Tag Archives: Irish Meaghers

Our Milesian Origins

07 Sunday Jul 2013

Posted by in Carlow Mahers, Mahers, Meaghers, Ordering From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley

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Rock of Cashel

©2011 Janet Maher, Rock of Cashel, Tipperary, Ireland

(With some additions/edits, July 9, and Sept. 22, 2013, please also see the “Comments” section.)

While it is impossible for anyone to trace their lineage genealogically with proof back to ancient Ireland, understanding the long reach of some clans’ ties to their homeland may help to put in context the rebellious feelings that many had toward the waves of newcomers who eventually displaced them, became their landlords, or had forced their ancestors to relocate to barren parts of the island or permanently flee to other countries. Those willing to do DNA testing and participate in a surname group are potentially able to find information where no paper documents survive to neatly sequence their ancestry. One friend, a Maher who pronounces his name with two syllables, has discovered that his DNA result led him directly to Spain! What initially seemed perplexing is actually more exciting than having been pointed to a particular place in Ireland. His markers point instead to a pure connection to the most ancient origins of the native Irish, including the surname which evolved to Meagher/Maher.

The arrival of Ireland’s first population is steeped in mysticism and lore, as much a part of the poetic tradition as the sacred spirit of the place. Any ancient stories that have survived to this day may have some germs of fact involved, and the story of the Milesians is one that continues to be considered. In the early seventeenth century Brother Michael O Cléirigh/O’Clery, a Franciscan monk from Donegal, with the help of other scribes who were laymen, sought to create a comprehensive history of Ireland from as many ancient manuscripts as could be gathered. The men were all from upper class families and were trained historians. Their great work, The Annals of Ireland by the Four Masters, includes a genealogy of King Mhileadth/Milesius of Spain, through whose sons, Heber, Heremon and Ir, all the major clans of Ireland evolved from at least 1700 B.C. or earlier. Heber and Heremon were the first two of 183 monarchs who ruled Ireland from 1699 B.C. until the submission of the Irish kings to King Henry II in 1171 A.D.  While the time frames may not completely align with what is now known, and surnames as we know them did not exist until more modern times, the details in the Annals of the Four Masters form the basis of accepted ancient Irish history.

The Meachairs/Meaghers/Mahers were one of the original Irish clans, descended from petty kings of Leinster and Munster, later among the ruling lords of County Tipperary, chiefs of Ikerrin, and among the noble chieftain families of County Carlow. Among the many sources I have consulted over my years of research I have seen several Irish surname maps. The one I have found most useful, with its inclusion of references to the Annals and other texts and explanations of incoming waves of surnames beyond the original Irish ones, is Kanes’ Ancestral Map of Ireland.  It’s designers noted that among one of the primary Irish genealogy scholars, “Professor Eoin MacNeill, of the National University of Ireland concluded in his work, Celtic Ireland, that the Irish genealogical traditions are credible in detail at approximately 300 A.D. but not earlier.”

What follows is my accumulated understanding of the ancient tracks to today’s Mahers. The Nemedians, Formorians and Fir Bolgs have been explained as the earliest known nomadic peoples who lived in Ireland, each with their own characteristics as a race. From the eastern Mediterranean area, the Tuatha de Danann were a druidic tribe who worshipped the goddess Danu. They were considered to be Celtic gods, worshipped by the earliest Irish. As settlers in America would do centuries later through the formation of Native American reservations to contain those who already inhabited the land, the de Danann conquered the Fir Bolgs, allowing them to live, but constricting their habitation to the Connaught area while they settled throughout the rest of Ireland. [With the English conquest of Ireland in the seventeenth century, relocation to Connaught again became a form of banishment within the country.]

King Mhileadth/Milesius of Spain lived contemporaneously with King Solomon. When his sons invaded Ireland, they conquered and merged with the de Dannans. Lore alternatively has it that the de Dannans chose to live in the underworld, leaving Ireland to the conquerors. John O’Hart includes in his Irish Pedigrees the entire Annals of the Four Masters genealogies, beginning with Adam! According to this, Milesius was the son of Bilé and had a brother named Ithe. Bilé was the son of Breoghan (Brigus), king of Galicia, Andalusia, Murcia, Castile and Portgual, over which Milesius ruled by succession. Consult O’Hart for the complete story of the races and populating of Ireland.

The Cinel (descendents) Meachair trace our earliest lineage from Fionnchada/Finnachta, son of Connla/Conla, son of Cian, who was killed in the Battle of Samhair in A.D. 241. Cian was one of three sons of King Oillioll Olum, King of the Provence of Munster in the third century and Munster’s first absolute King. Cian’s brothers were Eoghan More and Cormac Cos.

