www.callaghan.info
The Origin and Variations of The Callaghan Surname
The
surname Callaghan can be traced back
to Ceallachán Caisil,
the name of the formidable Chief of the Eóganachta
tribe and King of Munster (in Ireland) from AD 935 until 954 who,
amongst many other famed accomplishments, is said to have defeated the father
of Brian Boru of the Dal gCais, in battle! Caellachán is
thought to be a diminutive form of the Gaelic word Ceallach, the origin of which is unknown, but suggestions for its
meaning(1) include bright-headed
(as a personal name) or strife/war
(in the sense of fight or contention for superiority). Ireland spent much of
its life occupied by foreign powers that anglicised Irish names giving rise to
many variants. Moreover, the lack of standardised spelling (the first
dictionary, written by Robert Cawdrey, wasn’t
published until 1604!) meant the process of converting what may be identical
oral sounds into written words also generated numerous variations. Added to
this, Irish names contain many prefixes(2) and silent letters that
clerks of occupying powers, or those involved in immigration procedures, would
often drop somewhat randomly. These situations
created multiple alternatives of surnames. In the case of Ceallachán this gave rise to versions such as Ceileacháin,
Ceilahan, Callachan, Calachan,
Ceilaghan, Ceallaghan, Cellachain, Cellachan, Cellaghan, Callaghan,
O'Callaghan, Callahan, O'Callahan, Calahan, Callagan, Calagan,
Callighan, Kalahan, Kallaghan,
Kallahan, O'Kallaghan, Kellaghan,
Kelleghan, Kellahan,
Kelahan, Keelaghan, Kealahan
& Keelan. Some
variants of names can be related to particular septs as, for example, Ó Ceileacháin is especially
popular with septs found in the Irish counties of Armagh, Louth, Meath and
Monaghan whereas, in Munster (Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary &
Waterford), Ceallachán is favoured
over Ceileacháin
(perhaps because of the direct mapping of the name to the ancient king,
although some argue the spoken sound of Ceallachán
better matches the variants of 'Callaghan'
found in Munster).
After Ceallachán
Hereditary
records(3) place the original location of the sept bearing the name Ceallachán
as being in the barony of Kinlea, in County Cork, an area they lost during the
Anglo-Norman conquest under Strongbow (12th century) causing them to
relocate to the vicinity of Mallow in the North of the county (with their main
strongholds being castles at Clonmeen and Dromaneen). Here they experienced some four centuries of
dominance, enjoying many earlier Gaelic customs such as the creach or cattle-raid; one chief
of the Callaghan family (Donncha O'Callaghan, 1537-1578) was
reputed to have conducted more than two hundred raids across Ireland. They
remained in Cork until the Cromwellian plantation period (and the Irish
rebellion of 1641) where, following the final surrender of 1652, they lost
their ancestral lands and were transported to East Clare (in the barony of
Tulla, where the name of Clare village of "O'Callaghans Mills" remains in testament to that resettlement). In further
testament to those troubled times, just prior to being forcibly evicted from
their Cork lands, it is reported that at least seventeen Callaghan’s had been
declared outlaws! 20,000 acres (of 24,000 acres) confiscated from the
Callaghan’s were recorded as belonging to one Donncha O'Callaghan, making him the most important Callaghan at that time to be
dispossessed of property. It seems that other members of the sept either
remained as tenants of the newly-installed English owners or fled to Europe.
Interestingly, the Dublin Genealogical Office (in 1994) supported Don Juan
O'Callaghan of Tortosa, Spain, in his claim to be the closest modern male
descendant of Donough O'Callaghan
adding supporting evidence to the exodus of many Callaghan’s to Europe during
the turbulent years (giving rise to the oddity that the surname Callaghan is a reasonably well known in
Spain!). In more modern times the descendants of the Callaghan sept have joined the broader Irish diaspora, being found
in almost every country of the world. Meanwhile, back home in Ireland, and in
an interesting twist to the story(4), the 20th Century,
saw a branch of the Callaghan family
returning to live in the ancestral land they were evited from in the
mid-fifteenth century! Talking of
miraculous things, apparently there was a Saint Callaghan, or Ceallachán,
who was a monk at Clontibret (County Monaghan,
Ireland) with a feast day of the 24th of September.
The Callaghan Coat-of-Arms
In
terms of the Callaghan Coat-of-Arms,
such adornments have a somewhat chequered history, sometimes having
associations with occupying powers and specific strands of families. Thus,
while what is often regarded as a coat-of-arms for all Callaghan's, in reality
was associated with a particular sept. However, modern times have seen a more
generous adoption by the wider Callaghan
fraternity. In the case of the Callaghan
coat-of-arms, the official description is “Argent
in base a mount vert, on the dexter side a hurst of oak trees, therefrom
issuant a wolf passant towards the sinister all proper”. According to one
plausible explanation, the oak trees shown on the coat of arms, depict an oak forest that played a vital role in aiding the
inauguration of Ceallachán as king (and were a backdrop to the scene), with the wolf
being an Irish wolfhound, a royal animal. The dexter and sinister, are terms
for right and left. Alternatively, (or maybe as well as) the druids (whose
influences had left their mark) believed the oak tree was the most noble and
ancient of trees forming a connection between the real and otherworld and so it
had special meaning. The motto which is often attached is “Fidus et audax” (Faithful and
bold) with bold being strong or determined.
