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DISCUSSION (TENTATIVE - subject to revision as more data emerges)-:
I have often said that the O'CATHAIN "Warrior Clan", was a comparatively small military elite, quite distinct from other larger groups bearing the same or similar surnames. A recent book entitled "Cenel Connail and The Donegal Kingdoms - AD 500 - 800" by Brian Lacey (Four Courts Press, 2006) makes this remarkable statement on page 33 -:
"However, it is almost a certainty, as we will see below, that most of the so-called northern UiNeill did not come into Donegal from outside at all, at least as recently as the 5th century as is normally suggested. Rather, they probably emerged instead from within the existing native people of that territory. It is also very unlikely, despite the later widespread use of the name UiNeill, that these people had any connection whatever with the eponymous Niall Noigiallach. Instead it now seems clear that at least most of them were later attached to the UiNeill by fictional genealogical links - as it were, re-invented with fresh (false) identities, as part of a newly constructed 'national' ruling elite."
So, here we have the author of what appears to be a well-supported scholarly study stating quite convincingly that the northern UiNEILL themselves were a small - shall we say "upstart" - group aspiring to national control. If the above statement is true, it is even more likely that the UiCATHAIN were completely unrelated to them. Much more likely, they sought outside professional military people to build their private army. The eponymous was traditionally said to be "Catháin". This is the only Ulster Gaelic name in a family of 'ur-ri' rank that I'm aware of at that time that describes an occupation ("Warrior"), thus a nickname earned during one's lifetime, not likely a given name. Who was "Catháin", really? Y-DNA may be giving us our first clue - personally, I'm convinced he was High King Brian 'Boru' himself. It makes perfect sense.
Also to be considered is the near certainty that many non-UiNEILL individuals were admitted at various times into the O'CAHAN "Warrior" Clan" - perhaps, more properly, a professional military body - and would have adopted the new surname sometime after 1050. Others, also mostly unrelated, were incorporated into Clan DONALD (which actually claims "O'Cahan" as one of its sub-septs) and their descendants bear a number of surnames identifiable with that Scottish clan. At the earliest such events in Ulster these individuals would have been largely of similar Gaelic Irish stock, descendants of the Connachta, Dal-Riada, Cianachta, Fir Li, Airgialla, Hy-fiachra and other septs, some remotely related and others certainly not related at all. Included in the dilemma is the undeniable historical fact that important and loyal vassal clans were sometimes rewarded with "political" or mutually advantageous attachments of their pedigrees to the UiNEILL line. The dynastic O'Cahans now seem to have been in this category.
Historical accounts (summarized in "Ulster Clans", by Mullin & Mullan) indicate that there was a branch of the "OCATHAIN"s (later O'Kanes/McCains) of Co. Derry which settled in Antrim prior to the Norman invasion of 1169. These would include segments of the large sept of Ciannachta, probably including some unsubdued members of their chiefly 'derbhfine', long established as O'CEIN in the area of Dungiven/Glengiven, Co. Derry, and taken over by the "Warrior Clan", Ó Catháin, about 1130 AD.
It may be necessary to reconsider the rigidity with which some traditional beliefs were held. This is where current scholarship is heading. When one considers the traditional evolution of OCATHAIN/O'CAHAN as a surname, it appears from the traditional pedigree that it occurred over a period of several generations from "Catháin" (living about 950), the eponymous ancestor, to his great-grandson, Conn 'Cionntach' Ó Catháin, first to actually bear the surname by the late 11th Century. He was founder of the line whose Chiefs, following the takeover of the Ciannachta of Glengiven (Dungiven), were Princes of Limavady, Cianaght, Fir Li, and Fir-na-Creabh (the latter now the Barony of Coleraine) in Co. Derry, in the military service of the O'NEILL royal dynasty. The first of the surname mentioned in the Annals of Ulster was Rannall Ó Catháin, killed in 1138, and who by that date probably was the head of the family of military professionals which conquered these areas of Co. Derry.
Ulster Y-DNA patterns, of R1b Haplogroup, show distinct similarities, though with GDs of 10 or more from some previously-thought likely O'CAHAN relatives. This suggests separate origins for some groups and very remote relationhip for others. Genetic Distance (GD), and how to interpret it in terms of estimating TMRCA, has been a matter of much dispute. What my project shows, is that GD's, when compared with known historical dating and documented pedigrees, are averaging about 150 +/- 30 years per total GD in this long lineage now under study. That is, a GD of 8 would suggest a MRCA living 1000-1400 years ago. This theory is entirely my own and not considered scientific. It is useful as a rough guideline only in documented pedigrees or traditional genealogies supported by credible historical timelines.
