The Murray Family

John Rooney

A Genealogical History of Irish Families

1895

Murray family crest

(Crest No. 239. Plate 53.)

THE Murray family is descended from Milesius, King of Spain, through the line of his son Heremon. The founder of the family was Maine, ancestor of the Southern Hy Nials, and son of Nial of the Nine Hostages, King of Ireland, A. D. 379.

The ancient name was Murrach, and signifies “Capable.” The title of the chiefs was Lord of Carra, and the possessions of the sept were located in the present County of Mayo.

The O’Murrays—Irish O’Muiredhaidh—were, besides Lords of Ceara, now the barony of Carra, in the County of Mayo, chiefs also of the Lagan, a district in the northern part of the barony of Tirawley, in the same county. The O’Murrays were also chiefs in the Counties of Cavan and Meath.

The O’Murray family is noted for the great number of eminent ecclesiastics it has contributed to the ranks of the Irish clergy for centuries.

The last of these eminent churchmen, the Most Rev. Daniel Murray, Archbishop of Dublin, was born in 1768, and died in 1852. This distinguished prelate has been designated as the “De Sales of Ireland and the Borromeo of Dublin, combining, as he did, the meekness of St. Francis with the episcopal vigilance of St. Charles.”

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