|
|
From Ireland Home Page>>Co. Monaghan>>History of Monaghan for 200 years, Chap 1>>Chap 2>>Chap 3>>Chap 4 >>Chap 5 History of Monaghan for 200 Years 1660-1860
Over a quarter of a century ago a paper was read, and afterwards published by the writer on the subject of our personal nomenclature. The ground had not then been much explored, and the crude attempt to arouse our people to the degradation brought on us by the habit of ‘Englishing’ our names was not considered very hopeful. Since then, the Gaelic League has arisen and many works on the subject have been published, so that it is unnecessary to enter very fully into the matter, and only a few points need to be dealt with before giving a list of the changes of names of the inhabitants of Co. Monaghan. In the Hearth Money Rolls the most numerous names are McMahon, McKenna, O’Duffy and O’Connolly. Some years earlier, the proportion of McMahon was still larger but necessity compelled to constant use of the second distinctive appellations which were generally patronymics, e.g. Patrick McAghey McMahon became Patrick McAghey or McGahey, Bryan McToal McMahon became Bryan McToal. Thus, we find how holders of the name became proportionally fewer and were replaced by McArdle, McCaghey, McToal, McRorey, McHugh, McKeown &c. Later on, when the penal laws became more stringent we find some of the higher branches of the McMahon family Englishing the name into Matthews or Ennis. There is no evidence of the McKennas Englishing their names, although many of them took the second patronymic, principally McHugh, O’Hugh and McAghey. The first two have now degenerated into Hughes. Several distinctive names were Englished into the same name, as will be found in the Appendixes. The Planters had in most cases Englished their names coming from Scotland to Ireland. The changes in Christian names had begun before the time of the Hearth Money Roll, and a sameness had then begun to creep into nomenclature. Rev. Fr. Woulf states that in ancient times the Christian names of the Irish people amounted to close on 10,000, while we have now, not more than 100. Our ancestors seldom gave the names of saints much venerated, and instead of naming their children Patrick, Martin, Bridget, they called them Gill-Patrick (Giolla Pádraig), Gill-Martin (Giolla Martain), Gill-Breedge (Giolla Brígde). The Blessed Virgin’s name Muira (Muire) was not used but Maire (Máire) was used instead. About this period Christian names were Englished or Latinised. The inter-communication through trade and politics with Spain in Tudor times familiarised the Irish with the saints of that country, consequently we see Afarkin (An Farcin) and Shemus (Séamus) become Philip and James. The first list contains the number of each surname in the County Monaghan Hearth Money Roll, and the second of each Christian name: - McMahon – 158; McKenna – 121 ; O’Duffy – 111 ; O’Connolly – 80 ; McCabe – 50 ; McWard – 41 ; McArdle – 37 ; McIlmartin – 36 ; O’Byrne – 35 : O’ & McCallan – 34 ; O’Kelly – 34 ; O’Murphy – 33 ; McNaney – 32 ; McTreanor – 30 ; O’ & McGowan – 26 ; O’Boylan – 23 ; McIlcollin – 23 ; O’Finegan – 18 ; O’Cassidy – 18 ; McPhilip – 18 ; O’Hugh – 18 ; McGeough – 17 ; O’Murray – 17 ; O’Conlon – 15 ; O’Keenan – 15 ; McAtee – 15 ; O’Connigan – 15 ; McGonnell – 15 ; McBrady – 14 ; O’Mulligan – 14 ; McQuaid – 13 ; O’Cleryan – 13 ; McCodden – 13 ; Mc & O’Gorman – 13 ; McCarron – 12 ; O’Brennan – 12 ; McEnree – 12 ; McCarney – 12 ; O’Daly – 12 ; O’Coogan – 12 ; McCumiskey – 12 ; O’Flannigan – 11 ; McCarvill – 11 ; O’Quinn – 11 ; McGuirk – 11 ; O’Mohan – 10 ; O’Beggin – 9 ; O’Monaghan – 9 ; M’Guinness – 9 : O’Markey – 8 ; O’Hoone – 8 ; McEnellow – 8 . The Planters names are Johnston – 8 ; Smyth and Moore – 5 each, and Taylor, Akison, Ferguson and Scott – 4 each, Dawson, Parr and Hamilton – 3 each. The
Christian names run as follows: The Christian names of the Planters were : John 44, Thomas 26, William 26, Robert 15, James 13, Richard 12, and George 9. There
are a number of Gaelic names throughout Ireland which do not belong to any Irish
clans. Prof Eoin McNeill has disclosed the meaning of their presence. After the
first shock of the Norman invasion the Irish people began to rally and their chiefs
