It is important again to stress that confirmation about name, place and time is impossible to confirm. Not only does the language change but the spelling within that language. Family groups within a tribe split into clans, and clans into septs. Kings described as lords, and lords as kings However, that should not present a problem. It is not a question of trying to change history or give credence but present a picture where the Ciardha fit into early Christian Irish County life for it is noticeable how lacking the name is throughout Irish history and historical writings.
History of the Ely O’Carroll Printed by Boethius Press. Additional Material: Robert Books Limited, 1982, in Toomevara Parish: The Last Lords of Ormond, ‘The Curse of Cromwell’, by Dermot F. Gleeson. Revised New Edition by Donal A. Murphy. Published by, Relay. The Ordinance Survey Name Books, which describes parish boundaries, the origin of place names, and the monuments of historical value – reference Kilkeary. The Civil Survey of 1654 -1656, Vol. II… carried out at the time of the Cromwellian confiscations. Kept close by, throughout all my studies of ancient Ireland, have been: The Course of Irish History by Moody & Martin (4th Edition); A History of Ireland by Mike Cronin; The Great Hunger by Cecil Woodham-Smith and The Age of Arthur by John Morris, The Book of Kells by Bernard Meehan; I am grateful for their research and dedication. I am particularly thankful for the help of Tipperary Library and Library of Ireland.
History of the Ely O’Carroll. Printed by Boethius Press. Additional Material: Robert Books Limited, 1982, in TOOMEVARA PARISH.
Kilkeary situated in Upper Ormond, four miles from Nenagh contains 2,524 statute acres, and in 1837 662 inhabitants. The name recorded by Aengus as Cill Cheri, and written, “Ciar Ingen Duibhrea, Saint Ciar, the daughter of Duibhrea, the church of Saint Kera or Cera, and situated in the ancient Muscraidhe Thire – the two Ormonds.
The Last Lords of Ormond, ‘The Curse of Cromwell’, by Dermot F. Gleeson. New Edition with revisions by Donal A. Murphy. Published by Relay.
When their land fractions, allotted after 1657, then lost again in the Williamite wars, to the ‘Discoverers’. In Ormond some of the foremost of the Old Irish gentry took refuge in the remote and almost inaccessible valley of Glenculloo between Slieve Felim hills, from which their descendants to this day carry their dead to their ancestral graveyards in Ballinaclogh and Kilkeary. There are seven further references to Kilkeary in this publication.
The Ordinance Survey Name Books, which describes parish boundaries, the origin of place names and the monuments of historical value found in them referring to Kilkeary.
The Civil Survey of 1654-1656, Vol. II: carried out at the time of the Cromwellian confiscations, Kilkeary mentioned thus:
The Parish of Kylkeary, 1640. The Meares and Bounds of the sayd Parish at large sett forth with the severall Townships and parcells of land therein conteyned. And the Tythes of ye sd Parish of 120 Acres made up from 80 Arable, 10 meddow and 20 pasture. It also contains 10 Acres of bog. The Proprietors names given as Daniell mc Henry Kenedy of Lisheen and John Fyhola of Ballynamona.
During a personal visit to the area – Toomevara Parish have Kilkeary as part of their area of control, the state school and graveyard in 2009. Nenagh Co. Tipperary Council Highways are responsible for the upkeep of the graveyard and environs. Greenanstown House is the seat of Count D’Alton.
The meaning of Kil or Cill before the place-name as in Kilkeary given in Collins Irish dictionary as nf2 church, graveyard, cemetery using the example of cill agus tuath, Church and State. There is no K in the Gaeilge language which directs us to the Latinized Cheire or Ciar pronunciation and their spelling as Ceary, Keary, or in places Kearey (Therefore Church of Keary is the correct English translation for Kilkeary) Once again resorting to Collins Gaeilge dictionary ‘Ciar’ (gsm céir, gst, compar céire) adj (hair) dark: (complexion) dark, swarthy, Gk Ierne. OCelt. Human population movement (Native) of Ireland from the Spanish Peninsular.
A king of Ulster named Ciar. After banished from the court of Cruochan, sought refuge in west Munster. There he gained the territory of the first branch of the Carraige Tribe he called Luachre in County Kerry. Taken from: Irish Kings and High Kings p160, 236, and 247. By France John Byrne, third Edition, Dublin 2001.
