O'CRABHADAIN, LATTERLY CREAVAN OR
CRAVEN
OF CORRANDULLA, COUNTY GALWAY, AND OF VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
The family of Craven, of County Galway, is a very old one,
whose origins may be found in the earliest period of Irish history. The name,
usually spelt in Ireland 'Creavan', 'Creaven' or 'Creavin' derives from the original Irish
surname O'Crabhadain, meaning the grandson of Crabhadain. In English, this word
would be pronounced 'Cravane', and is derived from the old Irish word meaning 'pious'.
The O'Crabhadains were a small sept of the Ui Maine, a great
Irish clan which conquered a large area of Counties Galway, Roscommon and Clare in the
early part of the fifth century A.D., and retained it until well after the Anglo-Norman
invasion.
Within the Ui Maine, the O'Crabhadains were part
of a smaller family grouping, the Clann Cernaigh, the descendants of Cernach, who lived in
the ninth century. The descent of the Clann Cernaigh is carefully traced in the Book
of Lecan, an early fifteenth century transcription of a much earlier work. This book
follows the ancestry of the Clann Cernaigh, including the family of O'Crabhadain, through
Maine Mor - progenitor of the Ui Maine and first Prince of Hy Many - to the ancient High
Kings of Ireland, as follows:
CONN CEADCATACH (Conn the Hundred-fighter),
High King of Ireland, reputedly fifty-seventh in line from the legendary King Milesius.
(d.157 A.D.) |
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ART EANFHEAR, High King of Ireland
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CORMAC ULFHADA, High King of Ireland
(d.266 A.D.)
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CAIRBRE LIFECHAR, High King of Ireland
(d.284 A.D.)
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EOCHAID DUBHLEN, High King of Ireland
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COLLA DA CHRIOCH (Colla of the two countries)
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IOMCHADH
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DOMHNALL
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EOCHAIDH
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MAINE MOR (Maine the Great), who conquered the territory of Hy-Many
at the beginning of the fifth cetury A.D., and was first Prince or Chief of Hy Many.
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BRESAL, second Prince of Hy Many.
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DALAN, second son of Bresal.
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LUGHAIDH, fifth Prince of Hy Many.
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FERADHAC, eighth Prince of Hy Many.
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CAIRBRE CROM, tenth Prince of Hi Many.
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CORMAC, twelfth Prince of Hy Many.
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EOGHAN FINN, thirteenth Prince of Hy Many.
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DICHOLLA
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FICHELLA, fifteenth Prince of Hy Many, and last Prince from whom
the Clann Cernaigh claims descent. Living c.780 A.D.
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COSGRACH
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CERNACH
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AILEL
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CERNACH, progenitor of the Clann Cernach, Living c.844 A.D.
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CRABHADAIN, meaning 'pious'. Precise generations from CERNACH
unknown, but probably living sometime in the tenth century A.D. |
As descendants of Eoghan Finn, the
O'Crabhadains belonged to the northern branch of the Ui Maine, and were subject to the
O'Kelly Princes of Hi Many. Their original territory is unknown, but from time
immemorial the family has been concentrated in the Barony of Clare in County Galway,
particularly around the small village of Corrandulla.
Being a relatively minor sept of the Ui Maine, historical
records of the O'Crabhadains are rare. However, the following scattered references
have survived.
1418
1649
1752
1750 - 1820
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The Book of Lecan records the descent of the family of O'Crabhadain from
Maine Mor. Captain John Craven recorded in the lists of the Irish Army of Charles
I. Possibly the same John Craven who served as a Justice of the Peace in County
Clare during the reign of Charles II.
Bishop Patrick MacDonagh is buried in St. Fachtna's Church in Kilfenora, County
Clare. His tombstone states that he was 'grandson to the Craven', indicating the
survival, at least until the end of the seventeenth century, of a minor chieftainship in
the family.
Various entries in the records of the City of Galway, six miles from Corrandulla,
cocerning births, deaths, marriages and poor relief. |
Overwhelmingly, however the O'Crabhadains - now Creavans,
Creavens and Creavins - remained as poor, gaelic-speaking, catholic, subsistence farmers,
living in the vicinity of Corrandulla on the east bank of Lough Corrib. |
