Parent house Eóganacht Chaisil | Founded 11th century | |
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Country Gaelic Ireland, Ireland Titles King of Desmond
Prince of Desmond
MacCarthy Mór
Lord of Kerslawny Founder Carthach mac Sáerbrethaig Current head Liam Trant MacCarthy Mór | ||
The Sliocht Cormaic of Dunguile, otherwise known as the MacCarthys of Srugrena Abbey, or the Srugrena sept, as well as the Trant McCarthys, are the principal and today perhaps only known surviving sept of the MacCarthy Mór dynasty, the Kings of Desmond. They are descendants of a younger son, Cormac of Dunguile, of Tadhg na Mainistreach Mac Carthaigh Mór, King of Desmond (r. 1390/2–1428). The line of the later kings of Desmond, to Donal IX MacCarthy Mór (d. 1596) has long been extinct.
It was into the pedigree of the Srugrena sept that the famous impostor Terence Francis McCarthy inserted himself.
Modern representatives
Playing a crucial role in exposing the impostor Terence McCarthy was the claim by Barry Trant McCarthy, a great nephew of Samuel Trant McCarthy, whose pedigree was accepted and registered in 1906 by the Ulster King of Arms, Sir Arthur Vicars, who also determined the McCarthys of Srugrena to be the senior surviving descendants of the medieval royal family. Shortly after Barry Trant McCarthy's application to the Irish government for recognition as the MacCarthy Mór (Prince of Desmond), a cousin, Liam Trant McCarthy, also applied, and the latter is now regarded as the senior representative of the family according to the law of primogeniture, although this is not a Gaelic custom in origin.
Most recently Liam Trant McCarthy has taken the further step of having his pedigree officially verified, and in July 2009 Thomas Woodcock, the Norroy and Ulster King of Arms, accepted and registered his descent from the McCarthys of Srugrena, with the document including the registration of Liam Trant McCarthy's children and grandchildren as well.