Comhad Uimh. 1

Newsletter Archives

Nuachtán No.1 January/Eanáir 1996

In Nuachtán the clan newsletter we shall outline progress made with our various projects over the last year.

As this is the first edition of our newsletter, we shall also set out in this edition an outline of our projected work program.

Projected clan research program

We propose to initially review the standard Irish genealogical books to provide a general context for future research

Subsequently we shall examine genealogical sources held in the British Museum.

With a general background established, we then propose to extract the details of all clan members from the Births. Deaths and Marriages records for England & Wales 1837-1999, Scotland 1855-1999, Northern Ireland 1921-1999, Ireland 1864-1999, Channel Islands, & the Isle of Man.

With the British Isles official registration records extracted, then Births Deaths and Marriages records for other countries will be added. This primarily is aimed at records for the United States of America though will be extended to include those of Canada.

The process of building up our modern (19th and 20th century) data will finally encompass those other countries where Irish families are known to have settled in that period, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, & Argentina.

From the above base-line we will then attempt to push back our information, both into older Irish records and into other countries, including France and Spain, where Irish families settled prior to the 19th century.

Naturally we welcome receipt of clan information from any country at any time, however the above program is suggested purely to show how we aim to structure our research.

In rebuilding the clan tree our aim will be to establish a base line, from which we shall attempt to link the generations. There are major difficulties in establishing an accurate base line, from which to link data from all countries holding records of the clan diaspore. National censuses could constitute one obvious base line, however nations chose different dates to organise their censuses. Time gaps between censuses might allow some individuals to be recorded in more than one census, or even for someone to miss being recorded on any census. Another difficulty with censuses is that even where one has suitable censuses, nations allow varying degrees of access to the information. After consideration we take the view that a base date of 1900/1901 would be suitable for several reasons. By 1900 most developed countries were producing fairly complete census returns, covering either the whole country or all states within a country. Also censuses returns for 1900/1901 are largely within the public domain. Most importantly the census of 1901 is the earliest intact return for Ireland. This census, together with the 1901 census for Great Britain, may become available for purchase by the public at some time in the next few years. Negotiations are occurring between genealogical societies and the Public Records Office, to transcribe the 1891 census and make it available to the public, so this is something which we may look forward to in the short term.

Hand in hand with the quest to obtain certificated records of birth, death and marriage, will run the historical examination of records in major libraries, such a the British museum, Library of Congress, Society of Genealogists, Irish National Archives etc. with a view to expanding our understanding of not just clan history, but also the Irish clan system and laws of tanistry.


Progress

Over the last year we accumulated the following clan information from the standard Irish genealogical books such as Edward MacLysaght's "More Irish Families", "The Surnames of Ireland", Irish Families their names, arms and origins", "Supplement to Irish Families". Also reviewed were the following "A dictionary of British Surnames" by Percy Reaney, "British family names, their origin and meaning " 2nd edn. by Henry Barber, "Patronymica Britannia a dictionary of family names in the UK" by Mark Lower, "Surnames" by Earnest Weekly, and "Ludus patronymicus" by Richard Charnock :

• MacLysaght gives the original form of the name as Ó Maoilearca. The meaning of the name is quoted as probably denoting a follower of St Erc. The clan was said to originate in Tyrconnel (Donegal). MacLysaght says that the clan, like several others from county Donegal, migrated from Ulster to Connacht in the wake of the O'Donnell's, in the 17th century. He also refers to the name as O'Mullarky. In his latter work MacLysaght records the location of the family as East Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo and to an extent Galway. MacLysaght also notes that one of the leaders of the O'Neil - O'Cahan conspiracy against the Ulster planters in 1615 was Edmund O'Mullarky, the Provincial of the Irish Franciscans. He acted as a courier for the rebels.

• Per Robert Matheson in his "Special report on surnames in Ireland with notes as to numerical strength, derivation , ethnology and distribution" the number of children born in Ireland in 1890 with our surname was recorded as twenty-one, twenty of which were in Connacht and just one was in Ulster. In Matheson's "Surnames," written at the turn of the 19th century, Matheson records the location of the family as the Counties of Mayo, Sligo and Galway. However at page 21 Matheson gives the place of origin of the name as Galway. This is in total contrast to MacLysaght. Matheson gives his authority as the Annals of the Four Masters. The annals or the Four Masters is a work of the Gaelic genealogical chroniclers, which we should review to check the validity of Matheson's statement.

• Other clues may lie in place names. There is Drom Eirc near the town of Donegal in County Donegal. Additionally there is Ross Erk abbey close to the town of Ballina in County Mayo in Connacht and finally there is Termon Eric in County Kerry in Munster.

