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MacNamara

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For a list of people, see List of people with surname MacNamara. For the Australian electoral division, see Division of Macnamara.

McNamara MacNamara
Mac Con Mara

McNamara arms
Parent houseDál gCais
CountryKingdom of Thomond
FounderCú Mara mac Domhnall
Titles
Cadet branchesMcInerney
McNamara Fionn

MacNamara or McNamara (Irish: Mac Con Mara) is an Irish surname of a family of County Clare in Ireland. According to historian C. Thomas Cairney, the MacNamaras were one of the chiefly families of the Dal gCais or Dalcassians who were a tribe of the Erainn who were the second wave of Celts to settle in Ireland between about 500 and 100 BC.[1]

McNamara family

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The McNamara family were an Irish clan claiming descent from the Dál gCais and, after the O'Briens, one of the most powerful families in the Kingdom of Thomond as Lords of Clancullen (a title later divided into East and West families). They are related to the O'Gradys, also descended from the Uí Caisin line of the Dál gCais.

The name began with the chieftain Cumara, of Maghadhair in county Clare. Cumara is a contracted form of Conmara – hound of the sea. His son, Domhnall, who died in 1099, adopted the surname Mac Conmara, or son of Cumara, thus becoming the first of his name. The name has survived relatively unmodified as MacConmara in Irish and anglicised as MacNamara/McNamara.[2]

Naming conventions

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Further information: Irish name

The name is a contraction of "Mac Cú Na Mara" meaning "Son of the Hound of the Sea".[3]

Male Daughter Wife (Long) Wife (Short)
Mac Conmara[4] Nic Conmara Bean Mhic Conmara Mhic Conmara

People with the name

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Main article: List of people with surname MacNamara
  • Sioda Cam MacConmara rebuilt Quin Abbey where many members of this clan were subsequently laid to rest.
  • Donnchadh Ruadh Mac Conmara (1715–1810) was a Jacobite poet.
  • Sean Buidhe Mac Conmara (c. 1750 – 1836), more commonly known as John "Fireball" MacNamara,[5] is remembered because of his daring exploits and his flair for the dramatic which has since featured in verse and in story.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Cairney, C. Thomas (1989). Clans and Families of Ireland and Scotland. Jefferson, North Carolina, United States, and London: McFarland & Company. pp. 61–69. ISBN 0899503624.
  2. ^ McNamara at Araltas, McNamara family history
  3. ^ Ó Fiaich, Tomás (1986). "Brian Mac Gurk, Dean of Armagh". Seanchas Ardmhacha. 12 (1): 69. doi:10.2307/29745225. ISSN 0488-0196. JSTOR 29745225. Mac Conmara (the son of the sea-hound)
  4. ^ "Mac Conmara". Sloinne. 5 December 2015.
  5. ^ "Clare People: John "Fireball" MacNamara".
  6. ^ County Clare Public Library Entry on "Fireball", " John "Fireball" MacNamara (c. 1750-1836)", County Clare Public Library, 28/05/2014
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