Henry Ó Cormacáin, last

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

Clonfert Clonfert () is a small village in east County Galway, Ireland, halfway between Ballinasloe and Portumna. The village gives its name to the Diocese of Clonfert (Roman Catholic), Diocese of Clonfert. Clonfert Cathedral is one of the eight cathedr ...

, -. Ó Cormacáin was a member of an ecclesiastical family based in

Síol Anmchadha Síol Anmchadha () was a sub-kingdom or lordship of Uí Maine, and ruled by an offshoot of the Uí Maine called the Síol Anmchadha (''"the seed of Anmchadh"''), from whom the territory took its name. It was located in Connacht, Ireland. Hist ...

, in what is now south-east

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

. Two members of the family served as

Bishop of Clonfert The Bishop of Clonfert () is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Clonfert in County Galway, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains as a separate title; but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with oth ...

Muirchertach Ua Carmacáin Muirchertach Ua Carmacáin, Bishop of Clonfert, 1195-1203. Ó Cormacáin was a member of an ecclesiastical family based in Síol Anmchadha, in what is now south-east County Galway. Later members of the family were bishops of Clonfert and Archbis ...

(died 1203) and

Uilliam Ó Cormacáin Uilliam Ó Cormacáina, Archbishop of Tuam 5 May 1386 – 1393. Ó Cormacáin was a member of an ecclesiastical family based in Síol Anmchadha, in what is now south-east County Galway. Muirchertach Ua Carmacáin (died 1203) served as Bishop of ...

(died 1398). The family appear to have founded an abbey in the parish of Abbeygormican, from which it takes its name, sometime prior to 1309. Writing from

Loughrea Loughrea ( ; ), is a town in County Galway, Ireland. It lies to the north of a range of wooded hills, the Slieve Aughty Mountains and Lough Rea, the lake from which it takes its name. The town's cathedral, St Brendan's, dominates the urban sk ...

on 5 November 1838, John O'Donovan gave the following account of Abbot Henry Ó Cormacáin:

''"Henry O'Gormacain was abbot, at the time of the general suppression on Monastries. He never surrendered the abbey lonfertbut continued seized of the temporalities of it till his death, notwithstanding the king had, on the 24th of November in the 35 (XXV(? sic) year of his reign, united them for ever to the bishoprick. Immediately on the death of Henry, William O'Gormacain supported by the sept of the O'Maddens procured the abbey from the popu and kept quiet possession thereof till about the year 1657."''

Clonfert Abbey eventually came to be held by the

Earl of Clanricarde Earl of Clanricarde ( ; ) is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland, first in 1543 and again in 1800. The former creation became extinct in 1916 while the 1800 creation is extant and held by the Marquess of Sligo since 19 ...

. O'Donovan noted that the surname Cormican was then still in existence in the parish of Abbeygormican.

References

* http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?fuseaction=Go.&UserID= * ''Ordnance Survey Letters Galway 1838 and 1839'', pp. 182–183, ed. Michael Herity, FourMasters Press,

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:O Cormacain, Henry Christian clergy from County Galway 16th-century Irish abbots

See also

References