Cahir Name Study

Date: [unknown]
Surnames/tags: Cahir Keigher Keher

Contents 1 About the project 2 How to join 3 Surname history from medieval times 4 Historical references to the Cahir surname 5 Notable bearers of the Cahir surname 6 Related surnames and surname variants 7 Cahir Y-DNA 8 List of project members 8.1 Cahirs 8.2 Descendants of female Cahirs 8.3 Other genealogists and historians with an interest in the Cahir surname 9 Cahirs on WikiTree 10 Cahirs on other websites 11 Cahir puzzles 11.1 Cahir Y-DNA signatures 11.2 Cahir cousins in Massachusetts 12 Project objectives 12.1 FamilyTreeDNA project 12.2 Y-DNA comparison 12.3 Autosomal DNA comparison 12.4 GEDmatch.com Ancestor Project 12.5 Compiling Cahir family trees 12.6 Solving Cahir puzzles 12.7 Cahir surname gathering 12.8 Clans of Ireland registration 13 Sources

About the project

The Cahir Name Study project was established in April 2023 by Paddy Waldron on behalf of Jerry Cahir. Luke McInerney has made extensive contributions to the sections on the surname history from medieval times and on historical references to the Cahir surname.

The project serves as a collaborative platform to collect information on the Irish surname Ó Cathaoir, usually anglicised as Cahir. The hope is that other Cahir researchers like you will join the study, become collaborators, and contribute to this page, to help make it a valuable reference point for any genealogists who are researching or have an interest in the Cahir surname.

As with many surname projects, recognising that the surname and the Y-chromosome both follow the direct male line from father to son, the principal objective of the Cahir Name Study is to recruit Cahir men to submit DNA samples for Y-chromosome analysis. See the Cahir Y-DNA section below.

As a One Name Study, this project is not limited to persons who are related genetically. Some researchers may even be motivated to go beyond the profile identification and research stage to compile fully sourced, single-family histories of some of the families they discover through this name study project.

This project featured in a talk given by Paddy Waldron at the Shannon Valley Genetic Genealogy Conference on Saturday 15 July 2023 which can be viewed/heard at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUaxhCdic98

Also see the related surnames and surname variants.

How to join

To join the Cahir Name Study and participate in its activities, please first read the rest of this page to see if the study fits your interests.

If so and if you are not already a WikiTree member, then please

• sign up here; and
• read and accept the Wiki Genealogist Honor Code.

Once you are a WikiTree member, please feel free to add your name to the relevant subsection of the list of project members below, post an introductory comment on this page, and dive right in to help with the project objectives set out below!

Once you are ready to go, you can also show your project affiliation by adding the ONS Member Sticker to your own profile:

If you have any questions, then please contact the Name Study Coordinator: Paddy Waldron for assistance.

If you want to be notified whenever somebody edits this page or adds a comment, please click here to be added to the trusted list.

You can also add the slightly different ONS Sticker to any Cahir profile which you manage or edit:

Surname history from medieval times

The surname Cahir is of Irish origin. It is found in the modern Irish-language form of Ó Cathaoir (or its plural collective form, Uí Chathaoir), denoting one who is descended from Cathaoir. Cathaoir was an ancient Irish forename and therefore the surname Ó Cathaoir was formed as a patronymic surname, much like Ó Briain (anglicised: O'Brien) is a patronymic name derived from Brian, an Irish forename. Since the seventeenth and eighteenth century following the English conquest of Ireland, the surname Ó Cathaoir has generally been anglicised as Cahir or Caher or other such phonetic variants.

The standard works on Irish surnames summarise the history of the Cahir surname as follows:

• Woulfe:

  CATHAOIR, genitive — id. (the same), Cahir, (Charles); Celt. *Katu-viro-s, Old Irish — Cathfer, Cather, battle-man, warrior; an ancient Irish name, most frequent amongst Leinster families, especially the O'Connors of Offaly, the Mac Coghlans, O'Molloys and O'Byrnes; now always anglicised Charles. In Donegal, Cathair (which see) is a variant. Latin — Cathirius.
  
  Mac CATHAOIR—IV—M'Cahire, M'Cahir, M'Kahir, Cahir, Carr, Kerr; 'son of Cathaoir' (a common Irish personal name); a rare surname.
  
