1302. The head of this family resided at Senadh Mic Maghnusa, now Bell Isle, on

Lough Erne. The OCassidys (O Caiside) were a distinguished medical family, being the

hereditary physicians to the Maguires. They also provided ollavs (professors or learned men) to the

Maguires, and one, Rory OCassidy, Archdeacon of Clogher, is said to have participated in the

compilation of the Annals of Ulster under Cathal Maguire in the fifteenth century. The first literary figure

of the name was Giolla Moduda O Caiside, who died in 1143, and whose Gaelic poetry is still

preserved. Before the end of the sixteenth century, branches of the family had settled in the Midlands

around County Westmeath.

The OCorrigans (O Corragain) were an ecclesiastical sept closely related to the Maguires, and men of

the name long filled abbacies and other church offices in County Fermanagh. By the sixteenth century

the name had already spread into Connacht and the Midlands. Other branches of the Maguires include

the Clann Fearghaile or MacKernans (Mac Thighearnain) , chiefs of the territory called Clann Fearghaile

in central Fermanagh, and the MacAuleys (Mac Amhlaoibh), who gave their name to the barony of

Clanawley in west-central Fermanagh. A branch of the latter settled in Connacht under the form

Gawley (Mag Amhlaoibh).

The MacMahons (Mac Mathghamhna) were one of the most powerful and influential families in Ulster.

They rose to preeminence in Oriel on the decline of the OCarrolls of Leitrim in the thirteenth century,

having subdued the OBoylans in the process. They maintained their rank as lords of Oriel down to the

reign of Elizabeth I in the late sixteenth century, and retained considerable property in County

Monaghan as late as the Cromwellian wars of the mid-seventeenth century. Their last chief, Hugh

MacMahon, was betrayed and arrested for complicity in the plot to seize Dublin Castle in 1641, and

sent to the Tower of London. Three years later he was beheaded at Tyburn. Besides many

distinguished chiefs, the family produced many eminent ecclesiastics as well.

The Ui Breasail Macha or Clann Bhreasail were originally seated in what is now the barony of Oneilland

East, in the extreme northeast of County Armagh. Their chief clan, the Cineal Aonghusa, of which the

MacCanns (Mac Anna) were the chief family, inhabited the south shore of lough Neagh in County

Armagh.

The Ui Meath Macha, of which the OHanraghtys (O hAnrachtaigh) were the chief family, originally

inhabited the north of County Louth, the OHanraghtys being lords of North Louth. They were pushed as

a result of the Anglo-Norman invasion into County Monaghan, where they settled in the modern barony

of that name, Monaghan, County Monaghan.

The Ui Niallain, of which the OHanlons (O hAnluain) were the chief family, inhabited the territory of that

name, Ui Niallain, now the baronies of Oneilland in the northeast of County Armagh, and at one time

also the territory of Oirthear (now the baronies of Onier), in the east and southeast of the same county.

The OHanlons were long known as lords of Oirthear. They were a powerful clan, and had many valiant

chiefs mentioned in the Annals.

They maintained their independence as a clan down to the year 1587, when the then chief, Sir Oghie

OHanlon, surrendered his lands to the English Crown, in order to have them re-granted by letters of

patent in tail male (to be held of the Crown), thus abolishing the chieftaincy. The OHanlon was

afterwards hereditary royal standard bearer north of the River Boyne, and owing to his loyalty to the

English, retained most of the clan-lands down to the Cromwellian confiscations of the mid seventeenth

century.

The Ui Tuirtre of South Derry moved eastward across the River Bann as their lands were absorbed into

the expanding Ui Neill over-kingdom of Cineal Eoghain in the eighth century. They kept their western

lands (the present barony of Loughinsholin) as a tributary kingdom to the Cineal Eoghain, but resided

in Lough Beg, which lay strategically between their new and old territories. East of the Bann they were

allies of the Dal nAraidi, though they profited by their decline. They were also sometimes overkings of

Ulidia. The medieval representatives of the Ui Tuirtre were the OLynns (O Floinn or O Loinn) of South

Antrim, who defeated the Norman John de Courcy when he attempted to invade their territory in 1177.

They maintained their independence until about 1368.

The Ui Macc Uais Mide were a branch of the Ui Macc Uais of what is now the Barony of Upper

Strabane in the northeast of County Tyrone. They settled in Mide (what is now County Westmeath with

part of Offaly) and came very early to be treated as a sub-kingdom of the Southern Ui Neill (North

Gaels), just as the Ui Macc Uais of Tyrone were treated as a sub-kingdom of the Cineal Eogain clan of

the Northern Ui Neill.

The chief family of the Ui Macc Uais Mide was that of MacEvoy (Mac Fhiodhbhuidhe), who were

anciently lords of Ui Macc Uais in County Westmeath, now the barony of Moygoish. Later, at some

time before 1563, they settled in what is now Leix (formerly Queens County). Here they were known

as Muintear (or Tuath) Fhiodhbhuidhe, being lords of a territory in what is now the barony of Stradbally

which comprised the parishes of Mountrath and Raheen. They came to be regarded as one of the

Seven Septs of Leix. In 1609 the chief men of the family were transplanted by the English to County

Kerry as were the leading members of the other Leix Septs. The rest of the clan remained in the home

territory, however, where they remain to this day.

The Cineal nAlbanaich were a branch of the Oirghialla that settled in the northwest Highlands and

Islands in very early times. Their chief clans descend from Godfraidh Mac Ferghusa (i.e., "Fergus"), a

prince of the Oirghialla in Northern Ireland who came to Scotland, or Albany, in the ninth century as an

ally of Kenneth MacAlpin, first king of the united kingdom of Picts and Scots. The Cineal nAlbanaich

settled north of Argyle in the Hebrides, in the area of Skye, where they acquired Pictish and later

Worse connections. The chief clans which branched from the Cineal nAlbanaich are the Clann

Dhomhnuill and the Clann Dubhghaill.

The Clann Dhomhnuill or MacDonalds (Mac Dhomhnuill) descend from Dhomnuill, or Donald, son of

Reginald (or Ranald) mac Somerled, King of the Isles and Lord of Argyle and Kintyre (11641207).

Ranalds mother was the daughter of Olav, Norse King of Man and the Isles. It was from her that he

derived his titles in the Isles, his paternal grandfather Somerled being already Lord of Argyle (the

Lordship of the Isles was under the control of the King of Norway until 1266).

The Clann Dhomhnuill includes the families of MacDonald of Clan Donald and Islay, the MacDonells of

Keppoch and MacDonnells of Antrim, the MacIans, MacAlisters, MacSheehys, and the Clan Ranald.

The MacDonalds of Clan Donald, or Clann Uistein, the chief family of the clan (now represented by

MacDonald of MacDonald, and his cadet, MacDonald of Sleat, both of Skye), were the leaders of the

most powerful tribal organization in Scotland, and were long vested in the Lordship of the Isles (the last

Lord of the Isles died in 1503, the title being taken over by a jealous House of Stewart, see Chapter IV).

They descend from Donald, son of John, first Lord of the Isles (from 1354) and his second wife, a

daughter of Robert II of the House of Stewart.

The MacDonalds of Islay and MacDonnells of the Glens of Antrim, the Clan Ian Vor, descend from lain

Mor, or "Big John" the Tanist, a younger full brother of Donald, second lord of the Isles who married the

MacEoin or Bissett heiress of Antrim about 1400, thus inheriting lands in Antrim, which were settled by

them in ernest during the first part of the sixteenth century. The Clan Ranald of Lochaber, or

MacDonells of Keppoch, (between Loch Lochy and Loch Spean in Lochaber, or southern

inverness-shire) descend from Alasdair, another younger full brother of Donald.

The Conns, an old Aberdeenshire family, traditionally descend from William Con, son of Donald of the

Isles, chief of Clan Donald in the first part of the sixteenth century. They took the name of Conn from

the traditional ancestor of the Clan Donald (see above under Oirghialla). The Conns appear under the

appellation "of Auchry" before 1539, and appear in the district from 1522. They were a prominent

Roman Catholic family in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but were driven into exile soon after

1642 (George Con was the Popes agent at the court of the Queen of Charles I).

