The Origins of The Kennedy Name

Some ideas from group members

Kennedy - O Cinneide, descendant of Cinneide (ceann means "head", eidigh means "ugly")

The name Kennedy has many variations and certainly CENNEDI is one. O'Kennedy, MacKennedy, Kenedy, O'Cinnkide are all variations. Many more are widly used.

Would KENNEDY possibly have come from "CENNEDI", like the name of the father of the Irish King, Brian Boru - born Brian Mac Cennedi (941-1014)? I had been pronouncing the "C" as an "S", but I wonder if perhaps it should be pronounced as a "K", the same as Celt is pronounced "Kelt".

From the dust of antiquity descends the LOW LAND clan of Kennedy.

The blood line is form the "de Carrick" family. The de Carrick's were Celtic Princes and Lords of Galloway, who later became the Earls of Carrick in SW Scotland between 1100-1225 AD. The earldom of Carrick ceased in the family with heiress Marjorie de Carrick upon her marriage to Robert Bruce of Annandale in 1271. However the "KENKYNOL or CEANCINNEAL" was granted to Marjorie first cousin, Roland de Carrick before 1256. KENKYNOL is Gaelic for "Head of the Clan", the chief and can only be passed down in the male line according to Celtic Law. From KENKYNOL the name of Kenneth and Kennedy if derived, both mean "Chief of the Clan".

In the mid 1300's, John McKennedy appears in the history of sw Scotland. this Kennedy was captain of the Clan Mnuninnitrcasdubh, (people of the black feet; a reference to the clansmen wearing their fur brogues inside out) located in Kirkmichael Parrish, Ayershire. Kennedy fought valiantly in Carrick and Gallaway against the supporters of Edward Balial in 1346 AD.

Some researchers believe him to be a de Carrick who called himself Kennedy. Kennedy of Dunure son and heir was held hostage for King David II in 1357. Ten years later, he was acting as steward for the Carrick earldom. and he acquired the estate of Cassillis where the Kennedy's would rule for centuries in Ayrshire and Carrick, in Oct. 1372, King Robert II visited Ayer, and bestowed upon John Kennedy the KENKYNOL of the clan, with all privileges that Roland de Carrick held in 1256. With this royal charter, the chief of CLAN KENNEDY was permanently established.

Kennedy's son, Gilbert . Agnes Maxwell, the gt.grandaughter of King Robert II and then Gilbert's son James KENNEDY m. Princess Mary, dau. of King Robert III in 1405. With these two marriages the lineage of Kennedy became "consnguis royal" or that of the blood to the King.

"Twixt Wigtown and the Town of Ayr, Portpatrick and the cruives of Cree, no man need think for to bide there unless he court with KENNEDY."

O'KENNEDY, Minnagh.

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 Kilialoe, 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 i6oo, 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 commonest 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 wag Patrick Kennedy (1801-1873) ; while, also in the field of literature, Patrick John Kenedy (1843-I806), was a wellknown 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.

Crown Publishers Inc

I have contacted Crown Publishers - who only distribute the book. No trace can be found of Allen Figgis & Co Ltd who claim copyright.