Genelach Dáil Cuinn Project™ Forum

I hope everyone in the group is doing well!

I've been doing a lot of work with FT130287 for several months, which currently is just one individual besides myself, a Mr. Paul Gorry. I've been hoping for some more "cell mates" the past year but it's really been a lost 12+ months in the A5902+ group, there was a big boost of upgrading to BigY in late '19 and the Magauran branches developed very well. Myself and Paul Gorry matched in December of '19 and until that point I had taken my McLain paternal surname for it's popular anglicization, MacGiollaEain, and assumed that some Maclean gallowglass had found their way to the Westmeath/Offaly border from Breifne where they were very numerous. My McLains were anglicans in Clara, Co. Offaly c1770, held the occupation of glaziers & carpenters, but surnames in their marriages in Dublin city where they continuously went back-and-forth to seem to indicate they were probably in Tullamore prior to this, c1725-1770 if not Clara (but definitely this area nonetheless, coinciding with catholic records as well). There were so little records of McLains in the area, I had always assumed they had come from somewhere else but my match with Mr. Gorry, which if the current estimation of 81 years per significant SNP are correct, makes our TMRCA in the late 12th century.

As distant as Gorry and I are, his ancestors also emerge from the same area, specifically Kilbeggan-Tullamore in the late 18th c.; A more in-depth analysis of Gorrys in the area (which was much more simple and straight-forward because there wasn't a dozen ways to butcher this name) reveal that the surname was rather specific to the barony of Moycashel, Co. Westmeath, and probably associated with the Mageoghegans. Tullamore developed as a rather large town by 1700 and likely pulled a lot of people from Moycashel as well as other surrounding areas. I'm attaching several images here because using http to embed them does not seem to work on this forum.

Gorry RC Marriages (from johngrenham.com)
(See Image 1: Gorry RC Marriages) The Gorry surname probably isn't all that old, and our common ancestors were likely not a Gorry (O'Guaire: Descendant of the Nobleman) or a McLain.

Upon trying to develop what's called an "Ancient Farming Cluster" of McLains in this area, I became very perplexed. There seems to have been three different surnames here which anglicized to variants of Callane, Kellean, Clane, Clain, Killane, etc. And after becoming well-versed with the Elizabethan Fiants and seeing how prefixes of gaelic surnames could fluxuate, and O-prefix names gave rise to Mac-prefix names and vice versa, I came to the conclusion that there was probably a point in time where they may have both meant the same thing. Or an O-prefix name could drop the prefix and then re-gaelicize with a Mac and vice versa. I had to gather my thoughts and realize that I would probably not only never figure this out, as it became more and more apparent that the McLains probably were not MacGiollaEain. The surnames in question were O'Cilleain, O'Cathalain, and MacCeallachain which seem to cross paths with eachother, and their anglicized variants became almost indistinguishible.

After spending months digging up absolutely every thing I could on all of these families, I believe I have sorted it out and after trying to disprove each working theory, I am almost certain that the surname O'Cathalain (which anglicized as Cahalane, Cahalen, Callan, and Callane) developed an alias of MacCathalain (MacCallan, MacCallane) somewhere in the vicinity of Durrow, near the abbey where this family was associated since about 1400 in the territory of the Mageoghegans.

I used every single McClane variant to create a johngrenham-like map of Early 19th c. householders from marriages & baptisms. Unfortunately the only parish that denoted townland addresses was Kilcleagh (Moate), and using the RC parishes and their boundaries (which unfortunately were joint parishes, so narrowing down exact locations is not do-able, but you can still get an idea of the population)
McClane Households:
(Image 2: McClane Households Map) The people in Clara were mostly my anglican ancestors who by 1860 were the only McLains in this area and became more toward the more numerous of the McLains. Spotty parish records with missing decades make this very tough, but remarkably it doesnt look all that different from the Gorry map. I decided to do the same for the O'Cathalain variants, and again I get a similar geographic result with a larger and older surname.

(Image 3: O'Cathalain Households) Compiling records for O'Cathalain may have revealed the missing link. A McCalen marriage in Tullamore-Durrow and a McCallin baptism in Kilbeggan. As Kilbeggan was adjoining to Durrow, its likely this could be one family just one or two townlands apart in Moycashel barony, Co. Westmeath. An interesting historical note as it pertains to the "salient" shape of the border around Durrow: Durrow Abbey and it's surrounding lands & rectories were originally in "Mageoghegan's Country" who were custodians of the abbey in what became Moycashel barony. But some time before the 1540 dissolution by Henry VIII, Durrow's prior was one Con O'Molloy, who was granted all lands around the abbey. When Westmeath was shired in the following decade, Durrow was left out as it was belonging to the O'Molloy family, who were chiefly in what became the barony of Ballycowan, Co. Offaly.