Oillioll Olum died in A.D. 234. His father was Eoghan Taighlech, also called Owen the Splendid and Magh Nuadhat. Taighlech was descended from Milesius’ son, Heber. Joseph Casimir O’Meagher (Some Historical Notices of the O’Meaghers of Ikerrin) noted that Eoghan Mor was called Mogh-Nuadadh and was killed by Conn of the 100 Battles. This was the same line as the O’Carrolls, overlords (princes) of what had once been a large stretch of area in northern Munster (Ely/Eile) that included the barony of Ikerrin, the original home of the O’Meaghers. 

According to Kane’s Ancestral Map of Ireland, some ancient Mahers were also descendents of Cormac Mac Art and Conaire Mor, both descendents of Heremon. Cormac Mac Art was the son of King Art Eanfhear, Monarch of Ireland A.D. 227 to A.D. 266. [The chapel of Cormac Mac Art at the Rock of Cashel is presently being restored.] Eanfhear was the son of King Conn of the Hundred Battles, Monarch of Ireland A.D. 166 to A.D. 195 (or, from another source, A.D. 123 to A.D. 157).  According to this map the Maher lineage of Conaire Mor appears to have died out. He had been “sixteenth in descent from Heremon” and his line included King Conaire the 2nd, Monarch of Ireland A.D. 157 – A.D. 166.

The common ancestor among the various pedigrees in Joseph Casimir O’Meagher’s compilation is Oilioll Oluim. These pedigrees had been created by different scribes for important occasions, and one was copied from the Psalter of Cashel. Saint Benignus (Beonna), the bishop of Armagh after Saint Patrick, was a descendent of Oilioll Oluim, as was Saint Cronan, Abbot of Roscrea, Tipperary, the largest town in the barony of Ikerrin.

In 1659 Sir William Petty’s census showed Meaghers in several neighboring areas of Ireland. In Kilkenny: Galmoy (23); Fassagh Deinin [Fassadinnen] (12); Kells (17); Cranagh (18); Callan (17). In Tipperary: Clanwilliam (14); Ikerrin and Eliogarty (190); Iff and Offa (21); Lower Ormond (12); Slievardagh (40). Five Meaghers each were in Idrone and St. Mollins counties in Carlow, near Kilkenny and in Middlethird. In Decies, Waterford, there were six. Of the 26,684 residents of Tipperary then, 24, 700 were Irish, with the remaining English. In 1841 fifteen per cent of the people living in Tipperary lived in Ikerrin. In that year six thousand lived in the excellent farmland of Roscrea. The townland of Tullow Mac James in Tipperary, near Templetouhy, was noted as “one of the oldest residences of Clan-Meagher, and furnished many distinguished representatives at home and abroad.”

I have compiled surnames with noble ancient Irish roots from the Kane map for the counties of Tipperary, Kilkenny and Queens (Leix, Laois) Counties:

Kings: Tipperary (Kings of Cashel) – MacCarthy, O’Brien, O’Callaghan.

Princes: Tipperary – O’Carroll, O’Donnegan, O’Donohoe, O’Brien; Kilkenny – O’Carroll, O’Donaghue; Queen’s County – MacGilpatrick (Fitzpatrick).

Ruling Lords: Tipperary – MacBrien, O’Cuirc (Quirk), O’Day (O’Dea), O’Dinan, O’Dwyer, O’Fogerty, O’Kennedy, O’Meagher (O’Maher), O’Sullivan; Kilkenny – O’Brennan (Fassadineen area), O’Brodar; Queen’s County – O’Dempsey, O’Dowling, O’Dunn, O’Moore.

Noble Chieftains: Tipperary – MacCormack, MacGilfoyle, O’Brien, O’Cahill, O’Carroll, O’Connelly, O’Cullenan, O’Hogan, O’Hurley, O’Kean, O’Lenahan, O’Lonegan (O’Lonergan), O’Meara, O’Mulcahy, O’Ryan, O’Shanahan (Shannon), O’Skelly (O’Scully), O’Spellman (O’Spillane); Kilkenny – O’Callan, O’Hely (O’Healy), O’Keeley, O’Ryan, O’Shea; Queen’s County – MacEvoy, MacGorman, ODuff, O’Kelly, O’Lawler, O’Regan

Wishing all my readers and followers well as we learn more about our ancestry!

©2013 Janet Maher / Sinéad Ní Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

References:

Bhreathnach, Edel, and Cunningham, Bernadette, editors, Writing Irish History: the Four Masters and their World, Dublin, Ireland: Wordwell, Ltd., 2007.

Finnerty, William, Annals of Ireland by the Four Masters

Kane Ancestral Map of Ireland, Kane Strategic Marketing, Inc., P.O. Box 781, Harbor Springs, Michigan, 49740; Limerick, Ireland, 1993.

