O'Conor Kings of Connaught

[M.O'Connor]

There is a Book out i am ordering called

The Hidden Annals
A Thousand Years of The Kingdom of Connaught 366-1385
by Vincent Byrne


Synopsis
This acccount chronicles fifty O'Conor kings of Connaught, among whom are the last two High Kings: Turlough Mor and his son, Roderick. Hundreds of still extant family names associated with them are also included.

These early Irish annals 366-1385 AD. span a most significant era in the history of Ireland, whose consequences are all too apparent today.

About The Author
Vincent Byrne is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. His grandfather, Joseph O'Reilly, a native of Frenchpark, Co.Roscommon, kept the local hotel which was the venue of Douglas Hyde, Lord de Freyn of Frenchpark, and Charles Owen, The O'Conor Don, all of whom had a common interest in Irish antiquities.

Years later, Vincent and his brother, Francis, spent their summer holidays in Frenchpark and found their grandfather's library a source of never-failing interest.

The "Hidden Annals" first appeared as a weekly series in the Roscommon Herald in 1994 under the title: "A Thousand Years of the O'Conor kings of Connaught".


Read the first pages for free.... Enjoy
http://www.universal-publishers.com/...ook=1581125682

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

The O'Conor Family of Connaught was one of 5 O'Conor/O'Connor Families. Some who have said to have taken their name from a different O Conchobhair or O Conchuir.

(To which sept do you belong.)

http://www.araltas.com/features/oconnor/

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

We need more members in the dna project to produce family lines.

[M.O'Connor]

Roadway close to Tara.

Meath Chronicle
http://www.unison.ie/meath_chronicle...issue_id=13771



John Donohoe

THE way could be cleared for construction work to start by this time next year on the controversial M3 motorway following the failure of a High Court challenge to the road last week.

Sources have suggested that if there is no appeal to last week’s decision, that work is likely to begin in March 2007, allowing for archaeological excavations to be completed by the end of this year and site preparation work to get underway in the autumn.

The National Roads Authority (NRA) is this week meeting with its legal team to examine the judgement of High Court Justice Mr Thomas Smyth, who last week dismissed the challenge by campaigner Vincent Salafia against the route of the M3 motorway through the area between the Hill of Tara and Skryne.

Mr Justice Smyth ruled that Mr Salafia was not entitled to succeed in any of his claims because of an unjustified two-year delay in bringing them. In a 60-page decision delivered over two and a half hours last Wednesday, Mr Justice Smyth considered all the arguments made by Mr Salafia, including claims that the National Monuments Amendment Act 2004 were unconstitutional, and rejected all of them.

This week, the various bodies involved in the case were digesting the High Court report. A hearing to determine the costs will take place on Tuesday next, 14th March, after which the court order will be executed. There is then a 21-day period during which Mr Salafia can appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.

The High Court decision has been welcomed by Meath County Council and local groups that have campaigned in favour of the motorway, as well as the Minister for the Environment.

Meath County Manager Tom Dowling said this week that the judgement was a great boost for the county. “The M3 is a major piece of infrastructure and its construction is essential for the future economic development of our county. Today’s ruling is very welcome news for us as we prepare to profile Meath as a viable business location at our Meath Investment Showcase which will be held in Custom House Quay on 8th March,” he said.

“We hope that today’s decision now clears the way for the earliest possible commencement of this hugely significant infrastructural project,” added the county manager.

The Meath Chambers of Commerce, represented in the High Court last Wednesday by Michael Cassidy (Navan), Adrienne Bowen (Dunshaughlin) and Penny McGowan (Kells), also welcomed the decision of the court to dismiss Mr Salafia’s case on all grounds.

“This is an emphatic defeat for the Salafia challenge,” they said. “His application failed on the grounds of delay in bringing proceedings, his failure to establish his rights to bring proceedings in the first instance, and his failure to establish that the National Monuments Act or the minister’s actions were unconstitutional.”

The court fully endorsed both Meath County Council’s actions and those of the minister.

The Meath Chambers fought a vigorous campaign to counter the mis-information circulated by those opposed to the M3 route, they said in their statement. “We needed to go to extraordinary lengths to communicate the fact that the proposed route is 1.5 miles away from the centre of


the Hill of Tara, and is significantly further away from the hill than the existing N3 route.”

Surveys undertaken on behalf of the Chambers and MCM3 have consistently revealed 80-92 per cent support for the M3 as proposed in the county. Local opinion on the M3 was further demonstrated by the massive support given to pro-M3 candidates during the recent by-election.