(Continuing in a Reply Message as I've reached limit of attachments)

Scouring the Elizabethan Fiants and Papal Registers concerning Ireland, I've come across not only the O'Cathalain assocation with Durrow, but what I believe is some evidence further supporting the presence of a MacCathalain alias surname, which it looks like the scholars have never identified or come across.
The geographical extent of the medieval records, to me seems rather identical with the surname clusters developed by parish records.

At first, I discounted the "James M'Lyne", i thought it may have been possible he was a Mag Fhloinn which were very numerous in southern Westmeath. But dissecting the 1570 fiant of Conly Mageoghegan and his kerns and gentry, there were several O'Breanainns of Adamstown spelled "O Brynan", so it seems whichever english authority was writing this document was substituting the y for an ea or an ai. Somehow this James M'Leane (very likely James McCallane) became a proprietor/gentleman farmer collecting rents from tenants in Rahinmore (again a church connection may come into play). As you can see, there is a McKalen in Ballagh, an area that sways several times between the Mageoghegan and O'Melaghlin. The carpenter William O'Cahelan is very interesting to me, as I had the theory that the building trades may have been a medieval occupation of my ancestors (Glazing specifically was an ecclesiastical profession; A glazier was employed by a church or abbey and lived on the demesne lands). The Neile O'Callane pardoned in 1568 was also Nyal O'Callan in 1559, also a kern in Lissanisky (very close to Clara and also, Kilbride abbey was on this land). He was pardoned again in 1578 and noted as an "Idle man of war, a tenant and follower of Brasal Fox of Lehinch". This man was clearly what was called a "retained kern" or a "household kern", which was a high hereditary status in gaelic Ireland. This entire family seems to have some type of "More than tenant farmer" status, which may have been the basis of the McLains being successful merchants, carpenters, glazier, police officers and military men in the 18th/19th centuries. Although the following records may be coincidence and I can't make a connection here, the "back and forth" to Dublin may have been going on for quite some time:

Dublin city Freemen:
Patrick Calane, currier, Aug 27 1688, Admitted by Fine
Ffrancis Callon, joiner, Michaelmas 1695, Admitted by Act of Parliament
Willus Callen, joiner, Michaelmas 1684, Admitted by Act of Parliament
Owinus Callan, mason, Easter 1600, Admitted by Service.

I think rather than take McLain for the accepted variant of MacGiollaEain, I may have built up sufficient evidence that may prove otherwise. That there was a surname of MacCallan/MacCallane, which anglicized from the gaelic MacCathalain, an alias of O'Cathalain that existed in this area, which was associated with Durrow abbey and the Mageoghegans, and that it's presence missed the attention of scholars like Rev. Woulfe.

A longtime association with Durrow and the church may explain how this A5902 outlier branch came to be in this area so early. Durrow lies on the Slighe Mor (great highway) of Eskers that cross the middle of Ireland. The Ulster Annals in the centuries after Durrow is founded refer to the people here as "the community of Dearwach", as opposed to some family name, lordship or Tuath like when they mention other groups of people. Perhaps this is a clue that there were a vast amount of outsiders here or people that were not related/kin.

Our TMRCA is in the timeframe of the Norman invasion (another reason for population movement which could explain it), but what is interesting is that although all of the Kingdom of Meath had been subjugated by Hugh DeLacy and the Normans, the area around Durrow may have remained a gaelic stronghold. In 1186 after building a castle at Ardnurcher, deLacy moved south and started to built a castle at Durrow next to the abbey. The Irish, although totally dispossessed and subjugated would not let this new incursion stand. A foster son of the Fox named O'Muaidh, posed as a mason and went to ask deLacy a question and swifly beheaded him with an axe and fled to the woods around Clara. The gaelic families in the area at this time essentially had the status of "bandits in the woods", probably separated from Norman Meath by the Brosna River that ran through Clara and Kilbeggan until they started to push the settlers out in 1300 after a century of raiding. Myself and Gorry could have some unknown paternal ancestor in the area of Durrow abbey.

Chris,

Fantastic work!

And yes, there are limits with this forum software package to attachment sizes. I did not know there was a limit to post size too.

