County Fermanagh [8 baronies]

As tradition has it the ancient Manaigh or Monaigh occupied the area near Lough Erne, giving their name to the modern county of Fermanagh. The Monaig of Connacht are often associated with the Manapioi (Menapii), a maritime Belgic tribe of Cassel, Northern Gaul who are noted on Ptolemy's 2nd century map of Ireland in southeast Ireland and where from the Firbolgs formed the Uí Failge of Meath and Offaly, the Uí Bairrche, the Uí Enachglais etc-The Euerni was later called Érainn also known as Menapii Bolgi, Belgae Firbolgs.

They spread northwards to Connacht and the Ards of Down, and the Fir Manach, or Monaig in Irish and to Kirk Patrick and Kirk Maughold. A great tract of land which was called Magh Geannain or the "Plain of Geannan," so called from Geannan, one of the Firbolg kings. The Menapii also occupied also the present county of Wexford. The Manappi (Fir Manach family) occupied Fermanagh, Monaghan. The Monaigh Uladh in the region of Downpatrick, which is located in the barony of Lecale, Galway.

 Belgae (Britain)

The Connachta and Albans or Q-Celtic speaking Celts were also probably from a tribe of Gaul. The North Gaels divided into two great branches in the mid-fifth century A.D.: the Connachta Magh Réin and the Uí Neill. Prior to the seventh century, mention is made of two small tracts, one called Coscradia, and the other Hy-Lyathain, on the south, about Ardmore; but these designations appear to have merged at an early period of (St. Declan, St. Maelrubha, St. Bridgid, St. Luchtighern) in that of Decies of Meath and Waterford (South Decie-Deisgeart and North Decie-Thuasgeart).

 

Clanawley
  • Named in honor of clan MacAuley (MacAwley), a branch of the Maguires.

  • The homeland of the O'Droma (Drum) family is cited near here in the parish of Kinawley, a parish which extends into northern Co. Cavan. Saint Ita is the most famous woman saint in Ireland after Saint Brigid, and is known as the Brigid of Munster.

  • O'Naughton of Athlone
Clankelly
  • Named for sept of the Clann Cheallaigh (e.g. Mac Domhnaill or Mac Donnell). Ceann Coradh, now Kincora, was the stronghold of Brian, near the mouth of the Shannon river. For 1031, Diarmait, mac Domhnaill, mic Faoláin, king of the Deisi. The names of the Gallowglass who then came and remained in the county are: in Connacht – Mac Domhnaill, Mac Ruaidhri and Mac Suibhne.

  • O'Cannon, ousted as kings of Cenél Conaill in the 13th century, settled here for a time here. Arda Midhair, The Ó Dochartaigh (O'Dohertys), of Cenél Conaill, were cited as chiefs of Arda Midhair (Ardmire, perhaps the Finn Valley) in the barony of Raphoe, county Donegal. At the turn of the 13th century two Ó Dochartaigh were noted as kings of Tír Chonaill, breaking a long hold the O'Cannons and O'Muldorys (Mulderrys) had on this title. Early prominent septs of Cenél Aedha in the area of Tirhugh included Ó Maeldoraidh, Ó Canannáin (O'Cannon) and Ó Gallchobhair (O'Gallagher).

  • MacDonnell of Clan Celleagh
Coole
  • O'Caiside (O'Cassidy) is sited as Chief of Coole. There is a dispute as to whether the Ó Cassidy of Clogher belonged to the Fir Manaigh, the first Celtic settlers of County Fermanagh, or migrated to the area in the sixth century A.D. during the time of St. Molaise who founded the monastery at Devenish Island. Ui Caiside was closely linked to the monastery and had access to its school at a time when education was denied to most. The Ui Caiside served as hereditary physicians to the Mac Uidhir (Maguire of Fermanagh), the chieftains of Fermanagh.

