Special Feature brought to you by ARALTAS.COM

Healy, Hely, Heely, Heeley, Haly, Haley and so on are all anglicised form of two native Gaelic-Irish names. Rarely, if ever, found these days with their rightful "O'" prefix, the combined strength of these names take them to number forty seven in the list of most common surnames in Ireland with about thirteen thousand individuals thus called.
The first sept originated in county Sligo in the northwest. These were originally called Ó hÉlidhe, the name being derived from the Irish word eilidh meaning "claimant", though what was being claimed is unrecorded. This sept had its territory territory at the foot of the Curlew Mountains on the western shore of Lough Arrow, i.e. the corner of County Sligo lying between Counties Mayo and Roscommon. The place name of Ballyhely testifies to their origins. The name first appears in the written records of the area in 1309, when the Annals of the Four Masters record "Hugh, the son of Owen, son of Rory, son of Hugh, son of Cathal Crovderg, King of Connaught, and worthy heir to the monarchy of Ireland, the most hospitable and expert at arms of all the Irish born in his time, was slain by Hugh Breifneach, the son of Cathal O'Conor, at Coill-an-clochain, together with many of the chiefs of his people about him. Among these were Conor Mac Dermot; Dermot Roe, son of Teige O'Conor; Dermot, son of Cathal Carragh, Mac Dermot; Hugh, son of Murtough, son of Teige, son of Mulrony; and Dermot O'Healy, a princely brughaidh (farmer), the best of his time."
Numerically stronger, however, are the members of the Munster sept, where the name was originally Ó hÉaliaghthe or the shortened Ó hÉilaigh, probably from the Irish ealadhach meaning (ingenious). They allied themselves with the MacCarthys, who were overlords of the whole district. By the end of the seventeenth century, the Cromwellians had dispossessed them of all their lands. This name was formerly correctly rendered as O'Healihy in English, and so it appears in the seventeenth century records for example those reciting the transfer of their estates to the Earl of Clancarty after the Restoration. Though dispossessed, the O'Healihys remained on the lands and it was one of those who, having become a Protestant, was created Earl of Donoughmore. This title was taken from the place Donoghmore in the barony of Muskerry, Co. Cork, which was the centre of the territory possessed by the sept. The influential family of Hely d'Oissel of Normandy, ranked among the nobility of France, is descended from Peter O'Hely, a Jacobite exile.
Though these represent the two main lines of Healy in Ireland, some of the name may have different origins.
In the Tralee and Killarney areas of Co. Kerry. Healy is usually a synonym of Kerrisk or Kerrish, in Irish Mac Fhiarais i.e son of Ferris, the first to be so called being the son of one Pierce O'Healy. Woulfe thinks the eponymous ancestor was Ferris O'Helie. In Co. Clare Mac Fhiarais is anglicized Kierse.
The O'Helys are also given as an old and respectable family in Waterford, according to Keatings History.
O'Haly and Haly are forms of the name found among the members of the Cork family. However there are also Halys in Limerick who are claimed to be originally Hanley. The name Haley has also been imported from England.
The Irish name Mac Ceile has occasionally been rendered as Haly in English though far more usually it is McHale. Few names are more exclusively associate with one Irish county than MacHale of Mayo. Those of the Gaelic sept Mac Ceile were erenaghs of Killala. By the eleventh century, in the average church, the abbot, generally known as the "comharba" (anglicised as "coarb" and meaning "heir"), of the saintly founder, or, if it were not the saint's principal establishment, the "airchinnech" (anglicised as "erenagh" and meaning "head"), had become a lay lord, whose family held the office and the church property from generation to generation. In some cases, apparently, all trace of a church establisment had disappeared, except that the incumbent claimed for his lands the "termonn" of the ancient monastery, those privileges and exemptions which had from old been accorded to ecclesiastical property. But generally the coarb or eneragh maintained a priest. The surname MacHale was also adopted by a Welsh family which settled in the barony of Tirawley, Co. Mayo, in the thirteenth century: it derives from the forename Howell. Being located in the same county the descendants of these cannot now be distinguished from their namesakes of Gaelic origin: in any case centuries of Connacht inter-marriages have made the one just as Irish in blood as the other. Outstanding personality of the name was that uncompromising protagonist of Irish-Ireland, John MacHale (1791-1881), who was for forty-seven years Archbishop of Tuam. The compiler of this feature was also privileged to make the acquaintance of Tom McHale, Irish musician of renown who was tragically killed in the 1970's while in his prime.
O'Hart mentions that the O'h-Ailche family, anglicised Halley and Hally, is a branch of the O'Kennedys of Ormond, descendants of Cormac Cas. Tuatha-Fearalt, a district in the county of Tipperary (the exact situation of which cannot now be ascertained), was the lordship of the family, whom O'Heerin mentions in the following lines:
  "Tuatha-Fearalt, of the fair-woods,
  Is the lordship of O'Ailche;
  A plain of fair fortresses, and a spreading tribe;
  The land resembling Teltown of rivulets."
From the topographical description here given, it would appear to have been that portion of Hy-Fogharty, in Tipperary, lying between Lyttletown, in that county, and Urlingford, in Kilkenny. Tuatha-Fearalt signifies "the country of hardy men;" from tuatha, "a district," or "country," and Feara-alt, "hardy men," or "men of sinew." Or, it may signify "the possession of Fearalt," who may have been some remarkable progenitor of the family under notice. Few, if any, of the name are to be met with at this day, either in Kilkenny or Tipperary. It is worthy of note that the celebrated astronomer, Halley, was a descendant of this family, who were hereditary physicians in Ireland.
O'Hart also states that the O'Halys are of old standing in the county of Galway, as appears from the Four Masters, under A.D. 1232 - "Faghtna O'Hallgaith, Coarb of Drumacoo, and official of Hy-Fiachrach Aidhne, who had kept an open house for strangers, the sick, and the indigent, and also for the instruction of the people, died." The representative of the senior branch of the sept, in 1730, was Simon Haly, Esq., of Ballyhaly, who married Eleanora, daughter of Teige O'Quinn, Esq., of Adare, an ancestor of the Earl of Dunraven.
