BOOK FOUR CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE HARTNETT NAME

In some of the previous information that has been prepared, there have been references made to the Hartnett name, and its origin. In the following, an attempt will be made to clarify the research that was made to attempt to determine the source of the name in a more detailed account of the information that has been brought forward. It will probably always be an incomplete story, but the source of the name has been determined in my mind as being from O'Neide oftheCiarraidhe Luachra. This is some of what I found. ... _., . . . About one sixth of the clan names of the Irish are Norman (or Sean Ghaill) ,n origin. The Normans invaded Ireland with the English in the Twelfth Century A.D. The "Butler" name of my great grandmother m*e Hartnett family line is a Norman one. That does not necessarily mean that we have Norman ancestor When *e Insh wl to know where you are from in Ireland, the first thing they will ask you ,s "What name have you? Did you know that the Celtic "briga" is about the same as the German "burg", and that it infers a state of war ? In 2007 AD and 2008 A. D., a better definition of our family name of Hartnett has been established. It required a review of all of the tribal names of Ireland, and there are quite a few. It also involved a comprehensive TttiTof me history of Ireland, and that was accomplished. As of January of 2009 the history of the most recent tod years of Ireland has now been completed, but it is available to some Insh society is an ora soc etyand not a merate one so that Irish history is based on oral memory. One of Ireland's philosophers was Arland Ussher n°taMy re^htfTnsh history b^gan when the Irish Cu.tura. Centt,, of New England, Inj, whicus ,tspresent name) asked a group of us to make a presentation for display in an Insh Festival that was held a Stoneh.11 Co lege_ I ledto an extension of a family history that my brother, Donald E. Hartnett had comp.led. It has led to a lot of "^llert^fbooks about Ireland and history has resulted from about thirty or more years of research into a variew ofXctt, some of which you will find in my writings. I do not intend them for publication, as there are ZrTquoSs that are directly taken from the writings of others, and they are set forth herein only for purposes of clarification of the facts of Irish history and family history. Originally when using the information gathered by Irish historians who were not deeply concerned about the Hanmett name the preliminary information that I received was misleading. Some sources placed our family name as^mlaTfte Limerick and Cork border, and another misleading source sent me to Dromcolliher in County Limerick In eacTof those locations, there are Hartnetts to be found, and their roots go back a long way S i I found a colony of them in Ga.way, and one who went from Dublin to the Caroling, witii hisshgh name revision They are to be found in England, and now, throughout the world. But, they began in KERRY ! Do not discount their importance in other places. Our family history has a very d.rect connection to County Limerick and we are now a part of County Offaly, with new ties to Kilkenny and T.pperary. Here, ,n America, ou^vvrfamilyTs ™Z in southeastern Massachusetts, with ties to a lot of other places. However, we may have some of our closest recent ties to Abbeyfeale in County Limerick. Abbevfeale is located in the southwestern comer of County Limerick, on the border of County Kerry I he townts Sned fo the abbey that sustained its grow* on the River Feale, which runs through it. It is ."the barony of Glenquin. I have never been there, but I have been close to it. While we are a Kerry family, some of the earher HaZetts must have taken a boat ride along the River Feale, and go. off on the wrong side of the; rivet That has made us a Limerick family for many centuries. We may be from a portion of Abbeyfeale which is called, Werestgly enou^ DROMTRASNA HARTNETT, which is a territoiy that is located next to Dromtrasna Collins I will get into this reasoning later. The Hartnett name can be found in a lot of places in the Limerick, Cork and Kerry area. In my trip to Dromcolliher in County Limerick, I found that two Hartnett families (at least) still live there and that, in the past ^Toth s are recorded as land owners. In the City of Limerick, in addition to our fam,ly'»; mterest in my father and my grandfather's statements about our connections to the place, there was a prominent Hartnett sign displayed on a Hardware Store, and discussions with locals about the name assured me that it was a ocal one A Cork man teld me that there was a colony of Hartnetts at Iniskeen in County Cork, near the County Limerick border, and my friend in Listowel, who was an O'Connor Kerry in origin, which meant that she was a part of the same Ciarra.dhe Luachra tribe of which we Hartnetts are from, had Hartnett neighbors living just down the street from her family farm. Even with all of that, it has not been possible for me to establish our specific origin in County Limerick, although I do believe it was at Dromtrasna Hartnett in County Kerry. The Limerick - Cork - Kerry area, all of which is a part of the Province of Munster, was settled by several groups who followed the hunter - gatherers that occupied Ireland after the Ice Age ended. One of the groups of interest will be the DAL gCAS (known as The Dalcassians), who came from further to the north of Ireland, and who settled near to the City of Limerick. However, there are many earlier and older settlers to discuss before we get to

^The Milesians came from Scythia through Iberia (or Spain) to Ireland. Scythia people of that time are the Iranians of today, or at least that is their source. They had settled into parts of Munster, and mto other parts of Ireland after wresting control of the country from another Celtic group called the Tuatha de Dananns who had wrested control of Ireland from an earlier group of Celts, called the Firbolg, who had wrested control of the country from whoever was in it. Some of those who were in it when the Firbolg arrived were called Fomorians. That is all explained in Book One of Dirty Birre, and is referred to in other parts of my diatribes. Some of the Milesians who were of the progeny of Eber (or Heber), who was a son of Milesius had settled into portions of Munster, and also into other parts of Ireland about 1900 B. C. The kingship of all of Ireland was held by the Ard Righ (or High King), and it remained in the family line of the Milesians for more than three thousand years. The rule was held for that period by the descendants of two sons of Milesius, who were Eber (or Heber) and Eremon (or Heremon), who often fought to attain it and to hold it. Their story is told in Book One of Diitv Birre The Hartnett family line are direct descendants of one of those two sons of Milesius, named Eber (or Heber) The Hartnett name comes from O'Neide who was Chief of the Sept (or clan) of O^Neide who were a part of the tribe of the Ciarraidhe Luachra, who came to be classed as a part of the Eoghanachta The Eoghanachta name comes from the great grandson of O'Neide, and the Eoghanachta tribe extended throughout the southeastern portion of Ireland, and into a few other places.. The extent of the Eoghanachta tribe is set forth in previous chanters of previous books, and is only superficially dealt with in this one. O'Neide had a son who was fostered out, in the Irish family tradition, to another royal family, to be raised and trained His name was Eoghan Mor, and he acquired the name of Mogh Nuadhat, because a part of that name related'to the people who were his foster parents. He is known by both names in Irish history. Because of his royal status, as a direct descendant of Milesius, in the line of Eber, he became a leader of his people in he Province of Munster, which is one of the four provinces of Ireland. The Ard Righ (or High King) of Ireland at the time of Eoghan Mor was Conn of the Hundred Battles. . „^.aA More than a century before the time of Eoghan Mor, a tribe called The Degades (or the Erainn) had migrated from the Connacht (or Connaught) area into Munster, and they had wrested control (or rule) of the area from .the local tribes. Over time, they had become overbearing, and they wanted to expand upon the tribute that they demanded as a part of their rule. Eoghan Mor became the leader of the local tribes that opposed them, and he fried to drive them out of Munster. They sought the assistance of the High King of Ireland, who was Conn of the Hundred Battles, and since they were originally people of Connaught, he sided with them against the people of

MimMany battles were fought, involving differing sized groups of opponent armies, until Eoghan Mor was defeated in battle, and he had to leave Ireland. He went to Spain, from where his forbears had left more than a thousand years earlier, and being of Irish royalty, he was well received. He stayed in Spam for a number of years and he married the daughter of a Spanish king. He returned to Ireland with his bride, Beara and three thousand troops, which were led by his brother in law, and the battles with Ireland's High King, Conn of the Hundred Battles, began all over again. This time, the forces of Conn were defeated in some of the fighting, and a ti^ce was arranged, whereby the rule of Ireland was split in half. The two parts were named Mogh Cuin (or Mogh s Southern Half) and Leith Cuin (or Conn's Northern Half). Ireland was split by a line that extended from the Dublin area to the Galway area, and this settled things for a while. . Eoghan Mor decided that he was not satisfied with the rule of half of Ireland. War started again, and a great battle took place. Conn of the Hundred Battles made a night attack against the forces of Eoghan Mor and that was against the rules of war at that time, which were matters of honor. A portion of Conn's army frorn Ulster, led by Gol MacMorna, refused to fight at night, and Conn was losing the battle. When the dawn broke, Gol MacMorna rallied his troops to the support of Conn of the Hundred Battles, and the battle ended with the defeat of Eoghan Mor, w h o w a s s l a i n . S o w a s h i s b r o t h e r i n l a w . m . The night attack became a matter for dispute by the judges of the time and their interpretation of the Brehon Laws Conn of the Hundred Battles suffered severe fines for his breach of the Brehon Laws, and he had to even give up his daughter as a part of them. As a result of the settlement by the judges, the relatives of Conn of the Hundred Battles were married to the relatives of Eoghan Mor, and the country was united agam, as much as it could be. Conn then ruled all of Ireland. The marrying of Conn's family members to the families of his opponents helped him in maintaining control ot the country. Conn's second daughter, Sabia, (who was the widow of MacNiad, the late chief of the Ithians) was married to Oilill Olum, who was the son and heir of Eoghan Mor. By these marriages, Conn drew the Ithians, the Eberians, the Degades and the Eremonians into one family to assist in the rule. The tribute that had to be paid by Conn of the Hundred Battles, besides his daughter, included: - his own ring of gold - his own precious carved brooch - his sword and shield - 200 driving steers - 200 chariots - 200 ships - 200 spears - 200 cows - 200 swords

To restate the Milesian rule of Ireland for terms of clarity, It was Eber ane Eremon who had split the rule of Ireland in half in 1900 B. C, when the Milesians defeated the Tuatha de Dananns to begin the Milesian dynasty of the rule of Ireland. The Ithians were the children of Ith, the brother of Eber and Eremon, who had died during the Milesian invasion of Ireland, and they had been granted some, but not all, of the right to rule over the province of Munster because they were relatives of Eber and Eremon. McNaid had been a part of the Ithian family. When Eremon'killed Eber and his wife after a year of their joint rule, the children of those two men had begun their practice of alternate rule of Ireland by their families for a while. Eoghan Mor was of the hne of Eber. Conn of the Hundred Battles and Goll MacMorna of the Knights of the Red Branch were both of the line of Eremon Oilill Olum, the son of Eoghan Mor, became the king of all of Munster, both of the Ebenan and the Ithian portions, and in that situation, he was the first recent leader with that authority in Munster Previously, the rule of McNaid had been such that the alternate rule of Munster between the Eberians and the Eremonians had been suspended, and that alternate ruling of Munster was begun again.. The two parties who would alternate ruling of Munster were the descendants of Eoghan Mor, a son of Oilill Olum (and grandson of O Neide) and Cormac Cas. The race of the MacCarthys stems from Eoghan Mor, and the race of the O'Briens stems from Cormac Cas. The Eoghanachta or descendants of Eoghan Mor, the grandson of O'Neide, ruled at Cashel, while the O Bnens, who were descended from Cormac Cas, ruled at Kincora, which is near the City of Limerick. It is probable that MacNaid, the ruler of Munster, was probably the same name as O Neide as an ancestor ot ours through the O'Neide clan. While that may be irrelevant, the interesting part is that our family line is a part ot the origin of the Eoghanachta tribe, which has ruled in southern Ireland (and elsewhere) ever since, except of course for what troubles that the English caused. It is interesting to note that the tribe known as Loch Lem (or Loch Lene) had an important leadership role around Limerick, and it is clear that they are not a part of our own tribal base. We are of the Ciarraidhe Luachra (or Kerry Luachra), and the tribe of O'Neide, who were chiefs of the land