Meath Citizens for the M3 (MCM3) welcomed what they described as an ‘emphatic’ High Court judgement. “This judgement vindicates our position on this issue,” chairman Frank Cosgrave stated.

“Confusion, misinformation, not to mention hysteria has surrounded discussion on the merits of this project over the last 18 months. Last Wednesday’s judgement goes a considerable way to illuminating the many aspects of a complex and difficult argument and for this we are grateful to Justice Smyth.”

He added that MCM3 hope that this project can now proceed with the greatest possible expediency and will be a model of good planning, with the least possible impact on the landscape.

“We are convinced that Meath County Council and the other planning agencies will respect the rural nature of the area and will not allow any development which would be inconsistent with the character of the area. In particular, we are anxious that no development takes place in the Gabhra Valley that impinges on the view from Tara.”

Environment Minister Dick Roche also welcomed the timely manner in which the case had been heard and judgement given by Mr Justice Smith, and hoped this would bring finality to the matter.

Mr Roche commented that it was essential that the public be consulted on all major developments but that it was important that this consultation take place at an early stage. He noted the legal argument made on behalf of the State that the issues raised by the plaintiff in relation to the route of the M3 should more appropriately have been raised at the Bord Pleanala hearing, which was the body charged at national level with deciding on major development and land use issues.

North Meath TDs Johnny Brady (Fianna Fail) and Shane McEntee (Fine Gael) also welcomed the decision as a victory for common sense and commuters, but Deputy McEntee regarded the prospect of two tolls on the route as excessive.

Archaeological work as well as the acquisition of land on the M3 route has been ongoing throughout the High Court action, and will continue, with the archaeological digs due to finish on schedule in December.

The preferred tenderer for the contract is the EuroLink Consortium, comprising Cintra SA and SIAC Construction Ltd, who were responsible for the M4 motorway. The NRA have been in discussion with Eurolink and it is hoped that contracts can soon be signed to allow the work advance.

[M.O'Connor]

Charles O’Conor of Ballinagare
(1710-1791)
Charles O’Conor of Ballinagare was one of eighteenth-century Ireland’s greatest scholars, who wrote in both Irish and English. His work was clearly influenced by the Enlightenment. O’Conor regularly corresponded with the important intellectual and cultural figures of his day. He is regarded as having played a key role in founding the modern study of Ireland’s language, culture and history.

Conference April 7-9, 2006
http://www.cruachanai.com/conference.htm

[anne marie]

o'connor kings

it's funny. I grew up with stories my whole childhood from my father about how our family was descended from kings.
and now maybe the o'connor were.
by the way, some academics say the word "conquerer" comes from the original spelling of o'connor, ochonchabaire, because there is no latin cognat and it entered the english language around the time a brit lost a battle in o'connor territory

[M.O'Connor]

ÓConchobhair ( Ó=descendant of )

"O'Connor, with its variants Connor, Conner, Connors etc., comes from the Irish Conchobhair, from the personal name Conchobhar, perhaps meaning 'lover of hounds' or 'wolf-lover'. This was one of the most favoured of early Irish names, and gave rise to the surname in at least five distinct areas, in Connacht (O'Conor Don), in Offaly (O'Conor Faly), in north Clare (O'Conor of Corcomroe), in Keenaght in Co Derry, and in Kerry (O'Connor Kerry). The Offaly family take their name from Conchobhar (d.979), who claimed descent from Cathaoir Mor, a second-century king of Ireland. They remained powerful in their original homeland until the sixteenth century, when they were dispossessed of their lands. The O'Connor Kerry were chiefs of a large territory in north Kerry, displaced further northwards by the Norman invasion to the Limerick borders, where they retained much of their power down to the seventeenth century. Today, the descendants of these O'Connors are far and away the most numerous, with the majority of all the many O'Connors in Ireland concentrated in the Kerry/Limerick/Cork area. However, the most famous of all the O'Connor families is that which arose in Connacht. The ancestor from whom they take surname was Conchobhar, King of Connacht (d.971), and direct ancestor of the last two High Kings of Ireland, Turlough O'Connor and Roderick O'Connor, who ruled through the twelfth century. Unlike the vast majority of the rest of the old Gaelic aristocracy, the O'Conors of Connacht managed to retain a large measure of their property and influence through all the calamities from the seventeenth century on. The line of descent from the last Chief of the Name is also intact; the current 'O Conor Don', recognized as such by the Chief Herald of Ireland, is Denis O Conor. The family seat remains in the ancestral homeland, in Castlerea, Co Roscommon."