  Ó CATHAOIR—I—O Cahir, Cahir; 'descendant of Cathaoir' (an ancient Irish personal name); a rare Tipperary surname.^[1]

• MacLysaght:

  (O) Cahir Ó Cathaoir. (Cahir is an old forename in Ireland) A rare Co. Clare name. Though MacCahir appears very frequently in such sixteenth-century records as the Fiants, these are ephemeral patronymics occurring in the Kavanagh and other great Leinster families. The prefix is O, wherever a man bore this as a hereditary surname, and it rarely (if ever) occurs in Leinster. The statement that in Co. Limerick it is a toponymic, viz. de Cathair, can be discounted.^[2]

• de Bhulbh:

  Cahir: mod.nos.: mainly in Clare. Ir. Ó Cathaoir, from an old personal name thought to pre-date Celtic Ireland. Not connected with cathaoir meaning chair, which is a borrow-word from Latin cathedra. A popular name amongst the Ulstermen. SI.^[3]

A report by MacCotter History and Genealogy Research concluded that the Cahir surname is almost entirely absent from the main sources on Irish clan and surname histories.

The 1911 Census of Ireland included just 135 Cahirs, of which 112 (83%) were enumerated in County Clare.

Thus, the distribution of people bearing the surname Cahir strongly points to an ancestral origin in County Clare, which in former times comprised the main part of the kingdom of Thomond. More specifically, the concentrated distribution of bearers of the name in central Clare, around the town of Corofin and nearby parishes of Kilnaboy, Kilnamona, Dysert and Drumcliff, suggests that the hereditary lands of the family, so far as they might have existed in the late medieval period, lay in these areas. This appears to be evidenced by sporadic references to individual bearers of the surname in the early seventeenth century, all of whom were settled in the central Clare parishes of Kilnaboy and Rath. By the time of the great "census" records of the nineteenth century, such as the Tithe Applotment Books (1820s) people bearing the Cahir surname were clustered primarily in the parishes of Ruan, Kilnaboy, Carran, Kilfenora and Rath.^[4] A similar distribution is found in the Griffith Valuation of 1851-55,^[5] indicating the overwhelmingly agricultural nature of their residence and the generally static nature of their household distribution in the first part of the nineteenth century, including in the immediate post-famine period.

Historical references to the Cahir surname

The surname Cahir, or its original Irish form Ó Cathaoir, is largely absent from medieval source material. For example, the family do not feature in the mid-fourteenth century narrative-text Triumphs of Torlough^[6] nor do they feature in the medieval Irish annals.^[7] The family first appears in the papal mandates, or ecclesiastical correspondence between the ecclesiastical authorities in Ireland and the papal curia, which were issued prolifically in fifteenth century Ireland. The earliest reference found is under the year 1468, when a member of the family, rendered by a clerical writer as Cormac Ykahyr (i.e. Cormac Ó Cathaoir) held the position of abbot of Kilshanny Augustinian Abbey and was ousted by a violent intervention by a rival claimant for the abbacy, one "Bernard Oconncubayr" (Bearnard Ó Conchobhair) who was a kinsman of the ruling Uí Chonchobhair (O'Conor) lineage of Corcomroe.^[8]

The background of this struggle for the abbacy of Kilshanny is fully detailed in the Papal Registers. The ruling lineage of Corcomroe, in which Kilshanny Abbey is located, the Uí Chonchobhair (O'Connors) sought to intrude one of their members into the abbey by alleging that the incumbent, "Cormac Ykahyr" (Cormac Ó Cathaoir) (although he had held the position for many years and "was a good administrator") had been irregularly installed. The precentor of Kilfenora, Tomas Ó Lochlainn,^[9] who was asked to adjudicate in the affair, was himself attacked by the O'Connors and accused of complicity by forging a papal document. Before the case could be determined however the intruder, Bernard O'Connor, decided to force the issue and, according to the Papal Mandate which recounts the matter in full:

The recent petition of abbot Cormac Ykahyr and the convent of the monastery of St. Mary's, Kylsenay, O.S.A., in the diocese of Kilfenora (Finaboren.), contained that although the said Cormac had been abbot for many years and had laudably administered its goods, Bernard Ocomicubayr (recte Oconncubayr), clerk (no diocese), falsely alleging that the said monastery ought to be granted to him in commendam, and that the said Cormac was unlawfully detaining possession of it, brought him and the convent before Thomas Olo[c]hlynd,^[9] precentor of Kilfenora, whom he alleged to be the executor of certain papal letters, which are believed to be forged, and by which he alleged that the said monastery was ordered to be granted to him in commendam; and that moreover, whilst the cause was pending before the said precentor, the said Bernard, with the support of lay power, went with his accomplices to the said monastery, broke open the doors and, laying violent hands on the said Cormac, grievously wounded him and slew one of his servants, carried off and wasted the goods which they found in the monastery, and expelled the canons, after which the said abbot and convent, fearing lest worse things should befall them, consented through fear to an agreement by which they pledged for a sum of money a portion of the immoveable goods of the monastery to the said Bernard, possession of which portion he still unlawfully detains. At the petition, therefore, of the said abbot (who alleges that through fear he swore to observe the said agreement, and appointed sureties for the purpose) and of the convent, the pope hereby orders the above three, if they find the said violence and wounding to be true, publicly to proclaim the said authors of sacrilege to be excommunicate[d], and cause them to be strictly avoided by all men, until they make satisfaction and until they come, with the letters testimonial of the above three, to the apostolic see for absolution, and, for the rest, to summon the said Bernard and his accomplices and others concerned, relax the said abbot's oath, so far only as to enable him to take [legal] action, hear both sides, and decide what is just, without appeal, causing their decision to be observed by ecclesiastical censure.^[10]

It is likely that the ousting of the Uí Chathaoir from Kilshanny resulted in their gradual loss of status in the social hierarchy. The fact that they do not feature in the 1585 Composition of Connacht would suggest that by that period, if not earlier in the century, they had essentially become tenants on the estates of the ruling Gaelic lineages and were themselves not a landholding lineage like the O'Deas or O'Connors in central Clare. The reduction in status of lesser lineages and families by the Gaelic landholding class is well known in the late medieval period and shows the extent to which social relations in Gaelic Ireland was far from static. The expansion of the ruling lineages and kindred-groups, often at the expense of smaller lineages, meant that the competition for land and status was a constant feature in Gaelic polities up until the destruction of the Gaelic social system in the Elizabethan and Jacobean period.

Members of the family appear to have been settled around Kilnaboy parish in the early seventeenth century. According to a land deed dated 1 February 1601, Moriarty O Kaheyr (Muircheartach Ó Cathaoir) of Ballysheen in Kilnaboy parish stood as a witness.^[11]

In 1601, a Donal O'Cahir was listed in the Fiants with other Irish as being pardoned by the Elizabethan administration. His residence was Loughnagowan townland in the parish of Rath in County Clare.

However, in an apparent indication of the social status of the family in the early modern period, no family members were recorded in the so-called 1641 Books of Survey and Distribution for County Clare in which the landholding lineages were listed.^[12] Likewise, the Cahirs do not feature in the 1659 Census, again pointing to their lower social position at that time, in the wake of the Cromwellian confiscations of the 1650s.

Appendix III of James Frost's The History and Topography of the County of Clare^[13] reproduces the humble Petition and Discovery of Henry Hickman of Ballykett, in the county of Clare, Esq., received in Court on 22 Jul 1700. Hickman claimed that, at the time of the decease [in Nov 1690] of Daniel O'Brien, 3rd Viscount Clare, "Edmond Cahire of Cross, near Carrigaholt, had charge of all his lordship's black cattle and horses".

If you have pre-1500 certification, please consider creating a profile for the Cormac Ykahyr discussed above.

Notable bearers of the Cahir surname

In modern times the number of bearers of the Cahir surname has not been significant, but several have achieved notability in academia, the arts, business, journalism, politics, sport and other fields.

Those meriting Wikipedia entries include:

• Gerard Cahir (born 1959), Australian rules footballer; and
• Bill Cahir (1968-2009), American journalist, marine and Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress (Cahir-55).

Other notable bearers of the surname include:

• William Anthony Cahir (1900-1966), Acting Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, during WWII;
• Massachusetts State Representatives Jeremiah Cahir (1924-1984), who served four two-year terms from 1977 until his death in 1984, and his son Thomas Cahir, who served seven terms, from 1985 to 1999 (son and grandson of Cahir-48);
• Jerry Cahir (born 1941), banker turned artist;
• Brendan Ó Cathaoir (c.1944-2019), journalist and historian;
• Thomas Cahir (1896-1958) who is commemorated by the name of Cahir Memorial Park near Geelong in Australia;
• etc.