°fAta my conversations with the Irish, the part of Cork, near the Limerick border was pointed out to me as a pake where the Hartnett name was more commonplace than in other areas. The area, called Iniskeen, may be a site where the Hartnett family has flourished, and perhaps, someone should visit to there to find out. I cannot provide further information about it. There are Hartnett families that have migrated to Boston during the Grea Famine, and a group of them settled in East Dedham Square along Mill Street, where property was purchased long ago Hartnett Park, dedicated to Corporal William Hartnett, who was killed during World War I, is a few hundred feet °m.f you Teredo look for the Hartnett name in the writings of the Historians and the Genealogists, you will find vague references to it. I think that the Hartnett name, and its spelling in Irish (O'Neide) is now clear It is a direct translation of the Irish into the English, and by that is meant that the pronunciation is the same in both languages Investigation into some Irish words and names that sound suspiciously like our family name have only led to disappointments, For instance, Irish King No. 164 was Aedh Uaireodhnach who ruled as high king of Ireland m the Eighth Century, and his name has some familiarity with regard to the pronunciation of ours. Since we have many kingly forbears, it is almost impossible to ascertain if there is any connection between this guy and us. The Annals of Ireland relate that after 733 A. D., there was no mention of the Annual Assembly that used to take place at Tara in County Meath for thousands of years. In 811 A. D., the Northern Ui Neill (or O'Neills) had done something that was in violation of the rights of sanctuary at the monastery of Tallaght (which is near Dublin) and the monastic authorities had placed the yearly assembly under an interdict (or edict). The High King of Ireland Aedh Oirdnidhe (or Uaireodhnach), who was also the King of Ailech, proceeded to hold the Assembly. Ailech is remote from Tara, being the seat of the rulers of Connaught (or Connacht). The Assembly failed, because "neither horse nor chariot came hither" to Tara. Then, the violated sanctuary of Tallaght received reparations in the form of many gifts that were made to it. You may note that the High King of Ireland's name is almost identical in pronunciation to our family name, as it is pronounced in Irish. However, this High King was not of our family line (which is the line of Eber), but instead, he is of the family line of Eremon, who was Eber's brother. J. B. Finlay wrote a book entitles "Ireland - The Irish" in 1894, and he lists three Irish High Kings, all who were in the line of Eremon as follows: King No. 140 Aedh (or Aodh) who died in church at the age of 77. King No. 141 Aedh (or Hugh) Slaine who was assassinated in 587 A. D. King No. 143 Aedh (or Hugh) Uaireodhnach who was killed in battle in 591 A. D. King No. 144 Malcolm who was slain in 618 A. D. He was the son of Aedh (King No. 140) "Aedh" (or Aodh) is sounded as "EE" or "Hugh", when it it is translated from the Irish Its meaning refers to "fire" or "light", but generally, it means "fire". It is the same ending that is found in the Irish name of "McGee", which is the same name as "McHugh". An "Aire" is an Irish noble, but a "Uaire" may be a reference to "time", or it may also be "Ui'Aire", which is the same as "O'Aire", which means "the grandson of the "Aire" (or the noble). "Nac" or "nach" seems to mean "Isn't it?" "Odh" means "from" The direct translation of "Aedh Uaireodhnach" seems to be "Fire - Time - From - Isn't it?" This would appear to mean "It was Hugh's time", or more practically translated would be "Wasn't it Hugh's time to lead?" or more directly, "The time of Hugh's leadership". It could also mean "The end of the time of Hugh" because, just prior to the rule of Aedh Uaireodhnach, the sovereign's name was "Hugh Slaine, and just before him was another "Aedh" or "Hugh", so that there were three "Aedh's" in a row, followed by a son of the first one. Perhaps, by now, you can see how easy it is to get confused. Since many of the Irish expressions in idiom can reflect somewhat different meaning from their direct translations, this one is hard to pin down. The only reason that it was mentioned was because it has a similarity in pronunciation to our family name of O'hAirtneide. Perhaps, we should congratulate the Irish teacher who introduced the proper spelling of the family name to our Irish cousins in County Tipperary. The teaching of the Irish language has become mandatory in Ireland at this time.

UAITHNE

In the Gaelic clan, and as a part of the Brehon Laws, under which Ireland was governed for so long before the English and Normans arrived, the Uaithne was an officer in each territory whose duty it was to provide for those who had not any means of their own to do so. It has always been the Irish family's responsibility to care for their own, but where there are no kin, this Welfare Agent became responsible for them. The word "aithne", which means "pillar", refers to an officer who had, by law, the power to levy a rate for the support of these dependent ones. He was name for being a pillar of endurance and attendance to them. Seumas MacManus, in his book entitled "The Story of the Irish Race", under "Hospitality in Ancient Ireland" identifies other duties of the Uaithne in more detail. It has often been said that the O'Harney clan, who are not a part of our family, may have developed their family name from this source. It is not the source of our family name. The O'Harney name, in Irish, is "OhAthairne", and I would repeat that they are not of our family, our tribe or our clan, and this information is put forth only to emphasize that fact in any Genealogy search. WHO ARE THE IRISH ANYHOW? Evidence of human habitation in Ireland goes as far back as 6,000 B. C. The earliest people were uncivilized hunter-gatherers and later, small farmers. However, we cannot deal with such antiquity. The earliest written records are from the Seventh Century A. D. Prior to that, the Irish shanachies (or story tellers) and bards kept the country's records by poetical rhymes, that were passed down from century to century as oral history. They recited these rhymes at times of feasting and at celebrations. The Annals of the Four Masters say that a colony of settlers reached Ireland before the Deluge of Noah's time. The colony consisted of three men named Bith, Ladhra and Fintan and fifty damsels, who landed near Bantry Bay in West Cork, about forty days before the Deluge. This area is only a short distance from Inishkeen, which is also in West Cork, and where a group of Hartnetts are said to live. Another group of colonists who are called Partholonians after their leader, settled in a part of Ireland near to Dublin, but a plague would wipe out most or all of them. These groups were Scythian in origin, and the Celtic language is also Scythian in its beginnings. FOMORS were said by some of the Historians to be the earliest group to locate in Ireland. They were sea pirates by trade, and they settled along the northern coasts of Ireland. When one of their leaders insulted a Bard, who was a member of a later group of settlers, it caused a war, and the Fomorians were driven away, and lost their authority in the country. No doubt, some of them survived to blend into the ethnic groups that would come to occupy all of Ireland. Some legends have the Fomors as being a race of giants, and their leader, Balor of the Evil Eye, was able to open his eye in the presence of his enemies, and a gas emanated from it, killing them. There are many old tales about the Fomorians and other old Irish groups. Are we Fomorian in background? NO! Definitely, not! FIRBOLG is the name of the next group to enter Ireland. The name is pronounced by some Irish as Fir-bollig, but that is not its true pronunciation. In Irish history, they are also referred to as being the Belgae of Britain, the Ernaidhe, the Ernaians, the Ernaechs, the Fir Domnians and the Damnonians. They were the first of the three great waves of Celtic settlers in Ireland, after emigrating from Scythia. Some people think of Scythia as being in northern Greece, and some of these people may have been from that area, but Scythia encompassed much greater part of the Near East than one country. Their name has been translated by some to mean "the belly spear people". The Firbolg were a race of small, swarthy farmer types who populated and ruled Ireland for a while. Their ancestors are found in greater abundance in the northern counties of the country. Legend says that, after their defeat by the next wave of Celts in two great battles, they were driven to the seaside caves of the island, where they have changed in size, shape and appearance, and they are what is known in Irish story telling as "The Little People" of Ireland. The TUATHA DE DANANN were like the Druids of Ireland. They were the second group of Celts to migrate into the country, and they defeated the Firbolgs in two battles, and at the second battle of Moytura took over the rule of Ireland for about 180 years. They added a great deal to the culture of the country, and to its civilization. O'Hart the Historian, in his "Irish Pedigrees" says that "Dodanin" was the ancestor of the Danai, who were Greek in origin. It is generally agreed that the Tuatha de Danann were from Scythia, in northern Greece, and that they wandered across Europe until they finally reached Ireland. By race, they were tall, blond artisans who were known for their mystical and magic powers. It was believed that they could control the forces of nature. Their name means "The Sons of the Goddess Dana". They were to be defeated, and to become the subjects of the next wave of Celts to invade Ireland, but they retained much of their authority in subsequent generations, and they became renown in such areas as the arts, the sciences and especially in the Brehon Laws of the times. These Irish Laws existed in Ireland until the English imposed their own Common Law (and their Penal Laws) upon the Irish, so that they could justify their acquisitions of Irish lands by force. The MILESIANS were the next Celtic group to enter Ireland. We are Milesian in origin! We shall return, for a time, to Noah and his Ark. That is where the story of the Milesians is traced. The Annals of the Four Masters say that the Celtic language is Scythian in origin, and no one argues with that conclusion. Today, the word "Celtic" is not used to define the Irish language, and this form of speech is now called "Irish". Noah had sons named Shem and Ham. He also had one called "Javan" who was also called "Iauau". Javan had a son called "Dodanin", who was the ancestor of the Tuatha de Danann of Ireland. Going back a bit, there were three Celtic tribes that entered Ireland, and the Tuatha de Dannan were the second of those three. Separate from the others, there was Japhet. He was the originator of the Milesian line, or the third group of Celts to invade Ireland. Japhet had a son named Magog, and Magog was the font of the world. Magog had a son named Baoth, and when Noah divided the world, Scythia became the land of Baoth. Then, Phoeniusa Farsaidh was a son of Boath, and he was the originator of the Phoenicians, about whom we all studied when we were children. The Phoenicians were the travelers over the Mediterranean Sea who settled along the coasts of Africa. The Irish word "feine" which means "family", comes to us directly from their name. The Phoenicians were to settle at places called Miletus and Mycale on the shores of the Agean Sea, and they became known as Milesians because of their heroism. Today, the Irish word for "hero" is Mileadh". The town of Fermoy is said to mean "the men of the plain of the Phoenicians". The history of the Milesians centers partly around their king who had a baby bitten by a poisonous snake, Their king took the baby to Moses, the Law Giver, to be healed. It is said that from that time, the Milesians sought to find a land where there would be no snakes, and when they traveled, their banner had the symbol of the serpent upon it, lest they forget their quest. The Milesians left their homeland in Scythia to cross northern Italy and southern France until they reached the Iberian Peninsula, and the mountains of Spain. They stayed there for some three hundred years, and they even had one of their own as king. They heard of a land to their north where, it was said, that no snakes existed, and they deemed it to be Innisfail, or their Island of Destiny, a name that we still use today. There are two other stories that should be related about the decision by the Milesians to enter Ireland. One of them relates to the Milesians erecting a very tall tower, from the top of which they espied Ireland, and decided to find out more about the place. However, there must have been some sea commerce that would have made them aware of the location of Ireland. The second matter is that Ith, the brother of Milesius. He and a relative were sent to Ireland to seek out its potential, and Ith was treacherously slain by the occupants of the land. It was after Milesius had died that his sons and their cousins, with their followers, set sail for Ireland. They surprised the inhabitants of the land, who were the ruling Tuatha de Danann. The inhabitants were unhappy with the new arrivals, and in the manner of the times, it was agreed that the Milesians would return to their ships, to go offshore, and to return again without the element of surprise. You must remember that honor was a very important matter in that tribal society. When the Miletians went back to sea, the Tuatha de Danann, who were purported to be able to control the elements of nature, called up a great storm. Some of the Milesian ships were sunk, and others sailed away, to land on another part of the island. The Miletians regrouped their forces, and they fought battles against the Tuatha de Danann, whom they defeated to gain control of Ireland. This family of Miletians would hold control of Ireland for three thousand years, until the Anglo Norman invasions of the country, and the defeat of the Irish, (who included the Hartnetts and others) at the Battle of Limerick. That was the place (where my father told me, and his father before him, and so on), that so many of the Hartnett family were killed, and that we were almost wiped out. Physically, the Miletians were a race of strong, well-built men who had great organizational ability. They were skilled in fighting, were fair of face, and had dark hair. Most of the Irish of today are in their image. With them, the Milesians brought a tribe called the Brigantes, whose family name is now "Brogan", and they settled into much of the provinces of Munster and Leinster (or the southern half of Ireland). These Brigantes were a tall people, and they were, in their time, considered to be gigantic in stature.

