Mac Amhlaoibh and Mac Amhalghaidh (Irish septs)

Mac Amhlaoibh and Mac Amhalghaidh are two different Gaelic patronymic names with different origins and meanings, but which share the same or similar Anglicisation

Anglicisation

Anglicisation, or anglicization , is the process of converting verbal or written elements of any other language into a form that is more comprehensible to an English speaker, or, more generally, of altering something such that it becomes English in form or character.The term most often refers to...

s. These Gaelic names are borne by at least three unrelated native Irish clans or sept

Sept (social)

A sept is an English word for a division of a family, especially a division of a clan. The word might have its origin from Latin saeptum "enclosure, fold", or it can be an alteration of sect.The term is found in both Ireland and Scotland...

s (a division or part of a clan).

The Mac Amhalghaidh sept was historically centred at Ballyloughloe in Co Westmeath; the Mac Amhlaoibh sept of the MacCarthy family was centred at Newmarket; and the Mac Amhlaoibh sept of the Maguire family was centred in the barony of Clanawley in County Fermanagh

County Fermanagh

Fermanagh District Council is the only one of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland that contains all of the county it is named after. The district council also contains a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore and Kilskeery road areas....

Etymology

Mac Amhalghaidh is the patronymic form of the Gaelic personal name Amhalghadh and means "son of Amhalghadh". The personal name Amhalghadh is of an uncertain origin.
Mac Amhlaoibh is the patronymic form of the Gaelic personal name Amhlaoibh and means "son of Amhlaoibh". The personal name Amhlaoibh is a Gaelicisation of the Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

personal names Áleifr and Óláfr.

Today Anglicised forms of Mac Amhlaoibh and Mac Amhalghaidh include: Cauley, Caully, Cauly, Cawley

Cawley

Cawley is a surname in the English language. There are several different origins of the surname. In some cases the surnames are derived from any of numerous place names in England...

, Cawly, Colley, Gawley, Macaulay

Macaulay (surname)

Macaulay, MacAulay, and McAulay are surnames in the English language. There are several etymological origins for the names: all of which originated as patronyms in several Gaelic languages—Irish and Scottish Gaelic...

, MacAuley

McAuley (surname)

McAuley, MacAuley, and Macauley are surnames in the English language. There are several etymological origins for the names: all of which originated as patronyms in several Gaelic languages—Irish and Scottish Gaelic...

, Macauley, MacAuliffe, MacAwley, MacCauley, MacCawley, MacGauley, Magawley, Magawly, McAulay

Macaulay (surname)

, McAuley

McAuley (surname)

, McAuliffe

McAuliffe (surname)

McAuliffe or MacAuliffe is a surname of Norse Irish origin. The name is an Anglicisation of the Gaelic Mac Amhlaoibh , meaning "son of Amhlaoibh". The Gaelic name, Amhlaoibh, was derived from the Old Norse personal name Olaf. The surname occurs frequently in Munster, especially northern County...

, McAuly, McCaulay, McCauley

McCauley (surname)

McCauley and MacCauley are surnames in the English language, that are borne by both males and females. There are several etymological origins for the names: all of which originated as patronyms in several Gaelic languages—Irish and Scottish Gaelic...

, McCaully, McCauly, McCawley

McCawley

McCawley and MacCawley are surnames in the English language. The names are Anglicisations of several Gaelic-language surnames. There are several etymological origins for the names: all of which originated as patronyms in several Gaelic languages—Irish and Scottish Gaelic...

, McCawly, McGauley, MacAulay, McCowley, McColley, Macauley, McCooley, and Oliffe.

Mac Amhalghaidh (chiefs of Calraighe)

The Mac Amhalghaidh sept occupied lands located in what is today western Co Westmeath and northern Co Offaly. The heartland of the family was near Ballyloughloe, within the barony of Clonlonan, Co Westmeath, and was known in Elizabethan times as "MacGawleys Country". The sept derives its name from the Old Irish personal name Amhalgaidh. According to MacLysaght

Edward MacLysaght

Edward MacLysaght was one of the foremost genealogists of twentieth century Ireland. His numerous books on Irish surnames built upon the work of Patrick Woulfe's Irish Names and Surnames and made him well known to all those researching their family past.-Early life:Edward was born in Flax Bourton...

