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O'Shaughnessy & Shaughnessy Family History
Recorded as O'Shaughnessy and occasionally Shaughnessy, without the Gaelic prefix, this is a famous Irish surname. It has a special significance in a land where Christianity has such a hold. The O'Shaunghnessy clan are believed to be the direct descendants of the last pagan king of all Ireland, King Daithi, in the 10th century a.d. Certainly the clan were the most prominent sect in that part of the country known in ancient times as Ui Fiachra Aidhne, now County Galway, and it is said that they defeated their kinsmen the O'Cahills and the O'Clery's, to be the chiefs of the region.
The name is found primarily in County Galway and County Limerick.
O'Shaughnessy castles include Gort Castle, Fiddaun Castle, Ardamullivan Castle, Newtown Castle, Derryowen, which is just inside the County Clare border, Ballymulfaig, and a castle on one of the islands in Lough Cutra. According to a list naming the castles of County Galway and their owners, drawn up in 1574 by the English administration in Ireland, Islandmore Castle (now Thoor Ballylee) was listed as being owned by a John O'Shaughnessy.
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