The Search for Information

The search for information still goes on. Information is everywhere, and then, it may be non-existent. The meaningful statements that are made by one researcher are criticized by another. Too often, the casual and the uninformed are adjudged to be experts, when the reality of the situation is that they are demeaning and boastful. If knowledge is lacking, and information is limited, it is easiest to demand proof, and to cry "Foul". Curse those who have gone before. Recognize that publication without censorship was not possible in the British Isles, and particularly, in Ireland, until very recently. It still exists in many forms today. The English Government has maintained its system of Secret Service since as far back as the 1400's, and it is often documented in government records. Assassination and perfidy were principal weapons that were used to gain and to keep control in widespread countries of the world in the most expedient manner. It has been so in Ireland. The reports of murder and treachery of the English against the Irish are even found in English records. A special type of torture was established for Ireland, called the Penal Laws. They will often be discussed, as they permeated all aspects of Irish life. They originated from the application of English laws to Ireland, and the elimination of the ancient Irish Brehon Laws. Under the English system, they say that "we are a nation of laws". They do not say that "We are a nation of just laws". Under the English Common Law system, whatever law is enacted, it is the law of the land. If it is in the interest of the Court to retain the enacted law, justice is swept aside. This situation is supposed to be policed by a system of Courts, who are appointed by the same people who enact the laws, so how can the system work properly? When The Roman Catholic Pope visited to America in this year of 2008, one of the things that he stressed, which has been overlooked by everyone, because of their individual interests, was that all laws MUST be just laws, and most of them are not. This system of unjust laws was brought to extremes in Ireland, when in 1800 or so, there were 223 capital (or death penalty) offenses for the Irish, including the cutting down of young trees, and the stealing of anything with a value of five shillings or more. The truth of all of this can be hidden from view through written lies, ignoring the cries and pleas of those who are the dispossessed. This matter has become a gigantic puzzle, as there are things that have come to light by their absence, as well as their presence. Therefore, you should, in part, accept my witness as to the depth of the research that has been done. It has been a passion, encompassing much of the material available in New England, and perhaps this area has more data available than any other, excluding Trinity College or Dublin Castle. From what can be discerned, Trinity's hallowed halls probably do not have any records of the Hartnett ancestry beyond those that I have been placing before you. At least some of the Dublin Castle records are included herein. The Hartnett name is stated everywhere as being prominent in Counties Kerry and Limerick. However, there are maps of Ireland with family names added to them, which show the Hartnett name as being prominent in County Cork, also. It is now fairly evident that the Hartnetts are from the Kerry tribe known as the Ciarraidhe Luachra, of the sept of O'Neide. They were the chiefs of the plain of Kerry. Others from this tribe are the people named O'Connor Kerry. The counties of the southwest of Ireland make up a part of the Province of Munster. It is a beautiful, but remote area, with the largest city nearby being Limerick. It was our great grandfather, Lawrence Hartnett who joined the Royal Irish Constabulary, and who was sent away from the Limerick area to serve with the forces of the Crown in some other locations. The regulations for serving in the Royal Irish Constabulary included the requirement that its members should serve in counties that were not associated with their past lives, so that a separation could be maintained between the service to the Crown and the obligations that one might have to members of his family or his friends. Its purpose was to isolate the member of the Constabulary from as many of his own people as might be possible. In addition, the member of the Constabulary was subject to the orders of officers who were not of native Irish stock, but must be either English or of Anglo-Irish persuasion so that allegiance to the British Crown could be ascertained in issues where allegiance to Ireland must be forfeited. In order to maintain this separation of interests in favor of the Crown, the members of the Royal Irish Constabulary were relocated from post to post throughout the country, so that allegiances would not be formed between them and the people and places where they served. This helped to ensure that unpopular English laws (as laws could not be enacted in Ireland after the Act of Union in 1802 A. D.) could be enforced against the native Irish without concern of rebellious actions by the members of the Royal Irish Constabulary. When one has no ties to the people and places against which he is enforcing unpopular laws, there is less personal sentiment involved. Many of these laws were of a harsh nature, designed to maintain the subjugation of the Irish in a manner akin to slavery to their English masters. The Royal Irish Constabulary would be the ones who provided for the protection of the people who would perform the evictions of the Irish, and prosecute the members of the Irish organizations that took reprisal actions against the English land owners in instances of abject cruelty.- They were trained as soldiers, and they were empowered to carry carbines in instances where they were needed to enforce the laws of the Crown against the Irish when it became necessary to shoot their fellow Irishmen. Lawrence Hartnett of somewhere in County Limerick was the first one to join the Royal Irish Constabulary. No one, to date, has obtained any information with regard to his service in Ireland. The records of his service, if they exist, would be found only in England, possibly in a place called Kee. There are people who advertise that they will perform paid research for records of this nature, but no one has attempted to obtain those of Lawrence Hartnett. Lawrence also had a son named Denis, who was my grandfather, and who also became a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary, and the records of Denis Hartnett have been made available, and I have included the information from them in my writings. Since Denis Hartnett was probably born in the early 1850's from my calculations, the time of his father's birth is not known. We do know that one must be of full age to enter into the military service of the Royal Irish Constabulary. We also know that its members were not allowed to marry for the first seven years of their service, and beyond that time, marriage was discouraged. When a member married, his wife might be required to live in a barracks or a police station, which was more like a house. One portion of the dwelling would be available for police services, and the remainder could function as the trooper's home. In Killyon, where my grandfather Denis lived while serving, the second floor was his home, and the first floor was for police business. Lawrence Hartnett had a number of children, and they were probably spaced about two years apart. We do not know in what order they were born, to determine whether they were younger or older than Denis Hartnett. If the date of Denis' birth is close, and the seven year factor and full age is added for Lawrence Hartnett, it is likely that he entered military service before the Great Famine of 1845 to 1849 and possibly as far back as the late 1830's. Since the force was organized at that time, and Lawrence did reach the highest rank that an Irishman could attain as Sergeant, it seems possible that he could have entered the service in its early years. Lawrence Hartnett had, among other children, a son named Denis, who also became a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary. Denis was married in 1889, and he took an early retirement in 1898, perhaps due to the size of his family, and possibly due to family illness. At that time, the Royal Irish Constabulary was downsizing, and with five children and a pregnant wife, it was time to leave the military service. Also, the enmity toward the members of the Crown forces was increasing, as Irish nationalism was growing. As a part of his retirement, or as an opportunity that had arisen, Denis Hartnett was able to acquire a lease for "lives" on a stone house located at Knockbarron, not far from the town of Kinnitty. A lease for "lives" is usually for two lives, and is said to be for 31 years or so. In this instance, Denis Hartnett would live there with his family until he died, and then, his son, Kieran would live there until he passed away. The house is known as Bernard's Castle, but it is not the real castle. It was an outbuilding of stone, which may have been used by one of the property managers, when the area was owned by one English landlord. Nearby land was rented, and it was used to grow cattle, and whatever else was needed. Later, the adjacent wooded land would be declared to be a town forest, and Kieran Hartnett would become the "wood sawyer" or forest ranger for that property. Kinnitty is located in County Offaly. The county name had been changed from its old name of Offaly to "Kings County" by the English, and the town of Birr had been changed in name to Parsontown. After Ireland obtained its independence, the names of County Offaly and the Town of Birr were restored. Knockbarron is located about one or two miles northerly from the center of Kinnitty. The Hartnett family of the past few generations knew little about its own name. They did know that it used to have an "O" prefix, and that has been borne out in conversations with other Hartnett families that have dropped their "O" prefix, also. For instance, the Hartnett guy who was the Chief of the Boston Fire Department, and is now long retired from the job, remembers his family having the "O" prefix, and dropping it upon entry into America, in hope of seeming to be more Anglicized, so as to obtain work more easily. My own father said that his father was aware that the prefix had been dropped in our family, presumably so that someone could get a job, and that was probably Lawrence Hartnnett, upon his entrance to the Royal Irish Constabulary. In the 1600's there was a mandate that all Irish names shall be Anglicized. Some of the branches of many families maintained their "O" prefix into the 1800's but mostl of them seemed to have changed to the present form of their names in English, or something close to it, back in those olden days. My father thought that our original name, in Irish was sounded like O'Hartnelia, and that is close to the correct pronunciation, but it is not accurate. You should remember that the spoken Irish was officially banned, and in some areas was not used at all. The only place where that edict was ignored was in certain areas that we now refer to as "The Gaeltacht", which is pronounced as "The Gaelta" Prior to the Norman conquest of England which took place around 1066 A. D., there were no family names as we know them now. Even earlier than that, before the age of Christianity (or the Coming of Christ), a man received a name only when he became known among his people for some characteristic, activity or achievement. The interpretation of our family name by all of the Irish Historians as an Irish idiom is "Battle Bear", and one of them goes on to say that may also mean "Battle Stone". It is an obvious reference to the way that some of us "lumber about" in our normal walking patterns. It could also be a reference to our strength in battle, as the family has genes in it whereby many of us are of a very large size when compared to many other tribes of smaller people. You may wish to know how many people received their names. Please note the following: By 1100 A. D., about 45% of the men of Ireland had second names (or surnames). 36.5% were named after the locality in which they lived 34.5% were identified by their relationships to another person About 12% were named for their occupations The remaining 17% were named from their "knicknames". Of this group, many were designated by their physical characteristics, such as Kennedy (meaning "Horrible Head"), Campbell (meaning "Crooked Mouth"), Long, Short, Little, etc. It should be apparent that the "Battle Bears", if that is what we are, were a unique species. However, when it becomes evident that we are a part of the line of Heber (or Eber), and that we are of the clan of O'Neide, all that other stuff falls by the wayside, and we must resort to the common axiom that those who would attempt to known for interpreting the meanings of names, do so in a way that best suits the end result, which is to please the recipient of the name. That is quite evident in the way that those who profess themselves as Genealogists have established a Coat of Arms for the Hartnett family, which is a complete fabrication, and is based upon the legends of Saint Gobnet, who flourished in the Munster area where our family name can be found. It would be nice to think that we, as a family, are somewhat related to that magnificent species of animal which is often identified as a god. The ancient Irish thought of the bear to be associated with strength and power, equal to none other. Only the mightiest of the mighty could aspire to such a name. Also, the ancient records tell us that the symbolism of the first letter in a name was of great significance particularly in a society where almost no one could read or write. It has been said that among the oldest of customs was the symbolism of the first letter of a name being an "A", as it was the first letter of the first man on Earth, "Adam", and the first Patriarch, "Abraham". Before Christianity flourished in the world, the Druids of the Irish tribe of the Tuatha de Danann who inhabited Ireland and ruled it for almost three hundred years, used the "triad", or the three lines that form the'letter A as a symbol of mysticism and reverence. Their magical powers were in combinations of three, which were dominant in their worship, their administration of their governmental duties and their applications of the Brehon Laws under which the country was ruled. The Irish tribes were meeting at Tara in county Meath in 1300 B C which is two hundred years before the birth of the Roman Empire, and had occupied Tara for almost a thousand years before that. When Saint Patrick was kidnapped into slavery in Ireland, escaped, became a priest, and ultimately returned to convert Ireland from Paganism to Christianity, he was most effective in his preaching when he invoked the mysticism of the Three Divine Persons in One God by illustrating it, using the shamrock, with its three leaves on one stem. In the Irish language, the necessity of having to make three strokes to form the letter "A" made this symbol especially powerful, and far beyond the commonplace You may find some who say that families which use the "O' or the "Ui" prefix are said to be Milesian in Origin. This does not always follow, as we know the the prefix merely means "grandson of. The feminine version of the same prefix in Ireland in "ni" uncapitalized. The "Mac" prefix is similar to the "O" prefix. The Milesians were originally members of the Scythian race that migrated across Europe through northern Italy to settle in Spain for several hundreds of years. King Miledh ruled in Spain, and he died before his people reached the little green island, which had been foretold as their destiny because snakes did not exist there. It is said that in Ireland, the Banshee (or Bean Sidhe or Fairy Woman) howls at the ancestral homes of the Milesian families when a death is imminent, and it (or she) can take various forms, often becoming a beautiful woman clad in a long green dress, combing her black tresses with a silver comb. Sometimes, it (or she) appears in the shape of a Demon who shrieks overhead, following the funeral cortege enroute to the land at the graveside, which is known as God's Little Acre. For those who are not familiar with the Gaelic (or Irish) language, those names which begin with a vowel (such as Airtneide) will have a small "h" placed in front of the name, and will be sounded as O'hArtneide or O'hEili (O'Healey), or O'hArrington (O'Harington). In their Dictionary dated 1805 A. D., Walker and Boswell set forth "The Rules to be Observed by the Natives of Ireland in Order to Obtain a Just Pronunciation of English". They set forth that: The "Ai" is to pronounced as "Ay". The following "r" is to be "burred" (or sounded as "storrum" instead of "storm", "neid" is to be sounded by flicking one's tongue against the back of his mouth The following "e" (or it may be an "a") is silent. In "A Pocket Guide to Irish Place Names", which was a publication in 1984 of Irish "place names", which is a reprint of information prepared by the famous P. W. Joyce of Belfast, who was a noted researcher of Irish literature a hundred years earlier, the Introduction to his book contains interesting information regarding translations from the Gaelic (Irish) to the English. Note that the book was originally published in 1878: 1. The Anglicizing of Irish names was first done by trying to write down the Gaelic (or Irish) name in English, and then, to pronounce it in English. Much was lost in so doing. 2. The placing of an "h" in front of a vowel changes the sound of the consonants. It is called "aspirated". 3. Eclipsis is when an eclipsed consonant has its sound altogether suppressed. When O'hAirtneide is written as O'hA'ird'neide' instead, and a "d" replaces our middle "t", the "d" replaces our middle "t", as is done by some scholars, and the "d" becomes eclipsed, or silent. The resultant name becomes O'Harnett. Simarly, if the name were to be written as O'hA'ird'neade, it would also sound as O'Harnett. We and the Harnetts are of the same Irish family name, and a simple letter separates the pronunciation of our names. Dublin Castle records tell us that Harnois and Harnedy are also part of our clan, but I would question whether or not Harnois actually is. MacLysaght, the Genealogist, says that Harknett is the same name, and that Hartnetty is occasionally found in west Cork. (I also know that Hartneddy is somewhat commonplace in southwest Munster). The Harnet and the Harnett families are our relatives, but not the Harney family of Kerry (who are actually the O'hAthairne family according to Woulfe, another Genealogist). The commercial genealogists at the Historical Research Center (which organization uses several different names), is one of the principal agencies in America that mass produces genealogies for everyone who wants one. They list our name incorrectly as also belonging to some Norman invaders in 1181 A. D. That reference is probably to a clan of Hodnetts who, as Anglo-Normans, are spoken about later. This research group, which shows a Coat of Arms that they purport to belong to the Hartnett family, has been fabricated to fit the fancy of an applicant for this service, and it is predicated upon an earlier mistake that related our family name to Saint Gobnait of Cork. Saint Gobnait is revered in west Cork, somewhere near Inchigeela, by a large statue and by a cemetery which carries her name. I have been there, and the cemetery is a very holy place. People come there at all times of the day to walk the Stations of the Cross along the narrow lanes within the cemetery, using the ornate tombstones as their markers for the Stations. As they do so, they pass by the many graves of the Cronin family who are interred there with others. Other people come to visit those that are interred, and to leave their flowers and offerings at the grave sites. Saint Gobnait is renown as the patroness of bees. It seems that an enemy was making preparations to attack the local community. This saint, a very holy person, was prevailed upon to aid in the defense of the settlement. She set a lot of bees upon the invaders, and they fled from the site. An early histographer used her name as the basis of a Coat of Arms because she lived somewhere near to where our family name was prevalent, and her name sounds vaguely like our name. If you would study Heraldry, you would become aware that, if a direct correlation cannot be made with a name, it is the usual practice to use a pun in a Coat of Arms. In this case, the Coat of Arms that has been ascribed by the research Center to our family incorrectly, used the pun, as it displays a bee prominently in the center of the Coat of Arms. In reality, there is no Coat of Arms for our family that is valid. That does not mean that there never was one. Each Irish family or clan was identified in early times by its shield. The placement of that shield was the clan's rallying point and it was the clan symbol. In the 1920's, when Michael Collins was sent to England to negotiate a treaty with the English, and he returned to Ireland with guns to shoot down his former comrades, and money to pay for the Anglo-Irish army that he needed to support his pro-English Treaty, (which was rejected by the Irish Republican Army), the British guns were used by his people to shell The Four Courts in Dublin, setting it afire, and killing his former comrades in arms. During that fire at the Four Courts, the genealogy records of Ireland went up in flames. Collins would be assassinated in West Cork by members of the Irish Republican Army during Ireland's Civil War, which followed the acceptance of a Dominion status for Ireland by the pro English people of Dublin. Independence was not achieved for the Twenty Six counties of Ireland until 1939, and the recent Twenty Three Year War, which just ended in a Truce was the outgrowth of the Treaty of 1922. It may be interesting to some to note that Eoin MacDuffy, who directed the shelling of the Four Courts building which contained members of his own Sinn Fein party, would command a group of Irishmen who fought in Spain's revolution as The Blue Shirtson the side of Generalissimo Francisco Franco. When one of the Four Courts buildings was in flames, one of the Sinn Fein leaders named Cathal Brugha (or Carl Burgess) appeared at the door of the building, and he advanced down its front steps, with a gun in each hand, to be shot down by his former comrades. Today, the memory of Cathal Brugha is enshrined in a song called "The Foggy Dew" which memorializes the efforts of the Dublin Irish in their fight for Irish freedom. The fire in the Four Courts building destroyed Ireland's treasury of Heraldry records, except for those few that remained in private homes or libraries, and that is one reason why there are few valid records of the Coats of Arms or clan symbols of Ireland. In consolation, however, we Hartnetts do have our own "Battle Cry". It is a commonly used one, and it is applied to many Irish clans. It is "O'Hairtneide Aboo", and it means "O'Hartnett to the fore" or alternately "O'Hartnett, fight!" J* OTHER HARTNETT FAMILIES

