''Mac Amhlaoibh'' and ''Mac Amhalghaidh'' are two different Gaelic patronymic names with different origins and meanings, but which share the same or similar Anglicisations. These Gaelic names are borne by at least three unrelated native

Irish clan Irish clans are traditional kinship groups sharing a common surname and heritage and existing in a lineage-based society, originating prior to the 17th century. A clan (or ''fine'' in Irish) included the chief and his patrilineal relatives; howe ...

s or

sept A sept is a division of a family, especially of a Scottish or Irish family. The term is used in both Scotland and Ireland, where it may be translated as ''sliocht'', meaning "progeny" or "seed", which may indicate the descendants of a person ( ...

s (a division or part of a clan). The Mac Amhalghaidh sept was historically centred at Ballyloughloe in Co Westmeath; the Mac Amhlaoibh sept of the MacCarthy family was centred at Newmarket; and the Mac Amhlaoibh sept of the Maguire family was centred in the barony of Clanawley in

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 a ...

Etymology

*''Mac Amhalghaidh'' is the patronymic form of the Gaelic personal name ''Amhalghadh'' and means "son of ''Amhalghadh''". The personal name ''Amhalghadh'' is of an uncertain origin. *''Mac Amhlaoibh'' is the patronymic form of the Gaelic personal name ''Amhlaoibh'' and means "son of ''Amhlaoibh''". The personal name ''Amhlaoibh'' is a Gaelicisation of the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

personal names ''Áleifr'' and ''Óláfr''. Today Anglicised forms of ''Mac Amhlaoibh'' and ''Mac Amhalghaidh'' include: Cauley, Caully, Cauly, Cawley, Cawly, Colley, Gawley, Macaulay, MacAuley, Macauley, MacAuliffe, MacAwley, MacCauley, MacCawley, MacGauley, Magawley, Magawly, McAulay, McAuley, McAuliffe, McAuly, McCaulay, McCauley, McCaully, McCauly,

McCawley ''McCawley'' and ''MacCawley'' are surnames in the English language. The names are Anglicisations of several Gaelic-language surnames. There are several etymological origins for the names: all of which originated as patronyms in several Gaelic lan ...

, McCawly, McGauley, MacAulay, McCowley, McColley, Macauley, McCooley, and Oliffe.

Mac Amhalghaidh (chiefs of Calraighe)

The Mac Amhalghaidh sept occupied lands located in what is today western Co Westmeath and northern

Co Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

. The heartland of the family was near Ballyloughloe, within the barony of Clonlonan, Co Westmeath, and was known in

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personif ...

times as "MacGawleys Country". The sept derives its name from the

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writte ...

personal name ''Amhalgaidh''. According to

MacLysaght Edgeworth Lysaght, later Edward Anthony Edgeworth Lysaght, and from 1920 Edward MacLysaght ( ga, Éamonn Mac Giolla Iasachta; 6 November 1887 – 4 March 1986) was a genealogist of twentieth century Ireland. His numerous books on Irish surnames ...

, the

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ancestor of the sept was an Amhalgaidh who lived in the 13th century. The sept is considered to be of native Irish descent. One pedigree of a family within the sept reaches back to

Niall of the Nine Hostages Niall ''Noígíallach'' (; Old Irish "having nine hostages"), or Niall of the Nine Hostages, was a legendary, semi-historical Irish king who was the ancestor of the Uí Néill dynasties that dominated Ireland from the 6th to the 10th centurie ...

and is stored in the genealogical office in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

. A genealogy of the sept is recorded in ''The O'Clery Book of Genealogies'' which is thought to have been written by

Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh (fl. 1624–1664) was an Irish historian and genealogist, known in English as Peregrine O'Clery. Life and work Ó Cléirigh was a son of Diarmaid Ó Cléirigh, and thus a third-cousin once removed to Brother Mích ...

in the 17th century. The genealogy is titled "''Genelach Meg Amhlaibh Locha Luatha''" and runs as follows: In the 16th century the principal seat of the chiefs was Ballyloughloe Castle. The chiefs of the sept are recorded within the ''

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or mediev ...

