Origin of The McCain Family

There were two great septs of Ó Catháin. The earlier anglicized form of this name was O'Cahan, and even as late as the beginning of the present century, O'Cahans were still found in Co. Derry; but in modern times the forms Keane, Kane, and sometimes O'Kane, are almost universally used, Keane in Munster and Connacht, Kane in Ulster. The two septs were quite distinct originally, but if the belief that the Keanes of Thomond are a branch of Ó Catháin of Ulster is true, as the best authorities assert, the propinquity of Clare to Galway must necessarily lead to uncertainty in the west of Ireland in cases where no pedigree or reliable family tradition exists. In this connection it should be added that the Cahanes of west Clare, who were coarbs of St. Senan, wrote their name MacCahan and are thought to be quite distinct from the O'Cahanes.

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