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Two Exciting Upcoming Irish History Events!

17 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by Janet Maher in Uncategorized

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Early Irish History, Irish in Connecticut, Maher, Meagher

©2016 Janet Maher, Ancient Meachair Chieftain Cap Interpretation

©2016 Janet Maher, Ancient Meachair Chieftain Cap Interpretation

Two exciting Irish History events are around the corner in Tipperary, Ireland and in Hamden, Connecticut. First, for those lucky enough to be within driving distance of the ancient home of Clan O’Meachair, be sure not to miss National Heritage Week events in Tipperary – particularly on its last day, Sunday, August 28 in Roscrea!

The Sean Ross Heritage Group has organized a series of events that will take place from from 14:00 p.m. to 16:30 p.m., focused upon the importance of Sean Ross Abbey, once the inauguration site of the O’Meachair chieftains. Guest speakers, guided walks, and music will accompany family picnics.

The illustrious historian and author, George Cunningham, will speak about the O’Meachairs as having been priors of Sean Ross Abbey, Monaincha, and of the significance of this site in Roscrea’s ancient history. See his lovely images and text about the Monastery of the Island of the Living HERE.

I’ve sent on my own contribution and hope it makes its way across the pond in time! It’s an interpretation of the chieftain hat illustrated in Joseph Casimir O’Meagher’s Some Historical Notices of the O’Meaghers of Ikerrin. The original, found in a bog in 1692, was “a gold cap or morion, which may have served as a crown, and been used at the inauguration of the O’Meagher…Its ornamentation was undoubtedly Irish, and was identical with some earlier golden articles—lunnulae and fibulae—found in Ireland, and consisted of embossed circles, some parallel and others arranged in angles of the chevron pattern.” (pg. 13) It may be that this cloth version of a crown will be placed upon the head of this year’s chosen O’Meagher/Maher at the event, passed to another in 2017. I only wish I could be there for all the fun! Hoping that folks will share their memories of the day to post here.

For more information email mdobbin at eircom dot net. Download a pdf guide for all the Tipperary Heritage events.

NEXT: Coming September 8 to New Haven County, Connecticut—William J. Duffney Lecture at Quinnipiac University! 

William J. Duffey, Postal and Irish Historian

William J. Duffney, Postal and Irish Historian

On September 8 at 4 p.m. Bill Duffney will speak about The Quakers and Irish Famine Relief at Quinnipiac University Mount Carmel Campus, in the Student Center, Room 225. Registration is required, and a link for that is included on the Quinnipiac Calendar.

“Using original correspondence, The Quakers and Irish Famine Relief outlines the selfless efforts made by the Society of Friends (Quakers) on behalf of the starving Irish during the Great Hunger. The personal vignettes found within their letters bring us closer to the perspective of the people in their place and time. Political and social history, and maritime and postal history collide in unexpected ways.

Bill Duffney is a retired musician, educator and postal historian, who has travelled extensively in Ireland. Bill served for several years as the editor of the Connecticut Postal History Society Journal. Today, he maintains the website, Connecticut Philatelic Projects, and is a member of the American Philatelic Society, U.S. Postal Classics Society, and the Boston Philatelic Group, among others.”

Sure to be a great lecture! Good luck Bill!

©2016 Janet Maher / Sinéad Ni Mheachair

More on the Meaghers/Mahers

10 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by Janet Maher in Book Excerpt, Early Irish Catholics in Connecticut, History, Mahers, Meaghers, New Haven Irish Catholic Immigrants

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

American Mahers, Early Irish History, From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley, Irish Catholic History, Irish in Connecticut, Joseph Casimir O'Meagher, Meagher, Milesian Genealogy, New Haven County Mahers

O'Meagher Coat of Arms from original 1890 text of Joseph Casmir O'Meagher's Some Historical Notices of the O'Meaghers of Ikerrin, digitized and colorized, ©2006 Janet Maher

O’Meagher Coat of Arms from original 1890 text of Joseph Casmir O’Meagher’s Some Historical Notices of the O’Meaghers of Ikerrin, digitized and colorized, ©2006 Janet Maher

Although my initial research was primarily about the Meaghers/Mahers, when it came time to edit information to include in my book (From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley: Early Irish Catholics in New Haven County, Connecticut) I chose to keep the content more generally broad. Maher details are sprinkled throughout the history of Ireland and early Connecticut chapters, however, leading to a focus on the nineteenth century in America.

I find myself repeatedly refering to Joseph Casimir O’Meagher’s 1890 text, Some Historical Notices of the O’Meaghers of Ikerrin, which I consider essential for beginning research about the Mahers. It provided most of the earliest Maher details in my book, and I included several instances of historic Mahers from his book in a previous post here (August 20, 2012), Some Notable Meaghers/Mahers and other spellings, cited SHN.

Excerpts from O’Meagher’s text occur verbatum in many different places, and are, unfortunately, usually not attributed to him. I have been singing his praises online since at least 2006 and am happy to see that a Google search on him now brings up many hits, including his full text. Although not perfectly scanned, an inexpensive reprint of Some Historical Notices is also available from Amazon.

