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Where the Mountains of Mourne Sweep Down to the Sea—Ballymageogh and Slievemageogh in County Down by Hugh McGough

Ballymageogh is a townland and Slievemageogh is a mountain in county Down, Ireland. According to Irish scholars, the names came from those members of the Mhigh Eotach or Mac Eochy sept who migrated from county Monaghan to county Down between the years 1150 and 1200. Mhigh Eotach or Mac Eochy has since been anglicized as McGeough and McGough. See my web page Origin of the Surname McGough.

The Mountains Of Mourne

by William Percy French, 1854–1920
Melody - W. Houston Collisson

Oh Mary this London's a wonderful sight
With people here workin' by day and by night
They don't sow potatoes, nor barley, nor wheat
But there's gangs of them diggin' for gold in the street
At least when I asked them that's what I was told
So I just took a hand at this diggin' for gold
But for all that I found there I might as well be
Where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea.

Maps and Geographical References for County Down

For links to maps of the baronies and parishes of county Down, and other geographical references, see my web page Ui Eathach Cobha in County Down.

Here is a map of the civil parishes of county Down published by the Ulster Historical Society.

Ballymageogh

Ballymageogh (often spelled Ballymageough) is a townland in the civil parish of Kilkeel, barony of Mourne, county Down, Ireland. The townland runs south from the southern base of Slievemageogh, one of the mountains of Mourne. Ballymageogh means Mageough's townland. Slievemageogh means Macgeogh's mountain. See: Ros Davies' Co. Down, Ireland Research Site—Map of the townlands in Kilkeel parish.

The name of the townland has been in use since at least 1613. The Gaelic name is Baile Mhig Eothach. The Gaelic name of the mountain is Sliabh Mhig Eothach. In Place-Names of Northern Ireland, Volume Three, county Down III, The Mournes (The Queen's University of Belfast 1993), at page 119, a reference from about the year 1204 is given to the use of a form or "Mourne" to describe south county Down (see below). As far as I can determine, this was the earliest recognition by a territorial name of the migration of the Mughdhorna from county Monaghan to county Down.

The Place-Names book gives a rough semi-phonetic guide to the pronunciation of the Irish forms of the names. Baile Mhig Eothach = balla vig gyogh. The second a in balla is pronounced as in above and coma. The stressed syllable in gyogh is indicated as ogh (page 234). Sliabh Mhig Eothach = shleeo vig gyogh (page 237). The local pronunciations of the English versions of both names in set out in phonetic symbols at pages 25 and 163.

Samuel Lewis, in his Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837), in his article on the parish of Kilkeel, calls the townland Ballymaguagh:

"In the R. C. divisions the parish forms two districts, called Upper and Lower Mourne, the former containing a chapel at Ballymaguagh; the latter, one at Glassdrummond and one at Ballymartin."

The center of the townland of Ballymageogh is four kilometers north and three kilometers east of the center of the town of Kilkeel, which is on the Irish Sea, five kilometers northeast of Cranfield Point on the north edge of the entrance to Carlingford Lough. The townland is a long narrow townland which runs about 8 kilometers from north to south and is shaped like an hour glass with a narrow waist at the center. The White Water River flows southward, sometimes through the townland and sometimes along its western edge. The river runs into Carlingford Lough. Raymond Kelly has published a map of the Mournes, showing the location of Ballymageogh, on his website on county Down: Raymond's Genealogy Site.

On sheet 29 (The Mournes) of the Discoverer Series of 1:50,000 Ordnance Survey maps of Northern Ireland, the northern tip of the townland of Ballymageogh is at J285 228, which is also the northern tip of the forest recreation area shown on the map as Crocknafeola Wood. The southern tip of Ballymageogh is at J287 150, just above Magowan Park. The narrow waist at the center of the townland is west of Aughrim Hill and east of Mourne Wood at J280 178. The village of Tievadoo, shown on the map, is within the townland. In 17th century documents, Tievadoo was sometimes shown as a townland, but is now included within the townland of Ballymageogh.

Ros Davies' County Down Research Site publishes a Map of the townlands in Kilkeel parish on which Ballymageogh is #20. Davies says that in 1659 there were six Irish families living in Ballymageogh, and that the owner was Richard Houston Esq. She places the Catholic church of St. Colman's, called Massforth, in Ballymageogh/Dunnaman townland, 3 kilometers northwest of Kilkeel on Rostrevor road. She includes a photo of the church. Davies' website, which is a font of knowledge, also lists Slievemageogh in the parish of Kilkeel on the south slope of the Mourne mountains, 7 kilometers north northwest of Kilkeel. Davies lists a McGeough family in the parish of Blaris and says that they were "an original Catholic family in this area." The civil parish of Blaris is mostly in county Down, but extends into county Antrim. The entire parish is in the poor law union of Lisburn. Griffith's Valuation of 1862 lists a John McGough in the townland of Tonagh, parish of Blaris, in county Antrim. See McGoughs, McGeoughs, and McGeoghs in Ireland in the 1820–30s and 1850–60s: By County, Parish, and Townland, line #1. Davis lists "Bond McGeogh" in the parish of Ballee, about whom he says: "proprietor of land from Armagh in 1836; resided Ballee" [in the poor law union of Downpatrick]. Arthur Henry of the parish of Ballee sold several townlands in 1813 to Joshua McGeogh (O'L v1 p 307). Surnames of County Down: Henry.

To locate the barony of Mourne and the other baronies of county Down., go to Down & SW Down Area Maps, especially Baronies of Upper Iveagh Map. Saint Colman's Catholic cemetery is. listed on Ros Davies' Co. Down, Ireland Research Site under Churches and graveyards of Co. Down, page 2, with this description.

"Called Massforth; in Ballymageogh/ Dunnaman townland 3km NW of Kilkeel on Rostrevor road; click here for a photo and more information."

There is a note on the church:

"In the centre of Kilkeel; on the site of an ancient rath & the general graveyard; a very old church destroyed during the wars of 1649; photo available in UHF Vol 10."

