Ó Ceithearnaigh

Rev Patrick Woulfe

1923

Ó CEITHEARNAIGH—I—O Keherne, O Kerny, O Kerne, Keherny, Kerney, (Kearney, Kerns, Kearns); 'descendant of Ceithearnach' (foot-soldier, one of a ceithearn, or company of foot-soldiers); the name (1) of a family in Co. Roscommon, also called Mac Ceithearnaigh (which see), who were chiefs of Ciarraighe, in the barony of Castlerea; and (2) of a West Cork family. These are the only families of which there is record, but there were, doubtless, others, as the name in the 16th century was rather widespread, being found in Tipperary, Kilkenny, Westmeath, Offaly, and Donegal, as well as in Roscommon and Cork. Its anglicised forms cannot always be distinguished from those of Ó Cearnaigh, which see.

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