hired soldiers in the Hebrides called Gallógláich (Gallowglass),
foreign soldiers to fight with their bunnadha (Buonnies), permanent service men
against the strangers, which relieved them from calling out the wealth producers
of the country. The result of this rally was to drive the strangers inside the
Pale and hold them between Dublin and Dundalk for many years. The names of the
Gallowglass who then came and remained in the county are: The coming of the Gallowglass accounts for the large number of McCabes in County Monaghan which was part of Oriel. It is hard to account for so many O’Byrnes which is spelt O’Birne, but was pronounced Burn. It is probably they were some of the Leinster clans driven out from their territory, as a clan of O’Tooles settled in County Armagh. The name spelled McCollin was pronounced McQuillen, and McGrath was pronounced McGrah, Owen was pronounced Oyne, Shane Sha’an, Phleme Fellemy, Torlogh Thorlagh. Some northern names were converted into southern names – e.g Soraghan into Sulllivan, Skinnader into Kennedy, McAvánagh into Kavanagh, Ronaghan into Reynolds. Most people with Englished names have written them so often and in such important places that the immediate change, each to the original Irish would be risky. To those who wish to restore their names it is suggested to add the Irish or Celtic form between the Christian and surname, leaving the next generation to hyphenate them and later on to use the Englished form as a distinctive addition. No such attempt should be made without consulting a person who has a good literary knowledge of the Irish language and local history. A careful perusal of the pamphlet ‘Irish Names,’ by Rev. J. J. McNamess, B.D., is advisable! Where
many people of the same name were in the same locality one or more second or distinctive
names were added between the Christian name and the surname: some of these are
patronymics and come from the locality, while others come from the appearance
or quality of the owner. In modern times, since people lost their native language,
they became ashamed of their distinctive appellations, and in their ignorance
looked on them as nick-names. The principal are as follows: Amongst the legends which were encouraged for political purposes was one to the effect that the planters settled in James I’s time were a mixture of Angle-Saxons and Celts. Modern research has put an end to this theory, and has shown that the English who came over, that finding the tenure of their Irish lands was not as good as the copyholds of England which they had been accustomed to, did not make a permanent settlement, and those of them who stayed merely grazed the land, and made no improvements, and so soon as they made or lost by the cattle, left their farms and returned to England. A few of the landowners of that period brought followers with them from England, and these remained near the homes of their lords. There were very few such in the County of Monaghan; but there were some of such settlements in Fermanagh. The town and neighbourhood of Monaghan was originally settled with English by the Blayneys, but after the fall of James II, when that family lost the Monaghan part of their estates, their English followers soon died out. The Scotch planters who were brought over came from the region of Strathclyde, where there had been three conquests of Celts, and never a conquest of either Saxons or Normans, so that it is probable the ancestors of the Protestants and Presbyterians of this County and of most of Ulster are a mixture of Gaels, Picts and Cymric, but all pure Celts and pre-Celts. The dialect of Gaelic they spoke was the same as the inhabitants of Ulster spoke when they came, which dialect is now known as Irish. Some persons asserted that the Anglo-Ulster dialect was only a branch of ‘Braid Scots’; but this could not be so, as the ‘Scotch Water’ dialect, which is now called Scotch, had not penetrated as far as the west coast, and Gaelic was the only language spoken in Strathclyde for a hundred years after the planters had left for Ulster. Irish
& English
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| http://www.from-ireland.net©Dr. Jane Lyons 2001-2007 From Ireland Home Page>>Co. Monaghan>>History of Monaghan for 200 years, Chap 1>>Chap 2>>Chap 3>>Chap 4 >>Chap 5
|