A member of the Royal Irish Academy and Fellow of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland, O’Meagher was able to cite his lineage directly from John O’Meagher, who with his mother, Anne, had been among those ordered to transplant to Connaught after the conquest of Oliver Cromwell. John O’Hart’s pedigree of O’Meagher drew Joseph Casimir’s Heber line out from Fionnachta, second son of Conla, “No. 88 on the O’Carroll (Ely) pedigree.” As noted in my previous post, (Our Mileasian Origins) Conla was son of Cian, who was a son of King Olliol Olum. O’Hart considered the O’Meagher pedigree in his book as the ancestral line of O’Meachair, chiefs of Ikerrin. From Fionnachta (No. 88) O’Hart listed Joseph Casimir O’Meagher, born 1831, living in Dublin in 1887, as the son of John T. O’Meagher (No. 127). The line then extended to Joseph’s children: Joseph Dermod (1864), John Kevin (1866), Donn Casimir (1872), Malachy Marie (1873), Fergal Thaddeus (1876) and Mary Nuala (no date given). Joseph Casimir O’Meagher himself, however, cited additional pedigrees that extended Meaghers from other points in the Cian branch, including Teige or Thaddeus (No. 38) and John (No. 39).

O’Meagher provided immense background that led to my further research about such pivotal events in Ireland as: the development of ancient Irish Catholicism and communities of ecclesiastical families, the arrival of the Vikings and Normans, the interest of the English monarchy in Irish lands and sequences of sanctions and acts of “land grabbing” over the centuries, the change in the official religion of England from Catholic to Protestant with Henry VIII, the Penal Laws, continual rebellion on the part of the native Irish and those aligned with Catholic subjects of England who became equally disenfranchised due to adherence to their religion, the Statutes of Kilkenny, the Flight of the Earls, Civil War, arrival of Oliver Cromwell, the Act of Settlement, Oath of Allegiance, Act of Union, Wild Geese, Catholic Relief Acts, Rebellion of 1798, various uprising groups and key figures among them, the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, Tithe Defaulters, Catholic middleman landlords, and mass emigrations before, during and after the Great Famine. Here, long before the Irish War of Independence and the formation of the Irish Free State in 1922, my story in From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley shifts to the arrival of the first Irish Catholic settlers in particular sections of New Haven County, Connecticut.

O’Meagher explained that Ikerrin (Ui Cairin) “was anciently one of the eight tuathas in Ely, which got its name from Eile, one of its kings in the fifth century.” Ger Dunphy and Christy O’Shea, in their work, Ballinakill, A Journey Through Time, explained the formation of King and Queen’s Counties, carved from Ely O’Carroll, which was primarily the area known then as Offaly. Quoting from my own book: “Throughout the centuries clan jurisdictions changed many times as the ownership of the land was continually disputed and compromised. In 1556 Queen Mary I renamed Offaly as King’s County, and named Leix (Laoighois/Laois), which had been part of Offaly, as Queen’s County. These were the first of the Irish counties to be intentionally planted with Protestant English residents. In this region the plantation was an attempt to make it difficult for the major Irish clan of the area, the O’Moores, to easily connect with their nearby allies.”

“According to Irish authors Ger Dunphy and Christy O’Shea, the extensive area of Ballenekyll in Queen’s County was awarded in 1570 to the English couple Alexander Cosby and Dorcas Sydney and was incorporated by King James I in 1613…the royal charter tightened the Irish recusancy laws that fined anyone who did not attend mass at the Anglican church, the official Church of England and Ireland.”

In O’Meagher’s explanation, eventually Ely O’Carroll was comprised of the baronies Ballybritt and Clonlisk, which became King’s County. Ikerrin and Eliogarty were part of Tipperary.  He wrote, “for many centuries Ely O’Carroll is confined to that portion of it now in the Kings County, and at the time Ely O’Carroll was reduced to shire ground, the barony of Ikerrin was not considered part of it.”

For those of us who know that our families were among the many who had already dispersed from the ancient homeland before they emigrated it is interesting to note that even O’Meagher’s group, with several of his sons attending university in Dublin, were no longer based in the Roscrea (Ikerrin) area of Tipperary by the late 1800s. In 1659 Sir William Petty’s census had already showed Meaghers in several neighboring areas of Ireland (Our Mileasian Origins).

We do well to read the very helpful 1993 article by William J. Hayes, O Meagher, Meagher and Maher – and their dispersal in Tipperary, which can be purchased from the Tipperary Historical Society. He explained the tendency for many of the Meaghers to have aligned with the powerful Normans, particularly the Butlers who remained Catholic, and thus retain much of their property over centuries of struggle, at least into the seventeenth century. After Cromwell, however, all bets were off. Excerpts from this article are archived on RootsWeb. O’Meagher also chronicled the dispersion from northeast Tipperary through his accumulation of data, including details of many eighteenth and nineteenth century Meaghers/Mahers who left to join foreign military units or settle in America.