A note under a picture of the modern St. Colman's Catholic Church, Massforth, Ballymageogh Catholic Church, Kilkeel parish, says:

"This large Catholic church is a few kilometres west of Kilkeel town, on the Rostrevor road. Before this chapel was built, the people worshipped in the open air at a place called Mass Forth. This chapel was commenced in 1811 by Rev. John MacMullan and completed in 1818 by Rev. Richard Curoe & replaced 1870 by Rev. George Maguire at a cost of £5,000. It is beside an ancient court grave made of large granite stones in the shape of a boat. The architects were Messrs. O'Neill & Byrne of Belfast.

"There is a graveyard surrounding the church and a school attached. The Rev. Richard Marner was the parish priest there for 33 years until he died in 1906. His tombstone is inscribed in Latin and is in the horizontal style of the 18th century. He was born in 1834 in Kilmore parish and was the 1st President of St. Malachy's College, Belfast. Rev. Thomas O'Donnel was curate in 1886.

"Baptisms & marriages are available from 1839. Graveyard attached, gravestone inscriptions available UHF Vol 10, oldest grave 1810."

 

Slievemageogh

Slievemageogh is one of the Mountains of Mourne in county Down and is just to the west of the northern part of the townland of Ballymageogh, in the neighboring townland of Mourne Mountains Middle. Slievemageogh is marked on the map. Slievemageogh means Mageogh's mountain.

For pictures of "Slieve Mageogh," Ballymageogh, and Ballymageogh Road in county Down, see Ann McGeough Harney's page, Ireland 2000. See also Mountains of Mourne, County Down, West of Kilkeel, Ballymageogh, and Slieve Mageogh - looking east towards the Irish Sea from the Forest Park Road. Nov '99.

Mhig Eothach or Mac Eochy

The Mhigh Eothachs or Mag Eochys who gave their name to Ballymageogh and Slievemageogh migrated from county Monaghan to county Down between 1150 and 1200. The name of the mountains, Mourne, and the barony in county Monaghan, Cremourne, both are derived from Mughdorna, a tribe whose homeland was in the southern half of county Monaghan. The Irish for Cremourne is Crioch Mhughdhorn, the territory of the Mughdorna.

P. W. Joyce, in The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places (6th edition 1891), says:

"The barony of Cremorne in Monaghan preserves the name of the ancient district of Crioch-Mughdhorn [Cree-Mourne], i.e. the country (crioch) of the people called Mughdhorna, who were descended and named from Mughdhorn [Mourne], the son of Colla Meann. About the middle of the 12th century, a tribe of the Mac Mahons emigrated from Cremorne, and settled in the south of the present County of Down, to which they gave their tribe name of Mughdorna, and which is now known as the barony of Mourne.

"The Mourne mountains owe their name to the same event, having been previously called Beanna-Boirche [Banna borka]. The shepherd Boirche, according to the Dinnsenchus, herded on these mountains the cattle of Ross (son of Imchadh), king of Ulster in the third century, and the account states that his favourite look-out point was the highest peak in the range; hence these mountains received the very appropriate name of Beanna-Boirche, Boirche's peaks." (volume I, pages 137–8).

The Annals of the Four Masters for the year 1267 report that, when the sons of Rury MacMahon heard that Maguire had marched his forces into Oriel, "they went with their cattle into their fastnesses, namely, into Eoghanach and Sliabh Mughdhorn." John O'Donovan, in his notes, says:

"Sliabh Mughdhorn, i.e. Mons Mugdornorum. This is not the chain called the Mourne Mountains, in the County of Down, but a range of heights in the barony of Chrioch-Mughdhorna [now Cremourne], in the County of Monaghan. In the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, as published by Colgan, this territory is called provincia Mugdornorum, which is but a translation of the Irish Crioch Mughdhorna, i.e., the County of the Mugdorni, who were the descendants of Mughdhorn Dubh, the son of Colla Meann, one of the ancestors of the people called Oirghialla. It appears from a pedigree of the Mac Mahons, preserved in a manuscript in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, that the mountainous district now called the barony of Mourne, in the County of Down (which originally bore the appropriate appellation of Beanna Boirche) was so called from a tribe of the inhabitants of Chrioch-Mughdhorna in Oirgiall, who emigrated to the former in the reign of Niall the Haughty, the son of Hugh, who was the son of Manus Mac Mahon."

For more discussion of the Mughdhorna in county Monaghan, see my web page: Mughdhorna.

A comprehensive history of the name of the Mountains of Mourne is found in the volume of Place-Names of Northern Ireland, cited above, beginning at page 119. The book outlines the circumstances in which the tribal name Mughdorna was transferred from Monaghan to Down:

"Fortunately, there is a note in the genealogy relating to the MacMahons in MS.H.4.31 in Trinity College Dublin which helps us to determine the circumstances of the migration of the Mughdorna a little more accurately:

*** [The original text is in Irish. I give only the English translation.]'. . . and another son of this Aodh was Niall the Arrogant [Niall Uaibhreach], and it was because of the oppressiveness of his taxation and his lordship that the chiefs fled from Modharna of Oirghialla into Trian Conghail*, and from that migration the land in which many of them dwell today is named Modhorna (sic) of Iveagh ... ' (TCD H.4.31 (Arthurs) 15). [The Irish form of "Modhorna of Iveagh" is given as Mugharna Iath Eathach.]

*In John O'Donovan's notes to the Annals of the Four Masters, 1383 AD, he defines Trian Chongail: "a territory occupying the south-east of the present county of Antrim and a part of the north-east of the county of Down, in which the village of Glynn, anciently called Gleann-fhinneachta, and the little territory of Magheramorne, were situated.—See Colgan, Tr. Thaum, p. 183, col. 1, n. 218." Under the year 1450, he says: "This was the ancient name of the territory afterwards called Clannaboy, extending into the present counties of Down and Antrim." In O'Donovan's Index Locorum, the definition is: "a large territory in the county of Down."

