Mac Diarmada (anglicised as MacDermot or McDermott), also spelled Mac Diarmata, is an Irish surname, and the surname of the ruling dynasty of
Moylurg, a kingdom that existed in
Connacht from the 10th to 16th centuries. The last ruling king was Tadhg mac Diarmata, who ruled until 1585.
The progenitor of the family was
Dermot mac Tadhg Mor, 7th King of Moylurg, who reigned from 1124 to 1159. He was a vassal and kinsman of the
Ó Conchubhair,
Kings of Connacht; their common ancestor was Tadg mac Cathal, King of Connacht from 925 to 956. They were based at
McDermott's Castle, Lough Key.
Later offshoot
septs of the dynasty included the families of
MacDermot Roe.
Moylurg ceased to exist as a kingdom in the late 16th century, though the senior line of the MacDermot's continued to live a sometime poverty-stricken and precarious existence despite land confiscations and the oppression of the
Penal Laws. During this era they were popularly accorded the title
Prince of Coolavin;[citation needed] the current incumbent is Francis MacDermot,[citation needed] who succeeded by birthright to his father Rory MacDermot who died on 6 May 2021.[1][citation needed]
^The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ed. by Patrick Hanks, Richard Coates, and Peter McClure, 4 vols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), III, p. 1461 [s.v. Kermode];
ISBN978-0-19-967776-4.
This page lists people with the
surnameMac Diarmada. If an
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