The McGillycuddy of the Reeks (Irish : Mac Giolla Mochuda) is the hereditary Chief of the Name of McGillycuddy, a family originating around MacGillycuddy's Reeks, a range of mountains (reeks) in County Kerry in Ireland.
The Annals of the Four Masters records in AD 234 the death of Prince Oilill Olum, King of Munster, the 43rd direct descendant of Milidh, or Milesius, who died in 1284 BC. Thus in legend and in history, the line of the most distinguished families of Munster traces back over 3,300 years.
The McGillycuddys were a cadet sept of the O'Sullivans [1] who about 1600 adopted the surname Mac Giolla Chuda, in recognition of their devotion to St Mochua. A seventh-century O'Sullivan Mór sent his trusted son, Mac Giolla, to be educated under the tutelage of Saint Mochuda at Lismore. He hence became known as O'Sullivan Mac Giolla Mochuda. The name was anglicised into McGillycuddy.
During the 19th century the McGillycuddy estate consisted of about 15,000 acres in Co. Kerry. [2] The estate would eventually be handed over to its tenants after the passing of the 1923 land act. [3]
Other Munster families:
Edgeworth Lysaght, later Edward Anthony Edgeworth Lysaght, and from 1920 Edward MacLysaght was a genealogist of twentieth-century Ireland. His numerous books on Irish surnames built upon the work of Rev. Patrick Woulfe's Irish Names and Surnames (1923).
MacGillycuddy's Reeks is a sandstone and siltstone mountain range in the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. Stretching 19 kilometres, from the Gap of Dunloe in the east, to Glencar in the west, the Reeks is Ireland's highest mountain range, and includes most of the highest peaks and sharpest ridges in Ireland, and the only peaks on the island over 1,000 metres in height.
Carrauntoohil, Carrauntoohill or Carrantuohill is the highest mountain in Ireland at 1,038.6 metres. It is on the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, close to the centre of Ireland's highest mountain range, MacGillycuddy's Reeks. Carrauntoohil is composed mainly of sandstone, whose glaciation produced distinctive features on the mountain such as the Eagle's Nest corrie and some deep gullies and sharp arêtes in its east and northeastern faces that are popular with rock and winter climbers.
The Kingdom of Desmond was a historic kingdom in southwestern Ireland. It was founded in 1118 by Tadhg Mac Cárthaigh, King of Munster when the Treaty of Glanmire formally divided the Kingdom of Munster into Desmond and Thomond. It comprised all of what is now County Cork and most of County Kerry. Desmond was ruled by the Mac Cárthaigh (MacCarthy) dynasty. Other clans within the kingdom included the O'Sullivans and O'Donovans. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland in the late 12th century, the eastern half of Desmond was conquered by the Anglo-Normans and became the Earldom of Desmond, ruled by the Fitzmaurices and FitzGeralds—the famous Irish family known as the Geraldines. The king of Desmond, Diarmaid Mac Cárthaigh submitted to Henry II of England, but the western half of Desmond lived on as a semi-independent Gaelic kingdom. It was often at war with the Anglo-Normans. Fínghin Mac Carthaigh's victory over the Anglo-Normans at the Battle of Callann (1261) helped preserve Desmond's independence. The kings of Desmond founded sites such as Blarney Castle, Ballycarbery Castle, Muckross Abbey and Kilcrea Friary. Following the Nine Years' War of the 1590s, Desmond became part of the Kingdom of Ireland.
James Henry Mussen Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy,, was an Irish lawyer, politician in the British Parliament and later in the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State. He was also Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
The Eóganachta were an Irish dynasty centred on Cashel which dominated southern Ireland from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of Desmond, and its offshoot Carbery, to the late 16th century. By tradition the dynasty was founded by Conall Corc but named after his ancestor Éogan, the firstborn son of the semi-mythological 3rd-century king Ailill Aulom. This dynastic clan-name, for it was never in any sense a 'surname,' should more accurately be restricted to those branches of the royal house which descended from Conall Corc, who established Cashel as his royal seat in the late 5th century.
The kings of Osraige reigned over the medieval Irish kingdom of Osraige from the first or second century AD until the late twelfth century. Osraige was a semi-provincial kingdom in south-east Ireland which disappeared following the Norman Invasion of Ireland. A number of important royal Ossorian genealogies are preserved, particularly MS Rawlinson B502, which traces the medieval Mac Giolla Phádraig dynasty back through Óengus Osrithe, who supposedly flourished in the first or second century. and one in the Book of Leinster. Recent analysis of ninth and tenth century regnal succession in Osraige has suggested that in peaceful times, kingship passed primarily from eldest to youngest brother, before crossing generations and passing to sons and nephews.
Donoghue or O'Donoghue is an anglicised form of the Irish language surname Ó Donnchadha or Ó Donnchú.
O'Sullivan is an Irish Gaelic clan based most prominently in what is today County Cork and County Kerry. According to traditional genealogy, the O’Sullivans were descended from the ancient Eóganacht Chaisil sept of Cenél Fíngin, the founder of the clan who was placed in the 9th century, eight generations removed from Fíngen mac Áedo Duib, king of Cashel or Munster from 601 to 618. Later, they became the chief princes underneath their close kinsmen, the MacCarthy dynasty, in the small but powerful Kingdom of Desmond, successor of Cashel/Munster. The last independent ruler of the clan was Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare, who was defeated in the Nine Years' War of 1594–1603.
The Gap of Dunloe, also recorded as Bearna an Choimín, is a narrow mountain pass running north–south in County Kerry, Ireland, that separates the MacGillycuddy's Reeks mountain range in the west, from the Purple Mountain Group range in the east. It is one of Kerry's most popular tourist destinations on account of its scenery.
Bishopscourt is a townland in County Kildare, Ireland, near Kill, Ardclough and Straffan and beside the N7 road. The Bishopscourt estate, the main estate house for which was known as Bishopscourt House or Bishops Court House, was once held by the Bishops of Kildare.
McGillicuddy is a surname of Irish origin, meaning "son of the servant of St. Mochuda". A variant form of the name is Mac Giolla Mhochuda. Other Anglicised forms of Mac Giolla Chuda include MacGillacuddy, MacGillecuddy, MacGillycuddy, MacIllicuddy, MacElcuddy, MacElhuddy and Mac Giolla Coda.
Patricia Lawlor was an Irish politician, nurse and businesswoman.
The MacCarthy Reagh dynasty are a branch of the MacCarthy dynasty, Kings of Desmond, deriving from the Eóganacht Chaisil sept.
Callaghan MacCarty, 3rd Earl of Clancarty was the second son of Donough MacCarty, 1st Earl of Clancarty. Callaghan was destined for a Catholic religious career and entered a seminary in France where his family was in exile during Cromwell's rule. When his elder brother died in the Battle of Lowestoft, and the 2nd Earl, his nephew, died in infancy, he unexpectedly left his religious institution, returned to Ireland, and assumed the title. He became a Protestant and married a Protestant wife. Late in life he converted back to Catholicism.
Anthony Lawlor is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as a Senator for the Agricultural Panel from 2018 to 2020. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kildare North constituency from 2011 to 2016.
Micheál Anthony Prendergast was an Irish farmer and trader, businessman and company director, and Fine Gael politician.
The Big Gun, at 939 metres (3,081 ft) high, is the ninth-highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin list, or the tenth-highest according to the Vandeleur-Lynam list. It is part of the MacGillycuddy's Reeks in County Kerry, and is also known as Lackagarrin or Foilnabreachaun.
Ross Kinlough McGillycuddy was an Irish politician.
Thomas Condon was an Irish independent politician.