Thursday, August 28, 2014

Of Kings, Crooks and Commoners


Why is it that the history of the origin of any given surname seems to begin with an illustrious warrior or powerful king? Apparently, Flanagan—one of the surnames in my husband’s genealogy—had such a glorious genesis. Said to originally be “Ó Flannagáin,” the name meant male “descendant of the ruddy one.” The name—originally a popular given name—was taken from the old Irish root, “Flann,” signifying red or ruddy. Of course, experts cannot decide whether that “Flann” referred to red hair or a ruddy complexion. Let me assure you, no one in my husband’s family has either the hair or the skin tone to match those descriptions.

There are some glorious legends claiming that the head of the Flanagan clan—or sept, as it is sometimes labeled—was “of the same stock as the royal Connors” line. On the other hand, some sources state that there may have been three separate, unrelated, clans by that same name in Ireland. Considering that the Flanagan septs were said to be located in counties Roscommon, Fermanagh, Monaghan and Offaly, it is easy to see the name would be widespread across Ireland.

No, wait: did that range include counties Waterford and Westmeath? Wait! Forget Monaghan?

Will somebody please make up his mind?!

Even better, according to some, those Flanagan forebears in Fermanagh claimed descent from the famed—and prolificNiall of the Nine Hostages. Perhaps that is why that Flanagan name is so widely distributed.

By the time the Flanagan surname arrived to contribute to the gene pool from which my husband sprang, there seemed to be nothing illustrious about it: our Flanagans were commoners—with possibly a criminal thrown in for good measure (note the William Flanagan tried in County Cork on the fourth listing in this database; no guarantee that he was ours; just a family tradition). And they shared that plain destiny with many others; Flanagan had become the sixty-ninth most frequent surname in Ireland, and quite widespread in the other nations to which the famine-stricken Irish had fled.

For those of us wishing to retrace the steps of our Flanagan forebears, that widespread territory claimed by those original septs makes the search just a tad bit more challenging.

6 comments:

  1. I think part of the "descended" from a King is that people identified with their King "back in the day" - I assume if they didn't - they didn't live too long.

    You are going to be an Irish Historian at this rate!! Their past looks really confusing to me - starting with Saint Patrick and the snake thing.

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    1. I couldn't help becoming fascinated with the history of the Irish people, Iggy. Of course, having a daughter who is obsessed with their history has rubbed off on me. Her modest collection of books on the subject would be more than adequate to bring me up to speed, if I would take the time to read it. For some reason, authors of such books seem to be quite long winded...

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  2. I did a presentation on Irish surnames for a "little old lady" group at my aunt's church last St. Patrick's Day. Yeah, I remember reading about this name and that stemming from whatever ancient king or warrior. I realized my knowledge of Irish history is pathetic. However, Irish history was never a focus in any World Civ course I took in high school OR college, so I blame the system.

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    1. Well, the "system" hasn't changed much, Wendy. When my daughter completed her requisite World Civ course for college a few years ago, she had to make a way to interject Irish issues into the class (via her term paper and other elective projects). While all those world powers were duking it out on the high seas, Ireland was developing a contextually rich heritage, despite the horrifying hardships endured. It's been refreshing--though admittedly maddening--to learn of their history. But it was something we've had to glean by our own initiative.

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  3. Sure we (us Irish) are all descended from warriors and kings! I'd still be living in a castle in Co. Kildare, sending my husband out every Sunday to win some territory and steal a few cows, if it wasn't for them rotten Normans! Seriously though, if you're finding conflicting information re Irish surnames, start with what Edward MacLysaght has to say.

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    1. Dara, thanks for bringing up Edward MacLysaght's work. Good point. In the online resources I've found, his name has been referred to often.

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