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The Story of Athenry (Part 5)
Author: Martin Finnerty
Source: Galway Observer, January 13, 1950
ST. CAIRELL CO-ADJUTOR TO ST. PATRICK
That a prince of the tribe was found by St. Patrick and that he would be an indispensable missioner and co-adjutor to St. Patrick is beyond question or doubt. St. Patrick was not unmindful of the great task before him and the difficulties of encountering the longest and perhaps the most obstinate force on Irish soil. We are also informed that in the conversion of all Ireland his decision to first contact a prince, or Ollamh, or chieftain of a clan was to a great extent fruitful of the spiritual results of this unprecedented mission.
That St. Cairell, this prince of the tribe of Cian was the one found and chosen by St. Patrick is shown by facts and facts cannot be overlooked even if the historians have managed so to do. St. Cairell succeeded in the great work and my firm conviction is that he became the patron of the entire clanns and offshoots of same, but, that his Episcopal jurisdiction was extensive, yet, limited. It had bounds because to have his benign sway extended over vast and divided territories would have been almost a physical impossibility. Yet there is ample proof that his spirit and fame amongst the entire descendants of Cian was by no means circumscribed.
SHALL NEVER BE SHATTERED
The many places in different parts of the country where his memory has been perpetuated is proof of this assertion. At some period of his missionary career he established his church and Suidhe (See) at Clan Cian Cairell. His memory in this year had stood the test for fifteen hundred years and shall never by shattered. Today, there is the ancient church (later a monastery) and holy well to perpetuate his memory and that he is the patron saint of the parish of Clan Cian Cairell is proven by the faith and devotion of the parishioners through all those changing years. It must be observed that this name has not had the steadfastness that the memory of its founder maintained. For how long I don’t know, the anglicized form has been Cloonkeen Kerril and some Irish writers have given Clulan Cavin Kerrill as the root word. How far this latter is right or wrong I shall pass my judgment for wise heads or otherwise to assimilate. To begin with the Irish name Kerrill is a variant of Farrell, derived from Mac Feakaighil. Therefore the correct derivation of Cluain Cavin Kerrill would be: Farrell’s beautiful meadow. It is about time the pseudonym should cease to supersede the correct form in Irish nomenclature and that the ostensible corruption should be effaced
IN KILKENNY
About ten miles from this ancient seat there is the ruins of an ancient church. This is in the parish of Fohena, not far from Aughrim and in ancient times in the territory of Clan Ciann: the anglicized form is, and has been Kilgevril. The root name is undoubtedly Cill gChaikell. It will be noted that in this case the “c” is aspired being eclipsed by “g” making the phonetic form in English as intelligible as could be expected: and also making it obvious that the church was founded and consecrated to the memory of St. Cairell. At the extreme south of the present county of Kilkenny adjoining the county of Waterford there is a very ancient territory, and this was the territory of the O’ Carrolls and so designated. At a central place in this ancient territory there is the ruins of an old church, the name of which to this day is Kilcoirell, and is still held in great veneration.
From this account we are obliged to assume that the O’ Carroll tribe of that area were a branch of the Cianachta or Clan Cian, and whose tribe name originally was O’ Cearbhail, and that this church was to the memory of their patron saint. Not so unlike Kilgarrill the phonetic form of this church or the anglicized one is Kilcuril.
A DERRY ISLAND
Near the banks of Knock Foyle in Derry and in Cainnachta territory there is a small island called by its ancient name and that is Inse Coirell and it is clear that the little island was given this name to perpetuate the memory of him who was obviously their patron.
That being so it is highly probable that this tribe also had a church or churches to his memory, the names of which are now forgotten or superseded. And while many of the vast territorials held by this tribe have been given different names by successive owners. the name is still preserved in the present barony of Keenacht in Derry in the barony of Ely Ogarty in Tipperary and in the twenty two Clan Cain townlands in this county of and others outside this.
A DIFFICULT TASK
It was the custom in those far back days, when tribes could not dedicate in writing and few of them even in Ogham, they adopted various systems of doing justice to the memory of their warriors and clanns and Clan Cian and Cianachta were no exception. With the scant sketches of history handed down, the place names given to territories by the Clan Cian afford a valuable avenue to the grounds trodden by them. We must admit that the compilers of place names and their origin had a Herculean task looking back as they had to go through a mist of years and had to determine a long range sometimes without local assistance and more often with local information that was utterly misleading. For instance a single root name can have two or more derivations. Cill may mean a church or it may a wood. Atha, a field or a Kiln. Many place names have got the name of Cluan when the proper root was Clan and so on.
It may be mentioned that in any of the territories in this county outside of the four I have named there is not a single townland of the name i.e. Clan Cian. I observe that the root Clan enters largely into the nomenclature of ancient Ireland and as such have been sponsored by our best authorities. It is true that the Chronicles have given a “fair show” to the Ciannachta, and those are the descedants of Tadg, son of Cian, but they have missed the source the territories where Tadg and An Oige hammered out existence before Cormac Mac Art became or could become a much needed patron. In those early ages when surnames were unknown, and family names, such as they were not hereditary any one name must have been rare and so the name Cairnell could not have been hereditary and must also have been a rare one. But as in pre Christian times when names were imposed or adopted and these called after some distinguished ancestor in Christian times the names of the clans patron saint as in the case down to this day came very much in evidence.
To follow the train of happenings, the descendants of Cian, had so much in common with all other tribes of the time, and each generation produced some people of distinction, and when it came to the eighth or tenth degree in the succession there were very many offshots the O’Haras and O’Garas. O’Carrolls of Ely Ogarty (twenty fourth in descent) O’Connors of Keenacht and so on.
THE O’CARROLLS
But of all these successors no one sept became so firmly entrenched as the O’ Carrols. The name of “O” with it is O Cearbhail but this is the handy work of the scribes and might not be regarded as a devaluation of the original designation O Cerbhail of Ely, twenty fourth in descent from Cian would appear to be the first of Clan Ely to adopt the name.
There is therefore ground for assuming that the other branches of that name though widely apart were descended from the tribe of Cian. The above mentioned O Cearbhail who fought with Bian Boru at the battle of Clontarf. The O Cearbhail of Calny in Sligo and Leitrim must certainly, or almost, be descended from Luigh. son of Cormac Gaeling and would possibly be the most ancient inheritors of the name.
There were also the Ocearbhails of Oriel, the Ocearbhails of Dough Leim, O Cerbhail of Ossory. The orthography in all of these Clan accounts appear very uniform much as they differ from the original names i.e. Cairell, later Coinell and Caryll. Yet I assume that all were chips off the one block, and that at least most of them no matter how remotely were descended from the tribe of Cian, the original heads of which adopted the name of the patron of the tribe, namely St. Cairell.