If we find that our relatives had traveled over the Slieve Bloom Mountains into Laois or Offaly, scattered throughout the rest of Tipperary or crossed the borders into Kilkenny and Carlow, we wonder what led them there and how many generations had roots in those places. Did they choose to leave as so many of us change locations throughout our own lives? Was survival through farming too difficult to maintain in their family? Did the inheritance laws make it impossible for most of the children to remain within their original neighborhoods? Did they marry someone from another county? Anciently, were at least some of them among those who had once taken to the hills to hide out and to fight? O’Meagher accounted multiple occurrances of Meagher/Maher rebel action and the need for pardons of one kind or another. He noted the caveat in King Henry VIII’s issuing of pardons, “Provided that if any of those persons be of the Nation or Sept of the O’Meaghers, who were proclaimed traitors and rebels, the pardons to be of no effect in favour of such.”

So many Irish came to America as outlaws, slaves, or indentured servants and worked in obscurity, likely experiencing life in conditions worse than those which they left. Before the Famine, however, some were affluent enough to choose to make the trip across the sea and begin anew on equal footing in the Protestant communities of America, long populated by those still aligned to British sentiments about the Irish, in general, and about Catholics in particular. Had these Catholic immigrants been middlemen or related to one in Ireland? Had they married into families that had somehow retained a semblance of wealth or at least maintained some financial stability? Had their families been merchants, one trade allowed to Catholics? Had those from Kilkenny worked in the Ormond factory? What must it have been like to try to blend into a new world and assimilate as quickly as possible and still manage to help bring others over and begin the forbidden first Catholic churches?

When we wish to play the record of Irish history and locate our families amid it, where we drop the needle matters. We need to consider every fact in light of what else was going on at that point in time in Ireland and in the location into which they would emigrate. Much of that, sadly, revolves around religion, in ways similar to the major struggles between countries that exist today. Then, as today, there were open minds seeking peace on both sides of each conflict, and the fundamentalists on either side began quickly to resemble each other. We must study what we find, however, in its own context. With the Meaghers, history seems to center around land and religion.

Catastrophic events make significant changes from one century to the next, but the seemingly small details in the decades surrounding someone’s departure from Ireland may help to shed the most light. Having thoroughly scoured the “ground zero” of the place to which my ancestors relocated and their presence within it, I hope to still learn more about the events surrounding the time and area that they left in the Old Sod.

©2013 Janet Maher / Sinéad Ní Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

References:

Dunphy, Ger and Christy O’Shea, Ballinakill, A Journey Through Time, Freshford, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland: Barnaville Print and Graphics, 2002.

Hayes, William J., “O Meagher, Meagher and Maher – and their dispersal in Tipperary,” Tipperary Historical Journal, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, Ireland: Leinster Leader, Ltd., 1993. Excerpts online.

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).]

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.

From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley – Janet Maher Exhibition

03 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by Janet Maher in Book Signing, Early Irish Catholics in Connecticut, Exhibition, Pilgrimage

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

American Mahers, Ancient Ireland, Baltimore, Connecticut, Creative Alliance, Early Irish History, Irish Catholic History, Irish in Connecticut, Irish in the Civil War, Meagher, New Haven County Connecticut

Thank you to all who came out for the book signing/opening Friday night! I was so happy about the turnout and for the experience of working with Ade Tugbiyele, who so generously did the hanging of the work. Please spread the word that the show will be up and the book available at the Creative Alliance, Baltimore, through March 23. Titles are listed below; pigment prints (2013) on Hahnamuhle Photo Rag Matte paper, R1800 Epson printer, sizes are of images. Canvas and wood pieces priced separately. Our governor and his Irish band will be playing there next weekend and we’ll be back for that. Happy Saint Patrick’s Day to all!

Wall #1, Book and Selected Ireland Photographs

Wall #1, Book and Selected Ireland Photographs

  • Saint Brigid’s Tree, Kildare, 9 1/8″ x 12 1/8″
  • Ballinakill Cemetery, Laois, 7 7/8″ x 9 1/4″
  • Saint Patrick, Maynooth, 11 3/8″ x 8 5/8″
  • Rebel Monument, Shronell Cemetery, Tipperary, 13″ x 10 1/2″
  • Shronell Cemetery, Tipperary, 9 1/4″ x 13″
  • Tullaroan Cemetery, Kilkenny, 8 11/16″ x 11 1/8″
  • Glenadlough Cemetery, Wicklow, 8 5/8″ x 10 15/16″
  • Our Lady of 1798, Monasterevin, 13 3/8″ x 8 9/16″
  • Dunamase Castle Ruin, Laois, 8 15/16″ x 11 7/8″
  • Black Abbey, Kilkenny, 9 1/16″ x 11 5/8″
  • Donaghmore Workhouse, Laois, 9 7/8″ x 15 1/2″
  • Wall of Legends, Tipperary, 8 5/8″ x 8 11/16″
  • McCarthy’s Grave, Saint Patrick Cemetery, Thurles, Tipperary, 9 1/4″ x 11 11/16″
Wall #2 People Photos