When surnames were finally adopted and stabilized within various Irish septs, it's probable that name choices would have followed the 'derbhfine' (kin-group descended from a common great-grandfather) under the Brehon Law system. This means certain surnames, especially those dferived from prominent persons, would have been adopted by a number of then distinct septs descended from within the 'derbhfines' (i.e. up to 2nd cousins of the actual eponymous relative) thus extending the line back as much as a couple of hundred years beyond the actual bearer of the eponym. This theory may be most useful when considering Y-DNA results in long lineages showing GDs somewhat greater among bearers of a surname than conventional thinking and historical documentation would allow.
I have stated, "Some things have been overlooked and I think the above explanation helps answer some questions." Well, now we know one certain thing that was overlooked, though no one had any way of knowing without the help of DNA analysis - The "Warrior Clan" in Ulster appears to have been Dalcassian! Short of a fundamental error or NPE in the line since the adoption of the surname, it remains to be seen how and when the traditional part of the pedigree may have been altered and whether the genealogical evidence supports a Dalcassian origin for the eponym.
(UPDATE - Latest update 11/17/09):
The "Irish Type-III Website" of Dennis Wright is highly recommended for members of the KEANE Y-DNA Project. It is most interesting. His charts and explanations are useful not only for "Irish Type-III" but also for members of other Irish Haplotypes, such as NW Irish and SW Irish. His URL address is as follows-:
http://www.irishtype3dna.org/
After several years the KEANE Y-DNA Project now has 70 members, most bearing surname variants of KEANE, KANE, or CAIN. Only a few of these have been determined by Y-DNA results to be "Irish Type - III", a sub-clade of R1b, concenrated in the Irish counties of Clare, Limerick and Tipperary. The remainder R1b types derive from one or another of several northern, northwestern and southern Irish septs (See my "news" and "results" sections in the KEANE Y-DNA Project), while a few show probable male-line Viking ancestry. The latter, bearing KEANE or variant surnames, suggest followers of High King Bruian 'Boru' who adopted the same surname as the O Cathain "Warrior Clan" with which they served in Ulster.
The counties Clare, Limerick and Tipperary include most of the northern Munster Province region known as Thomond. The territory is the homeland of the ancient Dalcassian sept, named for its founder Cas, traditional ancestor of Ireland's most notable warrior, High King Brian 'Boru' (k. 1014).
Along with myself, there are a CAIN and a KEAN of "Irish Type - III" Haplotype in our Project. Their appearance within the male-lineage of Clan OCathain (O'Cahan), The "Warrior Clan IN Ulster", is supported by my own extensive research and by the 1716 MS Pedigree (O'Lunnin MS, TCD, Dublin) which, when read in the context of recent Y-DNA developments, demonstrates a highly probable double descent of the Thomond "Irish Type - III" O'Cahans, etc. from King Brian 'Boru'. I have joined the O'Brien Y-DNA Project (FTDNA), and suggest that other "Irish Type-III" people do the same.
Also, those of any Haplogroup who have not yet uploaded their Y-DNA results to YSearch.com ought to do so.
(UPDATE - update 08/27/09): It is a virtual certainty that descent from the eponym "CATHAIN" is solid, while the earliest generations in the O'Lunnin MS are obviously spurious, as previously suspected. From "CATHAIN" to the present time, the lineage remains fully supported by documented genealogical and historical evidence. After thorough review, no inconsistencies have been noted. I believe that "CATHAIN" was indeed none other than the supreme "Warrior" of his time, King Brian 'Boru', disguised for political reasons while his descendants served as a military elite in Ulster. See Pedigree posted below.)
More to follow!
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LATEST Update (above) 08/27/09 - NO changes in Pedigrere.
Ó Catháin Pedigree-
A Theoretical Revision based on Y-DNA Timelines & Conventional Evidence
by
Leonard M. Keane, Jr., The O'Cahan
© 2007 - 2009 Leonard M. Keane, Jr.
LINEAGE: The ancestry of the Ó Catháin "warrior clan" of Ulster, the military professional elite in the service of the O'Neill royal dynasty, has traditionally been believed to rest with the senior cadet branch of the UiNeill, descended from King Fergal (d. 722). As the present representative of this family, having asserted its Chiefship based on a documented, connected pedigree from Sean O'Cahan, The O'Cahan (d. 1498), it seemed incumbent upon me to undergo Y-DNA testing to possibly obtain a close match to others, determine a localized area of male-line origin, and thus assess the veracity of portions of the early traditional pedigree.
