The medieval Irish office of erenagh (
Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...
: ''airchinnech'',
Modern Irish
Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was the ...
: ''airchinneach'',
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
: ''
princeps
''Princeps'' (plural: ''principes'') is a Latin word meaning "first in time or order; the first, foremost, chief, the most eminent, distinguished, or noble; the first man, first person". As a title, ''princeps'' originated in the Roman Republic w ...
''
) was responsible for receiving parish revenue from tithes and rents, building and maintaining church property and overseeing the
termonn
is an Gaelic (Irish) word meaning 'sanctuary, boundary'. Other spellings include '','' and . It denotes land belonging to Irish early Christian monasteries and churches on which right of sanctuary prevailed.
The word is common in many place n ...
lands that generated parish income. Thus he had a
prebendary
A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the ...
role. The erenagh originally had a tonsure but took no other holy orders; he had a voice in the Chapter when they consulted about revenues, paid a yearly rent to the Bishop and a fine on the marriage of each daughter. The role usually passed down from generation to generation in certain families in each parish. After the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
and the
Dissolution of the Monasteries the role of erenagh became subsumed in the responsibilities of the
parson
A parson is an ordained Christian person responsible for a small area, typically a parish. The term was formerly often used for some Anglican clergy and, more rarely, for ordained ministers in some other churches. It is no longer a formal term d ...
in each parish.
Surname
The common surname
McInerney
The name McInerney is of noble Irish origin where it is found in the modern Irish form of ''Mac an Airchinnigh'' () and in the old and literary forms of ''Mac an Oirchinnigh'' and ''Mac an Oirchindig''. The pronunciation of ''Mac an Oirchinnigh' ...
is derived from the Irish, Mac an Airchinnigh (son of the erenagh). As may be supposed, this surname arose in various areas in Ireland leading to numerous unrelated bearers of the name. The most prominent group of the family were associated with the County of Clare since at least the late 13th century when they were first recorded in the annals of the county and are still numerous in that county today. This sept was subordinate to the McNamaras and it was from them that the family originally derived. The McInerneys in County Clare were based in the Barony of
on their ancestral estates in and around the present day townlands of Ballysallagh, Ballynacragga and Dromoland (parish of
Kilnasoolagh
Kilnasoolagh ( ga, Cill Átha na Súileach) is a civil parish in County Clare, Ireland, and a townland within that parish. Church records mention the parish in 1256.
Location
In 1845 the parish lay on the west border of the barony of Lower Bun ...
). Members of the family held substantial property there until the Cromwellian confiscations of the 1650s, whereby several members of the family were transplanted to other areas of the County, in part due to their involvement in the 1641 rebellion. Today the name is numerous in County Clare, Limerick and Dublin, and can be found in the United States, Canada, Australia, England and New Zealand.
References
Christianity in medieval Ireland
Medieval occupations
Local Christian church officials
Religious leadership roles
Historical economic occupations
Historical management occupations
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