Maher, Janet, From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley: Early Irish Catholics in New Haven County, Connecticut, Baltimore, MD: Apprentice House, 2012 [This book is 400 pages and includes 336 images. It may be obtained at: Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT; Naugatuck Historical Society, Naugatuck, CT; and Quinnipiac University Bookstore, Mount Carmel Branch, Hamden, CT. In Baltimore it may be purchased from Loyola University Bookstore and The Ivy Bookshop. Online it may be purchased from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Amazon UK, and from me via Paypal or by check (P.O. Box 40211, Baltimore, MD, 21212).]

McCaffrey, Carmel and Eaton, Leo, In Search of Ancient Ireland, The Origins of the Irish from Neolithic Times to the Coming of the English, Chicago, IL: New Amsterdam Books, 2002.

O’Hart, John, Irish Pedigrees: or, The Origin and Stem of The Irish Nation, Fifth Edition in Two Volumes, Dublin, Ireland: James Duffy and Co., Ltd., 1892. Online.

O’Meagher, Joseph Casimir, Some Historical Notices of the O’Meaghers of Ikerrin,   Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., American Edition: NY, 1890. Online.

Shaw, Antony, compiled by, Portable Ireland, A Visual Reference to All Things Irish, Philadelphia, PA: Running Press, 2002.

Traynor, Pat, Milesian Genealogies from the Annals of the Four Masters

Walsh, Dennis,  Ireland’s History in Maps, History + Geography + Genealogy With a Special Focus on Ancient and Medieval Irish Tribes and Septs, ©2003.  

Walsh, Dennis, Old Irish-Gaelic Surnames, A Supplement to Ireland’s History in Maps

Purchasing My Book

26 Thursday Jul 2012

Posted by in Connecticut Irish, Early Irish Catholics in Connecticut, History, Kilkenny Mahers, New Haven Irish Catholic Immigrants, Ordering From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley, Origins

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Lynch’s Farm ©2010 Janet Maher, image from our family collection, digitized, restored and hand-colored by the author (pigmented ink on archival paper, 12 1/6″ x 18 3/4″, framed 18″ x 25″) included in From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley: Early Irish Catholics in New Haven County, Connecticut. 

After a bit of editing for unexpected typos that I found, I have reordered my book, From the Old Sod, Early Irish Catholics of New Haven County, Connecticut, which is now in its First Edition, revised, version. It is 399 pages and includes 336 images. It is now back in stock and available for sale. How to purchase my book:

1. From the author! The price is $65.95. I will pay for packing and shipping in the U.S. and will sign it if you’d like. I am offering a price break at three/four ($62) and five/six ($58) copies. You can order my book securely through this blog using PayPal (click below on correct number of copies to activate this feature) or send me a U.S. drawn check at this address: Janet Maher, Department of Fine Arts, Loyola University Maryland, 4501 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD, 21210.

Purchase One Copy Here;  Purchase Two Copies Here;   Purchase Three Copies Here;   Purchase Four Copies Here;   Purchase Five Copies Here;   Purchase Six Copies Here.

2. From Amazon.com. If you have purchased it this way and would like for me to sign it, you can mail it to me at the above address and include a self addressed stamped padded envelope for its return.

3. If you live outside the United States, it is possible to purchase my book here: Amazon.com Canada; Amazon.com UK; Waterstones.com. If you would like for me to sign it, please mail it to me at the above address and include a self addressed stamped padded envelope for its return.

I welcome reviews of my book. You can include yours in comment sections on this blog, and/or on the spaces for reviews on Amazon or Barnes and Noble sites.

To see the Table of Contents, please refer to my May 24, 2012 post here.

I hope that everyone who reads my book will enjoy it and will have found it helpful in their own quest to learn more about the earliest Irish Catholics of New Haven County and the Catholic history of Ireland. Thank you for your interest in my labor of love and thank you in advance for purchasing it!

©2012 Janet Maher/Sinéad Ní Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley: Early Irish Catholics In New Haven County, Connecticut

11 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by in Connecticut Irish, History, Kilkenny Mahers, New Haven Irish Catholic Immigrants, Origins, Pilgrimage, Thoughts

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©2012 Janet Maher, From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley, books at home; image: Katherine Maher Martin and Eliza Maher, ca 1850s

©2012 Janet Maher, From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley, books at home; image: Katherine Maher Martin and Eliza Maher, ca 1850s

First thing I did when I got the proof was to take pictures of it, then bring it into my department and show it to my colleagues, who then immediately got to hold it. Not exactly like having a baby, but pretty exciting, nonetheless.

The first mention in the press is out, on the Naugatuck Patch! The book is in the process of being offered on the Amazon website, and will also be available through Amazon.uk.

Hope to see some of you on June 21. Huge news is that Jane Lyons is flying all the way over from Ireland to be there! We’ll be going to the Irish Festival in New Haven that weekend too!