, the eponymous ancestor of the sept was an Amhalgaidh who lived in the 13th century. The sept is considered to be of native Irish descent. One pedigree of a family within the sept reaches back to Niall of the Nine Hostages

Niall of the Nine Hostages

Niall Noígíallach , or in English, Niall of the Nine Hostages, son of Eochaid Mugmedón, was an Irish king, the eponymous ancestor of the Uí Néill kindred who dominated Ireland from the 6th century to the 10th century...

and is stored in the genealogical office in Dublin. A genealogy of the sept is recorded in The O'Clery Book of Genealogies which is thought to have been written by Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh

Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh

Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh was an Irish historian and genealogist, known in English as Peregrine O'Clery.-Life and work:Ó Cléirigh was a son of Diarmaid Ó Cléirigh, and thus a third-cousin once removed to Brother Mícheál Ó Cléirigh, whom he assisted in compiling the Annals of the Four...

in the 17th century. The genealogy is titled "Genelach Meg Amhlaibh Locha Luatha" and runs as follows:

In the 16th century the principal seat of the chiefs was Ballyloughloe Castle. The chiefs of the sept are recorded within the Annals of the Four Masters

Annals of the Four Masters

The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland or the Annals of the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history...

as the 'chiefs of Calraighe (which can be Anglicised as "Calry"). The chiefs are mentioned within the mediaeval topographical poems of Seán Mór Ó Dubhagáin

Seán Mór Ó Dubhagáin

Seán Mór Ó Dubhagáin was an Irish Gaelic poet.-Background:Ó Dubhagáinn was among the first notable members of the bardic family Baile Uí Dhubhagáin , near Loughrea, County Galway...

and Giolla na Naomh Ó hUidhrín

Giolla na Naomh Ó hUidhrín

Giolla na Naomh O hUidhrin, Irish historian and poet, died 1420.O hUidhrin is known as the author of Tuilleadh feasa ar Éirinn óigh, a topographical poem of a kind with Seán Mór Ó Dubhagáin's Triallam timcheall na Fodla, of which it is a supplement....

:
In the 19th century, the man considered chief of the name was Count Magawley Cerati. According to the 19th century historian John O'Donovan, all that remained of Magawley's Castle in 1837 was a single vault.

The so-called "Magawley's Chair" is one of two supposed inauguration "chairs" located in the Irish midlands. Both chairs are however considered dubious and are more likely 19th century fanciful creations. "Magawley's Chair" lies in the parish of Ballyloughloe (in the northern half of the barony of Clonlonan). It sits on a hill-slope overlooking the ruins of Carn Castle, which was the seat of Uilliam Mac Amhalghaidh in 1596. The "seat" itself is a rectangular shaped block of rough limestone that has a hollowed out recess on its northern face. The shape of the "seat" is oddly shaped and is considered to have been impractical for an inauguration stone. It has been dismissed as an old fodder trough by some. According to Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, it may have originated as a miniature folly

Folly

In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs...

from Carn Park House. The historian Dalton claimed that the inauguration chair of the "Magawley chiefs stood on the hillock

Hillock

A hillock or knoll is a small hill, usually separated from a larger group of hills such as a range. Hillocks are similar in their distribution and size to small mesas or buttes. The term is largely a British one...

now called Tullymagawley". Though according to Fitzpatrick, it is unclear whether Dalton was specifically referring to the chair or the family's seat of general authority. Tullymagawley (Tulach Mic Amhalghaidh) was one of the later mediaeval seats of the chiefs of the sept.

The arms of Arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

of Valerio Magawly-Cerati (pictured) are blazoned argent

Argent

In heraldry, argent is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures, called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it...

a lion rampant and in chief two dexter hands gules

Gules

In heraldry, gules is the tincture with the colour red, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of vertical lines or else marked with gu. as an abbreviation....

; crest a demi lion rampant gules; motto LAIMH DEARGH ABOO; and supporters

Supporters

In heraldry, supporters are figures usually placed on either side of the shield and depicted holding it up. These figures may be real or imaginary animals, human figures, and in rare cases plants or inanimate objects...

the black eagles of Austria. Magawly-Cerati was considered by Burke

Bernard Burke

Sir John Bernard Burke, CB was a British officer of arms and genealogist.-Personal life:He was born in London, and was educated in London and in France. His father, John Burke , was also a genealogist, and in 1826 issued a Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the...

to have been the representer of the chiefs of Mac Amhalghaidh. In 1731, Philip Magawly was conferred the title 'Baron Calry' (Freiherr von und zu Calry) from Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles VI was the penultimate Habsburg sovereign of the Habsburg Empire. He succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , Archduke of Austria, etc., in 1711...

. He was also created 'Count of Calry' in the Kingdom of Sicily

Kingdom of Sicily

The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of Italy from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy...

(Conte di Calry) by the same monarch. He was succeeded by his grand-nephew, whom Valerio Magawly-Cerati descended from.

