The Fitzpatricks of Ballagharahin were a family of Rathdowney parish, Co. Laois, considered notab... more The Fitzpatricks of Ballagharahin were a family of Rathdowney parish, Co. Laois, considered notable enough by the Fitzpatrick historian Rev. John Shearman to provide their pedigree in Loca Patriciana. Perhaps such status was due to what Shearman considered their close kinship with the well-known Thady Fitzpatrick MD of Dublin (d.1674), whose descendants became the so-called 'Fitzpatricks of Ballyboodin'. The great Ossory scholar, Rev. William Carrigan, wrote about the Fitzpatricks of Ballagharahin severally in his research notes and considered them unrelated to the Ballyboodin Fitzpatricks, although he did not qualify why he held his belief. Yet, much evidence from seventeenth and eighteenth-century rent books, deeds of indenture, and wills point to the correctness of Carrigan's position. The father of John Fitzpatrick, the first of the Ballagharahin line, is proven to be Joseph Fitzpatrick who married Catherine Carroll of Aghnameadle, Co. Tipperary, not Dr Joseph Fitzpatrick of Carlow town, who died without issue. Unproven, but intriguing, is a potential familial relationship between John Fitzpatrick of Ballagharahin and the Lords Gowran. Hence, while the 'Fitzpatricks of Ballyboodin' descend from the Mac Fynen line of the Mac Giolla Phádraig, the 'Fitzpatricks of Ballagharahin probably descend from Brian 'na Luireach' Mac Giolla Phádraig.
The Ó Maol Phádraig surname is virtually extinct, yet the direct patrilineal descendants of Ó Mao... more The Ó Maol Phádraig surname is virtually extinct, yet the direct patrilineal descendants of Ó Maol Phádraig are unlikely to be so. Rather, it is considered those descendants most likely came to carry the surname Fitzpatrick or another Pátraic-surname form. The series of articles, ‘Ó Maol Phádraig, the name, the people, and the clans’, brings focus back to the lost surname.
Part I explored the origins of the Irish given-name Máel Pátraic, the patterns of its occurrence that are apparent in early annalistic records, and the connections to the regions of Éire where the name was commonly found. In Part II we: (a) collate the records of Ó Maol Phádraig and Máel Pátraic in authoritative genealogies; (b) provide context and identify the clan associated surnames among the population groups in which Máel Pátraic occurs, and; (c) reflect on the alignment of Máel Pátraic in genealogies and annalistic records, and the geographic spread the name, which may have led to the emergence of Ó Maol Phádraig.
The National Library of Ireland holds manuscript 3316, catalogued as the ‘Rent roll of the Co. Le... more The National Library of Ireland holds manuscript 3316, catalogued as the ‘Rent roll of the Co. Leix estate of Capt. Richard FitzPatrick. Early 18th c.’ The manuscript provides details of tenants, townlands, which were mainly in the Parishes of Aghaboe, Offerlane, and Rathdowney, land areas, and terms and conditions of the leases, which often included covenants to make improvements.
The catalogue title of the rental roll is not fully accurate. While the roll does pertain to some of the Co. Laois estate lands in the possession of Richard Fitzpatrick (later Lord Gowran), there are also entries for his older brother, Edward. The pair achieved notability, primarily for their military service under William III. Also, the rental is from the late seventeenth, not the early eighteenth century.
Introduction Among Carrigan's Manuscripts 1 are his notes on several Fitzpatrick families of Co. ... more Introduction Among Carrigan's Manuscripts 1 are his notes on several Fitzpatrick families of Co. Laois and Co. Kilkenny, not obviously connected with the Barons of Upper Ossory, which include seventeenth to early twentieth nineteenth century facts, narratives and genealogies unavailable elsewhere. Volume 73, is titled 'Extracts from Wills, Castlecomber etc' but this does not fully describe the contents, which provide much useful information on the Fitzpatricks of Gurteen 2 and Coolcashin 3. Volume 45 has the title 'Durrow and Aghaboe' but this also belies what lies within the blackbacked book, which contains notes on the Fitzpatricks of Coolcashin and Ballyboodin 4. Full transcriptions from Volumes 73 and 45, which relate to Fitzpatricks of Gorteen and Coolcashin are presented here. The records provide a way to connect descendants of Gorteen and Coolcashin Fitzpatricks to lineages of the sixteenth century, and earlier. Volume 73: The Fitzpatricks Mr John Fitzpatrick was born and lived in Gurteen (between Cullohill and Durrow), married Miss Fanny Roche of Wexford Co., had many children, died in Gurteen, and his widow and children were then either evicted or gave up the place and came to live in Coolcashin and they were the first of the family who lived in Coolcashin 5 .
