This month we are featuring the families of our new Taoiseach [Prime Minister] Albert Reynolds, and our previous Taoiseach Charles Haughey. Both names are Gaelic in origin and both exemplify the interesting variation in name-forms which can occur in the change of Gaelic names to an anglicized form.
Although Reynolds is also an English name of Norman origin, almost all of the Irish Reynolds are derived from the Gaelic name MacRaghnaill which means “Son of Ragnall,” a form of Fandal or Reginald.
The name is most commonly anglicized as Reynolds, but it also occurs as Mac-Rannal and Grannell. The MacRaghnaill or Reynolds family were a prominent clan in the southern half of County Leitrim where they held the territory of Moylish, which included their castles at Lough Scur and Rinn. The old archives record their ancient rivalry with the neighboring O’Rourkes. The Reynolds ghosts will no doubt be pleased that when Ireland’s recently elected Taoiseach Albert Reynolds, chose his new cabinet, one of the ministers who lost their positions was one Mary O’Rourke!
The Reynolds clan were strong supporters of James Il in his campaign against William of Orange. Lieutenant Morgan Reynolds, Captain Edward Reynolds and Ensign Turlough Reynolds were members of the Jacobite army. These nationalist Reynolds would no doubt have had strong words to say to their notorious kinsman Thomas Reynolds (1771-1836).
Although he was a member of the rebel United Irishmen, and the brother-in-law of their leader Wolfe Tone, he became an informer and gave the British the vital information which allowed the entire Leinster leadership of the movement to be arrested and thus effectively put an end to the 1798 rebellion as it was planned Among the interesting Irish Reynolds are George Nugent Reynolds (1770-1802) who was born in Leitrim and became a famous songwriter and poct. He also wrote a short musical Bantry Bay, which was performed in Covent Garden, London. James Emerson Reynolds (1844-1920) was a Dublin medical doctor who abandoned a medical career to devote himself to chemistry, and achieved great distinction as a researcher and educationalist in that discipline.
Because there is also a family of Reynolds of English extraction, it is often difficult to tell the origin of the American Reynolds. However, among those whose Irish ancestry is well established are John Reynolds (1778-1865) who was born in Pennsylvania of Irish parents, but moved as a child to Illinois. He set up a law practice and embarked on a career as a politician. He effected this by what the Dictionary of National Biography describes (in a rare moment of levity) as “courting the farmers with his Irish Blarney.” He was elected Governor of Illinois in 1830. Among other things in his interesting career he wrote many books including My Own Times (1855) and Pioneer History of Illinois (1852). John Fulton Reynolds (1820-1863), whose grandfather was from Ireland, was a distinguished career soldier who was awarded honors for gallantry at the Battles of Buena Vista and even before the Civil War began. In that war he fought in many of the main engagements. He was killed by a sharpshooter at Gettysburg, where he commanded the left flank of the Union army.
William Reynolds (1815-1879), a brother of the above John, opted for a naval career. Among his exploits was a trip to the South Seas with Wilkes, during which he was the first to discover the Antarctic peak which now bears his name. Retiring from the navy due to ill health, he returned during the Civil War, and commanded the Naval Depot in Port Royal North Carolina for its duration.
The name Haughey is another Gaelic name, in this case deriving from the Irish O’hEachaidh. The clan were prominent in both Donegal and Armagh. The name has been anglicized in several forms in different areas and is now found as Haughey, Haffey, Hoy and Hoey. The family were very prominent in Ulster, and several were Kings of Ulster, until the end of the 12th century when they were subdued by their kinsmen the McDunlevys.
The name does not feature prominently among the biographies of Irish, or indeed Irish-American notables. However, one that is now certain to enter lists of Irish biographies is the recently retired Taoiseach of Ireland Charles Haughey. Born in Castlebar, County Mayo in 1925 and raised in Dublin, he led Ireland’s largest party, Fianna Fail, for 12 years, during which time he was one of the most controversial leaders of the party and country. Although American lists of notables do not feature a Haughey, it is probable that Margaret Haughery (1811-1882) bore a variant of this name. She was born Margaret Gaffney in Cavan and moved to the United States as a child, and later became Margaret Haughery by marriage. After the death of her Irish husband and small child, she started a dairy in New Orleans and through her natural shrewdness she greatly developed this business, and later a bakery. She devoted all of her resultant wealth to the maintenance of orphan children, and built and maintained three orphan homes, holding 600 children. She is commemorated by a statue standing in Margaret Place, named in her honor.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the March 1992 issue of Irish America. ♦
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