The sept recorded within the Irish Annals

Date	Irish	English
M1527.7	Amhlaoibh Ócc Dubh Mag Amhalgaidh taoíseach Calraighe do thuitim lá Cloinn Cholmáin, & ro dhioghail-siomh é fein riana mharbhadh uair do marbhadh Fiacha Mhag Eochagáin lais ar an lathair-sin.	Auliffe Oge Duv Magawley, Chief of Calry, fell by the Clann-Colman; but before his fall, he himself avenged himself, for he slew Fiacha Mageoghegan on the field of contest.

Mac Amhlaoibh (sept of Mac Cárthaigh)

The Mac Amhlaoibh sept of Co Cork are a branch of Mac Cárthaigh

Eóganachta

The Eóganachta or Eoghanachta were an Irish dynasty centred around Cashel which dominated southern Ireland from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of Desmond, and its offshoot Carbery, well into the 16th century...

(MacCarthy). MacLysaght stated that during the mid 20th century in Ireland, the name MacAuliffe was then usually found within Co Cork and hardly ever found outside of Munster

Munster

Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...

. The chiefs of the sept resided at Castle MacAuliffe which was located near Newmarket, Co Cork. The territory of the sept was described in 1612 as "Clan Auliffe" (MacLysaght noted that "Clan Auliffe" is commonly used to describe a branch of the O'Farrells of Co Longford). The chiefs of the sept are mentioned within the mediaeval topographical poems of Seán Mór Ó Dubhagáin and Giolla-na-Naomh Ó hUuidrain:

A genealogy of the sept is recorded in The O'Clery Book of Genealogies which is thought to have been written by Cu Choigcriche O Cleirigh, one of the Four Masters, in the 17th century. The genealogy is titled "Genelach Meic Amlaibh Alla" and runs as follows:
According to Dalton, the last chief of the name was Michael MacAuliffe, a colonel in the Spanish army, who died in 1720. However O'Donovan stated the last chief was a minor official from Kenmare in 1840.

The coat of arms pictured is that of Dermot MacAuliffe and was first registered in the early 18th century. MacAuliffe was at the time considered the chief of the sept. The arms are blazoned argent three mermaids with combs and mirrors in fess azure between as many mullets of the last; crest a boar's head couped or

Or (heraldry)

In heraldry, Or is the tincture of gold and, together with argent , belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". In engravings and line drawings, it may be represented using a field of evenly spaced dots...

. MacAuliffe was an officer in the Spanish Army. On 1 November 1709, the King of Spain combined several Irish units in his service, and formed the Ultonia Regiment which was commanded by MacAuliffe. In 1715, MacAuliffe was succeeded by Don Tadeo (Tadhg) MacAuliffe, who was later mortally wounded in 1718. Don Tadeo was then succeeded by Michael MacAuliffee, who was later killed in battle in 1720.

Ancestry chart

Illustrative diagram of the ancestry of the sept. The names in boldface are MacCarthy kings of Desmond with dates (reign, deposed, death). The chiefly line of the sept is stated to descend from a descendant of the first MacCarthy king.

Mac Amhlaoibh (sept of Mág Uidhir)

The Mac Amhlaoibh sept of Mág Uidhir

Airgíalla

Airgíalla or Airgialla was the name of an Irish federation and Irish kingdom which first formed around the 7th century...

(Maguire) originated in the area occupied within the present County Fermanagh

County Fermanagh

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. The sept is sometimes referred to as Clann Amlaimh or Clann Amhaoibh. The sept traces its descent from Amlaíb (d.1306), younger son of the first Maguire king of Fermanagh

Maguire of Fermanagh

List of the Macguires of Fermanagh ....

—Donn Óc (c.1286-1302) (also known as 'Donn Carrach Maguire'). Amlaib's family was one of the junior septs that dispossessed non Maguire families in the area of the Maguire lordship. The family established itself in Muinntear Peodacháin, near Lough Erne

Lough Erne

Lough Erne, sometimes Loch Erne , is the name of two connected lakes in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The lakes are widened sections of the River Erne. The river begins by flowing north, and then curves west into the Atlantic. The southern lake is further up the river and so is named Upper...

, dispossessing the Mac Gille Fhinnéin chieftain. In consequence of their military actions the family eventually left its mark on the area in the name of the barony of Clanawley in Co Fermanagh.

The sept recorded within the Irish Annals

The sons of Amhlaoibh and descendants are recorded within the Annals of Ulster

Annals of Ulster

The Annals of Ulster are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years between AD 431 to AD 1540. The entries up to AD 1489 were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, under his patron Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa on the island of Belle Isle on Lough Erne in the...

and the Annals of the Four Masters

Annals of the Four Masters

The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland or the Annals of the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history...