Carbery, or the Barony of Carbery, was once the largest barony in Ireland, and essentially a small, semi-independent kingdom on the southwestern coast of Munster, in what is now County Cork, from its founding in the 1230s by Donal Gott MacCarthy to its gradual decline in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. His descendants, the MacCarthy Reagh dynasty, were its ruling family. The kingdom officially ended in 1606 when Donal of the Pipes, 17th Prince of Carbery chose to surrender his territories to the Crown of England;[1] but his descendants maintained their position in Carbery until the Cromwellian confiscations, following their participation in the Irish Rebellion of 1641 after which some emigrated to the Chesapeake Colonies.
Its modern descendants in name are the baronies of Carbery West and Carbery East, but Carbery once included territories from several of the surrounding baronies as well. To the north/northwest it shared a long and shifting border with the Kingdom of Desmond ruled by the rival MacCarthy Mor dynasty, and to the east/northeast an also shifting border with the vast Earldom of Desmond.
However, despite its small size in comparison to its neighbours, Carbery was one of the very wealthiest principalities in Ireland. This wealth came not, for the most part, from its predominantly rocky lands, but from its numerous excellent harbours, and greatest proximity to France and Spain. Some of the eastern portion of the principality was however quite fertile. The MacCarthys Reagh were reported to have the greatest income of all the Gaelic princes in Ireland. Only the Earls of Desmond, who were intermittently able to force the MacCarthys to pay them tribute in order to avoid continual harassment,[2] were wealthier.
In 1621, an Earldom of Carbery was created for John Vaughan, 1st Earl of Carbery, and this became extinct in 1713 with the death of John Vaughan, 3rd Earl of Carbery. Two years later, the barony was granted to the Anglo-Irish politician George Evans, whose descendants still hold the title of Baron Carbery.
Seeds of the later Carbery kingdom began to develop in the 13th century. At 1200, the Uí Chairbre were primarily composed of and ruled by the Uí Donnobhains (now O’Donovans), occupying areas in their historical territory near Adare, Croom and Bruree. In both 1200 and 1205, MacCarthaigs are recorded as being in conflict with the Uí Chairbre.
At that time the Carbery region was still ruled by the powerful Eóganacht Raithlind in the form of the O’Mahonys, and to a lesser but still notable extent by the even more ancient Corcu Loígde in the form of the O’Driscolls. By 1232, Donal Gott MacCarthy and his sons had effected a decisive conquest and effected a major change in their territory. During the remainder of the 13th century, infighting and splintering within the MacCarthaigs led to the establishment of several MacCarthy septs, with territories in Duhallow, Coshmaine, Muscrery and what would become the larger clan lands of MacCarthy Mor and MacCarthy Reagh. By 1283, one of the MacCarthy splinter groups (and which would ultimately become the sept of MacCarthy Reagh) was noted as being part of the Ui Chairbre, when Domnall, son of Domnall Cairprech MacCarthaig, and others of the Uí Chairbri made a treacherous plot against Domnall Mac Carthaig, king of Desmond. The plot failed, and the Uí Chairbre fled, ultimately resettling in Carbery. The many movements of the clans during the 13th century resulted in the relocation of many of the septs in the area, including those of the O’Mahonys, O’Driscolls. The O’Learys of ancient Rosscarbery, close kin to the O’Driscolls, retired northwards to Muskerry sometime around the year 1300.
The source of the naming of the Carberry area has been debated by many scholars, with John O’Donovan arguing it came from the migration of the O’Donovans of Uí Chairbre (and who ignored the MacCarthaig element within the Uí Chairbre), and others, including Canon John O’Mahony in his work History of the O’Mahony Septs,[3] arguing that the name derived from much earlier (circa 300 AD) rulers, and from whom descended the O’Driscolls and the O’Mahonys and which occupied the region from the 5th or 6th century AD onwards, in Late Antiquity.Beginning with the expansion of the MacCarthaig territory in a north east direction in 1259 as certain MacCarthaig septs recaptured a significant amount of land from the Normans, demolished a multitude of their castles, occupying others, and built a considerable string of their own fortresses, the territory of Carbery was expanded to as much as 500 square miles (1,300 km2) by 1500.