Wishing you all well,

Janet

©2012 Janet Maher/Sinéad Ní Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

Rebellion

06 Saturday Aug 2011

Posted by in History

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Wolfe Tone, Thurles

Wolfe Tone, Thurles, July 2011

By the end of the eighteenth century some liberal Protestants were empathetic to the discrimination of the Irish Catholics and a few became important leaders. Early Irish settlers in America, predominantly Protestant, were prevalent in the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). In 1778 and 1779 France and Spain, enemies of Great Britain, supported the Americans (to whom, it should be noted, the Penal Laws also applied, except in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island). Banished Irish soldiers had long been active in European armies, so Irishmen could, in some instances, simultaneously defend their adopted homelands while fighting Great Britain from another shore.

Throughout Ireland in the late 18th century people organized and pro-actively prepared to protect themselves if necessary as they also idealistically supported the American quest for freedom. The first widespread political organization, the Volunteers was born, and Great Britain had to face both their demands and the defeats she was suffering across the Atlantic Ocean. The Volunteers made much progress, but only some of the liberal leaders in Ireland were willing to share their power completely with Catholics, and the leaders in the Irish Parliament in communication with the English Parliament remained polite and conservative.

Inspired by the social revolution in France and the success in America, disappointed that the Volunteers had not been able to sway Parliament further, and with a possible war between England and Spain on the horizon, barrister Theobald Wolfe Tone wrote a treatise in 1791, An Argument on Behalf of the Catholics of Ireland. He called for a unification of the Irish Catholics and the “radical” Protestants. He asserted that Ireland had no issue against Spain, and that Ireland herself was unwillingly under British control.

In October 1791, along with Samuel Neilson and Thomas Russell, he formed the Society of United Irishmen in Belfast. After the enlistment of Napper Tandy, the Dublin Society of United Irishmen was formed the following month. The goal of the society was to create 300 Parliamentary representative areas in Ireland with every Irishman allowed to vote. Continual tightening of control on the part of Great Britain, however, caused the middle and upper class group to become increasingly radicalized, and it transitioned into a widespread underground movement that prepared for active rebellion.

Tone was deported to the United States in 1794, from which he traveled to France to seek military help, arriving there in early 1796. In December that year a French army of 12,000-14,000 men in 33 ships attempted to land in southwest Ireland’s Bantry Bay, but delays and sudden bad weather caused them to abandon their invited surprise invasion and they returned home. By 1798, when the 280,000 strong United Irishmen constituency in Ireland were galvanized to fight, the French did not come back to help until too late, with too little presence.

With Britain tipped off that a plan for rebellion had been underway many of the known Irish leaders were arrested, keeping them out of the eventual uprisings in May and June 1798 in Curragh, Tara, Antrim, Ballynahinch, New Ross, Arklow and Vinegar Hill, south of Dublin, where Wolfe Tone arrived with French forces that were captured by the British. Tone was convicted as a traitor and committed suicide before he could be hanged. These battles resulted in the horrific loss of 30,000 lives and the deportation and execution of many.

Joseph Casimir O’Meagher noted that Thomas, the son of William Meagher of Nicholastown, Kilkenny, and Mary Dunne, aunt of a Bishop of Ossory, was “directly implicated in the rebellion of ’98 and fled to America.” He had left home at age 23 and “was lost sight of.” Born in 1731, he would have been 67 at the time of the rebellions. He had been married to “Beauty Kavanagh” of Kilkenny and had two children, the Kilkenny attorney, “handsome Jack Maher” and Joanna, who also emigrated to America. Jack died unmarried in 1855 and had been a very popular host, friends with many in the upper classes. (O’Meagher, pp. 141, 201, 202) One Major William Maher, perhaps the same William, served in the 87th Royal Irish Fusileers, fought in Portugal, and died in Freshford, Kilkenny in 1836 (pg. 139).

After the rebellions of 1798 an Act of Union was proposed that removed the existence of an Irish Parliament and seemed to suggest the possibility of Catholic emancipation (which did not occur until April 1829, through the leadership of Daniel O’Connell). Hotly debated, the Act of Union, joining Ireland to England in the way Scotland and England were joined in 1707, was narrowly passed in 1800. The O’Meaghers were firmly against it, according to Joseph Casimir O’Meagher, except for those who had ties to those in positions of power, who tended to support it. He listed key members of the clan (O’Meagher, pp. 155, 156), and I have provided further location details and some notes from his extensive ones about some of the individuals:

Dublin, County Fingal • Samuel and William O’Meagher (William, “Attorney of the King’s Bench,” pg. 142) • Francis Meagher (“a distinguished lawyer,” pg. 152) • Thadeus Meagher (“enlisted in the 7th Fusileers so as to avoid the consequence of a fracas in which he had taken part…” and after notable service was buried in 1820 with a military funeral; pg. 141)

