The O'Callaghan Family of Co. Cork: A History, by Joseph O'Callaghan

    Joseph O'Callaghan published perhaps the most comprehensive genealogy book I have seen about the Callahan family, which represented a lifetime of his own research. The book was entitled, The O Callaghan Family of County Cork, A History. He has since published a revised edition in 2020 and also written a fiction book about a Callaghan family in the 17th century. The novel is about Donough and Ellen O'Callaghan whose lands were confiscated and they were transplanted to County Clare. He is currently as of 2023 working on a book about Callahan sites one can visit in Ireland.  

To order a copy see:

Clan Callaghan: The O Callaghan Family of County Cork. Revised edition. Baltimore:  Clearfield Company/Genealogical Publishing Company, 2020.

and

Land, Loved and Lost. A Tale of Love and War in 17th Century Ireland. Carrigtwohill: Printmybook.com, 2022

    Joe O’Callaghan is a retired professor of medieval history from Fordham University, New York. He published many books about Medieval Spain. The description of the book about the O'Callaghans (from the Irish Family Names of Dublin website) is as follows:

The O Callaghan Family of County Cork: A History. By Joseph F. O' Callaghan – The book is a 284 pg Hardback with numerous illustrations (black & white). Size: 12 inches x 8.5 inches.

    "This extremely well researched history of a County Cork sept traces its

origins from Cellachán of Cashel, the progenitor of the Cork O Callaghans,

down to modern times.

    Cellachán was the King of Munster in the middle of the 10th century. Two

great County Cork septs descended from Cellachán, the O Callaghans and the

MacCarthys.

    It was not until the 16th century that factual detail began to emerge and

historians were able to get a clearer picture of the territory occupied by

the sept and the names of the clan chieftains. At that stage the entire

Gaelic way of life had come under severe pressure and the land ownership

was passing into the hands of the adventurers, comprised of New English and

Anglo-Irish speculators.

    By the middle of the 17th century the lands of the Gaelic, Catholic O

Callaghans had been confiscated and many of the great lords now became the

tenants of the new masters. Some managed to survive the Penal Laws of the

18th century and became the owners of vast estates in Clare and in

Tipperary. For the majority the transition was painful and they and their

descendants had to endure servitude and poverty until the Land Acts of the

late 19th and early 20th century, wrung from a reluctant English

government, restored their dignity and paved the way for future prosperity.

    In his chapter entitled The O Callaghan Diaspora the author mentions many O

Callaghans worldwide who have become very successful people but of course

they represent only the tip of the iceberg. The many pages of genealogical

tables will be of interest to many.

    What is remarkable about the O Callaghans is the fact that despite the

hundreds of years of penury and subjection their native resilience and

intelligence has enabled many proud bearers of the name to rise to the top

in practically all areas of human endeavour."