The Clan MacAuliffe - its roots in ancient Ireland

it will be found stated as fact that the McAuliffes are of Viking origin, but that is true only of the name. Olaf, the King of Norway, was killed in battle in A.D. 1030. He came to be venerated as a saint and devotion to ,him spread even to Ireland because of the influence of Viking settlements there. Churches were built in his honour and his name became popular as a Christian name for boys, taking the Gaelic form 'Amhlaoibh', which was later anglicised as 'Auliffe' or 'Humphrey' (naming a child after a saint is still a common practice today). In The Annals of the Four Masters can be found a number of records of the name Auliffe being used at about this period, including the following references to chieftains:

1180. Auliffe O'Toghda, Chief of Bredagh, was killed by O'Gaughan, Chief of Moy-heleag.

1207. Murray, the son of Roderic O'Conor, and Auliffe O'Farrell, Chief of Annaly, died.

1208. Auliffe O'Rothlain, Chief of Calry of Coolcarney, was slain by O'Moran.

The Gaelic origin of the MacAuliffes is further confirmed by Edward MacLysaght who writes in his book "Irish Families" - "It does not follow that.....are of Norse descent, since several families of undisputed Gaelic Irish origin have surnames derived from Norse personal names as, for example, McAuliffe, McManus, McRannall."

The McAuliffes are definitely of Celtic origin, being a branch of the powerful MacCarthys. All who bear the name 'McAuliffe' are descended from Auliffe Alainn ('Humphrey the Dandy') MacCarthy,the son of Donough MacCarthy, the son of Murcharch MacCarthy, the son of Teige MacCarthy, who was King of Desmond (south Munster) from 1118 to 1124. Auliffe was probably born around A.D. 1200 and his mother may well have been a Dane from Cork or Limerick where there were sizeable Danish populations. At this time surnames, while well-established in Ireland, were not always as fixed and permanent as they are today and could be changed in a man's lifetime. Often the name given was derived from physical appearance or character, from an occupation or place of abode, a weapon of war or something of religious significance. Probably Auliffe Alain was a colourful and well-known person (the name 'Humphrey the Dandy' certainly suggest this) and so it was not strange that his children came to be identified as 'Mac-Auliffe', i.e 'the sons (children) of Auliffe', and so a new surname was born. The first McAuliffe was therefore of MacCarthy blood, a great grandson of Teige MacCarthy, King of Desmond.

The Norman invasion at the end of the twelfth century caused great confusion amongst the Irish tribes. Until then the MacCarthys, along with others, had occupied the fertile lands of Tipperary. Their old enemy the O'Briens took advantage of the situation and harried them whenever possible. Faced with these combined attacks, the MacCarthys, the O'Sullivans, the O'Donoghues, with their followers moved to the south-west of the province and took over from the older inhabitants the western half of County Cork and South Kerry. It is most likely that the MacAuliffes, then few in number, moved with their parent clan, the MacCarthys, into Cork. In time they developed into a clan which by the year 1400 A.D. had consolidated itself in the northwest of the barony.

CLANS OF DUHALLOW

In the 16th century Duhallow was ruled by four clans; the MacDonagh MacCarthys of Kanturk, the MacAuliffes of Clanawley, the O'Callaghans of Clonmeen and the O'Keeffes of Dromagh. The MacCarthys, the MacAuliffes and the O'Callaghans were all of the same stock from the Eoghanacht tribe which had been the ruling tribe of Munster for hundreds of years up until the time of Brian Boru. The O'Keeffes were of different stock but also belonged to the Eoghanacht tribe. Another smaller clan, the O'Noonans of Tullylease, had been in Duhallow for much longer than the others but had no say in the political affairs of the barony. They were guardians of the monastery of Tullylease.

The MacDonagh MacCarthys were Lords of Duhallow, but they in turn owed allegiance to MacCarthy More, the Prince of Desmond, which included the baronies of Duhallow and Muskerry in Cork. The other clans had to pay tribute or dues to both but especially to the Lord of Duhallow. Payment was usually made in the form of cattle, sheep, honey, oats, beer or whiskey. In addition the other three clans had to contribute soldiers, and also to entertain the lord and his retinue twice a year. Finally the Lord of Duhallow and his retinue had rights to hunt and to fish anywhere in the barony.