MacFirbis (), also known as

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

, was the

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

of a family of Irish

hereditary Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic inform ...

historians based for much of their known history at Lecan,

Tireragh Tireragh (; ) is a barony in County Sligo, Ireland. It corresponds to the former Gaelic túath of Tír Fhíacrach Múaidhe. History The barony was formed as part of the shiring of County Sligo by the Lord Deputy Sir Henry Sidney Sir Hen ...

(now ''Lackan'',

Kilglass Kilglass or Kilglas () is a rural townland in County Sligo, Ireland, in the hinterland of Enniscrone. Kilglass is in a civil parish of the same name. The area is the location of an Anglican church, built in 1829 with funding provided by the B ...

parish,

County Sligo County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...

). They claimed descent from Dathí (d.418?/428?), said to be one of the last pagan

Kings of Connacht The Kings of Connacht were rulers of the ''cóiced'' (variously translated as portion, fifth, province) of Connacht, which lies west of the River Shannon, Ireland. However, the name only became applied to it in the early medieval era, being name ...

, and were thus one of the many families who sprang from the

Uí Fiachrach The Uí Fiachrach () were a royal dynasty who originated in, and whose descendants later ruled, the ''coicead'' or ''fifth'' of Connacht (a western province of Ireland) at different times from the mid-first millennium onwards. They claimed descen ...

dynasty. The progenitors of the MacFirbis family descend from Amhailgadh, whose brothers included Fiachra Ealg (ancestor of O'Dowd) and Eocha Breac (ancestor of O'Shaughnessy).

History

Based initially at Cong, the family may have been

erenagh The medieval Irish office of erenagh (Old Irish: ''airchinnech'', Modern Irish: ''airchinneach'', Latin: '' princeps'') was responsible for receiving parish revenue from tithes and rents, building and maintaining church property and overseeing t ...

s prior to becoming historians and genealogists to the Ui Fiachrach Muaidhe (branch of the Uí Fiachrach based in north

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

) and several other patrons. While this was their main function, they also appear to have served as poets and

brehon Brehon (, ) is a term for a historical arbitration, mediative, and judicial role in Gaelic culture. Brehons were part of the system of Early Irish law, which was also simply called " Brehon law". Brehons were judges, close in importance to the ...

s to their patrons, possibly even musicians. Among the earliest known members of the family were Amhlaoibh Mór mac Fir Bhisigh (died 1138), Domhnall na Sgoile Mac Fir Bhisigh (fl.c. 1250) and Gilla Isa Mac Fir Bisigh, who died in 1301. In the late medieval era the most well known was Giolla Íosa Mór Mac Fhirbhisigh fl. 1390–1418. The Mac Fhirbhisigh, long after moving to Lecan (Lacken),

, built Lacken Castle (Castle Forbes, ), now ruined, in

parish in 1560. Here they kept a school of poetry and history. They lost possession of the castle before 1625.O'Donovan (1993:167f). Fear Dorcha MacFhirbhisigh (fl.c. 1600?) was noted as well-travelled in Scotland, showing how far afield members of the clan would venture in practising their art.

Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh (), also known as Dubhaltach Óg mac Giolla Íosa Mór mac Dubhaltach Mór Mac Fhirbhisigh, Duald Mac Firbis, Dudly Ferbisie, and Dualdus Firbissius (fl. 1643 – January 1671) was an Irish scribe, translator, histor ...

(fl.c.1640-January 1671) compiled

Leabhar na nGenealach ''Leabhar na nGenealach'' ("Book of Genealogies") is a massive genealogical collection written mainly in the years 1649 to 1650, at the college-house of St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church, Galway, by Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh. He continued to add m ...

, a massive compilation of Irish genealogies.

References

Sources

* ''The Celebrated Antiquary'',

Nollaig Ó Muraíle Nollaig Ó Muraíle is an Irish scholar. He published an edition of Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh's ''Leabhar na nGenealach'' in 2004. He was admitted to the Royal Irish Academy in 2009. Life and career A native of Knock, County Mayo, Ó Muraíle ...

Maynooth Maynooth (; ) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's College, Maynoo ...

, 1996. * ''Irish Leaders and Learning Through the Ages'', Fr. Paul Walsh, 2004. (ed. Nollaig Ó Muraíle). *John O'Donovan (ed., trans.), ''The Genealogies, Tribes, and Customs of Hy-Fiachrach, Commonly Called O'Dowda's Country'', Irish archaeological society, 1993
p. 168

External links

Forbes family pedigree
at Library Ireland Irish families Surnames of Irish origin Irish writers Mac Fhirbhisigh Surnames Irish Brehon families Irish chroniclers Mac Fhirbhisigh Roman Catholic families Gaels {{Ireland-historian-stub

History

See also

References

Sources

External links