The origins and history of the surname MacCarthy
MacCarthy is probably the most common of all the Mac surnames in Irish history. The name is most closely associated with counties Cork and Kerry. Historically, the MacCarthy were the senior royal dynasty within the Eoghanachta clan group.
Between the 6th and 10th centuries, the Eoghanachta were kings of Munster, the richest of all the provinces in Ireland. Their base was the Rock of Cashel, also known as “Cashel of the Kings.”
The MacCarthy family name derives from a real historical figure, Carthy (Carthach). Carthy was both a bishop and a king who combined in his person the authority of church and state. In 1045, he died in an arson attack on his house. His sons and grandsons styled themselves Mac Carthy, literally meaning “sons of Carthy.”
Other royal dynasties from the Eoghanachta that began adopting fixed surnames include O’Callaghan, O’Donoghue, O’Donovan, O’Mahony, O’Sullivan, MacGillycuddy, and Moriarty. As late as the 1600s, these families still recognized MacCarthy as the senior royal family in their wider clan group. In practical terms, they paid him taxes and played a role in inaugurating each new MacCarthy chief.
For example, the head of the O’Sullivan family gave a white rod to MacCarthy during his inauguration, symbolizing his role as lawgiver.
Between 1127 and 1134, Cormac MacCarthy, Carthy’s grandson, built a church on the Rock of Cashel and dedicated it to his grandfather. Cormac’s Chapel survives to this day and is one of the earliest and finest ancient churches in Ireland open to visitors.
Under the native Irish (Brehon) laws, there was equal right to inherit within four generations. This not only gave rise to many dynasties within the clan group but also led to distinct branches in the MacCarthy family. The most important of these were:
– The MacCarthy Mor, kings of Desmond in Kerry
– MacCarthy Reagh, based in Carbery in West Cork
– MacCarthy Muskerry, near Macroom in County Cork
– MacDonagh MacCarthy of Duhallow, on the border of Kerry and Limerick
The MacCarthys were clever politicians who made war or peace on their own terms and often concluded peace settlements by marrying their sons and daughters to political enemies.
In the 1490s, Donal MacCarthy of Carbery married Lady Eleanor Fitzgerald, daughter of the Earl of Kildare—referred to as “all but king of Ireland.”
In 1537, Lady Eleanor MacCarthy was one of the key figures behind the Geraldine League, founded after Silken Thomas and his five uncles were executed for rebellion. Eleanor MacCarthy protected the young Geraldine heir, appealing to friendships and alliances with both Irish and English families. Under her protection, he was brought to France, where he was raised safely.
The last MacCarthy king of Desmond was Donal MacCarthy Mor, who controlled Kerry between 1558 and his death in 1596. In 1565, Donal MacCarthy Mor was granted an English title, Earl of Clancar, as an incentive to abandon Irish laws and customs.
Despite the gift of the earldom, MacCarthy Mor was ambiguous about English settlement in Kerry. In contrast, his daughter Ellen MacCarthy was clear about her own prejudices and refused to marry any English settlers in Ireland, whom she dismissed as “mere English” and “men without pedigrees.”
In 1588, Ellen MacCarthy married her cousin Florence MacCarthy Reagh in a secret midnight ceremony at Muckross Abbey.
When Donal MacCarthy Mor died in 1596, there was a dispute over who should inherit the kingdom of Desmond: Ellen and her husband, or Ellen’s illegitimate half-brother Donal. Even before MacCarthy Mor’s death, the Tudors had indicated they had decided the MacCarthys’ influence was over.
By the time the Tudor conquest of Ireland was complete, the power of the MacCarthys in Munster was broken. However, historic records show that descendants from some collateral branches of the MacCarthy family survived.
Today, there are over 2.7 million MacCarthy records available on Findmypast dating from the 1600s onwards.
*This article was originally published in 2014 and updated in September 2025.*
https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/origins-history-surname-maccarthy
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