Some other Hartnett families that I either know about, or have met, will be a part of this next discussion We will start with CORNELIUS HARNETT, who was born in Dublin, Ireland, and who became a businessman in South Carolina. He was an American patriot, and his prominence is noted both before and after the American Revolutionary War. He is celebrated in an article published by the American Irish Historical Society of New York which was written around 1920 A. D. as being rebellious against the English yoke in America. The spelling of his name is as shown, and it is believed that Hartnett County (or alternately Harnett County) in one of his nearby southern states is named from him, or from another of our distant relatives. An L. Hartneit, who was 40 years old, landed in New Orleans as an immigrant in 1820 A. D., and he took passage to Mississippi, according to immigration records for the time prior to 1850 A. D. John Hartner landed here in Maryland in 1765 A. D., and later Charles Hartner arrived in 1834 A D followed by John George Hartner in 1855 A. D. All three ended in Philadelphia, but it is not known if they were of our lineage. They probably were not. William Hartnes arrived in America in 1675, and seven other Hartnes immigrants disembarked here in 1767 and 1840, all of whom are not known to have family affiliations. Their landing sites are not known. Thomas Hartnett began our parade into this country in 1798 A. D. at Philadelphia, and he was followed by Mary Hartnet into Norfolk, Virginia in 1820 A. D. James Hartnet arrived in Philadelphia in 1833 A. D. There were sixteen Harnets recorded as arriving in America prior to 1870, which was during the time of the "Clearances" in Ireland, and most of them landed in Philadelphia, with "America" and "Salem" and "New England" listed as other destinations for them. Although Daniel Hartnett landed in Philadelphia some seventy years after Thomas Hartnett, by far the greater number of Hartnetts migrated to Boston. The Great Famine of 1845 to 1849 A. D. must have been extremely harsh upon them, for we find that many of them who were apparently suited to work in America were sent here in 1849 A. D. Cornelius was aged 14 years, Ellen aged 21 years, John aand Mary were aged 20 years, Lawrence was 26 years old, Mary was aged 28, John and Dennis were aged 30, and Patrick was 40 years old when they all arrived during that year of 1849 A. D. Some, if not all of them, went to the Irish ghetto of the times, adjacent to Boston, which was Charletown. Between 1850 and 1870 A. D., the Registry of Deeds records for Norfolk County in Massachusetts, (which county is located just southerly and southwesterly of Boston), show that Anne, David, John, George, Ann, Mary and Mildred, all of whom were Hartnetts, were involved in real estate transactions for Norfolk County in the Town of Dedham. During the next fifteen years, John, Mary and Michael Hartnett obtained ownership of properties on Bussey Street and at Mill Village, both of which are in East Dedham. Between 1890 and 1910 A. D., Alice S. Hartnett purchased property in East Milton. Charlotte L. Hartnett purchased property in Milton, and David Hartnett purchased in Dedham. Julia Hartnett owned property on Diamond Street in Walpole, and William F. Hartnett bought property in Brookline, all of which are parts of (or suburbs of) the City of Boston. From 1911 to 1945, Frances, Catherine, James, John and Joseph, all who were Hartnetts, transacted real estate deals, many of which took place on Hope Street at Mill Village in East Dedham. Others that I am aware of who have the Hartnett name are a Leonard Hartnett, who was the 1984 Chairman of the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Plainville, Massachusetts. Lawrence M. Hartnett died on December 8, 1983 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Lawrence left two sisters, who were Nora (Harper) and Helen (Lenhart), along with two brothers, who were named Patrick and William Hartnett. He also left two children with the names of Eileen Hartnett and Jane O'Mara. Doctor Hartnett of Tiverton, Rhode Island, is a well known resident of that area, and his lineage is said to go back to the Famine period, which is an unusual circumstance, as he is of the Protestant faith. Perhaps, his ancestors were "Soupers". What is a"Souper", one might ask? During the Great Famine of 1845 to 1849 A. D., an Irishman could get soup for nourishment from Protestants, if he would give up his Catholic faith, and join with their religion. The word for this activity was "proselytizing" and it was widespread among our lovely English friends, when we were all starving to death. This reference to "Soupers" became more prominent in more recent years when, in Belfast, in Northern Ireland, a "Trial by Judge, Only" system was adopted as a tactic against the Irish Republican Army, and the system was referred to as "The Diplock Courts". These judges accepted statements from police informants without proof of their authenticity as evidence in their trials, which were mostly against Catholics in that Protestant dominated country. Each of these informants was called a "Supergrass", which came from adding the Irish slang word for an informant onto the word "Souper" that related to accepting soup for conversion to the Protestant faith. Therefore, they accepted the English money to become traitors and informants against their own, and in many instances, the information that was put forth was inaccurate, spiteful and self serving. When working in an area northerly from Boston, in the town of Newburyport, I noted an "L. Hartnett Construction Company" which was operated by John Hartnett, who looks like one of our family, but his father was married to a woman named "Noone". They were from Corofin, which is located near to Lake Corrib in county Galway. It is interesting to note that the Annals of the Four Masters list an O'Haidhnidh as a chief of the Gno Beag, which is a district along the western banks of Lough Corrib, between that lake and the Bay of Galway, in the Barony of Moycullen, which is in County Galway. Most of the other Hartnetts that I have met in places like upstate New York do have appearances like the rest of us. You may ask "How do we differ from the ancient Irish?" The "AuldeWans" tell us that we were a mixed race, who were predominantly Celtic, being tall, blue-eyed and fair of hair, who enjoyed being involved in enterprise and in great deeds. In the Irish records of several centuries ago, I found that Mary Wall of LacNeil in the barony of West Muscry in County Cork married Donal O'Sullivan, and they had children. Their daughter, Mary Sullivan married a Hartnett from LacNeil, and they had children. This is one of the few references to Hartnetts in the Irish records. In 1298 A. D., Thomas O'Hairectaigh, who was the abbot of Ballyshannon died. His name sounds more like "Harrity" than like "Hartnett", but I have not run across another name like that in my research. Recently, my friend, Dr. Bill O'Connell, who is a podiatrist, and is a member of the Irish Cultural Centre of New England, told me that a Brian Hartnett recently got married in Inchigeela in West Cork, and that he was a relative of Brian, so he went home to attend the wedding. HARTNETT SQUARE is located at Milton and Walnut Streets in East Dedham, Massachusetts. It is a small memorial park that has a granite monument and plaque with a bench, and it names Corporal William F. Hartnett as one of those who made the supreme sacrifice for America at Argone in France during World War I on October 25, 1918 A. D. The small area is Corporal William F. Hartnett Park, and it was erected by the citizens of Dedham in 1920 A. D. You may note that many of the Hartnetts who migrated to the Boston area during An Gorta Morna (or The Great Famine) lived in, and owned properties in this area. The Meuse Argonne area was one of the places where American armies fought against the German forces in France during World War I. I do not know if the date of the battle coincides with the date of death that is listed on the memorial plaque. In 1982,1 spoke with Edward Hartnett of Winchester, Mass. He was 67 years old, and retired. His mother and father had been born in Charlestown, near Boston, but beyond, his family were from an unknown location in Ireland. His older sister had the family records. They had dropped their "O" prefix to their Hartnett name when the family arrived here, to make it easier to obtain work, as the "No Irish need apply" signs were to be seen in many places. While he had a brother named Kieran, and that name had been taken from his "Shea" side of the family. He did have two sisters, who were named Alberta and Eleanor who were among the seven children in his family. DROMCOLLIHER