Among Carrigan’s Manuscripts are his notes on several Fitzpatrick families of Co. Laois and Co. K... more Among Carrigan’s Manuscripts are his notes on several Fitzpatrick families of Co. Laois and Co. Kilkenny, who are not clearly connected with the Barons of Upper Ossory, that provide sixteenth to nineteenth century narratives and genealogies mostly unavailable elsewhere.
In Volume 47 of the Carrigan Manuscripts, entitled, ‘Mainly West Kilkenny County’, are records of Fitzpatricks of Monachunna (Móin an Chonnaidh) and Kilcready , as well as those of other connected families, such as Aylward, Barron, Daton, and Forestall. A full transcription of the records is presented here.
The Daltons of Kildalton (Cill an Dátúnaigh), a townland less than one mile north of the River Su... more The Daltons of Kildalton (Cill an Dátúnaigh), a townland less than one mile north of the River Suir and the Co. Waterford (Port Láirge) border, are a well-known family with a rich and colourful history that has been documented back to fourteenth-century southern Co. Kilkenny (Cill Chainnigh). Such was the status of the family, who had Kilmodalla (Cill Modhallá) as one of their major bases from the fifteenth century, that by the sixteenth century the town had undergone a name change to Kildalton, forever embedding their patronymic in that place, and other areas nearby.
A comparative study of solid-state structures and dynamic solution behaviour of two homoleptic fi... more A comparative study of solid-state structures and dynamic solution behaviour of two homoleptic five-coordinate NiII complexes containing the potentially tridentate ligands bis(2-(dimethylarsino)phenyl)methylarsine (1) and bis(2-(dimethylarsino)phenyl)phenylarsine (2) and the bidentate ligand 1,2-bis(dimethylarsino)benzene (3) is reported. [Ni(1)2](ClO4)2 (4) crystallises in the monoclinic space group P21/n and adopts a pseudo-square-pyramidal structure. One of the ligands is bidentate with an –AsMe2 group dangling at 3.748 (5) Å from the central Ni. In solution the dangling –AsMe2 is found to rapidly exchange with the coordinated –AsMe2 group trans to it at lower temperatures and with all the coordinated –AsMe2 groups at higher temperatures. [Ni(2)2](PF6)2 (5) crystallizes as 5·C4H10O in the monoclinic space group P21/c and adopts a pseudo-trigonal-bipyramidal geometry. One of the ligands is bidentate and an –AsMe2 group dangles at 4.137 (8) Å from the central Ni, bisecting an As–Ni...
The will of Thady Fitzpatrick MD (d. 1674) was transcribed by Rev. William Carrigan and is record... more The will of Thady Fitzpatrick MD (d. 1674) was transcribed by Rev. William Carrigan and is recorded among his notebooks, collectively known as the Carrigan Manuscripts. Carrigan made only a brief mention of Thady in The History and Antiquities of Diocese of Ossory (The History), but his record of Thady's will adds significantly to what is known of Thady's family connections and land holdings. Notably, the will refers to Thady's previously unknown brother, Florence, and four nephews. Moreover, among other notebooks, Carrigan recorded details of a family of Fitzpatricks in the parish of Rathdowney, possibly the descendants of Florence, brother of Thady Fitzpatrick MD.
Once upon a time, the Ó Maol Phádraig (O’Mulpatrick) was a notable clan; or, better – there were ... more Once upon a time, the Ó Maol Phádraig (O’Mulpatrick) was a notable clan; or, better – there were once notable clans of that name. Earlier, there were noteworthy individuals named Máel Pátraic, which is the earliest version of any name given to honour St Patrick. Among such notables were those whose given name came to transcend the individual – so, Máel Pátraic became attached to a patronym.
Our series of articles explores the name Máel Pátraic. In Part I, we discuss the origins of the name and consider the patterns apparent in early annalistic records. Connections are made to those regions of Éire where the name was commonly found. In Part II, we review authoritative Máel Pátraic genealogies, the dynasties whose members bore the name, and the emergence the Ó Maol Phádraig surname. In Part III, and we consider records that occur from the late medieval era until the nineteenth century. Finally, in Part IV, we link the living with those Ó Maol Phádraig gone before via the power of genetic genealogy.
Ó Maol Phádraig is a virtually extinct surname; today their descendants carry Fitzpatrick or other Pátraic-surname forms. Here, the name, the people, and the clans are revived.
There is nothing new about the narratives of some Irish clans being sometimes inaccurate. But the... more There is nothing new about the narratives of some Irish clans being sometimes inaccurate. But there is a world of difference between slight exaggerations of deeds, or misdeeds, or colourful embellishments of a character’s prowess, or a clan’s conquering status, and an entirely false clan narrative. Yet, a critical review of Clan Mac Costigan of Ossory reveals a origin narrative far from the traditional.