County Kilkenny: • John Maher, Freshford (likely the son of William of Tennylenton, whose father was William Meagher (born 1697), Nicholastown, pp 201,202) • John Maher, Nicholastown (Likely brother of Thomas, above, sons of William Meagher). John (born 1728) and his wife Catherine Kearney, of Tipperary, had four children, including Dr. Richard Maher, Waterford, pg. 201) • Meaghers of Kilkenny and Callan, Co. Kilkenny

County Laois (Queen’s): • Meaghers of Clonburr • John and Nicholas Meagher, Ballymorris

County Limerick: • Meagher of Snugboro

County Offaly (King’s) • O’Meaghers of Barnan

County Tipperary: • Dr. Pierce Meagher, Cashel • Nicholas Maher, Thurles (member of Parliament, 1844-1852, brother of Dr. William Maher; related to Valentine and Nicholas of Turtulla, and Major Maher of the 52nd Regiment, Oxfordshire Light Infantry (pg. 142) and to John (born 1778), later of Tullamaine Castle, pp. 138, 142) • Gilbert Meagher, [Loughmore] • Edmond Meagher, Clonmel • William Meagher, Thurles [Dr.?] • Daniel Meagher, Tullow mac James • John O’Meagher, Fethard  • John Maher, Tullamaine Castle (Fethard) (ancestors of John, born 1778?) • Patrick Meagher, Slanestown Castle (Rathcool) • James Meagher, Coolquill Castle • Meaghers of Cloneen and Kilbury • Denis O’Meagher, [Kilmoyler] (Denis James O’Meagher, of Toureen and Kilmoyler, “represented the Catholics of Tipperary in the struggle for emancipation,” O’Meagher, pp. 142, 150) • Edward O’Meagher, Marlhill • Francis O’Meagher, Bansha (one Francis Meagher was included in the Banishment Act with Thomas Addis Emmet, Lord Edward Fitzgerald and others in 1798, pg. 141) • Thomas O’Meagher, M.D. • O’Meaghers of Clonyne and Clonakenny • O’Meaghers of Roscrea and Templemore • Brian O’Meagher of Drangan

County Waterford: • Thomas Meagher (perhaps ancestor of  “the” Thomas Francis Meagher, Joseph Casimir O’Meagher’s biographical synopsis of whom is archived, unattributed, online.) • Richard Meagher, M.D (see John Maher, Nicholastown, above) • William O’Meagher, Tourine

Counties Carlow and Meath: • Mahers of Co. Carlow and Co. Meath “etc.”

Old Kilcullen Stone

Old Kilcullen Graveyard Dedication, July 2011

Selected References:

Connolly, S. J., Editor, The Oxford Companion to Irish History, Second Edition, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Foster, R. F., Modern Ireland 1600-1972, London, England: The Penguin Group, 1988.

Mac Annaidh, Séamas, General Editor, Irish History, Fulham, London: Starfire, The Foundry Creative Media Company, Ltd., 2001.

Moody, T.W., and Martin, F. X., Editors, The Course of Irish History, Cork, Ireland: The Mercier Press, 1978.

O’Donnell, Edward T., 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish American History, New York: Gramercy Books, 2002.

O’Meagher, Joseph Casimir, Some Historical Notices of the O’Meaghers of Ikerrin, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., American Edition: NY, 1890.

©2011 Sinéad Ní Mheachair (Janet Maher)

All Rights Reserved

O’Meagher Castles

30 Saturday Jul 2011

Posted by in History

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Rock of Cashel

Rock of Cashel, July 2011

Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle, July 2011

O’Meagher documented King Henry II as having given to Philip de Worcester and Theobald Fitzwalter “the lands of O’Carroll, O’Meagher, O’Kennedy, O’Fogarty, O’Ryan, O’Heffernan, &c.,” which were sold in 1210 by King Henry’s son, Prince John, to Philip de Bracos for four thousand pounds. (Joseph Casimir O’Meagher, Some Historical Notices of the O’Meaghers of Ikerrin, 1890, pg. 49) With Fitzwalter (le Botillier), the surname Butler entered Ireland.

In 1315 Edmund Butler, the fifth primary Butler descendant, was given the lands of Hyogurty and Hyocary (Ikerrin). His son, James, through the process of submit (ancestral lands) and regrant (be given an English title and become a royal subject) was made Earl of Ormonde in 1328 by King Edward III, and James was given “the royalties, fees, and all liberties in the County of Tipperary,” a title that was in place until 1714. (pp. 14, 15) The vast majority of the O’Meaghers, along with most of the original Gaelic clans, chose not to recognize English law throughout the centuries and continually resisted the plantation of English subjects and imposition of laws by what they considered to be a foreign nation.

