McGarvey Septs of Ulster

Hello,

         As I have registered our Sept with Clans of Ireland, they requested a History be completed for their site.  http://www.clansofireland.ie/baile/  Clans of Ireland is the official organization for Clan or Sept registration and it is recognized by the Irish Government. I am going to post below the History that I sent to them. I realize that there is more information here on the site, but my hope is that more people from our Sept will come to the Website.

On another note, if anyone is interested in getting a Certificate of Irish Heritage, this can be done at the following link: http://www.heritagecertificate.com/  You have to provide some type of Census or other documented information that says your ancestor came from Ireland. I did so from a Canadian Census Document.

Best Regards,

               Jamie McGarvey.

McGarvey/Garvey History

The McGarvey Family it is said descends from a long and noble Irish ancestry. It is also said that they are descendants of the ancient King Eremon who took over Ireland in 1699 bc. Eremon slew his brother Eber and claimed the throne for himself. Eremon and Eber were sons of King Milesius (Gallamh) and are said to have come from either Spain or France to the island of Ireland, and were ancestors of the Gaels. Of the Milesians, who invaded the Tuatha De Danann lands, Eber and Eremon divided the land between them - Eremon getting the Northern half of the Island, and Eber the Southern. The Northeastern corner was accorded to the children of their lost brother, Ir, and the Southwestern corner to their cousin Lughaid, the son of Ith.

The descendants of Milesius are said to be the monarchs and leading families of early Ireland. Malachi II and Niall Noigiallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages) son of Eochaid Mugmedon are said to descend from Eremon.

As Gairbhíoth is relatively common as a personal name in early to late-medieval Irish sources (being in the top-200 out of about 6600 personal names recorded in Mac Fhirbhisigh’s Great Book of Irish Genealogies, it is not too surprising to find no fewer than seven separate septs, families or other population-groups whose names derive from that personal name.

The Northern Uí Néill, named from their supposed descent from Niall Noigiallach (or N. of the Nine Hostages), reputedly ‘high-king of Ireland’ whose death some of the Irish annals place at the year AD 405. (I say ‘supposed’ and ‘reputedly’ because various reputable historians of early Ireland are dubious about Niall’s historicity; if he ever existed, we can say virtually nothing about him – even the date and circumstances of his death are highly dubious.) According to the pedigree that has come down to us, these were a sub-branch of the sept known as Cenél Moáin or Cenél Moéin who were based in the vicinity of Raphoe in north-east Co. Donegal and Strabane in north-west Co. Tyrone.

Connacht dynasty called the Uí Bhriúin, which in turn is said to be descended from an older brother of Niall’s. (This claim is now generally considered to be very dubious.) The first of the families, Teallach Gairbhéith, ‘the household of Gairbhíoth’, is said to derive from an eponymous ancestor whose floruit would have been in the middle of the 7th century (assuming the pedigree is genuine – which is a large assumption in relation to the Uí Bhriúin). This name has survived as that of the barony of Tullygarvey in north-east Co. Cavan.

Today there are many McGarvey/Garvey’s scattered all over the world, and as many Irish have they have made their way in their new homelands and their place in history. Through DNA tests the different families have been able to be more defined as to their origins.

I have seen the question raised before as to whether the Motto for the Garvey/McGarvey Coat of Arms was "Mirior Invictus" or "Morior Invictus". If you look in the Coat of Arms section you will find that it was registered at different times both ways. One has to remember that different individuals registered the motto and therefore the difference.

Now being that this particular Coat of Arms is a Sept Coat of Arms some research might have to be done to see what the original spelling was.

Below are the English meanings from the Latin words:

                    "Mirior"

miracula : miraculum : a miracle play.

miraculose : miraculously.

mire : wonderfully, mervellously, uncommonly.

mirifice : wonderfuly, marvelously, extraordinarily

miro : to wonder.

miror : to marvel at, admire, wonder.

mirus : wonderful, astonishing, extraordinary

                  "Morior"

mora : delay

moratlis : mortal.

morbus : sickness, disease, illness.

mores, morium : ways, conduct, character, morals.

morior : to die, wither away, decay.

mors mortis : death.

morsus : a biting, bite, also, sting, pain.

mortalitas : the state of being mortal/ death, a dying

mortifera : deadly things

mortuus : dead, deceased, passed away, gone West, departed.

 "More Wonderfull Unconquered" or " Even in Death Unconquered (I die Unconquered)"

maybe someday someone will find the correct spelling.

Jamie.

Prof. Nollaig O'Muraile has done a great deal of research into Irish Families. He has provided me with some of the material that he has compiled with regard to the name Gairbhioth. He has identified Seven different families. I thank him for his time and allowing me to post this information on the Web Site.

The information will be posted in the Information/FAQ section.

Regards,

        Jamie. 

This Web Site was created for all McGarveys and Garveys of Ulster to come together and share information. Hopefully there will be a better understanding of our past as to who we are and who our Ancestors were.

My goal is to gather as much information as I can to help other McGarveys find their Irish Roots. I hope that others here will do the same.

With this information it is my hope that we can forge into the future stronger together.

Best Regards,

         Jamie McGarvey