Ó Neachtain

Rev Patrick Woulfe

Irish Names and Surnames

1923

Ó NEACHTAIN—I—O Naghtan, O Neaghten, O'Naughton, Naghten, Naghton, Naughtan, Naughten, Naughton, Nocton, Natton, (Norton), &c.; 'descendant of Neachtan' (bright, pure); the name (1) of a Dalcassian family, of the same stock as the O'Quinns and O'Hartigans, still numerous in Thomond; and (2) of a branch of the Ui Maine in Galway and Roscommon. This family derives its descent from Fiachra Fionn, grandson of Maine Mór, the eponymous ancestor of the Ui Maine, and was closely akin to that of Ó Maolalaidh (which see), both families forming originally one clan under the common designation of Ui Fiachrach Finn. The O'Neachtains were chiefs of Maonmhagh, the plain lying around Loughrea, until about the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion, when they removed to the Feadha, or Fews, of Athlone, where they formed a distinct clan down to the reign of Elizabeth.

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