*Photograph: John O’Neill.
CLAN Ó Comáin was officially revived at a special ceremony at Killone Abbey on Tuesday evening.
The special event at the scenic abbey marked the first Annual Clan Ó Comáin Gathering, celebrating Year One of the clan’s revival after some eight centuries.
Clan Ó Comáin is an ancient Royal House in the Gaelic nobility of Ireland, officially recognised by Clans of Ireland in 2025 and seated at Newhall House, Co. Clare.
The clan’s documented pedigree has been endorsed by three independent scholars of Gaelic Ireland.
Rev Dr Patrick Nugent, the foremost living authority on the Gaelic clans of Clare and author of The Gaelic Clans of Co Clare and their Territories, supports the view that Ó Comáin was a major clan of early medieval Clare that declined to minor status as the Dál gCáis rose to power.
Outgoing Mayor of Ennis cllr Mary Howard (FG) was guest of honour at the event. Clan Chief, Fergus Commane stated “To stand at Killone with our members, after so long a silence, is a profound honour. A clan is a living kindred, bound by friendship, and open to all who wish to belong. We remember those who came before us, and we commit ourselves to the generations still to come”.
Tributes were also paid to Fergus’ son Ronan who had recently passed away.
Former Newmarket-On-Fergus and Clarecastle hurler Gerry Commane was also mentioned as the man who “got the ball rolling” in the efforts to revive the clan, going back hundreds of years to research its origins as a historian.
In accordance with Gaelic tradition, Fergus is successor to the medieval Chiefdom of Tulach Commáin, whose capital was the great stone fort of Cahercommane in the Burren, and to the Kings of the Déisi Muman, the early medieval Déisi people of Munster. He leads the clan with a Privy Council, in which the Tánaiste is his deputy and heir.
In keeping with that lineage, the clan plans the formal inauguration of the Chief next year at Tulach Commáin (Tullycomman in the Burren), the ancient mound near Cahercommane where the chiefs of the kindred were invested.
Ó Commáin Táinaiste, Antóin Commane spoke of the clan’s high stature in ancient Ireland, stating “Clan Ó Comáin is one of the older kindreds of Munster, a people who stood together as a chiefdom, in effect a small nation, under its own chief.
Dr Patrick Nugent has supported the view that Ó Comáin was a major clan of that early period, before the rise of the O’Briens of the Dál gCáis. The clan was eclipsed in the standard histories and its story nearly lost. The work of the revival is to recover it and carry it forward”.
Speaking to The Clare Echo afterwards, Antóin highlighted the importance of remembering Ireland’s past.
“I think a lot of us have forgotten our past. Brehon law was a better system in a lot of ways, in the way it treated women for example. Women could own property and had more rights than men in some regards. What we’re reviving is those customs of Brehon Law and Gaelic Ireland. You’ve got to know where you’ve come from to know where you’re going”, he added.
The clan Tánaiste was enthusiastic over the renewed interest in Gaelic Ireland and encouraged people to research their family’s origin.
“There really is so much information, even though a lot of it was suppressed. In our case we’re a rediscovered clan. No one in our family knew about this history. A lot of people just don’t know where they come from. They don’t know the history of their name. What we’re really aiming to do is bring back the history of Gaelic Ireland”, he concluded.