  • Devenish Island is situated in the entrance to Lower Lough Erne, about two miles from the town of Enniskillen. Its Gaelic name is Daimh-inis; the Island of the Oxen. The foundation of the abbey whose ruins still remain is attributed to St. Molaisse, a native of the district of Carbery, in the county Sligo.
Enniskillen
  • Enniskillen, its name from the island in Lough Erne, in which it is situated, was formerly called Inniskillen, and was, previously to the time of James I., merely a stronghold of Maguire, chieftain of Fermanagh. On the lakes borders are rolling farmland, with limestone mountains rising in the southwest and the remainder in that part of the town which extends into the parish of Rossory. In the townland of Toneystick and parish of Enniskillen, is a suburb in which is an old redoubt, called the East Fort; and beyond the western bridge is another suburb, in the parish of Rossory in which is the West Fort. On the border of Lough Erne stands Bellisle, the beautiful and romantic seate of the late Earl of Rosse.
Glenree (Oriel)
  • Oriel, or Oirghialla, anciently extended from this Glenree to Lough Erne, and comprised the counties of Louth, Armagh, Monaghan, and in later ages the whole of the County of Fermanagh, as we learn from O'Dugan, who, in his topographical poem, places Tooraah, the country of O'Flanagan, in the north-west of Fermanagh; Lurg, the country of Muldoon, in the north of the same County; and the entire of Maguire's country in it. That the County of Fermanagh was considered a part of Oriel, at least since the Maguires got possession of it, is further corroborated by the fact, that throughout these Annals Maguire is called the pillar and prop of the Oriel. Both Breffnys (Leitrim and Fermanagh) anciently formed part of Connaught, but the new county was incorporated with Ulster. The chief river is the Erne, which has its source in Lough Granny, near the foot of Bruce hill, on the south-western confines of the county, whence it pursues a northern course into Lough Oughter, and hence winds in the same direction by Belturbet into Lough Erne, which, at its head, forms the northern limit of the county.

  • The Saithne were closely related to the Cianacht and Dealbhna. They originally inhabited a territory in the southern part of the kingdom of Brega (Westmeath), the kingship of which they in ancient times had shared with kindred groups. The Uí Maic Uais, descended from one of the Three Collas; the Delbna septs; the Gailenga Brega, the Luigni Mide and Fir Chul, the Saithne Brega, and the Mugdorma, among others. Their lands in Brega lay southeasterly, midway between the River Boyne and the River Liffey. The Síl Áeda Sláine (of Brega) and Clan Cholmáin (of Mide). Their later representatives were the O’Caseys. The O’Caseys (O Cathasaigh) were originally lords of Saithne, in the north of the present County Dublin, until they were dispossessed by the Normans under Sir Hugh de Lacy soon after the Anglo-Norman invasion (twelfth cenwry). Afterwards they became an important Erenagh (church) family, being hereditary keepers of Kilarduff and Dunfeeny in County Mayo, Cloondara and Tisrara in County Roscommon, and Devinish in County Fermanagh.
Knockninny
  • A MacManus sept (of Clan Maguire) was centered here prior to the 1400s.

  • It was noted as an early Maguire stronghold.

  • The barony is named for hill of St. Ninnidh on the southern shore of Upper Loch Erne. Lough Ree into and out of which the River Shannon runs which to its south is Clanmacnois. The track of locations would then make sense with St. Ciaran settling in Clanmacnois. Since its history has its location at the Mull of Kintyre where Saint Columba arrived from Ireland in 574 AD. He is often called St. Kieran the Younger to distinguish him from St. Kieran of Saighir.
Lurg
  • The Monaghan sept were said to be of the original inhabitants of the area, the Fir Manach, the namesake for Fermanagh.

  • The O'Muldoons were chiefs here. Milesian Muldoon; O'Maoldubhain had a brother Caibre, a quo Clann Ciabre, or Carbery, of Ulster. Milesian Caibre-Lifechair: Line of Connellan (Condeilbhan), Ó Neill, Campbell. The Three Collas were three brothers, sons of Eochaid Doimhlen, son of the High King Cairbre Lifechair. The foundation of Meath or Mide is ascribed to Tuathal Techtmar in Irish history situated between Uladh and Lagin, with its chief ráth at Tara.

  • The MacEntaggarts were said to be originally from here. Under various synonyms MacEtegart, MacTaggart, Ateggart etc., it appeared often in sixteenth and seventeenth century records of counties Antrim, Derry, Fermanagh, Donegal and Armagh and also in Louth. Ballymactaggart is a place in the barony of Lurg.

  • The Mac Tullys (Muintir Tiathligh) are cited as chiefs of Lough Lir near here. Colla da Crioch

  • MacDuilgen or MacDwilgan, not mentioned in O'Dugan, is A.D. 924, in the Annals of the Four Masters, given as Fergus MacDuilgen, lord of Lurg.