Through marriages Normans came to identify with the practices of their Gaelic wives and became entwined with loyalties to their native relatives and extended clan. When those English subjects who chose to remain Catholic were equally stripped of their rights, many Old English, including some Butlers, aligned with the native Irish to rebel against the crown. In some cases English landlords with sympathetic or family ties to former chieftain clans held property (enfoeffed) in trust until such time that the Catholic owner could legally reclaim it. The O’Meaghers and their allies fought against the actions leading to and associated with King Henry VIII’s reformation. Although Henry regularly gave pardons, O’Meagher noted that the king specifically refused to consider any for the O’Meaghers, “who were proclaimed traitors and rebels,” nor for “any jesuit seminary or mass priest.” (O’Meagher, pg. 33)

A study of the sanctions against Irish Catholics over time, including the Statutes of Kilkenny and culminating with the Penal Laws, is necessary in order to understand why the native Irish chose to rebel as strongly they did. That Henry VIII created so much havoc over wanting a divorce is tragically ironic. Divorce had never been an issue among Gaelic Catholics, who were instead forced to conform to the English model of Catholicism in the 12th century that was more closely aligned to Rome! Religious sanctions were the means by which the English crown could expand its jurisdiction and seize property.

The land of the O’Mehayr was included in a 1526 list of areas recommended to Henry to capture for himself, and he began to do that in 1537. The following year Lord Leonard Grey and those in power in the area around Dublin (The Pale), began to convince the Gaelic chieftains in Offally, Ely-O’Carroll, Ormond and Arra to become indentured to the authority of the King of England. Gullernow O’Maghyr, who owned by inheritance the Castle of Roscrea in Ikerrin, submitted in 1539, and Meaghers continued to either submit, have their lands seized, or lose both their lands and lives in battles throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.

In 1586 the confiscated lands in Munster were colonized with Protestant English subjects and adventurers, and land was divided into sections of 6,000 or 1,200 acres. No native Irish were allowed to be members of any Anglo family, including by the kind of fostering that had been common among the Normans as a means to raise and train noble Anglo-Irish soldiers. The planted English were required to build a mansion residence and twelve houses for freeholders and tenants. A rebellion in 1596 defeated this attempt. The plantations of Queens and Kings counties were also met with strong rebellions. The failure of these first attempts at colonization served as a lesson toward the plantation of Ulster in the early 1600s, for which enough new Protestant settlers were brought in to create a mostly Scottish majority loyal to the British crown.

In 1641 a civil war had begun and many O’Meaghers fought to defend the their septs. Twenty-seven O’Meagher castles at the time were in Ikerrin. These castles should not be presumed to have been as magnificent as the Butler’s Kilkenny Castle (above, seen from the great distance of its extended property, now owned by the city of Kilkenny) however, the ruins of the more humble castles, such as at the Rock of Dunamase, provide examples. The buildings had deep thick rock walls with small openings, angled toward the interior to allow both visibility and safe means to aim projectiles from any left/right/forward direction. Round towers were common from the time of the first monasteries where communities needed to defend themselves from Viking raids. Circular stone staircases were punctuated with a series of round wooden floors leading upward to a protected 360° lookout. Valuables could be hidden and people could take refuge in the towers.

Among the O’Meagher castles in Munster and Leinster as noted by O’Meagher were:

• Ballina, in Templeree (Ikerrin)

• Ballinamoe, owned by Thadeus O’Meagher (Ikerrin)

• Ballyknockan, in Templetouhy, owned by William O’Meagher (Ikerrin)

• Ballyviheen/Ballivehane (1641, Ikerrin) John Maher, part owner until 1666

• Barnane (1641, Ikerrin) In 1622 Dermod McTeige O’Magher (deceased, of Barnan), an inquisition noted that Dermod had written in 1604 that he had been seized of Barnane Castle and 50 acres of land for his entire life; it was enfeoffed to Peter Stapleton (Drom) and Walter Fitzpatrick fitz Talbot Stapleton and their heirs in the castle and all connected to be used for the work and use of Darby O’Magher; after Darby’s death one half of all was to be for Dermod, and one half to Philip, Darby’s two sons; if there were no male sons of Philip, then it would all go to another son of Dermot and the heirs of his younger sons. Cornelius O’Magher, became heir to all after his father Dermot’s death. Cornelius, Philip, Peter Stapleton and Walter Stapleton enfeoffed in 1619 to Moelmurry McSwyny of Ballindowny “two parts of the castle and three parts of one acre of land” and that if Cornelius and Philip O’Magher paid 70 pounds they could re-enter the premises. Cornelius died in 1622 and his son and heir was 7 year old Gulleneave O’Magher. “All and singular premises, with the appurtenances, are held from our Lord the King in full by Knight Service.” (O’Meagher, pp. 71, 72)

Another inquisition in 1635 about the seized property of Dermot O’Magher noted that Dermot had died in 1618 and his son Philip was of full age and married. The property was enfoeffed during King James’ reign to Moelmurray McSwyny and his heirs and that in 1633 Philip redeemed the property from Charles McSwyny, son and heir of Moelmurray, and that “the premises were held in full by Knight Service.” (O’Meagher, pg. 76)