The dominant narrative of Clan Mac Costigan of Ossory over the past 140 or so years arrived in 1878 via Rev. John Shearman’s ‘Loca Patriciana’, in which he stated the Mac Costigan stemmed from ‘Oistegan’, a son of Seaffraid (Geoffrey) Mac Giolla Phádraig (d. 1269), who died in 1289. Sherman also stated that Oistegan’s son, Mac Oistegan, slew Thomas Butler, the First Baron Dunboyne, and 100 followers at Muileann gCearr, larmhí (Mullingar, Westmeath) in 1329. And so, the modern Mac Costigan narrative was born – yet it is an ‘assumed genealogy’, likely part inspired by Roger O’Farrells’s ‘Linea Antiqua’ (1709), and then encouraged along by the ever-unreliable John O’Hart.
But the attribution of Butler’s death to a Mac Costigan is hopelessly wrong. In addition, not a single ancient Mac Costigan pedigree exists. Rather, the Mac Costigan of Ossory arose in the mid-fifteenth century, as a Killaloe clerical lineage. And it is John Mac Costigan, who later took the alias Mac Giolla Phádraig, who takes centre stage in this article’s early stanzas.
The co-use of the surnames Mac Costigan and Mac Giolla Phádraig in fifteenth century Ossory is also captured in the current era because some Costigans and Fitzpatricks (formerly Mac Giolla Phádraig) share a common ancestry under haplotype R-A1488, and the Time to the Most Common Ancestor (TMRCA) of R-A1488 is ca. 1420. The TMRCA speaks to the very obvious, and it is impossible, based on either historical records or DNA analysis, to determine whether R-A1488 Fitzpatricks descend from a line of Mac Costigan, or vice versa. It is little wonder then, that throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Ossory land possessions of the Costigan, Fitzpatrick, and other kindred clans who had also adopted obscure aliases, such as the Mac Fynen (also known as Mac Kynen), notably in the Parish of Offerlane, were adjacent, interchanged, and shared. Here we dismantle the ‘assumed genealogy’ of the Mac Costigan of Ossory and posit an alternative based on robust genealogical research and twenty-first-century science.
Before the turn of the 17th century the settlement of Irish in the Americas lacked permanence. So... more Before the turn of the 17th century the settlement of Irish in the Americas lacked permanence. Soon after, Irish came to North America and the Caribbean in a steady flow, and by the mid 18th century a flood of Irish and Scotch-Irish had settled in the Americas. The reasons for that settlement were many and varied, as were the geographic origins and lineages of those Fitzpatricks among the influx. This article provides a review of the forces that pushed and pulled Irish and Scotch-Irish to the Americas. By way of example, a single Fitzpatrick line demonstrates how messy traditional genealogy of early Colonial American Fitzpatricks can get. That messiness is due in no small part to the cut and paste functionality at websites such as ancestry.com. But by careful review of authentic historical records, caution with speculative associations, and the power of Y-DNA analysis, it is possible to untangle the mess and bring back some much-needed clarity. In this article, the example used is t...
The Fiants and the Patent Rolls of Ireland are an extraordinary and largely untapped source of in... more The Fiants and the Patent Rolls of Ireland are an extraordinary and largely untapped source of information. Part I of this series, which interrogates Pátraic-surnames in the fiants and patents, answered questions about the Mac Caisín of Osraí (Ossory), who were unquestionably the close associates of the Fitzpatrick barons of Upper Ossory. Traditionally considered a hereditary medical family, the Mac Caisín of Upper Ossory sprang from a hereditary clerical family or, more broadly, a hereditary learnèd family, whose origins were in the diocese of Cill Dalua (Killaloe). It is not implausible that the Mac Caisín were patrilineally connected with the Mac Giolla Phádraig Osraí but there is no evidence of such can be provided by either conventual genealogy or Y-DNA analysis.
Y-DNA analysis of Fitzpatricks has turned traditional historical narratives of how the surname wa... more Y-DNA analysis of Fitzpatricks has turned traditional historical narratives of how the surname was taken on its head. The attachment of the surname Fitzpatrick to the Barons of Upper Ossory, who were supposedly the descendants of Mac Giolla Phádraig Osraí and, in turn, of an ancient Laighin (Leinster) lineage, is no longer sustainable.