  • The residences of the undertakers in England: The barony of Lurg was set apart for Norfolk and Suffolk, whilst Mageraboy was allotted to Scottish families.
Magheraboy
  • In the 8th century this area was known as Cenel Enda. Cenél Enda (Énna or Eanna) Located in the southern Co. Donegal and northern Fermanagh region. According to Ptolemy, Leitrim and Breifne, together with that comprised in the counties of Fermanagh and Cavan, was occupied by the Erdini, called in Irish Ernaigh, who possessed the entire county bordering on Lough Erne. About the 5th century Enda, the youngest son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, received territory in modern co. Donegal. The Book of Lecan places Cenél Enda mic Neill west of Lough Erne. Brian, son of Eachod, and grandson of Muredach, first king of Connaught of the Scottish race.

  • The O'Flanagan are also given as a chief of Tuath Ratha in this barony. The Uí Chremthainn anciently inhabited the territory between Lough Erne and the River Blackwater, in what is now County Fermanagh and the north of County Monaghan. The chief branches of the Uí Chremthainn include the Clann Lugain, and also the O’Mulroonys or Moroneys and the O’Boylans.

  • The O’Boylans (O Baoigheallain) were of the same stock as the O’Flanagans (O Flannagain) of northwest Fermanagh. The O’Boylans were, after the Anglo-Norman invasion, lords of all Oriel, a widespread territory stretching Ulster from Fermanagh to Louth. Later, in the thirteenth century, their power in Oriel was subdued by the MacMahons, and their territory was reduced to what is now the barony of Dartry in the west of County Monaghan, an area then known as Dartraighe.

  • In the late 10th and early 11th centuries the sept of Mael Ruanaigh are noted in the annals as kings of Cremthainn, although this appears to be a reference to the district of Cremthann in Connacht. The Mac Murchadha family were prominent as lords of Truagh in northern Monaghan in the barony of Trough, before being overshadowed by the MacKenna(n) sept, of the southern Uí Neill. Included among the prominent Aighialla families were the Ua Baigeallain (O Boylan) of Síl Maeluidir in the area of Dartraige (Darty, western co. Monaghan). In the 12th century the Ua Cearbhaill (O'Carroll) were prominent among the kings of Arghialla. By the 13th century the family of MacMahon (MacMathghamhna) held the superior authority with the title king of Oirghialla (Oriel), by that time a much reduced sub-kingdom: Cavan and Sligo.

  • The O'Bannion from Lower Ormonde were later in Co. Fermanagh. Mac Giolla Fhinnein were chiefs of Muintir Pheodachain and held the kingship of Fir Manach for a time. O'Dubhdara (O'Darrah) is cited as a chief of Oirghialla. The O'Maolruanaigh (Mulrooney) clan held great power here before the rise of the Maguires.
Magherastephana
  • Mac Caffrey of the Maguire clan centered at Ballymacaffry.

  • Fánad, or Fanat, is the peninsula between Lough Swilly and Mulroy Bay, in the northeast of the barony of Kilmacrenan, county Donegal. The sept of Ua Bresleáin (O'Breslen or Breslin), a branch of the Cenél Enda (MacLysaght) although cited by others as a branch of Cenél Conaill, are noted as early chiefs of Fanad, later noted as Brehons for Maguire of Fermanagh. The Mac Suibhnes (Mac Sweeney Fanat) are not as chiefs of Fanad in the late 14th century.
Tirkennedy
  • Named for the sept of Fergus Cennfhota (e.g. MacMaster and Masterson).

  • The O'Devine family ruled as Lords of Tirkennedy before the power of the Maguires. Of the Donemanagh area of north Tyrone from at least the early 17th century. The Ó Duibhíns were part of the Cineál Eoghain confederation, and within it were most often found in association with the McNamees and the O'Gormleys. Tadhg Ó Donnchadha (Torna), the name is spelled Ó Duibhín or Ó Duibhin. The O'Gormleys belong to another branch of the Cineál Eoghain, known as the Cineál Moain.

  • In the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries, the head chief of this territory was O'Duibhdara or O'Dwyer, whom O'Dugan mentions as chief of the race of Daimhin amongst others, Giolla Chriosd O Duibhdara, prince of Fermanagh, who A.D. 1076, was killed at Daimhinis or Devenish Island, in Lough Erne. From Erna, the favourite waiting-maid of Maud or Meav the queen of Connaught.

