Community hub
Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Irish clans
Irish clans are traditional kinship groups sharing a common surname and heritage and existing in a lineage-based society, originating prior to the 17th century. A clan (or fine in Irish, plural finte) included the chief and his patrilineal relatives; however, Irish clans also included unrelated clients of the chief. These unrelated clients and their agnatic descendants were ineligible to be elected chief, but nonetheless assumed the name of the leading lineage as a show of allegiance.
Beginning in the 8th century, various genealogical collections were compiled purporting to trace the ancestry of these clans. Among them are genealogies in Rawlinson B 502, the Book of Ballymote, the Book of Lecan, the Leabhar Mór na nGenealach compiled by Dubhaltach MacFhirbisigh, and the Ó Cléirigh Book of Genealogies. In all of these cases, the genealogies listed state the agnatic descent of the chiefs and chieftains, and not necessarily every member of the clan. At least one genetic study has concluded that while these genealogies appear fairly accurate back to the Middle Ages, they are unreliable before the 7th century.
The Irish word clann is a borrowing from the Latin planta, meaning 'a plant, an offshoot, offspring, a single child or children, by extension race or descendants'. For instance, the O'Daly family were poetically known as Clann Dalaigh, from a remote ancestor called Dalach.
Clann was used in the later Middle Ages to provide a plural for surnames beginning with Mac meaning 'son of'. For example, "Clann Cárthaigh" meant the men of the MacCarthy family and "Clann Suibhne" meant the men of the MacSweeny family. Clann was also used to denote a subgroup within a wider surname, the descendants of a recent common ancestor, such as the Clann Aodha Buidhe or the O'Neills of Clandeboy, whose ancestor was Aodh Buidhe who died in 1298. Such a "clan", if sufficiently closely related, could have common interests in landownership, but any political power wielded by their chief was territorially based.
From ancient times, Irish society was organised around traditional kinship groups or clans. These clans traced their origins to larger pre-surname population groupings or clans such as Uí Briúin in Connacht, Eóganachta and Dál gCais in Munster, Uí Néill in Ulster, and Fir Domnann in Leinster. Within these larger groupings there tended to be one sept (division) who through war and politics became more powerful than others for a period of time and the leaders of some were accorded the status of royalty in Gaelic Ireland. Some of the more important septs to achieve this power were O'Connor in Connacht, MacCarthy of Desmond and O'Brien of Thomond in Munster, Ó Neill of Clandeboy in Ulster, and MacMorrough Kavanagh in Leinster.
The largely symbolic role of High king of Ireland tended to rotate among the leaders of these royal clans. The larger or more important clans were led by a taoiseach or chief who had the status of royalty and the smaller and more dependent clans were led by chieftains. Under Brehon law, the leaders of Irish clans were appointed by their kinsmen as custodians of the clan and were responsible for maintaining and protecting their clan and its property. The clan system formed the basis of society up to the 17th century.
According to T. F. O'Rahilly, in his works Goides and Their Predecessors and later Early Irish History, there was a total of four waves of Celtic invasions of the British Isles and that the first three of these were pre-Gaelic. According to O'Rahilly, these were people who had largely remained unconquered by the Romans whose territory was mostly restricted to the broad plains of England. A larger part of England remained out of the control of the West Germanic people who invaded after the imperial collapse of Roman Britain and who founded the English nation.
O'Rahilly's version of the origins of the Irish, as supported by C. Thomas Cairney and John Grenham is as follows: The first of the Celtic invaders of Ireland were known as the Cruthin who arrived between 800 and 500 BC.
Hub AI
Irish clans AI simulator
(@Irish clans_simulator)
Irish clans
Irish clans are traditional kinship groups sharing a common surname and heritage and existing in a lineage-based society, originating prior to the 17th century. A clan (or fine in Irish, plural finte) included the chief and his patrilineal relatives; however, Irish clans also included unrelated clients of the chief. These unrelated clients and their agnatic descendants were ineligible to be elected chief, but nonetheless assumed the name of the leading lineage as a show of allegiance.
Beginning in the 8th century, various genealogical collections were compiled purporting to trace the ancestry of these clans. Among them are genealogies in Rawlinson B 502, the Book of Ballymote, the Book of Lecan, the Leabhar Mór na nGenealach compiled by Dubhaltach MacFhirbisigh, and the Ó Cléirigh Book of Genealogies. In all of these cases, the genealogies listed state the agnatic descent of the chiefs and chieftains, and not necessarily every member of the clan. At least one genetic study has concluded that while these genealogies appear fairly accurate back to the Middle Ages, they are unreliable before the 7th century.
The Irish word clann is a borrowing from the Latin planta, meaning 'a plant, an offshoot, offspring, a single child or children, by extension race or descendants'. For instance, the O'Daly family were poetically known as Clann Dalaigh, from a remote ancestor called Dalach.
Clann was used in the later Middle Ages to provide a plural for surnames beginning with Mac meaning 'son of'. For example, "Clann Cárthaigh" meant the men of the MacCarthy family and "Clann Suibhne" meant the men of the MacSweeny family. Clann was also used to denote a subgroup within a wider surname, the descendants of a recent common ancestor, such as the Clann Aodha Buidhe or the O'Neills of Clandeboy, whose ancestor was Aodh Buidhe who died in 1298. Such a "clan", if sufficiently closely related, could have common interests in landownership, but any political power wielded by their chief was territorially based.
From ancient times, Irish society was organised around traditional kinship groups or clans. These clans traced their origins to larger pre-surname population groupings or clans such as Uí Briúin in Connacht, Eóganachta and Dál gCais in Munster, Uí Néill in Ulster, and Fir Domnann in Leinster. Within these larger groupings there tended to be one sept (division) who through war and politics became more powerful than others for a period of time and the leaders of some were accorded the status of royalty in Gaelic Ireland. Some of the more important septs to achieve this power were O'Connor in Connacht, MacCarthy of Desmond and O'Brien of Thomond in Munster, Ó Neill of Clandeboy in Ulster, and MacMorrough Kavanagh in Leinster.
The largely symbolic role of High king of Ireland tended to rotate among the leaders of these royal clans. The larger or more important clans were led by a taoiseach or chief who had the status of royalty and the smaller and more dependent clans were led by chieftains. Under Brehon law, the leaders of Irish clans were appointed by their kinsmen as custodians of the clan and were responsible for maintaining and protecting their clan and its property. The clan system formed the basis of society up to the 17th century.
According to T. F. O'Rahilly, in his works Goides and Their Predecessors and later Early Irish History, there was a total of four waves of Celtic invasions of the British Isles and that the first three of these were pre-Gaelic. According to O'Rahilly, these were people who had largely remained unconquered by the Romans whose territory was mostly restricted to the broad plains of England. A larger part of England remained out of the control of the West Germanic people who invaded after the imperial collapse of Roman Britain and who founded the English nation.
O'Rahilly's version of the origins of the Irish, as supported by C. Thomas Cairney and John Grenham is as follows: The first of the Celtic invaders of Ireland were known as the Cruthin who arrived between 800 and 500 BC.