O'Shaughnessy
Encyclopedia
Ó Seachnasaigh, O'Shaughnessy, collectively Uí Sheachnasaigh, clan name Cinél nAedha na hEchtghe, is a family surname
of Irish
origin.
The name is found primarily in County Galway
and County Limerick
. The town of Gort
, Ireland
, was the main residence
of the family since at least the time of their ancestor, King Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin
of the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne
dynasty. Up until the late 17th century the Ó Seachnasaigh's held the sub district of Uí Fiachrach Aidhne
known as Cinéal nAedha na hEchtghe meaning "kindred of Aedh of the Slieve Aughty", which was also their clan name. Cinéal nAedha na hEchtghe / Kinelea consisted roughly of the civil parish
es of Beagh, Kilmacduagh
and Kiltartan
and also parts of the civil parishes of Kibeacanty and Kilthomas. Their closest related kinsmen were the Ó Cathail / O Cahill clan, originally chiefs of eastern Kinelea, and the other clans of Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne the most prominent of which were the Ó hEidhin / O Hynes, Ó Cléirigh
/ O Cleary and Mac Giolla Cheallaigh / Kilkelly septs. Up until the mid 17th century the O'Hynes clan were still styled lords of Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne even though the Ó Seachnasaigh's had become more powerful than their kinsmen during this century. In the 1690s Captain Roger O'Shaughnessy
had his lands confiscated for supporting the Jacobite
cause against William of Orange
with the lands going to Sir Thomas Prendergast, 1st Baronet. A legal battle raged on into the first half of the 18th century between the Ó Seachnasaigh and the Prendergasts, the family who were granted the lands, with the Ó Seachnasaigh eventually losing the case. The senior line of the Ó Seachnasaigh's may have died out in the 1780s.
The last "de facto" Ó Seachnasaigh lord of Kinelea died at Gort
after returning home from the Battle of Aughrim
on 12th July 1691. Thousands of bearers of the name still survive both in their homeland and further abroad.
Notable people with this surname include:
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
of Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
origin.
The name is found primarily in County Galway
County Galway
County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...
and County Limerick
County Limerick
It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...
. The town of Gort
Gort
Gort is a town in south County Galway in the west of Ireland. An Gort is the official Irish name for the town, as defined by the Placenames Commission. In spoken Irish, however, the town is known by its traditional name Gort Inse Guaire. It lies just north of the border with County Clare on the...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, was the main residence
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
of the family since at least the time of their ancestor, King Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin
Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin
Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin was a king of Connacht. A member of the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne and son of king Colmán mac Cobthaig . Guiare ruled at the height of Ui Fiachrach Aidne power in south Connacht.-Early reign:...
of the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne
Uí Fiachrach Aidhne
Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne was a kingdom located in what is now the south of Co. Galway.-Legendary origins and geography:...
dynasty. Up until the late 17th century the Ó Seachnasaigh's held the sub district of Uí Fiachrach Aidhne
Uí Fiachrach Aidhne
Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne was a kingdom located in what is now the south of Co. Galway.-Legendary origins and geography:...
known as Cinéal nAedha na hEchtghe meaning "kindred of Aedh of the Slieve Aughty", which was also their clan name. Cinéal nAedha na hEchtghe / Kinelea consisted roughly of the civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
es of Beagh, Kilmacduagh
Kilmacduagh
Kilmacduagh is a small village in south County Galway, near Gort, in Ireland. It is best known for Kilmacduagh monastery, seat of the Diocese of that name. The diocese is now part of the Diocese of Galway and Kilmacduagh in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Diocese of Limerick and Killaloe in...
and Kiltartan
Kiltartan
Kiltartan is a barony in County Galway, Ireland. It was formerly known as Cenél Áeda na hEchtge. It was the home of Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn, and a regular residence of W.B. Yeats.It is alluded to in Yeats's poem An Irish Airman Foresees His Death....
and also parts of the civil parishes of Kibeacanty and Kilthomas. Their closest related kinsmen were the Ó Cathail / O Cahill clan, originally chiefs of eastern Kinelea, and the other clans of Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne the most prominent of which were the Ó hEidhin / O Hynes, Ó Cléirigh
Ó Cléirigh
Ó Cléirigh is the surname of a learned Irish family whose members appear in historical records dating to the mid-Medieval Period. In the centuries prior to the historical era, they had been rulers of Uí Fiachrach Aidhne, a kingdom in what is now the south of County Galway, but were subsequently...
