Home History of Mulroy
History of Mulroy

Where did the name Mulroy start?

We have been researching this information and what we have found is facinating. We will post what information we find, but it may change as this is an ongoing research project. There is documentation out there about the start of the Mulroy name as well as the Mulroy family. Very little is online with the original name of Maolruaidh. There is some out there if you look, but not much.

It appears the name started in what is now County Donegal, Ireland when it was Tir-Conall or Tirconnell.

First a brief history on how names came about and to understand how the last name Mulroy came about. It is very facinating and so far down the road in history we still use this last name.

Chief of the Name

With a history going back over a thousand years, this unique Gaelic tradition has survived much of the turmoil of Irish history. Long ago, Irish leaders had titles like any other royalty in Europe, what makes a Chief different is the fact that his power was not a feudal hold on land, it was about his position within his clan. Even through the Elizabethan times, the position of Chief of the Name was more important to some Irish leaders than English titles. There are a number of instances (1) where Norman lords of the time, like FitzGerald, took to using the Gaelic style of "The" or "Mór" (great) to indicate that the individual was the primary person of his family in Ireland.

The downfall of the Gaelic order in the early 1600s led to a decline of the power of the Chiefs. Plantation efforts, the Wars of Cromwell and King James, meant that by the end of the 17th century, most of the Chiefships of the Name were living out of Ireland, lost, or reduced to poverty.

Thereafter the former kings or chiefs passed their titles down by primogeniture, whereas the usual practise in the Middle Ages was to elect a chief from a group of close cousins known as a derbfine. Their lineages were usually recorded by the Herald's Office in Dublin Castle, set up in 1552, not least because some clans in the 1500s and 1600s had been persuaded to enter the English-law system under the policy of surrender and regrant. Other manuscript genealogies were preserved and published in the 1700s by Charles O'Conor and Sylvester O'Halloran. The Irish nationalist and republican movements that developed after 1850 often harked back emotively to the former chiefs' losses, but without ever suggesting that they be reinstated.

Mulroy Name

Irish (Mayo): Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Maolruaidh ‘descendant of Maolruadh’, a personal name composed of the elements maol ‘chief’ + ruadh ‘red’, i.e. ‘red-haired chieftain’. This surname has sometimes been changed to Munroe.

So where did Mulroy come in?

Prince Maolruaidh of Tir-Conall (b. 998) is what we keep coming up with in several areas of research. One good resource that is interesting to read it the Irish Pedigrees by O'Hart you can read this on Google Books.

Donegal to Mayo?

We are unsure at this time how the family name moved down into Mayo County. However, one area of that does interest us is finding out how Mulroy Bay up on Donegal got it's name. Also the Mulroy House that is known in that area.
It is interesting to note that most of the Mulroy early research shows to be in Mayo and what is actually in many locations shown to be the county in Ireland that relates with the last name Mulroy.
However, with that said we also realize and have found that Mulroys were in Louth County with records as early as the 1750s as well. Biggest group outside of Mayo we have found so far dating back this far.
Edward Mulroy in 1709 married an Elizabeth Coffey in Dublin.
There is no doubt that these Mulroys (which are small groups) are related to those Mulroys in Mayo County. We are unsure how at this time.

Key Points To Think about.

These are some key points that we think about. So many questions and so few answers. We believe with enough digging and research and Mulroy families coming together with their information passed down through their families we can answer some of them.
Also we can not forget references in research that places the Mulroys within Ui Fiachrach.
  • Manus Mulroy is of great interest. That first name and the last name Mulroy is rare. In fact at the time of writing this we have only seen it twice and that was the Manus Mulroy and one other time later down in his line in 1862 another Manus Melroy. So what does his first name mean? We think family named him Manus for historic reasons. Ideas passed around are from the last name McManus or other important people we have ran across with the first name Manus around the Mulroy family in early years.
  • The first name Mathew. This first name is rare with the last name Mulroy as well. The earliest uses of it (per records) we see of it being used is in the Islandeady Parish in Glenisland (Mayo) Ireland. Oldest Mathew Mulroy found to date was born in 1784. Another was born in 1795 in the same area. In the same area again yet another one in 1824-1833 period who was Mathew Joseph Mulroy. The name Mathew can be found in a few lines of Mulroys that all tie back so far into the Glenisland area of Ireland.
  • Bernard is also a very important name with the Mulroys that has been passed down. Very common for first names as well as middle names in males.
  • When doing research the name is not spelt right and at times changed. Look for variations and it can get confusing because some variations are indeed true last names of other families.

