Mac Conmara (anglicised as MacNamaraorMcNamara) is an Irish surname of a family of County Clare in Ireland. According to historian C. Thomas Cairney, the MacNamaras were one of the chiefly families of the Dal gCaisorDalcassians who were a tribe of the Erainn who were the second wave of Celts to settle in Ireland between about 500 and 100 BC.[1]
| McNamara MacNamara Mac Con Mara | |
|---|---|
 McNamara arms | |
| Parent house | Dál gCais |
| Country | Kingdom of Thomond |
| Founder | Cú Mara mac Domhnall |
| Titles |
|
| Cadet branches | McInerney McNamara Fionn |
The McNamara family were an Irish clan claiming descent from the Dál gCais and, after the O'Briens, one of the most powerful families in the Kingdom of ThomondasLords of Clancullen (a title later divided into East and West families). They are related to the O'Gradys, also descended from the Uí Caisin line of the Dál gCais.
The name began with the chieftain Cumara, of Maghadhair in county Clare. Cumara is a contracted form of Conmara – hound of the sea. His son, Domhnall, who died in 1099, adopted the surname Mac Conmara, or son of Cumara, thus becoming the first of his name. The name has survived relatively unmodified as MacConmara in Irish and anglicised as MacNamara/McNamara.[2]
The name is a contraction of『Mac Cú Na Mara』meaning "Son of the Hound of the Sea".[3]
| Male | Daughter | Wife (Long) | Wife (Short) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mac Conmara[4] | Nic Conmara | Bean Mhic Conmara | Mhic Conmara |
Mac Conmara (the son of the sea-hound)