This article reproduces Rev. William Carrigan's transcriptions of material he titled, 'Letters fr... more This article reproduces Rev. William Carrigan's transcriptions of material he titled, 'Letters from the Baron of Upper Ossory, and his son Sir Barnaby Fitzpatrick, AD 1571'. The letters are three pieces of correspondence from the Baron of Upper Ossory and one from Sir Barnaby to Sir William Fitzwilliam, Lord Justice of Ireland (1571-1575), and mainly relate to the baron's various complaints-that he had lost castles and houses, lands and associated incomes, and goods, had been variously mistreated and was in exile, and that Sir Barnaby was culpable. The letters demonstrate the severe rift that had developed between the baron and his eldest legitimate son but also provide peripheral facts concerning the boron's broader relationships, places of abode, and the timing of some of his life events.
The Fitzpatricks of Ballagharahin were a family of Rathdowney parish, Co. Laois, considered notab... more The Fitzpatricks of Ballagharahin were a family of Rathdowney parish, Co. Laois, considered notable enough by the Fitzpatrick historian Rev. John Shearman to provide their pedigree in Loca Patriciana. Perhaps such status was due to what Shearman considered their close kinship with the well-known Thady Fitzpatrick MD of Dublin (d.1674), whose descendants became the so-called 'Fitzpatricks of Ballyboodin'. The great Ossory scholar, Rev. William Carrigan, wrote about the Fitzpatricks of Ballagharahin severally in his research notes and considered them unrelated to the Ballyboodin Fitzpatricks, although he did not qualify why he held his belief. Yet, much evidence from seventeenth and eighteenth-century rent books, deeds of indenture, and wills point to the correctness of Carrigan's position. The father of John Fitzpatrick, the first of the Ballagharahin line, is proven to be Joseph Fitzpatrick who married Catherine Carroll of Aghnameadle, Co. Tipperary, not Dr Joseph Fitzpatrick of Carlow town, who died without issue. Unproven, but intriguing, is a potential familial relationship between John Fitzpatrick of Ballagharahin and the Lords Gowran. Hence, while the 'Fitzpatricks of Ballyboodin' descend from the Mac Fynen line of the Mac Giolla Phádraig, the 'Fitzpatricks of Ballagharahin probably descend from Brian 'na Luireach' Mac Giolla Phádraig.
The Ó Maol Phádraig surname is virtually extinct, yet the direct patrilineal descendants of Ó Mao... more The Ó Maol Phádraig surname is virtually extinct, yet the direct patrilineal descendants of Ó Maol Phádraig are unlikely to be so. Rather, it is considered those descendants most likely came to carry the surname Fitzpatrick or another Pátraic-surname form. The series of articles, ‘Ó Maol Phádraig, the name, the people, and the clans’, brings focus back to the lost surname.
Part I explored the origins of the Irish given-name Máel Pátraic, the patterns of its occurrence that are apparent in early annalistic records, and the connections to the regions of Éire where the name was commonly found. In Part II we: (a) collate the records of Ó Maol Phádraig and Máel Pátraic in authoritative genealogies; (b) provide context and identify the clan associated surnames among the population groups in which Máel Pátraic occurs, and; (c) reflect on the alignment of Máel Pátraic in genealogies and annalistic records, and the geographic spread the name, which may have led to the emergence of Ó Maol Phádraig.
The National Library of Ireland holds manuscript 3316, catalogued as the ‘Rent roll of the Co. Le... more The National Library of Ireland holds manuscript 3316, catalogued as the ‘Rent roll of the Co. Leix estate of Capt. Richard FitzPatrick. Early 18th c.’ The manuscript provides details of tenants, townlands, which were mainly in the Parishes of Aghaboe, Offerlane, and Rathdowney, land areas, and terms and conditions of the leases, which often included covenants to make improvements.
The catalogue title of the rental roll is not fully accurate. While the roll does pertain to some of the Co. Laois estate lands in the possession of Richard Fitzpatrick (later Lord Gowran), there are also entries for his older brother, Edward. The pair achieved notability, primarily for their military service under William III. Also, the rental is from the late seventeenth, not the early eighteenth century.