• Boulybawn/Boulybane (Thomas O’Meagher, 1641, Ikerrin) In 1632 an inquisition noted that John O’Magher of Boulybane Castle had been seized of lands in Boulybane and Pollinstown, villages and lands of Bawnmaygrane, lands of Cappalie and Ballycreyne, of Derry Managhan and Carrowreaghe, worth 20 shillings. (O’Meagher, pp.74, 75)

Another inquisition in 1636 noted that Thomas O’Magher of Boulibane, Tipperary, was seized of one-half colpe of land and the land was left twenty years earlier to Walter Walsh of Castlehoile “under the condition of redemption” and that they were redeemed and “held from the King by Knight Service.” (O’Meagher, pg. 76)

• Bawnmadrum (Thomas O’Meagher, 1641, Ikerrin), in which O’Carrolls lived in the 1840s

• Carraganeen Fort, in Bourney

• Carrick (1641, Ikerrin)

• Castleleiny, originally Castle Owney, in Templeree near Templemore, built by Sir Hervé de Monte Marisco (later changed to de Montmorency) for his wife, Ownia/Owney (Winifrede), daughter of O’Meagher (Templemore). Through this marriage Marisco came to own Ikerrin in 1380. (I will write more about this later.) In 1663 Sir John Morris (Knockagh) still owned 899 acres of productive land and 217 acres of unproductive land at Castleleiny. (O’Meagher, pg. 100)

• Clonakenny (1641, Ikerrin) near Limerick, by the Borrisnoe Mountain (1645). In 1624 an inquisition by Thadeus O’Magher of Clonmell told that he had been seized his entire life of his castle in Clonkeany, along with one colpe of land. Thadeus died in 1615 and his son John was his heir and was married. King James had given the castle and all related to it to a soldier, John Denis, to own, along with his other castle in Dublin. (O’Meagher, pg. 72) Thadeus, in another inquisition was noted as having been seized of twenty-five other parcels of land throughout Tipperary that were deeded to his heirs in 1601 but were held at that time in full Knight Service of the King. Still another inquisition noted the many tracts of land owned by Thadeus O’Magher and that his son John O’Magher was heir, aged 24 and married. (O’Meagher, pp. 73, 74) In January 1652 John O’Meagher of Clonkenny was transplanted with 12 people, ¾ acre corn, 2 cows, 5 garrons, 15 sheep, 4 goats and 2 swine. (O’Meagher, pg. 92)

• Cloneen, built by O’Meagher, Chief of Ikerrin

• Clonmore (Templeree), owned by Donogh and Tiege O’Meagher (1641, Ikerrin)

• Cloyne (near Roscrea, 1641, Ikerrin) owned by Gilleneeve O’Meagher in 1551. An inquisition in 1629 noted that John O’Meagher (deceased about 30 years earlier) had been seized of six properties in Ikerrin, amounting to one colpe. His son John was heir, of full age, married and that the properties were held in full by Knight Service. Yearly rent was due to John O’Magher of Clonkeanye and his heirs by a deed made in 1551 by Gilleneuffe O’Magher, grandfather of John O’Magher, Sr. to  one Daniel O’Magher, father of John O’Magher. (O’Meagher, pg. 74)

An inquisition in 1633 noted that eight parcels of land in Grange (Ikerrin) of John O’Magher (deceased) had been seized and that he had enfoeffed them in 1631 to Donogh Carroll of Ballinloghie and Donald Carroll of Ballymonine, both of King’s County for his use. After his death the lands would go for the use of Roger O’Magher, his son and Roger’s son, John. If John had no children, the lands would default to Dermot O’Magher along with John O’Magher’s other son. Donogh and Donald Carroll were seized of the land, and John O’Magher (“the foefee”) died in 1632. Roger, his son and heir, was married and the premises were held in full. (O’Meagher, pp. 75, 76)

In December 1652 An O’Machar of Cloyne was ordered to transplant along with seventy-five people, 2 acres of corn, 4 cows and 4 garrons. (pg. 92) In 1653 the Earl of Roscommon was owner of one half colpe of land “by descent from his ancestor” owned by Roger O’Meagher (deceased), then Joan O’Meagher, “by virtue of  a lease not product as valuable in 1641.” (O’Meagher, pg. 94)

• Coolquill (in Crohane near Killenaule), owned by James Meagher in 1664

• Cranagh (1641, Ikerrin – see Lisdallan)

• Derrylahan, owned by John O’Meagher

• Glenbaha, built by O’Meagher but owned in 1641 by Edward Butler (Clare) and Richard Butler (Ballinakill)

• Grange, owned by Gilleneeve O’Meagher in 1551; in 1689 John O’Meagher was tax assessor.

