The McLaughlin Family History
Inishowen, County Donegal, Ireland
379 A.D. - 1241 A.D.
The following excerpts are Chapters 3, 5, and 15 from the book, The
Ulster Clans, written by Revs. T. H. Mullin and J. E. Mullin, published
in 1966 by North-West Books, Limavady, County Derry, Northern Ireland, and
reprinted in 1989.
Chapter 3
THREE SONS OF OWEN
It has been said that Irish history, as apart from legend and romance, begins
with Niall of the Nine Hostages, so called because of the pledges he wrung
from nine nations. Niall was a tall, fair-haired blue-eyed hero of Gaelic
blood, who became High King of Ireland in A.D. 379. A renowned warrior,
much of his life was spent in predatory excursions against neighbouring
countries such as England, Wales and France. It is possible that it was
on one of these raiding expeditions that Saint Patrick was carried off from
Britain to become a slave who herded sheep on Slemish Mountain for his pagan
master. Niall died on one of these military forays to France in A.D. 405.
He had eight sons, and one of these called Laeghaire succeeded his father
as High King. He held this position during Patrick's missionary activity,
and tolerated the new faith, although apparently he did not wholeheartedly
accept it himself. He died in battle, and by his own orders was buried standing
upright with his face towards his hereditary foes. Two other sons of Niall,
Eaghan (Owen) and Conall marched northwards, conquered North-West Ulster
and founded there a new state with its capital at Aileach, a prehistoric
stone-built fortress on a hill near Derry, at the root of the Inishowen
peninsula. The territory of Conall, now Donegal. was formerly known as Tir-Conall
(the land of Conall). The O'Donnells were descendants of Conall. The territory
of Owen was Inishowen (the island of Owen), still known by that name. Owen's
clan later expanded into Tyrone (Tir-Owen, the land of Owen).
From Owen there descended families who have played a large part in the history
of Ulster, O'Neill, McLaughlin, O'Cahan, O'Hagan, O'Mellan, O'Mullan
and others. To understand the relationship of these families or clans, it
is necessary to understand something of their history.
Information regarding the apportionment of Inishowen amongst the sons of
Owen is derived to a large extent from the "Tripartite Life of St.
Patrick." This was written in part in the 9th century, and consequently
has to be used with great caution as a source of knowledge for Saint Patrick's
life. Nevertheless, the journey to Inishowen which it describes is not inherently
improbable, for Patrick was a great traveller as Eugene Mullen's poem says.
"To all the seven kingdoms thou didst go
With toilsome journeyings, in sore privation.
Armagh thy see Primatial thou didst make
God's angel guiding. On the Willow Ridge
By that proud hill, which Macha, golden-haired
With aureate pin had lined to trace the site
Of Eamhain Fort and shape a home of valour
For the bold Craobh Ruadh, thy pastoral staff now marked
The place of more enduring battlement.
'Great glory this last House shall have' said the Lord
Of Hosts 'and in this place I will give thee peace'.
To kindly Cineal Eoghain thou didst grant
Wide sovereignty, wielded from fair Aileach".
The account of this visit to Inishowen indicates how the peninsula was apportioned
to some of Owen's sons at a very early date in the history of his descendants,
and if one is sceptical about the prophecy which Patrick is stated to have
made about the future of the three favoured sons of Owen, one must admit
the substantial accuracy of the fulfilment.
The Tripartite Life tells how Patrick blessed the children of Conall, and
then went over Bernes Mor into the country of Owen to Magh Itha, where he
baptised Owen. "Then Patrick blessed Eogan (Owen) with his sons. 'Which
of thy sons' saith Patrick, 'is dearest to thee?' 'Muredach,' saith Eogan.
'Kingship shall descend from him forever' saith Patrick. 'And after him?'
saith Patrick. 'Fergus,' saith Eogan. 'Ordained persons from him,' saith
Patrick. 'And then Eochu Bindech' saith Eogan. 'Warriors from him,' saith
Patrick. The story then goes on to show how one son of Fergus, Coelbad by
name, made a bad beginning in respect to the fulfilment of the prophecy,
for he expelled the saint from his territory. The other son Aedh (Hugh),
whose territory adjoined Coelbad's, gave Saint Patrick a loving welcome
and there they erected Domnach Mor Mach Tochair. Patrick then proceeded
into Bretagh, the district of Owen's son Ailill, and ordained Aengus, son
of Ailill in that place, Domnach Bili by name.
Wherever the word Domnach (The Lord's [day or church]) is found in placenames,
the hand of Patrick can be traced. Dr. O'Donovan places Domnach Mor Magh
Tochair near Carndonagh, where the nearby Glen Tocher preserves part of
the name. Bretagh may be discerned on the map of Inishowen as the name of
a river in the north-east of the peninsula, while Domnach Bili is now Moville.
The territory of the sons of Fergus extended beyond Carndonagh to Doagh
and Lough Swilly, as the headquarters of the Mulfoyle sept of Clan Fergus
was at Carrickbrachy in the vicinity of Doagh. The tribal land of Murdock
and Ochy Binny (Muredach and Eochu Bindech in the prophecy), lay to the
south of the lands of Fergus.
We have now examined the blessing of Saint Patrick on the three favoured
sons of Owen, and indicated where their inheritance in Inishowen originally
lay.
l Before we go on to their expansion into other areas, the following genealogical
chart will be found useful:
IO-Clery gives the ancestry of Sir Donnell O'Cahan from Owen and Niall of
the Nine Hostages as follows- Domnall ballach m Ruaidri m Maghnusa m Donnchada
an einigh m Seaain m Aiberne m Diarmada m Con mhuighe m Diarmada m Con muighe
na nGall m Magnusa chatha duin m Ruaidri m Domhnaill m Eachmharcaigh m Raghnaill
m Iomhair m Gilla Crist m Concionaedh m Diermada m Cathusaigh m Cathain
(a quo h Chathain) m Drugain m Concobhair m Fergail m Maile duin m Maile
fithrigh m Aedha uairiodhnaigh m Downaill ilcealccaigh m Muircertaigh m
Muirethaigh m Eogain m Neill noigiallaigh.
(Analecta Hlbernica i 8).
In the centuries following the death of Saint Patrick certain veryt important
clan expansions took place in Ulster. One of these concerns the territory
of Dalriada in North Antrim. The name Dalriada derives from the word Dal,
meaning descendants, and Riada, the nickname of a chieftain called Cairbre
Righfada (Riada) ~-- Cairbre the long-armed. The name Dalriada is still
used, but chiefly in its contracted form of the Route. A descendant of Cairbre
Righfada called Fergus crossed over to the sister island and founded the
kingdom of Argyle or Scottish Dalriada. The invading Gaels brought with
them the Gaelic language, and gave their name (for in early times the Irish
were called Scots) to Scotland. The descendants of this Fergus became kings
of Scottish DaIriada, and ultimately of the united kingdom of the Picts
and Scots in the days of King Kenneth MacAlpin.
In later years, Columba, who was of the race of Niall of the Nine Hostages,
left Lough Foyle on the famous journey that took him to Iona, and made that
lovely island with its green stones and white sands a centre of Christian
missionary work for Scotland. Columba returned to Ireland for the famous
convention of Drumceat which took place near Limavady. Later, too, the Scottish
Macdonnells were to return and settle in the Glens of Antrim.
It is, however, with the expansion of the Owen clan that we are chiefly
concerned here. From a focal point at the root of Inishowen the descendants
of Owen fanned out in advances to the east and south. This expansion was
not swift and overwhelming, but rather a gradual advance, as in the glacier
age the ice moved inexorably forward from a centre in the Derryveagh mountains
and Barnesmore hills in Donegal, following in its thrusts the line of least
resistance and at length covering the countryside.
The first outward thrust of the Owen clan was that of the Clan Binny, which
Dr. O'Kelly places as early as 563 A.D. This thrust apparently bypassed
a hard core of resistance in County Derry, the Cianachta or children of
Cian, whose name is preserved in the present barony of Keenaught. Swinging
south-east into County Tyrone, it may have carried Clan Binny as the spearhead
of the advance of the Owen clans right to the river Blackwater (or Davel)
on the borders of Tyrone and Armagh. A pocket of the O'Hamills at Clonfeacle
on the Blacklwater may mark, like an erratic boulder, the extent of their
advance. Clan Binny ousted Oriella clans from the district Iying west of
the river Bann, from Coleraine to beside Lough Neagh, and drove them across
the river. There can be no doubt of the reality of the prophecy that the
descendants of Ochy Binny would be warriors. A wealth of information about
the Clan Binny is contained in Dr. James O'Kelly's "Gleanings from
Ulster History".
Following upon the advance of Clan Binny came Clan Fergus. The O'Clery genealogies
mention descendants of Coelbad, son of Fergus, from whom well-known septs
derive. One was Ogain, from whom sprang the O'Hagans; another Coinne, from
whom came the O'Quins; another Mael Fabaill from whom descended a long line
of Mulfoyle chieftains. The Mulfoyle sept remained beside Lough Swilly,
the others pressed forward into Tyrone in the wake of Clan Binny. Although
Clan Fergus was to be distinguished for its clerics, the clan was not lacking
in martial qualities. Dr. O'Kelly has described it as the fighting vanguard
of McLaughlin and O'Neill, as these clans battled their way towards
Tullyhog and Armagh to become masters of Tyrone.
The royal clans of Ulster, O'Neill and McLaughlin, were descended
from Murdock Mac-Earca. O'Devlins and O'Donnellys probably sprang from a
grandson of this Murdock Mac-Earca. An important point in the descent from
Murdock Mac-Earca comes with Hugh Allen, king of Ireland, who distinguished
himself by a series of victories over the descendants of Conall from Donegal.