Introduction Among Carrigan's Manuscripts 1 are his notes on several Fitzpatrick families of Co. ... more Introduction Among Carrigan's Manuscripts 1 are his notes on several Fitzpatrick families of Co. Laois and Co. Kilkenny, not obviously connected with the Barons of Upper Ossory, which include seventeenth to early twentieth nineteenth century facts, narratives and genealogies unavailable elsewhere. Volume 73, is titled 'Extracts from Wills, Castlecomber etc' but this does not fully describe the contents, which provide much useful information on the Fitzpatricks of Gurteen 2 and Coolcashin 3. Volume 45 has the title 'Durrow and Aghaboe' but this also belies what lies within the blackbacked book, which contains notes on the Fitzpatricks of Coolcashin and Ballyboodin 4. Full transcriptions from Volumes 73 and 45, which relate to Fitzpatricks of Gorteen and Coolcashin are presented here. The records provide a way to connect descendants of Gorteen and Coolcashin Fitzpatricks to lineages of the sixteenth century, and earlier. Volume 73: The Fitzpatricks Mr John Fitzpatrick was born and lived in Gurteen (between Cullohill and Durrow), married Miss Fanny Roche of Wexford Co., had many children, died in Gurteen, and his widow and children were then either evicted or gave up the place and came to live in Coolcashin and they were the first of the family who lived in Coolcashin 5 .
Among Carrigan’s Manuscripts are his notes on several Fitzpatrick families of Co. Laois and Co. K... more Among Carrigan’s Manuscripts are his notes on several Fitzpatrick families of Co. Laois and Co. Kilkenny, who are not clearly connected with the Barons of Upper Ossory, that provide sixteenth to nineteenth century narratives and genealogies mostly unavailable elsewhere.
In Volume 47 of the Carrigan Manuscripts, entitled, ‘Mainly West Kilkenny County’, are records of Fitzpatricks of Monachunna (Móin an Chonnaidh) and Kilcready , as well as those of other connected families, such as Aylward, Barron, Daton, and Forestall. A full transcription of the records is presented here.
The Daltons of Kildalton (Cill an Dátúnaigh), a townland less than one mile north of the River Su... more The Daltons of Kildalton (Cill an Dátúnaigh), a townland less than one mile north of the River Suir and the Co. Waterford (Port Láirge) border, are a well-known family with a rich and colourful history that has been documented back to fourteenth-century southern Co. Kilkenny (Cill Chainnigh). Such was the status of the family, who had Kilmodalla (Cill Modhallá) as one of their major bases from the fifteenth century, that by the sixteenth century the town had undergone a name change to Kildalton, forever embedding their patronymic in that place, and other areas nearby.
A comparative study of solid-state structures and dynamic solution behaviour of two homoleptic fi... more A comparative study of solid-state structures and dynamic solution behaviour of two homoleptic five-coordinate NiII complexes containing the potentially tridentate ligands bis(2-(dimethylarsino)phenyl)methylarsine (1) and bis(2-(dimethylarsino)phenyl)phenylarsine (2) and the bidentate ligand 1,2-bis(dimethylarsino)benzene (3) is reported. [Ni(1)2](ClO4)2 (4) crystallises in the monoclinic space group P21/n and adopts a pseudo-square-pyramidal structure. One of the ligands is bidentate with an –AsMe2 group dangling at 3.748 (5) Å from the central Ni. In solution the dangling –AsMe2 is found to rapidly exchange with the coordinated –AsMe2 group trans to it at lower temperatures and with all the coordinated –AsMe2 groups at higher temperatures. [Ni(2)2](PF6)2 (5) crystallizes as 5·C4H10O in the monoclinic space group P21/c and adopts a pseudo-trigonal-bipyramidal geometry. One of the ligands is bidentate and an –AsMe2 group dangles at 4.137 (8) Å from the central Ni, bisecting an As–Ni...
The will of Thady Fitzpatrick MD (d. 1674) was transcribed by Rev. William Carrigan and is record... more The will of Thady Fitzpatrick MD (d. 1674) was transcribed by Rev. William Carrigan and is recorded among his notebooks, collectively known as the Carrigan Manuscripts. Carrigan made only a brief mention of Thady in The History and Antiquities of Diocese of Ossory (The History), but his record of Thady's will adds significantly to what is known of Thady's family connections and land holdings. Notably, the will refers to Thady's previously unknown brother, Florence, and four nephews. Moreover, among other notebooks, Carrigan recorded details of a family of Fitzpatricks in the parish of Rathdowney, possibly the descendants of Florence, brother of Thady Fitzpatrick MD.
Once upon a time, the Ó Maol Phádraig (O’Mulpatrick) was a notable clan; or, better – there were ... more Once upon a time, the Ó Maol Phádraig (O’Mulpatrick) was a notable clan; or, better – there were once notable clans of that name. Earlier, there were noteworthy individuals named Máel Pátraic, which is the earliest version of any name given to honour St Patrick. Among such notables were those whose given name came to transcend the individual – so, Máel Pátraic became attached to a patronym.
Our series of articles explores the name Máel Pátraic. In Part I, we discuss the origins of the name and consider the patterns apparent in early annalistic records. Connections are made to those regions of Éire where the name was commonly found. In Part II, we review authoritative Máel Pátraic genealogies, the dynasties whose members bore the name, and the emergence the Ó Maol Phádraig surname. In Part III, and we consider records that occur from the late medieval era until the nineteenth century. Finally, in Part IV, we link the living with those Ó Maol Phádraig gone before via the power of genetic genealogy.