The MacDonalds of Clanranald, captains of the great Clan Ranald "proper," descend from Ranald, son

of John, first Lord of the Isles and his first wife, the heiress of the MacRuaris of Uist Isle and Garmoran,

the mainland district between Skye and Argyle (from Loch Hourn to Loch Sunart), both of which they

inherited (the MacRuaris descended from another son of Reginald mac Somerled). Their younger

branch, the MacDonells of Glengarry (just east of Garmoran) descend from Donald, himself the son of

Ranald, ancestor of the Clan Ranald.

The Clann an tSaoir, or Maclntyres (Mac an tSaoir) are also a branch of the Clan Ranald. They settled

in Loin, or North Argyle, sometime during the fourteenth century, having come from the Hebrides in a galley "with a white cow," to settle in Glen Oe

(or Noe) just south of Loch Etive. There they were hereditary foresters to the Stewart lords of Lorn. A

branch settled in Badenoch under MacKintosh protection in the fifteenth century, and became

members of the Clan Chattan Confederacy.

The Maclans (Mac lain), or MacDonalds of Glencoe (just east of Appin in the north of Argyle), also

known as the Clan Ian Abrach, descend from John Og, son of Angus Og, Chief of Clan Donald in the

time of Robert the Bruce (early fourteenth century). The Maclans (MacDonalds) or Clan Ian of

Ardnamurchan (the peninsula just west of Garmoran) descend from Angus MacIan, one of the relations

of John, first Lord of the Isles, who was granted Ardnamurchan by King David II. The Clan Alister, or

MacAlisters (Mac Alasdair) of the Loup in Kintyre descend from Alasdair, or Alexander, younger son of

Donald mac Reginald mac Somerled, King of the Isles and eponymus ancestor, or name-founder, of

the Clan Donald.

The MacSheehys (Mac Sithigh) descend from Sitheach, great-grandson of the same Donald. They

were a famous gallowglass family (galowglasses were heavily armed foot-soldiers) employed as hired

bodyguards by various tribal kings in Ireland, as per Gaelic aristocratic custom. They are first

mentioned in the Annals in 1367, having taken part in a battle that year between two factions of the

Royal OConnors of Ui Briuin in Connacht. In 1420 they settled County Limerick as constables to the

Earl of Desmond, and built their castle of Lisnacolla, or Woodfort, located in the parish of Clonagh,

about four miles west of Rathkeale in north-central Limerick.

The Clann Dubhghaill or MacDougals (Mac Dubhghaill) descend from Dubhghaill, King of the Hebrides

and Lord of Lorn (North Argyle) who was the son of the great Somerled and brother of Reginald (or

Ranald), ancestor of the Clann Dhomnuill, or MacDonalds. Lorn was held by Dubhghaill under the

Scottish crown, while the Hebridian islands under his control were held of the King of Norway. Dunollie

Castle in Oban Bay was the principal stronghold of the MacDougal chiefs, whose power declined after

their defeat at the hands of King Robert I the Bruce in the Pass of Brander in 1309. The MacDougals

were related by marriage to the Bruces rivals, the Cummins, and thus backed them during the period

leading up to the battle of Bannockburn in 1314. As a result, the MacDougals were forfeited and lost

their vast island territories, although they were later restored to the mainland Lordship of Lorn by King

David II (after their seventh chief married a granddaughter of Robert I). Eventually the MacDougalls lost

the lordship of Lorn, which (like many other old Scottish Dignities) passed almost inevitably to the

covetous House of Stewart. The family further suffered as a result of their support for the Jacobite

cause during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Nevertheless, based upon their proverbial

connection with Lorn, the family has ever been known, both officially and informally, as the

MacDougalls of Lorn.

IX. The Gaels

The original ethno-tribal invaders known as the Gaels were the last of a series of Celtic invaders that

would come to be considered native to the Emerald Isle after the beginning of the historical period

(about A.D. 500see Chapter III.) They arrived in Ireland sometime during the first century B.C., and

brought a distinctive language, the ancestor of modern Gaelic, which would come to dominate the

hybridized Gaelic culture that emerged from the prehistoric melting pot of Ireland (hence the later

general appellation "Gaels" which was applied to all Gaelic-speaking people of Irelandand later

Scotland). Two great tribal nations of Gaels emerged in the light of the historical period: The North

Gaels and the South Gaels or Eoghanach. Between about A.D. 1 and 400 the North Gaels expanded

their foothold in the northwest of Ireland and established themselves as Sacral ("totemistically" sacred)

High-Kings at the ancient site of Tara near Dublin with the aid of their allies, the Laiginian tribe of

Oirghialla. These events are enshrined in the heroic tales of the Ulster Cycle of literature or Red

Branch, one of the three great collections of early Irish literature along with the Finn Cycle and the later

(medieval) Cycles of the Kings (as opposed to ordinary folk-tales). Because of the royal tribal

preeminence of the North Gaels, clans representative of other ethno-tribal groups sometimes tried to

affect genealogical connection to their sacred ancestral tribal stem as a kind of "social climbing," but

only the unstudied were fooled by these generally half-hearted attempts. Similar circumstances

prevailed in the South, among the long dominant Eoghanacht.

The North Gaels

Connachta

The North Gaels divided into two great branches in the mid-fifth century A.D.: the Connachta and the Ui

Neill. Afterwards the tribal leadership of the Connachta itself divided into three great dynasties, known

as "the three Connachts." These soon spread over the entire western region of Ireland, which they gave

their name to: The province of Connacht. After the decline of the Ui Ailello in the eighth century,

the remaining two Connachts included the tribes of Ui Fiachrach and Ui Briuin, notwithstanding the

fact that the Laiginian tribe of Ui Maine came, with its rise to power in the

southeast of County Galway, to be regarded as filling the remaining traditional "third" of Connacht (the

Ui Maine originated as allies of the Ui Briuin akin to the Oirghialla, and thus were of relatively late

introduction in Connacht. (See Chapter VIII).

The Ui Fiachrach descend from Fiachra, brother of Nial of the Nine Hostages, ancestor of the Ui Niell.

Fiachras son and grandson were both High Kings in the second half of the fifth century, though after

that the High Kingship of Tara was vested in the Ui Neill. Afterwards the Ui Fiachrach

were the royal tribe of Connacht, although in the early seventh century they began alternating the rather

nominal provencial kingship of Connacht with their Ui Briuin kinsmen until about A.D. 700. After this

time the Ui Briuin monopolized the kingship of Connacht, and in time molded it into an effective

over-kingdom. The Ui Fiachrach, however, continued as the most influential Connacht family until the

middle of the eighth century; then they divided into two great branches, the Ui Fiachrach Muaidhe (of

the Moy) or Northern Ui Fiachrach, and the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne or Southern Ui Fiachrach.

The Northern Ui Fiachrach were seated in what are now the counties of Mayo and Sligo. The chief

family of the tribe was that of ODowd (O Dubhda), whose chiefs were known as "Kings of the Moy"

from their dominance of the Moy estuary in north Mayo. Before the Anglo-Norman invasion of Connacht

in 1237 the ODowds were the ruling family in all lower Connacht, including the greater part of counties

Mayo and Sligo. They were also a great seapower, like the OMalleys of Iar Connacht, which was

unusual among native Irish families, for seapower was generally given over to the Viking clans of the

Irish Sea. In the fourteenth century the ODowds had a series of able chiefs in immediate succession,

and drove the Anglo-Norman settlers out of their territory, though they never regained quite the regal

preeminence they had formerly held. The family suffered in the confiscations of the seventeenth

century. Branches of the family settled in Kerry before the end of the sixteenth century, and are now

known as Doody.

The OFinnegans (O Fionnagain) were chiefs in the area of the Galway-Roscommon border, where two

places called Bally-Finnegan recall their presence in the baronies of Ballymoe and Castlereagh. The

OKeevans (O Caomhain) of Sligo and Mayo were an important family among the Ui Fiachrach

Muaidhe, and it was the privilege of their chief to inaugurate The ODowd in the chiefship of Ui

Fiachrach. The OBolans (O Beollain) were seated at Doonaltan, in what is now the barony of Tireragh

in West Sligo.

A branch of the Ui Fiachrach Muaidhe, the Fir Ceara of central Mayo, included the OKearneys (O

Cearnaigh) and OQuigleys (O Coigligh). The OKearneys held extensive tracts of land around Balla and

Manulla in central Mayo, and a branch of them became leading ecclesiastics among the Dalcaisians,

while another became established as erenaghs of Derry. The OQuigleys were anciently lords of the

barony of Carra (from Fir Ceara) in central Mayo. After the Anglo-Norman encroachment they were

dispersed throughout Ireland, and are later to be found mostly in western Ulster, but also as far away

as Wexford where the name is spelled Cogley (Kegley is used in Meath).

