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Chapter
Two Sons of Giolla Mhartain
(Servants of St. Martin)
Sons of Giolla Mhartain was the name of an
Ulster family, who was ancient chief of Civel Feinradbaigh
(1500-1599), in the 16th Century. It was a common name
in County Sligo and Roscommon, and was later found to many other
parts of old Ireland. It is no doubt, in many instances, now
disguised under the Anglicized form of Martin.
"Fearcar," brother of Aodh Ornaighe, who is no. 97 on
the O’Neil pedigree (of Tyrone), was the ancestor of
MacGiolla Mhartain, anglicized as Kilmartin, Gilmartin, and
Martin.
Dr. R J. Hayes, author of "Manuscript
Sources for the History of Irish Civilization," says,
"At first the surname was formed by prefixing `Mac’ to
the fathers Christian name or `O’ to that of a grandfather
or earlier ancestor." Names with the prefixes Mac, or even
O, apparently surnames, will be found in the records relating to
the centuries before the 10th, but these were ephemeral not hereditary. After a time, other types of names were
adopted, still with the prefix Mac and sometimes ‘O’.
Those which introduced the words GIOLLA or MAOL, both usually
follower or servant, often in a sense of devotion to some Saint
as in Mac Giolla Mhartain. As names beginning with Mac Giolla
followed by a Saint’s name, especially those with anglicized
forms beginning with Gil or Kil, will be found frequently in
texts or books and historical documents. So we find the name of
Kilmartin and thus the source of our family heritage.
Chapter 3
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