Returning to the main families, the Healys were well-represented in the priesthood. Patrick Healy (died 1579), a Franciscan, was educated in France and Spain. He was the last Bishop of Mayo before it was joined to the see of Tuam in Galway. A victim of the penal legislation of the time, he was executed at Kilmallock, County Limerick. Three centuries later, another Healy filled the archbishopric of Tuam: this was John Healy (1841-1918). A scholarly priest, he was a senator of the Royal and National Universities.
John Hely-Hutchinson (1724-94), a celebrated Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, was the son of Francis Hely of Gortmore, County Cork. In 1783, he married an heiress and assumed her family name, Hutchinson. In the same year she was raised to the peerage as Baroness Donoughmore of Knocklofty, County Tipperary (Donoughmore, County Cork, was their original home). In his younger days John Hely was described as "an obstreperous patriot", while in later years he was "a man of unblushing venality". A graduate in law, he was not qualified for the exalted position of provost, but he intrigued his way into being elected. He proved a very efficient provost, although he outraged university sentiment, had constant disputes with the fellows and the students, and misused his powers for the advancement of his family. Trinity owes its Modern Language professorships to John Hely-Hutchinson. He supported Free Trade and Catholic reforms, unusual for a man of his position at that time. He had six sons who distinguished themselves, mostly in England.
One son, Richard Hely-Hutchinson (1756-1825), 1st Earl of Donoughmore, also championed Catholic reform in the House of Lords. He strenuously opposed every attempt to rule Ireland by purely coercive measures. John Hely-Hutchinson (1757-1832) was the 2nd Earl of Donoughmore and a soldier. In 1798, when the French, commanded by General Humbert, landed in Killala Bay in County Mayo with 15,000 men, John Hely-Hutchinson was in command of the English at Castlebar. Alarmed by the size of Humbert's forces and their Irish pikemen, the militia under Generals Lake and Cornwallis fled. Despite this embarrassing debacle, dubbed by the natives "the Races of Castlebar", Hely-Hutchinson retained his command. George IV sent him to Saint-Omer to offer an allowance of 50,000 pounds a year to his crazy wife, Queen Caroline. The conditions were that she relinquish all British royal titles and never visit England again. She refused.
The Hely-Hutchinsons built a splendid mansion, Knocklofty, overlooking the River Suir near Clonmel, County Tipperary. In June 1974, the Earl and Countess of Donoughmore were abducted from their home by the IRA. They were found, unharmed, shortly afterwards. Knocklofty has since been sold and is now a hotel.
The artistic Healys were generations apart. Sadly, Robert Healy (1743-71) had a short life. His delightful pastels of Squire Tom Connolly's family and horses at Castletown, County Kildare, are his lasting memorial and have become very highly valued. G.P.A. Healy (1813-94), although born in Boston, was the son of a sea captain of Irish origin. He was a successful portrait painter who studied in
Paris, where he painted Louis Philippe and leading statesmen. On returning to America, he was commissioned to paint three of a series of United States Presidents John Tyler, James Knox Polk and Zachary Taylor.
Father James Healy (1824-94) was one of 23 children born in Dublin. Long the parish priest of Little Bray, he was a most convivial man, a renowned wit whose company was sought at the dining tables of the gentry in his Wicklow neighbourhood.
Michael Healy (1873-1941), a Dubliner, was a stained glass artist. Richard Hayward, the Irish travel writer, described his work in the modern Dominican Holy Cross church in Tralee, Kerry, as "Exquisite ... carried out in the most masterly style", and his genius as "traditional and reflective in spirit". He executed commissions for clients in America and New Zealand.
In the nineteenth century, from a combination of Healys and Sullivans of Bantry, came a remarkable family. Timothy Healy (1855-1931) was the son of Maurice Healy, a clerk. His mother's father, a Sullivan, was a schoolteacher. Her three brothers became Members of Parliament, as did her three sons, of which Tim Healy was the most outstanding. They were the foundation of a political grouping known as "the Bantry Band". While still in his teens, Tim Healy emigrated to London where, for a while, he worked as a railway clerk. T. D. Sullivan, his uncle, owned the Nation newspaper and he offered young Tim the post of parliamentary correspondent in London. Soon Tim knew all the Irish MPs at Westminster. He was invited to accompany Parnell as his secretary when he toured America and Canada. An audacious politician, he developed into a fearless and gripping speaker with a prodigious memory. He took an active part in the burning question of the day - the Land Movement. In 1884 he was called to the Irish Bar. When his party split over Parnell's involvement in the O'Shea divorce, he turned against the leader and was expelled from the party. He received support from the Church, and also a cousin from Bantry, the powerful industrialist and newspaper proprietor, William Martin Murphy, and soon he was back in politics. He became a member of the English Bar and took on many cases of a political nature, including the defence of a number of the suffragettes. His wit and eloquence drew crowded houses. He supported Britain in the First World War, but the events following the rising of 1916 enticed him home. He had many opponents because he was against violence, but, following the Treaty - despite opposition - he became first Governor-General of the Irish Free State, a post he filled most happily from 1922 until 1927.
His brother, Maurice Healy (1887-1943), served in the First World War with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. An eminent barrister in England and Ireland, he was a bon viveur and wit, and author of popular books about wine and the law, including "The Old Munster Circuit" and "Stay With Me Flagons".
Joseph Healy (1889-1934), son of Tim Healy, also a barrister, served in the First World War and was with the British Naval Division at Gallipoli. A dedicated pioneer of motor cycling, on one occasion he rode the 320 mile round trip from Cork to Dublin every day for a week, and another time did the same between Dublin and Belfast, a 208 mile round trip!
Until comparatively recently, family intermarriage seems to have been the custom. Tim Healy, for instance, married his double first cousin, while his daughter married her Sullivan uncle.
John Edward Healy (1872-1934) was born in Drogheda, County Louth, and won many prizes for literature at Trinity College, Dublin. A barrister and journalist, he edited the Irish Times for 27 years, from 1907.