Wall #2 People Photos

  • Mystery Child, 8 14/16″ x 8 3/4″
  • Alice Whalen and Friends, 10 1/8″ x 11 3/16″
  • Frank’s Hack, 5 7/ 16″ x 16 1/2″
  • Dennis Whalen and Friends, 10″ x 16 1/16″
  • Woolen Mill, Naugatuck, ca. 1870, 10 1/8″ x 15 7/8″
  • Three Women, 8 1/2″ x 10 7/16″
  • Katherine and Eliza Maher, ca. 1860, 11″ x 8″
  • Mystery Relatives, 13″ x 9 1/4″
  • Joseph Martin and Grandfathers, 7 1/8″ x 12 3/8″
  • Comrades, 8 1/4″ x 11 5/8″
  • Cousins, 8 1/4″ x 11 9/16″
  • Eliza, 9 7/16″ x 12 3/8″
  • The Boys, Naugatuck, 9 1/4″ x 13 3/8″
  • Fuel Ledger, 9″ x 12 15/16″
  • Actor, 8 13/16″ x 15 7/16″
Mixed media collage paintings; pigment prints w/colored pencil and/or paint on wood or canvas, painted edges, sealed with gel medium

Mixed media collage paintings; pigment prints w/colored pencil and/or paint on wood or canvas, painted edges, sealed with gel medium

  • Weavers #2, 2011, 8″ diameter
  • Cousins, 2009, 8″ diameter
  • Irregulars #6, 2009, 8″ diameter
  • Gem Theatre, 2010, 10″ diameter
  • Debating Team, 2009, 8″ diameter
  • Irregulars #2, 2009, 12″ x 9″ oval
  • Celebration, 2009, 10″ diameter
  • Imagined Ancestors #5, 2011, 8″ diameter
  • Lynch’s Farm #2, 2010, 8″ diameter
  • Weavers, 2010, 8″ diameter
Second half of wall #3, Connecticut

Second half of wall #3, Connecticut

  • Fahy Grave, Saint Francis Cemetery, Naugatuck, 11 3/4″ x 8 11/16″
  • Saint Francis Cemetery, Naugatuck, Section H, 8 3/16″ x 12 3/8″
  • Veterans’ Monument, Saint Bernard Cemetery, New Haven, 10 1/4″ x 11 1/8″
  • Irish Priests’ Graves, Saint Mary’s Cemetery, Ansonia, 13″ x 8 15/16″
  • Visitation, 10 3/4″ x 10 1/4″
  • Harp, Tombstone Detail, Saint Bernard Cemetery, New Haven, 9 1/16″ x 10″
  • Grand Army of the Republic Medalion, Saint Francis Cemetery, Naugatuck, 10 1/8″ x 8 5/8″
  • Bronson Stones, Library Park Wall, Waterbury, 7 3/4″ x 11 3/4″
Ade and me at opening, Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD

Ade and me at opening, Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD

©2013 Janet Maher / Sinéad Ní Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

Merry Christmas and Every Other Celebration!

20 Tuesday Dec 2011

Posted by Janet Maher in Connecticut Irish, History, Kilkenny Mahers, New Haven Irish Catholic Immigrants, Origins

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Early Irish History, Irish Catholic History, Irish in Connecticut, Maher, Meagher, Naugatuck Connecticut, Saint Bernard Cemetery, Saint Francis Cemetery, Tombstone Transcriptions

My Book - Coming in January!

Well, the semester has ended, and we did not quite get the book completed. I will be doing much over the break to get it ready and we will have it out by the end of January! A very merry holiday season to you all and many blessings in the new year!

©2011 Janet Maher/Sinéad Ní Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

Ancient Ireland

04 Thursday Aug 2011

Posted by Janet Maher in History, Origins

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Ancient Ireland, Ancient Irish Art & Artifacts, Cormac Mac Art, Maher, Meagher, Milesian Genealogy, Oillioll Olum

Irish Flag Postcard

Irish Flag Postcard from Janet Maher Collection

All great nations with ancient histories in the world had strong oral traditions that kept the culture’s memory alive through poetry and song. In Ireland, the only country whose national symbol is a musical instrument, history is still contained in its musical traditions. Traveling storytellers, the seanachais/shanachies, carried Irish history throughout the landscape, one household hearth at a time. When written language emerged, it was an ecclesiastical skill, and the history of Ireland (and the world) was preserved in the monasteries in exquisite hand-scribed and illustrated handmade books. For many centuries the clergy were the only literate people, having studied abroad for the priesthood. When education was forbidden for Catholics, children were taught secretly in open fields, thus learning to speak, read and write Irish in tandem with learning the history of their country. The arrival of Ireland’s first populations is steeped in mysticism and lore, as much a part of the poetic tradition as the sacred spirit of the place.

