'Cearnach' McMahon

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darrenoconaill
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'Cearnach' McMahon

Post by darrenoconaill » Thu Jun 16, 2016 11:32 am

Hi Folks,

have been reading through the Irish Folklore Commision and came across a reference to a 'The Cearnach McMahon' in the Ballycalla area near Newmarket on Fergus.

As I'm pretty sure 'Cearnach' wasn't his first name I'm just wondering could anyone explain what Cearnach means - could it be a nickname or an Irish title for a local leader or what?

Would be grateful for any light-shedding.

Thanks

Darren

Paddy Casey
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Re: 'Cearnach' McMahon

Post by Paddy Casey » Thu Jun 16, 2016 11:57 am

Does this help, Darren: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conall_Cernach ?

Paddy

darrenoconaill
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Re: 'Cearnach' McMahon

Post by darrenoconaill » Thu Jun 16, 2016 2:57 pm

Thanks Paddy. I had heard of Conal Cearnach and the word appears on various sites as meaning 'victorious' etc. But it doesn't explain why this McMahon in Ballycalla was called Cearnach.

I guess what I'd really like to know is what his real first name was but there's nothing that looks like it on Griffiths or Tithes.

Jimbo
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Re: 'Cearnach' McMahon

Post by Jimbo » Sat Jun 18, 2016 6:02 am

Hi Darren,

I checked the genealogybank newspaper archive for the term "Cearnach" and most of the articles related to the same "Conall Cearnach" as Paddy referenced. There was one article on the history of the surname "Cearnach" but that didn't answer your question about Cearnach McMahon. A search with the term "Ballycalla" led to only 3 hits: a land transaction (1913) and two McMahon obituaries: Mrs John McMahon (1898) and Mr. John McMahon (1904).

The Mrs. John McMahon obituary is very short but highlights her ancestry in a big way:
Mrs. John McMahon, Ballycalla, died lately. She belonged to the chieftain McMahons of Claire, and was one of the few of her name who could trace her descent from the renowned Marshal McMahon. The funeral took place to the family burial ground in Kilmilrey, and was largely attended.

Source: Irish World, New York City, 13 August 1898, genealogybank.com newspaper archive
Just a theory, but perhaps the "Cearnach McMahon" was just a nickname given to him by his neighbors after being reminded one too many times of his historic lineage?

Lucille
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Re: 'Cearnach' McMahon

Post by Lucille » Sun Jun 19, 2016 11:23 am

Hi Darren

I have posted before about a similar situation, with some echoes of your 'cearnach'.

"Jane O'Dwyer of Kilrush, granddaughter of the well known Jenny Butler whose six daughters married Kenny, Shannon, Mahon, Kelly, O'Gorman and O'Dwyer. Known as the "Heads of Caun Francais".

I contacted a lecturer in Maynooth University who was engaged at the time in developing a database of Irish men involved in the Wild Geese adventure in France in the 17th and 18th centuries (needless to remark my six names were not on the database!) He could only come up with the suggestion that 'caun' was missing an 'l' which would give 'claun', "an English phonetic spelling for the Irish 'clann' (family) with a Munster pronunciation, as they would have in Clare".

Now following Jimbo's post I googled 'Marshall McMahon' who turns out to have been active around the Crimean War, mid 19th century, but more interesting was this blog http://www.familyhistoryireland.com/gen ... connection which talks about the genealogy research commissioned in the 1770s by the McMahon family and done by the Chevalier O'Gorman. He charged them 12,000 francs apparently - genealogy never comes cheap!

None of this answers our specific questions, but does add a bit of background.

Lucille

Paddy Casey
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Re: 'Cearnach' McMahon

Post by Paddy Casey » Sun Jun 19, 2016 7:34 pm

Lucille wrote:He charged them 12,000 francs apparently - genealogy never comes cheap!
Lucille
Indeed, Lucille. It's difficult to put a value on those 12,000 francs but http://www.histoire-genealogie.com/spip ... 98&lang=fr says "Un franc 1803 vaut environ 2,07 € 2006" so unless something catastrophic happened to the franc in the 1770s it would seem that this guy pocketed quite a bit for his services.

