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THE ORIGIN and HISTORY of the Mcmahan NAME a Person's Most Treasured Possession Is Their Name

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THE ORIGIN and HISTORY of the Mcmahan NAME a Person's Most Treasured Possession Is Their Name THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE McMAHAN NAME A person's most treasured possession is their name. We all wonder where our ancestors came from and how we came to have the name we carry. The family name is the cornerstone of our personal identity. According to all information I have found the McMahans originated in Ireland. But, before getting into the family name let's briefly review some Irish history up to about 1800 and perhaps get an understanding of why our McMahan ancestors may have come to America. At least 5,000 years ago early Ireland was inhabited by hunters and fishermen who used weapons and tools of flint. Sometime between 500 and 150 B.C. the Celtic tribes, a sophisti- cated, agricultural people, from England and the Bavarian region of South West Germany invaded Ireland. The arrival of the Celts was, possibly, the most far reaching event in Irish history; the Celts brought a language that lasts to this date. Written records of early Ireland are almost non-existent. Laws and history were passed down verbally. Only in the sixth and seventh centuries were the Irish stories committed to paper. These early records show that Ireland was split into five king- doms or provinces. These were Connacht, Leinster, Meath, Munster and Ulster. Later, Meath was incorporated into Connacht, which along with Leinster, Munster and Ulster survive to this date. About 430 A.D. Patrick began preaching the gospel and establish- ing churches throughout Ireland and by the sixth century Christianity was well established. Though Ireland has had a turbulent history, the seventh and eighth centuries were free from invasions. But there were many internal struggles for power. In the ninth century the Vikings invaded Ireland and in 841 established the city of Dublin; later they established Cork, Limerick, Wexford, Waterford and Wicklow. By the middle of the tenth century the Vikings controlled mid and south Ireland. During the latter part of the tenth century Brian Boru, an Irish soldier, devout Christian, and great king began a program to free Ireland from Viking occupation. He met the Vikings and their allies at Clontarf on Good Friday, 1014 and routed them. Brian was slain in the battle. Brian made several important contributions. Of special impor- tance to genealogists is the use of hereditary surnames. He introduced patronymics, i.e. Mac meaning son of, and O1, meaning 2 McMAHAN BLOOD II descendant of, into family names. Then the lines of descent became easier to trace. The great Irish names of today such as O'Brien, O'Connor, MacCarthy and many others, were established during this time. In the 1160's the high king, Turlough O'Connor, overthrew Dermot MacMurrough, king of Leinster in Southeastern Ireland. Dermot asked Henry II, the Norman king of England, for help to restore himself to the throne of Ireland. King Henry (1154-1189) allowed Dermot to recruit Norman adventurers to fight in Ireland. With Norman help, Dermot recovered his kingdom in 1170. This led to the distribution and settlement of large estates by the Norman nobles. The new settlers soon mixed with the Irish and them- selves became disloyal to the king. Nearly a century of warfare followed, the Normans fighting to hold their lands and the Irish fighting to regain control of the same land. By the 14th cen- tury, the English controlled only a small area around Dublin. King Henry VII (1485-1509) and King Henry VIII (1509-1547) both strengthened English control. They allowed the Irish to govern themselves and keep their own institutions. When King Henry VIII made himself head of the English Church, the Irish remained Roman Catholic in spite of regulations and severe punishment. Many rebellions followed. During the reign of Elizabeth (1558-1603), rebellion led by Irish chieftain Shane O'Neill, was put down severely and the whole island was punished for it. Villages were plundered and burned, crops and cattle destroyed, and people put to death. The Anglican Church was made the church of Ireland. Catholics were denied the right to hold office and their lands were given to English nobles. Under King James I (1603-1625), and Charles I (1625-1649), the problems of the Irish increased. Northern Ireland was colonized by English and Scottish Protestants, creating a Protestant majority that still exists. Even though the Irish rebelled again and again, each time they were firmly crushed. Oliver Cromwell rose to power and became Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland (1649-1660). Under his severe policies, nine-tenths of the land was held by Protestants. Catholics