O'Connell family genealogy

Arms: A stag trippant betw. three trefoils countercharged. Crest: A stag’s head erased, charged with a trefoil. Motto: Cial agus neart. [1]

DAIRE CEARB, brother of Lughaidh, who is No. 88 on the “Line of Heber,” ante, was the ancestor of O’Conaill; anglicised O’Connell.

88. Daire Cearb: son of Olioll Flann-beag.

89. Fiacha: his son; had four brothers, one of whom named Fiachra was ancestor of O’Donovan.

90. Brian: his son; had a brother named Cairbre, who was the ancestor of Ua-Cairbre (anglicised “O’Carbery”) etc.

91. Daire (or Darius): son of Brian.

92. Fionnliath: his son.

93. Conall (“conall:” Irish, friendship): his son; a quo Ua-Conaill or O’Conaill.

1. Aodh O’Connell of the race of Daire Cearb, and descended from Conall No. 93 above, m. Margaret, dau. of Maithan Maonmaighe O’Brien, Prince of Thomond, by whom he had issue.

2. Geoffry: his son; lived in 1370; m. Catherine, daughter of O’Connor-Kerry.

3. Donal: his son; m. Honoria, dau. of O’Sullivan Bere.

4. Aodh: his son; was Knighted by Sir Richard Nugent, then lord lieutenant of Ireland. He m. Mary, a dau. of Donal MacCarthy Mor (No. 116 on the MacCarthy Mor Stem).

5. Maurice: his son; m. Juliana, dau. of Rory O’Sullivan Mor. This Maurice declared for Perkin Warbeck, but obtained pardon from the English King, through the influence of The MacCarthy Mor, on the 24th of August, 1496.

6. Morgan: his son; m. Elizabeth, dau. of O’Donovan, lord of Clan-Cathail, in Carbery.

7. Aodh: his son; m. Mora, dau. of Sir Teige O’Brien, of Balle-na-Carriga, in Clare.

8. Morgan: his son; called “of Ballycarberry;” was High Sheriff of the county of Kerry; he m. Elana, dau. of Donal MacCarthy.

9. Richard: his son; m. Johanna, dau. of Ceallaghan MacCarthy, of Carrignamult, in the county of Cork. This Richard assisted Queen Elizabeth’s generals against the Great Geraldine; surrendered his estates, and obtained a re-grant thereof through the influence of the lord deputy.

10. Maurice: his son; was High Sheriff of Kerry; he m. Margaret, dau. of Conchobhar O’Callaghan, of Clonmeen, in the county of Cork.

11. Geoffry: his son; High Sheriff of Kerry; m. Honoria, dau. of The MacCrohan, of Lettercastle.

12. Daniel, of Aghagabhar: son of Geoffry; m. Alice, d. of Christopher Segrave, of Cabra, in the county of Dublin.

13. John, of Aghagower and Derrynane: his son; m. Elizabeth, dau. of Christopher Conway, of Cloghane, in the county of Kerry.

14. Daniel: his son; m. Mary, dau. of Dubh O’Donoghue, of Amoyss, in the county of Kerry.

15. Morgan, of Cahireen, in the barony of Iveragh: his son; m. Catherine, dau. of John O’Mullane, of Whitechurch, by whom he had issue:—1. Daniel; 2. James (of Tralee); and 3. Ellen, who m. D. O’Connell, of Tralee.

16. Daniel: his son; styled “The Liberator,” who was M.P., and also Lord Mayor of Dublin. He m. his cousin, Mary O’Connell, by whom he had issue:—1. Morgan; 2. Maurice; 3, John; and 4. Daniel. This Daniel, The Liberator, was b. in 1775, and d. at Genoa, on the 15th May, 1847; his heart was sent to Rome, and his body interred in the Prospect Cemetery, Glasnevin, Dublin, where a round tower of Lucan granite, 173 feet high, surmounted by a granite cross 7 feet in height, has been erected to his memory. A splendid statue of The Liberator,[2] in O’Connell Street, Dublin, forms one of the chief attractions of one of the grandest streets in Europe.

17. Morgan: the eldest son of The Liberator; had three brothers—1. Maurice; 2. John; 3. Daniel; and three daughters—1. Ellen; 2. Catherine; 3. Elizabeth.

18. Daniel O’Connell, of Derrynane Abbey, co. Kerry: son of Morgan; living in 1887.

Notes

[1] O’Connell: There was another O’Conaill family in the county Limerick; another in the territory between the river Grian, on the border of the county Clare, and the plain of Maenmoy—comprising parts of the barony of Leitrim in the county Galway, and of Tullagh in the county Clare; another in Londonderry; and another in Hy-Maine. But the pedigrees of these families are, we fear, lost.

[2] Liberator: Daniel O’Connell, “The Liberator,” was born 6th. August, 1775, at Carhen, near Caherciveen, co. of Kerry. His father was Morgan O’Connell; his mother, Kate O’Mullane, of Whitechurch, near Cork. They were poor, and he was adopted by his uncle Maurice, from whom he eventually inherited Derrynane. At thirteen he was sent, with his brother Maurice, to a Catholic school near Cove (now Queenstown), near Cork, the first seminary kept openly by a Catholic priest in Ireland since the operation of the Penal Laws. A year later the lads were sent to Liege; but were debarred admission to the Irish College, because Daniel was beyond the prescribed age. After some delay they were entered at St. Omer’s. There they remained from 1791 to 1792, Daniel rising to the first place in all the classes. They were then removed to Douay, but before many months the confusion caused by the French Revolution rendered it desirable for them to return home. In 1794, O’Connell was entered as a student of Lincoln’s Inn. We are told that for a time after his return from France he believed himself a Tory; but events soon convinced him that he was at heart a Liberal. His first public speech was made on 13th January, 1800, at a meeting of Catholics held in the Royal Exchange, Dublin, to protest against the Union. O’Connell married a cousin in 1802. His biographies abound in racy anecdotes of his wonderful readiness and ability at the Bar. The Whig Party attained to power in 1806 under Lord Granville; they were the supporters of Catholic Emancipation, and the Catholics were elated thereat, but divided as to their proper course of action. John Keogh, the old and trusted leader of the party at the time, maintained that dignified silence was their true policy; while O’Connell advocated a course of constant agitation, and his opinions were endorsed by 134 votes to 110, at a conference of the party. He soon became the undisputed leader of the Irish people. A Repeal agitation was inaugurated in 1810 by the Dublin Corporation, then a purely Protestant body; and at a meeting of the freemen and freeholders in the Royal Exchange, O’Connell repeated the sentiments he had enunciated in 1800: "Were Mr. Percival to-morrow to offer me the Repeal of the Union upon the terms of re-enacting the entire Penal Code, I declare it from my heart, and in the presence of my God, that I would most cheerfully embrace his offer." The Centenary of O’Connell’s birth was celebrated with great enthusiasm in Dublin and elsewhere, in 1875. Some writers would give O’Connell an English ancestry: See Notes and Queries, fourth Series.—Webb.