This king, Hugh Allen, had two brothers, Niall Frossach and Connor, whose
descendants afterwards came into prominence. From Niall Frossach through
Hugh Finlay were descended both the McLaughlins and O'Neills-the
O'Neills taking their surname from Niall Glundubh (Niall Black-knee). The
McLaughlin and O'Neill stocks provided vigorous leaders and kings for
the Owen clans in Ulster, as well as reaching at times the position of high
king of Ireland. Murdock's line, from which kings were promised, provided
an ample fulfilment. From the other brother of Hugh Allen-Connor there arose
certain strong clans by whose combined power these northern kings were supported
and maintained. It is from the descendants of Connor, the Clan Connor, that
the second important thrust from the Owen Clan came. This clan is often
known as Clan Connor Magh Ithe, or the Fir Magh Ithe (men of Magh Ithe).
Magh Ithe is the rich countryside stretching southward from Inishowen, later
known as the Laggan district in east Donegal. According to the O'Clery book
of genealogies, Connor had twelve sons, from one of which called Drughan
were descended the O'Cahans (O'Kanes). The O'Mullans were also descended
from Connor. The McCloskeys, later prominent in County Derry, were descended
from a Blosky O'Cahan mentioned the Annals under the year 1196.
It will be remembered that in earlier advances the hard core of resistance
in County Derry formed by the Cianachta had been bypassed. The Cianachta,
whose leading sept was the O'Connors af Glengiven in the Roe Valley, had
held their position for many centuries. The overthrow of the Cianachta and
the O'Connors came oddly enough from their namesakes, the Clan Connor. Between
the years A.D. 900 and 1000, according to Dr. Kelly's reckoning, the families
of Clan Connor moved out from the cramped territory of Magh Ithe, and eventually
established themselves in Ithe whole of the territory from the Foyle to
the Bann in County Derry. No express record of the conquest of Cianachta
exists, and the method of the conquest is a fascinating problem to which
we must later turn. When the process of conquest ends, we find various septs
of Clan Connor firmly settled in County Derry, the Clan Dermot and its chief
family O'Carrolan south of the Faughan river, and the O'Cahans, O'Mullans
and McCloskeys scattered elsewhere over North Derry. This intermittent expansion
of the Owen clans, which has been described in the present chapter, occupied
several centuries. Consequent upon this expansion, and concurrent with it,
various other changes took place. These changes centre around the quest
for power, and for a place from which the power obtained might be competently
exercised.
In early times the headquarters of the sub-kingdom of Owen had been at Aileach
near Derry. For a number of centuries the kingship of North Western Ulster
alternated more or less regularly between the two chief branches of the
conquerors, the Clan Owen and the Clan Conall. As the Clan Conall found
it more difficult to expand owing to its geographical situation, the balance
of power shifted decisively to the growing Clan Owen. The series of victories
won over Clan Conall by the Owen chieftain Hugh Allen and his kin resulted
in the exclusion of Clan Conall from the over-kingship of the whole territory
by the end of the eighth century. Thus Clan Owen became the dominant Northern
dynasty, and their seat at Aileach became the headquarters of the over-kingdom
now held by Clan Owen.
This honour for Aileach was not lasting. As power shifted farther south,
deep into Tyrone, a new capital was required. Accordingly a more central
position at Tullyhog, near Cookstown, was chosen. Professor James Hogan,
in his work "The Irish Law of Kingship", places this transfer
of the seat of kingship from Aileach to Tullyhog somewhere between the years
A.D. 1035 and 1050. So in succeeding years Aileach became what it is today
a relic of the past, massive in earth and stone, but haunted by insubstantial
memories of departed glory. Alice Milligan's poem "The Dark Palace"
catches its pathos:
"There beams no light from thy hall tonight
O house of Fame!
No mead-vat seethes and no smoke upwreathes
O'er the hearth's red flame;
No high bard sings for the joy of thy kings,
And no harpers play;
No hostage moans at thy dungeon rings.
As in Muircherteach's day."
As the domain of Clan Owen broadened in Ulster, its original home in Inishowen
became more and more only a Northern outpost of the clan, from which a line
of subordinate Mulfoy]e chieftains, planted at Carrickbrachy, kept watch
on the restless sea, and their equally restless neighbours. A description
of one of these Mulfoyle chiefs is given in a poem to be found in the Book
of Ballymote, and translated by McCarthy as follows:
"Worthy much of excellence is Mulfoyle,
Beloved king, distinguished, handsome,
Brilliant eyes beneath a very haughty head
Yellow hair upon a fair shoulder."
Finally Inishowen was lost to Clan Owen from a succession of causes. First,
there was the gradual exodus of Clan Binny, a big section of Clan Fergus
and the royal clans descended from Muircherteach, This inevitably weakened
the northern outpost and was followed by internal conflict within the remaining
Owen clans over the rich lands of Magh Ithe which lay to the south of Inishowen.
This further weakening of the clans enabled the O'Dobertys, a powerful branch
of the Conall peoples from Donegal, to force their way into Magh Ithe and
then to use this as a base for further excursiom into Inishowen. The Owen
families who held the northern part of Inishowen were finally crippled in
two great battles; the first, a combined attack in 1117 by the forces of
Clan Conall; and the second, an invasion from Scotland about a century later
in which Trad O'Mulfoyle, chief of the remnants. of Clan Fergus in Inishowen,
was slain with many of his people. Thus it was that the O'Dohertys and Clan
Conall made themselves masters of Inishowen, the homeland of Clan Owen.
By this time, however, the Clan rested securely on a far wider base of lands
in central Ulster. At the apex of the power exercised from this base were
the McLaughlins and O'Neills. As in earlier days the kingship of
North-West Ulster had alternated between clans Owen and Conall, so now when
the Kingship was lin Owen hands there was a see-saw of power between the
McLaughlins and O'Neills, both houses ruling almost alternately for
a time. Eventually the O'Neills, by a combination of circumstances, which
need not be detailed here, secured for themselves the kingship, and the
once dominant McLaughlins lapsed into obscurity. One could almost
use the word "security" with equal truth, for often the common
man can sleep in security while uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.
One final move must be mentioned; eventually the O'Neills removed their
seat from Tullyhog, near Cookstown, to Dungannon:
". . . the town where the slow waters steal
Underneath a half-circle of stone
At the foot of the hill of O'Neill
In the middle of County Tyrone."
The main settlements around this area were those of Clan Fergus. As described
in O'Dugan's Topographical poem, these vigorous chieftains "victorious
over foes in every hill" who had once held territory as far north as
Enagh Lough in County Derry, were now spread abroad in County Tyrone. Their
lands were the very heart of the kingdom around Tullyhog. The sept of the
O~Mellans had a large and well-defined territory which included Slieve Gallion
to the north and what is now Cookstown to the south, the whole being known
as the "Mellanaght." To the south of these lands lay the sept
of the O'Hagans; some of this sept were transplanted later to a district
just north of the O'Mellans. The O'Quins' land probably lay south-west of
the O'Mellans in the vicinity of Lissan.
To complete the picture, we will glance briefly at the areas occupied by
other Owen families. The Clan Ferady with its leading sept the MeCawellls
settled around Clogher. Further north, the Clan Moen and its leading sept
the O'Gormleys settled to the east and north-east of Strabane. The O'Devlins
settled in the district between the Clan Fergus lands and Lough Neagh, while
the O'Donnellys lived at Castlecaulfield near Dungannon. With this picture
of settlements in County Tyrone the long expansion led by the favoured sons
of Owen can fittingly end. It brings the O'Neills of Tyrone to the pinnacle
of power within the clan, and to the verge of modern times. With the O'Donnells
of Donegal who had risen to eminence within Clan Conall and shaken off O'Neill
power, these representatives of the ancient ruling Gaelic race move forward
to meet the challenge of a new age.
Chapter 5
O'KANES RISE TO POWER
We have viewed in the last chapter the broad territories over which the
O'Cahans or O'Kanes held sway. Let us now look backwards into time, and
ask how the O'Cahans had attained and kept this position. There is no express
record of the capture of Cianachta by thc O'Cahans. The Irish Annals, especially
in the earlier period, are records of isolated striking incidents rather
than a connected historical or descriptive narrative. Thus we learn of the
richness of the Irish woodlands incidentally, as when it is recorded twice
in the eleventh century that the flow of the rivers was impeded by the enormous
nut crops.
The capture of Cianachta by the O'Cahans took place in the century and a
half which elapsed betweeen the invasions of the Norsemen and Danes, and
that of the Normans. The Norse invasions are the feature of the ninth and
tenth centuries. The Anna]s of Ulster record under the year 838 A.D.: "An
expedition of Foreigners on Loch-Echach, from which they destroyed the territories
and churches of the North of Ireland." Loch-Echach is Lough Neagh,
and the Norsemen reached it by taking their long-boats up the Bann. The
impression made by the Norsemen on this Northern coast (or Fochla, as it
was called) is seen by another entry under the year 865: "Aedh, son
of Niall, plundered all the fortresses of the Foreigners (i.e., on the coast
of the Fochla) between Cinel-Eogain and Dal-Araide, so that he carried off
their spoils and their flocks and herds, to his camp, after a battle. A
victory was gained over them at Loch-Febhail (Lough Foyle) from which twelve
score heads were brought." A few years later the Norsemen, accompanied
by Clan Owen, performed the unprecedented feat of capturing the ancient
fortress of Dunseverick by force.
The first part of the tenth century was also noteworthy for the activities
of Norsemen and Danes. Among those killed by them was the famous Clan Owen
leader, Muirchertach of the leather cloaks, and also the abbot of Coleraine.
Churches and monasteries were particularly sought out by the Norsemen because
of the treasures they were believed to contain. However, the Annals of Ulster
record under the year 944 A.D. that Donnell and Flaherty, sons of Muirchertach,
killed the foreigners of Lough Neagh and destroyed their fleet. Ten years
afterwards it is recorded that Donnell took ships from the Bann estuary
and embarked on a raiding expedition that took him to Lough Neagh and Lough
Erne.
The disruption and terror of the Norse age bit deep into Irish memories,
and the Danes remain the first to be singled out for blame when some destruction
has to be accounted for. The Battle of Clontarf, won by Brian Boru over
tke Norsemen in 1014, marks ending of Norse hegemony in Ireland.