Rather than one of the expected Ulster-based Haplotype sub-groupings, the result of my 67-marker test clearly showed a Haplogroup designated as "Irish Type-III". When further supplemented by SNP testing, including markers S21, S26, S28 and S29, which were found to be 'negative', as expected for "Irish Type-III", my Haplogroup was inferred to be R1b1c*, but now tentatively refined by FTDNA as R1b1b2, as new clades are identified. Close similarities have been found with several Dalcassian Irish families, descendants of the Dal gCas of southwest Ireland, concentrated in the area of Thomond (North Munster). My Co. Clare ancestors lived in this locale, specifically in the Barony of Moyarta in the west of Co. Clare, following the settlement there about 1520 of Daniel O'Cahan who came "from Ulster". Daniel's genealogy, as asserted by the O'Lunnin MS and supported by much other evidence, traces back to the kin-group (Irish: 'derbfhine') of all O'Cahan Chiefs between 1498 and 1598. One of the earliest ancestors in the O'Cahan lineage is Cathusach (or 'Cathasaigh'), born ca. 985. It now appears that he may be the eponymous ancestor of the O'Casey family of Thomond, descended from within the 'derbfhine' of Brian 'Boru', as claimed in the traditional pedigrees. My closest Y-DNA match is to a CAIN with a GD of 4, followed by a CASEY, with a GD of 5 at 67 markers. The CAIN result comes from a family which emigrated to America in the 18th Century. Based on immigration patterns of that time, this suggests an O'Cahan Dalcassian line that survived in Ulster - a further indication of the accuracy of the genealogical and DNA conclusion. I am also a GD of 5 to the "Irish Type-III" modal value (Ysearch.com - code YF4GY).
Upon re-examination of the earlier portions of the traditional descent from "Catháin", the eponymous ancestor as shown in the early 18th Century O'Lunnin MS, some curious references are found which have relevance to the Y-DNA results.
There are some obvious anachronisms and misspellings in the early portions of the MS pedigree, which could well be attributed to faulty memories, errors in copying from an earlier text, misinterpretation of original Gaelic-language documents, or phonetic spelling from a verbal account. The earliest traditional portion of the pedigree, claiming descent from Conchobar (Conor), son of King Fergal (d. 722), of the UiNeill line, is now seen to be a political fabrication. It is noteworthy that the original O'Lunnin MS was prepared by Charles Lynegar (als. O'Lunnin), Deputy Ulster Herald, who had fled to France with King James II. The document undoubtedly was intended as a proof of nobility required by O'Cahan officers seeking employment in the armies of Europe. The MS was copied and updated by G. Carter, Captain, R.N., in 1935. He was related to the Beech Park, Ennis, Co. Clare Keanes, who do NOT share a common male line ancestry with my line which had its major residences in the Barony of Moyarta in west Clare. Y-DNA testing has confirmed that conclusion. The O'Lunnin MS contains some very significant explicit and implicit references which, in connection with Y-DNA findings, support both a male-line and a female-line connection of the Moyarta O'Cahans to the Dal gCas and the line of King Brian 'Boru' as follows -:
"Keane (a quo nominelur O'Keane) - (sic.) - of the Co. of Derry" with his son shown as-: "Cahasey" who married "Duffcouely, dau of Danemore (sic.) O'Bryan, last king of Munster of that name". At that early date this could only refer to Donough (?-Mor), King of Munster (d. 1065). Whether he was "the last" may be debatable, as his collateral descendants claimed the title until Domnall Mor O'Brien (d. 1194). It's likely the former was the last effective king prior to the division of Munster into Desmond and Thomond which became a political reality by the 12th Century.
Also, "Constantine O'Keane als Conkenny" appears at the point in the pedigree where traditional accounts have the name spelled as 'Conn Cionntach', the form used in my own pedigree. I don't know how 'Conn Cionntach' might translate to 'Constantine', but I think 'Cennetig' would be closer to the Gaelic pronunciation of 'Cionntach'. There were several persons of that name among pre-surname Dalcassian kin, one of whom was the father of King Brian 'Boru' and ancestor of the Kennedy family.
The surname 'Keane', or any other anglicized variant, certainly was not in use in the early 10th Century. Indeed that spelling was not adopted in my family until about 1720. With the one notable exception of "O'Bryan (sic.) King of Munster", whose daughter, Duffcouley is shown as marrying Cahasey, son of Catháin, the 'Keane' eponym, the MS shows all male-line descendants of "Catháin", down to Richard O'Cahan of Coleraine & Dungiven, married women of prominent Ulster noble families. This gives the definite impression of long-term residence in Ulster.
