Where the McInerney surname comes from, how the Clare McInerneys branch off the MacNamaras, the unrelated McInerneys elsewhere, and which DNA test proves the link.

The McInerneys (Mac an Oirchinnigh, “son of the erenagh”) take their name from a church office, not a personal name. The Clare family descends from Donnchadh Mac Con Mara, a 12th-century erenagh of the MacNamara line, which makes them part of the Dál gCais and distant cousins of Brian Boru. By 1890 McInerney was the seventh most common surname in County Clare.

McInerney at a glance

  • Irish form: Mac an Oirchinnigh, literary form Mac an Airchinnigh
  • Meaning: son of the erenagh, the lay steward of church lands
  • Homeland: Clann Chuiléin, the MacNamara country of east Clare
  • Kindred: Dál gCais, an offshoot of the MacNamaras
  • Found today: mainly Clare and the neighbouring counties
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Origin of the name

An erenagh (airchinneach) was the hereditary lay steward who managed a church’s lands and collected its rents. The office ran in families, so the surname arose separately in several parts of Ireland. In Clare, the genealogies trace the family to Donnchadh Mac Con Mara, recorded as an erenagh, whose son took the name Mac an Oirchinnigh. He may have held the office at Killaloe or another church in east Clare. That descent makes the Clare McInerneys a branch of the MacNamaras, the ruling family of Clann Chuiléin.

The McInerneys of Thomond

The name first appears in Clare in the early 14th-century Caithréim Thoirdhealbhaigh, the chronicle of the O’Brien wars. The McInerneys held land and tower houses in east Clare under their MacNamara overlords, with related branches across the Shannon in north Tipperary and Limerick. Family records survive into the 17th century, including a note that John McInerney was sole heir to his father Mahone, who died in 1617.

The most detailed modern work on the family is Luke McInerney’s survey of the sept, published in The Other Clare and reproduced by Clare County Library along with the family’s pedigrees.

McInerney DNA

Because the surname comes from an office, a McInerney from outside Clare could belong to a different erenagh family altogether, such as the Nerneys of Roscommon. A Clare McInerney of the MacNamara line should carry R-L226 (Irish Type III), the Dál gCais marker. A Y-37 test from Family Tree DNA confirms the pattern, and Big Y-700 shows how close your line sits to the MacNamaras. For any line other than your direct paternal one, take Family Tree DNA’s Family Finder. Our DNA guide explains how to read the results.

McInerney places to visit

  • Quin: the MacNamara friary at the heart of Clann Chuiléin. See places to stay around Quin and Ennis.
  • Bunratty: the restored MacNamara-built castle and folk park on the edge of McInerney country. Book Bunratty Castle tickets.
  • Sixmilebridge and east Clare: still a McInerney stronghold, and home to one of Clare’s best-known hurling clubs.
  • Killaloe: the church centre where the first erenagh may have served. Plan it with our Brian Boru trail.

Related Dál gCais surnames

See the MacNamaras, the Clancys (another MacNamara branch), the O’Gradys and the O’Deas, or browse all Brian Boru kindred surnames.

Frequently asked questions

Is McInerney an Irish name?

Yes. McInerney is the anglicised form of Mac an Oirchinnigh, and it is most closely tied to County Clare.

Are the McInerneys related to Brian Boru?

The Clare McInerneys are. They descend from a MacNamara erenagh, so they are distant Dál gCais cousins of Brian Boru. Erenagh families elsewhere in Ireland are unrelated.

What does the name McInerney mean?

It means “son of the erenagh”. An erenagh was the hereditary steward of a church’s lands.

Where is the McInerney family from?

East Clare, in the MacNamara country of Clann Chuiléin, with related branches in north Tipperary and Limerick.

Sources

  1. Luke McInerney, Survey of the McInerney Sept of Thomond: pedigrees, Clare County Library.
  2. Patrick Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames: Mac an Airchinnigh (1923).