Cahir Healy (1877-1970), born in Donegal, moved to Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, when very young. Like so many other leaders of that time, a rudimentary education was no obstacle to his progress towards taking his place as poet, journalist and litterateur. He was with Arthur Griffith in 1905 when he launched the Sinn Fein party, which favoured a dual monarchy. Although he tried to prevent partition, he sat at Westminster after the Treaty. Following the separation of the six counties, he was Nationalist member for South Fermanagh in the Stormont parliament. He has been described as one of the sanest and most far-seeing leaders of Northern nationalism. Working with the North Eastern Boundary Bureau, he tried to get a plebiscite for Tyrone and Fermanagh. His idea was that the border nationalists could choose whether to join the then Irish Free State, or remain with Britain. He sat in Westminster in the 1930s and again in the 1950s, but his political activities landed him in Brixton prison for nearly two years. His last years as a Nationalist Member of Parliament were darkened by the reappearance of the IRA and its concept of physical force, of which he disapproved.
Gerard Healy (1918-63) was born in Dublin, where he made a name as an actor at the Gate and Abbey Theatres, and on television. He wrote two plays, Thy Dear Father (1943) and The Black Stranger (1945), both of which drew big houses to Dublin's Abbey Theatre. He died while playing James Joyce, the leading role in Hugh Leonard's Stephen D. in London.
In the political upheavals in Ireland during the nineteenth century, many patriots were banished with the convicts to Australia. There were also emigrants from Ireland who played no small part in ameliorating the sorry state of their fellow countrymen who had made the long voyage in the convict ships. One of these was Frederick Healy (1794-1856) from County Tyrone, who became a successful farmer. In 1823 he was Principal Superintendent of Convicts in New South Wales, where he is recorded as being an efficient and sympathetic officer.
James Healy (1830-1900), has been described as the first black American bishop. Actually he was only one quarter black, his father, Michael Healy, being an Irish immigrant and his mother a mulatto slave.
Several places in Ireland perpetuate the name Healy. Ballyhely in Co. Sligo was the seat of the O'Healys of Lough Arrow, already mentioned. It is curious that four such place names (three Ballyhealys and one Healysland) are to be found in Wexford, a county not specially associated with the septs of O'Healy, either traditionally or by reason of present population distribution.

The ancient genealogy of O'Healy of Cork according to O'Hart's Irish Pedigrees.
"Irish Pedigrees or the Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation", by John O'Hart is one of the best known Irish genealogical publications in the world. The first edition appeared in 1876, but was followed by several subsequent editions that added greatly to the overall size of the work. The most quoted edition was published in New York in 1923, twenty years after the author's death. It is worth mentioning here that the original work did not include and heraldic (coat of arms) information and that this was added to posthumous publications by unscrupulous publishers, presumably to increase sales. In general, O'Hart is a dubious source, at best, for such information.
John O'Hart was born in Crossmolina, Co. Mayo, in 1824. He received an excellent education with the intention of joining the priesthood. However, he instead spent two years in the constabulary (the police), after which he was employed by the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland from 1845, the first year of the Famine. He became an Associate in Arts at the Queen's University, and thereafter he was an active member of several scholarly societies. He was an avid genealogist and took a keen interest in Irish history, despite never receiving formal training as an historian. Politically he was an Irish nationalist, and in religious matters, a committed Catholic. Both of these factors permeated his work. He died in 1902 in Clontarf, Co. Dublin, at the age of 78.
O'Hart used many sources to compile the information that appears in his major work. His principal sources were Gaelic genealogies, like those of O'Clery, MacFirbis and O'Farrell. Along with the Gaelic annals, especially the Annals of the Four Masters, O'Hart was able to 'reconstruct' the medieval and ancient pedigree that appears here. He also used later sources, like the works of Burke, Collins, Harris, Lodge and Ware to extend these lineages into the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. But arguably the most important information contained in these genealogies came where O'Hart gathered the details directly from the families concerned, often from private papers or family tradition.
Irish mythology records that every family was descended from a certain Milesius of Spain who in about 500 BC led his followers to invade and conquer Ireland. The Christian monks who wrote these genealogies down in the 9th century, 2,500 years after Milesius, also added their own beliefs. So they recorded that Milesius was the 36th in descent from Adam! O'Hart, being both an ardent believer in the Gaelic myths and Christianity, followed their example. In his Gaelic genealogies a number representing the generation of descent from Adam precedes every generation. O'Hart showed, probably incorrectly, that every Gaelic family was descended from four of Milesius's family. These were his three sons, Heber, Ir and Heremon, and his uncle Ithe. These four were considered the 'stem' lines of the genealogies that followed. The latest scientiific evidence suggests that while the Celts had an overwhelming cultural influence on Ireland, the numbers of them that invaded Ireland were not all that huge and from the genetic point of view they are just a part of the mix that made up the Irish population.
While he undertook a great deal of research, using the majority of available published sources, many Gaelic scholars have superseded his work over the last 100 years. He was not familiar with the abundant unpublished Gaelic manuscript sources available. These have shown that many of his genealogies are incorrect for the years prior to 1600 AD. Furthermore, O'Hart was not a professional historian or genealogist, and had little training in using the esoteric sources he consulted. As a consequence he misunderstood a great deal about Gaelic society and culture, a world which had largely disappeared from Ireland long before he put pen to paper. He was also credulous in using the sources he did consult, believing that the myths were fact.
In short, while the pedigree below is interesting, it should be be read with a sceptical eye, and the further back you go, the more sceptical your eye should become.
1. Adam
2. Seth
3. Enos
4. Cainan
5. Mahalaleel
6. Jared
7. Enoch
8. Methuselah
9. Lamech
10. Noah divided the world amongst his three sons, begotten of his wife Titea: viz., to Shem he gave Asia, within the Euphrates, to the Indian Ocean; to Ham he gave Syria, Arabia, and Africa; and to Japhet, the rest of Asia beyond the Euphrates, together with Europe to Gadea (or Cadiz).
11. Japhet was the eldest son of Noah. He had fifteen sons, amongst whom he divided Europe and the part of Asia which his father had allotted to him.