• The late 19th century location of the family in Ireland suggests a Connacht base to the name, though the remanent presence in Ulster does point to some connection with Ulster. Hence there may be a basis to MacLysaght's view that the name originated in Ulster. Apart from the links to Slane in County Meath, the name is also associated with the south of Ireland. Meath is not too far from Ulster and if St Erc accompanied St. Patrick on his evangelising in Ulster, then this may account for the Ulster connection. (Patrick's main seat was in Armagh, the spiritual capital of Ireland, and his eventual place of burial was at DownPatrick in Ulster in 465.)  

British Museum Research

We have examined a number of books held in the immense British Museum records (For a list of records examined se the schedule below). One point which has been notable in examining documentation in the British Museum, is the lack of visibility of our clan in the British administration records in Ireland. Hence we found no record of our clan in the "List of Officers in Ireland 1717", or in "Irish Clergy in the 19th century", or in "The Compossicion Booke of Conought", or the "Civil Survey 1654-1656", or the "Commission for forfeited estates 1690", "Popish pretenders to forfeited estates 1702", or the Register 1705 compiled under the Act of registering the Popish clergy, or the Patent Rolls from James II, or "List of names of persons at James II's part, or "Princes and Chieftains of Erin", or "Irish Ecclesiastical exiles", or "Claims with trustees" or "Books of Survey and distribution abstracts of survey and instruments of title 1660-1661" (The Books of Survey were based on the Quit Rent Office distribution books. They contain a list of names of proprietors and forfeiting persons in 1641 and those who received land under the Act of Settlement. The books are recorded in volumes - Tyrone and Donegal, Galway, Leitrim Sligo and barony of Tyrawley in Mayo, Roscommon, Mayo, and Clare).

The clan did emerge from the gloomy mist of moldy British government records, when reviewing the surviving tomes of "The Census of Ireland circa 1659 with supplementary material from the Poll Money Ordinances," the following record was found in the record for County Sligo :

• Page 600 Sligo, Barony of Leynie
• Principal Irish names - Mullarky - Number of persons -5
• Total number of English inhabitants - 76
• Total number of Irish inhabitants - 1,105
• Total number of inhabitants - 1,181

This was a rather strange census, in that whilst English inhabitants are individually detailed, all native Irish were simply totalled and the only reference to them is a listing of the more plentifully names. It is strange to the writer that 5 persons out of 1,105 should be reckoned as a principle name, albeit that other Gaelic names are also recorded. Possibly the reference to 5 persons is being applied to the heads of families. Hence the census may be talking about 5 families of the clan which may each include 3 or 4 generations. This would then amount to a much more significant number of individuals. A different explanation may be that the 5 individuals collectively are significantly important in terms of land occupation/wealth in the Barony of Leynie. If numbers as low as 5 are significant then one wonders why the clan are not listed in any other Barony in Sligo or any of the other extant county records.

We came across a number of other entries which can be classified as possible references to the name, these include the following:-

• In the Calender of the Irish Patent Rolls of James I at page 29 there is a reference to a Teige Maglaghy of Loughneglunt in Sligo. The name may be a phonetic version of Malarky. The reference refers to Teige as a swordsman and that he was given a general pardon (Pat.1, 12 Sept). This could be highly significant as it could show the clan based in Sligo prior to the flight of the O'Neill's in 1607. It might challenge the view given by MacLysaght as to the clan's connections with Connacht.

• Also in the Calender of the Irish Patent Rolls of James I at page 110 there is a reference to John O'Nilarkie and Daltin O'Nilarkie all of Donegal (Pat.5, 7 July). As above these could be versions of O'Mullarkie which have be transcribed incorrectly mistaking the M nor an N. Typos are not unusual in genealogy where records are transcribed and difficulties occur in reading other writers handwriting. Taking the above the references together it may be that the clan had distinct septs, namely one large sept in Ulster, which was eventually removed to Connacht, and separate smaller Connacht septs located in Sligo and (perhaps) in Galway.

One major source of genealogy information is the population census. In Ireland all 19th censuses were pulped by the English authorities or destroyed during the Irish civil war. This leaves a huge hole in Irish records. Contemporary summaries written at the time of each of the censuses are extant. These summaries include information such as estimates of the size of Ireland's population, usually with a calculation of the Catholic percentage. This obsession with religious affiliation is difficult to understand today, however apart from clear religious questions, the size of Protestant communion was equated with the measure of English control over Ireland.

The increase in percentage of Catholic Ireland from the early censuses may not be just the more accurate counting of population, but may well reflect the decline in Protestant Ireland resulting from the emigration of (Scots) Irish to America in the 18th century. The statistics imply a 10% outflow of the Protestant population over a 100 year period. This would be a fairly significant population movement, however it does not appear to account for the number of Protestants claiming (Scots) Irish ancestry in North America. Some deeper analysis is clearly required. It may suggest that the Irish Protestant population, though increasing by conversion of Catholics over the 18th century on a larger scale than previously supposed, was nevertheless reduced by even greater emigration, thereby outstripping this growth. Hence a 10% rate of conversion over the same period might well give a true and much more significant outflow of Protestants to North America of 20%. Such a proposition would also produce a very different (Scots) Irish population in America, indeed perhaps the term Scots Irish would under this understanding be a less accurate description than simply Irish.

