William Ó Ciardhubháin, fl. 1488, was an Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 merchant

Merchant

A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...

 and the founder of one of The Tribes of Galway.

Ó Ciardhubháin is said to have been a native of Dunbally castle, near Dunmore, County Galway. He had a quarrel with Thomas III de Bermingham

Thomas III de Bermingham

Thomas III de Bermingham, Anglo-Irish lord, died 1500.The succession to the lordship is unclear for much of the 15th and early 16th centuries. Thomas III's exact relationship to previous lord is uncertain, though the Complete Peerage states he was his son....

, Ó Cellaigh of Áth Liag and other local families which forced him and his family to flee to the town of Galway, leaving the de Berminghams to possess their property. A variant tradition states that:

... shortly afterwards he was reinstated in the possession of the castle & lands in consequence of an intermarriage that took place between Thomas Oge Mc Jarvis, his Lordship's fourth son, and Unagh Ní Ciorovane, and that the family remained there until 1625, when the lands were seized (that is, were taken possession of legally) by Richard Bermingham, 14th Lord Athenry, and afterwards vested in his son, Moiler Boy Bermingham of Dunmore. The lands of Dunbally were afterwards confiscated after the victory of Cromwell.

However the means, Ó Ciardhubháin, with his family and followers, are stated in the city archives to have settled in the town in 1488, "where he became one of the principal, influential men then in Galway." John Óge Kirwan

John Óge Kirwan

John Óge Kirwan , fl. 1530-1531, Mayor of Galway.The Ó Ciardhubháin family moved from Dunmore, County Galway to Galway town in the 1480s following a land dispute with Baron Athenry...

 became the first member of the family to become Mayor, followed by William's eldest son Thomas in 1534, while the second son, Patrick, became Warden of Galway.

The family, while always acknowledged as of Gaelic

Gaels

The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....

 origin, eventually rendered their surname from Ó Ciardhubháin to Kirwan. Known descendants of William Ó Ciardhubháin include

• Joseph W. Kirwan
  Joseph W. Kirwan
  Rev. Dr. Joseph William Kirwan was an Irish clergyman and educationalist, who served as the first president of Queen's College Galway.Kirwan was born in Galway in 1796. He entered the National Seminary at St...
  
  
• Annette Kirwan
  Annette Kirwan
  Annette Kirwan, , first wife of Edward Carson, Baron Carson, died 6 April 1913.Kirwan from County Galway, daughter of H. Persse Kirwan, a retired County Inspector of the Royal Irish Constabulary. Kirwan was a descendant of William Ó Ciardhubháin and a member of The Tribes of Galway.She had two sons...
  
  
• Magdalen Kirwan
  Magdalen Kirwan
  Magdalen Kirwan, member of the Sisters of Mercy and manager of Goldenbridge penal refuge, c. 1830 - February 1906.-Background:Kirwan was a member of one of The Tribes of Galway, been a descendant of William Ó Ciardhubháin, , a Gaelic-Irish merchant who established the family in the town of Galway...
  
  
• Jim Kirwan
  Jim Kirwan
  Jim Kirwan Irish War of Independence victim, died January 1921.Kirwan was a native of Balliastack, Corofin, Tuam, County Galway. He was working in a field with a horse and cart, near his father. Upon hearing some shots, Kirwan's father ran to the site to find a large number of uniformed men around...
  
  
• John William Kirwan
  John William Kirwan
  John William Kirwan was the first President of Queen's College, Galway.Kirwan was a member of one of The Tribes of Galway, and was noted by contemporaries as an outstanding preacher. He was appointed parish priest of Kilcummin John William Kirwan (died 29 December 1849) was the first President of...
  
  
• Richard Kirwan
  Richard Kirwan
  Richard Kirwan FRS was an Irish scientist. He is remembered today, if at all, for being one of the last supporters of the theory of phlogiston. Kirwan was active in the fields of chemistry, meteorology, and geology...
  
  
• Rev. Augustine Kirwan
  Rev. Augustine Kirwan
  Rev. Augustine Kirwan, D.D., 1724 - 7 August 1791.A descendant of one of The Tribes of Galway, Kirwan was Warden of Galway and Vicar of St. Nicholas's church. He had spent forty years as a minister, and founded the town's charity school...
  
  
• Sir John Kirwan
  Sir John Kirwan
  Sir John Kirwan, Irish Entrepreneur, founder of the Kirwans of Castle Hackett, County Galway. 1650-1721.-Background:Kirwan was a member of one of The Tribes of Galway. The family were of Gaelic origin, possibly of Conmhaícne descent. They settled in Galway around 1488 under William Ó Ciardhubháin...
  
  
• Stephen Kirwan
  Stephen Kirwan
  Stephen Kirwan was a Irish Anglican. He was Church of Ireland bishop of Clonfert from 1582 until before 4 November 1601.-Life and career:...
  
  
• Dominick Kirwin
  Dominick Kirwin
  Dominick Kirwin was an Irish Confederate, fl. 1642–1653?Kirwin was a member of one of The Tribes of Galway, and led the raiding party that seized a ship anchored near Galway early in the morning of 19 March 1642. It was a British naval vessel under the command of a Captain Clarke, and had been sent...
  
  

External links

• http://blogs.myspace.com/gotstangs
• http://www.genealogy.com/users/s/w/e/Patrick-Sweezey-/FILE/0032page.html?Welcome=1082678487