Featured themes 25/01/2025

A single anglicized surname with many origins.
Ballycarney/Baile Uí Chearnaigh ‘the town(land) of Ó Cearnaigh’
(see logainm.ie #52146)

Date: 25/01/2025

Last week’s comments on Stanihurst’s colourful 16th-century description of Gaelic Irish troops eventually led us to the surname Ó Ceithearnaigh ‘descendant of Ceithearnach (personal name)/ceithearnach (a light-armed soldier; foot soldier)’, as found in Ballykearny/Baile Uí Cheithearnaigh (logainm.ie #12876) in Co. Cork. Noting how widespread this surname had become by the 16th century, Woulfe draws attention to the fact that its conventional anglicized forms – usually Kearney, Kerns, Kearns – cannot always be distinguished from those of Ó Cearnaigh (‘descendant of Cearnach’), anglicized as Carney, Kearney, O’Kearney, etc. (Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall, s.nn. Ó Cearnaigh; Ó Ceithearnaigh). This type of confusion in anglicized versions of distinct Irish surnames can be a nightmare for genealogist and toponymist alike. Unless by some stroke of luck unambiguous Irish evidence survives, the researcher must resort to other means to identify the original surname.

In the case of these two unconnected surnames Ó Ceithearnaigh and Ó Cearnaigh, there is at least the possibility that earlier anglicized forms may retain a reflex of the medial -th- /h/ of Ó Ceithearnaigh. Thus in the case of Ballykearney/Baile Uí Cheithearnaigh (logainm.ie #12876) in Co. Cork and Cloonykerny/Cluain Uí Cheithearnaigh (logainm.ie #43381) in Co. Roscommon the historical spellings ‘Ballykeherryny’ and ‘Cloonekeherny’ clearly point to Ó Ceithearnaigh rather than Ó Cearnaigh. Although absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, if no such early spellings in -h- survive (and if there is no convincing secondary evidence) it must be presumed that the surname in question is more likely to be Ó Cearnaigh than a reduced form of Ó Ceithearnaigh. This principle applies even in parts of the country where the later Irish dialect is known to have tended towards vocalization (essentially loss of) of medial -th-. (This pronunciation was common in the later dialects of Leinster and in parts of Ulster and it is found today in the dialect of Inis Oírr, Co. Galway: e.g. athair pronounced as one syllable, as if a’air.)

Ó Cearnaigh was the name of “a Dalcassian [modern-day Co. Clare] family who in later times attained to a high position at Cashel”, “a family of Ui Fiachrach [Uí Fhiachrach] in Co. Mayo” and “an ecclesiastical family who were formally erenaghs of Derry” (Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall s.n. Ó Cearnaigh). Papal records show ecclesiastical bearers of this surname not only in Derry, but also in the dioceses of Dublin, Glendalough, Achonry, Tuam, Mayo, Killala and Elphin (see Calendar of Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland, passim). (We must note again here that in Gaelic Ireland ecclesiastical families belonged to the hereditary professional classes, passing the profession from father to son.) Given the widespread attestations, along with the obvious professional pedigree of many of the bearers, it is unsurprising that the surname Ó Cearnaigh is found in quite a number of townland names. These include three townlands called Ballycarney/Baile Uí Chearnaigh ‘the town(land) of Ó Cearnaigh’ in Cos. Wexford, Carlow and Limerick (logainm.ie #52146, #3111, #31409); Coolycarney/Cúil Uí Chearnaigh ‘the nook, recess of Ó Cearnaigh’ (logainm.ie #52138) also in Co. Wexford; Carney/Fearann Uí Chearnaigh ‘the land of Ó Cearnaigh’ (logainm.ie #45417) in Co. Sligo; Derrycarney/Doire Uí Chearnaigh ‘the (oak-)wood of Ó Cearnaigh’ (logainm.ie #46231) in Co. Tipperary; and Garraneycarney/Garrán Uí Chearnaigh ‘the grove of Ó Cearnaigh’ (logainm.ie #11324) along with Glanycarney and Glenacarney, both from Gleann Uí Chearnaigh ‘the valley of Ó Cearnaigh’ (logainm.ie #8504, #10555), in Co. Cork.

Furthermore we also have Lisgarney/Lios Ó gCearnaigh ‘the ring-fort of Uí Chearnaigh’ (logainm.ie #29170) in Co. Leitrim, and Six-mile-bridge/Droichead Abhann Ó gCearnaigh ‘the bridge across the river of (the) Uí Chearnaigh’ (#1416537) in Co. Clare. The qualifying element in these names, Uí Chearnaigh (Early Modern Irish genitive Ó gCearnaigh, standardized Modern Irish genitive Ó Cearnaigh [sic]), can represent either the plural form of the surname Ó Cearnaigh or the name of a sept/tribe. The latter sense is perhaps more likely in the second example, in the context of the underlying river-name Abhainn Ó gCearnaigh ‘the river of the Uí Chearnaigh (sept)’. (This replaced an earlier name for the same river, Raite [meaning unclear], found as the second element in the name of the village of Bun Raite/Bunratty ‘the end of the River Raite’ (#6219).) Irish genealogical tracts also locate a sept named Uí Chearnaigh at Moyacomb where the modern Cos. Carlow, Wexford and Wicklow meet (‘Uí Chearnaigh i Muigh Dha Chonn’; see Logainmneacha na hÉireann IV: Townland names of Co. Wexford, p.264).

The ancient name for the area around Mount Kennedy Demesne/Diméin Bhaile an Chinnéidigh (logainm.ie #55643) in Co. Wicklow was Baile Ó gCearnaigh ‘the town(land) of the Uí Chearnaigh’. In this case the qualifying element appears to be a plural form of the surname Ó Cearnaigh. One John Ykaernay [Seán Ó Cearnaigh] was recorded as having held ecclesiastical office in nearby Wicklow and Drumkay in 1457 (Calendar of Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland XI pp.331–337). It is possible that the Ó Cearnaigh family received the lands at Baile Ó gCearnaigh thanks to their ecclesiastical status. (This was just one of the many hereditary professions with which this family was associated, as we will see in next week’s note.) The surname was never common in east Wicklow, but it is recorded again immediately prior to the end of the Gaelic period, when we find Morris Kearny fitz Wm. [Muiris or Murcha mac Liam Ó Cearnaigh] at a place called ‘Kilenerye’ in 1599 (Fiant [Eliz.] §6303). This defunct placename was located in Kilmurry (logainm.ie #55658), very close to Mount Kennedy Demesne and the area once called Baile Ó gCearnaigh.

(Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill)

A single anglicized surname with many origins. Ballycarney/Baile Uí Chearnaigh ‘the town(land) of Ó Cearnaigh’ (see logainm.ie #52146)

A single anglicized surname with many origins.
Ballycarney/Baile Uí Chearnaigh ‘the town(land) of Ó Cearnaigh’
(see logainm.ie #52146)