Related surnames and surname variants

• Cahar
• Caher
• Cahirr
• Keeher
• Keher
• Kehir
• Keigher
• Keiher

Cahir Y-DNA

Only men have Y-DNA, which follows the male line from father to son in the same way as the surname.

Y-DNA analysis provides a modern alternative for establishing the origins of a surname. Even that has so far given mixed results. DNA samples from two Cahirs, a Keigher and a Keher show that they have no common male line ancestry within recent millenia, and certainly not within the surname era, which dates back about 1000 years.^[14]

• A male line descendant of Michael Cahir, who died in the townland of Licknaun, County Clare, on 28 May 1878 aged 80, has genetic ancestry from the Clans of North Clare branch of the Y-DNA haplotree, characterised by the R-L1336 mutation. The most closely related surnames include Carroll, Clancy, Considine, Cunningham, Dunn, Maher, Marrinan and O'Loughlin. Many of these surnames are associated with Corcomroe and other parts of north Clare. The Cahir's most recent confirmed Y-SNP mutation as of 7 Apr 2023 is R-BY126184 and his closest match on the haplotree is puzzlingly not a Cahir but a Richardson, with a recent surname/DNA switch from Owens to Richardson and male line roots in Wales.

• A male line descendant of Patrick Cahir (born in the 1700s) of Foilrim in Ruan parish, just 11 kilometres from Licknaun, has genetic ancestry from the so-called Irish Type II branch of the Y-DNA haplotree, characterised by the R-CTS4466 mutation, which features strongly in the south of Ireland. Common surnames in this lineage include O'Connell, O’Donoghue, Donovan, Regan, etc.

• A Keher has genetic ancestry from the Niall of the Nine Hostages branch of the Y-DNA haplotree, characterised by the R-M222 mutation, which features strongly in the north-west of Ireland.

• A Keigher has genetic ancestry from a Scottish cluster on the Y-DNA haplotree, characterised by the R-L1065 mutation.

Hence, while the Cahir ancestors lived in close geographical proximity, their genetic connection was remote. The most recent mutation shared by the two Cahirs is R-DF13, which FTDNA dates to 2500 BCE, long before the use of any surnames.

The Keher and Keigher men also share the R-DF13 mutation, and further share the slightly more recent R-Z39589 mutation, dated to 2450 BCE.

Two possible explanations for men with similar surnames having no recent shared Y-DNA mutations are (a) a surname/DNA switch by a male line ancestor within the surname era or (b) the separate adoption of the similar surnames by two unrelated males at the start of the surname era.

Please bring this page to the attention of any male with the Cahir surname who may be interested in participating in Y-DNA comparison.

We recommend that participants start with the Y-DNA37 test from www.FamilyTreeDNA.com (USD119 as of 7 Apr 2023) or preferably the more advanced Big Y-700 from the same company (USD449 as of 7 Apr 2023). The Name Study Coordinator, Paddy Waldron, will be glad to provide further details and answer any questions from those interested in participating in the DNA study, and to provide follow-up analysis after the DNA results arrive.

List of project members

Cahirs

• Jerry Cahir

Descendants of female Cahirs

Other genealogists and historians with an interest in the Cahir surname

• Name Study Coordinator: Paddy Waldron

• Martin Breen
• Luke McInerney

Cahirs on WikiTree

As of 17 Mar 2024, there were 31 end-of-line Cahir ancestors on WikiTree+. This week's count can be found by clicking the blue "Get profiles" button on this page.

This list includes one Cahir with an unknown father who took her surname from her mother and may still include a Mrs. Cahir née Brooks who was originally wrongly recorded with Cahir as her last name at birth.

As of 17 Mar 2024, the earliest Cahirs on this list (a Patrick and a John) were born in the mid-18th century, around 300 years (or about 10 generations) after Cormac Ykahyr was ousted from the abbacy of Kilshanny in 1468.

