Descendants of the O'Flaherty clan of Connemara & Galway
In the Middle Ages, Norman-English forces conquered Ireland and, in 1235 AD, seized O'Flaherty country. The De Burgo family fortified the town of Galway and planted it with Norman-English merchant families — the Lynches, Martins, Barretts, and others — who would come to rule the city.
Pushed out, the O'Flahertys were forced into the "houseless wilds" of Connemara. It was there, over the following century, that the clan regained its strength — not through the city's trade, but through a liberal command of the territorial waters along the wild Atlantic coast.
By the 14th and 15th centuries, the O'Flahertys had grown formidable enough that the citizens of Galway walled off their city against them, carving into the stone a prayer for deliverance from the clan outside its gates. The name has carried that reputation ever since.
Researching the family tree? The genealogy archive at Moycullen West goes back further still.