FYI, if I am remembering this correctly, the Geoghegan and Molloy are Uí Néill, Cenél Fiachach. It would be interesting to learn one day how Uí Briúin Bréifne men pushed into Uí Néill, Cenél Fiachach territory.

Thanks David! that is correct, and the other families in the area with their own tuaths (Fox, O'Melaghlin, O'Breen) were also Southern Ui Niall to a another degree. If the O'Cathalain's involvement in the church went back far enough, the link may be Clonmacnoise on the Shannon, which probably had a lot of incoming Connachta families. It seems the Shannon was more of a conduit than a boundary. Linguistically the gaelic families in southern Westmeath spoke with Connacht dialects, and the Southern Ui Niall being of the Connactha dynasty themselves may have had old alliances or connections. For instance the Ó h-Uiginn who were proprietors in both Moycashel and Kilcoursey, had been partially displaced at some point and had lands in Sligo with some connection to the O Conchobhar but I cannot find a timeframe for that.

Chris,

AFAIK, we have not seen any Ó Conchobair Sligig (O’Conor Sligo) test results. It would be interesting to see if they do match the O’Conor Don as R1b-BY18115+, as the genealogies say they should. But, we are seeing the Uí Briúin Aí Y-DNA is not following the genealogies exactly, anyway. And we MAY be seeing a major discrepancy with one of the key Uí Fiachrach families. This could have a bearing on what you are seeing; but it is too early to say much about the Uí Fiachrach yet.

However, the Uí Briúin Aí, Síl Muiredaig genealogies appear badly corrupted. The split between the Cland Indrechtaig (Ó Conchobair, etc.) and the Cland Cathail (Ó Flandacaín, etc.), 2 of the recorded sons of Muiredach Muillethan, happened MUCH earlier than the ~700 AD time frame that is recorded. However, I did find a genealogy by H. T. Knox that shows Eógan Sríab had TWO sons: Muiredach Máel and Cathal. But I cannot find his source for that. Nonetheless, it certainly would explain what the Y-DNA is showing. YFull discovered a mutation that MAY be the umbrella clade for the Uí Briúin Aí, just like R1b-A260 is for the the Uí Briúin Seóla and Uí Briúin Bréifne. We have 2 men from different lines testing for this mutation at YSEQ now. It will interesting to see how this develops.

Again, great work. And yes, we are finding significant families that were never recorded for whatever reasons. Still, despite the discrepancies we are uncovering, the genealogies are still fairly correct in the main.

There must be some corrupted genealogies here as well, although it's a far reach in too distant a timeframe, there was an ancestor of the O'Sionnagh (Fox) buried in Durrow named Cathalain whose grave slab is now inside the church and reads "OR DO CHATALAN" (Pray for Cathalain). He lived c1030-c1140. It could be that there was a power-marriage with some Connactha and the woman already had children from *somewhere else*, or that the lore of this man turned into a favored given name later on in families that originated around Durrow.

The O'Sionnach were actually a part of the Cenel Maini and sometimes were referred to as the "Eastern Hy Many", the western Cenel Maini being the O'Ceallagh west of the Shannon seated in Roscommon. The Kingdom of "Teathbae", proper, as far as I can tell once comprised all of the Cenel Maini, east and west of the shannon but eventually probably by the 10th c. AD it had become a sub-kingdom of Meath consisting of what is today southern Longford, western Westmeath, and northern Offaly. So there was probably some significant Connacht connection into the early medieval period. Whether O'Cathalain was first associated with Eastern Cenel Maini and became more numerous in Cenel Fiachach, or vice versa is tough to tell. The Fox submitted to the Mageoghegan in 1526 after a long period of military defeats, plague outbreaks, lack of male heirs etc, where they were relegated to obscurity from a once-powerful status. In some of the earlier 1560s fiants I came across, the Fox's country (Kilcoursey barony) is for a time, a part of Westmeath, as the "Plantation of King's County" at the time only consisted of lands of O'Connor Phaly in eastern Offaly. The MacCoghlans, O'Melaghlins O'Molloys, and Magawleys had not yet submitted in Elizabeth I's Surrender-and-regrant scheme.