Archeologists have determined that during the Middle Stone Age, the Mesolithic period sometime around 9,000-7500 B.C., individuals and small groups began to venture into Ireland, walking over the naturally formed ice bridge between Europe and the northern area that became Scotland. (Eamonn P. Kelly, writing about prehistoric antiquities  for the National Museum of Ireland in 2002 placed the date as about 7000 B.C.) When the ice melted around 6,000 B.C, Ireland became separated from the rest of Europe by the Irish Sea, which was enough of a barrier to protect the island from Roman and other nation’s conquests for many centuries. Ireland was full of forests, minerals and ore deposits, and by about 3,500 B.C. farming settlers had introduced agriculture. The early inhabitants constructed the ceremonial stone circles, monumental stone dolman portal tomb structures and the passage graves of Dowth, Knowth, and Newgrange, which date to about 3000 B.C.  The Hill of Tara, in County Meath, was anciently important to all the clans in Ireland, and its “enclosure of the kings” (Rath na Ri) has been determined to date to about 94 or 95 B.C. (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, pg. 62.) (See images of stone circles and other archealogical sites at Paola Arosio and Diego Meozzi’s web site.)

Dugout canoes, simple boats made of branches covered with stretched animal hides (coracles) and similarly made rowboats that could travel greater distances (currachs), were used from the first century into the twentieth century, particularly on the west coast near the Blasket Islands, which is still fairly remote and where Irish is still spoken. Legend has it that Saint Brendan sailed in A.D. 500 in a currach all the way to the continent that eventually became America.

Exquisite bronze, gold and iron works, examples of which are held in the major museums of Ireland and England, were made surprisingly early. Ornate brooches held capes in place, jewelry (arm bands, collars, earrings, clothing fasteners), decorative weapons and cauldrons, elaborately illustrated monastic texts (Book of Dimma, Book of Kells), handheld bells, missals and jewel encrusted box shrines that contained them were discovered at various times throughout the nineteenth century. An ancient book, the Fadden More Psalter, found preserved in a bog in Tipperary in 2006, is now on display in the National Museum of Ireland.

The collection of antiquities there is stunning, testifying to the extremely high level of Irish craftsmanship that existed even in Neolithic times (3600 – 2800 B.C.) Very thin sheets of gold were fashioned into ornamental round and crescent-shaped discs embossed with geometric patterns, likely worn over clothing as collars signifying rank and status during the Early Bronze Age (c. 2200-1800 B.C.). By the Middle Bronze Age goldsmiths could twist long thin bars into delicate spiral necklaces. In the first century B.C. craftsmen could already work with glass. Delicate as a pod and about the size of a half mango, a small golden boat sculpture (likely representing a currach) is among the treasures attributed to the first century B.C.  Several tiny oars extend from each side, a crossed mast points upward and eight seats span its width. The Museum holds several ornamental shrines and brooches, including the Tipperary and Roscrea Brooches, the Killamery Brooch (Kilkenny) and the magnificent Shrine of Saint Patrick’s Bell (1100 A.D.). The Clonmacnoise Crozier is there (11th century) and the Ardagh and Derrynaflan Chalices (8th and 9th centuries, respectively).

(See Wallace, Patrick F. and Floinn, Raghnall O’ Floinn, editors, Treasures of the National Museum of Ireland, Irish Antiquities, Dublin: Gill & Macmillan Ltd., 2002, and The Faddan More Psalter, Archeaology Ireland, 20 July 2006, National Museum of Ireland.)

Irish artwork of early Medieval times was associated predominantly with the largest group of warrior settlers from Central Europe – the Celts. The term Celt, originates from the Greek term, Keltoi, which referred to those who lived north of Greece. The Romans, whom the Celts conquered in the 4th century, called these people Galli (Gauls). The Gaels (Gaeils, Gaills) were firmly in place in Ireland by 400 AD. The Irish language (Gaelic), which was in existence by 150 A.D., is a mixture of pre-Celtic and Celtic forms of speech. Edward T. O’Donnell explained the different dialects: Brythonic Celtic (P-Celtic) came from Britain and Gaul, which became the languages Welsh and Breton (and the extinct Pictish and Cumbrian languages); Goidelic Celtic (Q-Celtic) was the dialect of those who settled in Ireland and Iberia and became Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx Gaelic.  (O’Donnell, Edward T., 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish American History, New York: Gramercy Books, 2002, pg 6.)

Ireland was divided into the provinces of Munster (Southwest), Leinster (Southeast/East), Connaught (West), Ulster (North) and centralized Meath/Mide, which later became part of Leinster. The areas now contain several counties each, and particular surnames are still associated with them.

The original Irish, rural and tribal, functioned amid complex layers of leadership. Families shared and worked their lands communally using natural fluid land formations as designated perimeters of their properties, which extended great distances. Each of the major Gaelic tribes had their own King, under which were Ruling Lords who oversaw a number of Noble Chieftain families, who in turn had their own subjects. Extended family groups were called tuathas (i.e “people/community”) .

The ruling families employed historians, genealogists, musicians and poets, which comprised Bardic (literary) family groups.  Some families managed ecclesiastical properties (Erenach families); some were physicians and surgeons. Poets (fili) and Druids were among the highest classes and, with their great skills in memorization they held all the oral knowledge of history and science of the time. Brehons (lawyers) settled disputes by mediating laws that were born of Irish wisdom from commonly accepted practices, and the rights of women were considered equally with men. Women continue to be leaders overtly or behind the scenes in Ireland, and they feature among the great heroic tales, particularly of Cúchulainn, Fionn Mac Cumaill, and the Red Branch Warriors. (See Malachy McCourt’s History of Ireland for a seanachai’s style telling of these – Philadelphia and London: Running Press, 2004, pp. 13-26)

Although the various kings and chieftains in the tuathas continually vied for power and property, the Brehon Laws covered non-religious conflicts within the separate petty kingdoms. Every person had an “honor price” based upon their importance in society, and punishments were decided according to the honor prices of both sides in a dispute.