The Southern Ui Fiachrach, or Ui Fiachrach Aidhne were settled in the district of Aidhne in the extreme

southwestern part of County Galway, on the border of County Clare. This district was co-extensive with

the diocese of Kilmacduagh. They had been pushed into this more restricted area by the expansion of

the Ui Briuin Ai into central Connacht, an action which divided them from their northern cousins, and at the same time forced the Ui Maine of west-central Galway to

encroach upon their territory. The OShaughnessys (O Seachnasaigh) were the chief family of Cinel

Aodha in the district of that name (Kinelea), being the territory around Gort in southern Galway. They

alternated the kingship of the southern Ui Fiachrach with the OHeynes, and became famous in the

wars of the seventeenth century, but lost their lands as a result of the confiscations following the last

Jacobite war towards the end of that century.

The Cineal Guaire included the families of OHeyne (O hEidlun) and OCleary (O Cleirigh). The

OHeynes descend from Maolruanaidh O hEidhin, lord of Aidhne, who fell (as co-commander of the

Connacht army with The OKelly of Ui Maine) at Clontarf in 1014. He was the first to bear the name of

OHeyne. The OHeynes illustrious seventh-century ancestor was Guaire Aidhne (hence their

clan-name of Cineal Guaire), last Ui Fiachrach King of Connacht, celebrated for his hospitality. The

OHeynes shared the lordship of Aidhne and the chiefship of the Southern Ui Fiachrach with their

OShaughnessy kinsmen, being themselves chiefs of a territory in the north of the present barony of

Kiltartan, around Kinvara (where the fortress of Dunguire recalls the name of their illustrious ancestor).

The Abbey of Kilmacduagh is known as OHeynes Abbey. The OShaughnessys and OHeynes have

kept possession of large tracts of their respective original patrimonies in South Galway.

The OClearys descend from Cleireach, who flourished about A.D. 850 and was seventh in descent

from the celebrated Guaire the Hospitable, king of Connacht mentioned above. The OClearys were

originally the chief family of the Cineal Guaire, but lost power early in the eleventh century, and by the

thirteenth century they were driven out of Aidhne altogether. After that they are found chiefly in Mayo,

Kilkenny, and Cavan. The Mayo branch was set-tied in Tirawley just west of the Moy estuary. From

there they spread to Donegai, where they succeeded the famous OScingins as poets and chroniclers

to the ODonnells by marriage to the daughter of the last OScingin ollav (professor) towards the end of

the fourteenth century. That family of ollavs being.. extinct, the OClearys inherited their patrimony and

were granted other lands besides by their ODonnell patrons, and had their chief seat near

Ballyshannon, the castle of Kiibarron. The OClearys won lasting fame as the compiler, of the Annals of

the Four Masters and other invaluable works on Gaelic history, the former being the most distinguished

work of its kind.

The OHoulihans (O hUallachain) were originally chiefs in County Clare, where their arms and their

proximity to Aidhne suggest a clan affiliation with the OShaughnessys (both the OShaughnessys and

the OHeynes had important medieval branches settled in just over the Clare border in Limerick). The

OHoulihans were in any case pushed by Cromwell into Connacht, though; some were dispersed

southward to County Cork, where they adopted the form "Holland," by which name they are still known. In Roscommon and Mayo the name became

Nuallachain, and was Anglicized as Nolan. The OScanlans (O Scannlain) of south Galway and Clare

are kinsmen to the OShaughnessys and OHeynes, and a branch of them spread southward as an

ecclesiastical sept, being formerly erenaghs of Gloyne in Gounty Gork.

Ui Briuin

The Ui Briuin descend from Brion, who was the brother of Fiachra, ancestor of the Ui Fiachrach, and of

Nial, ancestor of the Ui Neill; all mentioned above. The Ui Briuin divided into several branches, including

the Ui Briuin Ai, Ui Briuin Breifne, and the Ui Briuin Seola. These tribes, or more accurately their

respective tribal dynasties, alternated the kingship of Connacht, much as their ancestors had formerly

done with the Ui Fiachrach (this had not been a regular alternation: Sometimes the kingship would

alternate between branches of the Ui Briuin or Ui Fiachrach themselves in immediate succession

before going over to the other tribe). The real expansion of the Ui Briuin dates from about the middle of

the eighth century, from which time they began to extend their power beyond their various sub-tribal

centers in central and northeastern Gonnacht.

The Ui Briuin Ai rose in the late eighth century to firmly take possession of Cruachu and the

overlordship of the subject tribes, or "alien tuatha" of Connacht. This they accomplished from their

relatively narrow strip of original patrimony, which lay south of Cruachu in north-central Roscommon,

and extended over the upper reaches of the River Suck into central Connacht. Their chief dynastic

family, which was also the chief dynastic clan of the whole Ui Briuin, were the Siol Muireo.dhaigh

(Silmurray), who derived their name from their ancestor Muiredach Muillethan, King of Connacht, who

died in 702.

The Siol Muireadhaigh included a number of very important families, chief amongst them the OConnors

(O Conchobhair). The OConnors descend from Conchobhair, king of Connacht, who died in 882 (their

name is more directly taken from a namesake of Conchobhairs in the late tenth century). They

separated into three great branches, the OConnors of Sligo; the OConnors of central Roscommon, the

head of which family was known as OConnor Roe (the Red OConnor); and the Royal OConnors

themselves, kings of Connacht, the head of whom is still known as the OConnor Don (the Brown

OConnor). Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair, the first to take the family name, was High King of Ireland in

the mid twelfth century.

The OMalones (O Maoileoin) are a branch of the OConnors, and were long distinguished

ecclesiastical family at Clonmacnoise, of which several were abbots and bishops. Several of the family

were prominent Jacobites in the wars of the seventeenth century. The OMulconrys (O Maolchonair)

also are a branch of the OConnors. They were a great literary family, and served as hereditary poets

and chroniclers to their clan, the Siol Muireadhaigh. Their chief seat was at Clonahee, near Strokestown, County Roscommon, where they had considerable land

holdings in right of their profession. A branch settled in Glare, and became famous for their learned

teaching in history, one of them being described as the "chief teacher in history of all the men of Erin in

his own time." The family also produced a number of eminent ecclesiastics.

The OBeirnes (O Birn) first appear as stewards to their kinsmen the Royal OConnors, and later, after

driving the OMonaghans out of Tir Bhriuin in north-central Roscommon (a rich territory lying between

Elphin and Jamestown) about the middle of the 13th century, they ruled that territory for over 300

years. The OSheridans (O Sirideain) were an ecclesiastical family who were erenaghs (hereditary

abbots) of Granard in County Longford before becoming devoted followers of the OReillys. Still later, in

the seventeenth century, the family rose to eminence on the literary fame of its members. One of them,

Thomas Sheridan, was secretary of state under James II.

The Clann Chathail, a branch of the Siol Muireadhaigh that gave two kings to Connacht during the ninth

century, included the families of OCarry and OFlanagan. The OCarrys (O Carthaigh) were a literary

family of Roscommon, three of whom attained the distinction "chief poet of Ireland," being described as

such in the Annals during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The family later spread into Longford,

Sligo and Donegal. The OFlanagans (O Flannagain) were the chief family of the Clann Chathail, and

long served as hereditary stewards to the kings of Connacht. They were chiefs of a territory called after

them Clann Chathail, which lay near Elphin in northeastern Roscommon,

The Clann Mhaolruanaidh included the MacDermots (Mac Diarmada) and their branch-families, the

MacDonoghs and OCrowleys. The MacDermots were the second most powerful family of the Siol

Muireadhaigh next to the OConnors, and derived their clan-name of Clann Mhaolruanaidh from

Maolruanaidh, son of Tadhg OConnor, king of Connacht who died in 1097. From Diarmaid, the

grandson of Maolruanaidh, who died in 1159, they took the family name of Mac Diarmada. About the

middle of the fourteenth century they divided into three branches, each with a chief of its own, namely:

MacDermot of Moylurg, overlord of the MacDermots, who had his fortress at the Rock of Laugh Key

near Boyle; MacDermotroe, or the Red MacDermot, who was chief of Tir-Thuthail (the parish of Kilronan

centered at Alderford) in County Galway, and MacDermot Gall, (the Anglicized MacDermot) who early

fell in with the English. The MacDermots of Moylurg retained their rank as lords of the territory of

Moylurg, now represented by the parishes of Frenchpark and Boyle in northwest County Roscommon,

down to the end of the sixteenth century, after which time they continued to hold considerable property

as princes of the adjoining Sligo territory of Coolavin.