12. Magog: From whom descended the Parthians, Bactrians, Amazons, etc.; Parthalon, the first planter of Ireland, about three hundred years after the Flood; and also the rest of the colonies that planted there, viz., the Nemedians, who planted Ireland, Anno Mundi three thousand and forty-six, or three hundred and eighteen years after the birth of Abraham, and two thousand one hundred and fifty-three years before Christ. The Nemedians continued in Ireland for two hundred and seventeen years; within which time a colony of theirs went into the northern parts of Scotland, under the conduct of their leader Briottan Maol, from whom Britain takes its name, and not from "Brutus," as some persons believed. From Magog were also descended the Belgarian, Belgian, Firbolgian or Firvolgian colony that succeeded the Nemedians, Anno Mundi, three thousand two hundred and sixty-six, and who first erected Ireland into a Monarchy. [According to some writers, the Fomorians invaded Ireland next after the Nemedians.] This Belgarian of Firvolgian colony continued in Ireland for thirty-six years, under nine of their Kings; when they were supplanted by the Tuatha-de-Danann (which means, according to some authorities, "the people of the god Dan," whom they adored), who possessed Ireland for one hundred and ninety-seven years, during the reigns of nine of their kings; and who were then conquered by the Gaelic, Milesian, or Scotic Nation (the three names by which the Irish people were known), Anno Mundi three thousand five hundred. This Milesian or Scotic Irish Nation possessed and enjoyed the Kingdom of Ireland for two thousand eight hundred and eighty-five years, under one hundred and eighty-three Monarchs; until their submission to King Henry the Second of England, Anno Domini one thousand one hundred and eighty-six.
13. Boath, one of the sons of Magog; to whom Scythia came as his lot, upon the division of the Earth by Noah amongst his sons, and by Japhet of his part thereof amongst his sons.
14. Phœniusa Farsaidh (or Fenius Farsa) was King of Scythia, at the time when Ninus ruled the Assyrian Empire; and, being a wise man and desirous to learn the languages that not long before confounded the builders of the Tower of Babel, employed able and learned men to go among the dispersed multitude to learn their several languages; who sometime after returning well skilled in what they went for, Phœniusa Farsaidh erected a school in the valley of Senaar, near the city of Æothena, in the forty-second year of the reign of Ninus; whereupon, having continued there with his younger son Niul for twenty years, he returned home to his kingdom, which, at his death, he left to the oldest son Nenuall; leaving to Niul no other patrimony than his learning and the benefit of the said school.
15. Niul, after his father returned to Scythia, continued some time at œothena, teaching the languages and other laudable sciences, until upon report of his great learning he was invited into Egypt by Pharaoh, the King; who gave him the land of Campus Cyrunt, near the Red Sea to inhabit, and his daughter Scota in marriage; from whom their posterity are ever since called Scots; but, according to some annalists, the name "Scots" is derived from the word Scythia. It was this Niul that employed Gaodhal [Gael], son of Ethor, a learned and skilful man, to compose or rather refine and adorn the language, called Bearla Tobbai, which was common to all Niul's posterity, and afterwards called Gaodhilg (or Gaelic), from the said Gaodhal who composed or refined it; and for his sake also Niul called his own eldest son "Gaodhal."
16. Gaodhal (or Gathelus), the son of Niul, and ancestor of Clan-na-Gael, that is, "the children or descendants of Gaodhal". In his youth this Gaodhal was stung in the neck by a serpent, and was immediately brought to Moses, who, laying his rod upon the wounded place, instantly cured him; whence followed the word "Glas" to be added to his named, as Gaodhal Glas (glas: Irish, green; Lat. glaucus; Gr. glaukos), on account of the green scar which the word signifies, and which, during his life, remained on his neck after the wound was healed. And Gaodhal obtained a further blessing, namely-that no venomous beast can live any time where his posterity should inhabit; which is verified in Creta or Candia, Gothia or Getulia, Ireland, etc. The Irish chroniclers affirm that from this time Gaodhal and his posterity did paint the figures of Beasts, Birds, etc., on their banners and shields, to distinguish their tribes and septs, in imitation of the Israelites; and that a "Thunderbolt" was the cognisance in their chief standard for many generations after this Gaodhal.
17. Asruth, after his father's death, continued in Egypt and governed his colony in peace during his life.
18. Sruth, soon after his father's death, was set upon by the Egyptians, on account of their former animosities towards their predecessors for having taken part with the Israelites against them; which animosities until then lay raked up in the embers, and now broke out in a flame to that degree, that after many battles and conflicts wherein most of his colony lost their live, Sruth was forced with the few remaining to depart the country; and, after many traverses at sea, arrived at the Island of Creta (now called Candia), where he paid his last tribute to nature.
19. Heber Scut (scut: Irish, a Scot), after his father's death and a year's stay in Creta, departed thence, leaving some of his people to inhabit the Island, where some of their posterity likely still remain; "because the Island breeds no venomous serpent ever since." He and his people soon after arrived in Scythia; where his cousins, the posterity of Nenuall (eldest son of Fenius Farsa, above mentioned), refusing to allot a place of habitation form him and his colony, they fought many battles wherein Heber (with the assistance of some of the natives who were ill-affected towards their king), being always victor, he at length forced the sovereignty from the other, and settled himself and his colony in Scythia, who continued there for four generations. (Hence the epithet Scut, "a Scot" or "a Scythian," was applied to this Heber, who was accordingly called Heber Scot.) Heber Scot was afterwards slain in battle by Noemus the former king's son.
20. Baouman;
21 Ogaman; and
22. Tait, were each kings of Scythia, but in constant war with the natives; so that after Tait's death his son,
23. Agnon and his followers betook themselves to sea, wandering and coasting upon the Caspian Sean for several (some say seven) years in which time he died.
24. Lamhfionn and his fleet remained at sea for some time, after his father's death, resting and refreshing themselves upon such islands as they met with. It was then the Cachear, their magician or Druid, foretold that there would be no end of their peregrinations and travel until they should arrive at the Western Island of Europe, now called Ireland, which was the place destined for their future and lasting abode and settlement; and that not they but their posterity after three hundred years should arrive there. After many traverses of fortune at sea, this little fleet with their leader arrived at last and landed at Gothia or Geulia-more recently called Lybia, where Carthage was afterwards built; and, soon after, Lamhfionn died there.
25. Heber Glunfionn was born in Gothia, where he died. His posterity continued there to the eighth generation; and were kings or chief rulers there for one hundred and fifty years-some say three hundred years.