The Annals of Tigernach. The Fourth Fragment, A.D. 973-A.D. 1088. RAWL. B. 488, Fo. 15a 1.(AU. 947. 130v. 973. AI. 956. CS. 972. FM. 972). Questioning ownership of land during dates mentioned and the king of MaelRuanaig hua Ciardha, ri Cairpri, do marbadh la firu Teftha (<<Mael-Ruanaig, grandson fo Ciardha, king of Cairbre, was killed by the men of Teffa >>). (AU, 1080. FM. 1080). The men of Teffa, and the Munter Geraddin, and the Cairbri Hui Ciada went on a raid into Offaly…. Proof: Ciardha in that period of land and status. Regarding the above: Canon John O’Mahony History of the O’Mahony Septs.Ciar, St. Virgin, daughter of Duibhrea, died 679. Annals of the kingdom of Ireland ‘The Four Masters translated by John O’Donovan, compiled by Emma Ryan. Adomnan of Iona, Life of St. Columba. John Colgan. St. Ciar also provided the use of her name to create Ciardha.
Investigations into family history has revealed that Kearey, or rather Keary or Ceary, translates, by the use of Gælic/Irish, from Ó Ciardha; closely related to the Cahill family of Connaught.
From the late ninth century, surnames, were not passed down in Ireland, were patronymic – based on the father’s name and added after the first name, therefore Thomas Ó Ceary – Thomas the son of Ceary. Later, in the 12th century, when the Normans ruled and lived in Ireland they soon learned the language and this use of names. The English government passed a law that required all Englishmen in Ireland to have an English name and to speak English. Today the names beginning with O’ stemming from Ó means ‘the grandson of, or descendant of.
Around the year 1387 the O’Clery were traditional poets. When writing Gaelic or Irish the Ó has the sign or prefix above the Ó, when writing English the prefix is after, O’ thus…
From early times the first-born son in the family was called Thomas. Thomas O’Ciardha, brother of Desmond O’Ciardha of Offaley, called Thomas Baintreabhachd (or Thomas “the Widower”), was the ancestor of “Keary,” of Fore, county Meath. This Thomas lived on the Hill commanding a view of the famous Abbey, founded at Fore by St. Fechin; and was killed at the burning of the Abbey by the Cromwellians, A.D.1654.
Commencing with the said Thomas, the following is the pedigree of this family: 1. Thomas had three sons, Thomas, Patrick, and James, three whom sought refuge, and found it, with Hugh O’Byrne, of Dublin – one of the Confederate Catholics; Patrick and James, died unmarried. The eldest son, Thomas married Mary O’Byrne, niece of the above-named Hugh, and had three sons: Thomas, Patrick, and Hugh. Both Patrick and Hugh went to Spain where Hugh, d1700, married Margaret daughter of Dermot O’Brien of Naas having five children: Dermot, Thomas, Patrick, John, and Mary. Patrick entered Spanish service. John married in 1745, Mary daughter of Owen M’Kewen of Clontarf and Swords, and had one son, Thomas b1747, and a daughter Ellen, b1749, who married in 1780, Hugh O’Moore of the O’Moores of Longford. Thomas married Julia, daughter of Roderick Murphy of Castledermot in 1815, having four children: Thomas, John, Patrick, and Michael.
Daniel O’Ciardha (or O’Cary), a nephew of Thomas and Julia, having conformed to the Protestant religion, called together the remnant of his family; and, in order to distinguish themselves from the said Daniel, they solemnly pledged to assume thereafter the name of Keary, and to abandon the prefix and the ‘Carey’ form of spelling the name.
Thomas married Mary daughter of John Keogh of Castlepollard in 1815; he was the first to omit the prefix O’ from the family name then O’Cary, and assumed the name, Keary. This Thomas died in Dublin in 1836 buried in the churchyard of Artane, where his tomb lies. Thomas and Mary had five children Patrick, John, Michael (d Liverpool 1870), Bridget, and Mary. Patrick married Anne, youngest daughter of James Butler of Fairview, Ballybough, Dublin, and died in 1884. They had ten children: Thomas, Frances, Michael, James, John, Peter, Joseph, Matthew, Patrick, and Mary-Anne.
Patrick J. Keary (Cahill): son of Patrick (ninth son of Patrick and Anne) of Colville Terrace, Ballybough Road, and of Wellington Quay, Dublin, married Elizabeth only daughter of Patrick Cahill in 1875. They had four children William-Laurence Cahill Keary, b1877, John-Frances, b1887, Mary-E., and Christina.
History of the Ely O’Carroll. Printed by Boethius Press. Additional Material: Robert Books Limited, 1982, in TOOMEVARA PARISH:
The Last Lords of Ormond, ‘The Curse of Cromwell’, by Dermot F. Gleeson. New Edition with revisions by Donal A. Murphy. Published by Relay.