Ó Maol Phádraig is a virtually extinct surname; today their descendants carry Fitzpatrick or other Pátraic-surname forms. Here, the name, the people, and the clans are revived.
There is nothing new about the narratives of some Irish clans being sometimes inaccurate. But the... more There is nothing new about the narratives of some Irish clans being sometimes inaccurate. But there is a world of difference between slight exaggerations of deeds, or misdeeds, or colourful embellishments of a character’s prowess, or a clan’s conquering status, and an entirely false clan narrative. Yet, a critical review of Clan Mac Costigan of Ossory reveals a origin narrative far from the traditional.
The dominant narrative of Clan Mac Costigan of Ossory over the past 140 or so years arrived in 1878 via Rev. John Shearman’s ‘Loca Patriciana’, in which he stated the Mac Costigan stemmed from ‘Oistegan’, a son of Seaffraid (Geoffrey) Mac Giolla Phádraig (d. 1269), who died in 1289. Sherman also stated that Oistegan’s son, Mac Oistegan, slew Thomas Butler, the First Baron Dunboyne, and 100 followers at Muileann gCearr, larmhí (Mullingar, Westmeath) in 1329. And so, the modern Mac Costigan narrative was born – yet it is an ‘assumed genealogy’, likely part inspired by Roger O’Farrells’s ‘Linea Antiqua’ (1709), and then encouraged along by the ever-unreliable John O’Hart.
But the attribution of Butler’s death to a Mac Costigan is hopelessly wrong. In addition, not a single ancient Mac Costigan pedigree exists. Rather, the Mac Costigan of Ossory arose in the mid-fifteenth century, as a Killaloe clerical lineage. And it is John Mac Costigan, who later took the alias Mac Giolla Phádraig, who takes centre stage in this article’s early stanzas.
The co-use of the surnames Mac Costigan and Mac Giolla Phádraig in fifteenth century Ossory is also captured in the current era because some Costigans and Fitzpatricks (formerly Mac Giolla Phádraig) share a common ancestry under haplotype R-A1488, and the Time to the Most Common Ancestor (TMRCA) of R-A1488 is ca. 1420. The TMRCA speaks to the very obvious, and it is impossible, based on either historical records or DNA analysis, to determine whether R-A1488 Fitzpatricks descend from a line of Mac Costigan, or vice versa. It is little wonder then, that throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Ossory land possessions of the Costigan, Fitzpatrick, and other kindred clans who had also adopted obscure aliases, such as the Mac Fynen (also known as Mac Kynen), notably in the Parish of Offerlane, were adjacent, interchanged, and shared. Here we dismantle the ‘assumed genealogy’ of the Mac Costigan of Ossory and posit an alternative based on robust genealogical research and twenty-first-century science.
Before the turn of the 17th century the settlement of Irish in the Americas lacked permanence. So... more Before the turn of the 17th century the settlement of Irish in the Americas lacked permanence. Soon after, Irish came to North America and the Caribbean in a steady flow, and by the mid 18th century a flood of Irish and Scotch-Irish had settled in the Americas. The reasons for that settlement were many and varied, as were the geographic origins and lineages of those Fitzpatricks among the influx. This article provides a review of the forces that pushed and pulled Irish and Scotch-Irish to the Americas. By way of example, a single Fitzpatrick line demonstrates how messy traditional genealogy of early Colonial American Fitzpatricks can get. That messiness is due in no small part to the cut and paste functionality at websites such as ancestry.com. But by careful review of authentic historical records, caution with speculative associations, and the power of Y-DNA analysis, it is possible to untangle the mess and bring back some much-needed clarity. In this article, the example used is t...
The Fiants and the Patent Rolls of Ireland are an extraordinary and largely untapped source of in... more The Fiants and the Patent Rolls of Ireland are an extraordinary and largely untapped source of information. Part I of this series, which interrogates Pátraic-surnames in the fiants and patents, answered questions about the Mac Caisín of Osraí (Ossory), who were unquestionably the close associates of the Fitzpatrick barons of Upper Ossory. Traditionally considered a hereditary medical family, the Mac Caisín of Upper Ossory sprang from a hereditary clerical family or, more broadly, a hereditary learnèd family, whose origins were in the diocese of Cill Dalua (Killaloe). It is not implausible that the Mac Caisín were patrilineally connected with the Mac Giolla Phádraig Osraí but there is no evidence of such can be provided by either conventual genealogy or Y-DNA analysis.
