Ó Cobhthaigh
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Ó Cobhthaigh is a Gaelic-Irish surname, generally Anglicised as Coffey, Cofer, Coffer, Copher, Caughey, Coffee, Coffie, Coughey, Cauffey, Cauffy, Cauffie, Coffy, Coughay, Coffay, Coffeye, Couhig and many more.


Overview

Ó Cobhthaigh was the name of an Irish
Brehon Brehon (, ) is a term for a historical arbitration, mediative, and judicial role in Gaelic culture. Brehons were part of the system of Early Irish law, which was also simply called " Brehon law". Brehons were judges, close in importance to the ...
family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
from
County Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...
and
County Longford County Longford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford. Longford County Council is the Local government in the Republic ...
. They were known as the chief ollamhs or
filí The fili (or ''filè'') (), plural filid, filidh (or filès), was a member of an elite class of poets in Gaelic Ireland, Ireland, and later Scotland in the Middle Ages, Scotland, up until the English Renaissance, Renaissance. The filid were b ...
of Uisneach, where there is a Tuar Uí Cobhthaigh, Toorcoffey (Coffey's Tower). "There are several families in Ireland who derive their surnames from the hereditary professions of their ancestors, and especially of the bardic order......Thus we find in several passages in the Annals (of the Four Masters) that the O'Coffeys, O'Higgins, and O'Dalys were chief professors of poetry over the schools of Ireland; and many of those assumed the title of chief professors of the men of Ireland and Scotland, in Brehonism, Bardism, Minstrelsy etc"
Transaction of the Ossianic Society 1860
The
Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' () or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' () are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Genesis flood narrative, Deluge, dated as 2,242 Anno Mundi, years after crea ...
record th
deaths
of members of the family in 1415 and 1452. In 1546 Tadhg Ó Cobhthaigh, called ‘chief preceptor of Ireland and Scotland in poetry’, was arrested by the Dublin administration ‘for his attachment to the Irish’, ‘and confined for eighteen weeks in the King's castle’. It was ‘intended that he should be put to death’, but he managed to escape. He died in 1554. Another member of the family, Uaithne, son of Uilliam Ó Cobhthaigh, ‘the most learned in Ireland in poetry’, ‘was treacherously slain at night long with his wife. . . but it is not known by whom’. The poem beginning "" (Two clouds of woe over Uisneach's land), which is 150 verses long, deals with the murder of the poet Uaithne Ó Cobhthaigh and his wife in 1556 There were at least three other families of the name, located in the regions of Limerick-Kerry, Down, west Cork, and Galway. Acclaimed celtic scholar
Kuno Meyer Kuno Meyer (20 December 1858 – 11 October 1919) was a German scholar, distinguished in the field of Celtic philology and literature. His pro-German stance at the start of World War I in the United States was a source of controversy. His brothe ...
named at least five O'Cobhthaighs in hi
list of irish poets (fílidh)
over the past 2000 years. Some scholars point to this being evidence of a heritary brehon or druidic lineage.


Genealogy

Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh preserved an Ó Cobhthaigh
genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...
in ''
Leabhar na nGenealach ''Leabhar na nGenealach'' ("Book of Genealogies") is a massive genealogical collection written mainly in the years 1649 to 1650, at the college-house of St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church, Galway, by Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh. He continued to add m ...
'': * ''Genealach Uí Chobthaigh: Tadhg m. Cobthaig m. Balldair m. Niocoil m. Conchabhair m. Maghnusa m. Aeda m. Donnchuidh an Daingin m. Fearguil in Dúin m. Diarmada m. Conchabhair m. Mathghamna m. Conchabhair Cearmna m. Mec-Raith m. Domnuill m. Don huidh Moir m. Cobhthaigh finn, o ttaid Ui Chobthaigh'' (from whom are Uí Chobthaigh) ''m. Dunghalaigh m. Mec-Con m. Connadh Chilline m. Feargusa mc. Ailealla,'' p670; A genealogy on pp. 660–61 picks up from Fearghus mac Oilill: ''Fearghusa m. Ailealla m. Mec-Rithe m. Conaill Claoín m. Gearain m. Duach'' tracing the family back to Íoth mac
Breogán Breogán (also spelt Breoghan, Bregon or Breachdan) is a character in the ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'', a medieval Christian history of Ireland and the Irish (or Gaels). He is supposedly the son of Brath, and is described as an ancestor of the Gae ...
. According to historian C. Thomas Cairney, the O'Coffeys were chiefly a family of the Corca Laoghdne who in turn came from the Erainn who were the second wave of
Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...
who settled in Ireland from 500 to 100 BC. According to John O'Hart
Pedigrees of the Irish Nation
the O'Cobhthaigh are descendents of the Line of Ith or Ithe. This Ith, brother of Bilé, was ancestors of the Ithians. He was uncle of Milesius of Spain (of the Milesian Gaels), and his descendents settled mostly in Munster. The

