CALLAGHAN

& Related Surnames

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).The most widespread anglicised version is, perhaps, Callaghan with the first written record of that particular spelling being 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.  Older hereditary records⁽³⁾ place the original location of thesept 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 (12^th 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 20^th 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 24^th of September. 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 academics (and others) take positions based on arguments of sept history or Gaelic language/grammar but the reality is that, what truths that may have existed, are somewhat obscured by mists of history and so, in many respects, the legends and facts will probably always be inseparably intertwined but hopefully that will not diminish their value in our lives!

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. 

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 🙂