This town deserves special mention for several reasons. The family connection to it, which was cited to me, does not appear to exist. When I went on one of my trips to Ireland, all of the local B & B's in the Birre area seemed to be occupied, and I was directed to an unmarked home of a man whom I found to be William Pardy. When I told him my name, he asked me a few questions, and later, he asked if I would like him to escort me to the homes of a few local people who were familiar with my family. He said that he was formerly a neighbor of the Hartnetts of Killaun Lane, but that he did not know my father, but did know Joe Hartnett and his wife, Josephine. I was overjoyed at the prospect of meeting neighbors of my uncle, and so, on a pitch black night, Mr. Pardy drove me through the Bog of Allen to the home of a Mrs. Reed (or something like that). There were no lights, and once the headlights of the car were turned off, all was blackness at this cottage in the boglands of County Offaly. Upon the opening of a door, light filtered out so that we could find out how to enter the place. There were about seven or eight people who were crowded into the small room to meet me. Like Mr. Pardy, Mrs Reede, who was a widow, was a neighbor of the Hartnetts, and was interested in hearing whatever I had to say. There isn't much happening in that blackness of a weekday night, so that my presence was an important occasion. I found out that Mrs. Reede had been to America twice, but it was only on visits to relatives, and she really didn't know much about where she was or what she saw while there. Of interest was a man who joined us after a while, and he was introduced as a distant relative of mine. He wore the pin of a Temperance man, and he was huge, filling the full size of a door, as he entered, while ducking his head. We talked for a while, and those who were present, who were neighbors of Joe Hartnett's family, were curious about America. Mr. Pardy and I left there after a while, and we went to visit at the nearby home of Willie Joe Boland. This was another scene. His house was lighted, and more modern. He had been employed for many years by old Mister Byrnes, who was one of our relatives that lived on Killaun Lane. Old Mister Byrnes had found the buried gold that had been owned by the Leprechaun, and both he and his son had suffered from the effects of the curse that befalls everyone who meddles with the pots of gold owned by the Little People. Both of them had both gone daft. The discussion with Willie Joe Boland was extremely interesting, as he had a full knowledge of the area and of its people, having attained much of it from old Mr. Burns who was known to have an ability to tell stories and tales about Ireland and things Irish. Such people are called "Seannachies" or "story tellers" and Willie Joe Boland was the closest thing to one of them that I have ever encountered in my life. The evening was a continuing outpouring of facts and names and places, and upon my returning to my rental area, I immediately wrote down all of the facts that had been set forth during the evening. One of the things that I thought was most important was the name of a town that Willie Joe Boland told me about. He said that our family, the Hartnetts, lived in a place in Limerick called Dromcolliher. I now think that he was wrong, but I went there to find out what I could. Dromcolliher is an isolated village, and I can only remember a few streets running through it, with a few local stores to service the needs of local farmers. It is a town near the County Cork border that was made somewhat famous by an old tune about it that was written by Percy French, a famous song writer and singer. After receiving the information about the town from Willie Joe Boland, I went there, and I had a conversation with a member of one of the two Hartnett families that still lived in the town. The gentleman with whom I spoke was a sexton in the Catholic Church in the center of town, and he had a detailed knowledge of the local Hartnett families. He assured me that we were not a part of his family, and that my great grandfather, Lawrence Hartnett was no relative of his. His comment was especially emphatic when he was told about the connection with the Royal Irish Constabulary. He also said that we were not a part of the other remaining Hartnett family either. The question arose in my mind. "Was Willie Joe Boland wrong?" I began to think so, but it wasn't until I made further investigations into another Limerick site that I began to understand why. In County Kerry, there is a place called Droumloghera, and it is where Edmond and Eliza Hartnett were recently listed as having their residence. From more recent information, it appears that Willie Joe Boland almost got it right from Old Mr, Byrnes, who was his source, but he missed it by a little bit. We are from the Abbeyfeale area of Limerick, and the place that was being referred to seems to be the townland of Dromtrasna Hartnett, which lies alongside of Dromtrasna Collins. It would be easy to alter the unfamiliar Dromtrasna prefix to the much more familiar Dromcolliher name, made famous by the popular song of those times.

I was unable to obtain any local information about the Hartnett name in Dromcolliher, as the only local records were available only through the Catholic Church records, for which more time was needed than I had, and access required the payment of a fee. However, when I was in Dublin to see what I could find out about the family, a small amount of the Dromcolliher information was available through some official records. Most of it still was retained locally in the Church records, for which a payment for access was still required. I found only this much information about Dromcolliher, and it probably doesn't matter now, anyway:

Hartnetts or similar names in Dromcolliher. There are: Recorded Baptisms from November 11,1851 through November 10, 1864 Recorded Marriages from October 1,1954 through October 17, 1864 Baptisms from November 16,1864 to December In Dromcolligher and Broadford Baptisms between March 4, 1830 and September 30,1850 are available Marriages between October 1, 1851 and October 17,1864 are available These records have not been researched, and it is not known if they contain any pertinent information.

In Dublin, the information was very limited for Dromcolliher. Following is what I found: "G" means the occupier of a house "T" means that the name appears at least once in the parish in question "U" or "L" apparently means "Upper" or "Lower" in the barony name. Where the numbers of people are listed, they are shown after the "C"

Hartnedy 68 T Owneybeg H a r t n e d y G C o o n a g h Hartnett G T Connello L Hartnett G Limerick C Hartnett G 7 T Shanid Hartnett G Connello L Hartnett G T Pubblebrien Hartnett G Coonagh Hartnett G 105 T Glenquin Hartnett T Kilmallock Hartnett G 3 T Connello U Hartnett G T Smallcounty Hartnetty G T Coonagh This summary is listed as being in Dromcolliher Parish, Connello Upper Barony, Newcastle Union, County Limerick in Griffith's Valuations for the year of 1852 in the Tithe Applotment Book for the year of 1827. It covers the years 1824 to 1860 A. D. We know that my father's aunt, who was Bridget Corcoran in County Offaly (or Kings County) was born in 1865 A. D., ad it is probable that her sisters and brothers were born somewhere around that time, perhaps with the usual two year spacing, and therefore some of these records may be useful, if they apply, in tracing some of the Hartnetts that used to live in this area. However, we have no information that they are related to us. When considering our family name, we must not forget that the Corcorans are very prominent in our blood line. They are a part of the Clan Kian, whom I have not researched thoroughly. The name seems to have something to do with "The Men of the Purple Plain", as the Irish Midlands were once known. The Corcoran clan is also very prominent in County Tipperary. Some of the Genealogists have said that some family members shortened their family name to Hart. We are not related to the O'Hairt (or the O'Hart) line that were the princes of Tara (or Bregia). The only written record of old that I could find relating to the Hartnett name was about a fellow named Seumas Mor (or James the Large) Hartnett, who took a blackthorn stick that had been hanging up a chimney to dry for seven years into his fist, squeezing it, and drawing water from it. Now, that is strong! Believe it! I don't! Believe it if you will, because nobody else will! Following is some information about words that I have researched to try to find, or to eliminate, words that might have had some relationship to the family name. Later, I was to find out that these words are meaningless, but I will include them anyway, with their sources and definitions: MAYNOOTH is the name of the Catholic college not far from Dublin where the English government of Ireland, which was operating out of Dublin Castle at the time, allowed a Catholic college to start up, principally to train priests. The permission to begin the college was given to the Catholics when there was a lot of agitation in Ireland prior to the Rebellion of the United Irishmen in 1798. It was intended to assuage the feelings of the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic church in Ireland to keep them in line, at a time when rebellion was being fomented by a Protestant group that had formed a United Irish Society in Belfast and Dublin. It succeeded in its purpose, as the Rising of the United Irishmen in 1798 was publicly condemned by proclamations of the Catholic Church in Ireland. The name "Maynooth" (or Ma Nooat, as it is pronounced) which means "Nyadhat's plain" has its origination from "Nuadhat" who was a king of Leinster. Nuadhat was the foster father to Eoghan Mor, the son of Magh Neid, from whom our sept of O'Neid of the Kerry Luachra and our name of O'Neid originate.

GLASNEVIN is located near Dublin, and it takes its name from a streamlet which lows through Delville into the river tloka at the bridge. In remote times, a pagan chieftain named NEIDE (or Naeidhe) resided along its banks. His name formed the latter part "O'Neide" of our family name of Hartnett (or Airt Neide) meaning "the noble Neide". From Neide, the place was called "Glas Naeidhem" (or glas ne'ean) which the Annals of the Four Masters say means "Naeidhe's streamlet". The name was extended to the village, while its original application has been quite forgotten. So, the Hartnetts have a village named after them. Glasnevin is best noted for the Glasnevin Cemetery, where so many Irish heroes and patriots are buried. It was at that cemetery where Padraic Pearse gave his famous speech in 1914 A. d., that inspired the Irish Catholi9cs to rise against the English control of Ireland. Paart of what he said about the British was "The fools! The Fools! They have left us our Fenian dead, and while Ireland has these graves, Ireland unfree shall never be at peace."

I

neat from the French, meaning "Elegant, but without dignity" according to Pope, or "cleanly" according to Milton neat (or nete) from the Saxon, meaning "black cattle or oxen" neat from Shakespeare meaning "a single cow or ox" hum means a corner or a nook heah means "high" Ar(h) (or ard) in Irish means "a high place" Arth (or Artno) meaning "a supreme king of Ireland" (also Ard Righ) Armar the son of Arnat, from MacPherson's Tales of Ossian. Ardan meaning "pride" Nartmor (or Neart-mor) meaning "great strength". He was the chief of the Streamy Lora in "Ossian" Ardagh meaning "a high field" Airighad meaning "money" Athgowla meaning "The ford of the fork of the river" Ead meaning "riches" Noth (pronounced as nette or natt) an English name of 1066 A. D. Eadnoth An English name of 1066 A. D. His son's name was Harding. Killarney meaning "The Church of the Sloe" (or wild plum). Ma Iatae (from moi aitich) meaning "inhabitants of the plains" Harald Hardiagi He was a great warrior of Norway who served all over Europe in the 11th Century. Cormac Mac Airt High King of Ireland, and one of the line of Eber, like the Hartnetts. SAINT AIDEN was the bishop of Lindisfarne CROWN in ARIADNE was called the Northern Crown in Astrology. Similarly, the Great Bear (or Ursa Maior) is called "The Great Car". ARD means "exalted" and it is a name for kings FIACTRUS ARAIDAH was a king of Ulster about 240 A. D. LOCKHART means "a herdsman" ART is a name for kings, and it is derived from "Art" meaning "noble" CATHOIR (or Cathair) is a name frequently used by kings. It is from "Cath" meaning "battle" and "ar" meaning "slaughter" CATHAL means "a great warrior", and it is from "cath" meaning "battle" and "all" meaning "great" The HEART in Christian art is the attribute of Saint Teresa of Avila. The flaming heart is the symbol of charity, and it is an attribute of Saint Augustine A HART (or deer) in Christian art is the emblem of solitude and purity of life. It signified piety and religious aspiration. It was the attribute of Saints Julian, Saint Eustace and Saint Hubert A NEDDY is the name in Scotland for a donkey

From the Annals of the Four Masters

DONOUGH (or Donald) means "the brown haired warrior". MAHON was the son of Carney O'Kerin, who was the Lord of Ciarraidhe (or Kerry) of Lough na naireadh (The Historian Flaherty says the name is Kerry of Loch Mairne) in the parish of Aghamore in the barony of Costello, County of Mayo. O'HAIRNIN were the chiefs of Kinel Firadaidh (or Faraday) in the north of Tyrone AIRTHERA was the eastern districts, which are now the barony of Orior in Ulster

It should be apparent from the similarities of names and language that the Hartnett name is an old one, or else, an old-sounding name. Irish speaking people have often marveled at it during introductions.

