McMenamin

A Brief history of the McMenamin name

The surname, McMenamin, in ancient Gaelic was shorter, Meanma, a word meaning courageous or high spirited. It originated in Co. Donegal in the 13th Century and the Meanma’s were a warrior branch of the O'Donnells of Tirconnell (Donegal), who were the "chieftains of Fanad" a large territory in Donegal.

This surname McMenamin originated in Co. Donegal it is still found there and in west Tyrone. There was considerable migration to Mayo in the early seventeenth century, following the defeat of Ulster by the English and "The Flight of the Earls" and this accounts for the presence of the surname in that county today.

When Meanma was first changed to its English form it became Meanman. The time came (before its Anglicisation in the 1700’s) when the ancient Irish found prefixes useful with their surnames and so these became customary. O (as in O’Brein) designated one as being a grandson of Brien; and Mac or Mc (written as m’ in ancient Gaelic) designated one being ‘the son of’.

In the 1200's AD, the 'Lector O'Donnell' (an esteemed position in the church) had a son named Meanma. This Meanma was the founder of the clan name, as his descendants after him became known as MacMeanmain. Meanma had at least 2 sons that we know of: Donchadh (Donogh) and Aedh (Hugh). In 1303 they fought for Toirdhealbhach O Domhnaill against his rival and brother Aodh O Domhnaill who were feuding for the kingship of Tir Chonaill (Donegal), and were killed in the battle.

Like many Irish Royal Families who were pushed out of the lines of succession, after this defeat the MacMeanmain's followed in their ancestor the Lector O'Donnell's footsteps by creating a family dynasty in the church. They probably turned to the church because the real political power in Donegal was in the hands of their cousins, the O'Donnells, and their home territory of Fanad was soon to be taken over by the MacSweeneys, a galloglaghs clan (‘gallowglasses’ they were employed as mercenary soldiers) sent from Scotland, who served the O'Donnell Kings.

The O'Donnell Clan was the ruling family of Tir Conaill from 1200 - 1606 A.D. Unlike kings in most other European countries, new Tir Chonaill kings were not determined solely by birthright. Rather, the kingdom’s chieftains elected them from several candidates based on their personal attributes.

The Mac Meanmain clan maintained its royal designation throughout their dynastic church era of the 1300's-1500's, and consequently would have been involved in the selection process as well as the impressive and elaborate ceremonies surrounding the inauguration of each new O'Donnell King. Due to these clerical connections eventually the Mac Meanmain became known as a surname in their own right, rather than merely a branch of the O'Donnells.

It has also been shown that the McMenamin’s had been historically the Keepers of O'Donnell's castle in Donegal Town. The O'Donnell’s had an older castle at Ballyshannon, but this was abandoned when they built their new, larger castle at Donegal Town in the late 1400's. The late 1400's is precisely the time when the MacMeanman O'Donnells disappear from the Papal Letters.

Over the centuries a great number of variations stemmed from the name McMenamin. When English colonising or census officials or American immigration officials recorded the name they heard from an Irishman, who had a thick brogue and often couldn't write. In the Gaelic dialect of Donegal, words ending in "n" are sometimes pronounced with a slender very soft "n"(“eeen”), sounding somewhere between an English "y" and "n". Because there is no English equivalent for this "slender n," it would have often been written as a "y" when written with English spellings.

Also take into consideration that the alphabet of the Irish language had only 17 letters. Its “missing” letters (compared with our modern alphabet) are: H, J, K, Q, V, W, Y and Z. Thus none of the 9 missing letters were even needed to spell McMenamin considering its many phonetic variants today. Many variations developed which all began as McMenamin!

My line of the McMenamin clan originated in Donaghmore Parish in the village called “The Cross” in Aveltgort, just below Killygordon. My Aunts, Uncles and cousins can still be found there.

According to history (or legend - often interchangeable). Donaghmore Parish and it's chapel at “The Cross" was personally founded by St. Patrick. The current St. Patrick's Church now stands on the site of the first chapel. According to legend one of the many stories about my Granddad, John McMenamin, that himself and an accomplice went to pick up the new bell for the tower of the St Patrick’s church, this was being delivered by train, when they got to the train station to there surprise there were 2 bells one large (not their’s) and a smaller one, so obviously after a quick change of labels, they manhandled the larger bell onto their cart and off they set.

They man handled this large bell up the outside of the bell tower by building sandbanks and slowly moving the bell up getting higher and higher. With the bell finally in place, after an immense amount of work, it was discovered that if they rang the bell continually the extra decibels could create damage to the tower housing the bell. Dampening baffles were then added to the bell.

Hopefully after reading this my Aunts and Uncles will supply me more history and legends of that time and place.

The Flight of the Earls - 1601...Hugh O'Neill, Catholic Earl of Tyrone, backed by Spanish troops, attempts to halt English conquest of Ulster, but is defeated at the battle of Kinsale, near Cork. 1607...O'Neill and his ally, Rory O'Donnell, the Earl of Tyrconnell - along with many Ulster chieftains - escape to the Continent [and some to Mayo] in the so-called Flight of the Earls. Their lands were taken over by the English and Scottish settlers, who then begin to turn Ulster into a bastion of Protestantism. Back

Top