MacCarthy Mor dynasty

The origin of the name begins with Carthach, an Eóganacht Chaisil king, who died in 1045 in a house fire deliberately started by one of the Lonergans (who were members of the Eóganacht's arch-enemies, the Dál gCais). Carthach was a contemporary and bitter rival of High-King Brian Boru, and what would become known as the McCarthy Clan was pushed out of its traditional homelands in the Golden Vale of Tipperary by the expansion of the O'Brien sept in the middle of the twelfth century.

Carthach's son was known as Muireadhach mac Carthaigh (meaning "Muireadhach, son of Carthach"). Such ephemeral patronymics were common at the time. However, when Muireadhach died in 1092 his sons Tadhg and Cormac adopted Mac Carthaigh as an actual surname. Following the treaty of Glanmire in 1118, dividing the kingdom of Munster into Desmond and Thomond, this Tadhg became the first king of Desmond, comprising parts of the modern counties of Cork and Kerry. For almost five centuries they dominated much of Munster, with four major branches: those led by the MacCarthy Mór (Great MacCarthy), nominal head of all the MacCarthys, who ruled over much of south Kerry, the Duhallow MacCarthys, who controlled northwest Cork; MacCarthy Reagh or Riabhach ('grey') based in the Barony of Carbery in southwest Cork; and MacCarthy Muskerry, on the Cork / Kerry border.

Each of these families continued resistance to Norman and English encroachment up to the seventeenth century when, like virtually all the Gaelic aristocracy, they lost almost everything. An exception was Macroom Castle, which passed to the White family of Bantry House, descendants of Cormac Láidir Mac Cárthaigh. This was burnt in 1922 and is part of the local golf club today.

The Muskerry McCarthy's historical seat is Blarney Castle in County Cork. Legend has it that the Blarney Stone was given as a gift to Cormac MacCarthy, King of Desmond, from king Robert the Bruce of Scotland, who presented the 'magical' stone in gratitude for his assistance in the battle of Bannockburn in 1314. The third castle built on the site (the castle which stands to this day) was built by another McCarthy descendant, Dermot McCarthy, in 1446. Dermot was known for his eloquence, hence the Blarney Stone's reputation for imparting the gift of the gab upon those who kiss it.

The number of references to the MacCarthys in the Annals, especially the "Annals of Innisfallen", is very great. Carthach was the son of Saoirbhreathach, a Gaelic name which is anglicised as Justin, and in the latter form has been in continuous use among many branches of the McCarthys for centuries. Another male forename similarly associated with them is Finghin, anglice Fineen, but for some centuries past, the name Florence (colloquially Flurry) has been used as its English form. From the thirteenth century, when Fineen MacCarthy decisively defeated the Geraldines in 1261, down to the present day, Fineen or Florence MacCarthys and Justin MacCarthys have been very prominent among the many distinguished men of the name in Irish military, political and cultural history.

Until the dissolution of the kingdom in 1596, the crown was vested in the hereditary possession of the Mac Carthy (by the law of tanistry).

Eleven septs of the illustrious McCarthy family in Kerry are given in Kings History of Co. Kerry

• (1) Sliocht Owen More of Coshmaing
• (2) Sliocht Cormaic of Dunguile
• (3) Sliocht Fineen Duff of Ardeanaght
• (4) Sliocht Clan Donell Finn
• (5) Sliocht nInghean Riddery
• (6) Sliocht Donell Brick
• (7) Sliocht Nedeen
• (8) Sliocht Clan Teige Kittagh
• (9) Sliocht Clan Dermod
• (10) Sliocht Clan Donell Roe
• (11) Sliocht MacFineen

The MacCarthys are closely related to a number of other Munster families. These include the O'Sullivans, O'Callaghans, O'Keeffes, O'Donoghues, and O'Donovans. An early sept of the MacCarthys themselves are the MacAuliffes.

Rulers of the Kingdom of Desmond, the MacCarthys stood among the greatest Irish dynasties of the last millennium.

• Florence MacCarthy, Irish prince, 1563–1640
• Cormac MacCarthy, Lord of Muskerry, Irish noble, d. 1536
• Sir Cormac MacCarthy, great-grandson of Cormac MacCarthy, Lord of Muskerry, d. 1616
• Cormac MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry and Baron of Blarney, son of Sir Cormac MacCarthy, d. 1640
• Donagh MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry and Earl of Clancarty, son of Sir Cormac MacCarthy, d. 1665
• Charles MacCarthy, soldier in French and later English service, d. 1665
• Justin MacCarthy, Viscount Mountcashel, younger son of Donough MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry, d. 1694
• Donough MacCarthy, 4th Earl of Clancarty, grandson of Donough MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry, 1670–1734
• Nicholas Tuite MacCarthy, renowned Jesuit Preacher, 1769–1833
• Charles MacCarthy, Irish-born soldier who served in the French, Dutch and British armies, 1764–1824
• Robert MacCarty, Viscount Muskerry, Irish Royal Navy officer and colonial administrator, 1685–1769

• Sliocht Cormaic of Dunguile
• Gaelic nobility of Ireland

• Burke, Bernard and Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, Burke's Irish Family Records, or Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland. London: Burke's Peerage Ltd. 5th edition, 1976.
• Byrne, Francis J., Irish Kings and High-Kings. Four Courts Press. 2nd edition, 2001.
• Cronnelly, Richard F., Irish Family History Part II: A History of the Clan Eoghan, or Eoghanachts. Dublin. 1864.
• D'Alton, John, Illustrations, Historical and Genealogical, of King James's Irish Army List, 1689 2 vols. London: J.R. Smith. 2nd edition, 1861.
• Laffan, Thomas (1911). Tipperary Families : Being The Hearth Money Records for 1665-1667. James Duffy & Co.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• O'Donovan, John (ed. and tr.), Annála Ríoghachta Éireann. Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters, from the Earliest Period to the Year 1616. 7 vols. Royal Irish Academy. Dublin. 1848–51. 2nd edition, 1856.
• O'Hart, John, Irish Pedigrees Dublin. 5th edition, 1892.
• Ó hInnse, Séamus (ed. and tr.) and Florence MacCarthy, Mac Carthaigh's Book, or Miscellaneous Irish Annals (A.D. 1114–1437). Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. 1947.
• O'Keeffe, Eugene (ed. and tr.), Eoganacht Genealogies from the Book of Munster. Cork. 1703. (available here)

• The McCarthy Clan Gathering 2013
• MacCarthy Mór Pedigree at Library Ireland
• The MacCarthys and the Nine Years War in Munster, 1595-1603 at The Irish Story
• Centuries of ‘lost’ MacCarthy lore returned at Irish Examiner
• McCarthy at Araltas