26 Agnan Fionn;
27. Febric Glas;
28. Nenuall;
29. Nuadhad;
30. Alladh;
31. Arcadh; and
32. Deag: of these nothing remarkable is mentioned, but that they lived and died kings in Gothia or Getulia.
33. Brath was born in Gothia. Remembering the Druid's prediction, and his people having considerably multiplied during their abode in Geulia, he departed thence with a numerous fleet to seek out the country destined for their final settlement, by the prophecy of Cachear, the Druid above mentioned; and, after some time, he landed upon the coast of Spain, and by strong hand settled himself and his colony in Galicia, in the north of that country.
34. Breoghan (or Brigus) was king of Galicia, Andalusia, Murcia, Castile, and Portugal-all of which he conquered. He built Breoghan's Tower or Brigantia in Galicia, and the city of Brigantia or Braganza in Portugal-called after him; and the kingdom of Castile was then also called after him Brigia. It is considered that "Castile" itself was so called from the figure of a castle which Brigus bore for his Arms on his banner. Brigus sent a colony into Britain, who settled in that territory now known as the counties of York, Lancaster, Durham, Westmoreland, and Cumberland, and, after him were called Brigantes; whose posterity gave formidable opposition to the Romans, at the time of the Roman invasion of Britain.
35. Bilé; was king of those countries after his father's death; and his son Galamh [galav] or Milesius succeeded him. This Bilé had a brother named Ithe.
36. Milesius, in his youth and in his father's life-time, went into Scythia, where he was kindly received by the king of that country, who gave him his daughter in marriage, and appointed him General of his forces. In this capacity Milesius defeated the king's enemies, gained much fame, and the love of all the king's subjects. His growing greatness and popularity excited against him the jealousy of the king; who, fearing the worst, resolved on privately dispatching Milesius our of the way, for, openly, he dare not attempt it. Admonished of the king's intentions in his regard, Milesius slew him; and thereupon quitted Scythia and retired into Egypt with a fleet of sixty sail. Pharaoh Nectonibus, then king of Egypt, being informed of his arrival and of his great valour, wisdom, and conduct in arms, made him General of all his forces against the king of Ethiopia then invading his country. Here, as in Scythia, Milesius was victorious; he forced the enemy to submit to the conqueror's own terms of peace. By these exploits Milesius found great favour with Pharaoh, who gave him, being then a widower, his daughter Scota in marriage; and kept him eight years afterwards in Egypt. During the sojourn of Milesius in Egypt, he employed the most ingenious and able persons among his people to be instructed in the several trades, arts, and sciences used in Egypt; in order to have them taught to the rest of his people on his return to Spain. [The original name of Milesius of Spain was "Galamh" (gall: Irish, a stranger; amh, a negative affix), which means, no stranger: meaning that he was no stranger in Egypt, where he was called "Milethea Spaine," which was afterwards contracted to "Miló Spaine" (meaning the Spanish Hero), and finally to "Milesiius" (mileadh: Irish, a hero; Lat. miles, a soldier).] At length Milesius took leave of his father-in-law, and steered towards Spain; where he arrived to the great joy and comfort of his people; who were much harassed by the rebellion of the natives and by the intrusion of other foreign nations that forced in after his father's death, and during his own long absence from Spain. With these and those he often met; and, in fifty-four battles, victoriously fought, he routed, destroyed, and totally extirpated them out of the country, which he settled in peace and quietness. In his reign a great dearth and famine occurred in Spain, of twenty-six years' continuance, occasioned, as well by reason of the former troubles which hindered the people from cultivating, and manuring the ground, as for want of rain to moisten the earth - but Milesius superstitiously believed the famine to have fallen upon him and his people as a judgment and punishment from their gods, for their negligence in seeking out the country destined for their final abode, so long before foretold by Cachear their Druid or magician, as already mentioned - the time limited by the prophecy for the accomplishment thereof being now nearly, if not fully, expired. To expiate his fault and to comply with the will of his gods, Milesius, with the general approbation of his people, sent his uncle Ithe, with his son Lughaidh [Luy], and one hundred and fifty stout men to bring them an account of those western islands; who, accordingly, arriving at the island since then called Ireland, and landing in that part of it now called Munster, left his son with fifty of his men to guard the ship, and with the rest travelled about the island. Informed, among other things, that the three sons of Cearmad, called Mac-Cuill, MacCeacht, and MacGreine, did then and for thirty years before rule and govern the island, each for one year, in his turn; and that the country was called after the names of their three queens - Eire, Fodhla, and Banbha, respectively: one year called "Eire," the next "Fodhla," and the next "Banbha," as their husbands reigned in their regular turns; by which names the island is ever since indifferently called, but most commonly "Eire," because that MacCuill, the husband of Eire, ruled and governed the country in his turn the year that the Clan-na-Milé (or the sons of Milesius) arrived in and conquered Ireland. And being further informed that the three brothers were then at their palace at Aileach Neid, in the north part of the country, engaged in the settlement of some disputes concerning their family jewels, Ithe directed his course thither; sending orders to his son to sail about with his ship and the rest of his men, and meet him there. When Ithe arrived where the (Danann) brothers were, be was honourably received and entertained by them; and, finding him to be a mail of great wisdom. and knowledge, they referred their disputes to him for decision. That decision having met their entire satisfaction, Ithe exhorted them to mutual love, peace, and forbearance; adding much in praise of their delightful, pleasant, and fruitful country; and then took his leave, to return to his ship, and go back to Spain. No sooner was he gone than the brothers; began to reflect on the high commendations which Ithe gave of the Island; and, suspecting his design of bringing others to invade it, resolved to prevent them, and therefore pursued him with a strong party, overtook him, fought and routed his men and wounded himself to death (before his son or the rest of his men left on ship-board could come to his rescue) at a place called, from that fight and his name, Magh Ithe or "The plain of Ithe" (an extensive plain in the barony of Raphoe, county Donegal); whence his son, having found him in that condition, brought his dead and mangled body back into Spain, and there exposed it to public view, thereby to excite his friends and relations to avenge his murder. [Note: that all the invaders and planters of Ireland, namely, Parthalonians, Neimhedh, the Firbolgs, Tuatha-de-Danann, and Clan-na-Milé, where originally Scythians, of the line of Japbet, who had the language called Bearla-Tobbai or Gaoidhilg [Gaelic] common amongst them all; and consequently not to be wondered at, that Ithe and the Tuatha-de-Danann understood one another without an Interpreter - both speaking the same language, though perhaps with some difference in the accent]. The exposing of the dead body of Ithe had the desired effect; for, thereupon, Milesius made great preparations in order to invade Ireland - as well to avenge his uncle's death, as also in obedience to the will of his gods, signified by the prophecy of Cachear, aforesaid. But, before he could effect that object, he