The Ulster families are given as: Macgenis; (O'Neill) 'of Clannaboy' - sic.; M'Mahon, Lord of Monaghan; O'Reilly, Lord of Cavan; Roarke (sic.); Prince of Bressic; McDonnell; O'Donnell, 'Lord of Tyrconnell; Macguire, Lord of Fermanagh; McSweeny 'Fanad'.
Richard of Coleraine & Dungiven was father of Daniel (Donnell) O'Cahan who settled in Clare, marrying about 1530 Honora MacMahon, daughter of Tiege MacMahon (b. 1495; d. 1590), Chief of His Name, head of a Dalcassian family whose Chiefs were hereditary inaugurators of the O'Brien Chiefs, Kings and Princes of Thomond. It is said The MacMahon gave with his daughter a dowry of fourteen plowlands in the western part of Clare.
Thus the O'Cahan family's rank and origins appear to have been very well known and acknowledged when a surviving member of their chiefly 'derbfhine' arrived in his ancestral home territory. His status was compatible with the traditional O'Cahan role, along with the O'Hagan Chiefs, of serving as co-inaugurators of the O'Neill kings at Tullyhog! Though the claimed male-line descent from the UiNeill royal family is now discredited by DNA evidence, it is difficult to reconcile a Dalcassian family, anciently royal in its own right, falsifying its own genealogy to establish a proof of nobility! Much more likely is that the Ulster "Warrior Clan", having been retained in the service of Ulster kings following the death of Brian 'Boru' (k. 1014), and during later attempts to retain the kingdoms of Tullyhog and Cinel Eoghan, had their origins concealed for political purposes through a doctored pedigree. This may have occurred by mutual agreement at the behest of either an O'Neill or MacLoughlin monarch in Ulster.
The O'Cahan "Warrior Clan", as distinct from other much more numerous families and followers bearing similar surnames in Ulster, established its military dynasty there over a period of at least 400 years. It may be that some of the later descendants were uncertain as to the exact links and lines of descent. Nevertheless, the Ulster O'Cahans and the Clare branch were in contact and regarded one another as kin as late as the 18th Century. This is evident from their mutual assistance to survivors of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and, in 1706, from the recognition by then Captain Richard O'Kane of his cousin, Lieutenant Charles O'Cahan, of Lord Clare's Regiment, killed on the battlefield of Ramillies. Captain O'Kane, of the British Army, later Major General Sir Richard O'Kane, Governor of Minorca and Gibraltar, was of Ulster origin. He buried his acknowledged kinsman with full military honors. That he was unsure of his own genealogy is clear ("Ulster Clans"), but the significant fact is that he recognized the Co. Clare O'Cahans as kin.
Below is the lineage that corresponds to the historical record, chronology and Y-DNA findings -:
LORCAN, King of Thomond, had issue,
CENNETIG, King of Thomond, d. 951, had issue, twelve sons, of whom only the following left known issue, the lineage of Catháin descending from Brian 'Boru' in direct male line and in a female line through a grand-daughter. Curiously, Conchobar (Conor), son of the UiNeill King Fergal (d. 722) is said also to have had twelve sons, one of whom, or a grandson, was claimed (O'Lunnin MS) to be "Dungan", father of "Catháin". The given name, Conor, was a common name in the O'Brien family. Cennetig had issue,
1. Mathgamain (Mahon), k. 976, and had issue,
.....1a. Aedh, Royal Heir of Caiseal (Cashel), d. 1010
{AFM, M1010.14)
2. Donchuan, ('Dungan' - per O'Lunnin MS), said to be ancestor of the Ó CATHAISAGH/O'CASEY family (O'Brien Genealogies- McCurtin, Hugh - 1608) but chronology suggests this may be a confusion with a possible unrecorded son of Brian, of the same name (See below); d. 950 and had issue.
3. Brian 'Boru', of whom presently.
4. Eichtigern, ancestor of McGrath of Thomond.
5. Anluan,
.....1a. Ogan Ua Cuirc, d. 1027 (AFM, M1027.5), ancestor of
Quirk, etc.