The eleventh century was a century of Clan Owen expansion. In the beginning
of this century, a dominant position in Ulster was held by the Clan Owen
chief known as Flaherty of the pilgrim staff, so called because he once
made a pilgrimage to Rome. The rest of his career was marked by raids upon
neighbouring clans, in which the pilgrim's staff was replaced by the restless
sword. By the middle of this century the men of Magh Ithe (the Clan Connor)
came into prominence by raids upon the Oriella, and on the Clan Binny of
Loch-Drochait, whose territory has been placed by Dr. O'Kelly as the western
side of the River Bann north of Lough Neagh.
Since the original territory of Clan Connor was in East Donegal, it would
be natural to suppose that they conquered North Derry by crossing the Foyle
and progressing eastwards. This interpretation is strengthened by the fact
that under the year 1076 the Annals of Ulster record: "The defeat of
Belat (was inflicted) by Aedh Ua Mael-Sechlainn and by the men of Magh-Itha
upon the Ciannachta, so that stark slaughter of them was inflicted."
Belat has disappeared as a p]ace name; but it appears on the Plantation
map of Sir Thomas Phillips, covering the Grocers' lands, and is about a
couple of miles east of the River Foyle. Here indeed, between the Foyle
and the Faughan, part of Clan Connor settled, the Clan Dermot, who gave
their name to the parish of Glendermott or Clandermott. Did Clan Connor
then push on eastwards over the Roe to the Bann? This seems the most obvious
route, and yet there are weighty considerations which suggest that the advance
was made along the valley of the Bann. These considerations must now be
summarised.
First of all, there are very definite signs of pressure by the Clan Owen
upon the tribes to the west of Lough Neagh and the Bann during this century,
a pressure in which the men of Magh Ithe or Clan Connor take part. Of these
tribes, the Ui Tuirtre lay to the west of the northem part of Lough Neagh,
the various septs of Clan Binny and Fir Li to the west of the Bann, and
the Cianachta of Glinne-Geimhin in the valley of the Roe. The signs of this
pressure are clearly recorded in the Annals in raid and retaliation. It
has been already noticed that the men of Magh Ithe raided the most southerly
of the Clan Binny septs, the Clan Binny of LochDrochait-this is recorded
under the year 1053. Twice in the next quarter of a century it is recorded
that the king of Tullyhog was killed by Clan Binny, while in 1081 they killed
the chief of Ui Tuirtre. It should be noted that in the later occasions
when Clan Binny appears in the Annals, it is always the sept known as Clan
Binny of the Glen, which was the farthest north. At this particular period
Clan Binny appear to be a buffer state between the northerly pressure of
the Tullyhog chieftains and the Cianachta of North Derry. Earlier in the
century the Annals record direct clashes between Clan Owen and the Cianachta;
under 1014 when Denis Gough, chief of Cianachta, was slain; and under 1023,
when the Clan Owen chieftain was slain by his own brother and the Cianachta
of Glinne-Geimhin. It would almost seem as if the centre of pressure was
moving eastwards during this century towards Lough Neagh and the Bann, just
as the seat of the Owen kingdom moved from Aileach to Tullyhog.
In the opening years of the twelfth century, internal troubles appear in
the Cianachta territory. In 1101 Echri Ua Maelmuire, chief of Cianachta,
was killed by O'Connor of Glinne-Geimhin; while three years later the O'Connor
chieftain of Cianachta was killed by his own people. Finally, in 1122, O'h
Ainiarraidh, the chief of Cianachta, was killed by his own brothers in the
middle tlle cemetery of Banagher.
Just four years previously it is recorded that the chief of Fer- managh
was killed by a tribe living at Ardstraw and by the men of Craebh (or Creeve,
near Coleraine). Then in 1138 it is recorded that "Raghnall, son of
Imhar Ua Cathain, lord of the of the Craebh, Cianachta and Fir Li, fell
through treachery and guile, the Ui-Eoghain of the Valley." The valley
people are evidently Clan Binny, and the O'Cahan killed ushers the O'Cahan
clan into a stormy future that occupies a large place in Ulster history
for the next five and a half centuries. This is the first mention of the
O'Cahans in the Annals, and it is perhaps appropriate that their coming
was preceded by a great storm in the previous year. By 1138 they are obviously
masters not only of the Creeve, but also of Cianachta and Fir-Li.
These changes pass silently in the Annals. It is difficult, however, to
resist the impression that the centre of pressure moves toward Tullyhog,
which was burned in retaliation in 1011, and had its trees uprooted by the
Ulidians a century later. The best interpretation of the facts which are
available seems to be that while Donnell McLaughlin, King of Clan
Owen, was exerting pressure to the west and south from Tullyhog, Clan Connor
and particularly the O'Cahans were pressing north until we find that the
tribes of Fir Li and Ui Tuirtre are driven across the Bann, that Clan Binny
is subdued and soon disappears from the Annals, while the O'Connors, once
chiefs of Cianachta, are forced eventually into the position of small farmers
in the district they previously ruled.
This interpretation of the evidence as pointing to the O'Cahan thrust against
Cianachta as coming from the south up the Bann valley and then across the
mountains must remain tentative. There is, however, some corroborating evidence.
First, A. Moore Munn notes two townland names in the parish of Killelagh
which he thinks point to the original settlcment of the O'Cahans, or Kanes,
Tirkane (the country of Kane), and Half Gayne (the stone house of Kane).
Tamneymullan, north of Maghera, must at one time have been occupied by an
O'Mullan. Both the O'Mullans and the O'Cahans were descended from Connor.
By this period O'Cahan has assumed pre-eminence inside the Clan Connor.
These place names confirm the tradition that O'Cahan's country at an early
stage extended down to Lough Neagh.
Second, in the mountainous area between the Roe Valley and South Derry,
there are a remarkable series of place names which may possibly commemorate
struggles which have left no mark upon written annals of Ulster. They are
as follows:
Slaghtaverty - parish of Errigal;
Slaghfreeden - parish of Lissan;
Slaghtbogy (Slatevoylagh, Slatgolan) - parish of Maghera:
Slaghtneill - parish of Killelagh;
Slaghtmanus - parish of Cumber Lower.
Similar names have been preserved which have not become modern townland
names. The Phillips manuscripts give the following place-names on the Skinner's
lands:
Slatelons,
Slatmone Latmiske.
In the parish of Rasharkin in the townland of Crushybracken is a place called
Slaghttaggaart. It will be noticed that the word Slaght (meaning monument
for the dead) is in a number of these instances connected with a proper
name such as Neill, Manus and Averty. These may, of course, be connected
with some earlier struggles, but it is noteworthy that Manus or Magnus is
a Norse name, and that therefore this name is subsequent to the Norse invasions.
Finally, it may be noted that the O'Cahans, who were always generous benefactors
to the Church, founded an Augustinian priory at Dungiven at a very early
date. Their earliest connections with the North Derry area seem to be at
the Creeve, and in the range of hills between the Bann and Roe. It is as
O'Cahan of the Creeve, with the daughter of O'Henery (probably his wife),
that the O'Cahan chief at the later date of 1192 presents the doorway of
the refectory of the Black Church of Columkille in Derry. The O'Cahans sometimes
regretted their generosity to the Church at a later stage.
This summarises the facts which point to the O'Cahan conquest of Cianachta
as coming from the Bann valley and across the mountains. James O'Kane, of
the parish of Swateragh, known as thc bard of Carntogher, wrote of this
close connection with Dungiven in the lines:
"Dungiven, when darkness and silence surround you,
Enfolding your mountains that rise by the Roe,
I think of the glories that covered and crowned you,
Your power and your splendour in days long ago.
Here stood the strong castle and halls of O'Cahan,
Here spread the broad acres held under his sway,
Beyond the Moyola, the Bann and the Faughan,
And here lies the dust of their chieftain to-day.
Yes, here does he rest in your old church, Dungiven,
Who often in battle defeated the foe,
Unfurled Erin's flag to the free winds of Heaven,
And marshalled his troops on the banks of the Roe."
From 1138 the O'Cahans appear regularly in the Annals. The following references
to them in the succeeding years illustrate the type of material which is
available, which does not lend itself to connected narrative.
1156. Aedh, son of Ruaidhri Ua Canannain, lord of Cinel-Conaill (Donegal)
was slain by Ua Cathain and Feara-na-Craeibhe (Men of the Creeve) by treachery.
1157. (The Cinel Owen lead an army into Leinster and Connaught and
into King's County.) This host was defeated and many of them were slain,
together with Ua Cathain of Creeve. (The Connaught men meantime had invaded
Tyrone and plundered the country as far as Coolkeenaght in the parish of
Faughanvale.)
1167. (The men of Leinster and lords of Desmond and Thomond dlivide
Tyrone between Neill McLaughlin and Hugh O'Neill.) The part north
of the mountain, i.e., Callainn (Slieve Gallion), to Niall Ua Lochlainn
for two hostages, Ua Cathain of Craebh and Macan-Ghaill Ua Brain. (This
illustrates the importance of the O'Cahans, for it was generally from the
most important sub-clan that hostages were drawn. It also illustrates the
close connection between the McLaughlins and the O'Cahans, a connection
that Dr. O'Kelly has noted also between the McLaughlins and the the
men of Magh Ithe.)
1171. A great predatory force was led by Maghnus Mac Duinn sleibhe
Ua hEochadha and the Ulidians into Cuil-an-tuaisceirt, and they plundered
Cuil-rathain (Coleraine) and other churches. A small party of the Cinel-Eoghain
(Clan Owen) under Conchobhair Ua Cathain overtook them, and a battle was
fought between them, in which the Ulidians were defeated, with the loss
of 21 chieftains and sons of chieftains, with many others; and Maghnus himself
was wounded, but he escaped from the conflict on that occasion. (Magnus
McDonlevy, whose unrighteous doings are deplored by the Annals, was the
ruler of the petty kingdom of Ulidia, which had its capital at Downpatrick
in County Down. Twescard is a district in North Antrim stretching from Coleraine
over to Armoy and Loughgiel. It is interesting to notice that this attack
on North Antrim was countered by the O'Cahans, and it is probable that they
had extended their sway from the Creeve to portion of North Antrim at a
very early date.)
