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The Érainn were the second of the
Celtic groups to come to Ireland, as discussed in Chapter II. They arrived from the
Continent between 500 and 100 B.C., and established their La Tène culture throughout the
island as a military aristocracy possessing superior iron weapons technology. They were
akin to the Belgae of Southwest Britain, and were generally known as the Ulaid in the
North, and as the Erainn or Desi in the South, although all the tribes of this ethnic
group were known ultimately to be Erainn. The great Erainnian population groups of around
A.D. 600, such as the Muscraige of Munster, gave rise in the Middle Ages to the
independently branched tribal groups that follow. The Clann Chointeagain (or MacGilfoyles) The Conmhaicne Rein The Muintear Eoluis included the families of MacRannall (Mac Raghnaifl) and O’Cornyn (0 Cuirnin). The MacRannalls were chiefs in the south of County Leitrim, and for years alternated alliance and conflict with their powerful neighbors, the O’Rourkes. The O’Cornyns, on the other hand, became hereditary poets and chroniclers (historians) to the O’Rourke chiefs. The O’Farrells (0 Fearghaill) of Annaly were the ruling race of County Longford, and were seated at the town of Longford, which was known as "0'Farrell's fortress." In later times they divided into two great branches, the heads of which were known as O’Farrell Boy, "the yellow O’Farrell," and
O’Farrell Bane, "the fair O’Farrell." The O’Farrells maintained their independence down to the year 1565, when Annaly was reduced to "shire ground" by Sir Henry Sidney, the English Lord-Deputy. Though they suffered severely under the plantation scheme of James I, the O’Farrells nonetheless were able to take a prominent part in the political and military affairs of the seventeenth century, and afterwards the family was well represented in the French service, providing many distinguished officers to the Irish Brigades. They are now numerous. The O’Moledys (0 Maoileidigh), a branch of the O’Farrells, were settled in Offaly and Westmeath during the sixteenth century, where they were highly respectable. the Conmhaicne Rien in Longford, known by the clan name of Muintear Oiollagain, and were chiefs of an extensive district in Longford until the end of the fourteenth century, when they were supplanted by the O’Farrells. They are now numerous in Longford. The Corca DhuibhneThe Corca Dhuibhne were a great clan in West Kerry, the chief families of which were the O’Connells and the O’Sheas. The O’Connells (0 Conaill) of Kerry were formerly chiefs of Magh 0 gCoinchin, in the east of County Kerry until dispossessed by the O’Donoghues about the middle of the eleventh century. The O’Connells then followed MacCarthy Mor, for whom they were hereditary castellans of Ballycarbery, near Caherciveen. The head of the family was transplanted to Glare in the time of Cromwell (ca. 1650), and afterwards several of the family became distinguished in the Irish Brigades in the service of France. The O’Sheas (0 Seaghdha) were formerly lords of the present Barony of Iveragh in West Kerry, but were somewhat displaced about the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion in the twelfth century. In the fifteenth century, a branch went to Kilkenny, where they became wealthy merchants, and became foremost among the "Ten tribes of Kilkenny," the otherwise Norman merchant families of that city. The Corca LaoighdheThe Corca Laoighdhe were a great clan in the southwest of County Cork. Their territory was coextensive with the Diocese of Ross, and their chief families were those of O’Coffey, O’Dinneen, O’Driscoll, O’Flynn, O’Hea, 0’Hen-nessy and O’Leary. The O’Coffeys (0 Cobhthaigh) were formerly a powerful family of West Cork. They were seated in the barony of Barryroe, where Dun Ui Chobhthaigh, Dunocowhey, marks the site of their residence. The O’Dinneens or Dennings (0 Duinnin) were a literary family, and became hereditary historians to MacCarthy Mor, chief of the MacCarthys, and also to the O’Sullivans. The O’Driscolls (0 hEidirsceoil) were powerful chiefs in West Cork, being originally lords of the whole southwest of that county, the baronies of Carbery, Beare and Bantry. After the Anglo-Norman invasion, their territory was reduced by the encroachments of the O’Donovans, O’Mahonys and O’Sullivans, as a reaction to Norman pressure on those families. From that time the O’Driscolls possessed the seacoast area around the Bay of Baltimore, and were