The MacDonaghs or MacDonoughs (Mac Donnchadha) are a branch of the MacDermots of Moylurg,

and were chiefs of Tirerrill and Corran in County Sligo and had their chief seat at Ballymote in the center of that county. The OCrowleys

(OCruadhlaoich) are also a branch of the MacDermots of Moylurg in County Roscommon, Connacht.

They settled in County Cork as fighting men, or gallowglasses, to the MacCarthys.

The MacCarthys were the leading family of the Eoghanacht and were thus the chief family of the

Cork-Kerry area. Gallowglasses, being heavily armed soldiers (as opposed to kerns, the lightly armed

and armored soldiers from the clan-lands, whose usual occupation was farming), were commonly

imported as chiefs bodyguards (and to provide a nucleus of professional soldiers), especially from the

western Highlands of Scotland (the name gallowglass means "foreign youth").

The OMulvihills (O Maoilmhichil) are an early branch of the Siol Muireadhaigh, being descended from

Maolmhichil, chief of Siol Muireadhaigh in 866. They were originally chiefs of the district of Corca

Sheachlainn in the east of County Roscommon, but lost power at some time prior to the fifteenth

century, though they remained common in the area. Branches settled in counties Clare and Galway in

the sixteenth century, where they are known as Mulville or Melville. The ODuigenans (O

Duibhgeannain) were a distinguished literary family seated at Kilronan, County Roscommon. They were

hereditary chroniclers or historians to their MacDermot kinsmen, and also to the OFarrells and

MacRannells.

Finally among the Siol Muireadhaigh were the Muintear Rodhuibh, or MacGeraghtys (Mag

Oireachtaigh) , who descend from Oireachtach O Roduibh, one of the "four royal chiefs" under the

Royal OConnors in the latter part of the twelfth century ("Oireachtach" means "a member of the court,

or assembly"). The MacGeraghtys were originally of County Roscommon, where they were important

chiefs over a territory in the barony of Athlone named from their clan-name "Muintear Rodhuibh." About

the middle of the sixteenth century they were dispossessed as a result of the first stages of the

English conquest. However, they still formed a distinct clan in neighboring County Galway as late as

1585.

The Ui Briuin Seola originally inhabited the plains around Tuam in central Galway until pushed from that

area in the eleventh century by the expansion of the royal ancestors of the OConnors. Their chief clan

was the Muintear Mhurchadha or OFlahertys (O Flaithbhearthaigh) who after the expulsion from the

Tuam area settled on the east side of Lough Corrib in what is now the barony of Clare, but which was

known after their clan-name as Muntermorroghoe. They were pushed from this territory by the

Anglo-Normans in the thirteenth century, and afterwards became lords of Iar-Connacht, the western

part of Connacht on the other side of Lough Corrib and Galway City (the mostly Norman inhabitants of

that city had an inscription on one of the city gates: "From the fury of the OFlahertys, Lord-God deliver

us"a prayer originally used by churchmen against the Vikings of earlier times). A branch of the OFlahertys, the Clann Choscraigh, included the families of MacGarry (Mag Fhearadhaigh) and

also the MacHughs (MacAodha). The MacGarrys or Garrihys were seated at Moygarry in County Sligo

as late as 1585. The name spread into Roscommon and Leitrim as well, and in some cases became

OGarriga (O Gearaga or O Giorraighe), and was mistranslated from this form into English as Hare. The

MacHughs were seated in the old O'Flaherty territory in the barony of Clare, County Galway.

Another branch of the Ui Briuin Seola, of which the O'Lees (O Laoidigh) were chiefs, also settled in

western Connacht. The O'Lees were erenaghs, or hereditary abbots, of Annaghdown, and produced a

number of distinguished ecclesiastics. They are better known as a medical family, and were for many

centuries hereditary physicians to the OFlahertys, and sometimes to the Royal O'Conners as well. As

early as the fifteenth century the family had produced a complete course in medicine, written in Latin

and Gaelic. They were widely disbursed towards the end of the sixteenth century, and in north

Connacht used the form MacLee.

The Ui Briuin Breifne carved out a territory for themselves between Lough Allan and the river Erne in

central Fermanagh in the late eighth century. They expanded east of the Shannon and into the

wastelands of Cavan in the ninth and tenth centuries, and afterwards played an everincreasing role in

the politics of the midlands. Their chief families were the O'Rourkes (O Ruairc), kings of West Breffny

(County Leitrim), and the Muintear Mhaolmordha or OReillys (O RaighailIigh), lords of East Breffny

(County Cavan). The O'Rourkes were, prior to the twelfth-century Anglo-Norman invasion, overlords of

the Ui Briuin Breifne in Leitrim and Cavan, and ruled over a territory which at its widest extent stretched

all the way from Drumcliff in Sligo to Kells in Meath. Three of their chiefs, in the tenth and eleventh

centuries, were kings of Connacht as well. After the Anglo-Norman invasion, their cousins the OReillys

became lords of East Breffny, which became known as Breffny OReilly, while the O'Rourkes were

lords of West Breffny, thenceforward known as "Breffny ORourke." The ORourke kings took a leading

part in the wars against Elizaheth I in the late sixteenth century, from which wars they suffered

severely. They did, however, retain considerable property down to the Cromwellian confiscations of the

mid-seventeenth century, after which many of them rose to distinction in the military service of

continental powers, especially Poland and Russia.

The Teallach Dhunchadha (Household of Dunchadh) or MacTernans (Mac Tighearain), also known as

Tierans or MacKierans (Mac Thighearnain) descend from Dunchadh, eighth-century ancestor of the

ORourkes. Their clan name was given to their territory, now the Barony of Tullyhunco in the west of

County Cavan. The Teallach Eachach or MacGoverns (Mag Shamhradhain, also known as Magaurans,

descend from Eochaidh, son of Maonach (Maonach was a brother of the Dunchadh mentioned above).

The patrimony of the

Note received from Hugh McKiernan

You may like to correct a small error in the last paragraph regarding Dunchadha. He wasn't an

ancestor of the Ruarc - a quo O'Rourke - but of the teallach Dunnchadha or Mac Thighearnain line. One

must go back another few generations to find a common ancestor - Feargna, son of Fergus. Feargna's

two sons , Breanainn and Aodh Fionn begat Dunchadha and Ruarc respectively, Dunchadha having

lived and died several generations before Ruarc.. The (unaspirated) Mac Tighearnain were the even

more distant Clann Fergaile closely related to Maguire (Fergal a quo clann Fergaile was the king of

Fermanagh) and a third sept, also Mac Tighearnain were descended from Tigearnan O'Connor great

grandson of Turlough Mór, the high king of Ireland. MacGoverns lay in the northwest off County Cavan, and was called after them "Tellach Eachach," now

the Barony of TuIlyhaw, where there is a townland called Ballymagauran.

The MacShanlys (Mac Seanlaoich), long allied with the Royal OConners, are of the same stock as the

Mac Governs, and were seated in Corca Achlann, also called Corca Seachlan, in the east of County

Roscommon, and also at Ballymacshanly in the south of County Leitrim, where their chief was known

as MacShanley of Dromod. In Leitrim they were often at feud with their neighbors the MacRannalls.

The MacClancys (Mac Fhlamichadha) are an ancient family in the north of of County Leitrim, they

appear from their arms, traditional Milisian descent (see Chapter III) and long identification with Leitrim,

to be collateral kinsmen to the ORourkes of the Ui Briuin Breifne.

The OReillys were lords of Cavan, and in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries they extended their

dominion into parts of Meath and Westmeath, being sometimes lords of all Breffny as well. They

maintained their independence as a clan down to the time of James I in the early seventeenth century,

though they suffered heavily under the Cromweliian confiscations. Many O'Reillys rose to high

ecclesiastical rank, and five of them were primates of Armagh.