January 24, 1999 Daniel Hartnett 6 Lexington Circle Canton, Mass. Dear Dan:

Perhaps you should know the story behind the map that you have of the town of Ballymore in County Westmeath, Ireland. Here are a few details about it. The story begins with your great, great grandfather whose name was Lawrence Hartnett, from a Limerick family. Your grandfather, Owen Andrew Hartnett told me that our family was almost wiped out when the English (Orange) forces besieged the City of Limerick, which was defended by the Irish (Jacobite) forces, and the men of the Hartnett family fought together to defend the walls of Limerick.

Lawrence (the name comes from the laurel tree) Hartnett married (Name Unknown) and they had a substantial family one of whom was a son, Denis Hartnett, who was born in County Laois. County Laois is sometimes spelled, as Leix. When it was under English control, it was called "Queens County", just as County Offaly under the English was "Kings County". The names changed when the 26 counties obtained independence after the Truce the Treaty and the Civil War. '

Lawrence Hartnett had joined the Royal Irish Constabulary and we have a picture of him which was previously identified by your father erroneously as his son. However, you can tell Lawrence by his "Peeler's part", a distinctive method of parting the hair down the middle and combing it to each side, that was an identifying feature in use by those who accepted a position as a member of Robert Peele's army of Irishmen who enforced English law in Ireland. Needless to say, while men such as Lawrence Hartnett individually were treated as gentlemen and were accorded courtesy because of their position (food was available to them), they were disliked by the Catholic population because they proclaimed their loyalty to the Crown, as they represented the forces of the Crown in Ireland. Since all new entries into the Royal Irish Constabulary had to be single, we know that Lawrence's marriage occurred during one of his assignment periods.

Lawrence's story is just for background, but we need to say just a little bit more about him. The Royal Irish Constabulary were generally not allowed to serve in the county of their birth, in order that their English commanders could diminish, to the degree that was practical, any fraternization with the local population. The highest rank that an Irish catholic could attain was the rank of sergeant, as officers were either English or Anglo-Irish loyalists to ensure stability during times of insurrection.

This correspondence is about Denis Hartnett, Lawrence's son. Denis followed, in his father's footsteps, into service with the Royal Irish Constabulary on May 7, 1872, at the age of nineteen. His first assignment was in the southern half of Tipperary, called Tipperary South Riding, and a year later, he was fined the very large sum, at the time, of 2 1/2 Irish pounds as a reprimand. He was reassigned to Waterford, a relatively docile area, in 1877 and then went to Kings County (County Offaly) in 1878. Becoming an acting sergeant there in 1884, a year later, he received a full assignment to that position. His marriage to Anne Corcoran of County Offaly was on January 8, 1889, and we don't know where they lived. Perhaps, it was at or near to the barracks or building where he was stationed during each assignment, as it was the practice of the time (and it often still is) to assign the policemen to local buildings so as to have them near to the areas where they can exercise their control. Next, he was assigned to County Westmeath in 1888, because of that practice of keeping these policemen apart from the locals. The times of the service of Denis Hartnett were the times when agitation was fomented by the native Irish, who did not own their lands, against the absentee British land owners and their agents in Ireland. The Land League and boycotting, night riding and mass rallies were all occurring. Emigration to America was still somewhat forced as the English tried to decrease the Irish population on the lands that were rented, often for excessive sums. This phase of Ireland's history is referred to as "The Clearances". Changes were occurring, however. A million had already starved to death and another 1 1/2 millions had fled the country during the Great Famine. Some efforts were now being put forth by new legislation that allowed the Irish to purchase the lands that they had always lived on, but the ownership of which had arbitrarily taken away from them and given to "undertakers" through the artifices of "English law and English justice".

Denis, like his father, was considered to be a gentleman by virtue of his occupation. He stood 5 feet 8 3/4 inches tall, and was a fine physical specimen with a robust appearance. You have a picture of him in your family photos. Three years after his marriage, he was assigned to the Royal Irish Constabulary barracks at Mullingar in County Westmeath, and to a local station at Ballymore, where by virtue of his rank, he was probably in charge. It was there that he had a map drafted of the townlands of Ballymore. These maps were made for purposes of identifying the various portions of the community for policing purposes. The map shows scenes in the community, lists fairs that were annual occurrences, and identifies that it was made for Sergeant Denis Hartnett. When he left his assignment, the map went with him. Next, we know that my father, Owen Andrew Hartnett, was born on the second floor of the police barracks at the northeast corner of the intersection of roads at Killyon, and so we must presume that Denis Hartnett was assigned to that nearest location to his wife's residence, as his children were all quite small at the time. This may have been some sort of temporary assignment, or the barracks at Mullingar could well have exercised control over the Kinnitty portion of County Offaly. We also know that another police barracks of considerable size existed in Crinkle in County Offaly, only about seven miles away. The Irish Republican Army burned and gutted it when the English forces marched out of it after the Truce and Treaty, and the Parting of the Ways. Killyon is a forty acre townland between Kinnitty and Birr in County Offaly. Denis had met and married Anne Corcoran, one of six or seven Corcoran children, who lived on Cullaun (Killaun) Lane, only about three miles away. According to the Royal Irish Constabulary records, Denis was pensioned on August 2, 1898, the year of the birth of my father. His wife is supposed to have passed away six months after giving birth to Joseph, her seventh child, in 1899, and it is presumed that the size and ages of Denis' family is one of the reasons for his early retirement.

Denis Hartnett was still alive in 1920 when my father, Owen Hartnett left Ireland with his older sister, Moira (Mary) Hartnett to come to America. That emigration is a separate story. The Corcorans were a fiercely Nationalistic clan. A new wave of nationalism was sweeping through Ireland. All over Ireland, members of the Royal Irish Constabulary were being told to leave that organization or to suffer the consequences. Denis Hartnett obtained his early retirement, and he obtained a "two life estate" lease on a stone house known as Bernard's Castle and located in Knockbarron. The place was owned by the local government. He moved his family there and rented some farmland. The place was occupied by Denis' son, Kieran, after his demise.

Kieran lived at the Knockbarron property until his death because, as he was the oldest son alive, he inherited the right to be the occupant during the second life. Upon his demise, the house reverted to being town land and is now a ruin.

The two Corcoran brothers who lived in the house on Cullaun Lane became quite elderly. They needed assistance in operating their farm. My father, Owen, had just returned from an extended stay of more than a year (possibly two) at Roscrea Abbey where he had been confined in a small solitary tuberculosis shack and was tended to by the lay brothers of the Abbey. These T.B. shacks were on rockers and they were rocked and turned as the day went on so that those inside could get the benefits of sunshine and fresh air. Owen's younger brother, Joseph, had also contracted tuberculosis, but his was a minor case not requiring confinement.

Owen and Joe, as children, were sent to live at the Corcoran farm at Cullaun, and to the Corcoran brothers help to tend it. When Owen and his sister came to America, it was his father, Denis, who obtained the pass that allowed them to leave the country. He had it signed by a man named Claffey in Dublin who was obviously a relative of Lawrence Hartnett's brother-in-law of the same name. When Denis Hartnett passed away, Joseph Hartnett took the map of Ballymore and kept it, folded, in the loft of the house (cottage or cot) at Cullaun Lane. It was about 45 years or so after leaving Ireland that Owen, your grandfather, returned. He was given the map that you have for its safe keeping. Joe Hartnett had no way to preserve it, and Owen brought it to America. I remember seeing it shortly after it arrived here. I don't remember the details of how it got to Donald's home in Canton, but it has been well preserved for these many years. It has significant meaning to all of us. Many young ones in the family have never seen it.

I hope that you keep this information together with the map for posterity, as it is not recorded elsewhere.

With best wishes,

Robert A. Hartnett Fall River, Seekonk, Canton, Mass.

Owen and Anna Hartnett & Family This will attempt to tell the story of emigration and the raising of a family in America. It may also be told elsewhere in these ramblings. Owen Andrew Hartnett