Ui Fiachrach

We can not either ignore the historic references of the mention of the Mulroy family being tied to Ui Fiachrach. This would tie them into the Mayo County area.

The Uí Fiachrach were a dynasty who originated in, and who's 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 descent from Fiachrae, an older half-brother of Niall Noigiallach or Niall of the Nine Hostages. Fiachrae and his two full brothers, Brion and Ailill, were the collective ancestors of The Connachta dynasty that eventually became the new name of the province. Connaught redirects here. ... During late Gaelic and early historic times Ireland was divided into provinces to replace the earlier system of the tuatha. ... Niall of the Nine Hostages (Irish: Niall Noigíallach) was a High King of Ireland who was active early-to-mid 5th century, dying - according to the latest estimates - around 450/455. ... Niall Noigiallach or Niall of the Nine Hostages, semi-historical King of Ireland, thought to have flourished in the first half of the 5th century. ... Brion is the name or part of the name of several communes in France: Brion, in the Ain département Brion, in the Indre département Brion, in the Isère département Brion, in the Lozère département Brion, in the Maine-et-Loire département Brion, in the Saône-et-Loire département Brion, in... In Irish mythology Ailill was king of Connacht and husband of Medb during the events of the Ulster Cycle. ...


The other two dynastys within the Connachta were the Ui Briuin - descendants of Brion - and the Tir nAilello - descendants of Ailill. The latter sank into obscurity at an early stage but both the Ui Fiachrach and Ui Briuin and their many sub-septs featured prominently in the history of Connacht for one thousand years. In the 12th centuary, an Ui Briuin descendant, Ruaidri mac Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair, became High King of Ireland. Ruaidri Ua Conchobair (d. ...


The Uí Fiachrach separated into two distinct branches, situated widely apart from each other. The Ui Fiachrach Aidhne settled in the kingdom of Aidhne and established themselves as its new ruling dynasty. The Ui Fiachrach Muaidhe were based along the River Moy in what is now part of Co. Mayo and Co. Sligo. It appears that they once constituted a single overkingdom, and ruled or took tribute from the older tribes and nations situated between Aidhne and Muaide, but lost their grip on power by the early 8th centuary leaving them confined to their own strict territory. The River Moy (Abhainn na Muaidhe in Irish) rises in the Ox Mountains in County Sligo in the northwest of Ireland. ...


Ui Fiachrach Aidhne was bounded on the north and east by the powerful independent kingdom of Hy-Many or Ui Maine; to the west by Lough Lurgan (Galway Bay) and the Corco Mo Druad (Corcomroe); and to the south by In Deis Tuisceairt (later the Dal gCais, later still the O'Brian's of Thomond. The territorial gains made by the Ui Fiachrach were lost and the kingdom seems to have reverted to something of its original size for its subsequent history. Hy-Many, or Ui Maine, was one of the oldest and largest kingdoms located in Connacht, Ireland. ... Galway Bay is a large bay on the west coast of Ireland, between County Galway on the north and County Clare on the south. ... Thomond (Irish: Tuadh Mumhan) sometimes called County Thomond was an ancient Kingdom of Ireland which included much of what is now County Clare and at its greatest extents included parts of the counties of Kerry, Limerick, Offaly and Tipperary. ...


Up to the mid-12th centuary its lords were the family of O'Cahill, who were overturned and exiled by their kinsmen, the Clan O'Shaughnessy. This family remained rulers of the territory until the land confiscations of the late 1690's and early 1700's; the senior line died out in 1784.
Last Updated on Wednesday, 01 September 2010 02:26
 

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