Comment by Rick O'Kelley 01/2011

For many years I have been aware of and have read Dr. John O'Dovovan's 1843 book about the O'Kelley regional kings or Chiefs of Ui Maine (Hy-Many) Ireland. Author W E MacClenny in his 1910 book about Rev James makes a claim that he descended from the O'Kelys of Hy-Many, and Alethea Jane Macon in her 1969 book echoes this claim. To know for certain I completed DNA testing in August of 2010.  My DNA results indicate that I and the current chief of the name, the current living descendent share a common male O'Kelley Ancestor in the past 1000 years providing genetic proof that my line descended from those listed in Dr. O'Donovan's book.  DNA can not tell us the exact Hy-Many line my family descended from and that may never be possible but for now it can only tell me that I descended from Hy-Many O'Kelleys.  I believe the spelling of our name and that our ancestor appears to have arrived in America as protestant tells us that we descended from a small number of Hy-Many O'Kelleys who have been mostly forgotten in Ireland as they translated their names and converted to the Anglican protestant faith before 1600 AD.   Ui Maine or Hy-Many as it appears in English is in the eastern area of the province of Connaught Ireland including most of the counties of Galway and Roscommon and small portions of Westmeath. 

In his book, Dr O'Donovan references a much earlier Gaelic manuscript written in 1709 by Roger O'Farrell.  Much of the information originated from that manuscript and is presented in English by Dr. O'Donovan.  I have ponder why only single "e" Kellys and O'Kellys appear in Dr. O'Donovan's book when many original English works some written hundreds of years before Dr. O'Donovan clearly tells us that double "e" Kelleys existed in Ireland but the answer seems only too simple.  Dr. O'Donovan was translating from Gaelic into the English language based upon the time of his training.  Many of the works where double "e" Kelleys appear were either translated from Latin or were written in English and they too were translated or created as an original based upon that author's training.  There is no right or wrong, only the history and progress of the English language is occurring in these different spellings.  Sir James Ware's 1705 book contains some Gaelic to English translations and yet the family name of o Kelley appears as does o Kelly giving clear indication that in 1705 there were those of our family that used the double "e" spelling 30 to 35 years before our ancestor arrived in America.  More than one hundred years later when Dr. O'Donovan translated from O'Farrell's MS the single "e" spelling was well established in English and the Gaelic Ua Ceallaigh and Ó Ceallaigh names listed in Roger O'Farrells MS would not provide Dr. O'Donovan clues as to what families may or may not have had their name translated into English very early or what that spelling may have been so we can conclude that many of the Kellys in Dr. O'Donovan's 1843 book could be Kelleys that used the double "e" spelling.  Dr. O'Donovan may not have even known the history of the progression of the spelling of the name or even cared.  In the end we were all Ui Ceallaigh at one time and the only reason to care about the English translation is to uncover clues that may lead to certain family lines. I believe it is important for researchers to understand this because only a very limited number of O'Kelleys had their name translated very early and an even smaller number converted to the Anglican protestant faith.  By understand and learning who these O'Kelleys were it may aid in determining the line of our family.  Understanding how Dr. O'Donovan came to have only single "e" Kellys in his book also aids us in understand the accuracy of other works such as Charles Bridger's 1867 book "An Index to Printed Pedigrees: Contained in County and Local Histories" which tells us that the O'Kelley of Screen Roscommon was a line of Kelleys that used a double "e" spelling.  Dr O'Donovan's book tells us Colla and three other Gentry lines of O'Kelleys were Anglican protestant and Charles Bridger's book tells us that Colla's family and two others used a double "e" spelling so Colla's family and those O'Kelleys associated with his family are likely candidates to be our family line.  In my days as a homicide investigator I saw cases turn on otherwise over looked clues.

While I have been on a mission to report the spellings as they are found in documents and books no matter what they reflect, I no longer accept The Tribes and Customs of Hy-Maine as a definitive guide for spelling my ancestor's names.  Dr O'Donovan's book is very valuable for the information it contains but I believe we have to look to other sources such as Charles Bridger, Col Charles O'Kelley and others to get a better understanding as to how the English spelling of our family name progressed over time. 

There are other sources for very ancient Ui Maine history.  The image at the right is a scan of the front page from the ancient book of Ui Maine which is housed in the Library of the University of Dublin.  Click on the image to see a larger image.

Here are some additional pages to aid the understanding.

• O'Kelley Name

• Gaelic to English

• The Tribe and Customs of Hy-Maine or Ui Maine

• The Tribes and Customs of Hy-Many  nice footnotes

• Charles Bridger "An Index to Printed Pedigrees: Contained in County and Local Histories"