My father was born on the second floor of a building in the townland of Killyon, Parish of Drumcullen, in County Offaly, Ireland on February 2, 1898. The birth was recorded on February 15, 1898 in the District of Killyon, the Union of Parsontown (now Birr) and the County of King's (now Offaly). His father was Denis Hartnett, a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary (R.I.C.) and his mother was the former Anne Corcoran, a sister of Michael and Dennis Corcoran of Killaun Lane, which was about two miles distant from their later residence at Knockbarron. The building at Killyon still stands on the northeast corner of the intersection of roads at Killyon, a townland of only 60 acres or so. Its first floor served as a police station with the second floor available for the families of the police. The intersection is easily identified by the pub at the northwest corner, formerly Grogan's Pub, then Corrigan's Pub and now Kavanagh's Pub, where dances are now held. I have heard of Grogan's Pub since I was a child, and during a visit to Ireland, I visited the area with my cousins and asked them to stop by at the pub with me. Inside, an elderly man looked at the three of us and asked Joe, "Aren't you Joe Hartnett?" When the response was in the affirmative, he turned to my cousin Denis and said, "And you must be Denis Hartnett". Denis nodded affirmatively. He then asked who I was and was told that I was their cousin from America, and he responded with "Ah, Owen's boy". Billy Spain was a family neighbor. His brother, M.P. Spain, had dug the graves at Drumcullen for my grandmother's two brothers. Shortly thereafter, the retired postman came in for a pint and he was pleased to see us. He remembered delivering the letters from America and he knew everybody that lived in the area. Grogan's was the meeting and gathering place for everyone nearby during the years of my father's youth and for long after. In another chance encounter in New York, I met a woman named Quegan who was born and brought up in one of the other two houses at the intersection. She is now married to a Dublin fellow and they live in Long Island. Denis Hartnett and Anne Corcoran were married on January 7th, 1889 at Mount Saint Joseph Church at Shinrone. I have visited Shinrone and the church there which is a beautiful one. The parish of Shinrone abuts that of Drumcullen. Anne Corcoran was listed as a spinster and daughter of John Corcoran, a farmer, and Denis Hartnett as a bachelor member of the Royal Irish Constabulary (R.I.C.) of Mullingar, County Westmeath. The witnesses to the ceremony were Martin and Mary Ellen Byrne, probably the same Byrnes that lived on Killaun Lane. One of the Byrnes, possibly Martin, was married to either a Corcoran or a Walsh girl, making him a relative of ours. The Mullingar reference in County Westmeath appears to be to a barracks where Denis Hartnett was stationed, as the R.I.C. were continuously being transferred about the country, a tactic of the English so that there would be little or no fraternization with the local population. The marriage certificate also affirmed that Denis' father, Lawrence Hartnett, was also a member of the R.I.C. We know that Owen Hartnett had three young brothers who died from tuberculosis. They were Lawrence, named after his grandfather, Oswald named after an uncle and the third was named either Michael after another uncle or Denis after his father. Cousin Denis Hartnett told me that his father, Joseph Hartnett, had tuberculosis as a child. Owen's mother died about ten months after giving birth to his brother, Joseph, and we are not aware as to the reason for her early demise. Owen also had an older brother, Kieran, and a two year older sister, Marie or Moira. Owen also contracted the disease as a child, and had to go away to Roscrea Abbey for an extended period for treatment. As a youth growing up on a farm in an obscure part of Ireland, and with problems of illness and loss of his mother, Owen's formal education was very limited. The teachers were not good at their profession and attendance was a "hit and miss" proposition. It ended at an early age. Yet, in later life, Owen would be known to write beautiful and poetic letters and to avidly read the stories of Bret Harte and others about the western frontiers days of America. His father took an early retirement from the R.I.C., which was being reduced in size at that time. He told his son that things were getting tough between the police and the populace. In addition, with the demise of his wife and the need to care for the children, the move seemed evident. He obtained what was probably a two life estate (a land lease for him and for his heir upon his demise) on a property owned by the local Land Commission at Knockbarron in Drumcullen. The property consisted of a nice stone house and small piece of land alongside of the state forest. Other farmlands were rented to support the family and to complete the farm. Tuberculosis was contracted by Owen as a youngster and its treatment by separation from others with lots of fresh air and sunshine was prescribed. Doctor Woods ministered to him and, perhaps, to his brothers also. Owen was sent away to the nearest thing to a hospital that existed. It was the abbey at Mount St. Joseph's at Roscrea. Life was lived in a small shack that was on rockers and the shack was rocked and turned so that its opening always faced the sun, its light being seen as the best means of bringing this incurable disease into remission. Owen stayed there for a very long time. The lay brothers at the Abbey ministered to the sick and their labors and their care was greatly appreciated by Owen for all of his life. After the illness was treated into remission, Owen returned to Knockbarron. Grandmother's two brothers, Dennis and Michael Corcoran, now occupied the Corcoran farm on Killaun Lane but had become elderly. Since the property at Knockbarron could not support Denis Hartnett's growing family, it was prudent to "foster" two of the children to their uncles at Killaun to help them with farm chores. Youngsters, Owen and Joseph, were sent and this took them further away from the potential for formal education, something that was not a requirement in Ireland at the time. They received very little formal schooling and its quality was poor. Yet, my father's command of the English language was very good. He seemed to have a good knowledge as to prose and poetry, but avoided writing as he was unaccustomed to it. I have never heard him use the Irish language as that was banned by the British, but with the blarney, he was up there with the best of them. The Corcoran uncles, as land owners for a significant period of time, were well aware of the heavy handedness of the English government and they spoke against it. One of them, it was said, wouldn't even read a newspaper printed in England. This attitude must have been transmitted to Owen also, and a spirit of nationalism was sweeping through the land with the demand for Home Rule for Ireland. The subject was continuously debated by the British Parliament and vetoed by their Senate, until a Home Rule Bill was allowed over the Senate's objection, only to be sidetracked again, using the imminence of World War I as another reason to prolong the struggle. At the turn of the century, and supported by a group near Dublin that sponsored a return to the Irish language, (its use had been banned by the English), the insistence upon Home Rule for Ireland was turned into a demand for total independence for Ireland. In 1916, about 1600 men and women led by Padraic Pearse and the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and aided by the Irish Citizen Army under Michael Connolly, had rebelled in Dublin and the city had been ruined by the fighting that followed. The British executed the Irish leaders for doing something that the entire nation believed in, and a patriotic fervor swept across the nation. Eamon deValera was selected to replace Pearse as the Republican leader, and he said that, out of four million Irish, he had 500,000 people in the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The Prime Minister of Britain admitted that there were at least 300,000 members of the organization. This had to include almost every able bodied man and woman in the country. The effort by the Irish to attain their freedom brought out very strong feelings in the rural Midlands where the English yoke had been most heavily kept in place by the R.I.C. Captain Igoe was the Commandant of the Black and Tans in the Midlands. They were a bunch of ex-prisoners and misfits from England who were sent over to Ireland after World War I had ended, many of whom had served in the trenches of Europe during the war, and they looted, raped and burned their way throughout the country. The Quegan girl told me that a stray dog appeared at their door in her childhood (which must have been in the 1950's), and it was a dirty, filthy, mangy cur, and so they properly called it Captain Igoe. Perhaps, that sets the tone as to how the people felt. One of these same 'Tans, a man named Huckerbeny, shot and murdered a young postman named Patrick Hartnett and an eighteen year old blachsmith named Jeremiah Healy as they walked by the R.I.C. barracks in Abbyfeale in County Kerry. In another instance, two 'Tans lying in ambush in Kerry saw a priest leaving a village to minister in the countryside and they shot him through the head as he walked along the road while a local farmer watched to see what they were up to. These are but two of a great many activities that further sickened the Irish against the English. While the first is a matter of record, the latter was told, personally to me, by the son of a rebel. Another incident that involved a man named Hartnett occurred in County Kerry, when a group of prisoners held by the Irish Free State forces, (who were mostly former British soldiers) machine gunned the legs of the prisoners so they couldn't run away, fastened them to a mine, and exploded it. Training is the beginning for all armies and it was not unusual for groups of Irish to gather together with their hurley sticks and to march at the Town Common in Birr in Close Order Drill, right in the face of the British troops stationed nearby. As time passed, the IRA became active in the Midlands, blocking roads by felling trees, blowing up bridges, raiding police barracks and shooting both police and 'Tans. The bridge across the Shannon at Portumna was damaged and many years later, I talked to one of those who had participated. Just about every person in the area was involved in some way, except for the English and the Anglo-Irish, and everybody knew who they were. They always owned the biggest houses on the highest and best land in the community or had the largest farms. They totally controlled the government and the economy. Owen Hartnett was 18 when the rebellion in Dublin occurred. He joined in those drills on the Birr Common and in other similar activities. One evening, some years later, he went to a Saturday night dance that was held to celebrate an event that was called Harvest Home, a significant time for all farmers. It went on, as all such celebrations do, until early morning and the obligation of church attendance on Sunday ^^*™ *"!?£* M™ held at St Joseph's Church in the center of Kinnitty. While the participants were inside, the Tans arrived Kranfth^y uZSded the chureh. Owen, being a young male, was taken away for "mterrogation as the ermTpSw caUed. He had, in his possession in the church, his short revolver, as one never knew when a vlitee'r! S Fein might be asiced to rise to the defense of his country. Its possession mean, death on the spot, ,f found out He managed to, in some way, get rid ofthe weapon before being taken away. It was and is standard practice for the Crown forces to torture prisoners to gain information from them If you disbelr read TtaPat Coogan's latest book entitled "The I.R.A." Days of beatings are followed by steep deprivation »d endless questioning. In this instance, Owen's father heard of his son being taken and he confronted the authorities with his R.I.C. record. His son was released and returned to the tarm. Malater tZ a policeman went missing. I talked to one who had seen his body. It was supposed to have b«t^h^^L^ ground along the banks of a stream, but the waters rose during the^-* ™*£ it out so it was re-interred elsewhere. In that event, Owen was bayoneted through his hand, and the side of his face was smLhed by a rifle butt, leaving a permanent scar on his lip. He walked the seventeen miles to Roscrea Abbey by himself, where he received the medical treatment he needed, and he began his time spent on the run . The curse and bane ofthe Irish in their long struggle against the English has always been the informer to whom death is always the penalty, upon discovery. Secrecy is so great that brother never knew if brother was involved S^Ttf s£ Because ofthe secrecy ofthe organization, some details must be presumed. We know tha the word went out that young Owen Hartnett was being invited to join with the lovely English forces for tea The te^"ngthat had been held with Owen's family was told to me by his brother, Joseph's wife, who had told heTabout it many years later. Owen joined the others "on the run", and from my estimation, that must have been for many months He had returned to the haven of his childhood, the Abbey at Mount Saint Joseph at Roscrea, where he was still remembered from his long stay during his childhood. xwu,.™ a ;h in The IRA in Roscrea was quite active. Michael Flannery, later to be the leader of Irish Northern Aid in America, was from that area. Owen joined in their raids, many to northern destinations, and he once talked of firing over a wall at the troops below. Because he was sworn not to reveal any of his activities for fear of endangering others or their families, little is known of these activities. We do know about his being bayoneted through the hand in thw Knockbarron encounter, and that his lip was smashed from mouth to nose by the rifle butt. His lip bore a very visible scar for all of his life. His life at Roscrea must have been, in part, a recuperation from those wounds as they would have made him a marked man wherever he went in public. m Having been through bayonet drill in the army many times, I am aware that it is the usual practice, after having made the bayonet lunge, to follow it with the full force of the rifle butt to the face of the opponent and then to proceed onward toward other objects of affection. I must presume that it is what happened in the instance of Dads circumstance. , , - . _<•.-.* ..-.* His father began working on a means of getting him out of Ireland. Money was asked for and sent from Aunt Bridget in Fall River, Mass., enough for passage to America for two people. Another aunt had a relative in Dublin named Claffey who signed a document allowing Owen to leave Ireland, and he left upon pain of death upon his return His sister, Moira, accompanied him, and she used the English version of her name, Marie, in America which was often pronounced as Mary. Dad told me that he was checked when he was boarding the ship by a member ofthe Crown forces, and told that he would be shot, if he returned to Ireland. Enroute, Owen remembered being presented on board ship with a menu for dinner, and not understanding it, he ordered two different types of potatoes. That was all that he got for dinner. He learned. With his medical situation, tuberculosis, in remission, he knew that he had to avoid a physical inspection by doctors at Ellis Island in New York, or face possible return to Ireland and its death penalty. He averted the Ellis Island procedure by coming to America only for a visit, and overstaying his time. Perhaps, his sister did, also. Later, he would become a naturalized American citizen. Life in Fall River meant five years or so of shoveling coal out of the corners of coal ships on the Fall River waterfront, and returning to an apartment, completely blackened by the coal dust each evening. Nights were spent in card playing, drinking, fighting and what have you. Such a life was not suited to the nephew of Sister Mary Cyprian, so the nuns arranged a meeting between Owen and a charge of theirs who lived and worked at a rectory in Somerset. She was a beautiful Polish girl named Anna Noga who had spent several years at Saint Joseph's Orphanage in Fall River. They met at social fundraiser called a Lawn Party. My sister, Frances, says that they met at a dance, but these two events could have been one and the same. They got married and lived at Tremont and Cherry Streets in Fall River for a few years. He looked for a better class of employment. Steigers Department Store in Fall River needed help, and the work was much easier. Then, around 1930, a new elementary school was being built for the Sacred Heart Parish by a contractor named A W McQuillan. No doubt, with the influence of Sister Mary Cyprian, who was his aunt and who St "tie old schooL Owen was hired as a laborer to work on its construction. Jobs were extreme y afficStt come by during these depression years, but by then, Owen had three children and four more were to foUow The school was completed in 1931, and Owen became its janitor and the sexton for its neighboring church H^'-wo*e wL Tom Brown, father ofthe Brown family that lived for so long at two locations on Cherry Stree ™til nis de™wen was to work there for twenty five years. A man named Tom McDermott was to become his fe'l0XS we°rPuurwThelping, after school, in the simple tasks of cleaning up around the school and churl One of mem was the ringing of the church bells at the Angelus, ftree times each day. Recent* Father Edward Byington, the parish priest at Sacred Heart, told me that one of his favorite memories as a child was, under DadTsupeS to £ab hold ofthe bell ropes and to swing with them into the air as the bells rang out above. Manv others have, over the years, mentioned this as a fond memory. wSi^even children of his own, Dad's attitude toward children was easily perceived by all and they always flocked about him. But it wasn't only the little ones to whom he was special. Clearly I can remember the many nZ^nHtf^ had to be held because it took him one and one half hours to walk the city block and one half teWs house. With his easy brogue and his ready wit, he was stopped by all along the way. Some waited patiently bv" Atheir some' fences ear\point to talk into time,him, and the theyfamil^d delighted moved in from a conversation Cherry and with Tremont one of Streetstheir own to from 642 IrelandPine Street, a house that has since been demolished. We lived there until 1938. The memories of the place are clear to me and to Frances my sister. I was born there and my birth was not registered until I was attempted to be enrolled in Sacred Heart Grammar School at the age of five. Now, I tell everyone that I wasn't born until I was five years old The years at Pine Street were the Depression years. There was no money. Most often, food was purchased on credit. Rents were not always paid on time, but they were paid. I painfully remember that my brother Owen after coming home from working all afternoon and evening after school, had to go to bed with a *mgle slice ofpto bread, as there was nothing else for him. Our neighbors and friends were of the best, as ,t seems that adversity always brings those characteristics to the fore. Fast friendships were formed with those who hved nearby and who became a part of our lives. The children of these friends are, today, the remembered friends from our pasts, as the bonds that were formed are too strong to be broken by the mere passage of time or separation of place. My mother said that her husband was a hellion in his younger days. She must have reformed him. However, with her upbringing, even the simplest transgressions must have been considered to be of a mortal nature. I have heard a few, including Barbara (Mills) Hartnett, refer to her as a living saint. That, too, is my attitude toward her, in reflection. Not knowing any difference, as a child, perhaps I expected everyone's mother to be that way. Two events altered our life style. One was an auto accident where my sister, Frances, was run down by a car and an insurance settlement was made of a few hundred dollars. Another was the demise of Aunt Julia Burke: in England and the payment of about five hundred dollars from her estate to Owen. Eleanor says that this latter money came from Aunt Bridget's life insurance policy, instead, but she must be wrong as Aunt Bridget succumbed almost ten years earlier, and insurance money may have been used for burial purposes and the stone that marks her grave. These monies and more, according to Donald to be $1200 (and believed by me to be a few hundred dollars more), went to purchase a house from the estate ofthe family of Michael Burns and located at 597 Cherry Street in F?tll River Michael Bums was an eccentric who pedaled the streets of Fall River on his bicycle and who was renowned for the number of red reflectors that he wore on both his cycle and his hat. He was a harmless old man. His estate was under the care of Attorney Patrick H. Harrington, a neighbor of ours at Pine Street. When Michael (alias Mickey the Bike) needed care, he was taken in by my mother at his former home at Cherry Street as a ward. One night he became wild took up some barbed wire that he had stored away and strung it around the bedposts of his bed. The authorities came and he was taken away to a home, never more to be allowed his freedom. Mother took in other wards as well, one being old Tom Clifford, and the family life that we presented to them must have had a positive effect upon their positions, and they surely did help our financial situation. The house at Cherry Street was originally a single family home. Over the years, it was renovated and remodeled until it accommodated, in addition to our family, another two small rental units. These renovations were extensive. Upon moving in, the entire roof, including many ofthe roof boards, had to be replaced. Although I was only about seven, even I had to help my brothers, sister, father and his friends as they replaced the entire roof. Inside, the interior walls had been painted black in some areas and all of that had to be removed, some of which involved old type plastered walls. Complete walls were sometimes removed and a new bath was added to the extremely old (and cold) one upstairs. Most ofthe second floor was unfinished and the part that wasn't, where the older boys slept, had no heat for many years. The house has a coal burning furnace which had to be attended regularly and the fire had to be banked each evening and stoked each morn. An absolute delight was to stand on top ofthe hot air register as the warmth of a freshly stoked furnace spewed forth the warmed air, and it was a treat that we sometimes shared with the neighboring children who had no such opportunity in their sparsely heated cold water tenements to ever get so warm during the chill of winter. n,«i ♦„ „:_.♦ Another memory of note was that one day Leonard Harrington announced that the reason why he liked to visit at our house is that he was allowed to bounce up and down on the beds, something that would not be tolerated at his own home. Leonard had a harelip and his speech was so poor that only a few of us who knew him well could understand his speech, a situation that improved markedly through elocution lessons at Sacred Heart Academy in ^ OwSi Hartnett had a few ways of passing the time. Many of them were associated with some form of