1175. The Kinel Enda were defeated and a great slaughter made of
them by Eachmarcach O'Kane and Niall O'Gormley. (The territory of Enda was
thirty quarterlands south of Inishowen. As already mentioned, the Gormleys
were the leading sept of Clan Moen, and settled to the east and north-east
of Strabane.)
1178. Randal, the son of Eachmarcach O'Kane, had been slain by the
Kinel-Moen in the beginning of this summer. (Eachmarcach was the chief of
the O'Cahans or O'Kanes at this period. Evidently the pact with Clan Moen
was of a very temporary duration; this clan bordered on that section of
Clan Connor Magh Ithe, known as the Clan Dermot, whose lands were north
of theirs.)
The foregoing entries show the O'Cahans taking an active part in the trbal
conflicts during the half-century or so which followed their expansion into
the districts of Creeve and Cianachta. By the time of the last entry a new
factor had entered Ulster history which was to exercise a continuing influence
for two ceuturies on the area and clans in which we are particularly interested.
This was the coming of the Normans.
John de Courcy, the younger son of a Somerset knight, without waiting for
royal leave, set out to invade and conquer Ulster, which as the most warlike
of the Irish kingdoms, and the most difficult of access. He is described
as a tall, fair man of immense strength and remarkable daring, and he and
the band of companions he assembled were well fitted for the adventures
they were to undertake. De Courcy first conquered Ulidia, its capital fell
into his hands in 1177, and firom this time Downpatrick was the centre of
de Courcy's territories. From Ulidia, de Courcy turned northwards, where
the north half of County Antrim found a champion in Cumee O'Flynn, the chieftain
of Hy Tuirtre and Fir Lee. (It will be remembered that the advance of the
O'Cahans had driven these tribes from their original territories across
the Bann.) Cumee O'Flynn pursued a scorched-earth policy, and burned Armoy
before de Courcy's arrival. However, the Normans reached and burned Coleraine
and many other churches. Giraldus relates how de Courcy then received a
severe defeat at Cumee O'Flynn's hands in the district of Fir Li. De Courcy
was raiding some cattle when he was overpowered in a narrow pass and barely
escaped with eleven of his knights to his stronghold at Down.
At this point we meet one of the factors which bedevilled the struggle for
Irish independence for centuries, the inability of the clans on occasion
to sink their tribal differences and to present a united front. The Ulidians
and the Ui Tuirtre had borne the brunt of de Courcy's onslaught, and Rory
McDonlevy and Cumee O'Flynn had been his chief opponents. They were a buffer
which protected the territory of the McLaughlins and O'Cahans from
the Normans. We therefore read with surprise in the Annals under the year
1181 that Donnell McLauglin has invaded Ulidia and defeated the Ulidians,
Hy Tuirtre and Fir Li. In the same year the Eachmarcach O'Cahan already
mentioned, with the men of Magh Ithe and the Clan Binny of the Valley (the
latter evidently now Subordinate to the O'Cahans) mustered an army and crossed
the Bann at Toome. They plundered all the territories of the Fir Li and
Hy Tuirtre, and carried off many thousands of cows. At this point Fir Li
as a state disappears from the Annals, and this is also the last appearance
of the Clan Binny, who had first emerged in the Annals a century and a half
previously. Cumee O'Flynn was killed by the Normans a few years afterwards,
and Ui Tuirtre became a subordinate territory with an O'Flynn chief owning
the Normans as overlords.
The short-sighted policy pursued by the McLaughlins and O'Cahans
is thrown into relief by the happenings of the very next year. Donnell,
the son of Hugh McLaughlin, marched with an army to Dunboe in Dalriada,
and there gave battle to the English. Clan Owen were defeated, and among
the slain was Gilchrist O'Cahan. This entry is also interesting in another
way. Dalriada is generally thought of as being on the Antrim side of the
Bann. O'Donovan, in his discussion of this entry, points out that this statement
in the Annals of the Four Masters was carried over from the earlier Annals
of Ulster and Annals of Kilronan. It may be remarked that in early times
the Bann and Bann Valley did not divide so much as unite; this seems to
be true of the Normans, of the O'Cahans, and probably of the Norsemen. Dalriada,
therefore, may well have had its unrecorded extension at an early time on
the Derry side of the Bann.
This mistake of pursuing tribal quarrels and personal vendettas in the face
of a common enemy, which ended in the defeat of 1182, was to be repeated
again. Under the year 1196, the Annals record that Murtough McLaughlin,
described as presumptive heir to the throne of Ireland and destroyer of
the cities and castles of the English, was killed by Donough, son of Blosky
O'Cahan, at the instigation of Clan Owen. This Blosky, by the way, was the
ancestor of the McCloskeys, who we later find as a sept in lhe country of
O'Cahan. In 1197 we find the beginnings of the Norman settlement in the
Coleraine and north Antrim area which was to exercise a profound influence
on the neighbouring O'Cahans. Under 1197 the following entry occurs:
"John de Courcy and the English of Ulidia marched with
an army to Eas Creeva, and erected the castle of Kilsanctan, and wasted
and desolated the territory of Kienaghta. He left Rotsel Pitun (probably
Peyton), together with a large body of forces, in the castle, out of which
they proceeded to plunder and ravage the territories and the churches. Rotsel
Pitun afterwards came on a predatory excursion to the harbour of Derry and
plundered the churches of Cluain-I, Enagh and Dergbruagh. But Flaherty P'Muldory,
Lord of Kinel-Owen and Kinel-Connell, with a small party of the northern
Hy Niall, overtook him, and a battle was between them on the strand of Faughanvale,
in which the English and the son of Ardgal McLaughlin were slaughtered,
through the miracles of Saints Columbkille, Canice and Brecan, whose churches
they had plundered."
De Courcy followed this up by further expeditions to Derry and Inishowen,
and into Tyrone. De Courcy was finally expelled from Ulster in 1205, and
King John gave to Hugh de Lacy all the lands of de Courcy which he could
conquer. As de Courcy had made his centre at Downpatrick, so de Lacy made
his centre at Carrickfergus, where the magnificent Norman castle dates from
approximately this period.
Ulster resistance to the Norman onslaught continued unabated. The Ulster
Annals mention in 1206 that an army was led by the son of Hugo de Lacy with
the English of Meath and Leinster to Tullyhog, where they burned churches
and corn, but obtained neither hostages nor pledges of submission from Hugh
O'Neill on this occasion. The same people led another army into Kienaghta,
they burned all the churches of that territory, besides driving off a countless
number of cows. Churches at this period were sometimes used for storing
corn, and for that reason came in for unwelcome attention.
De Lacy was expelled by King John in 1210, and although he was later restored
to his lands in 1226-27 the interval saw a very significant happening in
the grant of lands in north and north-east Ulster to a family of Scottish
noblemen. In the spring of 1212, Alan, Earl of Galloway, was assigned on
the King's behalf 140 knights' fees of land extending apparently over the
whole northeast of the province from the River Foyle to the Glens of Antrim.
From this grant were excepted ten knights' fees on each side of the River
Bann near the castle of Kilsanctan, which were retained meantime in the
king's hand. Under the year 1211 the Annalists relate that Thomas McUchtry
(Alan's brother, and Earl of Athol) came with a fleet of 76 ships to Derry
and plundered Inishowen.
King John granted him the next year that part of Derry which belonged to
O'Neill. Thomas MacUchtry then in 1214 proceeded to plunder Derry, carrying
off the precious articles of the church of Derry to Coleraine. The same
year he strengthened his position in Coleraine by building a stone castle
there, finding the materials by demolishing all the cemeteries and buildings
of the town, except the church. This turbulent Scottish nobleman then received
a grant from the king of Kilsantan and castle of Coleraine, with ten knights'
fees on both sides of the Bann. Orpen has noticed that raids on Ulster by
these men of Galloway were regularly followed by grants of land from the
Crown. These grants to the Earls of Athol and Galloway, and to their uncle,
Duncan of Carrick, mark the beginning of a long connection between the Scots
and north-east Ulster which has continuing importance right up into modern
times.
Meanwhile the Ulster chiefs were still resisting, and it is doubtful whether
these grants had any real validity west of the Bann. Farrell O'Cahan, chief
of Cianachta and Creeve, whose lands had on paper been granted to the Earl
of Galloway, was killed in 1213 fighting against the English. However, the
Ulster chieftains had not yet learned the paramount lesson of an united
front, and it is surprising to learn that the next year Farrell's successor
led the O'Cahans to seize the house of McLaughlin's son. The prior
of the Abbey church of Derry, who with Christian zeal, but perhaps with
less worldly wisdom, interposed to make peace between them, was slain on
this occasion.
These grants to Scotsmen were obviously resented by the de Lacys. In 1222
the son of Hugo de Lacy came to Ireland without the consent of the king,
obtained the assistance of Hugh O'Neill, and set out with him to oppose
the English in Ireland. One of their first actions was to go to Coleraine
where they demolished the castle that had been so recently built. When de
Lacy was finally restored to his position in 1226-27, the lands of Alan
and Thomas of Galloway were exempted from his grant. Shortly afterwards
the castle of Coleraine was rebuilt, but we are not told by whom. The feud
between the de Lacys and the Scottish nobles was long standing, and eventually
the Scottish estates in Ulster disappeared. The feud had one unexpected
by-product. Some years later Patrick, son of Thomas of Galloway, was murdered.
Walter Bissett and his nephew John, who were accused of the crime and outlawed
in Scotland, fled to Ireland, where they obtained grants of land in Glenarm
and elsewhere in County Antrim previously held by the nobles from Galloway.