died, leaving the care, and charge of that expedition upon his eight legitimate sons by his two wives before mentioned. Milesius was a very valiant champion, a great warrior, and fortunate and prosperous in all his undertakings: witness his name of "Milesius," given him from the many battles (some say a thousand, which the word "Milé" signifies in Irish as well as in Latin) which he victoriously fought and won, as well in Spain, as in all the other countries and kingdoms be traversed in his younger days. The eight brothers were neither forgetful nor negligent in the execution of their father's command; but, soon after his death, with a numerous fleet well manned and equipped, set forth from Breoghan's Tower or Brigantia (now Corunna) in Galicia, in Spain, and sailed prosperously to the coasts of Ireland or lnis-Fail, where they met many difficulties and various chances before they could land: occasioned by the diabolical arts, sorceries, and enchantments used by the Tuatha-de-Danann, to obstruct their landing; for, by their magic art, they enchanted the island so as to appear to the Milesians or Clan-na-Milé in the form of a Hog, and no way to come at it (whence the island, among the many other names it had before, was called "Muc-Inis or "The Hog Island"); and withal raised so great a storm, that the Milesian fleet was thereby totally dispersed and many of them cast away, wherein five of the eight brothers, sons of Milesius, lost their lives. That part of the fleet commanded by Heber, Heremon, and Amergin (the three surviving, brothers), and Heber Donn, son of Ir (one of the brothers lost in the storm), overcame all opposition, landed safe, fought and routed the three Tuatha-de Danann Kings at Slieve-Mis, and thence pursued and overtook them at Tailten, where another bloody battle was fought; wherein the three (Tuatha-de-Danann) Kings and their Queens were slain, and their army utterly routed and destroyed: so that they could never after give any opposition to the Clan-na-Milé in their new conquest; who, having thus sufficiently avenged the death of their great uncle Ithe, gained the possession of the country foretold them by Cachear, some ages past, as already mentioned. Heber and Heremon, the chief leading men remaining of the eight brothers, sons of Milesius aforesaid, divided the kingdom between them (allotting a proportion of land to their brother Amergin, who was their Arch-priest, Druid, or magician; and to their nephew Heber Donn, and to the rest of their chief commanders), and became jointly the first of one hundred and eighty-three Kings or sole Monarchs of the Gaelic, Milesian, or Scottish Race, that ruled and governed Ireland, successively, for two thousand eight hundred and eighty-five years from the first year of their reign), Anno Mundi three thousand five hundred, to their submission to the Crown of England in the person of King Henry the Second; who, being also of the Milesian Race by Maude, his mother, was lineally descended from Fergus Mór MacEarca, first King of Scotland, who was descended from the said Heremon - so that the succession may be truly said to continue in the Milesian Blood from before Christ one thousand six hundred and ninety-nine years down to the present time. Heber and Heremon reigned jointly one year only, when, upon a difference between their ambitious wives, they quarrelled and fought a battle at Ardeath or Geshill (Geashill, near Tullamore in the King's County), where Heber was slain by Heremon; and, soon after, Amergin, who claimed an equal share in the government, was, in another battle fought between them, likewise slain by Heremon. Thus, Heremon became sole Monarch, and made a new division of the land amongst his comrades and friends, viz.: the south part, now called Munster, he gave to his brother Heber's four sons, Er, Orba, Feron, and Fergna; the north part, now Ulster, he gave to Ir's only son Heber Donn; the east part or Coigeadh, Galian, now called Leinster, be gave to Criomthann-sciath-bheil, one of his commanders; and the west part, now called Connaught, Heremon gave to Un-Mac-Oigge, another of his commanders; allotting a part of Munster to Lughaidh (the son of Ithe, the first Milesian discoverer of Ireland), amongst his brother Heber's sons. From these three brothers, Heber, Ir, and Heremon (Amergin dying without issue), are descended all the Milesian Irish of Ireland and Scotland, viz.: from Heber, the eldest brother, the provincial Kings of Munster (of whom thirty-eight were sole Monarchs of Ireland), and most of the nobility and gentry of Munster, and many noble families in Scotland, are descended. From Ir, the second brother, all the provincial Kings of Ulster (of whom twenty-six were sole Monarchs of Ireland), and all the ancient nobility and gentry of Ulster, and many noble families in Leinster, Munster, and Connaught, derive their pedigrees; and, in Scotland, the Clan-na-Rory - the descendants of an eminent man, named Ruadhri or Roderick, who was Monarch of Ireland for seventy years (viz., from Before Christ 288 to 218). From Heremon, the youngest of the three brothers, were descended one hundred and fourteen sole Monarchs of Ireland: the provincial Kings and Hermonian nobility and gentry of Leinster, Connaught, Meath, Orgiall, Tirowen, Tirconnell, and Clan-na-boy; the Kings of Dalriada; all the Kings of Scotland from Fergus Mór MacEarea, down to the Stuarts; and the Kings and Queens of England from Henry the Second down to tile present time. The issue of Ithe is not accounted among the Milesian Irish or Clan-na-Milé, as not being descended from Milesius, but from his uncle Ithe; of whose posterity there were also some Monarchs of Ireland (see Roll of the Irish Monarchs, infra), and many provincial or half provincial Kings of Munster: that country upon its first division being allocated to the sons of Heber and to Lughaidh, son of Ithe, whose posterity continued there accordingly. This invasion, conquest, or plantation of Ireland by the Milesian or Scottish Nation took place in the Year of the World three thousand Ova hundred, or the next year after Solomon began the foundation of the Temple of Jerusalem, and one thousand six hundred and ninety-nine years before the Nativity of our Saviour Jesus Christ; which, according to the Irish computation of Time, occurred Anno Mundi five thousand one hundred and ninety-nine: therein agreeing with the Septuagint, Roman Martyrologies, Eusebius, Orosius, and other ancient authors; which computation the ancient Irish chroniclers exactly observed in their Books of the Reigns of the Monarchs of Ireland, and other Antiquities of that Kingdom ; out of which the Roll of the Monarchs of Ireland, from the beginning of the Milesian Monarchy to their submission to King Henry the Second of England, a Prince of their own Blood, is exactly collected. [As the Milesian invasion of Ireland took place the next year after the laying of the foundation of the Temple of Jerusalem by Solomon, King of Israel, we may infer that Solomon was contemporary with Milesius of Spain; and that the Pharaoh King of Egypt, who (1 Kings iii. 1,) gave his daughter in marriage to Solomon, was the Pharaoh who conferred on Milesius of Spain the hand of another daughter Scota.] Milesius of Spain bore three Lions in his shield and standard, for the following reasons; namely, that, in his travels in his younger days into foreign countries, passing through Africa, he, by his cunning and valour, killed in one morning three Lions; and that, in memory of so noble and valiant an exploit, he always after bore three Lions on his shield, which his two surviving sons Heber and Heremon, and his grandson Heber Donn, son of Ir, after their conquest of Ireland, divided amongst them, as well as they did the country: each of them. bearing a Lion in his shield and banner, but of different colours; which the Chiefs of their posterity continue to this day: some with additions and differences; others plain and entire as they had it from their ancestors.