Y-DNA analysis of Fitzpatricks has turned traditional historical narratives of how the surname wa... more Y-DNA analysis of Fitzpatricks has turned traditional historical narratives of how the surname was taken on its head. The attachment of the surname Fitzpatrick to the Barons of Upper Ossory, who were supposedly the descendants of Mac Giolla Phádraig Osraí and, in turn, of an ancient Laighin (Leinster) lineage, is no longer sustainable.
This article reproduces Rev. William Carrigan's transcriptions of material he titled, 'Letters fr... more This article reproduces Rev. William Carrigan's transcriptions of material he titled, 'Letters from the Baron of Upper Ossory, and his son Sir Barnaby Fitzpatrick, AD 1571'. The letters are three pieces of correspondence from the Baron of Upper Ossory and one from Sir Barnaby to Sir William Fitzwilliam, Lord Justice of Ireland (1571-1575), and mainly relate to the baron's various complaints-that he had lost castles and houses, lands and associated incomes, and goods, had been variously mistreated and was in exile, and that Sir Barnaby was culpable. The letters demonstrate the severe rift that had developed between the baron and his eldest legitimate son but also provide peripheral facts concerning the boron's broader relationships, places of abode, and the timing of some of his life events.
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Part I explored the origins of the Irish given-name Máel Pátraic, the patterns of its occurrence that are apparent in early annalistic records, and the connections to the regions of Éire where the name was commonly found. In Part II we: (a) collate the records of Ó Maol Phádraig and Máel Pátraic in authoritative genealogies; (b) provide context and identify the clan associated surnames among the population groups in which Máel Pátraic occurs, and; (c) reflect on the alignment of Máel Pátraic in genealogies and annalistic records, and the geographic spread the name, which may have led to the emergence of Ó Maol Phádraig.
The catalogue title of the rental roll is not fully accurate. While the roll does pertain to some of the Co. Laois estate lands in the possession of Richard Fitzpatrick (later Lord Gowran), there are also entries for his older brother, Edward. The pair achieved notability, primarily for their military service under William III. Also, the rental is from the late seventeenth, not the early eighteenth century.
In Volume 47 of the Carrigan Manuscripts, entitled, ‘Mainly West Kilkenny County’, are records of Fitzpatricks of Monachunna (Móin an Chonnaidh) and Kilcready , as well as those of other connected families, such as Aylward, Barron, Daton, and Forestall. A full transcription of the records is presented here.
Our series of articles explores the name Máel Pátraic. In Part I, we discuss the origins of the name and consider the patterns apparent in early annalistic records. Connections are made to those regions of Éire where the name was commonly found. In Part II, we review authoritative Máel Pátraic genealogies, the dynasties whose members bore the name, and the emergence the Ó Maol Phádraig surname. In Part III, and we consider records that occur from the late medieval era until the nineteenth century. Finally, in Part IV, we link the living with those Ó Maol Phádraig gone before via the power of genetic genealogy.
Ó Maol Phádraig is a virtually extinct surname; today their descendants carry Fitzpatrick or other Pátraic-surname forms. Here, the name, the people, and the clans are revived.
The dominant narrative of Clan Mac Costigan of Ossory over the past 140 or so years arrived in 1878 via Rev. John Shearman’s ‘Loca Patriciana’, in which he stated the Mac Costigan stemmed from ‘Oistegan’, a son of Seaffraid (Geoffrey) Mac Giolla Phádraig (d. 1269), who died in 1289. Sherman also stated that Oistegan’s son, Mac Oistegan, slew Thomas Butler, the First Baron Dunboyne, and 100 followers at Muileann gCearr, larmhí (Mullingar, Westmeath) in 1329. And so, the modern Mac Costigan narrative was born – yet it is an ‘assumed genealogy’, likely part inspired by Roger O’Farrells’s ‘Linea Antiqua’ (1709), and then encouraged along by the ever-unreliable John O’Hart.
But the attribution of Butler’s death to a Mac Costigan is hopelessly wrong. In addition, not a single ancient Mac Costigan pedigree exists. Rather, the Mac Costigan of Ossory arose in the mid-fifteenth century, as a Killaloe clerical lineage. And it is John Mac Costigan, who later took the alias Mac Giolla Phádraig, who takes centre stage in this article’s early stanzas.