"The only MacMahon who is mentioned in the annals about this time is the Niall Mac Mathghamhna who together with John de Courcy plundered Louth in 1196 ... In all probability this is our Niall Uaibhreach, and when we consider that Mughdhorna was already being applied to the district in Co. Down in 1204* ... it seems likely that the migration from Co. Monaghan had taken place some time in the second half of the 12th century. MacCana, in his "Itinerary" of c. 1700, also refers to this event, but his account is chiefly of interest in that it refers to those who fled from Cremourne as belonging to the MacEochys:

'Mugharna, derived its name from Mugharna, in Orighillia: for when the family of Mac Mahon was driven by the English, through craft and force, from the lands of Bregia into the fastnesses of Orighillia, and when the one small territory was not sufficient to accommodate the two families, namely the MacMahons and the MacEochys, the latter sought for themselves another settlement, namely, this Mugharna, which they subdued by force of arms, and called after the name of their former inheritance. Of this they retained possession even unto the times of Henry VIII. [1509-47] (MacCana's Itinerary 48–9).'

"If MacCana is correct, we have a strong case for arguing that the townland of Ballymageogh and the neighboring mountain of Slievemageogh preserve the memory of the MacEochys." (pages 123 and 124).

*In 1204, the confirmation by Pope Innocent III of the possession of the Benedictine abbey of St. Andrew in the Ards (Black Abbey) included all churches and ecclesiastical benefices in "totius Modernie et Uech" or "the whole of Mourne and Iveagh." The year of 1204 as the first recorded use of a form of Mourne to describe south count y Down is given several times in Place-Names of Northern Ireland, Volume Three, county Down III, The Mournes (The Queen's University of Belfast 1993); for example, pages 13 (note 7), 119 (item 26), and 124. The citation given at page 13 is Pontificia Hibernica: medieval papal chancery documents concerning Ireland, 640-1261, edited by Maurice P. Sheehy, 2 volumes (Dublin 1962-5) i. section 59 127.

The principal source of this information is the article Mourne by J. B. Arthurs, which was originally published in Autumn, 1952, in Volume 1, Part 1, of the Bulletin of the Ulster Place-Name Society, and which has recently been reprinted at page 148 of volume 7 of AINM (meaning name), the current Journal of the Ulster Place-name Society. In the original article, Arthurs comments:

"There are but few references to the McMahons in the major annals prior to 1200, and no other account known to me of the Mourne migration. Niall the Arrogant is almost certainly the Niall McMahon, who with John de Courcy, plundered and burned Louth village in 1207* [citing McCarthaigh's Book in Miscellaneous Annals (ed S. O hinnse)]. The main genealogy in Lecan (79rb) omits his father's name Aodh, and runs: 'Niall s. Maghnus s. Mathgamhain.'"

*McCarthaigh's book actually reports this plundering in 1196. Mac Carthaigh's Book (created by different scribes of the late fifteenth century) contains these entries:

"MCB1196.6. Louth was plundered and burned, together with its castle, by Niall Mac Mathghamhna and John de Courcy."

"MCB1207.2. Éigneachan Ó Domhnaill, king of Cinéal Conaill, and many others were killed by Niall Mac Mathghamhna, the Fir Mhanach, and Tuath Ratha, as they were plundering the country as far as Fochraobh."

Whether Niall the Arrogant is the same Niall McMahon mentioned in the Annals in 1196 and 1207 remains a question— at least in my mind. The migration to county Down may have occurred about 30 years earlier. James McMahon, one of the authors of the excellent website Clan McMahon of the Kingdom of Oriel—Counties Monaghan, Armagh, Fermanagh, Louth and Derry Ireland and Beyond, is currently (July, 2003) pursuing this question in depth.

For an updated discussion of the possible ancestry of Niall the Arrogant, see: Mac Mathghamhna's Ladrannaibh or MacMahon's Bandits, which is chapter 4 of the comprehensive website: The McMahon Story. Here is an excerpt from that page:

"A segment of Niall's genealogy is in doubt. There are two sources, both of which having him descending from Mathgamna, Lord of Fernmaige (d 1022) but each describing him as descended from different sons of Mathgamna. These are as follows:

"The Book of Lecan has the lineage as: 'Niall son of Donchadh son of CuCaisil son of Donnell son of Mathgamna....' This is from the Book of Lecan, folio 79 recto, but subsequently modified by Donald Schlegel to eliminate what appears to be an error. Nonetheless, the lineage is as cited. Donchadh is an O'Carroll king, in fact a rather prominent one.

"The other source, a mid-fourteenth century manuscript National Library of Ireland G 2, folio 26r (25) lower margin, reads: 'Niall mc Aeda mc Fhaelan mc Matgamna....' and on back to Colla de Crioch. This source would have Fhaelan as a brother or nephew of the name Donnell cited above.

"A third citation (TCD MSS H.4.31 states on p. 52) has Niall as the son of Aeda (Hugh) and brother to Mathghamna, as follows: Eachaidh (1275) [s. Mathgamhain] s. Aodh and includes the following quote:

'and another son of this Aodh was Niall the Arrogant, and it was because of the oppressiveness of his taxation and his lordship that the chiefs fled from Modharna of Oirghialla into Trian Conghail, and from that migration the land in which many of them dwell today is named Modhorna of Iveagh.' ...

"This tract appears in Lecan - (Lecan is the original version and was written around 1400)

Mc. eili d'Aed mc. Faelain, .i. Niall Uaibrech. As tre truma a tigernais do techsead taisig Mugdorn Oirgialla a Trian Congail conidono geineamain sloindter in ferand aitrebait aniu .i. Mudorna.

"As you can see, there is the suggestion that Niall was a lord of Oirghialla and that he had or imposed the authority to tax the other chiefs who resided there. Or he was a lord of a smaller area within Oriel, perhaps Lord of Mugdorn as suggested above. Keep in mind that he comes from the branch of the Lords of Fernmaige in western Monaghan so it would not be surprising for him to hold the title of Lord, whatever that implies. Fearmaige translates to 'the Alder Plain' and is today a lovely valley north and west of Clones. The word also translates to the modern word: Farney. The Lords of Fearmaige relocated from ancient Farney to the modern day barony of Farney, the area around Carrickmacross. When this migration occured is not known, but since the surname Mac Mathghamhna is said to have arisen from Loch Leck, in modern Farney it is likely that the migration took place just before Niall's emergence and very likely due to the pressures caused by the Norman incursion into Oriel.

