The Callans and McClarys, by John Edward Callan - Callanworld

Nadsluaig on the brink of Loch
n-Uaithne [Lough Ooney],
where they burned buildings and
killed seventeen men on the
edge of the lake.
U1025.5 U1025.5 “Cathalain, “Cathalain, king
king
of of Fernmag, Fernmag, made made a a raid raid on on Fir Fir
Fir
Manach. Manach. The The Fir Fir Manach
Manach
forthwith forthwith made made made a a raid raid to to Loch
Loch
Uaithne, Uaithne, and and burned burned [the
[the
district] district] and and killed killed killed seventeen
seventeen
men men on on the the the shore shore of of the the lake.”
lake.”
In June of 1025, Cathalain
struck again, this time plundering
an area called Termann Feichín.
The next entry about Cathalain
is the last. It comes in Sept.
1027, and hints at what he had
been up two in the previous two
years.
“M1027.9 “M1027.9 Cathalain-Ua-
Cathalain-Ua-
Crichain, Crichain, lord lord of of Fearnmhagh,
Fearnmhagh,
and and of of the the the Airghialla Airghialla in in general,
general,
and and Culocha Culocha Ua Ua Ua Gairbhith, Gairbhith, lord
lord
of of Ui-Meith, Ui-Meith, mutually mutually fell fell by
by
each each other.
other.
The area of Airghialla, also
called “Oriel,” was an ancient
chiefdom, founded in the 4th
century and stretching over
almost all of the Kingdom of
Ulster. It appears that in just two
years, O’Cathalain had greatly
expanded his conquered lands.
It was inevitable he would clash
with one of the stronger clans of
Airghilla. These included the Ui-
Meath, as well as the O’Carroll
and O’Boylan, whose regions are
identified on the map on the
bottom right of page 6.
It may
have been this
incident
which finally
persuaded the
Ui Nadsluaig
i.e., the
O’Neals, to
look eastwards.
This
would bring
them into
immediate
conflict with
the
Mugdorna, Ui
Meith, Fir
Rois, and
Conailli. As it
happened, all
of these
kingdoms
were doomed to disappear very
quickly.
The O’Carrolls, kings of
Farney, were of the Ui Nadsluaig
who moved eastwards from
Lough Ooney. The most powerful
of the O’Carroll kings of
Farney was Donnchadh, who
ruled from 1125 until his death
in 1168. He was succeeded by
his son, Murchadh, who surrendered
the lands to King Henry II
of England. He nonetheless
fought the Normans and troops
of John de Courcy in 1176 and
1177, but afterwards allied with
Hugh de Lacy and his Normans.
Murchadh O’Carroll died in 1189,
still the nominal king of Airghialla,
although the Normans had
occupied part of Meath that his
father had controlled.
~ 7 ~
The Callans and McClarys
John Callan the author, wanders by past Kilkenny Castle, while touring Ireland in 1989.
Now, let’s pause and think
for a minute what might have
been.
On that fateful September
in 1027, if Cathalain’s sword had
fallen a few seconds earlier on
Culocha Ua Gairbhith, perhaps
our Cathalain might not have
died that day. Perhaps the
O’Carrolls, of Gairbhith’s clan,
might never have fled eastward,
to encounter and eventually
surrender to England’s King
Henry II.
In the split-second it takes a
sword to fall, we might have
become destined to sit on the
throne of England. Instead of
Henry II controlling Ireland,
perhaps Cathailain would have
conquered the O’Neils and
Carrolls that day, and his sons
could be ruling England to this
day.
Of course, if he had slaughtered
the Carroll’s, their might
not have been any around 700
years later, when we needed
them. It took just about that long
for the Carrolls and Callans to be
reunited. Which you could say
sets the record for feuds in our
family.
On Oct 2, 1881, Elisabeth
Carroll was born to Andrew
Carroll and Anne Kennedy, in
St. Patrick’s Parish in Seneca
Falls, New York. In 1903, at the
age of 22 in that same village, she
married Bernard Callan, the
parents of George Callan, Al
Callan’s grandfather, pictured on
page 1.
With the Norman Inva-