The third son,
BRIAN 'BORU', High King of Ireland; tentatively identifiable with Catháin - 'The Warrior' - in the O'Cahan chiefly line, based on documented pedigree and Y-DNA which confirms the O'Cahan chiefly line as Dalcassian (Wright, D., 2007 - Phylogenic Tree); thus, Brian, alias "Catháin", may have been the eponymous of the "Warrior Clan" in service of the O'Neill Dynasty in Ulster; b. 941 at Kincora; in 997 he marched into Connaught and Leinster and joined forces with High King Mael Sechnaill II (of the 'Southern UiNeill'). Brian 'Boru' was the most well-known and successful warrior-king in the Irish historical era, having successfully achieved the first effective High Kingship of all Ireland in 1001, when Mael Sechnaill II submitted to him as an ally. They divided Ireland between them and Brian was given command of "the royal forces". He m. at least four times; his son, Donough (See #3 below), was by his wife Gormflaith of Naas (d. 1030), dau. of Murchad, King of Leinster. Gormlflaith was widow of Anlaf (Olaf) (d. 981), King of Dublin, and had been the wife of Mael-Sechnaill II, High King of Ireland - i.e., King Brian thus was Mael-Sechnaill's brother-in-law. Brian was k. 1014 at the Battle of Clontarf, having had issue, among others,
1. Domhnall, d. 1010 (AFM, M1010.12).
2. DONCHUAN ('Dungan' in O'Lunnuin MS), b. ca. 965; the O'Lunnin MS shows a "Dungan" but as father of 'Catháin ', rather than a son. This may be one of several anachronisms noted in the O'Lunnin MS.
.....1a. CATHUSACH (Cahasey), b. ca. 985, ancestor of O'Cahan of Thomond and Ulster; probable ancestor of the Dalcassian
Ó Cathasaigh/O'Casey family (O'Brien Genealogies - McCurtin, Hugh - 1608) and grandfather of the first to assume the surname Ó Catháin; m. (O'Lunnin MS) ca. 1025 Doubhcoubhla, his 1st cousin, daughter of Donnchad (Mor), King of Munster (d.1065), son of King Brian 'Boru'.
3. Donnchad/Donough ('Mor' - O'Lunnin MS); b. ca. 985; deposed 1063; d. 1065; "last King of Munster of that name" (sic., O'Lunnin MS), had issue,
.....1a. Dubhcoubhla ('Duffcouley' per O'Lunnin MS); b. ca.1005; probably named after her step-grandmother (d.s.p. 1009) of the same name, the last wife of King Brian 'Boru'; m. ca. 1025 her 1st cousin, CATHUSACH (Cahasey).
We revert here to the male line descent of the Ó Catháin line from,
CATHUSACH /Cahasey/Ó Catahasaigh, b. ca. 985, m. ca. 1025 Dubhcoubhla (b. ca. 1005), as above, and had issue,
DERMOD, b. ca. 1025, who had issue,
CONN CIONNTACH O'CAHAN (or ''Conkenny" in O'Lunnin MS), first to assume the surname Ó Catháin, as a probable double descendant of Brian 'Boru' ('The Warrior') through a female line and a direct male-line; b. ca. 1045; this is no doubt one of several spelling variants or a copying error for 'Cennetig'; it appears his name was a composite of the names of two 1st cousins-once removed, Conchobar (Conor), k. 1078, and Cennetig, k. 1084. Both were "righdamna" of Eire as kings of the Dalcassian kingdom of Tulcha Oc (Tullahog), traditional inauguration place of the O'Neill kings in Co. Tyrone. Conchobar is styled king ("ri") of Cenel Eoghan, and Cennetig as king ("ri") of Gaileng - a strategic border buffer zone between Connaught and the southern O'Neill of Meath (F.J. Byrne, 2001, Chart p. 297; Jaski, 2000, Chart, p. 311); according to the O'Lunnin MS, Conn Cionntach m. "Rose, dau. of Hugh Boye, First Lord of Clannaboye in the County of Antrim". (NOTE: this seems anachronistic - Hugh O'Neill, 'founder' of the 'Buidhe' branch of the O'Neills, lived in the mid-13th C. (Burke, "P&B-O'Neill"); Conn Cionntach had issue,
GIOLLCHRIOSD O'CAHAN, b. ca. 1065, had issue,
IOMHAR O'CAHAN, b. ca. 1085, had issue,
RANNALL O'CAHAN, b. ca. 1105, Chief of his Name; the first of the family to be mentioned in the Annals of Ulster (AU-1138), where he is described as "Lord of The Craebh (Creeve), Ciannachta and Fir Li" and as such was Chief of the "Warrior Clan" that conquered the Ciannachta in the territory around Dungiven, Co. Derry, in the service of the O'Neill dynasty; k. 1138, having had issue.
From him the male-line descent is fully documented through 29 additional generations to the present time, as presented in my book : "The Warrior Clan of Ulster - Descent of the Chiefship of The Princely Ulster House of Ó Catháin - 800 A.D. - 2000 A.D."
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