"In any case, all sources agree that Niall descends from Mathgamna, the original Lord of Fernmaige who died in 1022, with the question of whether he was born into the lineage of Mathgamna's son Donnell or Fhaelen. Another possibility is that there is a missing name, another of Mathgamna's sons who would have been Fhaelen's father. We have installed both possible genealogies for Niall on the Clan Nadsluaig genealogy page. We've now done an exhaustive study of each of the references to Niall's genealogy and concluded that the G2 manuscript at Trinity College represents the oldest of the recordings and is most likely to be the accurate portrayal. It does appear that a generation is missing between Mathghamna and Fhaelen."

The reference to MacCana's Itinerary is to Irish Itinerary of Father Edmund MacCana, translation by Rev. William Reeves, Ulster Journal of Archeology, series 1, volume 2 (1854), pages 44 to 59. The text was probably written shortly after 1643. The footnotes, by Reeves, were written shortly after 1851. Reeves says the McEochys became the McGaugheys, but surely they also became the McGoughs. Here are quotations from pages 48 and 49 of this work:

"To the east of this [Newry] is the pleasing 'chersonese' [peninsula] called Mugharna, (w) in which there were formerly some hallowed spots, and no mean recollection of their occupants. It is now a parish of Down. ...

"The 'chersonese' which I mentioned above, namely Mugharna, (z) derived its name from Mugharna, in Orighillia : for when the family of MacMahon (a) were driven by the English, through craft and force, from the lands of Bregia (b) into the fastnesses of Orighillia, and when one small territory was not sufficient to accommodate the two families, namely the MacMahons and the MacEochys, (c) the latter sought for themselves another settlement, namely this Mugharna, (d) which they subdued by force of arms, and called after the name of their former inheritance. Of this they retained possession even into the times of Henry VIII. So I Learned from the mouths of many aged men."

footnotes:

"(w) Mugharna—Pronounced 'Mourne.' ... Kilkeel, which is coincident with the barony of Mourne, is of no mean extent, and together with the parishes of Kilcoo and Kilmegan, to which it is at present united, contains 90,000 acres. This great benefice was formerly styled a Plebenia.—See Eccles Ant. Down and Conor, pages 205–210. ...

"(z) Mugharna—This account of the Ulidian Mourne is very interesting, and is additional testimony in confutation of Harris and his followers' absurd etymology of Mor Rinn 'the great Ridge.' It is, in truth, an emigration transfer. The earliest instance on record in which the name is applied to the south part of Iveagh is the old taxation of circ. 1800. The general and only name by which it was known by the Irish before the middle of the 18th century was Boirche (Boreky), and the mountains of Beanna Boirche, or 'Peaks of Boreky.' This latter form lingered till the seventeenth century, for in certain patents of James I, to John Magennis of Corrocks, Hugh Magennis of Milltown, Edward Trevor of Narrowwater, and Brian Magennis of Muntereddy, common pasture is granted 'in and through the mountain waste of Crotlewe [now ... ] and Beaniborphies. (Patents Jac. i pages 190, 193) The last traditional keeper of the old name was a man called McLindon living in Clonduff, who told Mr. O'Donovan, then in the employment of the Ordnance Survey, that in the townland of Ballymaghery, in Clonduff, near the source of the Bann, was a spot called the Moat of Bennaborsky.

"(a) MacMahon.—The family of MacMathghamhain, as the name is written in Irish, were descended from Colla-Da-chrioch, and derived their name from an ancestor Mathghamhan, who was killed at Clones in 1022. They established themselves as Lords of Oriel early in the thirteenth century. The first time the name occurs in the Four Masters is at 1239, and in connection with Oriel, at 1273. For their pedigree, see Shirley's Farney, page 148.

(b) Bregia.—The great plain of Bregia embraced East Meath with some adjacent part of Louth.

(c) MacEochys—Now called McGaughey, a common name in Down and Antrim. The family was never eminent and is unnoticed in the Annals and O'Dugan.

(d) This Mugharna.—The case stands thus : Mughdhorn Dubh, the son of Colla Meann, gave name to the territory in the County of Monaghan, which was called from his descendants Chrioch Mughdhorna, subsequently softened to 'Cremourne,' and now a barony therein. Its mountainous part was called Sliabh Mughdhorn. (See Four Mast. 3501, 3579. 1457.) Sometimes the district was styled Mughdhorn Maigen, and an offset from it spreading southwards, was called Mughdhorn Bregh. From this, the original Mourne, an emigration (as stated in the text), took place in the middle of the thirteenth century, and the colonists carried with them, according to a common practice, the name of their former inheritance. This is confirmed by a pedigree of the MacMahons preserved in Trinity College, [MS. H 4 31.] 'Hugh (ob. 1344), son of Roolbh (slain 1323) son of Eochaidh (slain 1273) son of Mathgamhain, son of Hugh. And another son of this Hugh was Niall the Proud, and it was from the weight of his rent and rule that the chiefs fled out of Mughdorna, in Oriel, into Trian Congaill, and it was from that colony the territory is named at this day, viz. Mugharna of Ui Eathach.' This Niall the Proud was 7th in descent from Cucaisil, who died in 1123, or 9th from Mathgamhain, the founder of the name, who was slain in 1022—See Reeves' Ec. Ant. pages 206, 207, 359, 369, 378; Shirley's Farney pages 148–152."

The similarity of the names Mugdorni and Mourne has led to some confusion. Colgan's Life of St. Patrick, for example, mistakenly reads a reference to St. Patrick's entry into Provincia Mugdornum as meaning his going into the mountainous barony of Mourne in county Down. The reference was in fact to the parish of Donaghmoyne in county Monaghan. See The History of County Monaghan by Evelyn P. Shirley at page 238. Shirley points out that John O'Donovan called attention to this mistake in his Letters on the County Monaghan, 1835, which are in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy.

