Conall Gulban, son of Niall Noígiallach, founded the kingdom of Tír Chonaill (Tyrconnell) in the 5th century. It comprises much of what is now County Donegal, and several surrounding areas. The following is a pruned and truncated version of the Conall Gulban family tree with Conall Gulban's brothers Eógan, to Lóegaire, also displayed. For clarity's sake the number of Conall Gulban's sons, grandsons and great-grandsons are not listed. Gallchobar is descended from Mael Coba brother of Domnall mac Áedo.[5]
Genetic analysis of Gallagher Y chromosomehaplogroups can trace back their origin to a single medieval, 5th-century individual, lending credence to the legend of Niall Noígiallach.[2]
The prefix Mac means 'son of' and the now more popular Ua (later Ó') means 'grandson of, or, of the generations of'.[6]
One modern and therefore apocryphal origin story is that the original person, being a courageous and charitable person, went to the assistance of the crew of the first Viking ship to arrive off the Irish coast and whose ship was wrecked off the coast of County Donegal, where he was the local chieftain. He having first saved them and then cared for them, they eventually returned to their homeland, only to return soon after with the first raiding party. Hence it is argued he was given the name ("Gall" means stranger or foreigner in modern Irish and the ending "cubhair" and "cobhair" which for the purpose of this story is said to be derived from "cabhair" in modern Irish meaning help or helper). Whatever the derivation of his name (see reference to O' Clery's Glossary above giving the derivation as Gal+acobhar 'ambition of valour'), Gallchobhar was the one given the role of founding father of the clan at the advent of surname use in Ireland in around the 10th century.[8] The earliest recorded incidence of the name in a fragment of a manuscript presently in the Royal Library of Brussels is "Gallchubhair".[9] A similarly earlier mention occurs in the Annals of the Four Masters, where it is recorded that Mael Cobo Úi Gallchobhar, abbot of Scrin Adamnain, died in 1022 AD.[10]
The family's origins are with the chieftain Aodh, a name corresponding to the English Hugh (whence Tirhugh), a lineal descendant of Conall Gulban son of 5th-century high king and warlord Niall Noígíallach, known in English as Niall of the Nine Hostages, who is reputed to have brought St Patrick to Ireland as a slave. Aodh established his dúnarus fort building or residence at a place corresponding to the present-day townland of Glassbolie[where?] in Tirhugh. The chieftains of his line ruled in relative peace[dubious–discuss] for several generations until the beginning of the Viking invasion of Ireland in the 9th century. The ruling chieftain of the time, whose real name is not recorded, was almost certainly obliged[dubious–discuss] to come to some accommodation with the foreign invader resulting in the nickname "Gallcóbhair" which has been applied to his descendants thereafter.[dubious–discuss]
It would appear that the previously obscure Cenél Lugdach forged multiple matrimonial alliances with the local Viking leadership, and not the Gallchobair of the Cenél Aedha who existed before the arrival of the Vikings in the 800s, the Cenél Lugdach are descended from Lugaid mac Sétnai, one of the great-grandsons of Conall Gulban.[5] In contrast to the Gallchobair who are descended from his brother and the first born son Ainmuire mac Sétnai. The Cenél Lugdach tribal territory extended from Dobhar (Gweedore) to the river Suilidhe (Swilly) in Donegal. From this clan descend the Cenél Conaill surnames of O'Doherty, and O'Donnell.