Those grants must have been obtained from Hugh de Lacy, who died the same
year without male heirs. The Bissett lands passed eventually to a girl who
was the sole heiress. Mairi Bissett married a MacDonnell of the Isles, and
through her the MacDonnells succeeded to the Antrim Glens from whence they
rose to a position of great influence in Ulster.
Meantime the Normans had been profiting by the internal quarrels of the
Clan Owen. Norman power had been gradually growing and under 1238 the Annalists
note that the Lord Justice, with de Lacy, the Earl of Ulster, had deposed
McLaughlin from the chieftainship of Clan Owen, and given the government
of Tyrone to the son of O'Neill. This struggle for power between McLaughlin
and O'Neill led three years later to the Battle of Cameirge,
when O'Neill, with the assistance of the O'Donnells of Donegal, defeated
McLaughlin, who was slain. The place-name of the battle is now unknown,
but the traditional site is near Maghera.
At this point we reach a most interesting statement in the Annals as far
as the O'Cahans are concerned, a statement which makes one realise the paucity
of information in this early period. Under 1247 the Annals record:
"Eachmarcach O'Kane, Lord of Kienaghta and Firnacreeva,
was slain by Manus O'Kane after having gone on a predatory excursion into
his country as far as Armoy in Dalriada."
At the time of the Plantation of Ulster, a sept of O'Cahans was in possession
of Dunseverick Castle, but we have no information as to how they came there
nor does there seem to be any genealogy of them in this early period. This
territory possessed by O'Cahans in the Route is most probably the remnant
of O'Cahan possessions across the Bann in pre-Norman times. It has already
been noticed under the year 1171 that Magnus McDonlevy's plundering expedition
into North Antrim was countered by an O'Cahan.
The continuing power of the Normans is seen when under 1248 the Annals record
that the Lord Justice of Ireland led an army to Tyrone to oppose O'Neill.
Clan Owen held a council and agreed that as the English of Ireland had at
this time the ascendancy over the Irish it would be advisable to give them
hostages and make peace with them. On this occasion the English came as
far as Coleraine, where they built a bridge across the Bann, erected the
castle of Drumtarcy and a dwelling at Drom. This castle must have been erected
to protect the bridge, and was almost certainly on the far side of the river,
as a few years later there was a parish of Drumtarcy which apparently lay
between Camus and Dunboe.
The peace so made was not a lasting one, and the Owen clans were soon to
make a great effort to break the Norman yoke in the Battle of Druim-dearg
at Downpatrick. Led by Brian O'Neill, Clan Owen went down in an honourable
defeat in which the O'Cahans played a noteworthy part. For centuries the
Irish had disdained the use of armour, and went into battle with their finest
tunics, beautifully embroidered and dyed golden with saffron. The Normans,
on the other hand, were heavily armoured, and this battle in particular
made it apparent that courage, even of the highest quality, was not enough.
Brian O'Neill was killed, and with him no less than fifteen of the O'Cahan
chiefs. This shows the magnitude of the O'Cahan effort, and its dauntless
quality.
We are fortunate to have two poems lamenting the Ulster losses in this battle,
one by MacNamee, the bard of the O'Neills, and one by Fearghal Og Mac-na-Bhaird,
whose particular interest was in the O'Cahans. MacNamee laments the loss
of Magnus O'Cahan as being the most grievous after that of O'Neill himself.
"Bitter to my heart (to see) the grey Galls
Triumphing over the slaughtered Maghnus;
That the head of O'Cathain, attracting no notice,
Should be seen on the bridge of Dun.
At night did Maghnus of Macha remain
Between wounded bodies;
If Brian had not been in the slaughter
There would be no loss like O'Cathain.
Maghnus himself, Eachmarcach too,
Muircheartach, Dounchadh, Domhnall,
And Niall O'Cathain all falling with wounds:
Alas, it was not one loss only.
A misfortune to our children and our wives
Was the slaying of Maghnus O'Cathain:
That scion of Inbhear-Abhaigh never neglected
A son or a daughter of Eoghan's race."
The poems are translated in the Misccllany of the Celtic Society, 1849.
Inbhear-Abhaigh was probably the ancient name for the mouth of the River
Roe. The six members of the O'Cahan family mentioned are probably heads
of septs; they appear also in Mac-an-Bhaird~s poem. A Hugh O'Cahan is also
mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters as having fallen.
In some ways Mac-an-Bhaird's lament is of slighter quality; but it strikes
a more personal and pathetic note. It would appear that Magnus O'Cahan was,
according to Irish custom, fostered and educated by Mac-an-Bhaird's father;
the poet was his playmate and some years younger than he. Eachmarcach was
Magnus' brother, and was similarly fostered in the Mac-an Bhaird home. The
bonds of fosterbrothers were often very close, and it was so in this case.
Some verses may be quoted:
"Though to me each man is a grief,
(For) O'Cathain the yellow-haired I most grieve;
He is the wound of the artery of my head,
This is the blood I cannot bear.
I gave him great love, ah, woe is me;
To him from the period of my fifth year;
Woe that I have not gone with my beloved;
Early I loved O'Cathain.
My love for O'Cathain of Cluaine
Was not the love of a woman for a man of one hour;
'Twas a love from the time of childhood hither
To my foster brother, to my tutor.
We used to give the chieftainship in our sports
To him, when high-spirited youths,
We and the king on a mound which he disgraced not,
Going thrice around it.
Until he would take me on his back
I used to continue to shed tears after him;
At all times I was the rider;
Our horse was (always) Eachmarcach."
The value of these poems lies not only in their quality, but in the fact
that they are contemporary documents, and as such throw some light on the
history and situation of the O'Cahans. How contemporary they are is shown
by a verse from Mac-an-Bhaird's poem:
"As in the slaughter was not recognised
The fair-skinned body of O'Cathain,
And as he has not come alive to his home
They may have carried him away from the field."
The headless body of O'Cahan remained apparently on the field of battle
until the next day, unrecognised among the slain. Macan-Bhaird must have
written the poem before the body of Magnus had been identified, as he speculates
that the fairies may have carried him off.
"In fairy mound west or east
Who knows but he may still be living."
Mac-an-Bhaird's poem refers to O'Cahan of Clooney, which is near Derry.
Evidently the O'Cahans at this time had a hold on North Derry as far away
as Clooney. There is one verse that may throw some light on the earliest
O'Cahan connections:
"The son of O'Cathain of the Craebh,
Son of Raghnall, King of Formaeil;
A tranquil meeting after him will be difficult;
The poetic art shall be an orphan."
O'Cahan is here O'Cahan of the Creeve, and is called King of Formaeil. O'Kelly
takes this Formaeil to be that in the parish of Dunboe, where he also places
the Glen of the Clan Binny of the Glen. But O'Donovan's suggestion that
the Formaeil mentioned here is the Formaeil of Glenullin looks better, as
does his identification of the Glen with Glenconkeyne-if indeed the Glen
of Clan Binny be not Glenullin itself. O'Cahans certainly replaced Clan
Binny in the glens and mountains in the approaches to the Roe valley.
The Battle of Down, as it has come to be known, uniting as it did the forces
of Ulster and Connaught, has been described as the most formidable native
effort that the English in Ulster had to meet in the thirteenth century,
and in this the O'Cahans played an outstanding part. The impression made
by this battle is shown bv the fact that not only Brian O'Neill, but also
Manus O'Cahan and other chiefs who fell there are called "Catha an
Duin" (i.e., in the Battle of Down) in the pedigree of their descendants
in all the Irish genealogical books. The Battle of Down also marks an epoch
Irish warfare, and in Ulster history. Norman superiority in equipment remained
unchallenged, until it was met by the heavily-armed Scottish gallowglasses
who had just made their first appearance in Ulster. From this period also
Norman power becomes an increasingly dominant factor in north-east Ulster.
Chapter 15
CLAN FERGUS AND THE O'MELLANS
At this point let us glance back to the early chapter on the three sons
of Owen, and to the genealogical chart given there. The Tripartite life
of St. Patrick mentions the blessings said to have been given to Murdock,
Fergus and Ochy Binny, sons of Owen and grandsons of Niall of the Nine Hostages.
The blessings promised kingship to the descendants of Murdock, ordained
persons to spring from Fergus, and warriors from Ochy Binny. Clan Binny
made the first thrust into County Tyrone, and their story has been dealt
with by Dr. O'Kelly in his book, "Gleanings from Ulster History."
The history of the O'Neills and McLaughlins, who were descended from
Murdock, and exercised kingship from Aileach and Tullyhog, is intertwined
with Irish national history. In the earlier part of this study we have endeavoured
to fill a gap in Ulster history by providing a sketch of the main septs
or divisions of Clan Connor, the O'Cahans. McCloskeys and O'Mullans. We
turn now to elaborate on the descendants of Fergus, son of Owen.
There are three sound reasons for dealing with Clan Fergus. First, information
about the Clan is not readily available, except m scattered form. Second,
there has been considerable confusion between the Clan Fergus O'Mellans
and the Clan Connor O'Mullans. Third, some of the main territories of the
Clan Fergus adjoin Clan Connor territory in County Derry. The main physical
girder of the territory of the Owen clans is the range of the Sperrins.
North of this range lay the homeland of the O'Cahans McCloskeys and O'Mullans,
of Clan Connor. South of the range lay the chief territories of the O'Mellans,
O'Hagans and O'Quins of Clan Fergus, at the centre of the Owen kingdom around
Tullyhog, south of Cookstown.
From Clan Fergus ordained persons were promised. The Church in Ireland in
which they were destined to serve was part of the wider Christian Church,
but preserved its own distinctive flavour.
It had its own date for the celebration of Easter, and its own liturgical
forms. Although its Clergy did not strictly observe celibacy, the church
was strongly monastic in form. The bishops of the Irish Church seem often
to have been subject to the abbots, and bishops were found very frequently
living together in groups of seven. Aengus enumerated no less than 141 places
in Ireland where there were, or had been, seven contemporary bishops in
one place. A plurality of bishops in one place follows the New Testament
examples of the churches of Ephesus and Philippi. One gathers, too, that
the clan spirit entered largely into the appointment of bishops and abbotts
as well as of other clergy. In his Life of St. Malachy, St. Bernard wrote
of the Oriella clans that this proud and powerful people would not allow
any bishop among them except one of their own clan. They monopolised the
see of Armagh for 200 years, claiming it as their birthright.
