KennedyCinneide, O'Kennedy or Kennedy
derives from the Gaelic term cinnegh meaning`ugly heads' or `helmuts.'
The historical reference of the term likely developed in battle and we can
perhaps assume the defenders of the Kennedy clan were well-suited with
armored head gear. I would like to take this ancient meaning down the
evolutionary path and offer a modern interpretation as "tough-headed," "strong-minded"
or flat-out "stubborn." I would ask
those that married into the line to offer support for this interpretation but I would not
want to put them in the position of having to argue their point with said stubborn Kennedy spouse. For the cause of marital bliss we will set the
idea aside. Another modern interpretation of the name Kennedy as "peacemaker"
has been offered to me recently and I promise to have a page on Mary Kennedy soon.
There is always the possibilty that the use of simple fierce looks to stop
rivals in their tracks led to the expression of `ugly heads'. The only other
plausible explanation for the term takes the concept of Clan rivalry to modern standards
of name calling with opposing foes `just jealous' of our
genuine good looks. This theory I find needs no further study and will
leave it to the eye of the beholder.
BRIAN (926-1014), King of Ireland; Known as Brian mac Kennedy (or Cennedigh);
son of Cenneide; with his brother Mathgamhain,chief of the Dal Cais; defeated
Danes at Sulcoit, Tipperary, c, 968; chief of Dal Cais, 976; defeated and slew
Maelmuadh, king of Cashel, 978, and succeeded him; defeated Gillapatric, king of
Ossory, and was acknowledged king of Leinster, 984; allied with Maelsechlainn
mac Domhuaill, chief kind of Ireland and defeated Danes at Glenmama, Wicklow,
1000; defeated Maelseehiainn and became chief king of Ireland, 1001; received
submission of Connaughtmen; made charter acknowledging ecclesiastical supremacy
of Armagh, 1004; made circuit of Ireland, receiving hostages of all territories
through which he passed, joined Maelsechlainn and beseiged Danes near Dublin,
without success, 1013; defeated Danes at Cluantarbh;after battle was murdered by
a Dane in his tent, 1014. [vi, 306] From Dictionary of National Biography
Volume 1, p. 143. The eponymous ancestor of the O'Kennedys was
Kennedy, nephew of Brian Boru, or Cinneide in Irish, the resultant surname being
0 Cinneide. They are thus a Dalcassian sept, and at first their territory was
around Glenomra near Killaloe, and their occupation is perpetuated by the name
of the civil parish comprising that area, viz. Killokennedy, but pressure from
the powerful O'Briens and MacNamaras caused them to cross the Shannon and settle
in Upper and Lower Ormond. There they soon increased in power and importance,
and from the eleventh to the sixteenth century they were lords of Ormond. The
sept divided into three branches, the chiefs of which were distinguished by the
epithets Don (brown), Fionn (fair) and Rua (red). The Four Masters record the
martial exploits of many of these chiefs. According to Keating, St. Ruadhan of
Lorrha was the special protector of the O'Kennedys of Ormond. A branch of the
sept emigrated to Antrim about the year 1600, and the name is found in that
county now, though, no doubt, some of the Ulster Kennedys are of Scottish
origin, for Kennedy is also a Scots name. Kennedy, indeed, is one of the most
common names in Ireland, being widely distributed over all the provinces,
with a preponderance in Co. Tipperary : it is placed sixteenth in the
statistical list of Irish surnames with an estimated present day population of
some eighteen thousand persons.
Unlike most Irish surnames Kennedy has few
synonyms in English : one, however, still found in Co. Leitrim is interesting,
viz. Minnagh, i.e. Muimhneach-or the Munster man (cf. Donlevy-Ultagh). Kennedy
became Quenedy in Spanish, for, like all the great Irish families, many of the
sept found their way to the continent. Matthew Kennedy (1652-I735), who went to
France after the capitulation of Limerick in 1691, was a notable literary figure
in Paris; he was remarkable for his life-long enthusiasm for the Irish
language. At home the O'Kennedys, though remaining Catholic, were not entirely
submerged as a result of the successive conquests and confiscations of the
seventeenth century. An Order of the Lord Lieutenant, dated 3oth March, I705,
granting permission to a few selected papists to carry arms, included eight
gentlemen of Co. Tipperary, and among them is John Kennedy of Polnorman. In more
modern times the name has been less prominent than might be expected having
regard to its numerical strength. It furnished sensational news in I779 through
the famous abduction case of the two Miss Kennedys of Co. Waterford. In the same
century Rev. John Kennedy, a Presbyterian minister, made a useful contribution
to social history by keeping an interesting diary (I724-I730) describing his
many duties in Ulster. Another author was Patrick Kennedy (1801-1873);
also in the field of literature, Patrick John Kenedy (1843-I806), was a
well-known Irish-American Catholic publisher. In our own day a brilliant lawyer,
Hugh Kennedy (I879-I936), was first Chief justice of the Irish Free state. From 'Irish Families, their names, Arms and
origins' by Edward MacLysaght.