Map of Ireland by John Goghe, 1567
The modern surname system began c. 900,[6] but wasn't adopted in its entirety until about 1100. Despite the legend that Brian Boru was somehow responsible for the widespread implementation of this naming system, the custom may have developed of its own accord as the Irish population grew in size.[11]
The Ó Gallchobhair sept claims to be the most senior family of the Cenél Conaill as Gallchobar was descended from Conall Gulban. The sept's territory was spread across the areas within the modern baronies of Raphoe and Tirhugh in County Donegal. From the 14th century until the 16th century, the sept's chiefs were marshals of the O'Donnell cavalry in the O'Donnell Lucht Tighe. The principal branch of the family was centred at Ballybeit and Ballynaglack.[12] Although generally aligned with the O'Donnells during the period, a renegade band of Gallaghers helped their rival, Shane O'Neill, escape after the Battle of Fearsaid Suili in 1567.[13]
16th century Tudor-era
In the 16th century, the Ó Gallchobairs also opposed the Ó Donnells for a short time for religious reasons after King Henry VIII of England declared himself King of Ireland and head of the church in the Tudor conquest of Ireland beginning in 1541. To maintain their lands and power, the Ó Donnell Lord of Tír Conaill, was forced to recognise Henry VIII as King of Ireland, leader of the Irish Church and had to defend the new English religion from anyone who would advocate papal authority. As a result, the Ó Donnells supported Bishop O'Kane over Edmond O'Gallagher. O'Gallagher was never accepted as bishop, and he died mysteriously in 1543. The O'Gallagher clan then seized the Ó Donnell Lifford Castle in retaliation, for about a year.[10]
With the death of Edmond, the Pope appointed another Gallagher as Bishop of Raphoe in his place, although this bishop was not capable of assuming this position until the arrival of the English queen Mary, who restored Roman Catholicism as the state religion in 1553. It appears that, with the death of the subservient Ó Donnell lord, the practice of Catholicism was left to continue peacefully in Tír Conaill, at least up to the end of the Nine Years' War (c. 1594) and the British Plantation of Ulster (1606).[10]
Michael Gallagher was the first to arrive in North America as a merchant fur trader, in the year 1750.
18th to 19th century under the British Act of Union
Captain Gallagher (died 1818) was an Irish highwayman who, as one of the later Irish rapparees (guerrillas), led a bandit group in the hills of the Irish countryside, armed with the Blunderbuss of the day, during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.[16][17][18]
His attacks on landowners were especially widely known and, in one reported incident, Gallagher and his men raided the home of an extremely unpopular landlord in Killasser and forced him to eat half a dozen eviction notices he had recently drawn up for nearly half a dozen tenant farmers before escaping with silver and other valuables.
Although successfully evading British patrols for some time, he was finally apprehended by authorities in the parish of Coolcarney (or possibly Attymass) near the foothills of the Ox Mountains while recovering from an illness at a friend's home during Christmas.
He had been informed on by a neighbour whom Gallagher had formerly helped after sending a message of Gallagher's whereabouts to the British commanding officer at Foxford. Immediately sending for reinforcements from Ballina, Castlebar and Swinford, a force of 200 redcoats were sent after Gallagher and, upon their arrival, proceeded to surround the home where the highwayman had been staying. Gallagher, by then in poor health and not wishing to endanger his host or his family, surrendered to the British. Taken back to Foxford, he was tried and convicted before being taken to Castlebar, where he was executed.
Shortly before his execution, he had claimed to the British commanding officer that his treasure had been hidden under a rock in the woods of Barnalyra. After Gallagher's execution, the officer quickly led several cavalryman to Barnalyra who discovered there were thousands of rocks in the wood, upon a long search of all the rocks within the area, they reportedly only recovered a jewel hilted sword. It has been speculated that Gallagher may have been hoping to lead them to the site in the hopes his men would be able to rescue him from their hideout near the Derryronane-Curryane border although the treasure was never recovered.
