McMahon

Coat of Arms of MacMahon of Clare/Thomond

McMahon or MacMahon (UK: /məkˈmɑːn/,^[1] US: /məkˈmæn, -ˈmeɪən, -ˈmɑːn/; older Irish orthography: Mac Mathghamhna; reformed Irish orthography: Mac Mathúna) is an Irish surname. The surname arose separately in two areas: in west County Clare and in County Monaghan. The County Monaghan (Airgíalla) MacMahons are not related to the County Clare (Thomond) MacMahons.

Thomond

The Thomond MacMahons were part of the great tribal grouping, the Dál gCais, and claimed descent from Mahon O'Brien, grandson of Brian Ború. The last chief of the name was killed at the battle of Kinsale in 1602, and the chiefly line became extinct.

After the defeats of the native Irish in 17th century, many of the Clare MacMahons emigrated to serve in the Irish Brigade of the French Army. John Baptiste MacMahon, descended from the MacMahon female line, took on the surname of MacMahon and was the son of one of the original members of the Irish Brigade. He was made Marquis d’Eguilly by Louis XV. He had wanted to marry into a noble family but had to prove he was a noble. The name was changed through the female line because France recognised the line through a female, unlike Ireland to this day.

His grandson, Patrice de MacMahon (1808–1893), was created Duke of Magenta, became a field marshal and later the French president. The MacMahon family are still prominent in France; the family home is the Château de Sully outside Dijon.^[2]

Oriel

Map of Gaelic Ireland circa 900 A.D.

The Oriel (Anglicisation of Airgíalla) MacMahons were based in the barony of Truagh in the north of County Monaghan and ruled the kingdom of Oriel between the thirteenth and the sixteenth centuries. Their last chief, Hugh Oge MacMahon, who had become a lieutenant-colonel in the Spanish army, was beheaded by the English in 1641. A separate McMahon family in County Fermanagh is descended from Mahon Maguire, a grandson of Donn Carrach Maguire. Today, although widespread throughout Ireland, MacMahon remains most common in the two ancestral homelands of Counties Clare and Monaghan.^[3]

John O'Hart notes that the MacMahons (sometimes there O'Mahons) were earlier chiefs of the over-kingdom of Ulaid, which then bordered Airgíalla.^[4]

Chieftains

• Niall McMahon (Ladrannaibh, or the bandit), (early 12th century)
• Ross Bui McMahon (late 16th century)
• Brian Mac Hugh Og of the Dartrey MacMahons (late 16th century)
• Raymond McMahon of the Killyleen Mc Mahons (late 17th century)
• Nicholas McMahon of the Cluaincoinin Mc Mahons (early 19th century)
• Patrick McMahon of the Cluaincoinin Mc Mahons (late 19th century)
• Martin McMahon [Motto] of the Cluaincoinin Mc Mahons (early 20th century)
• John McMahon [Jack Martin]of the Cluaincoinin Mc Mahons (late 20th century)

Motto

The motto of the Thomond sept of McMahons is "Sic Nos Sic Sacra Tuemur", which means "Thus We Defend Our Sacred Rights".

People

"McMahon" is the family name of the following people:

• Aline MacMahon (1899–1991), American actress
• Bernard MacMahon (bishop) (1680–1747), Irish bishop
• Bernard MacMahon (filmmaker), contemporary British filmmaker
• Brian MacMahon (1923–2007), British-American epidemiologist
• Bryan MacMahon (judge) (born 1941), Irish judge
• Bryan MacMahon (writer) (1909–1998), Irish playwright, novelist and short story writer
• Heber MacMahon (1600–1650), Irish bishop and general
• Hugh MacMahon (1660–1737), Irish bishop
• Patrice de MacMahon, Duke of Magenta (1808–1893), French general and politician
• Percy Alexander MacMahon (1854–1929), a British mathematician
• Tony MacMahon (born 1939), Irish button accordion player and radio and television broadcaster

Ships of the surname

MV Empire MacMahon was an oil tanker converted by the British for WWII service as a merchant aircraft carrier or MAC ship, that is an escort carrier for anti-submarine warfare, an anti-submarine warfare carrier.

See also

• McMahon, Saskatchewan, hamlet in Canada
• McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
• The McMahon Act or the Atomic Energy Act of 1946
• McMahon-Hussein Correspondence, exchange of letters during World War I concerning the fate of the Middle East
• McMahon system tournament, tournament pairing system invented for Go competitions
• An electorate area of Australia, NSW
• Mathgamain mac Cennétig

• Macmahon Holdings, an Australian infrastructure and mining company.
• MV Empire MacMahon
• Mahon (disambiguation)
• Marquis de MacMahon d'Eguilly, Duke of Magenta
• MacMahon Master theorem

References