Daniel MacCarthy (Glas) (Irish ''Dónaill Mac Cárthaigh;'' 28 June 1807 – 9 April 1884) was a writer of historical fiction, Irish history and biography, born in London of Irish descent. MacCarthy was in correspondence with a large circle of archaeologists, antiquarians, and early pioneers of Irish scholarship during the Irish historical awakening of the 19th century, as evidenced in letters found in collections such as the
Royal Irish Academy
The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...
and Cork City and County Archives.
Life
MacCarthy was born into an Irish shipping and
coal merchant family of
Wellclose Square, East London.
After receiving his education at the Roman Catholic school,
St. Edmund's College, MacCarthy resided a number of years on the continent. In Naples, at the age of 25, he married the daughter of
Admiral Sir Home Popham. Together they had a daughter and two sons, of whom only one outlived MacCarthy.
Being of independent means, MacCarthy initially focused on producing historic novels, including: ''The Siege of Florence'', ''Massaniello'' and ''The Free Lance''. In 1867, MacCarthy published his first scholarly work, ''The Life and Letters of Florence MacCarthy Reagh,'' which detailed the biography of kinsman
Florence MacCarthy Reagh
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
(1560–1640)''.'' This was followed by a second work in 1875, ''A Historical Pedigree of the Sliochd Feidhlimidh, the MacCarthys of Gleannacroim,'' which documents the genealogy of numerous members of a west Cork sept of the MacCarthy Clan, from whom he claimed descent.
In the course of his genealogical research, MacCarthy established links to his paternal family's homeplace of
Dunmanway. He gave generously to many causes in the district, including the education of children.
However, the failure of the
Overend and Gurney Bank in 1866 reduced MacCarthy's income. His scheme to buy out his ancestral property in the neighbourhood of Dunmanway, including the castle at Togher, was never fulfilled.
Personal genealogy and DNA testing
Daniel's paternal grand-uncle Denis emigrated from
Dunmanway in the mid-1700s, and became a prosperous shipowner and coal merchant in London. MacCarthy's first cousin was Sir
Charles Justin MacCarthy
Sir Charles Justin MacCarthy (1811–1864) was the 12th Governor of British Ceylon and the 12th Accountant General and Controller of Revenue. He was appointed on 22 October 1860 and was Governor until 1 December 1863. He also served as acting gov ...
, Governor of Ceylon, and son-in-law of
Sir Benjamin Hawes.
MacCarthy traced his ancestry to the Lords of Gleannacroim, cousins of the
MacCarthy Reagh sept, and adopted the "Glas" agnomen earlier associated with that sept to his name.
However, as a result of a direct male descendant of MacCarthy partaking in a Y-DNA study, MacCarthy's paternal genetic origins have been shown to differ considerably from those described in his genealogical work.
The Daniel MacCarthy (Glas) Archive
In 2017, approximately 2,000 documents assembled from MacCarthy's research and family memorabilia were donated to th
Cork City and County Archive
by descendants, Don and Susan, née MacCarthy, of Oregon, USA.
These include a 1784 family pedigree compiled by John Collins of Myross, which has been described as of "immense cultural and historical significance", as well as a rare copy of a 1567 map of ‘Hibernia’ by John Goghe.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:MacCarthy Glas, Daniel
1807 births
1884 deaths
English letter writers
People educated at St Edmund's College, Ware
English people of Irish descent
19th-century English male writers
English genealogists
Irish historical fiction writers
Irish biographers
19th-century Irish writers
Irish genealogists
English biographers