Myths explain the origins of Ireland’s people, which, like any ancient stories that have survived to this day, may have germs of fact involved. The Tuatha de Danann, the Firbolgs, and the Formorians were said to have formed the first races of Ireland. The O’Meaghers descended from the original Gaels, originating with Mileadh/Milesius of Spain, from at least 1700 B.C. or earlier. His three sons, Heremon, Heber, and Ir, were credited with beginning the ancestries of the 150 or so major noble Gaelic families in Ireland. Legend tells that Mil’s sons conquered the earliest inhabitants of Ireland. (See Google Books: A short history of the Irish people from the earliest times to 1920, Mary Teresa Hayden, George Aloysius Moonan. See also Pat Traynor’s transcriptions, Milesian Genealogies from the Annals of the Four Masters.)

The Cinel (descendents) Meachair trace their earliest lineage from Fionnchada, son of Connla, son of Cian, who was killed in the Battle of Samhair in A.D. 241. (O’Meagher, Joseph Casimir, Some Historical Notices of the O’Meaghers of Ikerrin, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., American Edition: NY, 1890, pg. 13.) Cian was the second son of King Oillioll Olum, King of the Provence of Munster in the 3rd Century and Munster’s first absolute King. (Shaw, Antony, compiled by, Portable Ireland, A Visual Reference to All Things Irish, Philadelphia, PA: Running Press, 2002) Oillioll Olum died in A.D. 234. His father was Eoghan Taighlech, also called Owen the Splendid and Magh Nuadhat. Taighlech descended from Milesian’s son, Heber. O’Meagher noted that Eoghan Mor was called Mogh-Nuadadh and was killed by Conn of the 100 Battles. (pg. 199) (For more about Oillioll Olum see Google Books: The History of Ireland, From the Earliest Account of Time To the Invasion of the English Under King Henry II, T. Comerford, Esq., Baltimore: James Scanlon and B. Edes Publishers, 1826.)

According to Kane’s Ancestral Map of Ireland (Kane Strategic Marketing, Inc., P.O. Box 781, Harbor Springs, Michigan, 49740; Limerick, Ireland, 1993), 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). The 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. (Shaw) The Meaghers/Mahers appear on the map within the barony of Ikerrin.

The common ancestor among the various pedigrees in Joseph Casimir O’Meagher’s compilation of pedigrees is Oilioll Oluim. Created by different scribes for important occasions, one pedigree 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. (O’Meagher, pp. 191-199)

Third century King Cormac Mac Art attempted to unite all of Ireland with Tara as its center, but there would be no overarching King of Ireland until Brian Boru overcame the O’Neills in 1005. Boru briefly united all the counties of Ireland by claiming the High Kingship until his death in 1014.

Among the surnames with noble ancient Gaelic roots for three categories of privilege that I have compiled from Kanes’ Ancestral Map of Ireland for the counties of Tipperary, Kilkenny and Queens (Leix/Laois) were the following: (Note that “O” or “Fitz” before a surname means “grandson of” and “Mc/Mac” before a surname means “son of.”)

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 (Fassadinen 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

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

While it is impossible for anyone today to genealogically prove their lineage back to ancient Ireland, appreciating the long reach of some clans’ emotional ties to their homeland may help, by extension, to put in context the rebellious feelings that many had toward the waves of newcomers who displaced them, became their landlords, and/or forced their own ancestors to permanently flee to other countries or relocate to barren parts of the island.

Recommended Reading:

Chambers, Anne, Ireland’s Pirate Queen, The True Story of Grace O’Malley, New York: MJF Books, 2003.

©2011 Sinéad Ní Mheachair (Janet Maher)

All Rights Reserved

Oath of Allegiance

31 Sunday Jul 2011

Posted by Janet Maher in History

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Tags

Irish Catholic History, Maher, Meagher, Oath of Allegiance

Saint Patrick, Maynooth

Saint Patrick, Maynooth, July 2011

In 1774 the Irish parliament passed an act that would allow Catholics (“Papists”) to swear their loyalty to the King. Several clergy took the oath, while others adamantly refused. Between 1774 and 1793 Catholic Relief Acts were passed to reverse some of the Penal Laws. The acts, however, applied only to those who had taken the oath. According to Joseph Casimir O’Meagher,* Mahers who signed the Oath of Allegiance under King George III, thus appearing on the Catholic Qualification Rolls included:

Kilkenny: William Maher (Freshford,1793); John Maher (Freshford, 1793); John Maher (Nicholastown, 1794)

Naas: James Maher (Kildare, 1794)

Queen’s County, Clonburr (Maryboro): Patrick Maher (1796); Thomas Maher (1796); John Maher (1796); William Maher (1796); John Maher (1796, 2nd)