also suggests that the O' Cobhthaigh were descendents of Ith, the first milesian gaels to land in Ireland. It says this about the genealogy: "Ua Cobhthaigh, i. e. nepos Cobhthachi, now O'Coffey and O'Cowhig. The name Cobhthach denotes Victor or Victorious. The progenitor after whom the surname was called was Cobhthach Finn, son of Dunghalach, the twelfth in descent from Lughaidh Maccon. This family was seated in the barony of Barryroe, where Dun Ui-Chobhthaig still marks their ancient residence." To the O’Cobhthaighs, of Barryroe, formerly belonged the Castles of Dundeedy, Dunowen, Dunore, Duneen, Dun-Ui-Cobhthaigh, Dunworley, and Dungorley, according to Dr. Charles Smith. (His. Cos. Cork, book 11, chapter 3). The Ua Cobhthaighs, now O’Coffeys, according to O’Donovan, of what is now the barony of Dane and Barryroe, in the southern, or ocean boundary, of the County Cork, west of Clonakilty Bay, derive their'descent from Lughaidhe Laidhe—the common ancestor of the Corca-Laidhe—through Cobhthach Finn, son of Dunghalach, twelfth in descent from Lughaidh Mac-con (son of the hound, or hero; the old Irish having used a phrase signifying dog, or hound, to denote a hero, or fierce warrior), from which Cobthach the surname O’Cobhthaigh, now O’Coffey, is deduced. Dun-Ui-Cobhthaigh, in Barryroe, yet indicates the ancient residence of the sept. A genealogy of the Ua Cobhthaighs, from the Book of Ballymote, has been published. The old territory of the sept was “ called Tricha Chead Meadhonach, or the middle or central cantred.”


Notable family members

* An Clasach Ó Cobhthaigh, poet, died 1415 * Maeleachlainn Ó Cobhthaigh, poet, died 1429 * Domhnall Ó Cobhthaigh, poet, died 1446 * Aedh Ó Cobhthaigh, poet, died 1452 * Tomás Ó Cobhthaigh,
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
, died 1474 * Murchadh Bacagh Ó Cobhthaigh, poet, died 1478 * Tadhg Ó Cobhthaigh, poet, fl. 1554 * Uaithne Ó Cobhthaigh, poet, died 1556 * Diarmait Ó Cobhthaigh, poet, fl. 1584 * Donnchadh Ó Cobhthaigh, poet, fl. 1584 * Muircheartach Ó Cobhthaigh, poet, fl. 1586 *
Charles Coffey Charles Coffey (late 17th century – 13 May 1745) was an Irish playwright, opera librettist and arranger of music from County Westmeath. Following the initial failure of his ballad opera ''The Beggar’s Wedding'' (Dublin, Smock Alley Theatre, ...
, playwright and composer, died 1745 * Brian Coffey, poet and publisher, 1905–1995 * Ciarán Ó Cofaigh, director and producer * Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh, TV personality *
Aeneas Coffey Aeneas Coffey (1780–1852) was an Irish inventor and distiller. Biography Coffey was born in 1780. While his birthplace is disputed, some sources indicate he was born in Ireland, likely in County Dublin or County Wicklow, while others su ...
, inventor and distiller


See also

*
Irish clans Irish clans are traditional kinship groups sharing a common surname and heritage and existing in a lineage-based society, originating prior to the 17th century. A clan (or in Irish, plural ) included the chief and his Patrilineality, patrilineal ...


References

* ''Ó Cobhthaigh family'', pp. 435–436, in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', volume 41, Norbury-Osbourne, September 2004. * ''Genealach Uí Chobthaigh''/''Genealogy of Ó Cobhthaigh'', pp. 670–71, ''
Leabhar na nGenealach ''Leabhar na nGenealach'' ("Book of Genealogies") is a massive genealogical collection written mainly in the years 1649 to 1650, at the college-house of St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church, Galway, by Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh. He continued to add m ...
. The Great Book of Irish Genealogies'', Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh (eag./ed. Nollaig Ó Muraíle, De Burca, Dublin, 2004–05.


External links

* http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?fuseaction=Go.&UserID=
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{{DEFAULTSORT:O Cobhthaigh Surnames Irish families Irish Brehon families Surnames of Irish origin Irish-language surnames Families of Irish ancestry