Where the O’Meara surname comes from, how the O’Mearas of Toomevara belong to Brian Boru’s kindred, and which DNA test confirms the link.

The O’Mearas (Ó Meadhra, “descendant of Meadhair”, from meadhar meaning merry) were a Dál gCais family of north Tipperary. Their chiefs were seated at Toomevara in Upper Ormond, and the town’s Irish name, Tuaim Uí Mheadhra, means O’Meara’s tumulus. The name is also spelt O’Mara or Meara, and it is still most common in Tipperary.

O’Meara at a glance

  • Irish form: Ó Meadhra
  • Meaning: descendant of Meadhair, “merry one”
  • Seat: Toomevara, Upper Ormond, County Tipperary
  • Kindred: Dál gCais
  • Variants: O’Mara, Meara, Mara, Marah
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Origin of the name

Patrick Woulfe gives the Irish form as Ó Meadhra and places the family in Upper Ormond, where they gave their name to Toomevara. Later writers, including the clan historian C. Thomas Cairney, count the O’Mearas among the chiefly families of the Dál gCais. Their country lay east of Lough Derg in what is now north Tipperary, part of the wider territory Brian Boru’s kindred pushed into from east Clare.

The O’Mearas of Toomevara

Toomevara sits on the old Dublin to Limerick road, about 13 km east of Nenagh, and still holds O’Meara monuments, including a 15th-century tombstone in the village. After the Butlers became Earls of Ormond, the O’Mearas settled into a new role as their physicians and poets. The best-known of these was Dermod O’Meara, physician and poet, active around 1619, whose son Edmund O’Meara (1614 to 1681) became a noted physician in his own right.

The medical tradition carried on long after the Gaelic order ended. Barry Edward O’Meara (1786 to 1836) was Napoleon’s surgeon in exile on St Helena and later published an account of their conversations that caused a sensation in London.

O’Meara DNA

As a Dál gCais family, O’Meara men of the Toomevara line should share R-L226 (Irish Type III), the Y-DNA signature of Brian Boru’s kindred. Many families only have a tradition of Toomevara origin and no paper trail to prove it. A Y-37 test from Family Tree DNA is the quickest way to check, and Big Y-700 shows which Dalcassian branch you sit on. If you descend from an O’Meara through your mother or grandmother, Family Tree DNA’s Family Finder is the right test. Our DNA guide explains how to read the results.

O’Meara places to visit

  • Toomevara: the family’s namesake village, with O’Meara monuments in the old churchyard.
  • Nenagh: the nearest town, 15 minutes west, with its castle keep and the North Tipperary genealogy centre. See places to stay in Nenagh.
  • Lough Derg: the harbours at Dromineer and Garrykennedy are a short drive on, and the lake is best seen from a Lough Derg hire cruiser.
  • Killaloe: Brian Boru’s royal centre at the southern tip of the lake. Plan it with our Brian Boru trail.

Related Dál gCais surnames

See the Kennedys and Hogans, the O’Mearas’ Dalcassian neighbours in Ormond, and the Gleesons and Hurleys, or browse all Brian Boru kindred surnames.

Frequently asked questions

Is O’Meara an Irish name?

Yes. O’Meara is the anglicised form of Ó Meadhra, a Gaelic family of north Tipperary. O’Mara and Meara are spellings of the same name.

Are the O’Mearas related to Brian Boru?

Yes, as kindred. The O’Mearas were a Dál gCais family, so they share Brian Boru’s wider paternal line rather than descending from him directly.

Where is the O’Meara family from?

Toomevara in Upper Ormond, north Tipperary, about 13 km east of Nenagh.

What does the name O’Meara mean?

It means “descendant of Meadhair”, from meadhar, the Irish word for merry.

Sources

  1. Patrick Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames: Ó Meadhra (1923).
  2. C. Thomas Cairney, Clans and Families of Ireland and Scotland (1989).