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O'Harney, Chief of Kerry

Abstract: From "Harney Update" Newsletter, Issue #44

O'HARNEY, Chieftain, County Kerry
The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland were compiled by the "Four Masters" in the early 17th century. The Four Masters were among the last of the ancient profession of hereditary historians of the Irish tribes. Prior to 1616 the records of the Gaelic tribes were kept in the monasteries and abbeys, but in that time period these records were no longer safe there. So the Four Masters gathered together the genealogies of hundreds of ancient and medieval families in an effort to preserve them. The records include the families in power before the Norman conquest, and also the records of the Norman knights who took over the power. They include the intermarriages of the Gaelic-Irish and the Normans, and their descendants, and alliances with the English. It is in these works that we find the O'Harney name, listed as a Chieftain in Kerry.

The Celts, (Milesians), are identified by Irish scholars as a Mediterranean Bronze-Age people coming originally from the Minoan-Crete (Mycenean) civilization of ancient Greece. The spiral symbols found at the New Grange passage-grave in Ireland confirms this link, and is said to be the spiritual source of Celtic art. Celtic art evolved from simple spirals into intricate interlacing knot-work that requires a knowledge of geometry and mathematics to perfect the proportions.

For additional information about Heraldry of the Harney family, click here.
For additional information about back issues of the "Harney Update" family newsletter, E-mail me at [email protected]

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