The Ordinance Survey Name Books, which describes parish boundaries, the origin of place names and the monuments of historical value, found in them are references to Kilkeary.
Dioceses of Killaloe and Kilfenora. Page 37, No. 3, Kilkeary, Reet, Entire. Titled April 7th 1808, being one fourth of The Deanery.
Typographical Dictionary of Ireland by Samuel Lewis. Volume 2. Published by S. Lewis and Co. Aldersgate Street, London.
Kilkeary is a Parish in the Barony of Upper Ormond, County of Tipperary and Province of Munster, 4 miles (south-east) from Nenagh on the road to Cashel containing 662 inhabitants, it comprises 2,524 statute acres: the land is generally good and mostly under tillage. Greenanstown House is the seat of Count D’Alton, the parish is in the diocese of Killaloe and is a rectory forming part of the union of Ballynaclough and corps of the Deanery of Killaloe: the tithes amount to £120 about 70 children are educated in a private school. (Recorded in 1837, page 75, Vol 2.)
The parish system in Ireland began in 700 and AD 1300. By the 12th century a system based on the local community – the tuath – perhaps tuath-church system, a mixture of rectories and vicarages incorporating both secular and ecclesiastical concerns established.
The Civil Survey of 1654-1656, Vol. II: carried out at the time of the Cromwellian confiscations.
Early Irish Saints by John J. Oˊ Riordȧin CSsR.
Wikipedia: Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair.
Kilkenny Archaeological Society 1855. The Life and Times of Cathal.
Annals of the Four Masters: M1205.10. Teige, the son of Cathal Crovderg Family Tree.
Library of Ireland, History Cahill family genealogy – Irish Pedigrees.
Adomnȧn of Iona Life of St Columba Translated by Richard Sharpe. Penguin Classic 1995.
Acknowledgements
Kept close by, throughout all my studies of ancient Ireland, The Origins of the Irish by J. P. Mallory. The Course of Irish
A Guide to Tracing your Dublin Ancestors by James G. Ryan. Flyleaf Press 1988.
History by Moody & Martin (fourth Edition); A History of Ireland by Mike Cronin; John, Canon O’Hanlon (1821-1905); The Great Hunger by Cecil Woodham-Smith; The Age of Arthur by John Morris; and Omnium Sanctorum Hibernia, (2012-2015): Saint Cera (Ciar) of Kilkeary.
Notes on the History of Adare by Lt-Com Valentine Wyndham Quin R.N.
I am grateful for their research and dedication. I am particularly thankful for the help of Tipperary Library who have always been most generous and to Michael Keary and his abundant studies. I have read the autobiography of Peig, written at the time of my birth to get a feel for the Gaelic/Irish speaker’s life, in outposts of Ireland’s southwestern countryside where the Ciariaidhe, particularly the O’Ciardha, made-for, to escape clan and foreign warfare.
It would be remiss not to mention John O’Hart, Irish Pedigrees or ‘The origin and stem of the Irish nation’, fifth Edition, in two Volumes. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co. 1976. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0737-4) first printed in Dublin 1880.
Alpha Editions 2019, or, The ‘Four Masters’ principally collected by the monk St. Francis, Michael O’Clery, during the period 1616-1682, and the work of Sir J. Bernard Burke, C.B., LL.D., Ulster King of Arms.
Willie Nolan (Gen. Ed.) Frances John Byrne, Richard Hayes, Willaig O’ Muraile, Dualtach Mac Fhirbhisighs Genalogies.
It would appear that ‘’Ciar’ was the ancestor of the people named ‘Ciariaidhe’ after whom the O’Conor (‘Kerry’) sept were the leading family of the Irian race – taking the name of one their great chiefs in the eleventh century – from both Con and Ciar, their great ancestor formed the name of Conor (Conior) page 228 County Kerry. ‘The Stem’ Part II, ‘The House of Ir’, pages 86 and 92. The House of Heremon, page 202, gives Carey (Keary) as a leading family. The Four Masters mentioned O’Carey, chiefs of Cairbre ‘Carbery’ page 282. The index converts the ‘C’ into ‘K’ covering both Keary, Ceary, Kerry Kieran, pages 896 and 897. Working with Herald Donal Burke to form the clan was most rewarding researching the history and choosing the armorial ensigns the culmination of the task… his guidance suggesting ‘Ciar’ to be not only essential but key.
The task to look back in time, prior to Thomas 1791-1860, and perhaps his parent’s James and Mary, given to Timeline Genealogy Ireland.