37. Ir: his son. This Prince was one of the chief leaders of the expedition undertaken for the conquest of Erinn, but was doomed never to set foot on the "Sacred Isle;" a violent storm scattered the fleet as it was coasting round the island in search of a landing place, the vessel commanded by him was separated from the rest of the fleet and driven upon the island since called Scellig-Mhicheal, off the Kerry coast, where it split on a rock and sank with all on board, B.C. 1700.
38. Heber Donn: his son; born in Spain; was granted by Heber and Heremon the possession of the northern part of Ireland, now called Ulster.
39. Hebric: his son; was killed in a domestic quarrel.
40. Artra: his youngest son; succeeded in the government of Uladh or Ulster; his elder brothers, Cearmna and Sobhrach, put forth their claims to sovereign authority, gave battle to the Monarch Eochaidh, whom they slew and then mounted his throne; they were at length slain: Sobhrach at Dun Sobhrach, or "Dunseverick," in the county of Antrim, by Eochaidh Meann; and Cearmna (in a sanguinary battle fought near Dun Cearmna, now called the Old Head at Kinsale, in the county of Cork, where he had his residence), by his successor Eochaidh Faobhar-glas, grandson of Heber Fionn, B.C. 1492.
41. Artrach: son of Artra.
42. Sedna: his son; slew Rotheacta, son of Maoin, of the race of Heremon, Monarch of Ireland, and, mounting his throne, became the 23rd Monarch. It was during his reign that the Dubhloingeas or "pirates of the black fleet" came to plunder the royal palace of Cruachan in Roscommon, and the King was slain, in an encounter with those plunderers, by his own son and successor, who mistook his father for a pirate chief whom he had slain and whose helmet he wore.
43. Fiacha Fionn Scothach, the 24th Monarch: son of Sedna; so called from the abundance of white flowers with which every plain in Erinn abounded during his reign; was born in the palace of Rath-Cruachan, B.C. 1402; and slain, B.C. 1332, in the 20th year of his reign, by Munmoin, of the Line of Heber.
44. Eochaidh (2): his son; better known as Ollamh Fodhla, i.e., "Ollamh, or chief poet of Fodhla" (or Ireland); began his reign, A.M. 3882, B.C. 1317 (according to the received computation of the Septuagint, making A.D. 1 agree with A.M. 5199). This Eochaidh was the 27th Monarch of Ireland, and reigned 40 years. It was this Monarch who first instituted the Feis Teamhrach (or "Parliament of Tara"), which met about the time called "Samhuin" (or 1st of November) for making laws, reforming general abuses, revising antiquities, genealogies, and chronicles, and purging them from all corruption and falsehood that might have been foisted into them since the last meeting. This Triennial Convention was the first Parliament of which we have any record on the face of the globe; and was strictly observed from its first institution to A.D. 1172; and, even as late as A.D. 1258, we read in our native Annals of an Irish Parliament, at or near Newry. It was this Monarch who built Mur Ollamhan at Teamhair (which means "Ollamh's fort at Tara"); he also appointed a chieftain over every cantred and a brughaidh over every townland.
According to some chroniclers, "Ulster" was first called Uladh, from Ollamh Fodhla. His posterity maintained themselves in the Monarchy of Ireland for 250 years, without any of the two other septs of Heber and Heremon intercepting them. He died at an advanced age, A.M. 3922, at his own Mur (or house) at Tara, leaving five sons, viz.: 1. Slanoll; 2. Finachta Fionnsneachta (or Elim); 3. Gead Ollghothach, and 4. Fiacha, who were successively Monarchs of Ireland; and 5. Cairbre.
45. Cairbre: son of Ollamh Fodhla; King of Uladh; d. in the 22nd year of the reign of his brother Fiacha.
46. Labhradh: his son; governed Ulster during the long reign of his cousin Oiliol, son of Slanoll.
47. Bratha: his son; was slain by Breasrigh, a prince of the Heberian race, in the 12th year of the reign of Nuadhas Fionn-Fail.
48. Fionn: his son; fought against the Monarch Eochaidh Apach at Tara, defeated him, and became the 42nd Monarch; but after a reign of 22 years was slain by Seidnae Innaraidh, his successor.
49. Siorlamh: his son; so called from the extraordinary length of his hands (Lat. "longimanus," or longhanded); slew the Monarch Lughaidh Iardhonn, and assumed the sovereignty of the kingdom, which he held for 16 years, at the expiration of which, in B.C. 855, he was slain by Eochaidh Uarceas, son of the former King.
50. Argeadmar (or Argethamar): his son; ascended the Throne of Ireland, B.C. 777, and was the 58th Monarch; after a reign of 30 years, was slain by Duach Ladhrach. He left four sons: - 1. Fiontan, whose son, Ciombaoth, was the 63rd Monarch; 2. Diomain, whose son, Dithorba, became the 62nd Monarch; 3. Badhum, who was father of Aodh Ruadh, the 61st Monarch, who was drowned at Eas Ruadh (or Assaroe), now Ballyshannon, in the county of Donegal, and grandfather of Macha Mongruadh, or "Macha of the Golden Tresses," the 64th Monarch, and the only queen Ireland ever has had, who laid the foundation of the Royal Palace of Emania, in the county of Armagh, where her consort Cimbath, died of the plague; the fourth son of Argeadmar was Fomhar.