• Keilewardy/Killawardy (1641, Ikerrin), owned by Teige O’Meagher, Tipperary (1649) Teige O’Meagher was a commissioner in Ikerrin and Eliogarty in 1649. (pg. 89) In January 1653 Juan Meagher of Killawardy was transplanted with 9 people, 1 ½ acre corn, 2 cows, 2 garrons and 2 swine.

• Killavenoge (1641, Ikerrin), owned by John Teig and O’Conor O’Meagher (Coolcormuck)

• Killea (1641, Ikerrin)

• Kiltillane (1641, Ikerrin), in Templemore, built by O’Meagher, Chief of Ikerrin

• Knockballymeagher/Knockballymagher, owned by the English landlord, Hutchinson. An inquisition in 1636 noted that Thomas O’Magher had property seized: 1 acre in Gortycleynoe, 2 acres in Sraghbraike, 1 acre in Ballybegge, two houses and one garden in Ballykeely, two houses in CnocBallyMeagher in 1629. He enfeoffed the premises to Edmond Wall of CnocmallyMagher and his heirs, and the premises were “held of the King by Knight Services.” (pg. 76)

• Lidnahalosky/Lisnaholosky (1641, Ikerrin), near Templemore, owned by Thaddeus O’Meagher in 1624

• Lisdallan (1641, Ikerrin), Drummin, and Cranagh near Templetouhy, all owned by Lord Ikerrin and John Purcell in trust for William O’Meagher (Ballyknockan)

• Longford, (Ikerrin) owned by John O’Meagher in 1641

• Rathnaveoge (1641, Ikerrin) and Ballymoneen, owned by John O’Meagher (Clonakenny)

• Roscrea, built by Edmund Butler in 1213 but owned by Gillernowe O’Magher in 1539, owned by Dermod McTeig O’Meagher (1622)

• Tullaghmain (near Fethard) owned by Donogh and Thomas Meagher in 1667. (In 1850 John Maher died in this castle. He had a brother named Valentine, who lived in Turtulla.)

• Tullow MacJames, an early important holding of the O’Meaghers, owned by Richard Butler (Carrickcarrig)

• Slanestown (near Fethard) and Knockelly, owned by Big John Meagher in 1650. A tomb in an Augustinian Abbey in Fethard notes some members of the Meaghers: Thadeus O’Meagher of Ballydine and Anastasia Purtil (perhaps Purcell), 1600; John O’Meagher was noted as having generously restored the abbey and his son, Daniel Costello O’Meagher was buried there; John’s daughter and his son, Reverend John O’Meagher, curate of Templemore, are also buried there. (O’Meagher, pg. 53) Big John Meagher was “a local hero” and, like his family was “distinguished for their great stature, loved of blooded horses, and loyalty to faith, fatherland, family and friends.” He fought to defend Knockelly Castle in 1650, near Fethard, and, with Colonel Butler, to defend Fethard, which had to surrender, but “on honorable terms.” (O’Meagher, pg. 89) Big John Meagher emigrated and served in the Spanish Netherlands in 1666 as Don Juan Meagher. All his extensive property in Coolmore, Knockelly, and Peppardstown, including Slanestown Castle, were given to a general (Shankey) in Cromwell’s army and his family were made tenants of their ancestral land. Two years later Irish officers that had been on the side of the Confederacy, including Colonels John O’Meagher and Edmond O’Dwyer came to an agreement with General Sankey. (O’Meagher, pg. 90)

When the civil war began Richard Butler, John Morris, Lord Ikerrin, Edward Butler, Theobold Purcell and Richard Butler owned the mansion of Ballinakill and the castles of Castleleiny, Clonburgh, Glenbaha, Killoskehan, Tullowmacjames and Roscrea. (O’Meagher, pp. 38,39)

In 1652 the conquest of Oliver Cromwell was complete and up to 40,000 Irish soldiers were forced to leave Ireland and “feed themselves by the blades of their swords in the service of foreign countries.” (O’Meagher, pg. 21) Many served in Spanish, French and Polish-Saxon armies, with distinguished careers. The O’Meaghers supported the exiled Catholic King James and many served in the Jacobite army.

Recommended Reading:

Elliott, Bruce S., Irish Migrants in the Canadas, A New Approach, Kingston and Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1988.

Hayes, William, and  Kavanagh, Art, The Tipperary Gentry, Volume I, Dublin, Ireland: Irish Family Names, 2003.

O’Meagher, Joseph Casimir O’Meagher, Some Historical Notices of the O’Meaghers of Ikerrin, American Edition, New York, 1890

Tanner, Marcus, Ireland’s Holy Wars, The Struggle for a Nation’s Soul, 1500-2000, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2001

©2011 Janet Ní Mheachair (Janet Maher)

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