History of the O'Gradys
O'Grady (O Grada or Ui Gradaigh), meaning illustrious or noble, was a collective surname for the descendants of the Irish Gaelic sept, the O’Gradaigh. (A sept was "a group of persons inhabiting the same locality and bearing the same surname.")
Irish heraldry does appear to have
native roots at least five centuries older than the system introduced by the
Anglo-Normans in 1169. However, most of today's Irish coats of arms descend
from an Anglo-Norman tradition, and were regarded as the property of the sept,
rather than being strictly hereditary within a single family as is the case
under English and Scottish heraldic law.
The origins of the O Gradaigh sept
are Dalcassian. The Dalcassians had their territories at Killansooghlan, by the
River Fergus in County Clare. Brian Boru, who died in 1014 at the Battle of
Clontarf, was a Dalcassian, famous both as victor over the Normans and as High
King of Ireland.
As a result of strife with their
kinsmen and neighbours, the O'Briens, the O'Gradys moved their stronghold to
Killballyowen, in Co. Limerick. The prefixes Mac and O were very widely dropped
during the period of the submergence of Catholic and Gaelic Ireland which began
in the early seventeenth century.
Although the leading family went to
Co. Limerick, the majority are still in Clare, where the prefix O is retained
more than elsewhere. The name has a more northern association as well with
Galway and Westport.
Several O'Gradys received armorial bearings and titles from the British monarch and became supporters of the English Church. There were both Catholic and Protestant O'Gradys. Churchmen among the O'Gradys included Bishops of Cashel, Tuam, and Killaloe. They also had a tradition of military service. The name today is to be found in the greatest numbers in Counties Clare and Limerick; otherwise it is spread widely.
In the mid-19th century, there were 1103 Grady households in Ireland - most numerous in Mayo (136), Galway (133), Limerick (113), Tipperary (112) and Clare (104).
One of the most illustrious bearers
of the surname was the scholarly Standish Hayes O'Grady (1832 - 1915), an Irish
antiquarian. In 1901 he contributed an essay on Anglo-Irish aristocracy to a
collection entitled 'Ideals in Ireland', edited by Lady Augusta Gregory. He
also undertook the task of cataloguing Irish Manuscripts in the British Museum
- which was unfinished on his death and was later completed by Robin Flower.
His cousin, Standish James O'Grady
(1846 - 1928), was an Irish author, journalist and historian. O'Grady's works
were an influence on WB Yeats and George Russell and this earned him the title
of the 'Father of the Celtic Revival'. He was equally proud of his family's
Unionism and Protestantism as of his Gaelic Irish ancestry and he was described
by Augusta, Lady Gregory as a 'fenian unionist'. He wrote a history of Ireland
emphasising the importance of the country's heroic period, as well as several
other historical novels including 'In the Wake of King James', 'The Flight of
the Eagle' and 'Red Hugh's Captivity', all of which aroused a new interest
among his contemporaries in Irish epic literature.
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O'Grady Castle - Tuamgraney Castle
Tuamgraney Castle was built c1500 by the O'Grady family adjacent to St Cronan's church in order to protect the church. The O'Gradys were Ireland's leading ecclesiastical family in the fourteenth century starting with John O'Grady, Archbishop of Cashel in 1332, and his son John O'Grady, Archbishop of Tuam in 1368, followed by his son of the same name who was Bishop of Elphin in 1405.
In Tuamgraney, the coarb in the
monastery was always an O'Grady until ousted by the Brady's. The tower house is
rather plain looking, with only a machicolation over the slightly recessed door
and several arrow loops and windows. We have no interior shots as the large red
door, pictured right, was locked when we visited. We have read that there is a
vault on the first floor with a trace of wicker centering that would have been
used in the construction of the vault. This would have been very interesting to
see, but the floor of the particular storey is missing. Access to the castle
may be through the East Clare Heritage Centre that is now housed in St Cronan's
Church next to the castle.
The doorway of the castle is protected by a good machicolation. There is a vault above the first floor with marks of wicker centering. A broad spiral stairway leads to roof level but is missing above the first floor. A small rectangular room may be reached from the stairway. It leads to the first floor room (floor missing) beyond which is apparently another small chamber. The rectangular chamber leading off the stairway has two small windows.
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The motto on the scroll of the sept
arms is "Vulneratus Non Victus", "Wounded But Not
Defeated".