DORAN FAMILY HISTORY AND GENEAOGY
THE CLAN O'DORAN - A WEE BIT OF HISTORY
| Clans and Chieftains (in Ireland) The
use of the word 'The' as a prefix to a surname to
indicate that the user is the head or chief of a sept
comprising the bearers of that name is a comparatively
modern practice, but the existence of the chieftainries
so denoted makes an examination of its historical
background essential. To understand this one must glance
back to the early mediaeval period when Ireland was
administered by one legal system viz. the Brehon Code,
Brehon being a word formed from the Irish
"breitheamhan", the genitive of
"breitheamh", meaning lawgiver or judge. That
profession was of great importance and was usually the
prerogative of certain families such as the MacClancys
for the O'Brien dynasty and the well-known
O'Dorans of Leinster. Milesian Genealogies from the Annals of the Four Masters by Pat Traynor 37. HEREMON; IR; HEBER; The three sons of MILESIUS. HEREMON was the seventh son, but the third of these three that left issue. Five werekilled in landing upon the treacherous coast, including IR. AMERGIN, who was a Druid, was one of the three brothers who survived. HEREMON and his eldest brother HEBER were jointly, the first Milesian monarchs of Ireland. They began to reign in 1699 B.C., the first of one hundred eighty three Kings or sole Monarchs of the Gaelic, Milesian, or Scottish race that governed Ireland, successively, for two thousand eight hundred and eighty five years from the first year of their reign, to the submission to the Crown of England; King Henry the II; who was also of the Milesian race by his mother Maude, of lineal decent from Fergus Mor MacEarca, first King of Scotland, a descendant of HEREMON. HEBER was slain by HEREMON in a quarrel, caused by their wives. AMERGIN was also slain by HEREMON over an argument over territory. LINE OF HEBER Heber is the line from which Brian Boru comes, as do:
Brady, Brennan, Carroll, Casey, Clancy, Coghlan, Connell,
Cullen, Doran, Hagerty, Hickey, Hogan,
Kearny, Kelleher, Kennedy, Lynch, Lyons, Lysaght,
McCarthy, MacGrath, MacMahon, Macnamara, Moroney,
Moloney, O'Brien (10 different pedigrees), O'Callaghan,
Collins, O'Connor, O'Corcoran, Daly, Donoghue, Donovan,
Flanagan, O'Gara, O'Grady, O'Hara, O'Keeffe, Liddy,
Mahony, Meagher, O'Meara, O'Neill, O'Sullivan, Plunkett,
Power (o'Poir), Quin, Quaile, Ring, Shannon, Slattery,
Stewart, Tracey - to name a few. Source: http://www.rootsweb.com/~fianna/history/milesian.html Variants of the Surname DORAN or O'DORAN Doran, Dorrian, O'Doran,
O'Dorrian, O'Deohadrain, O'Dorrianuns, O Deorain,
Dorrain, Dorreen, Dorien, Dorrien, Dorien, Dooyarma,
Deoradrain, Dorin, and Deorain. Sources, Various The Septs of Inishowen & Donegal - Post-1200 A.D. Tirehewe Barony, Dromehoonagh Parish - O'Dorrianuns; O'Doran - O Deorain Source: Raphoe Reconciliation project - a library and
archive in Raphoe town in Co. Donegal The Seven Septs of Leix "After the arrival of the Anglo-Normans, the Leix (Laois) County was divided among seven Septs or Clans: O'Moore, O'Kelly, O'Deevy, O'Doran, O'Lalor, O'Dowling and McEvoy. This confederation began after the 3rd
century CE, when the family group that would become the
O'Mores came from Ulster to Leinster under the leadership
of Laoighseach Cean More, son of Connall Cearnach of the
Red Branch, and helped to defend Leinster under the
kingship of Cuchorb, and expelled the Munster forces from
the region. They continued to hold principality over what
became Leix (Laois), so named after Laoighseach, and this
confederation continued through the Elizabethian wars of
the 1500's, when the military and political power of the
families were broken and the clans dispossessed and
relocated. Of these seven clans, the O'Mores were the
leading family, holding the position and title of Kings,
and then Princes of Leix, as well as the Marshell's and
treasurers of Leinster since the 3rd century." "Ui Laoighis Families in Ireland from the 11th to the End of the 16th Century. "According to 'A Topographical and Historical Map of Ancient Ireland,' compiled by Philip MacDermott, M.D., the following were the names of the principal families in Ireland, of Irish, Anglo-Norman, and Anglo-Irish origin. O'DORAN, (BREHON),Wexford Gaelic Surnames Etymology and SpellingThe following (mostly Irish) Gaelic names and anglicized equivalents are from the book "A Gaelic Lexicon of Finnegans Wake" by Brendan O Hehir, and were originally posted to Celtic-L in March 1997. To these I've added some Scots Gaelic names from Calder's Gaelic Grammar and from various clan history books. These are in no particular order, so if you need to look up a name just run a text search. Accents have been deleted for convenience's sake, sorry. In cases where "O" or "Mac" is part of the name, "grandson of" and "son of", respectively, should be understood under the name's "meaning", even if it is not given there. Some Gaelic names have more than one English equivalent, and some English names have more than one Gaelic equivalent; this is natural and due to ambiguity of translation. Question marks are the author's. Not to be taken internally. Gaelic English Meaning ------ ------- ------- O Deorain Doran "exile" Source:An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language Eoghanacht Genealogies Book of Munster Written in 1703 Rev. Eugene O'Keeffe Parish priest and Poet of Doneraile, North Cork (Excerpt for surname O'Doran) O'Doran (O Derrain) Genealogy of O'Deorain Muircheartach boy, son of William, son of Sean, son of William dearg, son of Domhnall, son of Sarrbhresthach, son of Maolfhinnen, son of Conchubhar, son of Niall, son of Gillapatrick, son of Cathal, son of Buadhach, son of Cathal, son of Aodh, son of Buadhach Ath Cro, son of Lorcan, son of Suilleabhan (ancestor of the O'Sullivans). (Source: McFirbises Book of Genealogies) RETURN TO THE DORAN FAMILY HISTORY AND GENEALOGY PAGE This page was last updated on December 28, 1999 |