The MacEochys whose memory is preserved by Ballymageogh and Slievemageogh are almost certainly part of the same sept as the Mag Eochadhas or Mag Eochys from whom come the modern surnames of McGeough and McGough. See Origin, Pronunciation and Spelling of McGough/McGeough.

Whether these MagEochys who moved to county Down were a sept of McMahons, or inhabitants of Cremorne in Monaghan who were forced out by the McMahons, is unclear from the sources I have examined. Father McCana refers to two families, the McMahons and the MagEochys. The basic source of information about the move is manuscript H. 4. 31 in the Trinity College of Dublin. According to a librarian's catalogue at Trinity College, this is "a fragmentary and tattered volume, the work of two or three scribes, with many gaps, many loose leaves, and many pages out of order." Among the various items in the documents listed in the catalogue are: "The names of fifteen McMahons who held the chieftanship (of Ulster), with the regnal period of each, beginning with Rugraidhe mac Ardghall, and ending with Aodh og mac Aodh ruiadh." The description in the catalogue indicates that there may be other McMahon (MacMathgamna) genealogies in the material. The fact the McMahon documents refer to the MagEochys may mean that the MagEochys were a sept of the McMahons, but the reference could mean nothing more than that the territory in Monaghan occupied by the McMahons was previously occupied by a separate tribe of MagEochys, some of whom left for county Down because they felt oppressed or dispossessed by the McMahons. This is the interpretation I am inclined to favor, in light of the information I now have, but I hope to look into the question further.

Transfer of Barony of Mourne to Lord of the Airghialla

There is another possible reason for the movement of some of the Mughdhorna to county Down in the latter part of the 12th century. Eochaid Mac Duinn Sleibe ceded the Mourne part of county Down to the high king Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn on their making peace in 1165. The high king then granted it to Donnchad Ua Cerbaill, lord of Airgialla (Oriel), for the part he played in their reconciliation. The trembling sod: Ireland in 1169 by F. J. Byrne, which is part of A New History of Ireland, edited by T. W. Moody, F. X. Martin, and F. J. Byrne (Oxford 1976), page 16; Annala Rioghachta Eireann: annals of the kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters from the earliest period to the year 1616, edited by John O'Donovan, 7 volumes (Dublin 1848–51; reprint Dublin 1856 and 1990). The volume of Place-Names of Northern Ireland cited above, at page 123, says that Francis John Byrne "seems to suggest" that this grant of land may have initiated the movement of the Mughdhorna from their homelands in Cremourne in county Monaghan to southern county Down, citing page 128 of Byrne's 1973 book: Irish Kings and High-Kings (London). The scholars who prepared the erudite Place-Names prefer the first explanation of the move. Byrne's implication deserves further exploration, however.

Francis John Byrne, in his book Irish Kings and High-Kings (B. T. Batsford London 1973), at pages 127 and 128, discusses the tendency of Irish surnames in the 11th century to split between the "noble" and "non-noble" branch of a family. Eochaid Mac Duinn Sleibe, therefore, may have had progeny that, on the noble side, became Donlevys, Dunlevys, or Dunleavys, and on the side more remote from the kingship, McGoughs or McGeoughs.

"In the eleventh century family surnames became common among the royal septs in Ireland. These probably originated in a desire to distinguish the rigdamnai [persons eligible to be king] from remoter relatives. Thus in Ulster not merely the sons and grandsons of Eochaid mac Ardgail, but also his later descendants took the name Mac Eochada or Ua hEochada (MacCaughey, Haughey, Hoey)."

Byrne also points out, at page 128, that, even after surnames became "fixed," they sometimes were later changed to distinguish those eligible for a kingship from those who, because their relationship with a king had become too remote, were no longer eligible to become king:

"Of course, after some generations, even the surname failed to serve its original purpose. So for instance when after 1137 the Dal Fiatach kingship was confined to the descendants of Donn Sleibe Mac Eochada (slain in 1091), the rigdamnai set themselves apart from the rest of the family by using the name Mac Duinnshleibhe (Donleavy)."

The rest of the family may have become Mac Eochadha, or McGough/McGeough.

Eochaidh Mac Duinnsleibhe Ua Eochadha was king of Ulidia in 1165 when he was deprived of kingship and banished by Muirchertach macLochlainn, Irish Kings #182. See Kings of Ulidia. Donnchadh Ua Cearbhaill was an ally of Eochaidh Ua Eochadha, and had interceded with the high king in favor of restoration to Eochaidh of his territory of Ulidia. Eochaidh Mac Duinnsleibhe Ua Eochadha transferred, through High-King Muirchertach mac Lochlainn, the barony of Mourne to Donnchadh Ua Cearbhaill. At the time the barony of Mourne was transferred, the Ui Eathach Cobha, which I assume was the tribe of Eochaidh Mac Duinnsleibhe Ua Eochadha, was facing great turbulence, not only because of the wars of Muirchertach macLochlainn, but—within a few years—because of the invasions of the Anglo-Normans. There is a good possibility that some of the Ui Eathach Cobha, and that some of the family of Eochaidh Mac Duinnsleibhe Ua Eochadha, sought refuge in the barony of Mourne in the decade following the transfer. (Six hundred years later, a Dunsleve McGeough is listed in the Hearth Money Rolls for 1665 in the townland of Glasmullagh in the parish of Errigal Trough, county Monaghan, no more than 50 miles west of the barony of Mourne. Dunsleve is the anglicized version of the Gaelic Duinnsleibhe.)

The Annals of Ulster refer to:

U1165.4 The turning of the Ulidians upon Ua Lochlainn [took place] and a foray [was made] by them upon the Ui-Meith, so that they took away many cows and killed a multitude of persons. A foray also [was made] by them upon the eastern Ui-Bresail and another foray upon Dal-riatai.