Ui NeiIl

The Ui NeiIl were the great royal tribal dynasty of the North Gaels. Having separated from the royal

kinsmen, the Connachta, shortly alter the career of their illustrious fifth century ancestor Niall of the

Nine Hostages, they set out from a base in Sligo and soon (by the beginning of the sixth century)

monopolized the Sacral High-Kingship of Tara, which for hundreds of years they alternated between

their own two illustrious branches, the Nrorthern Ui Neill and the Southern Ui Neill. The Northern Ui

Neill divided into three great clans, the Cineal Eoghain. Cineal Conaill and Cineal Cairbre.

Northern Ui Neill

The Cineal Eoghan were the Royal Clan of the North Caels, associated with the High-Kingship of Tara,

though in the early period they alternated the overkingship of the north with their Cineal ConaiII cousins,

by the end of the eighth century they had monopolised the overkingship of Ulster and with it the

northern representation in the High-Kiiigship, aided by the fact that they had, with their centrally

dominant fortress of Aliech in northeast Donegal, the strategic advantage, together with the energy and

will to exploit it. Their original patrimony included the modern baronies of Raphoe and lnishowen in

Donegal, but from their center at the great fort of Ailech in Inishowen, they soon spread throughout

Derry and much of Tyrone as well (Tyrone, Gealic "Tir Eoghain", the land of Eoghain, is named for

them).

Until the mid-thirteenth century the leading family of the Cineal Eoghain was MacLoughlin (Mac

Lochlainn) of lnishowen; in 1241 they lost a decisive battle to their kinsmen the ONeills, and

afterwards they declined in power, though a branch became established in County Leitrim under the

ORourkes.

The great ONeills (O Neill) themselves descend from Niall Glundubh, High-King of Ireland, who fell

fighting against the Vikings near Dublin in 919. His grandson Domhnall, who flourished about 943, was

the first to bear the dynastic name of ONeill. They were the chief family of the Cineal Eoghain from

1241, and as overlords of Tir Eoghain (which included the modern counties of Tyrone, Derry and those

northeastern parts of Donegal), and kings of Ulster they make a very distinguished group in history

from the eleventh to the seventeenth century. Such ONeill magnates as Conn, Shane the Proud, Sir

Phelim and Owen Roe are all outstanding figures. A powerful branch of the family settled in Antrim and

Down in the fourteenth century, where they were known as Clann Aodha Bhuidhe, or the ONeills of

Claneboy. Other branches of the ONeills include the OBranigans (O Branagain) of Derry, who provided

eranachs (hereditary abbots) to the churches of Derry in County Derry and Derryvullan in County

Fermanagh; the ORahillys (O Raithile) of Kerry, a literary family that settled early in County Kerry near

Killarney, and the MacMartins (Mac Mairtin) of County Tyrone.

The OCahans (O Cathain) were a great family in County Derry, sub-kings of the Cineal Eoghain,

whose heads were privileged to be one of the hereditary inaugurators of the ONeill. They rose to great

power during the twelfth century, and were lords of Keenaght, being possessed of the greater part of

what is now County Derry until their lands were confiscated by the English in the Ulster Plantation of

the sixteenth century. A branch settled in Thomond (northeast Munster). There is a sixteenth-century

OCahan knights effigy at Dungiven in County Derry. The Monros (Mac an Rothaich), derive their name

from a place at the foot of the River Roe in Derry, and according to the Clan Donald tradition, they

came into Scotland in the train of a daughter of the OCahan that became a MacDonald princess. They

possessed the vast district of Foulis on the Cromarty Firth in Ross, and also lands in Strathoykell.

The Roses (Rois, Ros) take their name from the district of Ross in northern Scotland, and are

connected with the OCahans by the Clan Donald seanachies (historians). Hugh Rose of Geddes

witnessed the foundation charter of Beauly Priory by the Bissets. They acquired their principal

holdings, the Barony of Kilvarnock in Nairnshire, by marriage with an heiress. They may have acquired

their OCahan connection win the same way, by marriage, and may originally have been of Norman

origin.

The Siol Gillivray included the families of MacLachlan (Mac Lachlainn), Lamont (Mac Laomainn),

MacSorley (Mac Somhairle), MacNeil (Mac Neill) and MacEwen, and also the MacSweeneys of Ireland

and MacSweens of Skye. They descend from Anrothan ONeill, the Ulster prince who in the first half of the eleventh century married the joint heiress of the Cineal Comhgall (after whom Cowall is named)

and their collateral kinsmen the Cineal nGabrain of Knapdale. His two grandsons, Donnshleibhe

(Dunsleve) and Domhnall (Donald) O Neill are the ancestors of the branches of the clan. From

Dunsleve, lord of Knapdale in the early thirteenth century are descended the MacLachlans, Lamonts,

MacSorleys, MacSweeneys, MacQueens or MacSweens and the MacEwens. The MacLachlans

inhabited Strathlachlan in Argyle, and had their stronghold, Castle Lachlan, on the south shore of Loch

Fyne. In 1230 the then chief Gilpatrick, son of Gilchrist (ancestor of the MacCilchrist branch of the

family, lords of Glassarysee under Scrymgeour) witnessed a charter granted to Paisley Abbey by

Laomainn, his cousin, ancestor of the Lamonts.

The Lamont territory was in Cowall, where they were the most powerful family until the great massacre

of several hundred of their men, women and children by the Campbells in 1646, an act of revenge for

the Lamonts complicity in the murder of several Campbells by MacDonnells from Antrim a few years

earlier. After foolishly surrendering their castles of Toward and Ascog (on the southern extremity of the

eastern and western peninsulas of Cowall, respectively) the garrisons, now at the mercy of the

Campbells, were cruelly tortured and put to death, and the castles burnt and razed. The grandfather of

Laomainn was the brother of Gilchrist, ancestor of the MacLachlans.

This grandfather, Ferchar, had two sons, Malcolm, father of Laomainn, and Duncan, ancestor of the

MacSorleys (Mac Somhairle) of Glassary in West Cowall, the majority of whom later assumed what

became the mutual clan-family name of Lamont. The Lyons of Glamis in the Strathmore district of

Angus descend, according to tradition, from a scion of the Lamonts of Cowall. John the son of Lyon

(Johannes fihius Leonis) and Hugo the son of Lyon (Hugo filius Leonis) were members of an inquest on

the lands of Rostinot in 13211322. John Lyon had a charter of lands in Perthshire ca. 134243 from

David II. Another John Lyon (or "Lyoun") appears, possibly the son of the former, as clerk and

secretary to David II. He was known as the "White Lyon," which suggests an epithetic allusion to the

"White Lyon on Blue" of the arms of the Lamonts, his own arms being a reversal of those colors. He

was later granted the thanage of Glamis as a free barony by King Robert II ca. 137172, and soon

afterwards married the kings daughter. This family later became barons of Glamis (1445) and earls of

Strathmore. Some small broken clans in Angus are recorded as petitioning to "be allowed to take the

name of Lyon, and be counted clansmen of the Strathmores."

The MacSweeneys (Mac Suibhne) of Donegal and MacQueens or MacSweens (Mac Shuibhne)

descend from Suibhne, son of Dunsleve ONeill, Lord of Knapdale. His grandson Murchadh was a

captain of Gallowglasses, or West Highland mercenary guards (see above under Ui Briuin Ai), and was

active in Ireland by 1267. Early in the fourteenth century the MacSweeneys made a permanent settlement in Tirconnell (County Donegal) where they served as Gallowglasses to the ruling

ODonnells. There were three great branches of the MacSweeneys: MacSweeney of Fanad who had

the castle of Rathmullin on a large tract of land in the northeast of the barony of Kilmacrenan, itself in

the northwest of County Donegal; MacSweeney of Baghnagh, now the barony of Banagh in the west of

County Donegal, and MacSweeney, Lord of Tuatha Toraighe, or Tory Island. A branch of the first

mentioned family settled in the barony of Musketry in central County Cork, where they served as

captains of Gallowglasses for the MacCarthys. They had several castles in this area, and were known

for their hospitality. There is a sixteenth-century MacSweeney knights effigy at Killebegs, County

Donegal, and another at Sligo, County Sligo dated 1577, but under the variant form of OSweeney (O

Suibhne), which is rare. Branches of the family remained in Knapdale around Castle Sween (probably

founded by their ancestor Suibhne), and later also appear at Garafad in Skye, which they held for the

nominal annual price of a salmon as trusted vassals of the MacDonalds of Clanranald.

