The Origins of the Kennedy Name
Updated 10.3.2005
My own research
This article dates back to my own personal genealogy days and is officially depracated. A completely new more thorough article for the Kennedy One-Name Study will be published during Autumn 2007.
I have started to do some of my own research on this topic.
The Kennedy name in the Book of Deer (c. 1130-1150). Book V stanza 5 reads thus:
"Cormac mac Cennedig do-rat gonige Scali Merlec" which translated reads "Cormac son of Cenneitech gave as far as Skillymarmo".
In his work The Gaelic Notes in the Book of Deer, translator Professor Jackson of Edinburgh University writes this:
"Cormac mac Cennedig. Unidentified. Both names are common: the second is Anglicised as 'Kennedy'". There is a lengthy discussion in Jackson's 'Gaelic Notes in the Book of Deer' about dating the writing but it is most likely to have been recorded during the reign of King David 1 (1124-1153).
The MS of The Book of Deer is held at Cambridge University and is the oldest known MS of Scottish Gaelic.
As I note below where I quote other peoples' research, the Irish mentions of the name are much earlier.
In AD 943 the Chronicum Scotorum (Chronicle of the Scoti) says:
"A battle was gained by Ceallachan Caisil over Cennedigh, son of Lorcan, at Magh-duine, where many fell". And in AD 950 "Cennedigh, son of Lorcan, King of Dal-Cais, moritur".
This MS was written some time later though - one source online says 1150, this to be confirmed. However, interestingly these dates tie in with the life of Brian Boru's father mac Cennedig, supposedly the progenitor of the Kennedy name in Ireland.
Although I have been doing this research using bound volumes of translations in the British Library, many of the above works can be found online, one good resource is this: http://www.ucc.ie/celt/
Irish Origins
Many sources on the internet quote, directly or indirectly, from Edward MacLysaght's works 'Surnames of Ireland', 'Irish Families' and 'More Irish Families'.
"(O) Kennedy / O Cinneide from 'ceann' meaning 'head' and 'eidigh' meaning 'ugly'.
An important Dalcassian sept of East Clare which settled in north Tipperary and spread thence as far south as Wexford from whence came the family of President Kennedy. The Scottish Kennedys are by remote origin Irish Gaels."
He also describes how, starting from territory around Glenoncra near Killaloe (hence the modern placename Killokennedy) the name spread, with eventually a branch reaching as far as Antrim c. 1600.
The territory he refers to was the domain of the High King of Ireland Brian Boru (Brian Boroimhe) 940-1014 A.D. who is credited with many things including inflicting heavy defeat on the Vikings who occupied Limerick and even starting the tradition of adopting surnames (hence the surname O'Brian). Boru means tribute. His full name was Brian mac Cennetig Boru, denoting that he was the son of Cennetig. When Brian's family adopted the name O Brian his brother's family adopted that of the father Cennetig/Cenneidigh and thus became O Cenneidighs. He may not, though, be the first to have had this name. It has variously been translated as grim-headed, ugly-headed or even helmet-headed and it is pointed out that the Cinneide arms feature three helmets.
Edward MacLysaght, apart from having a Dalcassian name himself, was appointed the first Chief Herald of Ireland, a role similar to that performed by Lord Lyon King of Arms in Scotland.
Note on O, Mac, Mc etc.
MacLysaght covers this topic in great detail, including the social reasons for their at one stage being dropped and in some cases reinstated later. From this I learnt that the prefix O denoted 'grandson of' as opposed to Mac which means 'son of'.
The Ireland-Scotland Kennedy connection.
In addition to the above quotes, MacLysaght adds in the Appendix to 'More Irish Families' the following note:
"It should be made clear that the Kennedys of Scotland were Irish by origin'. However he has muddied the waters slightly with two other statements. Firstly he has made the general point, as most historians concur with, that the Scots who founded Dalriada were originally from Ireland - albeit some time before the adoption of the Kennedy name. Secondly, his date of c. 1600 for the arrival of the Irish Kennedy name in Antrim more or less coincides with the arrival from Scotland of the first Plantation families, which contained Scottish Kennedys (source: Muster Rolls and Plantation Estate Maps for the period 1607-1633).
Collins Dictionary of Surnames makes a similar claim:
"the name Kennedy came from Ireland to Celtic Dalriada, now Strathclyde". This leaves me confused further since the kingdom of Dalriada was ended before the Kennedy name even emerged, never mind travelled to Scotland!
Scottish Origins
It is I suppose not surprising that most Scottish sources you consult are at pains to point out that the name is indigenous to Scotland and nothing whatsoever to do with the Irish. (Irish sources vary on this matter). Some even deny the Celtic meaning at the top of the page or if they do accept it, are reluctant to use the commonly quoted translation 'ugly' for 'eidigh'. Sir James Ferguson in his book 'The Kennedys' states
"The Kennedys, though some historians have stated that they came originally from Ireland, were probably indigenous to south-west Scotland. Their name signifies 'son of Kenneth'.
The Kennedy Society of North America tells us:
"The name “Kennedy” is derived from the Celtic Ceannaideach, or Ceanncinneal, or Cinneidigh (meaning head of tribe or clan)".
Nevertheless all the suggested dates for the first occurrence of the various spellings of the name in South West Scotland postdate the time of the Irish King Cennetig by some margin.
The role of DNA studies in solving the origins of the Kennedy name
Can the moden techniques of DNA and the profusion of Surname projects linking relatives from around the world, answer the questions I have effectively posed above as to whether or not the Irish and Scottish names are linked?