Posted from this page http://members.aol.com/waterlilys/Ancestors.html

[F.E.C.]

by the way, some academics say the word "conquerer" comes from the original spelling of o'connor, ochonchabaire, because there is no latin cognat and it entered the english language around the time a brit lost a battle in o'connor territory

Hi anne marie,
I don't want to be a killjoy but actually "to conquer" is from the latin "conquis(i)tare", which has remained unvaried in all the neo-latin languages (maybe was introduced in the english language via french)

Francesco

[M.O'Connor]

Conchobhair is not a latin Name.....thanks Francesco.

http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/ballc/oe/oe-ie.html

[F.E.C.]

Conchobhair is not a latin Name.....thanks Francesco.

http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/ballc/oe/oe-ie.html

I'm sorry maybe my English sometimes doesn't allow me to explain correctly what I mean, nevertheless it seems clear to me that I didn't say that Conchobhair is a latin word...I'm only saying that obviously "to conquer" (and thus "conquerer") doesn't derive from Conchobhair but from the latin verb "conquis(i)tare".

P.S.
thanx for the useful link but it's not me the one who needs a lesson in linguistics

[Stevo]

I'm sorry maybe my English sometimes doesn't allow me to explain correctly what I mean, nevertheless it seems clear to me that I didn't say that Conchobhair is a latin word...I'm only saying that obviously "to conquer" (and thus "conquerer") doesn't derive from Conchobhair but from the latin verb "conquis(i)tare".

I understood you just fine. You were correcting anne marie's claim that Latin had no word for conqueror, and you were 100% right.

It is interesting, on the other hand, that the Italic subfamily of languages (like Latin) and the Celtic subfamily are fairly closely related within the larger Indo-European language family.

[F.E.C.]

Hi Stevo,

you're correct.As far as I know italic and celtic languages do share features that other indoeuropean languages don't. Maybe this is due to an "italo-celtic" unity following the separation of the other forms of indoeuropean.

[Stevo]

Hi Stevo,

you're correct.As far as I know italic and celtic languages do share features that other indoeuropean languages don't. Maybe this is due to an "italo-celtic" unity following the separation of the other forms of indoeuropean.

I wonder if there is any connection there to the prevalence of R1b in both Italy and the Celtic lands.

I realize, of course, that language and genetics are two different and often unrelated things. But we are talking third millenium B.C. and earlier.

[F.E.C.]

Stevo,

I'm amazed at seeing how on rootsweb genealogy list thay can make distinctions between different R1b types in such a relatively small island as Ireland: it really seems that every region has its own variety.
How I wish it was so here on the continent too, and thus being able to discern the peoples that contributed to the Italian gene pool (obviously being an Italian R1b I'd be thrilled to know wether my ancestors were Celts, Latins or Goths).

I perfectly understand though that this is due to the fact that a lot of Irishmen get tested whereas we can't say the same for Italians...shame on us!

Francesco

[Stevo]

Stevo,

I'm amazed at seeing how on rootsweb genealogy list thay can make distinctions between different R1b types in such a relatively small island as Ireland: it really seems that every region has its own variety.
How I wish it was so here on the continent too, and thus being able to discern the peoples that contributed to the Italian gene pool (obviously being an Italian R1b I'd be thrilled to know wether my ancestors were Celts, Latins or Goths).

I perfectly understand though that this is due to the fact that a lot of Irishmen get tested whereas we can't say the same for Italians...shame on us!

Francesco

Maybe I should make an announcement after Mass on Sunday and try to recruit some Italians for Y-DNA testing!

R1b is such a populous haplogroup, it must be somewhat frustrating to belong to it. (I don't yet know my own haplogroup.)

Finding out you're R1b means investing in a deep clade test almost inevitably, it seems to me.

[Stevo]

Francesco -

Have you seen this web site? - http://www.genoproject.com/

It is mostly about Sicily, but if you scroll down far enough it has a lot of information about R1b in Italy.

(Sorry. I didn't mean to hijack a thread about the O'Connor kings to talk about R1bs in Italy.)

[M.O'Connor]

Barbarians may have carried R1B. They were in the north of Italy for some time. R1B may also have gone east from France up the Mediterranean. Corsica/italy.

The Romans may have brought people to Italy? I don't know the extent of R1B there. I would guess the biggest influx of R1B would have been from the north of Italy.