The "Clan Revan" MacQueens of the Clan Chattan Confederacy were proprietors of lands in

Strathdearn, where they held Corybrough, and also in Strathfindhorn. They descend from Revan

MacQueen, who accompanied Mora MacDonald of Moidart when she went to the Clan Chattan country

to wed the tenth chief of the MacKintoshes in the early fifteenth century. Revan later fought under The

MacKintosh at the battle of Harlow in 1411.

The MacEwens (Mac Eoghainn) and MacLeays or Livingstones (Mac Donnshleibhe) both represent

early branches of the line of Suibhne; the former were allied with the MacLachlans, while the latter were

followers of the Stewarts of Appin. A branch of latter family was important hereditary ecclesiastics as

keepers of the pastoral staff of St. Moluag and the Castle of Achandan on the Isle of Lismore off the

coast of Appin. Their adoption of the English name of Livingstone during the mid-seventeenth century

was influenced by the fact that the Isle of Lismore was at the time under the authority of a branch of

the Lowland House of Livingston (see Chapter X). The difference in spelling is now significant to family

identification, though in earlier times Livingstone was synonymous with Livingston.

The MacNeills descend from Domhnall ONeill, mentioned above. They eventually separated into two

great branches, the MacNeils of Barra and the McNeills of Gigha (both islands off the west coast of

Scotland, the latter lies just off the coast of Cowall). Both families were originally folrowers of the

MacDonalds as vassals of the lords of the Isles (from whose Clanranald branch the MacNeils inherited

the Island of Barra in the Outer Hebrides about 1400), but after the downfall of the MacDonald lords in

the late fifteenth century, the Barra branch followed the MacLeans of Duart, while the Gigha branch,

who also held lands in northwest Cowall, subsequently followed the MacDonalds of Islay. The two

branches were afterwards found fighting on opposing sides in the clan-wars between the MacLeans and MacDonalds. A fourteenth-century branch of the

MacNeills settled in Antrim and Derry.

The OCreans (O Croidheagain) of the Cineal Eoghain, also known as the Creghans or Crehans,

originally inhabited the Cineal Eoghain lands in Donegal, but later removed to Sligo, where they

became wealthy merchants and landowners. They were one of the few early merchant families of native

(pre-Viking-and-Norman) stock. The ODonnellys (O Donnghaile) are descended from Donnghal, fourth

in descent from Domhnall, King of Ailech, who was himself the brother of Niall Glundubh, eponymous

ancestor of the ONeills. The ODonnellys were originally seated at Drumleen, north of Lifford in County

Donegal; but were expelled from there by the Cineal Connell, and afterwards settled at Ballydonnelly,

now called Castle Caufield, west of Dungannon in County Tyrone. Here the famous Shane ONeill was

fostered by the ODonnellys, who were hereditary marshalls of The ONeills forces.

The OHegartys (O hEighceartaigh) of the Cineal Eoghain were chiefs in the present barony of

Loughinsholin in the south of County Derry, and by about the beginning of the seventeenth century

some of them settled in the baronies of Barrymore and Carbery West in County Cork. The family was

numerous in the Irish Brigades of France, and several OHegartys were, during the eighteenth century,

particularly distinguished in that service.

The Cineal Moen or OGormleys (O Goirmleaghaigh) were a sub-clan of the Cineal Eoghain originally

seated in what is now the barony of Raphoe, County Donegal. They were expelled from Donegal, as

were their kinsmen the ODonnellys, in the thirteenth century, and afterwards settled on the opposite

side of Lough Foyle, between Strabane and Derry. They held considerable property until the

confiscations attendant to the Plantation of Ulster in 1608.

The OHagans (O hAgain) of the Cineal Eoghain descend from Tighearnach, who was a son of

Muireadhach mac Eoghain, and thus a grandson of Eoghain, the eponymous ancestor of the clan.

They were divided into two groups: The main being chiefs of Cineal Fearghusa, a territory around

Tullaghoge or Tullahogue in County Tyrone (Tir Eoghain), and the other being chiefs of Cineal

Tighearnaigh in County Derry, where their presence is recalled by the place called Ballyagan (there is

another Ballyhagan in Antrim). It was the hereditary privilege of the OHagans to inaugurate The ONeill

at their seat of Tullahogue (along with the OCahans).

The OBeolairts (O Beollain) or Gillanders (Giolla Aindreas) of the Cineal Eoghain were co-arbs

(hereditary abbots) of St. Maelrubha at Applecross in Ross-shire, as discussed in Chapter IV. They

were a powerful princely family, and became earls of Ross in the early thirteenth century. Towards the

end of the fourteenth century they inherited the chiefship of the Clann Aindreas, or Clann Giolla

Aindreas (Clan Gillanders), a native Pictish tribe related to the MacKenzies and Mathesons and among

whom they had long been ecclesiastical and secular leaders. At about the same time they were

artificially dispossessed of the Earldom of Ross by the King of Scots, and afterwards the family adopted as a

surname what had for some time been the descriptive epithet of (de) Ross. They are also known by the

patronymic of MacAndrew (Mac Gille Aindreas) from the clan name, while the original family name of O

Beollain survives as MacBeolain, following Scottish prefix usage. A branch of the OBeolains became

hereditary abbots (erenaghs) of the Columban church at Drumcliffe in Sligo, and were famous for their

hospitality. Some of the MacAndrews settled in the Clan Chattan country, and sought the protection of

the MacKintosh about 1400. The MacBeolains occupied Glenshiel and the south side of Loch Duich as

far as Kylerhea. Fearcher MacTaggart (Mac an tSagairt"the son of the priest") of Applecross was

created Earl of Ross in 1234.

It is interesting that the "three lions rampant" in the arms of the OBeolain earls of Ross are unique in

Scotland, and in Ireland occur only in the arms of families with ecclesiastical affiliations with the

Connacht area (witness the arms of the OScanlans, OHorans, OGaras and OKearneys). Even the

"three lions passant" of the Dalcassian OBriens may reflect a Connacht connection. We need only

consider the short genealogy of the Ui Toirdealbhaigh, their late acquisition of Dalcassian leadership

(which was based on the success of the Ui Toirdealbhaigh against the Vikings), and also the fact that

a number of Connacht families spread south as either ecclesiastical (OScanlan) or temporal (OHeyne

and OCahill) families. A number of medieval families considered "Dalcassian" are known to have

origins in Connacht, including the OHeaneys, OHehirs, OMarkahans and OKearneys. Though their

primary identification was with Cashel in Munster, the OKearneys also had connections with the

Columban foundations at Derry and Drumcliffe.

The Cairneys or Cairdeneys (Cardanaigh) of Foss in Perthshire descend from Sir John de Ross, son of

the Earl of Ross, who came south in the train of Euphemia de Ross in anticipation of her marriage to

Robert The Stewart in 1355. Not long after the accession of Robert and Euphemia as King and Queen

of Scots in 1371, John de Ross received a grant from the King of the barony of Cardeney near Dunkeld,

in which charter he is styled dilectus consanguineus foster. He assumed the epithet "de Cardeney" to

replace that of "de Ross" (Ross was not yet a surname), and it was apparently his son William who

married Rinald MacNair (Mac an Oighre), the heiress of Foss in nearby Rannoch. Another son, Robert

de Cardeney, was bishop of Dunkeld in the early fifteenth century, and a daughter, Mariota, was

mistress to Robert II. Mariota gave the King a number of natural children (Alexander Stewart of

Inverlunan, James Stewart of Kinfaus, and John Stewart of Cardeney) and also had natural issue by

Alexander MacNaughton, chief of the MacNachtans. This last was Dr. Donald MacNaughton, dean of

Dunkeld during the tenure of his uncle (Robert de Cardeney) whom he succeeded as bishop.

