Ó Maoilriain (anglicised as Ryan, Mulryan, or Mulrain) is an

Irish Gaelic Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigeno ...

clan based in what is today

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

and

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

. The clan claims descent from

Cathair Mór Cathair Mór ("the great"), son of Feidhlimidh Fiorurghlas, a descendant of Conchobar Abradruad, was, according to Lebor Gabála Érenn, a High King of Ireland.Foras Feasa ar Éirinn, Section 40, page 259, http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100054/ ...

of the Laighin, but they first appear in the historical record in the 15th century in the kingdom of

Thomond Thomond ( Classical Irish: ; Modern Irish: ), also known as the Kingdom of Limerick, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Clare and County Limerick, as well as parts of County Tipperary around Nena ...

. John O'Donovan claims they are distinct from the Ryan clan which ruled Uí Dróna in what is today

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county located in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region of Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Carlow is the List of Irish counties by area, second smallest and t ...

Naming conventions

Overview

This family claim descent from one Maoil Riagháin, who was named in honour of a Saint Riagháin. It is first documented as a

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

in the 15th century in east

/north Ormond, where the Ó Maoilriains attacked and displaced the Ó hIfearnáin family. The territory they conquered became known as barony of Owney and Arra. Owney derived its name from one Uaithne Ó Maoilriain. According to historian C. Thomas Cairney, the O'Mulryans were one of the chiefly families of the Feara Cualann who in turn were a tribe from the

Dumnonii The Dumnonii or Dumnones were a Britons (historical), British List of ancient Celtic peoples and tribes, tribe who inhabited Dumnonia, the area now known as Cornwall and Devon (and some areas of present-day Dorset and Somerset) in the further pa ...

Laigin The Laigin, modern spelling Laighin (), were a Gaelic population group of early Ireland. They gave their name to the Kingdom of Leinster, which in the medieval era was known in Irish as ''Cóiced Laigen'', meaning "Fifth/province of the Leinste ...

who were the third 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 ...

to settle in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

during the first century BC.

References

Bibliography

* ''The family of O'Mulryan in Spain'', W.D. O'Ryan, '' The Irish Genealogist, 1961. * ''Records of Four Tipperary Septs: the O'Kennedys, O'Dwyers, O'Mulryans, and O'Meaghers'', M. Callaghan, JAG Publishing, Galway, 1972. * ''Ryan:O´ Maolilriain'',

Dáithí Ó hÓgáin Dáithí Ó hÓgáin (13 June 1949 – 11 December 2011) was an Irish writer, poet and professor of Irish folklore at University College Dublin. Born in County Limerick, he wrote extensively in both the English and Irish languages. Life and wo ...

, Gill & Macmillan, Dublin, 2003. *

Naming conventions

Overview

See also

References

Bibliography

External links