The following lists may also be of assistance to members:

• One Name Trees: Cahir
• List of Person Profiles in the Cahir Name Study Category
• List of all Cahirs on Wikitree
• G2G feed of questions tagged "Cahir"
• Orphaned Cahir profiles on WikiTree
• Unsourced Cahir profiles on WikiTree
• Unconnected Cahir profiles on WikiTree

Cahirs on other websites

• Cahirs at legacy.com

Cahir puzzles

Cahir Y-DNA signatures

The Cahir Y-DNA section above has already outlined the surprising discovery that two Cahir men with roots within 11 kilometres of each other have different Y-DNA signatures.

Cahir cousins in Massachusetts

Gretta Robertson née Cahir, greatgranddaughter of Michael Cahir of Licknaun, was described as a "cousin" of two descendants of Daniel Cahir of Cregbrien/Cragbrien/Gragbrien. This and other evidence suggests that Michael and Daniel must have been closely related, possibly brothers:

• Gretta twice sailed across the Atlantic to Boston, from Cobh in 1927^[15] and from Galway in 1937.^[16]
  She was going to join the same relative or friend on both occasions, Daniel's granddaughter Elizabeth Stock née Cahir:
  • Cousin Mrs. W. Stack [sic], 7 School St, Belmont, Mass. in 1927; and
  • Cousin Mrs. W. E. Stock, 27 Temple Street, Belmont, Mass. in 1937.
• Gretta's Boston Globe death notices described her as "cousin of" Daniel's greatgranddaughter Mary Balleste née Cahir (Mrs. Stock's niece).

The relationships on the Cahir side can have been no closer second cousin once removed and third cousin respectively (if Daniel and Michael were brothers), raising the possibility that there was some other closer relationship (or an error in the pedigree as set out here on WikiTree).

There is much other circumstantial evidence beyond the connections between their descendants in Massachusetts suggesting a close relationship between Michael and Daniel, but the following observations don't really help to solve the puzzle:

• Daniel had a son with the uncommon name Sylvester and Michael had a grandson also named Sylvester.
• Daniel's son Sylvester Cahir resided in Reaskaun at the time of his marriage in 1885, and Michael appears to have been the only Cahir occupier of land in Reaskaun in 1855, albeit residing in the adjoining townland of Licknaun.
• The Sylvester Cahir who was a witness on 6 Feb 1864 in Barefield Church at the wedding of Michael's son Michael jr. could have been any of Daniel's son or his slightly older contemporary who went to Australia or the latter's father.^[17]
• Reaskaun is in the parish of Doora and Kilraghtis, which has a surviving baptismal register from 1 Mar 1821 to 23 Jan 1862, in which one might have expected to find Sylvester's baptism based on his residence at the time of marriage, but the only Sylvester of any surname in the clarelibrary.ie transcription of that baptismal register is a different Sylvester Cahir baptised in 1836, who emigrated to Australia, and there is no child of Daniel in that transcription.
• There are two houses occupied by Michael Cahar in Licknaun (adjoining Reaskaun) in Griffith's Valuation. The offline records of the Valuation Office must be consulted to establish whether these were two different Michael Cahars, or whether one might have actually been Daniel Cahir.
• Michael's greatgrandson Anthony Cahir (1906-1983) is said to have bequeathed his farm in Ballymaley (which was Anthony's mother's residence at the time of her marriage in 1900) to Daniel's greatgrandson Michael Cahir.
• Michael's grandson Patrick Cahir became a publican etc. on Mill Street, later Parnell Street, in Ennis. Daniel's greatgrandson Michael Cahir later ran the Premier Restaurant/Café elsewhere on Parnell Street.

Autosomal DNA comparisons between descendants of Daniel and Michael may be the only way to solve this puzzle.

Project objectives

Among the several objectives of the Cahir Name Study are the following:

FamilyTreeDNA project

All male Cahirs are currently invited to join the following FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA) projects:

• the Clare Roots DNA project, of which the Name Study Coordinator, Paddy Waldron, is an administrator; and
• the Keigher/Keher Surname project, administered by Melissa Keigher, who also administers the Keigher One-Name Study within the Guild of One-Name Studies.

All female Cahirs and all descendants of Cahirs are also invited to join the Clare Roots project.

