Murtagh/ Loftus

I can't answer your direct question, but I can provide some general Murtagh and Loftus info for you.  I'm very likely related to the families described in your message, because some of my ancestors lived in two of the townlands directly adjoining Cuillalea, and in other nearby townlands.  I have some Murtagh and Loftus relatives. but I can't connect them directly to the ones you've mentioned.

Here is a link to more info about Cuillalea:  https://www.townlands.ie/mayo/gallen/killedan/ballinamore/cuillalea/

As you can see there, two of the adjoining townlands are Camderrynabinnia (also called just Comderry or Comderra in some records) and Treannagleragh.  Comderry is where the Gallagher line in my family lived originally, and some relatives also lived in Treannagleragh.  All of those townlands are in Killedan parish, not far from the town of Kiltimagh, which lies a bit to the east.

There were two Irish surnames (from unrelated families) which were both Anglicized as either Murtagh/Murtaugh or Murtha.  They were the surnames Ó Muircheartaigh ("descendant of the navigator") in Leinster and Mac Muircheartaigh ("son of the navigator") in Roscommon (which is presumably the source of the surname in East Mayo, being close nearby).  Actually, there may have been three families, since the name was also found in Scotland, and brought from there to Ulster, where it was usually Anglicized as Murdoch.  Either of the two Irish forms of the name could end up as Murtagh or Murtha, depending on how they were heard by whoever was writing out the Anglicized forms (Irish has a number of sounds which English speakers find hard to hear clearly, and there are also regional difference in pronunciation).  It was thus not unusual for different Anglicized versions of a surname to be used within the same family.  What may have contributed to the discrepancies is the fact that most Mayo Murtagh's would still have been Irish-speaking when the anglicization process began, so they may not themselves have known (or possibly cared all that much) how the name was written in its Anglicized form (at least until the mid- to late 19th century).

The Loftus surname originated in western Mayo, although it is now found in other parts of the county as well.  There is/was an English family named Loftus, a few of whom did make it to Ireland, but most Irish people with the surname Loftus (still found principally in Mayo) originated as O’Loughnane's, from the Irish surname Ó Lachtnáin.  Lachtnáin comes from an old word for the color grey, lachtna (in modern Irish, grey is liath), so it probably meant something like “descendant of the grey haired fellow” (the “Ó” part of the name means essentially “descendant”).  As English-speakers took control in an area, many names were translated (often poorly) or converted to something easier for English speakers to spell or say, or were changed to an English name that sounded similar or had prestige.  The change from O’Loughnane to Loftus is believed to be an example of a prestige name being used, although some O’Loughnane's ended up with the surname Grey, as a result of translation (and some stayed as O'Loughnane).  Exactly when the changes took place is apparently unclear from the historical records.  The Loftus's in my family lived (and still live) mostly a parish or two to the north of Killedan, but still not far away..

Hi Kevin,

Thank you for the reply.

Do you have a family tree that may link to the names above? I would like to understand if there are any relatives still living in Mayo.

Many thanks.

I have a family tree at Wikitree [https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Jewell-Family-Tree-1523], but as I explained, none of those names are in my family tree.

My mother's grandfather (father of her father), Peter Gallagher, was born circa 1846 in Killedan parish.  He raised his family in the townland of Carrownteeaun, which is a bit east of Cuillalea, closer to Kiltimagh, and my mother;s father grew up there.  Peter may have been born in Carrownteeaun, but possibly in Comderry.  His father, Thady, was definitely born in Comderry, according to family lore, and there are still Gallagher relatives there wioth whom I've connected through DNA matches.  I know of at least two of Peter's first cousins who married  Murtagh's, one in Comderry (who  might have been from your Cuillalea Murtagh's). I'm not sure where the other Gallagher-Murtagh marriage took place, because that branch of the Gallagher's moved to Missouri in the 1870's, where there are a large number of Gallagher, Murtagh, and McNicholas relatives still living (I found them through DNA matches as well).

As I mentioned, my known Loftus connections are from a bit further north.  When I was in Mayo many years ago, I met a first cousin of my mother (on her mother's side) named PJ Loftus.  He lived in the townland of Callow, in Killasser parish (where my grandmother grew up).  I don;t know much about hiss family.  I also have some Loftus DNA matches, which makes sense, since there were many Loftus's in that area and the local families have been intermarrying for centuries.