U1165.5 A hosting by Muircertach Ua Lochlainn, [along with] both [Cenel-] Cona[i]ll and [Cenel-] Eoga[i]n and the Airgialla, into Ulidia, so that they harried all the country, except, the chief churches of the Ulidians and killed a countless number of them, including Echmarcach, son of Mac Gilla-espuic and including Ua Lomanaigh and they expelled Eochaidh Mac Duinnsleibhe [Ua Eochadha] from Ulidia. And Ua Lochlainn gave the kingship to Donnsleibhe [Mac Duinnsleibhe Ua Eochadha] and all the Ulidians gave their pledges to Ua Lochlainn, through the might of his regal power.

U1165.9 Eochaidh [Mac Duinnsleibhe Ua Eochadha] again attempts to obtain the kingship of Ulidia; but the Ulidians expelled him through fear of Ua Lochlainn and he was fettered by Donnchadh Ua Cerbaill, arch-king of Airgialla, by order of Ua Lochlainn.

U1165.10 Another hosting by Muircertach Ua Lochlainn along with the Cenel-Eogain to Inis-lachain, so that they burned the Island [Inis-lachain] and razed it. And all Ulidia gave their pledges to Ua Lochlainn. After that, the Cenel-Eogain around Ua Lochlainn come to their houses with great triumph and with many ships and numerous treasures beside. From here Ua Lochlainn [goes] to Ard-Macha. After that, Donnchadh Ua Cerbaill, arch-king of Airgialla and Eochaidh Mac Duinnsleibhe [Ua Eochadha] come into the presence of Ua Lochlainn, to ask for the kingship for [Eochaidh] Mac Duinnsleibhe, so that Ua Lochlainn gave the entire [kingship] to Mac Duinnsleibhe, in return for the pledges of all Ulidia. So that Mac Duinnsleibhe gave the son of every chief of Ulidia and his own daughter in pledge to O'Lochlainn. And there were given to him [Ua Lochlainn] many treasures, including the sword of the son of the Earl and he [Mac Duinnsleibhe] gave Bairche to Ua Lochlainn [and] Ua Lochlainn gave it to [Donnchadh] Ua Cerbaill. And, moreover, there was given a townland to the clergy of Saball, by reason of the prosperity of the reign of Ua Lochlainn.

Bairche is defined by O'Donovan as "the barony of Mourne, in the south of County Down."

Donnchad Ua Cearbhaill, to whom the barony of Mourne was given by Ua Lochlainn, had joined previous expeditions into Ulidia, and at least one was jointly led by Muircheartach Ua Lochlainn and Donnchad Ua Cearbhaill:

M1145.6 A hosting was made by the Cinel-Conaill, to go again to the relief of the son of Niall Mac Lochlainn; and they were joined by Donnchadh Ua Cearbhaill, with the Airghialla; and they banished Domhnall Ua Goirmleadhaigh from his chieftainship, and set up the son of Niall in his place.

M1148.6 An army was led by Muircheartach, son of Niall Ua Lochlainn, by the Cinel-Eoghain and Donnchadh Ua Cearbhaill, and the Airghialla, into Ulidia; and they carried off the hostages of the Ulidians, together with the son of the King of Ulidia, and left four lords over Ulidia on that occasion. The Ulidians and Airghialla turned against Mac Lochlainn and the Cinel-Eoghain after this.

M1149.7 An army was led by the Cinel-Eoghain to Magh-an-chairn, to expel Conchobhar; but Ua Cearbhaill prevented them, for he delivered his own son up to them, for the sake of Ulidia.

Peace had been negotiated the year before this incursion:

M1148.9 A meeting was held at Ard-Macha by Ua Lochlainn, with the chieftains of the Cinel-Eoghain; by O'Cearbhaill, with the chieftains of the Airghialla, and the chief men of Ulidia, with their lords, and made perfect peace under the Staff of Jesus, in the presence of the successor of Patrick and his clergy; and they left hostages with O'Lochlainn. The hostages of the Cinel-Conaill were also in the hands of Ua Lochlainn.

Donnchadh Ua Cearbhaill had also engaged in raids on Breagha [east Meath] with Cuuladh Ua Duinnsleibhe Ui-Eochadha, king of Ulidia, who died in 1157:

M1149.9 A predatory incursion was made by Donnchadh Ua Cearbhaill and Cuuladh Ua Duinnsleibhe into Breagha, and they carried off many spoils. The men of Breagha afterwards came in pursuit of them, and they plundered the half of Tearmann-Feichin, and carried off some of the cattle of the monks.

Donnchadh Ua Cearbhaill was described by the by the Annals of Ulster in 1155, and the Annals of the Four Masters in 1164, as the "Lord of Orghialla":

U1155.1 [Tigernan Ua Ruairc took Donnchadh Ua Cerbaill, lord of Oirghialla, prisoner, after Donnchadh had gone to meet him with a small force to Cenannus.] He was carried upon [an island of] Loch-Sighlen and was a fortnight above a month therein, or something more and holy church and the favour of Patrick freed him and the guards that were guarding him were killed

M1164.4 Lughmhadh was burned for the most part, by fire issuing from the house of Donnchadh Ua Cearbhaill, lord of Oirghialla, in which Muircheartach, son of Niall, King of Aileach, and the chieftains of Cinel-Eoghain, were staying, after they had dishonoured the Staff of Jesus.

Lugmadh is the village of Louth in county Louth, 8 miles west of Dundalk.

Three score ounces of gold were given in 1157 by Ua Cerbaill at the consecration of the church of the Monks of Mellifont, near Drogheda. U1157.4.

An entry for 1164 notes the death of Maelcaeimhghin Ua Gormain, master of Lughmadh, the place which the house of Donnchadh Ua Cearbhail caused to burn.

M1164.1 Maelcaeimhghin Ua Gormain, master of Lughmhadh, chief doctor of Ireland, and who had been Abbot of the monastery of the canons of Tearmann-Feichin for a time, died.