Paddy

Jimbo
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Re: 'Cearnach' McMahon

Post by Jimbo » Mon Jun 20, 2016 7:27 am

Lucille, that was a very interesting link you provided on Marshall McMahon (written by another Darren!) from the Family History Ireland website. Even though you thought you were just providing a bit of background information, you provided an important clue! Did you read all the way at the very bottom of the page of the other Darren's article? there was just one comment written by Margaret Gallery (who often posts on this forum):
Where are the French manuscripts kept Darren? I have just looked at the O'Gorman pedigrees in the NLI on which my family Gallerys of Ennis are mentioned. The Gallerys of Montreal claim descent from the McMahons and a relationship to the Duc de Magenta in 1900s obits
The Mrs. John McMahon whose 1898 obituary I transcribed is Mary Gallery McMahon.

Note : the Duc de Magenta is another name of Marshall MacMahon:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrice_d ... of_Magenta

Lucille
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Re: 'Cearnach' McMahon

Post by Lucille » Mon Jun 20, 2016 4:54 pm

There's a lesson for me. I did not read to the end of the blog so didn't see Margaret's query. As I'm related to Margaret and the Gallery family of Ennis this obviously is of relevance to me. Thanks Jimbo.

Lucille

darrenoconaill
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Re: 'Cearnach' McMahon

Post by darrenoconaill » Mon Jun 20, 2016 9:32 pm

Thanks to all for your replies. This is becoming very interesting.

Just a bit of background on the Cearnach - I'm doing a bit of transcribing for Duchas on the School's Collection and came across a story about the Cearnach McMahon in Ballycalla during the famine who shot the cable of a ship on the river Fergus which was leaving the country with a large quantity of grain. The ship drifted inland where it was captured by McMahon and the grain was used to feed the hungry locals. My g-g-grandfather John McMahon was knocking around Ballycalla in those days and I'm hoping (but unfortunately can't prove) that he was the Cearnach as it's such a great story.

What's really interesting me now however are Jimbo's posts about Mrs. Mary McMahon's obit. It never clicked with me until the second post where you said that her maiden name was Gallery - that Mary Gallery is my g-g-grandmother!! https://mcmahonfrost.wordpress.com/mcma ... y-gallery/

So now I know that I have a connection with Marshall McMahon. Thanks for that!

Lucille, I think I spoke to you before about this Gallery connection but I don't think you could find any Marys that matched mine.

Anyway, thanks again folks!

Darren

Jimbo
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Re: 'Cearnach' McMahon

Post by Jimbo » Mon Jun 27, 2016 4:57 am

Very interesting, indeed. But Darren, not sure you appreciate that while the obituary stated that your g-g-grandmother Mary Gallery McMahon had a connection to Marshall McMahon, it also stated a direct link to the Chieftain McMahon's.

Your great grandfather Daniel McMahon would have also been aware of this direct link. The McMahon website you created for your family tree is very interesting especially the names of two of Daniel's sons. Your blog states regarding your grandfather:
Murrough was born in Ballycalla on 23 April 1910, the third child of Daniel McMahon and Mary Twiss. He appears on the 1911 Census at the age of one. At the time he was one of only four people in the whole country with the first name "Murrough".
Here is the family in the 1911 Irish census:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/r ... 001759463/

Murrough also had an elder brother named "Turlough". Any family stories on why Murrough and Turlough had such unusual names?

Take a look at the attached McMahon pedigree chart from the Library Ireland website (see footnote 2 for link to the McMahons of France) :

http://www.libraryireland.com/Pedigrees ... hp#anchor1

The furthest back you can go for the Chieftain McMahon's is "Turlogh Mór", the 178th Monarch of Ireland who died A.D. 1086. Turlogh had two sons: 1. Mathghabhuin; 2. Dermod:

Mathghabhuin had a son named "Morogh" !

Polycarp
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Re: 'Cearnach' McMahon

Post by Polycarp » Fri Jul 08, 2016 7:26 pm

Hi Darren

There is reference to Ceatharnach McMahon in the recently-published "The Story Of Newmarket-on-Fergus" by Reuben Butler and Maire Ni Ghruagain. See page 259 of this book.

Drawing on the O'Donoghue Manuscripts and also the Stonehall National School submission to the Irish Folklore Commission of 1937/38, Butler and Ni Ghruagain write: "Living in the Creagan Croch area was a local hero known as Ceatharnach McMahon. He was a powerfully, squarely built man. A ship with a cargo of wheat bound from Clarecastle to England in a time of great hunger anchored off Rineanna. Ceatharnach sent a bullet through the cable rope and the ship drifted to the shore where the outlaw and his men went on board and captured a considerable supply of wheat ... ". The authors suggest an incident in 1849 may be the source for this story.

Polycarp

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