gambling a thing that was kept under control and did not affect the family purse strings. With a few friends, he liked to attend at various horse tracks, visiting at Rockingham, Pascoag and Narragansett Parks for horse racing and, occasionally at the trotting races. However, his real love was to attend the dog races at either Raynham or Taunton Dog Track These trips were often family affairs, with other family members providing company or transportation His gambling interests occasionally turned to card playing when the stakes were low. Many of my friends used to gather at the house, preferably in the cellar on an old slate pool table and if Dad won, he would return the money to the losers. ., .,. After twenty five years of work for the Sacred Heart Parish, he returned home one evening to announce that his services had been terminated. His accompanying remark was that it was only a temporary job when he had been first hired It left the family without his income and there were no health benefits. Another job was obtained as a night watchman at some mills, and he stayed at that occupation for a few years into retirement. The last job provided him with Social Security eligibility, something that the employment with the church didn't encompass. Owen was to return to Ireland in his later years. He travelled once with his wife and at least once by himself. Upon his return, the country had changed. The Anglo-Irish element was now centered in Dublin's government and major businesses. The advocates against Ireland's freedom from British rule no longer held sway and the rebels of The War for Independence, now referred to as "The Old IRA" were respected and honored in their communities, although with a a suspect eye cast upon their activities. His brother, Joe, was still alive and another brother, Kieran, had just passed away. He had returned to many of the happy memories of his youth. A trip to Roscrea Abbey recalled his times there and a contribution was made to that holy place. Since Owen was the older son ofthe family, the property in Killaun known as the Corcoran farm was his, by right of Irish law. His brother had occupied and operated the farm for many, many years. In order that the title be cleared Owen signed away his rights to the farm provided that a sum of money was provided for Joe's daughter, Anne, to be held as her dowry. Reluctantly, Joe agreed and Ann later used the money for her trip to America when she visited with my brother, Donald to Canton. In his later years, Owen had suffered from at least one and possibly several heart attacks. They were to end his final days on earth and he passed away in Fall River. He is now interred in Saint Patrick's Cemetery next to his wife, Anna, his sister, Moira, his Aunt Bridget Corcoran, a son, Donald and a granddaughter. 1 have always remembered him by his bright, wide smile, his pleasant light brogue from the Insh Midlands and by his left hand, ever extended in a sign of helpfulness. To many, he might be just another face in the crowd, but let us look at his accomplishments. He grew up on a small farm in Ireland, he joined his comrades in a fight against tyranny, he fought bravely and was wounded in battle. For his patriotism, he was forced to become an Insh exile. He left the land he loved and had fought for, to go to another life in a foreign land, where he found himself a wife and had seven children. He worked very hard for his entire life, and his sole reward seems to have been a few weeks of a return visit to his native land. He has always been a hero to me, and he has been one for Ireland, too. He was always true to his oath of silence to the ideals of Irish patriotism.

The earliest written history of an individual Hartnett was Seamus (Shamus) Mor Hartnett, or James the Large Hartnett, who picked up a blackthorn stick that had been placed up a chimney for seven years to dry, squeezed the knob of wood on the top of it and drew water out of it. Hopefully, he was a distant relative, because I'd prefer to keep my distance from him. Family History & Denis Hartnett's Retirement

My father told me, and his father before, ad infinitum, that the reason that there are so few of us Hartnetts left is because the Hartnetts fought together, as clans did, at the Siege of Limerick, and the men of our family were practically wiped out. No, I don't mean the dance, also called the Siege of Limerick, which also looks like a battlefield on an oak dance floor, but the real thing. Unfortunately, the Irish lost that fight to the forces of Cromwell (even though he had, by then returned to England on other business), and those Irish troops who survived the siege were exiled to France, and are known to this day as Ireland's Wild Geese. Just before that, at the Battle of Aughrim where the Irish lost, it was said that the bodies of the slain, when stripped of their clothes, (probably the only thing that they had of value), and viewed from a distance against the verdant green ofthe Irish hillside, looked like so many sheep grazing.

Great Grandfather Lawrence Hartnett had to be at least six foot two inches tall to become a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC). That job automatically made him into a gentleman, and as compared to others, he had an income. We don't know much about him, except that he required his son, Denis Hartnett, to learn to read and to write. Since there were so few in that part of the country that had become literate, he was a relatively important person, after he took his early retirement.

Why the early retirement, you ask? The life of a police officer is not always smooth sailing when the laws that you have to enforce are English ones, and your wife's family is opposed to the people for whom you work. At that time, the R.I.C. had announced a proposed diminution in the size ofthe forces in the Birr area. Also, Denis' wife had five children at the time, and was pregnant with her sixth. Denis had risen to the highest position available to the Irish, as a sergeant of Police. Others, officers in command, were either English or West Britons. Seven children were to follow Denis' marriage, but only four reached maturity, the other three succumbing to a common disease of the time known as tuberculosis. Denis' wife only lived a short time after the birth of his last child, and Grandmother Anne had two brothers, one of whom was so anti-British that he wouldn't read anything that was printed in England. Since just about everything in Ireland was printed in London, does that tell you anything about him? When Grandmother's two brothers got older and had difficulties with the farm, Dad was sent to foster with them in the Irish style, his younger brother also spending some time there. Dad had seen a Wizard Hare over near Knockbarron, spinning and twisting in the roadway at the Walk River, a sure sign that it was an evil spirit intent upon malfeasance. In later years, his brother told his children that he spied the Leprechaun under the oak tree on Killaun Lane. Everyone knew about old Mr. Burns finding the buried gold, which he should have left alone, because both he and his son became mad as the result of taking it. It doesn't pay to disturb what belongs to the Little People. There are several versions as to how Dad got to America. The most logical one was that Grandma looked over the litter, picked up the runt, and said that this one would never grow up to be over six feet tall and two hundred thirty five pounds, so she threw him into the River Shannon, and he had to swim all the way to Americay. Alternately, Dad's brothers gained some notoriety of their own. Uncle Kieran gained fame as the strongest man in the Irish Midlands, topping off at a mere six foot six and twenty stone, or two hundred and eighty pounds, to the uninformed. Uncle Joe's story is a little different.

For thousands of years, ever since the Women ofthe Green Mantles who lived on the top of the Slieve Bloom Mountains gave my ancestors the power of healing, it has been passed to certain family members. People traveled from all over Ireland to be cured by Uncle Joe, and he was never known to fail. Others in the family have "The Power" now. It went to Uncle Joe's wife, Josie (Josephine Ryan Hartnett), and now, my cousin Joe Hartnett is the active Healer in the family, but both rosemary and I (Bob) have the Power, but don't use it.

My grandparents are now buried in a cemetery at Drumcullen, where St John (not a real saint, but a Holy Man) had his little church. Alternately, Uncle Kieran Hartnett is in the cemetery in the center of Kinnitty, and Uncle Joseph Hartnett, with his wife, Josephine, and his son, Kieran, are all together in their cemetery plot in Rath, which is northerly from Birr.

During my research ofthe family name, I came across the name of another Denis Hartnett, in addition to my grandfather who had that same name. He seemed to be ofthe time of my grandfather, Lawrence Hartnett, and I wondered if he might be a close relative of Lawrence Hartnett, perhaps a brother or a cousin. Others will have to find out, if they care to, as I am immersed in other aspects of our family history.

For those who may have an interest, or wish to explore, I will place this information before you: In the following web site dated 7/2/2004, at http:'7/members.ozemail.com.au/~cld/MutinyHl.htm which was in existence at that date, I noted that Kevin Asplin was personally involved with transcribing details from old British Military records, especially as they relate to Irishmen who have served in India. Lawrence Hartnett, my great grandfather served with the British forces (which were the Royal Irish Constabulary) only in Ireland. However, a "Denis Hartnett" served in India with the Connaught Rangers, and he received the India Mutiny Medal for his service there, as he was in India at the time of that occurrence. The time ofthe service of Denis Hartnett in the British military unit which was known as The Connaught Rangers, seemed to be close to the time ofthe service of Lawrence Hartnett in the Royal Irish Constabulary. When Lawrence Hartnett, whose family we know little about, named his only son "Denis Hartnett", and a man with that name was currently serving in the Crown forces, as he was, it seemed to be too much of a coincidence not to investigate to see if there was a connection between the two. However, I have never had the time, nor made the effort to do so., yet. I wish to note the following information from Kevin Asplin's web site about the people with Hartnett names who served in the British Army in India, as Britain had 50,700 names on its list of medal recipients for the India Mutiny Medal Roll for military service there between 1857 to 1859 A. D. Among the members listed on the British Army Rolls are the following:

Sergeant Denis Hartnett ofthe 88th (Regiment of) Foot (Connaught Rangers) Private Edward Hartnett ofthe 43rd (Regiment of) Foot (Monmouthshire Light Infantry)

Private George Hartnett ofthe 32nd (Regiment of) Foot (Cornwall)

Sergeant James Hartnett ofthe 1st Battalion ofthe 10th Foot (North Lincolnshire) Private Jeremiah Hartnett ofthe 81st (Regiment of) Foot (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers)

Sergeant John Hartnett ofthe 1st Battalion ofthe 23rd Foot (Royal Welsh Fusiliers) Colour Sergeant Michael Hartnett ofthe 88th (Regiment of) Foot (Connaught Rangers) Private Richard Hartnett ofthe 53rd (Regiment of) Foot (Shropshire) Private Thomas Hartnett ofthe 6th Dragoon Guards (Carabineers)

At this time, I have no knowledge as to whether any of these men are related to our family. It would appear that the places of their inductance into the British armed forces may have some bearing upon the proximity of their relationship to us, if any. You should be aware that it was standard procedure for the British to ensure the following: 1. Enlistees into British armed forces are not allowed to serve in the counties of Ireland in which they lived prior to their inductance, to ensure that a separation exists between allegiance to the Crown forces and the Irish public. 2. Irish who serve in the British Army were not allowed to attain rank higher than Sergeant. 3. Enlistees must be unmarried, and they were not allowed to marry during the first seven years of their service.