View source for O'Cahan

{{Short description|Irish clan}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Royal house|
| surname = O'Cahan
| coat_of_arms = Coat of arms family-sept ir OCahan (Keane).svg
| coat_of_arms_size = 150px
| coat_of_arms_caption = 
| country = Ireland
| parent house = [[Northern Uí Néill]]
| titles = *Prince of [[Limavady]]
*Lord of [[Keenaght (barony)|Keenaght]]
*[[Keane baronets]]
*[[Baron Keane]]
| founder = Cathán Ua Néill<br>[[Cumee na Gall O'Cahan|Cú Maighe Ua Catháin]] (first recorded)
| final ruler = [[Donnell Ballagh O'Cahan]] (died 1627)
| current head = 
| founding year = 11th century
| dissolution = 
| nationality = 
| cadet branches = [[McCloskey]]<br>[[Ó Maoláin]]<br>[[Clan Munro|Munro]]
}}

The '''O'Cahan''' ([[Irish language|Irish]]: '''''Ó Catháin''''' (IPA:oːˈkahaːn̠ʲ) 'descendants of Cahan') were a powerful [[sept]] of the [[Northern Uí Néill]]'s [[Cenél nEógain]] in [[medieval Ireland]]. The name is presently [[Anglicisation|anglicized]] as [[O'Kane]], [[Kane (surname)|Kane]] and [[Keane (surname)|Keane]].

The O'Cahans originated in Laggan in the east of present-day [[County Donegal]] and from there moved eastwards in the twelfth century, ousting the O'Connor from [[Keenaght (barony)|Keenaght]] in present-day [[County Londonderry]]. They held the lordship of Keenaght and Coleraine until the seventeenth century, to which it was commonly referred to as "O'Cahan's country". Under the sub-ordination of their kin, the [[O'Neill dynasty|O'Neill]]s, they held the privilege of inaugurating the chief of the O'Neill by tossing a shoe over the new chief's head in acceptance of his rule.

There is also an unrelated sept of O'Cahan in the province of [[Connacht]], the O'Cahan Ui Fiachra (''Ó Catháin Uí Fiachrach''). At first, O'Cahan held the title chief of Cenel Ianna. After expelling O'Drennan (''Ó Draighneán''), chief of Cenel Sedna, O'Cahan was henceforth known as chief of Cenel Sedna. The earliest recorded O'Cahan was Eoghan O'Cahan (''Eogháin Ua Catháin''), abbot of [[Clonfert]] (''Cluan-fearta-Brennainn''), [[County Galway]], died 980 A.D.

== Naming conventions ==
{{Main|Irish personal naming system}}
The surname has been [[Anglicisation|anglicised]] '''O'Cahan''', '''Cahan''', '''O'Kane''', '''Kane''', '''O'Keane''', '''Keane''', '''O'Kean''', '''Kean''', and similar variations thereof.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
! style="width:20%;" |Male
! style="width:20%;" |Daughter
! style="width:20%;" |Wife ''<small>(Long)</small>''
! style="width:20%;" |Wife ''<small>(Short)</small>''
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Ó Catháin
|Ní Chatháin
|Bean Uí Chatháin
|Uí Chatháin
|}

==History==
[[File:Ulster Late 15th Century.png|thumb|Ulster chiefdoms in the late 15th century.]]

The O'Cahan sept of [[Cianachta Glenn Geimin|Keenaght Glengiven]] first appear on record in 1138.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}} A thirteenth-century chief of the family was [[Cumee na Gall O'Cahan]]. A heavily restored effigy at Dungiven Priory is sometimes associated with Cumee, although it appears to date to the last quarter of the fifteenth century, and seems to be that of a later member of the sept. Dunseverick Castle also formed part of the O'Cahan possessions until it was destroyed by Scottish troops under the command of [[Robert Monro]] during the [[Irish Rebellion of 1641]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.visitcausewaycoastandglens.com/todo/dunseverick-castle/|title=Dunseverick Castle|website=Visit Causeway Coast & Glens|language=en-GB|access-date=19 September 2019}}</ref>

The clan suffered a blow during the [[Battle of Down|battle of Drumderg]], where fifteen O'Cahan chieftains were slain in battle against the Normans and their gaelic allies.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Byrne |first=Francis |title=Irish Kings and High Kings |publisher=Four courts press |year=1987 |isbn=0713458135 |location=New York |pages=257 |language=English}}</ref>

[[Rory Dall O'Cahan]], an Irish [[harpist]] of the 17th century most famous as the composer of [[Give Me Your Hand]], may have penned the popular Irish tune the "[[Londonderry Air]]", in order to lament the destruction of O'Cahan power.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} Consequently, it may have been originally called "[[O'Cahan's Lament]]".{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} The music is best known as the tune of the song "[[Danny Boy]]".<ref>[https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=0c0041b64add4cb4901b45eac34798d1 Explore Limavady]</ref>[[File:Margaret O'Cahan by Garrett Morphy.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Portrait of Margaret O'Cahan by [[Garret Morphy]] ]]By the late 16th-century, "O'Cahan's Country" became the county of Coleraine. The majority of Ó Catháin chiefs fled Ulster in the [[Flight of the Earls]] in 1607, and under the terms of [[Surrender and regrant]] they forfeited their lands to the English crown. During the subsequent [[Plantation of Ulster]], County Coleraine along with parts of counties [[County Antrim|Antrim]], Donegal, and [[County Tyrone|Tyrone]], were merged to form County Londonderry. After the [[Flight of the Earls]] in 1607, [[Donnell Ballagh O'Cahan]], Chief of the Ó Catháin (and at one time knighted by the English Crown), was captured and sent to the Tower of London, where he died in 1626. There has been no Chief since.

==See also==
*[[Gaelic nobility of Ireland]]
*[[Manus O'Cahan's Regiment]]
*[[Clan Buchanan]]
*[[Clan Munro]]

==External links==
*[https://www.johngrenham.com/findasurname.php?surname=%C3%93%20Cath%C3%A1in Ó Catháin in Ireland]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Uí Néill}}
{{Kingdom of Ireland}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocahan}}
[[Category:Irish families]]
[[Category:Irish clans]]
[[Category:Ancient Irish dynasties]]
[[Category:O'Neill dynasty]]