Foss was in the Appin (abbey land) of Dull which was granted about 1200 to the Priory of St. Andrews

by the then bishop of Dunkeld. The MacNairs are the first family found in possession of Foss after the abbey lands were secularized in the early

fourteenth century. The name Mac an Oighre has a coarbial ring to it (like Mac an tSagairt above and

Mac an Aba Oighre  "the son of the heir of the abbot"the Gaelic style of the MacNabs of Inchewin

in Glendochart, the old senior line of the MacNabs dispossessed by Robert I), and probably refers to

the heir of the abbey lands of Dull, centered at the mouth of Glen Lyon and the north end of Loch Tay

(see page 9). As the MacNaughtons were also settled here before they were set up as keepers of the

Kings castle on Loch Awe about 1250 (their collaterals the MacLeans, who share with them the

armorial quartering of the "hand holding a blue cross" of the Lismore co-arbial kindred, also returned to

Loin under royal patronage about this time), the MacNairs may represent a twelfth-century

ecclesiastical branch of the clan. In this case, William Cardeneys connection with Foss may have

precipitated Mariotas liaison with the chief of the MacNaughtons. The MacNairs remained in Rannoch

until the time of the reformation, by which time Foss had passed from the Cairdeney lairds to the

Stewarts. After that the MacNairs are found with the MacNaughtons in Argyle. The Cairdeneys held

lnchewan (by Dunkeld) and other lands in Perthshire, remained Roman Catholic, and adhered to the

Stewarts, as did the MacNaughtons, who were forfeited for their Jacobite sympathies in 1691. John

Cairny, son of Robert Cairfly of Tulcho in Perthshire, appears in the 1678 muster roll of the Kings Life

Guard of Horse under (the younger) Murray of Atholl.

The Cineal Cairbre or Clann Chairbre descend from Cairbre, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. Their

patrimony was in what is now the barony of Carbury, in the north of County Sligo. One of their line,

Tuathal Maelgarb, was High-King of Tara in 544. But their main representative in later times was the

family of OBrolan (O Breollain), descended from Ainmire, brother of King Tuathal, being the son of

Cormac Caoch, son of Cairbre, eponymous ancestor of the clan.

The Cineal Conaill descend from Conall Gulban, son of Nial of the Nine Hostages and were possessed

of the territory of Tirconaill (the land of Conall), now County Donegal. They provided High-Kings of Tara

alternately with their Cineal Eoghain cousins until the end of the eighth century, the Cineal Eoghain

being dominant as overlords of the Northern Ui Niell from the end of the eighth century onward. This

state of affairs was contributed to by the geographical disposition of the. Cineal Conaill in mountainous

and remote west Ulster. In this relatively isolated position, the Cineal Conaill in Donegal lacked the

strategic geographical advantage enjoyed by the Cineal Eoghain at Ailech and in County Derry.

The Clan Dalaigh or ODonnells (ODomhnaiU) of Tirconaill originally possessed the patrimony of Cineal

Luighdheach (the descendants of Lugaid, son of Setnae, uncle of St. Columba), their original

clan-name, it having been applied to the mountainous district between the River Swilly and the River Dobhar in north-central Donegal: The territory around Kilmacrenan. They derive their clan-name from

their ancestor Dalach, Lord of Tir-conaill, who died in 868, and who was the first of their immediate

ancestors to become Lord of Tir-conaill, a dignity continued by his son Eigheachan, father of their

eponymous ancestor Domhnall. They did not, however, again become chiefs of the Cineal Conaill until

the thirteenth century, when they rose on the downfall of some of their Cineal Conaill kinsmen, the

OCanannains or OCannons (O Canannain) and OMuldorys or OMulderrys (O Maoldoraidh). Both of

these families are now very rare.

Afterwards the ODonnells established themselves as the ruling family of the Cineal Conaill and all

Donegal, and continued as such for centuries, until the final submergence of the Gaelic order in the

seventeenth century. The ODonnells, as princes of Donegal, were consistently one of the most able

families in the Gaelic aristocracy, and not only successfully defended their territory against both the

English and native adversaries alike, but they also made their power respected throughout the north

and west of Ireland. Their most famous chief was Hugh Roe (Red Hugh) ODonnell, who escaped his

treacherous imprisonment by the English at Dublin Castle (he was rescued, after his bold escape, by

The OHagan, and with the assistance of the Wicklow clans) and later fought at Kinsale. Rory

ODonnell was with The ONeill in the Flight of the Earls at the beginning of the seventeenth century,

while other famous ODonnells distinguish the pages of Irish and Continental history during the

seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. A branch of the family (descended from Shane Luirg, son of

Turlough ODonnell of the Wine, Lord of Tir-conaill in the early fifteenth century) became established in

Limerick and Tipperary.

The OFriels (O Firghil) descend from Eoghan, nephew of Sedna, ancestor of the Clann Dalaigh, and

brother of the illustrious and sanctified prince of the Cineal Conaill who established Iona in the sixth

century: St. Columba (also known as St. Columcillesee Chapter IV). The OFriels were hereditary

abbots (erenaghs) of Kilmacrenan in the old Clann Dalaigh country in Donegal. The OFreil had the

privilege of inaugurating The ODonnell as chief of the Cineal Conaill and lord of Tirconnell (Tir-Conaill).

Also closely related to the Clann Dalaigh, being of the same stock within the Cineal Conaill, are the

OBoyles (O Baoighill), OCullinans (O Cuileannain) and the Cineal Edna. The OBoyles were one of the

principal families of the Cineal Corinail. Originally chiefs of the Three Tuaths in the northwest of County

Donegal, when these lands passed into the hands of the MacSweeneys, The OBoyle became chief of

Tir-Ainmhireach in the west of the same county. This territory was afterwards known as Crioch

Bhaoigheallach, or OBoyles country, now the barony of Boylagh. During the wars attendant to the

reign of Elizabeth they spread into different parts of Ireland. The OCullinans (the name was changed

after about 1700 to the form Cullen) were chiefs around Mullinashee in what is now the Barony of Raphoe, County Donegal. Several of the family, sons of the

Chief, were important ecclesiastics at the end of the sixteenth and first half of the seventeenth

centuries, Of these, Glaisne OCullinan (15581584), Cistercian Abbot of Boyle, was martyred (that

is, murdered by the English) and Dr. John Cullinan (15851653) was Bishop of Raphoe and suffered

much persecution, ending his career as a prominent supporter of Rinnuccini at the Confederation of

Kilkenny.

The Cineal Enda or ODohertys (O Dochartaigh) were originally settled in Ardmire (Ard Miodhair) in the

barony of Raphoe, but about the beginning of the fifteenth century they became lords of Inishowen in

the northeastern corner of County Donegal. Afterwards they were one of the most influential families in

Tirconnell (Tir-Conaill), retaining their position as lords of Inishowen down to the reign of James the

First in the early seventeenth century, at which time their lands were confiscated as a result of the

rebellion of Sir Cahir ODogherty. The OGallaghers (O Gallchobhair) descend from Maolchobha,

High-King of Tara in 615. They were powerful in Tir-Conaill, and as marshalls of ODonnells forces, they

took a prominent part in all the military actions of the Cineal Conaill during the fourteenth and

subsequent centuries. Many of them were distinguished bishops of Raphoe and Derry.

The Cineal Conaill in Scotland were known as the Kindred of St. Columba, the great saint who founded

lona. This epithet was applied to all the descendants of St. Columbas great-grandfather, Conall

Gulban, but was especially applied to branches within the clan devoted to ecclesiastical pursuits,

especially in Scotland. Thus the Kindred was comprised of several early saints, and also of the

hereditary abbots of Iona, Kells, Derry and Dunkeld, some of whom were descended from the Saint

Columbas brother. The Kindred of St. Columba remained closely connected to the Abbey at lona

despite changes in political control and the distance from the Cineal Conall homeland in Donegal. In

1164 King Somerled of the Isles (see under MacDonald) invited the chief co-arb (see Chapter IV) of St.

Columba to accept the Abbacy of lona; but the Cineal Connaill would not allow the Columban primacy

(which first went from lona to Kells, and then to Derry in Donegal, the homeland of the Kindred) to pass

from Derry back to the Hebrides.

The Abbacy was then offered to members of the OBrollaghan branch of the Cineal Eoghan, a

Derry-based ecclesiastical family with splendid masonic skills, but their talented representative at Iona

died in 1203. This left a void at Iona, an absence of the Columban Kindred, and so Ranald, next King of

the Isles had no choice but to follow the Scottish example at Scone and install a foreign order, in this

case the Benedictine Order, at lona. This inevitably led to high-strung local dissension by those who

preferred the native way of the (Celtic) Columban church, which had had hereditary, non-celibate

abbots of the Kindred administering the abbey estates. Finally, in 1204, the Cineal Conaill, led by two

bishops and two abbots all of the Kindred of St. Columba, raided Iona and demolished a monastery erected on Columban land by the new Benedictine abbot, and

proclaimed the then Abbot of Derry, who was a descendant of St. Columbas brother, to be Abbot of

Iona as well.