"From Tadhghán the line of descent of the Ó Sionnaigh ancestors is: Beag, Conchúir, Breasal, Cearnachan, and then Cathalán and his son Catharnach. The last two are the most important, since they are only about four generations from the beginning of the use of Ó Sionnaigh as a surname, although neither of them were Kings of Teathbha. Cathalán’s grave slab still exists at Darú (Durrow) today, inscribed in Latin “OR DO CATALAN”. Although little of known of him he most likely lived in the mid-to-late 11th century (between 1030 and 1140 six descendants of his brother Muireaghán served as Kings of Teathbha). His son Catharnach was alive around the year 1000 AD and himself had two sons, Muireadhach and Fogharthach. It is from Muireadhach that the Ó Catharnaigh (later anglicized to Kearney) family is derived, and he and his son Cú Chachaí were Kings of Teathbha. From the other son, Fogharthach, the Ó Sionnaigh family descends; Fogharthach had at least three sons, of whom one was named Tadhgh.

This Tadhgh not only became King of Teathbha, but is among the first two individuals in this dynastic line to have been referred to in the annals as Sionnach, “Fox”: in the record of his violent death in 1086 AD he is called, “The Sionnach Fionn, that is, Tadhgh Ó Catharnaigh…”

Maybe there's some relevance to it, as O'Guaire (descendant of the noble man) could refer to some family tanistry at some point in time.

Chris,

Yes, there appears to have been some massive conflation between the Uí Maini and the Cenél Maini. Firstly, the chieftain Uí Maini lines of the Ó Cellaig (O’Kelly) and Ó Madadáin (O’Madden) are not Dál Cuinn. They split off before R1b-M222, much less R1b-DF104. Further, various other Uí Maini families are giving signs of actually being Uí Fiachrach Aidne and Uí Briúin Seóla genetically.

Secondly, there is a lot of question as to whether Maine son of Niall Noígíallach ever existed, so it is unclear who the progenitor of the Cenél Maini actually was. AFAIK, we have no Fox or other Cenél Maini surnames under R1b-ZZ87, which gives strong evidence of being the Uí Néill umbrella clade. So the veracity of the Cenél Maini remains in doubt.

We do have the large Ó Maíl Muada (O’Molloy) cluster under R1b-ZS8379, so there is some solid evidence for the Uí Néill, Cenél Fiachach. But some O’Higgins and Mageoghan surnames under there, which currently there are not, would corroborate things greatly.

So yes, we have a lot of genealogical snarls to untangle, but again, the genealogies are still more often correct than not.

Submitted as a backup for myself, but in an effort to narrow down locations of parish records with no addresses, I cross-referenced spouse's names and sponsors in tithe books, griffith's, and other parish records and was able to come up with a more specific householders index, it actually came together with a much tighter cluster than I thought it would and created several "adjoining townlands" possible farming clusters, and may confirm that McClane and McCallan are one & the same, as both occur extremely likely in Ballybought adjoining Durrow abbey. There are two clusters of 3+ adjoining townlands almost creating a straight line from Clara to Durrow.

Cluster 1
Erry, Kilbride, Co. Offaly
Clara, Kilbride, Co. Offay
Kilcoursey, Kilbride, Co. Offaly

--distanced only by Lehinch, Kilbride, Co. Offaly--

Cluster 2
Kilclare, Durrow, Co. Offaly
Keeloge, Durrow, Co. Westmeath
Ballybought, Durrow, Co. Offaly
Pallas, Durrow, Co. Westmeath

I assume that names with no prefix may have just been O'Cathalain but anything is possible.

Re-hashing this past week's research into a fresh townland map in a narrowed area of interest. The folks near Moate & Tullamore are probably post-1700 tenancies. Pinpointing the townlands by studying the surnames of spouses and sponsors' surnames ranges from likely to extremely likely. Some were very tough with common names and it came down to using johngrenham's Two-Surname ratio in griffiths, and it now looks like the Callen in Erry and McLean in Kilcoursey could really both be in Clara, which may mean my ancestors were in Clara before they converted c.1725. It's also interesting to see how this surname clusters where three baronies meet, which may be why they were not in the 1659 census, there could have been 1-3 households in each Kilcoursey, Moycashel, and Ballycowan.
Also, what I came across going through townlands.ie in the area of Kilbeggan was a townland called "Ballinwire" just north of the town, which reminded me of "Rathwire" in Killucan parish which is really "Rath Guaire". Although I can't find any references to the name in gaelic it is probably Bhaile na Guaire and may be associated with Mr. Gorry's ancestors.

The NPE match I discovered last year (Thatcher IN25704) just upgraded from Y111 to BigY700. His grandfather was an NPE, the son of Henry McLain of Enniskillen, c1890. It appears that we share either the Henry McLain b.1740 in Clara, or his father James. It will be interesting to see which SNP that FTDNA decides is significant, and where exactly we split off.