'' as the 'chiefs of ''Calraighe (which can be Anglicised as "Calry"). The chiefs are mentioned within the mediaeval

topographical poem Topographical poetry or loco-descriptive poetry is a genre of poetry that describes, and often praises, a landscape or place. John Denham's 1642 poem "Cooper's Hill" established the genre, which peaked in popularity in 18th-century England. Exam ...

s of

Seán Mór Ó Dubhagáin Seán Mór Ó Dubhagáin (died 1372) was an Irish Gaelic poet. Background Ó Dubhagáinn was among the first notable members of the bardic family Baile Uí Dhubhagáin (Ballyduggan), near Loughrea, County Galway. He was accorded the rank o ...

and

Giolla na Naomh Ó hUidhrín Giolla na Naomh O hUidhrin, Irish historian and poet, died 1420. O hUidhrin is known as the author of '' Tuilleadh feasa ar Éirinn óigh'', a topographical poem of a kind with Seán Mór Ó Dubhagáin's '' Triallam timcheall na Fodla'', of whi ...

: In the 19th century, the man considered

chief of the name The Chief of the Name, or in older English usage Captain of his Nation, is the recognised head of a family or clan (''fine'' in Irish and Scottish Gaelic). The term has sometimes been used as a title in Ireland and Scotland. In Ireland In Eli ...

was Count Magawley Cerati. According to the 19th century historian John O'Donovan, all that remained of Magawley's Castle in 1837 was a single vault. Arms of Valerio Magawly-Cerati

The so-called "Magawley's Chair" is one of two supposed inauguration "chairs" located in the Irish midlands. Both chairs are however considered dubious and are more likely 19th century fanciful creations. "Magawley's Chair" lies in the parish of Ballyloughloe (in the northern half of the barony of Clonlonan). It sits on a hill-slope overlooking the ruins of Carn Castle, which was the seat of Uilliam Mac Amhalghaidh in 1596. The "seat" itself is a rectangular shaped block of rough limestone that has a hollowed out recess on its northern face. The shape of the "seat" is oddly shaped and is considered to have been impractical for an inauguration stone. It has been dismissed as an old fodder trough by some. According to Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, it may have originated as a miniature

folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

from Carn Park House. The historian Dalton claimed that the inauguration chair of the "Magawley chiefs stood on the

hillock A hillock or knoll is a small hill,The Free Dictionary
"hillock" entry, retrieved December 18, 2007 ...

now called Tullymagawley". Though according to Fitzpatrick, it is unclear whether Dalton was specifically referring to the chair or the family's seat of general authority. Tullymagawley (''Tulach Mic Amhalghaidh'') was one of the later mediaeval seats of the chiefs of the sept. The arms of

Arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

of Valerio Magawly-Cerati (''pictured'') are blazoned ''

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions t ...

a lion rampant and in chief two dexter hands

gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). In engraving, it is sometimes depi ...

''; crest ''a demi lion rampant gules'';

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mo ...

''LAIMH DEARGH ABOO''; and

supporters In heraldry, supporters, sometimes referred to as ''attendants'', are figures or objects usually placed on either side of the shield and depicted holding it up. Early forms of supporters are found in medieval seals. However, unlike the coro ...

''the black eagles of Austria''. Magawly-Cerati was considered by

Burke Burke is an Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman Monarchy of Ireland, Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (–1206) had ...

to have been the representer of the chiefs of Mac Amhalghaidh. In 1731, Philip Magawly was conferred the title 'Baron Calry' (''Freiherr von und zu Calry'') from

Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor , house = Habsburg , spouse = , issue = , issue-link = #Children , issue-pipe = , father = Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor , mother = Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg , birth_date ...

. He was also created 'Count of Calry' in the

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily ( la, Regnum Siciliae; it, Regno di Sicilia; scn, Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 un ...

(''Conte di Calry'') by the same monarch. He was succeeded by his grand-nephew, whom Valerio Magawly-Cerati descended from.

The sept recorded within the Irish Annals

Mac Amhlaoibh (sept of Mac Cárthaigh)

The Mac Amhlaoibh sept of Co Cork are a branch of

Mac Cárthaigh MacCarthy ( ga, Mac Cárthaigh), also spelled Macarthy, McCarthy or McCarty, is an Irish clan originating from Munster, an area they ruled during the Middle Ages. It was divided into several great branches; the MacCarthy Reagh, MacCarthy of M ...

(MacCarthy). MacLysaght stated that during the mid 20th century in Ireland, the name MacAuliffe was then usually found within Co Cork and hardly ever found outside of