Date/line	Irish	English
U1319.6	Enri Mac Gilli Fhinnein, taisech Muínnteri Peodachan, do marhadh do clainn Amlaim Meg Uidhir.	Henry Mac Gille-Finnein, chief of Muinter-Peodachain, was killed by the sons of Amlam Mag Uidhir.
M1322.5	Hannraoi Mac Gille Fhinnéin taoiseach Muintire Feodacháin do mharbhadh la cloinn Amhlaoibh Még Uídhir.	Henry Mac Gillafinnen, Chief of Muintir-Feodachain, was slain by the sons of Auliffe Maguire.
M1322.17	Fearghal Ruadh Mac Samhradhain & Giolla Iosa Mac Samhradháin do mharbhadh la cloinn Amlaoibh Mhég Uidhir.	Farrell Roe Magauran and Gilla-Isa Magauran were slain by the sons of Auliffe Maguire.
M1326.10	Amhlaoibh Mhag Uidhir do écc.	Auliffe Maguire died.
M1350.9	Cú Choiccriche Mór Mhág Eochagáin tigherna Cenél Fhiachach, Aodh mac Amhlaoibh Meguidhir, & Muirghes Mac Donnchadha d'écc.	Cucogry More Mageoghegan, Lord of Kinel-Fiachach, Hugh, the son of Auliffe Maguire, and Maurice Mac Donough, died.
M1399.9	Aodh Ua Donnchadha tigearna Eoganachta Locha Len, O Broin, (.i.) Geralt mac Taidhg, & Toirrdhealbhach mac Maol Muire Meic Suibhne Fánatt, & Amhlaoibh mac Pilip mic Amhlaoibh mic Duinn Charraigh Még Uidhir, toisech Muintire Feodachain do écc.	Hugh O'Donoghoe, Lord of Eoghanaght of Lough Leane; O'Byrne (Gerald, son of Teige); Turlough, the son of Mulmurry Mac Sweeny of Fanaid; Auliffe, the son of Philip, son of Auliffe, son of Donn Carragh Maguire, Chief of Muintir-Feodachain in Fermanagh, died.
U1400.9		Amhlaim, son of Philip, son of Amhlaim, son of Donn Mag Uidhir the Rough, namely, chief of Muinter-Peodachain, died on the 2nd of the Nones 6 May.
U1454.4		John Mac Amhlaim the Tawny, namely, son of Brian, son of Amhlam, son of Philip, son of Amhlam, son of Donn Carrach Mag Uidhir and Gilla-Patraig the Swarthy, his other brother, were slain in treachery by Niall, son of Cormac, son of the Black Gillie, son of Aedh-from whom is the Clann-Aedha of the Clann-Amhlaim-son of Philip, son of Amhlam, son of Donn Carrach Mag Uidhir, on the 5th of the Ides 11 May.
U1466.7		Brian, son of Amhlam Mag Uidhir, head of his own ilk and lord of Clann-Amhlaim, died this year.
U1480.11		Philip Mac Amhlaim. Mag Uidhir the Swarthy (to wit, tribe-head of his own ilk was that Philip) died this year.
U1502.1		Inroad was made by O'Raighilligh, namely, by John, son of Cathal Ua Raighilligh, on Philip, son of Toirdelbach Mag Uidhir, and the level part of the country above Clann-Amhlaim was traversed and burned by them and Edmond, son of Philip Mac Amhlaim the Swarthy, and 5 or 6 others were slain by them. And there were slain from that host, to wit, the son of Ua Raighilligh, namely, Domnall of the Plain, and the son of Mac Mael-Martain, namely, Concobur.
U1506.18		Maghnus Mac Amhlaim, namely, son of Brian, son of Amlam Mag Uidhir, died.
M1508.18	Pilip Ócc Mac Amlaibh .i. mac Pilip Riabhaigh mic Briain mic Amhlaoibh mic Pilip mic Amhlaoibh mic Duinn Charraigh Meg Uidhir d'écc. Cenn a aicme fein & fer tighe aoidhedh esidhe.	Philip Oge Magawley, i.e. son of Philip Reagh, son of Brian, son of Auliffe, son of Philip, son of Auliffe, son of Don Carragh Maguire, died. He was the head of his own tribe, and kept a house of hospitality.

Etymology

Mac Amhalghaidh (chiefs of Calraighe)

The sept recorded within the Irish Annals

Mac Amhlaoibh (sept of Mac Cárthaigh)

Ancestry chart

Mac Amhlaoibh (sept of Mág Uidhir)

The sept recorded within the Irish Annals

See also