Queen’s County, Maryboro Sessions: Daniel Maher (Park, 1794); Maher (Middlemount, 1795); Philip (Ballinlough, 1796)

Queen’s County, Portarlington: William Maher (Ossory, 1796)

Queen’s County, Rathdowney Sessions: Timothy Maher (Garryduff, 1795); James Maher (Rathdowney, 1796)

Queen’s County, Stradbally: Timothy Maher (1795)

Tipperary, Clonmell: Timothy Magher, Innholder (1793); Pierce Meagher, M.D. (1793); Thomas Meagher, gentleman (Annacoty, 1793); Martin Maher (Boulibane, 1793)

Tipperary, Clonmel Assizes: Daniel Meagher, farmer (Boulak, 1794); John Meagher, farmer (Boulak, 1794); James Meagher, carpenter (Fethard, 1794)

Tipperary, Thurles Sessions: Nicholas Maher, Esq. (1793); Gilbert Meagher, gentleman (Loughmoe, 1793); Charles Meagher, farmer (Loughmoe, 1793); Edmond Meagher, gentleman (Clonmekk, 1793); William Meagher, gentleman (Thurles, 1793); Martin Maher (Clonmore, 1793); Thomas Maher (Killigler, 1793); Meagher, farmer (Templetouhy, 1793); Patrick Meagher, farmer (Templetouhy, 1793); Matthew Meagher, farmer (Bawnmore, 1793); John Meagher, farmer (Cranna, 1793); Martin Meagher, farmer (1793); Cornelius Meagher, farmer (1793); Daniel Meagher, farmer (Tullow McJames, 1793)

Waterford, Lismore: William Meagher (Dungarvan, 1794); Richard Magher, mariner (Dungarvan, 1794); Richard Maher, M.D. (Waterford, 1798); Edmond Magher, victualler (Tullow, 1798)

Wexford, Ferns: Edmond Meagher (Castletown, 1794)

Wicklow: John Meagher, farmer (Morrestown, 1793), Denis Meagher, farmer (Morrestown, 1793)

*O’Meagher, Joseph Casimir, Some Historical Notices of the O’Meaghers of Ikerrin, American Edition, 1890, pp. 115-117)

Recommended Reading, Novels:

Frank Delaney, Ireland, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2005; Tipperary, New York: Random House, 2007; Shannon, New York: Random House, 2009.

John Maher, The Luck Penny, Britain and Ireland: Brandon, 2007.

Edward Rutherford, The Princes of Ireland, The Dublin Saga, New York: Ballentine Books, 2004; The Rebels of Ireland, The Dublin Saga, New York: Doubleday, 2006.

©2011 Janet Ní Mheachair (Janet Maher)

All Rights Reserved

Ikerrin Origins

29 Friday Jul 2011

Posted by Janet Maher in Origins

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Tags

Ikerrin, Irish Midland Ancestry, Maher, Meagher

Rock of Dunamase

Rock of Dunamase, July 2011

In ancient times the land divisions of Ireland were very different from the way they appeared in post-Norman centuries, when a modern sense of town layout and clear parameters had been established. Ikerrin (Ui Cairin), an area extending between Munster and Leinster, was localized as the northeast corner of Tipperary with land subtracted into King’s and Queen’s Counties in 1556 by Queen Mary, creating Offaly and Laois, respectively. Just over the border of both Tipperary and Laois is the county of Kilkenny. Towns within and between all these counties are easy to reach by car and were likely commonly traveled by foot, horse and cart or bicycle centuries ago. The sept, or clan, Meachair/O’Meagher originated in Ikerrin.  Its primary town, anciently called Muscraighetire, where the barony of lower Ormond (Butler) became situated, was called Ros Cré (“Wood of Cre”) now Roscrea, Tipperary.

A landmark in the area, which can clearly be seen from the Rock of Cashel, is the gap in the Slieve Bloom Mountains called “The Devil’s Bit,” near Templemore, Tipperary. Lore explains the nickname from a story that the devil, frustrated that he could not tempt the devout residents of the area, took a bite out of the mountain and spit it eastward, forming the foundation of the Rock of Cashel. A second version of the story attributes the removed portion as having formed the base, instead, of the Rock of Dunamase in Laois (Queen’s County). A gift from Leinster King Diarmuid mac Murchada (Dermot MacMurrough) to Strongbow (Richard fitz Gilbert de Clare) as part of the agreement that opened the door to the Normans’ entry into Ireland, this castle was destroyed by Oliver Cromwell in the mid 17th century.

View From Dunamase

View From Dunamase, July 2011

In 470 A.D. Saint Patrick was said to have traveled to Muscraighetire to preach, and he baptized three grandsons of Conla, “men of power,” from the clan that became Meagher (the Irish spelling of the surname spelled several other ways based upon various pronunciations and family traditions). Furic, Muinnech, and Mechair were given blessings by Saint Patrick that their clan would produce chieftains forever and be in the companionship of a king.  (Joseph Casimir O’Meagher, Some Historical Notices of the O’Meaghers of Ikerrin, 1890, pg. 14)

Saint Cronan founded a monastery in Ros Cré in 606, called Inchinamo. Ruins of the Irish Romanesque abbey are near the Saint Cronan Church. The original sandstone church had a round tower, a carved high cross, medallions and other relief carvings depicting knots, Noah’s Ark, and the first abbot. In the 8th century another monastery near Roscrea, Inchanambeo, was founded on an island. This church lasted at least to the early 12th century when it was mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters. A cell within Inchanambeo was called Toome.

