McNamara - Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Mac Conmara
Meaning: “hound of the sea”
Traditional stronghold: Clare
Second only to the O’Briens in the old kingdom of Thomond.
Pronunciation: mak-nuh-MAR-uh; Irish Mac Conmara: mok kun-MAR-uh
History of the McNamara name
Mac Conmara means 'son of Cú Mara', the 'hound of the sea'. Second in power only to the O'Briens among the Dál gCais of Thomond, the McNamaras ruled Clann Chuiléin in east Clare and held the hereditary privilege of inaugurating each O'Brien as king. They were prodigious builders, credited with dozens of castles and tower houses across Clare, including the present Bunratty Castle, raised about 1425, and Knappogue, and they founded the Franciscan friary at Quin, whose graceful ruins survive. The name is still strongest in Clare and Limerick, and emigration carried it around the world, from the poet Donnchadh Ruadh in Newfoundland lore to Washington's corridors of power.
Variants: MacNamara · Macnamara · Mac
Famous bearers of the name
- Donnchadh Ruadh Mac Conmara - Eighteenth-century Clare-born poet, author of the exile song Bánchnoic Éireann Óigh.
- Robert McNamara - United States Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam era, of Irish descent.
- Caitlín Macnamara - Writer of the Ennistymon family, wife of the poet Dylan Thomas.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: O'Brien · Kennedy · Quinn · McDonnell · McMahon · Boland · Keane · Hogan