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Monaghan Clans
Monaghan was part of the Gaelic Kingdom of Oriel which dates back
to around 330 AD. Oriel later became known as Mac Mahons Country
and remained so until the 17th Century. Common family names in the
17th Century also included O'Duffy, McCabe, McWard, O'Callan, McCallan,
O'Boylan, O'Finnegan, O'Cassidy and McPhilip. The predominant families
in the region at this time were the McArdles, O'Connollys and Mc
Kennas.
Monaghan was a highly densely populated area of Ireland in the
mid 1800, but population declined significantly during the famine.
The population dropped by almost a third between 1841 and 1851,
and continued to fall as emigrants left the country over the following
decades. However other family names which have survived to date
include, McGowan, Smith, Finnegan, Duffy, Hughes, Markey, McGough
and Mulligan.
Principal Names
The following information was taken from http://scripts.ireland.com/ancestor/magazine/articles/ir_monaghan.htm
written by Willie O Kane
As to be expected, there is a great variety of family names in
Monaghan, mainly of native Ulster origin, although in the Ulster
Plantation many Scots and English settlers arrived in the county.
Prominent Monaghan names, in no particular numerical order, are
McMahon, McKenna, Hughes, McCabe, Smith, Kelly, Maguire, Murray,
Woods, O'Connolly, Duffy, Leslie, Hamiliton and Shirley.
McKenna
A very numerous Monaghan name, McKenna comes from Mac Cionaoith,
a Meath sept who came into Ulster as swordsmen for the Fir Leamtha
of Clogher. Refusing to pay rents on their lands after 1606, the
McKennas were dispossessed and several branches moved north and
east to Derry and Down. The last chief of the name was Patrick McKenna
(died 1616 near Emyvale), and one of the most famous bearers since
was Juan MacKenna (1771-1814), who with Bernardo O'Higgins took
part in the liberation of Chile. Some McKennas became known as McKinney,
although in Ulster most of the latter name are descended from Scottish
settlers.
Hughes
Most bearers of this name are from the Ulster sept O hAodha (descendants
of Hugh), who were mainly concentrated in parts of north Tyrone
and Donegal. In Monaghan, a closely related variant, O hAoidh, became
Hoey. Hughes was also a common surname in England and Wales from
the Middle Ages, and the name was borne by many seventeenth century
settlers in Ireland.
MacMahon
MacMahon is one of the top five names in Monaghan. The Clan MacMahon
is descended from The Three Collas, brothers who were nephews of
the High King of Ireland. They ruled a portion of Ireland consisting
of Counties Monaghan, Armagh and parts of Fermanagh, Louth and Tyrone.
Their descendents were to rule this part of Ireland, the kingdom
of Oriel, for 1300 years.
They were among the leaders of the Catholic Confederacy of the mid-seventeenth
century, during which the last MacMahon chief, Hugh, and Heber MacMahon,
Bishop of Clogher, were executed. In the 18th Century three MacMahon
Bishops of Clogher went on to become Primates of all Ireland; they
were Hugh MacMahon, (died 1737), and his nephews Bernard, (died
1747) and Ross Rod, (died 1748).
McCabe
The sixth most common name in Monaghan, McCabes are descended from
Scottish gallowglass who, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries,
fought for the O'Reillys and O'Rourkes of Breffny. They were also
in the service of MacMahon and became a prominent family around
Monaghan town. In common with many other families they lost their
lands after the Williamite Wars at the end of the 17th Century,
although remaining a widespread name in the county.
Barones and Estates
Monaghan in the Mid Nineteenth Century was made up of 5 Barones
- Trough, Monaghan, Dartree, Cremore and Farney and a number of
estates made up of Shirley, Bath, Lennard, Leslie, Templetown, Hope,
Rossmore and Lucas amongst others. (Taken
from Common Ground by PJ Duffy, 1988)
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