The co-use of the surnames Mac Costigan and Mac Giolla Phádraig in fifteenth century Ossory is also captured in the current era because some Costigans and Fitzpatricks (formerly Mac Giolla Phádraig) share a common ancestry under haplotype R-A1488, and the Time to the Most Common Ancestor (TMRCA) of R-A1488 is ca. 1420. The TMRCA speaks to the very obvious, and it is impossible, based on either historical records or DNA analysis, to determine whether R-A1488 Fitzpatricks descend from a line of Mac Costigan, or vice versa. It is little wonder then, that throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Ossory land possessions of the Costigan, Fitzpatrick, and other kindred clans who had also adopted obscure aliases, such as the Mac Fynen (also known as Mac Kynen), notably in the Parish of Offerlane, were adjacent, interchanged, and shared. Here we dismantle the ‘assumed genealogy’ of the Mac Costigan of Ossory and posit an alternative based on robust genealogical research and twenty-first-century science.
Part I explored the origins of the Irish given-name Máel Pátraic, the patterns of its occurrence that are apparent in early annalistic records, and the connections to the regions of Éire where the name was commonly found. In Part II we: (a) collate the records of Ó Maol Phádraig and Máel Pátraic in authoritative genealogies; (b) provide context and identify the clan associated surnames among the population groups in which Máel Pátraic occurs, and; (c) reflect on the alignment of Máel Pátraic in genealogies and annalistic records, and the geographic spread the name, which may have led to the emergence of Ó Maol Phádraig.
The catalogue title of the rental roll is not fully accurate. While the roll does pertain to some of the Co. Laois estate lands in the possession of Richard Fitzpatrick (later Lord Gowran), there are also entries for his older brother, Edward. The pair achieved notability, primarily for their military service under William III. Also, the rental is from the late seventeenth, not the early eighteenth century.
In Volume 47 of the Carrigan Manuscripts, entitled, ‘Mainly West Kilkenny County’, are records of Fitzpatricks of Monachunna (Móin an Chonnaidh) and Kilcready , as well as those of other connected families, such as Aylward, Barron, Daton, and Forestall. A full transcription of the records is presented here.
Our series of articles explores the name Máel Pátraic. In Part I, we discuss the origins of the name and consider the patterns apparent in early annalistic records. Connections are made to those regions of Éire where the name was commonly found. In Part II, we review authoritative Máel Pátraic genealogies, the dynasties whose members bore the name, and the emergence the Ó Maol Phádraig surname. In Part III, and we consider records that occur from the late medieval era until the nineteenth century. Finally, in Part IV, we link the living with those Ó Maol Phádraig gone before via the power of genetic genealogy.
Ó Maol Phádraig is a virtually extinct surname; today their descendants carry Fitzpatrick or other Pátraic-surname forms. Here, the name, the people, and the clans are revived.
The dominant narrative of Clan Mac Costigan of Ossory over the past 140 or so years arrived in 1878 via Rev. John Shearman’s ‘Loca Patriciana’, in which he stated the Mac Costigan stemmed from ‘Oistegan’, a son of Seaffraid (Geoffrey) Mac Giolla Phádraig (d. 1269), who died in 1289. Sherman also stated that Oistegan’s son, Mac Oistegan, slew Thomas Butler, the First Baron Dunboyne, and 100 followers at Muileann gCearr, larmhí (Mullingar, Westmeath) in 1329. And so, the modern Mac Costigan narrative was born – yet it is an ‘assumed genealogy’, likely part inspired by Roger O’Farrells’s ‘Linea Antiqua’ (1709), and then encouraged along by the ever-unreliable John O’Hart.
But the attribution of Butler’s death to a Mac Costigan is hopelessly wrong. In addition, not a single ancient Mac Costigan pedigree exists. Rather, the Mac Costigan of Ossory arose in the mid-fifteenth century, as a Killaloe clerical lineage. And it is John Mac Costigan, who later took the alias Mac Giolla Phádraig, who takes centre stage in this article’s early stanzas.
The co-use of the surnames Mac Costigan and Mac Giolla Phádraig in fifteenth century Ossory is also captured in the current era because some Costigans and Fitzpatricks (formerly Mac Giolla Phádraig) share a common ancestry under haplotype R-A1488, and the Time to the Most Common Ancestor (TMRCA) of R-A1488 is ca. 1420. The TMRCA speaks to the very obvious, and it is impossible, based on either historical records or DNA analysis, to determine whether R-A1488 Fitzpatricks descend from a line of Mac Costigan, or vice versa. It is little wonder then, that throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Ossory land possessions of the Costigan, Fitzpatrick, and other kindred clans who had also adopted obscure aliases, such as the Mac Fynen (also known as Mac Kynen), notably in the Parish of Offerlane, were adjacent, interchanged, and shared. Here we dismantle the ‘assumed genealogy’ of the Mac Costigan of Ossory and posit an alternative based on robust genealogical research and twenty-first-century science.