In the centuries following St. Patrick's time, Clan Fergus provided some
prominent clergy. The "Genealogiae Regnum et Sanctorum Hibernia"
of the Four Masters records that Fiachna, a son of Fergus, became a bishop.
However, it is through another son of Fergus called Hugh (ancestor of the
O'Mellans) that the blessing of Patrick seems to find an early and continuous
fulfillment. Several of Hugh's descendants, Breacan, Colman and Becan became
bishops. The crowning distinction came when Mac Laisre of this family became
abbot or (as the office was later), Archbishop of Armagh. With this appointment-the
sixteenth in the lists of abbots of Armagh-the hold of the Oriella clan
on the archbishopric was broken, and a representative of Clan Fergus appointed
to the highest office in the Irish Church. Mac Laisre's descent is given
as the son of Luighdeach, the son of Ronan, the son of Tuadain, the son
of Hugh, the son of Fergus. Mac Laisre died 12th September of the year A.D.
622, and was followed by Tomene, son of the Ronan already mentioned, in
the same high office. Tomene is mentioned by the Venerable Bede as replying
to the Roman clergy concerning an accusation that the Irish Church was entertaining
the Pelagian heresy. In later times the O'Mellans became prominent in ecclesiastical
affairs.
Clan Fergus produced not only clergy, but also warriors. O'Dugan's topographical
poem concerning the various clans of Ireland gives a large share of attention
to the "Race of Owen of Valiant arms, who have obtained the palm for
greatness without fraud, the acme of the nobility of Erin." O'Dugan
writes of the vigorous chieftains of Clan Fergus, victorious over foes in
every hill. One verse runs:
"Speak of the Siol Aedha of Eanach,
Their chieftains and their tribes.
To them the meeting was not thin
The O'Murchadhas and the O'Mellains."
The Siol Aedha, or children of Hugh, are the descendants of the Hugh, son
of Fergus, with whom we have been dealing. Eanach is probably the Enagh
near Derry which later became an O'Cahan stronghold, with its castle on
the island in Enagh Lough.
Clan Fergus also pressed southward in the wake of Clan Binny into the heart
of Tyrone. Dr. O'Kelly has described Clan Fergus as the fighting vanguard
of the O'Neills and McLaughlins as they battled their way towards
Tullyhog and Armagh. When the Owen clans conquered and settled in Tyrone
(Tir Owen, the land of Owen) the septs of Clan Fergus obtained certain territories
there. The territory of the O'Mellans (descendants of Hugh) was referred
to as the "Meallanaght." It included Slieve Gallion to the north
and Cookstown, to the south. As their influence in ecclesiastical affairs
grew, the O'Mellans also came into possession of considerable church lands.
They had for instance the church lands of Orritor. The privilege of being
hereditary keepers of the Bell of St. Patrick is the chief distinction of
the O'Mellan clan. Another section of the clan came into possession of lands
around Donaghmore, north of Dungannon, where they were the keepers of the
Bell of Clogher. Yet another section had moved to near Armagh where they
were possessed "tyme out of mynde" of the territory of Lurga Ui
Meallan (literally the Low Ridge of O'Mellan) which is now known as Lurgyvallen.
Two other prominent clans were descended from Coelbad, Hugh's brother, the
O'Hagans and the Quinns. The O'Hagans were the hereditary custodians of
Tullyhog, the hill where the Ulster kings were inaugurated. O'Dugan's poem
includes a verse on the O'Hagans:
"A stout chief over Tulach Og
O'H Ogain, chief of the white roads
The plough has passed through every wood of it,
Another O'H Ogain is near it."
Some of the O'Hagan sept were transplanted at a later date to a territory
lying to the north of, and adjoining that of the O'Mellans. The territory
of the O'Quins of Clan Fergus, though not clearly defined, would appear
to have lain to the south-west of that of the O'Mellans in the vicinity
of Lissan. (There was another sept of O'Quins in the neighbourhood of Omagh
who are not to be confused with the O'Quins of Clan Fergus, as the Omagh
O'Quins belonged to the Fir Magh Ithe.)
The O'Hagans held a very important position in Clan Fergus. Their leading
role in the inauguration of the O'Neill has been described earlier. Their
leading position within Clan Fergus can be deduced from statements in the
Annals. In 1081 the Annals of the Four Masters record that Magrath O'Hagan,
Lord of Cinel Fergus, was slain. Under the date 1103 the Annals of Ulster
mention that Raghnall O'Hagan, "the lawgiver of Tellach Og," was
slain by the men of Magh Ithe. A further reference in the Annals of the
Four Masters informs us that there died in 1122, Donnsleibhe O'Hagan, chief
of Cinel Fergus and lawgiver of Tullyhog. The O'Hagan held the position
of Brehon or judge, and the O'Hagan clan was the leading one in Clan Fergus.
It has been mentioned already that as the Owen clan gradually expanded in
the heart of Ulster, Inishowen became more and more an outpost to the north.
Eventually the seat of the kingdom was changed from Aileach, near Derry,
to Tullyhog. Tullyhog had apparently been a place of importance from an
early date. In A.D. 914, according to the Annals of Ulster, a peace was
concluded at Tullyhog between the king of the province of Ulidia and the
famous clan Owen leader known as Niall Glundubh. At a later date when Dungannon
became the O'Neill capital, the inauguration of the O'Neill still took place
at the ancient seat of power, Tullyhog.
As the O'Hagans were custodians of the historic site of Tullyhog, so the
O'Mellans were custodians of that greatly venerated relic of the past, the
Bell of St. Patrick's will, which may be as old as the fifth century A.D.
The large majority of the bells used in the Celtic Church appear to have
been portable, and to have been rung by hand. These bells are all of the
type of cow or sheep bells, as used at the present day in many European
countries. Ireland was probably the original home of these four-sided ecclesiastical
bells, and they have been found in many areas influenced by the Irish Church,
as far away as Brittany and Switzerland. A bell was one of the important
items presented to ecclesiastics in the early church in Ireland, and through
their associations bells were often venerated and enshrined. They were used
down to modern times for the taking of oaths, and for cursing. This was
a chief function of the bells, and it is mistaken to comment on them as
of little use in calling people to worship. According to tradition, St.
Patrick's Bell had power to ensure victory to its possessors over any enemy
with which they were engaged.
The profound veneration in which the Bell of St. Patrick was held is shown
by the following incident. Under the date 1044, the Annals of Ulster relate
that the son of the king of Aileach raided the Ui Meith and carried off
1,200 cows and a great many prisoners in revenge for the profanation of
the "clocc-ind-edechta" (the Bell of the Testament). It will be
seen a little later that the desecration of Tullyhog was met with equally
exemplary punishment.
In this century we find increasing strife between the O'Neills and McLaughlins
to secure the kingship of Ulster. Under the date 1051 we find that Ardgar
McLaughlin, who was then king, was expelled from the kingship of Tullyhog
by Hugh O'Neill. However, Ardgar's son, Donnell, succeeded as king
of Aileach in 1083: he held this kingship for 11 years, and then succeeded
to the High Kingship of Ireland which he held for 27 years until his death
at Derry in 1121. Donnell McLaughlin is described as the most warlike
and capable ruler of his time. In the year 1111 an army was led by the Ulidians
to Tullyhog and they cut down its ancient trees. In revenge Neill McLaughlin
made a raid upon the Ulidians, and carried off 3,000 cows. Two years later
Donnell McLaughlin at the head of an army deposed the king of Ulidia,
retained a portion of Ulidian territory, and divided the remainder into
two parts under petty chiefs. It may have been at this time that some of
the O'Mellans became possessed of the lands of Kinel Awley, near the town
of Banbridge.
Donnell McLaughlin caused a most magnificent shrine to be made for the better
keeping of St. Patrick's Bell. On this shrine was inscribed Donnell's
own name, and also the name of the keeper of the bell at that time, Chathalan
O'Mulholland. A Mulholland is also mentioned as keeper in 1365. But the
Annals in 1356 record the death of Solomon O'Mellan, keeper of St. Patrick's
Bell, and in 1425 the keeper was also an O'Mellan. The reasons behind this
system of two keepers for the Bell are not readily apparent. Dr. O'Kelly
recalls that St. Columba had found the Bell of the Testament in A.D. 552
in St. Patrick's tomb, according to the Annals of Ulster, and suggests that
the dual system of keepers may have been a compromise between the prestige
of Patrick and Armagh and the prestige of Columba. Another possibility is
that the system may be due to the struggle for power between the McLaughlins
and O'Neills and their respective supporters. The working of this dual system
is also obscure. Was the Bell entrusted to a keeper of one family, and then
on his death to another keeper maybe of the other family? Or did Mulhollands
and O'Mellans exercise a joint charge over the Bell, one keeping possession
of it, the other entitled to use it in oaths and on other public occasions?
The reason for this dual system, and the method of its operation are alike
obscure.
The contest between McLaughlins and O'Neills to secure exclusive
title to the kingship of Ulster continued for a lengthy period. In 1167
it is recorded that the rivalry was settled temporarily by force from outside.
Under that date the Four Masters record that the men of Leinster and the
Lords of Desmond and Thomond divided Tyrone. The part north of the mountain
(Slieve Gallon or Slieve Gallion) was assigned to Neill McLaughlin,
while the part south of the mountain was assigned to Hugh O'Neill. It was
only an interruption of the rivalry, which continued until the O'Neills
defeated the McLaughlins decisively and finally at the battle of Caimeirge
in 1241. At this point the McLaughlins sink into comparative obscurity,
and the O'Neills became and remained the premier Irish dynasty until the
Ulster Plantation period.
