Ó hAonghusa is the surname of at least two distinct Gaelic-Irish families. It is now anglicised as
Hennessy
Jas Hennessy & Co., commonly known simply as Hennessy (), is a French producer of cognac, which has its headquarters in Cognac, France.
It is one of the "big four" cognac houses, along with Martell, Courvoisier, and Rémy Martin, who together ma ...
and
Hennessey.
One Ó hAonghusa family were located at
Cill Bheagáin, in the
Kingdom of UÃ Failghe
The kingdom of Uà Fháilghe, ''Uà Failge'' (early spelling) or ''UÃbh FhailÃ'' (modern spelling) () was a Gaelic-Irish kingdom which existed to 1550, the name of which (though not the territory) is preserved in the name of County Offaly (Iris ...
, in the Irish midlands.
Another family surnamed Ó hAonghusa were found at
Ros Ailithir, in the
Kingdom of Desmond
The Kingdom of Desmond () was a historic kingdom in southwestern Ireland. It was founded in 1118 by Tadhg Mac Cárthaigh, King of Munster when the Treaty of Glanmire formally divided the Kingdom of Munster into Desmond and Thomond (, "North ...
. It is from this family that the founder of Hennessy brandy,
Richard Hennessy
Richard Hennessy ( ga, Ristéard Ó h-Aonghusa; 1724 — 8 October 1800) was an Irish military officer and businessman, best known for founding the Hennessy cognac dynasty, which is today a luxury brand and one of the most prominent in the wor ...
of Killavulen, by Mallow, and Cognac (1720–1800), descended. Richard's descendants, Maurice Hennessy and his cousin
Kilian Hennessy
Kilian Hennessy (; 19 February 1907 – 1 October 2010) was a French business magnate of Irish extraction, and co-patriarch, with Maurice his first cousin, of the Hennessy cognac company.
Kilian Hennessy, the son of Jean Hennessy and Marguer ...
(1907–2010), were business magnates and patriarchs of the Hennessy cognac company.
According to historian C. Thomas Cairney, the O'Hennessys were one of the chiefly families of the
Corca Laoghdne tribe who in turn came from the
Erainn tribe who were the second wave of
Celts
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...
to settle in Ireland from 500 to 100
BC.
See also
*
Hennessey (surname)
Hennessey is an Irish surname, being the anglicised form of Ó hAonghusa. Families of this name were found in Kingdom of Uà Failghe and Kingdom of Desmond. Notable people with the surname include:
*Brad Hennessey (born 1980), baseball player
*Cha ...
*
Hennessy (surname)
Hennessy (or Hennessey) is an Irish surname, being the anglicised form of Ó hAonghusa.
Notable people with the surname include:
*Arthur Hennessy (1876–1959), Australian pioneer rugby league identity
* Bill Hennessy (disambiguation)
*Carly Smi ...
*
Baron Windleshame
*
Pre-Norman invasion Irish Celtic kinship groups, from who many of the modern Irish surnames came from
References
*
*
*
Irish-language surnames
Surnames of Irish origin
Irish families
Families of Irish ancestry
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