Cú Chonnacht Ó Cianáin, d. 1615, was a rymer or chronicler to Rory Maguire. He was apparently the first man racked in Ireland, the instrument being used most severely upon him during an interrogation into a bungled insurrection in early summer 1615. On 31 July of that year, he and five others were condemned to death in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

, and he is believed to have been hanged shortly afterwards. He is also described as a

yeoman Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century also witn ...

of Moygh, a place somewhere between

Ballymoney Ballymoney ( ga, Baile Monaidh , meaning 'townland of the moor') is a small town and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is within the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area. The civil parish of Ballymoney is situated in ...

and the Bann,

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

. He was a brother of

Tadhg Og Ó Cianáin Tadhg (, ), (pronunciations given for the name ''Tadgh'' separately from those for the slang/pejorative ''Teague''.) commonly misspelled "Taig" or "Teague", is an Irish and Scottish Gaelic masculine name that was very common when the Goidelic ...

. The

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

Ó Cianáin Ó Cianáin was the name of a Gaelic-Irish Brehon family. They were originally erenaghs of the parish of Cleenish, Lough Erne, but who had served for several centuries as historians to Mag Uidir of Fear Manach (2007, p. 437). The Annals o ...

is now generally rendered as Keenan.

Sources

* ''The Learned Family of Ó Cianáin/Keenan'',

Nollaig Ó Muraíle Nollaig Ó Muraíle is an Irish scholar. He published an acclaimed edition of Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh's ''Leabhar na nGenealach'' in 2004. He was admitted to the Royal Irish Academy in 2009. Life and career A native of Knock, County Mayo, Ó ...

, in Clougher Record, pp. 387–436, 2005. * ''Turas na dTaoiseach nUltach as Éirinn from Ráth Maoláin to Rome: Tadhg O Cianáin’s contemporary narrative of the so-called ‘Flight of the Earls, 1607-8'', Nollaig Ó Muraíle(editor), Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:O Cianain, Cu Chonnacht 1615 deaths 17th-century Irish writers 17th-century Irish male writers 16th-century Irish male writers 16th-century Irish historians People from County Antrim Year of birth unknown