It is during this period of O'Neill supremacy that the O'Mellans of
Clan Fergus come into increasing prominence. Their chiefs attain to positions
of importance and great honour in the kingdom, while other members following
in their ecclesiastical tradition rise to prominent positions in the Church.
At this period, therefore, O'Mellans are frequently mentioned in the records
both of Church and state. In the following pages some of these records will
be referred to, and the place of the O'Mellans in the history of the times
evaluated.
The Annals of Loch Ce mention Bishop Thomas O'Mellan (Bishop of Enach-duin),
who died in Rome in the year 1328. The same Annals mention, under the date
1356, the death of Solomon O'Mellan, steward or keeper of the Bell of St.
Patrick. This latter event is also recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters;
and is translated by Dr. O'Donovan as follows: "Solomon O'Mellan. the
general patron of the Clergy of Ireland, died." Conellan's translation
of the same passage has it that O'Mellan was "the most illustrious
of the Clergy of Ireland."
This emphasis upon O'Mellan as patron of the clergy of Ireland is not without
significance. At this time the English prelates of the Pale were putting
forward strenuous efforts to support their claim that Ireland, as far as
matters ecclesiastical were concerned, had been given to them by the Pope.
These medieval prelates worked in conjunction with the civil authorities
to promote English influence and to undermine the power of the Irish chiefs
and the old Gaelic regime. This encroachment on the old order of things
met with considerable opposition from the chiefs and from the Irish clergy.
The O'Mellans were prominent figures in the ecclesiastical resistance. It
may have been by his support of the Irish tradition that Solomon O'Mellan
earned the description of general patron of the clergy of Ireland.
The importance of the O'Mellans in secular affairs can be seen from an entry
in the Annals of Ulster under the date of 1425. The magnates of Ulster went
to meet the Earl of March at this time, and the names mentioned included
O'Neill, Owen O'Neill. and O'Menan, keeper of the Bell of St. Patrick's
will. Dr. Reeves comments that O'Mellan here takes rank with some of the
highest northern magnates.
The O'Neill mentioned above was Donnell Bog, son of Henry Avery. He had
the support of O'Mellan and Cian Fergus; but on the other hand encountered
bitter opposition from the foregoing Owen O'Neill, who was supported by
O'Cahan. In 1432 Donnell Bog was in O'Cahan's country with Patrick Mulholland
and O'Mellan's son, the joint keepers of the Bell. O'Cahan's two sons attacked
and killed them, having captured the house where they were. Following this,
Owen O'Neill was inaugurated as chief at Tullyhog.
During the term of Owen's kingship, the O'Mellans were involved on his side
in a disastrous battle in 1444. Owen O'Neill and a number of Ulster chiefs
led a force against the clan of Hugh Boy O'Neill, who had attained independent
status in the district that came to be known as Clanaboy (Clan Aodh Boy).
Their forces were defeated by the Clanaboy O'Neills and McQuillan, who demanded
a large number of hostages. The hostages delivered included the son of O'Mellan,
and this indicates the continuing importance of the O'Mellans.
In 1455 Henry O'Neill took his father, Owen's place, and was inaugurated
at Tullyhog by O'Cahan, Mac Uidhir, Mac Mathgamna, all the O'Neill clans
and the successor of Patrick. The reference to the "successor of Patrick"
indicates the triumph of the English ecclesiastical party. The successor
referred to is John Mey, the Archbishop of Armagh. Archbishop Mey arranged
for the traditional Irish inauguration at Tullyhog to be followed by an
act of confirmation at the Archbishop's residence in Armagh. This confirmation,
which took place the following month, consisted of the imposition of hands
by the Archbishop. This innovation was calculated to bring O'Neill under
ecclesiastical authority.
Meantime, apart from their appearances in the secular sphere, the O'Mellans
played a leading part in the struggle between the Irish clergy and the pro-English
clergy. The Irish clergy are frequently referred to as "Inter Hibernicos,"
whilst the English clergy were known as "Inter Anglicos." Reeves
refers to the O'Mellans of this period as "the turbulent O'Mellans."
It will be remembered that the O'Mellans had extensive territories in central
Ulster which included both clan lands and Church lands. They had also a
recognised and important position and office among the Owen clans. Consequently
they were able to make effective resistance to English clerical encroachment
in their area. One stubborn figure around which resistance gathered was
Dean Charles O'Mellan.
Charles O'Mellan was Dean of Armagh in 1430, and apparently opposed attempts
to further the aims of the pro-English ecclesiastics. It was decided to
remove him from his office, and appoint someone willing to co-operate, namely
Dionysius O'Cullen, of the Oriella clan. Accordingly in 1441 the register
of Archbishop Prene pronounces Dionysius O'Cullen to be Dean of Armagh and
stigmatises Charles O'Mellan as usurping dean. The extent of Dean O'Mellan's
support can be judged from sentences passed at the same time upon John O'Connelly,
Abbot of St. Peter and Paul, upon the Chancellor of the Chapter, on the
Prior of the Culdees, on the Rectors of Clonkarney and Clonfeacle and on
the Vicars of Donaghmore, Termon, Argillkieran and Clonfeacle. All these
were said to have abetted the usurper O'Mellan, and this gives an idea of
the support which upheld the central figure of Dean Charles.
In the same year 1441, the Primate removed the custody of St. Patrick's
Bell from John O'Mellan, and conferred the charge upon the other keeper,
Patrick Mulholland. The O'Mellans were thus deprived for intruding into
Church lands, and for failing to account for the revenue received from the
Bell for the years 1417-1441. It is interesting to notice that in the following
year Nachtan O'Donnell. chief of Donegal, with the Dean and Chapter of Raphoe,
were excommunicated by the Primate because they had "usurped and seized
and detained the fruits and profits of the Bishoprick (of Raphoe)."
In both cases revenues were detained locally which the central ecclesiastical
authority claimed for itself.
The intensity of the struggle in which Dean Charles O'Mellan played a leading
part can be realised when we see by the registers that a year earlier Owen
O'Neill himself had been involved. In 1440 it is recorded that the Primate
wrote of Eugenius (Owen) father of Henry O'Neill, Captain of his nation,
and says "that whereas he (Owen) had sworn on the Baculum Jesu, in
the Church of the Holy Trinity, Dublin, not to disturb the Church's possessions,
the Primate had sent Phillip MacKewyn to him, and O'Neill promised to produce
Charles O'Mellan, intruded Dean. Mandate to him to recognise D. O'Culean
as true and rightful Dean, if not he is threatened with the secular arm."
There was however, no stronger secular arm in Ulster than the O'Neills themselves.
In spite of the foregoing efforts to oust Dean Charles O'Mellan the O'Mellans
seem to have won the battle. In 1466 Primate Bole addressed to Charles O'Mellan,
Dean of Armagh, and the rest of the Armagh clergy, letters executorial against
two of the O'Mellans. We see that a quarter of a century after the early
troubles and attempts to unseat him, Charles O'Mellan is still in the Deanery
saddle.
The two O'Mellans now in trouble were Toal and John. In 1466 Primate John
Bole paid an official visit to Armagh, the first paid by a Primate for nearly
200 years. The visit of a primate was like waving a red rag to a bull so
far as some of the O'Mellans were concerned, for they well remembered that
Archbishop Prene had deprived the O'Mellans of the custody of the Bell.
Accordingly Toal and Jobn O'Mellan stole the primate's travelling horses:
an act not so much in the nature of an ordinary theft as an indication that
the primate's visit was unwelcome. The two O'Mellans were detected in the
offence, and despite their plea for clemency as ecclesiastical and privileged
persons, were publicly sentenced and the Deanery of Airthir placed under
an interdict. One other point may be made here. From the time of Toal and
John O'Mellan the public history of St. Patrick's Bell ends for many centuries.
In spite of these efforts to subdue the turbulent O'Mellans, they continued
to fill an important place in Clan Owen in the inauguration ceremony. Their
authority and importance appears in an incident of 1493, when there was
a dispute over the succession as O'Neill between two brothers, Donnell and
Henry. Donnell was the elder brother, and was supported by the O'Donnells
of Donegal. Nevertheless, Henry the younger was inaugurated as chief by
O'Mellan and Sean O'Cahan, the vigorous and decisive O'Cahan chief. According
to the Annals the act was unlawful, yet such was the authority of O'Cahan
and O'Mellan that it was not set aside.
Towards the end of the fifteenth century, and in the following century,
there seems to have been quite a degree of development in that section of
the O'Mellan sept located in County Armagh. Their chiefs appear to be differentiated
from the O'Mellan himself by the addition of Oge to the name, as in 1514
when Felim Oge O'Mellan is mentioned, and as around 1600 when Owen Oge O'Mellan
is named as chief of the sept there. The reference in 1514 runs as follows
in the Annals of the Four Masters: "An irruption was made by Hugh,
the son of Donnell O'Neill, and Con, the son of Niall, into Cluain Dabhail,
against John, the son of Con; and they , burned John's town, and they sent
the preys of the country before them. O'Neill and MacDonnell, with a strong
body of troops, pursued and overtook them, deprived them of the preys, and
routed them. In the conflict were slain five of the descendants of Art O'Neill.
There are fell on the side of Hugh, the two sons of MacaGhiorr. There were
also slain there, Felim Oge O'Mellan Con O'Connor."
The above account indicates that the O'Mellans of County Armagh had developed
also into a fighting force. We learn from other sources that they had extensive
possessions in County Armagh, mainly on Church lands. The name O'Mellan,
particularly in Armagh, was at this time undergoing a change: the "O"
had been dropped to a large extent and it had become Mallen. Changes were
manifest also in the counties of Down and Tyrone. In Down the name had become
sometimes MacMullan, and even MacMillan. Commenting on the number of persons
in the priesthood in County Down who bore the name MacMullan and MacMallen,
and on the general incidence of these names throughout the county, Dr. O'Laverty
suggests that the change from its original form to that of MacMallen, &c.,
parallels the change in the name O'Lochlainn which gradually became
MacLochlainn. The O'Mellans are referred to in some English records
as O'Mallans The Fiants of Elizabeth state that the O'Mallons were amongst
those who followed the great Shane O'Neill in north Clanaboy, most likely
during his expedition against the MacDonnells.
