The Callans and McClarys, by John Edward Callan - Callanworld

Chapter 1.
Feudal Kings
and flax spinners
Nearly a thousand years
ago, long after the journeys of St.
Brendan the Navigator, and just
a few years after the death of
Brian Boru, their lived a mighty
warrior named O Cathalain, king
of Farney. He is the ancestor and
namesake of all Callans, and a
fierce feudal bloodline he gives
us. His strength and courage was
praised in song by bards of old.
His fame came from a
singular battle in 1025, in which
Kilnaleck, County Cavan, and bordering County Monaghan
Niall Niall Niall Niall Niall Calle, Calle Calle Calle Calle , aka
King Callan
he lead an attack
on a stronghold on Lough (lake)
Ooony, in the barony of Farney,
which in Gaelic is “Fir
Fernmaige.” In doing so, he cast
a shadow of
legend and
patrimony
over all of
the area now
covered by
Fernmach
and
Monaghan
counties. In
time, saying
people were
‘O’Cathalain’
or, descended
from
Cathalain,
became synonymous with saying
they were from this area.
When the Normans invaded
Ireland in the 1100’s, they
anglicized the Gaelic pronunciation,
“O’Cawlin,” into O’Callan,
while the Scots among them
spelled it “O’Culhane.”
It’s likely Cathalain grew up
hearing of the great fetes of
Brian Boru, who conquered the
Vikings after nearly 40 years of
battles starting in 976. It’s certain
that Cathalain was a young man
when Brian, having almost
secured his rule over all of
Ireland, died at the Battle of
~ 5 ~
The Callans and McClarys
Clontarf on Good Friday in the
year 1014.
With Brian’s death, a
Kingship of all Ireland seemed
within grasp of any clansman
courageous enough to attack his
weaker neighbors. Perhaps it was
with that in mind that Cathalain
of Farney struck out on a raiding
party in October of 1025 against
his neighbors, the Fernmagh, in
what is now County Monaghan.
The ancient name of that
county meant “land of low hills,”
not the most easily defended
geography. But as early as the
700s, the Fernmagh had begun
O’Cathalain, Land of Cathalain