Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1889-08-17
THE MACS AND o.s.
Whas che syiiahie@ ss Prsflxea 10 yrssh
Names Literally Near.
There 10 a popular rhyme:
uHv Mae aud ~


by Mac and o.
You'll always know
True lrtshmen. they say;
Foti they lack
Both o. and No
No frishmen are they"
III est:
Per Mac staus o. "a veros eosaosris Hibernos
Ms daoous dcmptis. aulIas iiisenus adest"
What do Mac and o. as prefxes to
Irish names literally mean
Answer lAuthorlty: Lowers Pat
rcnymica Britannica. Mac. a WE'LL
known prefix OF surnames Of Celtic
origin. signifying "son Of" and there
fore coguate with the Ap OF Welsh. the
Fstz OF Anglo-NorYan. and the son Of
English use. In England and other
countries OF Europe the great staple
OF family names Is derived from ter
ritorial source. but among the Celts OF
Scotland. ireland, and Wales the sur
name was almost uniformly that OF the
father or some ancestor with prefix.
10" This is very common prefix
70 Irish surnames. and is the Celtic ma.
grandson. descendant. In England and
other European countries the noble and
wealthy generally borrowed their
family names from their landed posses
sions. but In ireland the names OF septs
or tribes we're uniformly borrowed
from those Of their ancient chiefs and
ancestors. The famous King. Brian
Boru, who fell at the battle Of Clontar
in 1914. published an edict that the
descendants OF the heads OF tribes aud
families then in power should take
name from them. either from the faith
ers or grandfsthers. and that those
names should become hereditary and
fixed forever. In some instances. how
ever. families who boasted OF distin-
Ruished ancestor OF earlier date as
snmed his name rather than that Of the
grandfather or father.
o.. or rather Oy, was used in the
sense OF grandson By the Scottish High.
landsrs; thus ve read of q very old
lady Of Gaelic race who. Argus-ii like.
could boast OF 100 ''Oyes.
The Galwegians. who prided them
selves upon not being Irishmen. issued
an order Ia 1918 prohibiting the native
septs from entering their town, declar-
Ing that ''neither o. no Mac should
strut ne swaggar through ths streets
Of Galway"
A regular error prevails In Ireland
that while the Mac conveys no motion
OF high birth the o. is mark OF good
family. In the province OF Connaught
the % notifies the gentleman; the
O'Connors, the 0'Flahertys, and the
O'Malleys arc somebodies. while their
distant kinsmen. the Connors, the
Flahertys and the Malleys are nobOdies.
Much the same notion prevails In
France concerning the prefix de. In
Ireland the o. is never prehxed TO any
name derived from trade. with the sim
gle exception of 0'Gowan, which 10
similar to our Smithsou.
In OBrien's Irish Dictionary IL
gives:
'.Mac. a son. IL Is some
times used for the young OF brutes.
II is preaxed TO the name of
several OF the great families OF Ire
land
There Is another word. an adjective,
which means clean. pure. etc. D Is a
proposition. meaning from. and Is used
In connection with names 10 denote
the place from which person or fam
lily comes, or descent from particular
parentage. as We'll. which would In
dicate descent from the 0'Neii family,
and u Brien means the direct descend
ants OF Brian Boirbhe.
On the other hand 0'Caslaen means
the family from Castlelyons In the
county OF Cork. Mail.