The first chapter of Colonisation and Conquest in Medieval Ireland: The English in Louth, 1170-1330, by Brendan Smith (Cambridge University Press 1999) is entitled "The Ua Cerbaill Kingdom of Airgialla." This chapter is available on the Internet in PDF format, and the reader is referred to that chapter for an excellent look at the Airgialla control of northern Louth and southeastern Monaghan in the fifty years before the English incursion of 1170. Dr. Brendan Smith is a Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Bristol. At page 16, he says that it was Donnchad Ua Cerbaill who relocated the Mugdorna from county Monaghan to south county Down:

"Francis John Byrne has remarked that 'the twelfth century saw great movements of peoples and of dynastic families in Munster' and an instance of the same phenomenon in the north of Ireland can be seen in Donnchad's [Ua Cerbaill] relocation of the Mugdorna from Monaghan to Bairche in South Down upon receipt of the latter territory from Mac Lochlainn in 1165."

In support of this statement, Smith cites NHI, ii, pages 30–1; P. O Mordha, 'The medieval kingdom of Mugdorna', Clogher Record 7 (1971–2), pages 432–46; O Corrain, Ireland Before the Normans, pages 168–173. NHI is a reference to A New History of Ireland, under the auspices of the Royal Irish Academy, 9 volumes (Oxford 1976– ).

Shortly after the transfer of the barony of Mourne, described above, the peace between Eochaidh Mac Duinn Sleibh and Muircertach Ua Lochlain broke down. Donnchadh Ua Cerbaill was dead within two years. The Annals of Ulster report:

U1166.8 Eochaidh Mac Duinnsleibhe [Ua Eochadha] was blinded by Muircertach Ua Lochlainn, in violation of the protection of the successor of Patrick and of the Staff of Jesus and of Donnchadh Ua Cerbaill, namely, the arch-king of Airgialla.

U1168.4 Donnchadh Ua Cerbaill, arch-king of Airgialla, was mangled with the [battle-] axe of a serving gillie of his own, namely, Ua Duibhne of Cenel-Eogain, whilst [lit., and] the king [was] drunk and he died thereof.

 

Historical Spellings of Ballymageogh

Place-Names of Northern Ireland, at page 25, lists all the pre-1700 spellings, and a selection of post-1700 spellings, of Ballymageogh that were found by the scholar/editor/authors:

To this list, we could add the 1837 spelling of Ballymaguagh by Samuel Lewis in his Topographical Dictionary of Ireland in his article on the parish of Kilkeel.

In the Election Check Book for County Down, 1783–1789, the name of the townland is spelled B'y Magough. (Go to PRONI's Freeholders' Records and search for these names under County Down: Arthur Davison, Hugh McKee, John Wilson, Samuel Wilson, Archibald Wilson. In the Freeholders' Register for County Down, 1780–1785, the townland was spelled Ballymageough in registration of January 15, 1782, of John Willson, Archibald Wilson, and Samuel Wilson. It is spelled both Ballymageough and Ballymegeough on October 23, 1819 (after Nicholas Willson) in the Freeholders' Register for Mourne, County Down, 1813–1821, but Ballymageough after both Archibald and John Wilson (D/654/A3/1K). It is spelled Ballymagough in the same document after the names of James Moore, Hugh Moore, and John M'Kee, among others (D/654/A3/1K). (Thanks to Ann McGeough Harney for this information.)

Origin of Ballymageogh

Place-Names of Northern Ireland, at pages 25 and 26, discusses the origin of the name Ballymageogh:

"This name appears to derive from the Irish Baile Mhig Eothach 'Mageogh's townland'. The surname Mag Eothach (Woulfe 1923, 419) is a variant of Mac Eochadha/Mag Eochadha (Woulfe 1923, 358, 418), and the mountain called Slievemageogh, in the neighboring townland of Mourne Mountains Middle, also seems to perpetuate the name. Woulfe notes that there are primarily four distinct families: two in Roscommon, one in Tipperary and one in Leinster. [In making this statement, Woulfe seems to regard McGeough and McKeough as the same name. Their semantic origin is the same.] MacLysaght (1964, 91), on the other hand records the name as Mag Eochadha (MagGeough) as that of an Oriel sept and it is clear from MacCana's Itinerary that there was also a sept in Mourne. MacCana suggests that the MacEochys, as he calls them, were originally from Co. Monaghan, and were responsible for the transfer of the tribal name Mughdhorna (Mourne) from its homeland in that County to this part of Co. Down in the late 12th century. Furthermore, he claims that they retained land here up until the time of Henry VIII. (MacCana's Itinerary 48–9), which is particularly interesting in light of the fact that a certain Patrick Goygh* is recorded as being in possession of five townlands in the parish in 1540 (Rentals & Surveys Down 76)."

References in the preceding paragraph are to:

1. Woulfe, Patrick. Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish names and surnames; collected and edited with explanatory and historical notes (Dublin 1923).

2. MacLysaght, Edward. A guide to Irish surnames (Dublin 1964).

3. McCana's Itinerary. "Irish itinerary of Father Edmund McCana", translated by William Reeves, Ulster Journal of Archeology, ser. 1, 9 volumes (Belfast 1853–62); ser. 2, 17 volumes (1894–1911); ser. 3, (1938–).

4. Rentals and Surveys of County Down, 1540, ed. D. B. Quinn, "Anglo-Irish Ulster in the early 16th century", Proceedings and reports of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, 1st ser. (Belfast 1871/2–1934/5); (1933–4), 56–78; 72–8.