FTDNA is reluctant to approve separate projects for surnames which may turn out to be merely variant spellings of each other. FTDNA's current implementation of General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) also makes it extremely awkward for one administrator to administer multiple projects. If it becomes clear, as appears to be the case from the very limited DNA evidence available to date, that Cahir and Keigher or particular variant spellings are genetically distinct surnames, and if another volunteer administrator steps forward, then it may ultimately be appropriate to establish a separate Cahir DNA project at FTDNA.

Y-DNA comparison

As noted in the introductory section, the principal objective of the Cahir Name Study is to recruit Cahir men to submit Y-DNA samples to FTDNA. See the Cahir Y-DNA section above.

Autosomal DNA comparison

If you have any Cahir ancestor and have not already done so, then please spit for AncestryDNA and/or 23andMe, upload your DNA data to MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA and GEDmatch, and add the details of all of your DNA "tests" to your WikiTree profile.

For more on this see How to get the most out of your DNA results.

GEDmatch.com Ancestor Project

The Request Ancestor Project Creation Facility requires a list of 50 kits to create a new project. In due course, it is hoped to have 50 individuals with Cahir ancestry on GEDmatch to create such a project.

As of 28 Sep 2023, the Name Study Coordinator was aware of only 18 individuals with Cahir ancestry in the autosomal DNA system, of whom 10 had uploaded their data to GEDmatch and just one had joined this project.

Compiling Cahir family trees

The competing objectives of the Cahir Name Study include:

• to increase the number of end-of-line Cahir ancestors on WikiTree by adding Cahir families not previously represented on WikiTree;
• to reduce the number of end-of-line Cahir ancestors on WikiTree by identifying the common ancestors of previously disconnected branches;
• to connect all Cahirs to WikiTree's global family tree;
• etc.

Solving Cahir puzzles

Another objective of the Cahir Name Study is to identify and solve various puzzles relating to Cahir ancestry, which will be listed in the Cahir puzzles section above.

Cahir surname gathering

Another objective of the Cahir Name Study is to organise a Cahir surname gathering in County Clare. If you have Cahir ancestry and would be interested in participating in such a gathering, then please click the button to POST NEW COMMENT at the bottom of this page with whatever ideas or suggestions you may have for such a gathering. As soon as we reach a critical mass of potential attendees, we will start planning dates and venues.

Clans of Ireland registration

We need the names and contact details of at least six adult members bearing the Cahir surname (and a registration fee) in order to satisfy the registration criteria of Finte na hÉireann ~ Clans of Ireland. If you would like to be one of the founder members, then please click the button to POST NEW COMMENT at the bottom of this page to let us know.

Sources

1. ↑ Woulfe, Rev Patrick. Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames. Dublin: M. H. Gill & Son, Ltd, 1923. Entries for Cathaoir, Mac Cathaoir and Ó Cathaoir.
2. ↑ MacLysaght, Edward. The Surnames of Ireland. Blackrock, Co. Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1985 (Sixth edition). Page 33.
3. ↑ de Bhulbh, Seán. Sloinnte Uile Éireann: All Ireland Surnames. Faing, Co. Luimnigh: Comhar Chumann Íde Naofa, 2002. Page 175.
4. ↑ https://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/genealogy/tithe_applot/name_index/index05_CToCarmody.htm
5. ↑ https://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/genealogy/griffiths/griffithc1.htm
6. ↑ O'Grady, Standish Hayes (ed.). Caithréim Thoirdhealbhaigh: The triumphs of Turlough, 2 vols. London: Irish Texts Society, 1929.
7. ↑ https://celt.ucc.ie/publishd.html
8. ↑ McInerney, Luke. Clerical and learned lineages of Medieval Co. Clare: A survey of the fifteenth-century papal registers. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2014. Page 120. McInerney writes as follows of the struggle for the abbacy of Kilshanny:

   Papal mandates record Kilshanny embroiled in conflict, the inevitable result of lay proprietorship by the dynastic Uí Chonchobhair lineage. In 1468, the Uí Chonchobhair intruded a kinsman in Kilshanny abbey and sought to remove the incumbent "Cormac Ykahyr" (Cormac Ó Cathaoir). The papal registers are clear on the detail that the Uí Chonchobhair candidate, Bernard Oconncubayr, had the "support of lay power" and broke open the doors of Kilshanny and, "laying violent hands on Cormac, grievously wounded him and slew one of his servants". This violent affray appears to have put an end to Uí Chathaoir clerics holding the abbacy of Kilshanny. After this, Kilshanny remained if not explicitly, then at least tacitly, under the control of the Uí Chonchobhair.

