Return to your Tipperary roots: August 2008

Back in the 16th and 17th-centuries, Ireland's County Tipperary was a much different place than it is today. The county had come into existence under the reign of King John as far back as 1210 A.D. Its name is Tiobraid Árann in Irish, meaning the "well of Árann" (Árann was an adjoining territory).

Four-hundred years ago Irish chiefs and chieftains still ruled as overlords in Tipperary. The O'Kennedys, in particular, were a powerful military clan and ruled over underchieftans such as the O'Tierney clan, who paid a fee to receive protection from the O'Kennedys while they ruled their own small territory.

This summer that time period in Tipperary's history will be remembered by a reunion of the various clans mentioned in the several hundred year-old Ormond Deeds, a set of documents which sheds light on the lives of those who lived in Tipperary so many centuries ago.

According to the webpage of the Clan Gathering 2008 on the website of the Tierney Clans Society (Cumann na gClann Ui Thighearnaigh):

This time we are departing from the ‘traditional’ format and are hosting a ‘joint venture’ Gathering with a number of Ormond Clans who are linked in history by references in an historic body of documents titled ‘The Ormond Deeds’. These documents describe transactions and contain transcripts of deeds and agreements between the leading families of the Baronies of Upper and Lower Ormond. They were maintained in Kilkenny Castle by the Earls of Ormond. The documents contain transactions between The O’Tierney, O’Kennedy and O’Meara Clans and are witnessed by members of the MacEgan and O’Meagher Clans. It is these Clans that are now cooperating in the organising of this great Gathering.

The Clan Rally will take place August 22-24, 2008 in the Nenagh area of County Tipperary, Ireland.

For more info go to the Clan Gathering 2008 webpage. You may register to participate via this registration form.