*Keith Hanna was kind enough to send me this quotation from The Mourne Country, a book by Emyr Estyn Evans (Dundalk: Dundalgan Press [W. Tempest] Ltd. 1951) describing the 1540 census of royal possessions in Ireland:

"Patrick Goygh claims to have these towns to himself and his heirs:

Ballymoldurtan - - 60 acres arable and pasture

Downenowawes - - 80 acres arable and pasture

Glasedrommyn - - 120 acres arable and pasture

Mundorghes - - 120 acres arable and pasture

Lorgennykelle - - 80 acres arable and pasture

paying for each town 10/ or one cow. But they are waste and not in his possession.and he pays nothing." (page 109)

A map at page 109 accompanying the 1540 census shows the "Goygh Wasteland" extending south from St. Patrick's Water at the 600 foot level of the Mountains of Mourne to the shore of the Irish Sea. The text says St. Patrick's Water is "called in Irish Owynpatrick and in English 'Seynt Patrick's River or water'." Normans and Planters, page 109. Nearby land is said to be "waste by reason of the rebellion of the Mcgynnysys yet John Kerney claims to have them to himself and to his heirs from the King, paying yearly one cow or 100/ - for each town. But he has not the actual possession and pays nothing. The map shows the "Kerney Waste" to the immediate west of the "Goygh Waste," also running north to south from the mountains to the sea.

Spellings of Slievemageogh

The scholar/editor/authors of Place-Names of Northern Ireland list no pre-1700 spellings of Slievemageogh, but publish at page 183 a selection of post-1700 spellings:

Robert and Matilda (Mary) Carson McGough

The family of Robert and Matilda (Mary) Carson McGough emigrated from Newry, county Down, Ireland, to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1773, with forty neighbors and kinsman, many with the surnames of Carson and McDowell. Their son John McGough was twelve years old when the family sailed from Newry. Descendants of this family ultimately spread to Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky and surrounding states, and make up the most numerous and best documented McGough family in the United States. Some descendants of John McGough moved to my home city, Seattle, Washington. Before emigrating from Ireland, this McGough family is said to have been long settled in county Down in villages along the base of the mountains close to Newry. See my web page A Scots-Irish John McGough—A Seattle Connection—Emigration of Presbyterian McGoughs in 1773. Ballymageogh and Slievemageogh are about 20 kilometers (12 miles) east and 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of the town of Newry.

McGoughs in County Down

Calhoun (Cahoon), Margaret, and William McGough are listed by the IGI as parents of Jane McGough born on October 12, 1846, and christened on December 7, 1846, at Newtownards Circuit, Down, Ireland; and as parents of Mary McGough born on October 12, 1846 and christened on December 7, 1846, at Newtownards Circuit, Down, Ireland. (twins?). The IGI lists the marriage of William McGough and Margaret Cahoon on June 27, 1846, at Newtown Ards, Down, Ireland.

Caulfield, Mary, and John McGeough are listed by the IGI as parents of Catherine McGeough born on December 5, 1865, in Rosstrevor, Down, Ireland.

Curran, Patrick, married Catherine McGeough, who name sometimes appears as McGeow. Here are entries from Newry Districts Births:

Curran, Mary Jane
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 25 Jan 1868
Father: Patrick Curran
Mother: Catherine McGeow

Curran, Margaret
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 7 Sep 1869
Father: Patrick Curran
Mother: Catherine McGeough

Curran, Anne
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 17 May 1874
Father: Patrick Curran
Mother: Catherine McGeough

Some others from the same list are:

McGeogh, Teresa
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 8 Jan 1870
Father: Michael McGeogh
Mother: Mary Ann Toner

McGough, James Patrick
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 3 Apr 1869
Father: John McGough
Mother: Mary Ann O'Rourke

Drake, William, is listed as marrying Anne McGough, of the Diocese Of Down And Connor, Ulster Province, Ireland, who was born about 1816. The marriage took place in about 1837 in Down Diocese, Ireland.

Grimes, Ann, and James McGough are listed by the IGI as parents of Sarah McGough born on January 29, 1867, at Killyleagh, Down, Ireland; and James McGough, born on November 7, 1873, in Antrim, Ireland. Grimes, Ann, and James Magoff are listed by the IGI as parents of Elizabeth Magoff born on June 28, 1864, at Killyleagh, Down, Ireland. Grimes, Rose Ann, and James Magoff are listed by the IGI as parents of Rose Ann Magoff born on January 28, 1866, at Killyleagh, Down, Ireland.

Miss Shelton Mageough died in Newry, county Down, on July 3, 1808, at age 46, and is buried in the graveyard at St. Patrick's Church of Ireland. See Surnames of county Down. The Index to Perogative Wills of Ireland, page 311, on Genealogy.com, list the 1801 will of Shelton Mageough, Greenwood Park, county Down, spinster. The same source lists the 1793 will of Joshua Mageough of Greenwood Park, county Down.

Alice McGeogh was born about 1803 in Longstone, Lisburn, Down, Ireland. (IGI)

Teresa McGeogh was born in Newry on January 8, 1870; father, Michael McGough' mother, Mary Ann Toner. Newry District Births

Ann McGeough, daughter of Samuel McGeough of Newry, married Owen O'Malley of Melcomb, county Mayo, in July of 1777. Irish Marriages, 1771–1812 on Ancestry.com.

Jane McGough is listed by the IGI as mother of Mary Elizabeth Wilson McGough born on January 19, 1879, in Down, Ireland.

James Patrick McGough was born in Newry on April 3, 1869; son of John McGough. Newry District Births.

Maggie McGough is listed by the IGI as mother of Mary McGough born on June 5, 1870, in Down, Ireland.

Mary McGough gave birth to Mary Anne Mc Gough on July 31, 1871, at Ballyward, Down. (IGI)

McGuinness, Rose, and Patrick McGeough are listed by the IGI as the parents of Alice McGeough born on September 25, 1866, at Warrenpoint, Down, Ireland.

O'Rourke, Mary Ann, and John McGough, are listed as the parents of James Patrick McGough who was born on April 3, 1869, in Newry District Births.

Quinn, John, married Margaret McGough about 1821 in Newry, Down. Margaret was born about 1800 in Newry, and died on January 24, 1865. (IGI).

Sterlin, Margaret, married William McGeugh on May 5, 1848, in Banbridge, Down, Ireland. (IGI)

Where the Mountains of Mourne Sweep Down to the Sea—Ballymageogh and Slievemageogh in County Down <http://www.magoo.com/hugh/mourne.html> Updated April 12, 2012		Feedback » Site Search & Directory » © 1999–2012 Hugh McGough »