Irish America
Irish America
The O'Briens are one of the great Gaelic families of Ireland, and were the rulers of the ancient kingdom of Thomond, which takes in much of the modern county Clare and also the adjacent parts of counties Limerick and Tipperary. The family name is derived from Brian Boru (925-1014 A.D.) who was King of Thomond and rose to become High King of Ireland. Brian Boru is best … [Read more...] about Roots: The O’Briens
The names O'Byrne and O'Beirne (or Byrne and Beirne) are often regarded as variants of the same name, much to the annoyance of the less-common Beirnes. In fact, the names spring from totally different sources. O'Byrne is derived from the Gaelic O'Broin, meaning "descended from Bran," an 11th century King of Leinster. The O'Byrnes were chieftains of what is now County Kildare … [Read more...] about Roots: Byrnes and O’Beirnes
The families of McMahon and O’Mahoney are related only by the common derivation of their names from the Irish name Mahon (in Gaelic Mathuna) which was a personal name, meaning a bear. The O’Mahoney or Mahony name is derived from Mathuna, a grandson of Brian Boru. The family were the Eoganacht, the regal dynasty of Munster and were one of the most prominent of West Munster. … [Read more...] about Roots: O’Mahoney, McMahon and Vaughan
The Connolly family are an ancient sept of Ireland's western province of Connacht. The Gaelic form of the name is O'Conghaile. The original sept dispersed and in time three separate families developed based in Cork, Meath and Monaghan. However, the name is mainly found in Monaghan and in its native Connaught where it is sometimes spelled Connelly. There is also an unrelated … [Read more...] about Roots: The Connolly Family
There are several different septs of the O'Neills in County Clare (where the name is also spelled O'Nihill), in Waterford and in Carlow. The most famous of the O'Neills, however, are the O'Neills of Tyrone, in the province of Ulster. The name in Gaelic means descendant of Neil or Niall, which was, and still is, a popular personal name in Ireland. In the U.S. the name is … [Read more...] about Roots: The O’Neill Family