The earlier 17th century census records are unlikely to be accurate, however comparing the census figures for 1788 onwards with subsequent censuses, these figures appear fairly reasonable. We can look at these figures to help us assess the family size in the 18th century. The sudden drop in population between 1841 and 1851 marks both the impact of the Irish famine of 1846 and subsequent flood of emigration out of Ireland.

In future editions we shall report on progress with our next major project, which is to extract our clan records from the indexes of Births, Deaths and Marriages for England & Wales 1837 to 1993.

Overlordship of Ireland

Like subsequent English kings, Henry misunderstood the submission of the many Gaelic nobility and kings as feudal homage. The Irish were certainly not accepting English sovereignty, but simply acknowledging their temporary defeat to the stronger hand. Indeed a few Irish kings such the kings of the Cenél Conaill and Cenél Eóghain in Ulster refused to even pay this homage to Henry.

Nevertheless Henry took their actions as legal confirmation of his claim to be Lord of Ireland. He divided Ireland into 10 administrative regions, each under the control of Norman knights, but significantly he gave Ruaithri, the Irish high king, jurisdiction over the whole island except for the Pale which was governed as a appanage to the English port of Bristol. Bristol, or Bristo as it was then known, had grown fat on selling slaves to the Dublin Danes. The Pale was to consist of Dublin, Meath, Wexford, Waterford and Dungarvan. Henry ensured all the legal and administrative institutions were also put in place to run this directly English controlled area with Courts, an Exchequer and administrative body in Dublin.

The Pale coincided roughly with the area of the old Danish sub-kingdom, which the Irish had tolerated since Briain Bóraimhe defeated the Danes in 1014. The Normans were themselves descendants of Scandinavians who settled in north western France, so that their annexation of the Pale could be seen as reinstating of an independent Danish kingdom in Ireland. However the Norman interest was more financial than of furthering pan Viking solidarity. The Irish Danish subkingdoms had generated a large amount of trade and wealth, especially through their extensive international Viking shipping contacts based in Dublin. Additionally the Irish based Danes had developed a consumer and urban culture fueled by the wide range of products traded internationally through Dublin. The life style and wealth made Dublin valuable real estate to the English Crown and their merchants.

Henry believed that he had gained for the English crown, the legal recognition by the Irish high king of the English King's overlordship. In some measure therefore Henry was obliged to restore Ruaithri, his vassal Irish king to a position of direct power over Ireland. But this in no way took away from the rewarding of his Norman knights, who took possession of vast tracts of land outside the Pale. Poor Ruaithri was effectively in a role of puppet, overlooking the takeover of his country.

With regard to ecclesiastical affairs, the old Danish subkingdoms had an independent church structure. The bishops were consecrated in Canterbury rather than in Ireland, a situation accepted by the Irish church. But now the Norman church at Canterbury moved to take direct control the Irish church in the Pale.

The problem for the Norman/Angevins was that the Irish were far more numerous than their Norman conquerors. Furthermore Norman power was concentrated in the east of Ireland, especially in the Pale. Hence whilst laws and administrative decisions might be made by Henry, there was simply not the resources to enforce those laws, except in the Pale area. Many Normans outside the Pale area soon found themselves struggling to defend their new lands, not just from the natives, but also from other Norman knights.

More Normans arrived in Ireland attracted by the prospect of acquiring lands. This wave of settlers turned their attention to Ulster, which had so far remained defiantly independent of Henry. John de Courcy a Norman knight equipped a private expedition from Dublin in February 1177. In a surprise attack de Courcy overran the Irish kingdom of Dál Fiatach on the East coast of County Down. Despite repeated counter-attacks, the Irish were unable to dislodge the Normans. De Courcy named his new acquisition the Lordship of Ulster, which over time came to dominate the whole of east Ulster.

The martial success of the Normans against larger Irish forces can largely be accounted for by their superior military technology. In particular their use of chain mail armour, the greater impact of their cavalry lances, due to the use of deep saddles and stirrups and their use of crossbows, which had a much greater range than Irish shortbows. Until the Irish acquired similar technology, raw courage would not be enough to seriously challenge the Normans. De Courcy tried to push into Antrim but despite his firepower, he overextended himself and was forced to beat a speedy retreat. Only 11 of his knights survived the encounter. What saved the survivors was that they were able to take refuge in their mote and bailey castle. From their toe hold on the coast, de Courcy was able to get resupplied by ship and put in place a step by step approach to the conquest of Down and Antrim. De Courcy followed each success by building an impressive castle to consolidate the gains. The most famous of these castles were at Carrickfergus and Dundrum. Over time the Norman's Ulster enclave took on the character of an independent state, with de Courcy minting his own currency, administering the Lordship without recourse to Dublin and even establishing a legal system and courts.

British Museum Books reviewed 1995

Books researched in the Society of Genealogists library, in London