About the O’Callaghans

The O’Callaghans established a lordship in County Cork along both banks of the Blackwater River between Kanturk and Mallow in the barony of Duhallow. Steady encroachment by English adventurers and speculators, however, imposed severe pressure on the Gaelic way of life. As a consequence of the rebellion of 1641 and the subsequent conquest by Oliver Cromwell, O’Callaghan lands were confiscated and the chieftain and his family were transplanted to County Clare.

The confiscated lands were allotted to Cromwell’s soldiers as a reward for their service. Although some O’Callaghans retained their estates by conforming to the Established Church, the majority, who remained on the land as tenants of English landlords, adhered to the Catholic Church.

At the end of the 17th century the departure of many O’Callaghan soldiers for the continent, where they achieved renown in the service of the kings of France and Spain, deprived the common people of their natural leaders. The Penal Laws of the 18th century throttled the Catholic people and condemned many to a life of servitude and poverty.

In the early 19th century Catholic Emancipation relieved some of that burden and the struggle over the land later in the century resulted in the Land Acts that put an end to landlordism and gave tenants a full right of ownership. The restoration of their dignity paved the way to future prosperity.

Despite hundreds of years of penury and subjection, the native resilience and intelligence of the O’Callaghans has enabled many proud bearers of the name, both in their ancestral homeland and throughout the world, to achieve distinction in nearly every area of human endeavor.

Clan O’Callaghan — a History

If you are an O’Callaghan, or a Callaghan, or a Callahan or related in any way with that family, you will want to read Clan Callaghan: The O Callaghan Family of County Cork by Joseph F. O’Callaghan. Originally published in 2005, this revised edition in paperback was published in 2020 by Clearfield Company, a subsidiary of Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, Maryland. You may obtain a copy through genealogical.com.

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Articles by Joseph F. O’Callaghan

Here is a list of the articles that appeared in the Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological society. They can be accessed at Cork Historical & Archeological Society. You can search for an author or a title and the text should appear.

To access the links below directly, either use the Chrome browser, or, if the link displays only the Cork Historical Society home page, hit the return key on your keyboard again to reload the page as a pdf.

You may also wish to read:

“The Wild Geese in Spain: Mathew O’Callaghan, Knight of Santiago,” The Irish Genealogist 16,1 (2022): 45 – 55.