9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} Usually anglicised O'Loughlin.
10. ↑ Twemlow, J.A. (ed.). Calendar of Papal Registers Relating To Great Britain and Ireland: Volume 12, 1458-1471. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1933. Page 667.
11. ↑ Ainsworth, John (ed.). The Inchiquin Manuscripts. Dublin: Stationery Office for the Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1961. Page 299, Nos. 950 & 955.
12. ↑ https://www.irishmanuscripts.ie/product/books-of-survey-and-distribution-being-abstracts-of-various-surveys-and-instruments-to-title-1636-1703-vol-iv-county-of-clare-reproduced-from-the-manuscript-in-the-public-record-office-of-ire/
13. ↑ Frost, James. The History and Topography of the County of Clare. Dublin: The Mercier Press, 1978 (1st published 1893).
14. ↑ Members of the Keigher/Keher Surname project can see more details here. The confirmed Y-SNP mutations of the four men, in chronological order, are:
    • R-M269>L23>L51>L151>P312>Z290>L21>DF13>FGC11134>A353>Z16250>CTS4466 (Cahir)
    • R-M269>L23>L51>L151>P312>Z290>L21>DF13>DF21>S5488>FGC11358>Z17568>L1336/FT5240>BY15552>FGC65734>BY126184 (Cahir)
    • R-M269>L23>L51>L151>P312>Z290>L21>DF13>Z39589>DF49>Z2980>Z2976>DF23>Z2961>M222>S658>DF104>DF105>A259>A260>FGC5939>FTA43254>FT185820 (Keher)
    • R-M269>L23>L51>L151>P312>Z290>L21>DF13>Z39589>L1335>L1065>Z16325>S744>S764>BY3148>S7364>FT28900>FT30681 (Keigher)
15. ↑ Passenger List: "Massachusetts, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1963"
    The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; Series Title: Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving At Boston, Massachusetts, 1891-1943; NAI Number: 4319742; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85; Series Number: T843; NARA Roll Number: 330
    Ancestry Record 8745 #2144031 (accessed 17 September 2023)
    (Line 6) Name: Gretta Cahir; Gender: Female; Nationality: Irish; Marital Status: Single; Arrival Age: 26; Birth Date: abt 1901; Birth Place: Ennis, Ireland; Departure Place: Cobh and Queenstown, Ireland; Last Residence Place: Ennis, Ireland; Final Destination Place: Boston, Massachusetts; Residence Place: Ireland; Arrival Date: 7 Nov 1927; Arrival Place: Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Length of Time in US: Permanent; Intend to be Citizen: Yes; Complexion: Fair; Eye Color: Brown; Hair Color: Brown; Height: 5 Feet; Money: $5; Ship: Samaria; Father: John Cahir; Friend: W Stack; Person in Old Country Name: John Cahir; Person in Old Country Residence Place: Ballymally, Barefield, Clare; Person in Old Country Relationship: Father; Person in US Name: Mrs W Stack; Person in US Relationship: Cousin.
16. ↑ Passenger List: "Massachusetts, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1963"
    The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; Series Title: Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving At Boston, Massachusetts, 1891-1943; NAI Number: 4319742; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85; Series Number: T843; NARA Roll Number: 431
    Ancestry Record 8745 #3188492 (accessed 17 September 2023)
    (Line 22) Name: Gretta Cahir; Gender: Female; Nationality: Irish; Marital Status: Single; Arrival Age: 35; Birth Date: abt 1902; Birth Place: Ennis Co Clare, Ireland; Departure Place: Galway, Ireland; Last Residence Place: Belmont, Mass, USA; Final Destination Place: Belmont, Massachusetts; Residence Place: USA; Arrival Date: 4 Oct 1937; Arrival Place: Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Length of Time in US: Permanent; Intend to be Citizen: Yes; Complexion: Fresh; Eye Color: Brown; Hair Color: Brown; Height: 5 Feet; Money: $50; Ship: Scythia; Mother: Cahir; Friend: W E Stock; Person in Old Country Name: Mrs Cahir; Person in Old Country Residence Place: Clare.; Person in Old Country Relationship: Mother.
17. ↑ https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1864/11603/8270610.pdf