  • Ó Daimhín between 780 and 1447, the later ones being located in Fermanagh. The kingdom of Clogher — the name persists in the small town of Clogher on the Fermanagh–Tyrone border, and in the diocese of Clogher — was known as Clochar Uí Dhaimhín. MacLysaght — followed by most other experts — derives Devine from Ó Daimhín, and places them in the barony of Tirkennedy in Co Fermanagh, along with Mac Uinnseannáin.

  • The MacManus family were hereditary supervisors of the fisheries under MacGuire here.
 

All - Anciently inhabited by the Erdini according to Ptolemy, or by the Naganate according to Whitaker. In early days the county was divided into two portions; one called Targoll, the ancient seate of the Facmonii and of the Macmaniim, or the MacManuses; and the other named Rosgoll, occupied by the Guarii or Guirii, from whom the MacGuires derive their name. The most prominent clan in Fermanagh prior to the Maguire ascendancy was the Clann Lugain made up of the Ó hEignigh, Ó Maolruanaidh and Ó Dubhdara families. The Maguire were chiefs here from the 13th to the mid-17th centuries, and Fermanagh has been cited as 'Maguires country'.

Ossory, Offaley and Leix (Queen's County) In the twelfth century, the chieftains of the Decii assumed the surname O'Feolain. By the 13th century territorial names included the Decies, Gal-tir, Hy Fodhladha, and Uactar Tire. Prior to the 12th century, Úí Faeláin centered on present-day Naas in northern County Kildare, lands which corresponded to the baronies of North Naas, North and South Salt, Clane, Ikeathy and Outhternany, and portions of adjoining ones. The Ó Broin (O'Byrnes), a branch of Úí Faeláin, were forced from their Kildare patrimony of Úí Faelain into the Wicklow mountains, beginning perhaps in the 11th century.

Tuam in County Galway emerged when it became a bishopric in 1110. Preceding the Kells synod, King Turlough O' Connor of Connacht hd put forward its metropolitan claim. Between Kells and Cavan, Leitrim, and Fermanagh, the tract of the Loug Erne and the river Erne was designated as Briefne. A ridge of hills crosses the county nearly from north to south, dividing it into two unequal portions: on the summit, near Lavy chapel, is a spring, a stream descending from which takes an easterly course towards Lough Ramor and into the Boyne, which empties itself into the Irish sea in Drogheda harvout; another stream flows westward through Lough Erne into the Atlantic, on the coast of Donegal. County Cavan is partly in the diocese of Meath, and partly in that of Ardagh, but chiefly in that of Kilmore, and wholly in the ecclesiastical province of Armagh.

The Montrose family; Grahams. Graeme, the distinguished general, who administered the affairs of Scotland in the interest and during the minority of Eugene II., grandson of Fergus II. (A.D. 411-429).

The Cenél Aengusa were kings of Leth Cathail, according to MacFirbis, who also describes the Uí Morna of this region (Lecale, co. Down.) As tradition has it the ancient Manaigh or Monaigh occupied the area near Lough Erne, giving their name to the modern county of Fermanagh. Chief of Clan Aodha or Clan Hugh, the tribe name of the family. The earliest man we known of to have the comital title to Ross, was the rebel Máel Coluim mac Áeda. In Scotland the title is an ancient one, having been first created in 1157 for Malcolm MacHeth to whom Malcolm IV the Maiden gave Ross, with the title of Earl of Ross, but the inhabitants rose against him and drove him out of the district. Wyntoun mentions an Earl "Gillandrys", a name which is derived from the common ancestor of the Mackenzies and Rosses, "Gilleoin-Ard-Rois," as one of the six Celtic earls who besieged King Malcolm at Perth in 1160.

Fermanagh is in North Ireland while all the other neighbouring counties are within the republic. The River Shannon and Lough Allen divide Leitrim into North Leitrim and South Leitrim. At least three of the O’Rourkes were kings of Connacht, one of them having built the tower known as O’Rourkes Tower at Clonmacnoise. Breifne is the name given to the ancient territory which covered the counties of Cavan, Leitrim, part of Meath and part of Sligo. A sept in Co. Leitrim closely related to the O'Rourkes, Lords of Breffny, also assumed the suname MacLochlainn from an ancestor named Lochlan, with the MacMorrices and the MacTiernans of Clann Tiernan.