/ O Cleary and Mac Giolla Cheallaigh / Kilkelly septs. Up until the mid 17th century the O'Hynes clan were still styled lords of Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne even though the Ó Seachnasaigh's had become more powerful than their kinsmen during this century. In the 1690s Captain Roger O'Shaughnessy
Roger O'Shaughnessy
Roger O'Shaughnessy, The O'Shaughnessy , was a Captain in the Irish army of James II of England. He was present at the Battle of the Boyne, dying ten days after...
had his lands confiscated for supporting the Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
cause against William of Orange
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
with the lands going to Sir Thomas Prendergast, 1st Baronet. A legal battle raged on into the first half of the 18th century between the Ó Seachnasaigh and the Prendergasts, the family who were granted the lands, with the Ó Seachnasaigh eventually losing the case. The senior line of the Ó Seachnasaigh's may have died out in the 1780s.
The last "de facto" Ó Seachnasaigh lord of Kinelea died at Gort
Gort
Gort is a town in south County Galway in the west of Ireland. An Gort is the official Irish name for the town, as defined by the Placenames Commission. In spoken Irish, however, the town is known by its traditional name Gort Inse Guaire. It lies just north of the border with County Clare on the...
after returning home from the Battle of Aughrim
Battle of Aughrim
The Battle of Aughrim was the decisive battle of the Williamite War in Ireland. It was fought between the Jacobites and the forces of William III on 12 July 1691 , near the village of Aughrim in County Galway....
on 12th July 1691. Thousands of bearers of the name still survive both in their homeland and further abroad.
Notable people with this surname include:
- Sir Dermot O'Shaughnessy of Kinelea - knighted by Henry VIII of EnglandHenry VIII of EnglandHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
- Sir Roger O'Shaughnessy of KineleaSir Roger O'Shaughnessy of KineleaRuaidhrí Gilla Dubh Ó Seachnasaigh , Irish Knight and Chief of the Name, died 1569.The son of Sir Diarmaid Ó Seachnasaigh, Ruaidhrí was described by Sir Henry Sidney as "a very obedient and civil man, and most desirous to hold his lands directly of your majesty and to be delivered of the exactions...
- Sir Roger O'Shaughnessy II of Kinelea -
- Roger O'ShaughnessyRoger O'ShaughnessyRoger O'Shaughnessy, The O'Shaughnessy , was a Captain in the Irish army of James II of England. He was present at the Battle of the Boyne, dying ten days after...
- Captain in the Army of James II of EnglandJames II of EnglandJames II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland... - William O'ShaughnessyWilliam O'Shaughnessy-Early life:William O'Shaughnessy was a member of the Uí Seachnasaigh of Cenél Áeda na hEchtge in south County Galway. His father was The Ó Seachnasaigh, Roger O'Shaughnessy, while his mother was Helen O'Brien, daughter of Conor mac Donogh O'Brien, a son of Donogh O'Brien, 4th Earl of Thomond...
- Major-General and Chief of the Name - Arthur O'ShaughnessyArthur O'ShaughnessyArthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy was a British poet of Irish descent, born in London.-Biography:At the age of seventeen, in June 1861, Arthur O'Shaughnessy received the post of transcriber in the library of the British Museum, reportedly through the influence of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton...
- poetPoetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary... - Baron ShaughnessyBaron ShaughnessyBaron Shaughnessy, of the City of Montreal in the Dominion of Canada and of Ashford in the County of Limerick, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1916 for the businessman and public servant Thomas Shaughnessy, president of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company...
- Eileen O'ShaughnessyEileen O'ShaughnessyEileen Maud O'Shaughnessy was the first wife of British writer George Orwell.O'Shaughnessy was born in South Shields, County Durham, in the north-east of England, the only daughter of Marie O'Shaughnessy and Lawrence O'Shaughnessy, who was a customs collector...
- wife of George OrwellGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist... - James O'ShaughnessyJames O'ShaughnessyJames P. O'Shaughnessy is an American investor and the founder, chairman, and CEO of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management, LLC , an asset management firm headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut....
- authorAuthorAn author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and investorInvestorAn investor is a party that makes an investment into one or more categories of assets --- equity, debt securities, real estate, currency, commodity, derivatives such as put and call options, etc... - Margaret HecklerMargaret HecklerMargaret Mary Heckler is a Republican politician from Massachusetts who served in the United States House of Representatives for eight terms, from 1967 until 1983 and was later the Secretary of Health and Human Services and Ambassador to Ireland under President Ronald Reagan...
(born Margaret Mary O'Shaughnessy) - USUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyerLawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and politicianPoliticianA politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making... - Nicholas O'ShaughnessyNicholas O'ShaughnessyNicholas Jackson O'Shaughnessy is Professor of Communication at Queen Mary, University of London. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, a Quondam Fellow of Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge and has previously been a Professor at Keele...
- professorProfessorA professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
, authorAuthorAn author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and political commentator - Thomas O'ShaughnessyThomas O'ShaughnessySir Thomas Lopdell O'Shaughnessy was the last Recorder of Dublin in Ireland.-Early life:O'Shaughnessy was born on December 22, 1850 in Dublin and died at his home in Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin on March 7, 1933...
- Last Recorder of DublinRecorder of DublinThe Recorder of Dublin was a judicial position in Dublin, Ireland. The first to hold the position was James Stanihurst, speaker of the Irish parliament, in 1564 and the last was Sir Thomas O'Shaughnessy. The Recordership was abolished in 1924.... - William Brooke O'ShaughnessyWilliam Brooke O'ShaughnessyWilliam Brooke O'Shaughnessy MD FRS was an Irish physician famous for his work in pharmacology and inventions related to telegraphy...
- toxicologist and chemistChemistA chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms... - Michael O'ShaughnessyMichael O'ShaughnessyMichael Maurice O'Shaughnessy was an Irish Civil engineer who became city engineer for the city of San Francisco during the first part of the twentieth century and developed the Hetch-Hetchy water system.-Life:...
- Chief engineerEngineerAn engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
for the Hetch Hetchy ReservoirHetch Hetchy ReservoirHetch Hetchy Reservoir is a reservoir in Yosemite National Park, about northeast from the city of Merced, California. The reservoir has a capacity of and is formed by the concrete gravity O'Shaughnessy Dam in Hetch Hetchy Valley on the Tuolumne River...
near San Francisco, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area... - Andrew O'Shaughnessy (hurler)
- Max Shaughnessy - Famous Chemist
- Andrew O'Shaughnessy (politician)Andrew O'Shaughnessy (politician)Andrew O'Shaughnessy was an Irish politician and industrialist. O'Shaughnessy started his career with the opening of a creamery in Newmarket in 1895. He then added other creamries in Cork and Tipperary to build the Newmarket Dairy Company which eventually had twenty four branches.In 1903 he...
- Industrialist - Darren O'Shaughnessy - Author, nom de plume Darren ShanDarren ShanDarren O'Shaughnessy , who commonly writes under the pen name Darren Shan, is an Irish author. Darren Shan is also the main character in Shan's The Saga of Darren Shan young-adult fiction series. He also wrote The Demonata series as well as the stand-alone books, Koyasan and The Thin Executioner...