still a considerable power in the area in the seventeenth century, with several strong castles. They took an active part in the Munster wars during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. After the defeat of Irish forces at Kinsale, the property of the O’Driscolls was confiscated and given to Lord Castlehaven. The O’Flynns (0 Floinn) of Ardagh were anciently chiefs of the Barony of Ibawn, in the south of County Cork. The chief of the family resided at Ardagh Castle between Skibbereen and Baltimore. The O’Heas (0 hAodha) were sub-chiefs, under the Barrys, of Tuath 0 DonnghaiLe in the southwest of County Cork. The O’Hennessys (0 hAonghusa) of Corca Laoighdhe were chiefs of a territory in southwest Cork near Ross Bay. A scion of this family, Richard Hennessy, was born in 1720, and followed relatives into the French Service, becoming an officer in Dillon’s regiment. He rose to high office in the French government, settled in Cognac, and married into the Martell family, afterwards founding the House of Hennessy cognac. The O’Learys (0 Laoghaire) were originally chiefs of the territory lying around Rosscarberry in West Cork, but removed from there about the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion (twelfth century). They had a reputation as a maritime power from before the 1100s, and later became lords, under the MacCarthys, of the country between Macroom and Inchigeelagh. In 1642, sixteen leading men of the name were attainted (legally deprived of civil rights), including Connor O’Leary of Carrignacurra and Auliff O’Leary of Cunnowley. The O’Learys are now numerous throughout Munster. The Corca Modhruadh The O’Connors (0 Conchobhair) of Corcomroe derive their name from Conchobhar, son of Maelseachlainn, Lord of Corcomroe, who was slain in the year 1002. They were lords of the Barony of Corcomroe, in West Clare, down to the close of the sixteenth century. The MacCurtins (Mac Cruitin) are a branch of the O’Connors of Corcomroe, and were originally settled around Ennistymon in Corcomroe. They were hereditary ollavs (professors/scholars) to the O’Briens of Thomond, and through many generations distinguished themselves as poets and Gaelic scholars. After the destruction of the Gaelic order, several of the family were important antiquarian scholars. One of these, Hugh Buidhe MacCurtin (Yellow Hugh) who lived from 1680 to 1755, published an Irish Dictionary in Paris in 1732, and was styled "chief of his sept." The O’Loughlins (0 Lochlainn) descend from Lochlainn, Lord of Corcomroe in the tenth century. Originally one with the O’Connors, in later times they divided the territory of Corcomroe with their O’Connor kinsmen. Thus the O’Loughlins became lords of roughly the eastern half of Corcomroe, also known as "the Burren," and this distinguished family retained their rank as lords of the Burren down to the reign of Elizabeth I. The family is still numerous and respectable in Thomond (the majority of County Clare, with adjacent parts of Tipperary and Limerick). The O’Davorens (0 Dabhoireann) or descendants of Dubhdabhoireann, were a distinguished brehon (legal) family, and for many generations they maintained a great literary and legal school at Lisdoonvarna (in the Burren), where the head of the family resided. Duald MacFirbis, the famous Irish antiquary, was once a pupil at this school. The family spread at an early date (before the sixteenth century) into Tipperary, and are now well represented in Thomond (see above). The Corca Thine or O’Cahills (0 Cathail) were chiefs of Templemore, in County Tipperary. They descended from Cathal, brother of Conchobhar (Conor-Na-Luinge Cuaithe), ancestor of the O’Connors of the Corca Modhruadh. The family was numerous at the end of the sixteenth century, and no less than three townlands in Tipperary called Ballycahill are named after them ("Bally" means "townland of"). The DaI Cairbre Arad The O’Dwyers (0 Dub huidhir) were chiefs of Kilnamanagh, the mountainous region lying west of Thurles. They were an important sept, though not comparable in power to such neighboring families as the Burkes. The O’Dwyers were intimately associated through the years with resistance to the English. In the Cromwellian act of 1652, Philip and Owen O’Dwyer were exempted from pardon for life and estate. Later, Michael Dwyer (b. 1771), the adventurous 1798 man alluded to by Yeats, evaded the English government for five years, though he was later transported to Australia.
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