Irish war of Independence
Cork Free Press's Frank Gallagher, hired by William O'Brien of the political party, the All-for-Ireland League, was a prominent Sinn Féin supporter in the press. However, the paper was censored and suppressed in 1916 after Frank, as its republican editor, accused the British authorities of lying about the conditions and situation of republican prisoners in Frongoch internment camp.[19] In December 1931, Gallagher now at The Irish Press, was prosecuted by the Irish Free State military tribunal for publishing Seditious libel, articles alleging that Gardaí had mistreated the opponents (Anti-Treaty republicans) of the Irish Free State government. This was facilitated by Amendment No. 17 of Constitution of the Irish Free State and Gallagher was convicted and fined £50.[20] Frank is most well known for penning Four Glorious Years 1918–1921[21] and becoming the deputy director of the first Dáil's Department of Publicity in March 1921, assisting his colleague Erskine Childers, and together they published the Irish Bulletin.[22] In 1965 his book The Anglo-Irish Treaty was published posthumously.[23] In 1974 The indivisible island: the history of the partition of Ireland was to be his last published, again posthumously.[24]
The Gallagher coat of arms displays a black lion rampant on a silver shield, treading on a green snake surrounded by eight green trefoils. The correct heraldic blazon is "Argent, a lion rampant Sable, treading on a serpent in fess Proper, between eight trefoils Vert."[27] The crest which surmounts the helmet over the shield depicts a red crescent surrounding a green snake or, to give its heraldic definition, "A crescent gules out of the horns a serpent erect proper". The motto of the clan in Latin is Mea Gloria Fides ("The Faith is My Glory").[28] While in Irish it is Buaidh nó Bás ("Victory or death").[29][30][31][32]
The Conlon family is an Irish noble family, the original Gaelic spelling being Ó Connalláin. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, the O'Conalláin were Princes of Ui Laeghari, an extensive territory in the counties of Meath and Westmeath, where the High King of Ireland historically derived his seat at the Hill of Tara. The O'Conlons were chiefs of Crioch Tullach, in County Tyrone and branches of this family in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries settled in the counties of Roscommon, Galway and Mayo. As a sept of the Northern Uí Néill, they claim descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages and his son Conall Gulban, both High Kings of Ireland.
Niall Noígíallach, or Niall of the Nine Hostages, was a legendary, semi-historical Irish king who was the ancestor of the Uí Néill dynasties that dominated Ireland from the 6th to the 10th centuries. Historical Irish annalistic and chronicle sources place his reign in the late 4th and early 5th centuries, although modern scholars date him about half a century later.
The Uí Néill are Irish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noígíallach, a historical King of Tara who died c. 405. They are generally divided into the Northern and Southern Uí Néill.
The O'Donnell dynasty were the dominant Irish clan of the kingdom of Tyrconnell in Ulster in the north of medieval and early modern Ireland.
Conall Gulban was an Irish king and eponymous ancestor of the Cenél Conaill, who founded the kingdom of Tír Chonaill in the 5th century, comprising much of what is now County Donegal in Ulster. He was the son of Niall Noígiallach.
Eógan mac Néill was a son of Niall Noígiallach and the eponymous ancestor of the Cenél nEógain branch of the Northern Uí Néill. The Cenél Eoghan would found the over-kingdom of Ailech and later Tír Eoghain, which would span the greater part of Ulster. His burial place is said to be in the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal, Ireland which was named after him. The historical accuracy or existence of Eógan and his father however are unknown.
The O'Doherty family of County Donegal is an Irish clan who were a prominent sept of the Northern Uí Néill's Cenél Conaill, and one of the most powerful clans of Tír Connaill.
Tyrconnell, also spelled Tirconnell and Tirconaill, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland. It is associated geographically with present-day County Donegal, which was officially named County Tirconaill between 1922 and 1927. At times it also included parts of County Fermanagh, County Sligo, County Leitrim, County Tyrone and County Londonderry at its greatest extent. The kingdom represented the core homeland of the Cenél Conaill people of the Northern Uí Néill and although they ruled, there were smaller groups of other Gaels in the area.
Clan Sweeney is an Irish clan of Scottish origin. The Mac Suibhne family did not permanently settle in Ireland before the beginning of the 14th century, when they became Gallowglass soldiers for the Ua Domnaill dynasty of Tír Chonaill. The clan also claims an Irish descent from a prince of the Uí Néill dynasty, Ánrothán Ua Néill, son of Áed, son of Flaithbertach Ua Néill, King of Ailech and Cenél nEógain, died 1036. Through this descent the clan can claim a descent from Niall Noigíallach.
Frank McIntyre was an American military officer who served for many years as Chief of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, responsible for federal administration of the Philippines and Puerto Rico.
The O'Boyle family of County Donegal were a clan of the Northern Uí Néill, a great tribal dynasty of the North Gaels descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages. The O'Boyles were one of the principal families of the Cenél Conaill within the Northern Uí Néill and originally Chiefs of the Three Tuaths in the northwest of Tír Chonaill. When these lands passed to The MacSweeneys, the O'Boyle became chiefs of Tír Ainmhireach, later to be known as Críoch Bhaoigheallach, or O'Boyles country, now the Barony of Boylagh.
