The Clann Ghormáin were a prominent lineage in late medieval Thomond with close connections to the ruling Uí Bhriain. Yet their antecedents are found in Leinster where they were rulers of Uí Bhairrche before their expulsion, purportedly at the hands of the Anglo-Normans in the twelfth century.

The tradition of their migration from Leinster to Thomond is preserved in a late sixteenth-century poem by the learned seanchaidhe, Maoilín Óg Mac Bruaideadha, entitled Deoraidh sonna sliocht Chathaoir (‘Cathaoir’s descendants are strangers here’).

A translation of this poem - published in the accompanying article for the first time - contains a wealth of genealogical and allegorical detail that enables an assessment of the resettlement of the Clann Ghormáin in Thomond. Further insights can be drawn from the poem with regards to the martial prowess of the Clann Ghormáin, as well as their landholdings in Ibrickan in west Clare.

From these beginnings in the twelfth century, Clann Ghormáin advanced themselves to a prominent position in the lordship of Thomond, which lasted until the loss of their estates in the mid-seventeenth century. An analysis of the seanchas-genealogy elements of the poem by Maoilín Óg alongside evidence contained in contemporary administrative records reveals the landholdings, proprietorial status and familial relationships of this important Gaelic Irish lineage.


   Clann Ghormáin article in Studia Hibernica, Vol. 50 2024 (PDF)