In spite of the developments within the O'Mellan sept, they remained aligned
with the O'Neills, and the O'Neills reposed great trust in them. The Calendar
of Documents relating to Ireland records in 1594 an expedition on behalf
of the Earl of Tyrone, who was acting for the English government, against
Connor Roe Maguire. The names of the chief men involved in the expedition
are given as O'Hagan, O'Quin and Patrick O'Mellan. These names will be recognised
as the three chief septs of Clan Fergus. From the same source, under date
1596-7, we read that the Earl of Tyrone gives as a pledge to the English
"O'Mellan, chief of his name." Under date 1600 a spy reported
to the English that "Tyrone's daughter, and O'Mellan's wife are in
the Camp (Tyrone's)-earnest suitors to Tyrone to draw all his forces to
this country." The camp was in the region of Muskerry. where Tyrone
was fighting at the time. These instances show the close relationship between
the O'Mellan sept and the O'Neills (now Earls of Tyrone).
MacLochlainn
Tithe Composition Applotment Books
1823 -1838
and
Griffith's Valuation
1848 -1864
REPORT ON THE SURNAME McLAUGHLIN
This distribution analysis is based on information extracted from the
Tithe Composition Applotment Books compiled between 1823 and 1838 as well
as Griffith's Valuation (1848 to 1864). It covers most of the leaseholders
of titheable land recorded in the Tithe Applotment Books plus every householder
and occupier of land recorded in Griffith's Valuation, with the exception
of Dublin City where large numbers of occupiers were omitted from the survey.
In all 29,229 different surnames are covered with a precise parish location
for the 915,543 householders recorded in Griffith's Valuation. A total
of 3,008 Civil Parishes were researched and the surname McLaughlin was discovered
in 2.99% of these or 90 parishes.
When tracing Irish ancestors you may encounter cases where the deletion,
addition or alternation of prefixes such as 0', Mc, Mac etc. occur within
a family tree. For this reason all such prefixes are appended to this report
if they occurred. In addition you should not ignore material simply because
a different spelling is recorded. Most surnames found in Ireland have a
number of spelling variations. By way of an example there follows a list
of similar sounding names to Laughlin, with the number of Civil Parishes
where each occurred:
Lachlan 1, Laghlin 1, Laughlan 2, Laughlin 90, LeeGlanville 1, Leighlin
1, Leoughlin 1, Lochlin 1, Loghlan 1, Loghlen 2, Loghlin 13, Loughiln 1,
Loughlan 47, Loughland 2, Loughlane 1, Loughlin 1025, Loughlinane 1, Loughling
1, Loughlon 1, Louglin 3.
It is not intended to imply a definite inter-relationship between all
of these surnames but it may alert some readers to certain possibilities.
The following list reveals the numerical strength as well as the location
by Civil Parish [Poor Law Union] and Barony of the surname McLaughlin for
the years indicated. The omission of a number in the first column reveals
the presence of the surname Laughlin in that parish when the exact count
is unknown. This also applies in cases where a second year is printed (in
brackets) to show the presence of the name Laughlin in a parish at an earlier
date. Embedded question marks are used to alert you to possible variations
in spellings between different records. The following list is restricted
to County Donegal.
Surname: Laughlin County Donegal:-
Templecrone [Glenties] Boylagh, (1828).
Conwal [Letterkenny/Stranorlar] Raphoe South, (1834).
Inishmacsaint [Ballyshannon] Tirhugh, (1833).
Surname: McLaughlin County Donegal:-
53 Desertegny [ Inishowen] Inishowen West, 1857 ( 1833 ) .
3 Burt [Londonderry] Insihowen West, 1857.
2 Moville Lower [Inishowen] Inishowen East, 1857 (1827).
2 Fahan Lower [Inishowen] Inishowen West, 1857 (1829).
1 Clonmany [Inishowen] Inishowen East, 1825 (1828).
1 Clondavaddog [Millford] Kilmacrenan, 1858 (1834).
1 Mevagh [Millford] Kilmacrenan, 1858 (1828).
1 Mintiaghs or Bar of Inch [Inishowen] Inishowen West, 1857.
1 Taughboyne [Londonderry/Strabane] Raphoe North, 1857.
Killea [Londonderry] Raphoe North, (1830).
COPYRIGHT ©1991 Martin O'Beirne.
REPORT ON THE SURNAME BULMAN
This distribution analysis is based on information extracted from the
Tithe Composition Applotment Books compiled between 1823 and 1838 as well
as Griffith's Valuation (1848 to 1864). It covers most of the leaseholders
of titheable land recorded in the Tithe Applotment Books plus every householder
and occupier of land recorded in Griffith's Valuation, with the exception
of Dublin City where large numbers of occupiers were omitted from the survey.
In all 29,229 different surnames are covered with a precise parish location
for the 915,543 householders recorded in Griffith's Valuation. A total
of 3,008 Civil Parishes were researched and the surname Bulman was discovered
in 0.20% of these or 6 parishes.
When tracing Irish ancestors you may encounter cases where the deletion,
addition or alternation of prefixes such as 0', Mc, Mac etc. occur within
a family tree. For this reason all such prefixes are appended to this report
if they occurred. In addition you should not ignore material simply because
a different spelling is recorded. Most surnames found in Ireland have a
number of spelling variations. By way of an example there follows a list
of similar sounding names to Bulman, with the number of Civil Parishes where
each occurred:
Blemings 1, Blemins 1, Blemmings 2, Blemmins 1, Blowman 1, Blowmon 1, Blueman
1, Bullinan 1, Bullman 10, Bulman 6.
It is not intended to imply a definite inter-relationship between all
of these surnames but it may alert some readers to certain possibilities.
The following list reveals the numerical strength as well as the location
by Civil Parish [Poor Law Union] and Barony of the surname Bulman for the
years indicated. The omission of a number in the first column reveals
the presence of the surname Bulman in that parish when the exact count is
unknown. This also applies in cases where a second year is printed (in brackets)
to show the presence of the name Bulman in a parish at an earlier date.
Embedded question marks are used to alert you to possible variations in
spellings between different records.
Surname: Bulman County Cork:
2 Ardnageehy [Cork/Fermoy] Barrymore, 1853 (1826).
1 Kilcummer [Fermoy] Fermoy, 1851 (1825).
Drishane [Millstreet] Muskerry West, (1831).
Surname: Bulman County Limerick:
1 Bruree [Kilmallock] Connello Upper, 1852 (1827).
1 Athlacca [Croom/Kilmallock] Coshma, 1851.
1 Croom [Croom/Limerick] Coshma, 1851.
Mac, Mc or O' etc. prefix, not recorded with this surname
COPYRIGHT ©1991 Martin O'Beirne.
REPORT ON THE SURNAME KIELEY
This distribution analysis is based on information extracted from the
Tithe Composition Applotment Books compiled between 1823 and 1838 as well
as Griffith's Valuation (1848 to 1864). It covers most of the leaseholders
of titheable land recorded in the Tithe Applotment Books plus every householder
and occupier of land recorded in Griffith's Valuation, with the exception
of Dublin City where large numbers of occupiers were omitted from the survey.
In all 29,229 different surnames are covered with a precise parish location
for the 915,543 householders recorded in Griffith's Valuation. A total
of 3,008 Civil Parishes were researched and the surname Kieley was discovered
in 0.13% of these or 4 parishes.
When tracing Irish ancestors you may encounter cases where the deletion,
addition or alternation of prefixes such as 0', Mc, Mac etc. occur within
a family tree. For this reason all such prefixes are appended to this report
if they occurred. In addition you should not ignore material simply because
a different spelling is recorded. Most surnames found in Ireland have a
number of spelling variations. By way of an example there follows a list
of similar sounding names to Kieley, with the number of Civil Parishes where
each occurred:
Kaile 1, Kaily 1, Kaley 1, Keal 5, Keale 1, Kealey 3, Keally 8, Kealy 181,
Keel 4, Keele 2, Keeley 12, Keely 138, Keheely 1, Kehely 6, Kehily 4, Keil
3, Keiley 7, Keilly 19, Keily 145, Kel ,k 8, Kelay 1, Kell 21, Kellie 1,
Kelloe 1, Kellow 1, Kelly 2101, Keloy 1, Kieley 4, Kielly 12, Kiely 147,
Kihil 1, Kilawee 2, Kile 4, Kiley 36, Kill 5, Killawee 2, Killea 1, Killee
2, Killey 1, Killow 1, Killy 1, Kilwee 1, Kle 1, Kyle 107, Kyley 2, Kyly
1 .
It is not intended to imply a definite inter-relationship between all
of these surnames but it may alert some readers to certain possibilities.
The following list reveals the numerical strength as well as the location
by Civil Parish [Poor Law Union] and Barony of the surname Kieley for the
years indicated. The omission of a number in the first column reveals
the presence of the surname Kieley in that parish when the exact count is
unknown. This also applies in cases where a second year is printed (in brackets)
to show the presence of the name Kieley in a parish at an earlier date.
Embedded question marks are used to alert you to possible variations in
spellings between different records.
Surname: Kieley County Cork:-
Clonfert [Kanturk] Duhallow, 1852 (1826).
Surname: Kieley County Limerick:-
1 Mungret [Limerick] Pubblebrien, 1850 (1822).
Surname: Kieley County Tipperary:-
3 Inishlounaght [Clogheen] Iffa and Offa East, 1850 (1826).
1 Kilgrant [Clonmel] Iffa and Offa East, 1850.
Mac, Mc or O' etc. prefix, not recorded with this surname
COPYRIGHT © 1991 Martin O' Beirne.
The Genealogy Bookshop, 3 Nassau Street, Dublin 2, Ireland
Tel. 011-353-1-679-7020.
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