More Recent Records
The first written
record of the name Callaghan (with that particular spelling - the most
widespread anglicised version) is held in the Birth Records of County Cork, dated 1605, for one John O' Callaghan. In the 2011 census, the total number of
people bearing either the name O'Callaghan or Callaghan in Ireland was of the
order 13,000 (not as large as you might imagine!), but it still placed the name
in the top-40 of Irish surnames in use. So, what have the more modern members of the Sept been doing? You need
only type “Callaghan” into a search engine to be flooded with pages relating to
more modern Callaghan’s, and their impressive exploits. As you would expect,
Callaghan’s in the public eye are returned in the first pages of search engine
results, featuring the likes of the former British Prime Minister, Leonard James (Jim) Callaghan, William (Bill) O'Callaghan, an Irish senator, George Astley Callaghan, a British Admiral of the Fleet, Callaghan, Governor of several British colonies
including the Falkland Islands, and the Bahamas, Ian Robert Callaghan, a professional English footballer who holds the
record for most appearances for Liverpool FC, Bill O'Callaghan an
Irish hurler who played for Cork, Tommy Callaghan a Scottish professional footballer who played for
Celtic, and Georgina Callaghan, the English born singer & songwriter, better
known by her show-business name of “Callaghan” who resides in the USA. That small sample shines a light on the
impact and spread of the Callaghan Diaspora, or perhaps it says more about
possible bias in Internet search engines! Whatever, these are just the tip of iceberg of the international
Callaghan family, as you will discover should you search the web yourself. You
will find URLs ranging from personal pages, through general lists such as
Wikipedia’s “Notable-Callaghan’s” to more specialised lists such this web sites “Callaghan’s in Academia”. Just thirty minutes of web searching will take
you on an inspiring journey to meet the global Callaghan family!
Some Words of Caution!
Of course, it needs
to be remembered that many of these tales come from a very misty past, so they
are not without contention (none more so than names). Therefore, it is not
surprising that scholars (and others) take various positions according to their
interpretation of the fragments of the past that have survived but the reality
is that, what truths that may have existed, are somewhat obscured by mists of
history and so, in many respects, legends and facts will probably always be
inseparably intertwined but hopefully that will not diminish their value in our
lives!
And Finally ……..
If you
bear the name Callaghan, or perhaps
have ancestors that bore the name somewhere in your family tree, then you are
joined to a fraternity whose shared genes or spirit drive the dreams that make
us who we are, and who we will be; while we may never meet, we are all part of
a great adventure whose story is still unfolding :-)
Notes:
(1)
Concerning the meaning of Callaghan, another view is that it was
derived from or "frequenter
of churches"
(2)
Prefixes to Irish names are
formed as follows; Bean Uí means wife of, ní in a girl’s name means daughter of, and ó means descended from (eg grandfather or earlier ancestor). That said, the “O” in Irish surnames was frequently
dropped to simplify official record keeping (especially when immigrating to
countries like the USA where clerks frequently dropped the “O” prefix which, in their eyes,
complicated alphabetical filing!).
(3)
Hereditary surnames are said to
have been introduced to Ireland sometime after 1100. For example, in the case
of the Callaghans, Murchadh Ua Ceallachán who lived in the early eleventh century, and a
grandson of the original King Ceallachán, was the first to transit the surname hereditarily.
(4)
After the Ceallachán/Callaghan sept forfeited their Cork land it was taken
over by the Longfield family who, in 1720, built a
grand house on original Ceallachán/Callaghan
land. Reinforcing the vigour of these changes, in 1795, Richard Longfield
became Baron Longueville. However, in a twist of fate,'Longueville House' and land was returned to the Callaghans in 1938, when it was purchased (from the Longfields) by Senator
William O'Callaghan whose son Michael and wife Jane opened it to the public
in in 1969 as a simple Bed & Breakfast. More recently, their eldest son
William, with his wife Aisling, now run it as a luxurious guesthouse, with William
(Bill) O'Callaghan acting as head chef in its
highly acclaimed restaurant specialising in 'field-to-fork' food (food from its working farm). The
family are direct descendants of Donough O'Callaghan who fought in 1640 rising. This surely was an amazing twist of fate
that took these lands and the families concerned on an adventure through
numerous generations that was beyond the wildest imagination of all but those
harbour indestructible dreams and who never lose fate!
Some Additional
Sources of Information:
·
Chris O'Callaghan “Book of The
Callaghan“(PDF download
of contents and introduction), 365 pages, Co. Cork, Ireland, 2014, ISBN:
978-0-9565354-2-9 - The first in-depth
factual account of Ceallachán Caisil, the formidable Chief of the Eóganachta
tribe and King of Munster during the period 934-954. The book details 6 years
of research to reveal a successful and popular king whose legendary exploits
have given him a special place in Irish history
·
Joseph F.O Callaghan,
"Clan
Callaghan: The O Callaghan Family of County Cork", 302 pages, publisher Genealogical.Com,
Inc, published 23 Nov 2020 (revised edition), ISBN: 9780806359168, 2020 (revised) - A well-researched book that traces the O'Callaghans (and variants of the name) from their beginnings in Munster Ireland through the upheavals
of history which have seen their progeny scattered around the world.
·
‘CallaghanInfo’
webpage discussing Ceallachán Caisil
·
Wikipedia Entry - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O'Callaghan
·
Edward MacLysaght, "Irish
Family Their names, Arms and Origins", Irish Academic Press, 1957, 1982, 1991, ISBN
0-7165-2364-7
·
Longueville House – In case you are planning a visit to the Blackwater Valley, where the O'Callaghan clan
lands were, this small hotel has is situated on property confiscated by
Cromwell in 1650 but which returned to the O'Callaghans
in 1938, when the Longfield family sold the property to Senator William (Bill)
O'Callaghan, and continues to be run by his descendants.
Constructive comments are welcome.
Last Updated: 19
November 2024