Events from the year 1343 in Ireland.
Ruaidrí ua Canannáin was king of the Cenél Conaill, and according to some sources, High King of Ireland.
Máel Coba was a High King of Ireland.
McMenamin is an Irish surname. In Gaelic it is rendered, Mac Meanman, meaning 'son of Meanma' a name meaning courageous or high spirited. It originated in County Donegal in the 13th century. The first written mention of the name is in 1303 in the 'Annals of Loch Cé' which records the deaths of Donnchadh Mac Meanman and Aedh Mac Meanman, grandsons of the Lector O'Domnhaill, the chieftain of Fanad, during a dynastic struggle within the Cenél Conaill. The McMenamins are a branch of the O'Donnells of Tyrconnell (Donegal) and are part of the Sil Lugdach, descendants of Lugaid mac Sétnai, the great-grandson of Conall Gulban. Like many discarded branches of noble families, the McMenamins sought advancement in the church evidenced by numerous mentions of McMenamin prelates in papal letters from the late 1300s to the late 1400s. They were supplanted in their home territory of Fanad by the Sweeneys and over the centuries became more distantly related to the royal line of the Cenél Conaill. One scholar describes the family as "...a discarded branch of the O'Donnell dynasty"
The Northern Uí Néill was any of several dynasties in north-western medieval Ireland that claimed descent from a common ancestor, Niall of the Nine Hostages. Other dynasties in central and eastern Ireland who also claimed descent from Niall are termed the Southern Uí Néill. The dynasties of the Northern Uí Néill were the Cenél Conaill and Cenél nEógain, named after the two most powerful sons of Niall: Conall and Eógain.
The Cenél nEógain or Kinel-Owen are a branch of the Northern Uí Néill, who claim descent from Eógan mac Néill, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. Originally their power-base was in Inishowen, with their capital at Ailech, in modern-day County Donegal in what is now the west of Ulster. Under pressure from the Cenél Conaill, they gradually spread their influence eastwards into modern counties Tyrone and Londonderry, pushing aside the Cruithin east of the River Bann, and encroaching on the Airgiallan tribes west of Lough Neagh. By the 11th century their power-base had moved from Ailech to Tullyhogue outside Cookstown, County Tyrone. By the 12th century the Cenél Conaill conquered Inishowen; however, it mattered little to the Cenél nEóghain as they had established a powerful over-kingdom in the east that had become known as Tír Eoghain, or the "Land of Owen", preserved in the modern-day name of County Tyrone.
The Cenél Conaill, or "kindred of Conall", are a branch of the Northern Uí Néill, who claim descent from Conall Gulban, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, and allegedly the first Irish nobleman to convert to Christianity. Their kingdom was known as Tír Conaill, with their powerbase at Mag Ithe in the Finn valley, however they gradually expanded to cover what is now counties Donegal and Fermanagh. The Cenél Conaill clashed regularly with their kin the Cenél nEogain, eventually capturing the latter's original power-base of Ailech in the Inishowen peninsula—in modern-day County Donegal—by the 12th century.
Donnell Óg O'Donnell, was a medieval Irish king of Tyrconnell and member of the O'Donnell dynasty. He was a leading figure in the resistance to Anglo-Norman rule in the north west and closely related to many of the movement's most prominent figures, such as Hugh McFelim O'Connor, who is often credited as being the first to import Scottish gallowglass warriors. He should not be confused with a descendant of the same name who was a nephew of Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, and was the ultimate beneficiary-in-remainder to the Lordship of Tyrconnell.
References
1 2 Gray, Iain (2016). Gallagher: The origins of the family name of Gallagher and their place in history. Lang Syne.
Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Vol. 134 (2004). Ó Cannan, T. Máel Coba Ua Gallchobair and His Early Family Background.
Irish Chiefs and leaders, Paul Walsh, 1960. Allegedly contains further reading according to "Families of Co. Donegal Ireland: From the Earliest Times to the 20th Century ... By Michael C. O'Laughlin. 2001, pg 82"
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