51. Fomhar: son of Argeadmar; died during the reign of Cimbath.
52. Dubh: his son; was King of Ulster.
53. Ros: his son.
54. Srubh: his son.
55. Indereach: his son.
56. Glas: his son.
57. Carbre (or Cathair): his son.
58. Feabhardhile: his son.
59. Fomhar (2): his son.
60. Dubh (2): his son.
61. Sithrich: his son.
62. Ruadhri (or Rory) Mór: his son; was the 86th Monarch; died B.C. 218. From him the "Clan-na-Rory" were so called. He left, amongst other children - 1. Bresal Bodhiobha, and 2. Congall Clareineach, who were respectively the 88th and the 90th Monarchs; 3. Conragh, the father of the 105th Monarch Eiliomh; 4. Fachna Fathach, the 92nd Monarch, who, by his wife Neasa was father of Conor; 5. Ros Ruadh, who by his wife Roigh, the father of the celebrated Fergus Mór; and 6. Cionga, the ancestor of the heroic Conal Cearnach, from whom are descended O'Moore, MacGuinness, M'Gowan, and several other powerful families in Ulster and Conacht.
63. Ros Ruadh: son of Rory Mór; m. Roigh, dau. of an Ulster Prince.
64. Fergus Mór: his son; commonly called "Fergus MacRoy" or "Fergus MacRoich," from Roigh, his mother, who was of the sept of Ithe; was King of Ulster for three (some say seven) years, and then forced from the sovereignty by his cousin, Conor MacNeasa, where-upon he retired into Conacht, where he was received by Maedhbh (Maev) Queen of that Province, and by her husband Oilioll Mór, and, sustained by them, was in continual war with Conor MacNeasa during their lives.
Maedhbh was the daughter of Eochy Feidlioch, the 93rd Monarch, who gave her in marriage to his favourite Tinne, son of Conragh, son of Ruadhri Mór (No. 62 on this stem), with the Province of Conacht as a dowry. This prince was slain at Tara by Monire, a Lagenian prince, in a personal quarrel; and Maedhbh soon after married Oilioll (who was much older than she was), the son of Ros Ruadh by Matha Muireasg, a Lagenian princess. Oiliol was far advanced in years when Fergus Mór sought shelter beneath his roof at Rath-Craughan, in Roscommon, and the Queen Maedhbh, being young, strayed from virtue's path, proved with child by Fergus, and was delivered of three male children at a birth. The names of these princes were: - 1. Ciar [Kiar], a quo Ciarruighe Luachra, Ciarruighe Chuirc, Ciarruighe Aoi, and Ciarruighe Coinmean; 2. Corc, a quo Corc Modhruadh (or Corcumroe); and 3. Conmac, a quo Conmaicne-Mara (now Connemara), Conmaicne Cuile Tolaigh (now the barony of Kilmaine, co. Mayo), Conmaicne Magh Rein (the present co. Longford, and the southern half of the co. Leitrim), Conmaicne Cinel Dubhain (now the barony of Dunmore, co. Galway).
According to the native genealogists these three sons of Fergus and Maedhbh ought to stand in the following order - 1. Conmac; 2. Ciar; and 3. Corc.
Fergus Mór was slain by an officer belonging to the court of Oiliol Mór, as he was bathing in a pond near the royal residence, and he was interred at Magh Aoi.
The other children of Fergus Mór were: - 1. Dallan, 2. Anluim, 3. Conri, 4. Aongus Fionn, 5. Oiliol, 6. Firceighid, 7. Uiter, 8. Finfailig, 9. Firtleachta, and 10. Binne.
65. Asadhmun: his son. Had three half brothers - 1. Conmac, 2. Ciar, 3. Corc.
66. Ailsach: son of Asadhmun.
67. Oineach: his son.
68. Eoghan: his son.
69. Delbhna: his son.
70. Fiodhcuirce: his son.
71. Eachamun: his son.
72. Alt: his son.
73. Athre: his son.
74. Eachadun: his son.
75. Orbsinmhar: his son.
76. Modhart: his son.
77. Saul: his son.
78. Meascu: his son.
79. Ullamh: his son.
80. Measa: son of Ullamn.
81. Cuilean: his son.
82. Cunath: his son.
83. Mearcus: his son.
84. Arad: his son.
85. Iomchadh: his son.
86. Cathair: his son.
87. Luchd: his son.
88. Adhlann: his son.
89. Luchd: his son.
90. Luchdreach: his son.
91. Maoltoirnd: his son.
92. Bath: his son.
93. Elhe ("ele:" Irish, a bier, a litter): his son; a quo O'h-Eilighe.
94. Feargus: his son.
95. Felim: his son.
96. Coibhdealach: his son.
97. Conrach: his son.
98. Conmhach: his son.
99. Conn O'Healy: his son.

Some Irish Genealogists deduce the descent of the "O'Healy" family from Cosgrach, son of Lorcan, King of Thomond, who was grandfather of Brian Boroimhe [Boru] and who was the 175th Monarch of Ireland; others deduce it from the "O'Haly" family, which is an anglicised form of the Irish O'h-Algaich ("algach": Irish, noble), while "Haly" pedigrees, respectively), the two genealogies are quite distinct, and the two families not at all descended from the same stock as "O'Healy;" for it is the "O'Haly" family that is descended from Cosgrach, son of Lorcan and the "O'Hally" family is descended from Donchuan, brother of Brian Boru, while the "O'Healy" family is descended from Fergus Mór. Others again say that the O'Healys of Donoughmore are a branch of the "MacCarthy Mór" family, Princes of Desmond; but we are unable to trace that connection. It is worthy of remark, however, that the Arms assigned by Keating to the "O'Healy" family, namely - Azure a fesse between three stags heads erased in chief argent and a demi lion ramp. in base Or., are borne by the Helys, Earls of Donoughmore: which goes to show that their name was formerly "O'Healy."

For further information try the Healy Family Network