Joseph Casimir O’Meagher related that from this area came the 17th century Book of Dimma, in the collection of Trinity College in Dublin, which is a copy of the 654 A.D. Book of Gospels from the Abbey of Roscrea. The book is understood to have been the property of the parish priest of Roscrea, whose nephew, Rev. Philip Meagher, was the Vicar General of Cashel and Emly. The shrine (elaborate enclosure/box) for the book was made in the 12th century. The white bronze highly decorated Ikerrin Brooch, similar to the brooches in the National Museum of Ireland – Archeaology in Dublin, is in the collection of the Royal Irish Academy. Also in this collection are two portions of ancient bronze trumpets found in Roscrea. In 1692 a highly decorated gold cap considered to have been a Meagher crown was found in a bog by the Devil’s Bit, documented in Abbé MacGeorghegan’s Histoire d’Irlande. O’Meagher attempted to discern its whereabouts and decided that it had likely been melted down. (pp. 13, 124 -127)

The O’Meaghers owned many castles throughout Munster and Leinster associated with abbeys or churches and there were many notable members of the clergy in the sept. The Mahers commonly intermarried with members of the Butler dynasty, which ensured some degree of survival, if not financial security in difficult times. Almost all Gaelic families had lost their property by the seventeenth century either through inter-tribal battles, English confiscation, banishment from Ireland before or after the devastating conquest of Cromwell, or through dispersion, willingly or unwillingly, throughout the southern counties of Ireland and the world.

The name Maher is still primarily associated with Tipperary, although it extends into Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, Carlow, Waterford, and elsewhere. All Mahers, wherever they may have put down new roots over the many centuries, and no matter how their name is spelled today, essentially originated in Ikerrin, although ancestry directly leading back through the ancient generations is, of course, impossible. As one of the noble ancient Gaelic families, pedigrees were created for the surname, and O’Meagher included several of them in his exhaustive research (pp. 191-205). I consider his book, Some Historical Notices of the O’Meaghers of Ikerrin, to be the bible about Maher, a first resource in beginning to study the ancestry of the name. It is in the Public Domain and available printed on demand through Amazon.

©2011 Janet Ní Mheachair (Janet Maher)

All Rights Reserved

Fáilte!

27 Wednesday Jul 2011

Posted by Janet Maher in Welcome

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Irish Genealogy, Irish in Connecticut, Maher, Meagher

Maher/Meagher is an ancient Gaelic Irish surname that extends through the arrival of the Vikings and Normans, actively appearing in Irish history ever forward to the present. My own extensive study of the Maher clan both in New Haven County, Connecticut and in Ireland has grown greatly since 2006, extending sideways into the time and circumstances in which our ancestors lived before and after their emigrations. My family’s connection to the Butler clan has led me to also research the phenomenon of the Anglo-Irish, which inevitably revolves around the issue of Catholicism. Gaelic Irish Catholicism, governed by the Brehon Laws, within which priests could marry, women had significant power, and divorce was allowed, was greatly changed through English influence. Methodical colonization and conquest resulted in the loss of ancestral Irish lands and a nation’s civil rights as religion was used as a weapon against the native people.

A recent pilgrimage to the land of my ancestors, the midlands of Ireland, has convinced me to offer some of my research in a blog format. Here I may explain in one place what I have found myself repeatedly attempting to share with others. Countless hours of study and miles of travel have resulted in an office full of information that must somehow be published. I intend to do this responsibly, with the goal of enabling others to progress without having to recreate their own wheels, as it has seemed that I have had to do. Here I will not need to worry that my writing is too long, too scholarly, does not fit a particular style, or is too Maher-oriented, and those who are interested in the topic will no doubt find me.

René Daumal explained in his allegorical Mount Analogue (Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1974, pg.116) the importance of providing guideposts for others as one trail blazes a chosen mountain. While it is critical to leave clues along the way to aid in one’s own return, it is also important to remove any marks that might confuse someone else who might follow one’s path. “Be ready to answer to your fellow men for the trail you leave behind you,” he urged. With that in mind I will be careful to share that which seems pertinent to the general focus I have established, will serve a general interest, and will illuminate the paths I have taken to arrive where I have.

In gratitude to those who have served as guides for me I offer this blog. I hope that it will advance others’ research and perhaps one day circle back into mine. We who do genealogical research become experts about our own lines, usually to about the level of second great grandparents. If one’s Irish ancestors have historically been Catholic, the search for data is particularly difficult. However, for those researching a particular surname, area and time period, I am convinced that if we collectively get back far enough the connections will appear. May we continue to find them and, most importantly, enjoy the process!

©2011 Janet Ní Mheachair (Janet Maher)

All Rights Reserved

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