The Kindred of St. Columba had come into the Crown of Scotland in earlier times, when Bethoc,

daughter of Malcolm II, King of Albany married Crinan (ca. 9751045), Thane (temporal lord) and

(hereditary) Abbot of Dunkeld, and Seneschal (household officer or administrator) of the Isles. Crinans

line was probably a branch of the Cineal Luighdheach, mentioned above (Moncreiffe 211). The Cineal

Luigheheach were heads of the Columban church in Scotland since the removal of that primacy from

Jona to Dunkeld several generations before (see Chapter IV). The sons of Bethoc and Crinan were King

Duncan I of Albany (killed in 1040), whose descendants bore arms of the colors red on gold; and

Maldred, Ruler of Cumbria, who married the daughter of the Earl of Beornicia, and whose descendants

bore arms of the colors red on silver (white). From Maldreds son Gospatric, Earl of Beornicia (which

passed from English to Scottish control during his tenture, and whose original Saxon House is

represented in the male line by the Swintons of that Ilk), are descended the families of Dunbar, Dundas

and Moncreiff.

The Dunbars descend from the above mentioned Gospatrick, who was also known as Earl of

Northumbria and who was forced to flee that earldom, but was later given the barony of Dunbar in East

Lothian by his cousin Malcolm III, Ceann-Mor ("great-head"), who was killed in 1093, Later his line

acquired additional lands in what is now southwest Scotland. His descendants, the earls of Dunbar,

thus became the head of an important Lowland family. In the fourteenth century their then chief married

the heiress of the Randolf earl of Moray, and by 1579 the Privy Council describes the Dunbars of

northwest Moray as a clan. The Dundases descend from a son of Gospatrick of Northumbria who was

given a charter of the lands of Dundas in West Lothian about the mid-twelfth century. They became an

important landed family around Edinburgh. John de Dundas acquired a charter of the barony of Fingask

in Perthshire in 136465.

The Moncreiffes take their name from the lands of Moncreiff in the parish of Dunbarny in southeast

Perthshire (Strathearn) on the north side of the River Earn near its mouth. From their arms (coat of

arms) and early history they appear to be a branch of the House of Dundas. Sir Mathew of Moncreiff

obtained a charter from Sir Roger de Mowbray, Sheriff of Edinburgh, Linlithgow and Haddington of the

lands of Moncreiff and Balconachin, which in 1248 were confirmed to him and erected into a free

barony by a subsequent charter from Alexander II. He also held the lands of Culdares and Duneaves on

the northeast side of Loch Tay in Atholl, which appear to have been his familys earliest possessions.

John de Moncreiff was granted a charter of Moncreiff by Alexander III between 1250 and 1286, and all

these lands, including those in Atholl and Strathearn, were formally incorporated into the barony of Moncreiffe in 1455. William Moncreiff of that ilk rode with the earl of Atholl on a raid into

Northumberland in 1296.

The Clann Donnachaidh or Robertsons (Mac Raibeirt) descend from Conan, bastard only son of Henry,

Earl of AthoIl (died in 1210), who granted Conan wide lands in the Rannoch district of western AthoIl.

Henry was a descendant of King Duncan I, mentioned above. The Robertsons take their clan-name,

which means "children (descendants) of Duncan," from their early fourteenth-century chief Duncan of

Atholl. They take the family name of Robertson from their fourth chief, Raibeirt Riabhach, "Grizzled

Robert" Duncanson, whose lands were erected into the barony of Struan in 1451 by King James II as a

reward for the previous capture of Sir Robert Graham, slayer of James I (see under Graham). The

Robertsons were a vast and powerful clan in Rannoch, and very important in the history of the district.

The Serpent and Dove supporters on the arms of their chief, Straun Robertson, allude to their belonging

to the Kindred of St. Columba, whose name means "dove" of the church (there is an old proverb found

on the privy seal of King Alexander III, a cousin of the line of Conan, which translates "be as wise as

the serpent and gentle as the dove").

The Clan MacDuff descends from Gillemichael mac Duff, Earl of Fife in about 1133. But the

significance of the name Duff (Dubh) goes back to the line of Duff, King of Albany in 967, whose

descendants patrimony was in Fife (the "kingdom" of Fife). His line, the Clan Duff, was collateral with

the line of King Duffs brother, King Kenneth II, and the two lines alternated the High-Kingship of Albany

until 1034, as both lines had their ultimate origin in sons of King Malcolm I of the line of the Cineal

Gabhran who had inherited the Picto-Gaelic crown (hence their traditional descent, in the female line,

from Conall Cearnach, traditional ancestor of the Cruithne).

Both of these lines ended in heiresses about the year 1034: The Line of Kenneth II ending in Bethoc,

who married Crinan, hereditary Abbot of Dunkeld, of the Kindred of St. Columba, mentioned above; and

the Line of Duff ending in Gruoch, who married Gillacomgan, Mormaer (King) of Moray, of the line of the

Cineal Loam. Their son, Lulach, was thus Chief of Clan Duff (in those presurname times of Picto-Gaelic

succession) and King of Moray, and was as well a rival King of Albany. His daughter and heiress, the

Princess of Moray and heiress of Clann Duff appears to have "married" Eth (Aedh, later Aodh, Gaelic

form of Aethelred), Last Abbot of Dunkeld, who himself was the eldest of the four royal sons of Malcolm

III (whose father was Duncan I, mentioned above, heir of the Royal line collateral to the Clan Duff) by

his second wife, St. Margaret, a daughter of the Saxon King of England (Duncan II, son of Malcolm III

by an earlier marriage, was the ancestor of the famous "MacWilliam" claimants).

Eth seems to have been debarred from the throne, which could have been because of a blemish (a

taboo) or perhaps because he was already an Abbot. He was nonetheless the first earl of Fife, probably in right of his wife. His sons included Angus, King of

Moray (killed 1130), and also Duff, Malcolm and Gillecoimded. These sons had a number of important

inheritances to consider. There was the Kingship of Moray, and also the chiefship of the Clann Duff,

and in the male-line, also the senior descent of, or position of precedence within, the royal Kindred of

St. Columba in Scotland. The descendants of Duff (who predeceased his father Eth) took the latter two,

as the senior line, while the descendants of Malcolm and Gillecoimded "MacEth" threw in their lot with

the Moray-men, whose Gaelic laws would prefer the succession of the living brothers of their king,

Angus, over his living nephews, the descendents of Duff. On the death of Eth (Aedh), the Moray-men

rose under King Angus and his brother Malcolm MacEth (Mac Aedh) in an attempt to put Angus on the

throne of the Scots (as a son of the Abbot-Earl Eth, and as representative of the dispossessed Clan

Duff). This was a reaction in part to the Normanizing influence at the Scottish court of David I, and in

fact they were defeated and Angus killed by Davids Norman mercenaries. Malcolm (called "Jan" or

ruler of Moray by the Norwegians) married a daughter of Somerled of the Isles, and carried on the

struggle until one of his sons, Donald MacAedh, was captured by the forces of King Malcolm IV in

1156.

At this point Malcolm became nominally reconciled with the King of Scots, and was made Earl of

Ross, a post he held till his death in 1168. His grandson, Kenneth MacAedh, made a final attempt at

the crown of the Scots in 1215, but was defeated and beheaded by the ancestor of the Ross clan, who

subsequently became Earl of Ross (see Chapter IV). During these struggles, in about 1163, King

Malcolm IV attempted to deprive Malcolm MacAedh of the earldom of Ross in order to give it to his own

foreign brother-in-law, the Count of Holland (many knightly Flemings had already settled in Moray).

Accordingly, the King transported many of the Moraymen extramontanas Scociae, that is, beyond the

mountains of Scotland into Caithness, which was still under Norse control (Moncreiffe 145). The Jarl of

Orkney and Caithness at the time was Harold, son-in-law of Earl Malcolm MacAedh.

It is in the extreme northwest of Scotland, in the district known as Strathnaver in western Caithness,

that the later MacAedh chiefs appear in the early thirteenth century, and here the MacAedh chiefs gave

rise to a very important clan, later known as the Clann Aodha or MacKays (Mac Aodha, earlier

MacAedh), whose chiefs held Strathnaver for many centuries. They were also known as the Clan

Morgan, Morgan having been a favorite name in the royal house of Moray. They adopted their current

arms in the seventeenth century to reflect their traditional kinship with the Forbes clan, but the