could not own land, nor hold public office. Still most of the Irish people remained loyal Catholics. After James II, a Catholic, became the king of England in 1685 he abolished many of the anti-Catholic laws that were established earlier. In 1688 the English people forced James II from the throne. William II, a Protestant, then became king. James II went to Ireland and organized an army to fight the English. His army of Irishmen and some troops borrowed from Louis XIV of France landed in Ireland in the spring of 1689. But the The Origin and History of the McMahap Name 3 Protestants in Ulster (Northern Ireland) supported William and helped the English defeat James II in the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690. The war ended with the Treaty of Limerick in 1691. After William's victory even more land was taken from the Irish Catholics. By 1704 the Catholics held only about one seventh of the land, could not purchase, inherit or rent land! They were excluded from the Irish Parliament and the army and were restricted in their rights to practice Catholicism. Time and again the Irish struggled for rights equal to those of Englishmen. The first half of the 1700's is the darkest period in Irish history. It was also a period when a great many Irish people migrated elsewhere. Most of the early settlers to Northern Ireland were from Scotland. They became a proud and famous people and are known as the Scotch-Irish. They later emigrated to America in great numbers due to economic conditions. The common people who worked the land for the wealthy land owners were in most cases taken advantage of to the extent they barely had enough for their own existence. Taxes increased as well as the demands of the land owners. Those who could find a way to leave Ireland, did so gladly, with high hopes for a better life for themselves and their families. All persons born in Ireland are called and treated as Irishmen, even though their fathers and grandfathers may have been born in England or elsewhere. Now back to our McMahan family. There is a widespread belief that Mac is Scottish and Me is Irish. This is not true! Me is simply an abbreviation of Mac. Many of the foremost Irish families bear Mac names such as MacCarthy, MacDermot, MacMahon and so on. It is true that many Mac names in Ulster are Scottish in origin, having come into North Ireland in the seventeenth century. In any case the Scottish Gaels are originally of Irish stock. Scotland took its' name from the word Scotia which in Latin was at first used to denote the land occupied by the Irish race. MacMahon is one of the best known and most distinguished names in Ireland. Alternate spellings of the name include MacMaghone, MacMaghon, MacMaghen, MacMachon, MacMahan, MacMahen and MacMahin. The name MacMahon is from the Irish Gaelic MacMathghamhna which means "son of the bear-like one." There are two great Irish families with the name "MacMahon". The more important of the two families is found in County Clare, in which county it is the most numerous name. These descend from Mahon, son of Murtagh More O'Brien, King of Ireland (1094-1119). 4 MCMAHAN BLOOD n The other family, the Ulster branch of MacMahon, were lords of Oriel and retained their power and influence until the middle of the sixteenth century. They mainly are found in County Monaghan. MacMahons have been very important in Irish history. They contributed many active leaders to the cause of the Confederate Catholics in the 1640's, including Heber MacMahon (1600-1650) Bishop of Clogher who actually commanded the Ulster army and died on the scaffold, Hugh MacMahon (1606-1644) the last of the Ulster branch of the family and Colonel Brian MacMahon who took part in the Battle of Benbub in 1646 which completely routed the Anglo- Scottish army. In the eighteenth century one MacMahon family produced three archbishops of Armagh: Bernard MacMahon (1680- 1747), his uncle Hugh MacMahon (died 1737) and his brother Ross Roe MacMahon (1698-1748). After James II»s defeat in the Battle of Boyne many MacMahons who had fought in King James1 Irish Army went to France where they took up service in the Irish Brigade. Later in France there was John MacMahon (1715-1780) who was ennobled as Marquis d'Eguilly, of the Clare MacMahons, and his grandson Count Marie Edme' Patrice Maurice de MacMahon (1808-1893), marshall in the French army and the second president of France from 1873-1879. Bernard MacMahan (1775-1816), one of America's first and foremost horticulturists, came from Ireland to Philadelphia in 1796. In 1806 he published the American Gardener's Calendar, the first important horticultural work to be produced in the United States. It remained a standard reference book for over fifty years. Each of the two branches (County Clare and Ulster) of the MacMahon family had their own coat of arms.
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