If you ask them if they know anything about the O'Hara's, no doubt they will talk of the headless horseman at the white gates at Halloween.

However, whilst many may have seen the O'Hara family as being one of the wealthy families in the area, few know very much about their background. Probably the best place to start was the family burial ground at Templemoyle Abbey, in Kells.

In the graveyard of the abbey is a vault, where the remains of many O'Hara's are interred.

On the end of the vault is a large monument detailing the family members buried there. Unfortunately the years and weather have not been kind to the monument, which is now barely legible, but here is a transcription of what it says…

"This monument is erected in the year of our Lord 1854, by Hester O'Hara, daughter of Oliver O'Hara, and his wife. Honoria McManus, the only lineal survivor of the ancient family of O'Hara, of the Route and Crebilly. Her ancestors have been interred in this vault for several generations; and previously at Loughguile, near where the ancient residence stood. Among these ancestors has been her grandfather, Henry O'Hara, of Claggin, youngest son of Teige O'Hara, of the Route and Crebilly, and heir presumptive of his nephew, Henry Hutchinson O'Hara, of Crebilly. Her grandmother, Margaret Jameison; their son, Henry O'Hara, his first wife, Charity Chichester, and his widow, Ann Magennis, their son, Oliver O'Hara, his widow, Honoria McManus, also Mary O'Hara, alias O'Neill, widow of their grandson, Henry O'Hara, buried in Wexford, their grandson, Alexander O'Hara, and his wife, Emma Jones, their great-grandson, Henry O'Hara, and his widow, Letitia Jones, and Henry Jones O'Hara, son of said Henry and Letitia, who died at Torquay, and whose remains were removed hither for interment. John, Henry, and Rawdon O'Hara were grandsons of Henry O'Hara, of Claggin, and brothers to Hester O'Hara, who erected this monument. The first of them a lieutenant in the 68th regiment of the line, died in the West Indies; the second, adjutant in the East India service, died in the East Indies; the third an adjutant in the same service fell at Kolwaga. Marcus, great-grandson of the same Henry, fell at the storming of St. Sebastian.
"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die" John 11 v 25 – 26
In this memorial it talks about the 'ancient family of O'Hara, of the Route and Crebilly', and also mentions the fact that some earlier family members were interred at 'Loughguile, near where the ancient residence stood'. This was in fact the original seat of the family, that is to say, the old Castle at Lissanoure, near Loughguile. In actual fact the O'Hara's had several castles and homes dotted around County Antrim. The most prominent of these is O'Hara's Castle, or more commonly known today as Dominican College, at Portstewart. So, the castle at Crebilly, and later the bawn, and much later the manor house, which burned down in 1921 after a ball, was only one of many residences in the area.

What intrigued me is the fact that the memorial referred to the 'ancient' family; so I dug deeper to find out more.

In 1885 Crebilly Manor & Estate was in the possession of Mrs. General Wardlow. She was a sister of Henry Hutchinson Hamilton O'Hara.
His father was Henry Hutchinson O'Hara.

His father was Henry O'Hara (whose wife was a daughter of Right Revd Dr Hutchinson, Bishop of Down & Connor). Henry's father was Charles O'Hara.

Charles was the second son of Teige O'Hara. Teige had four sons, and the records make mention of the fact that one lived in Liminary (near Kells), and another at Cleggan (near Aghafatten).

Teige's father was Cathall O'Hara. Cathall, who died in 1639, was a son of Shane O'Hara, who in turn was a son of Rory-Ballach O'Hara of Dundermot (near Glarryford).

Rory-Ballach was the son of Cormac O'Hara, who was the son of Manus O'Hara. Manus' father was called Melaghlin O'Hara.
Melaghlin was the son of Teige O'Hara, who was the ancestor of this branch of the O'Hara's of the Route.

It's quite a lot to take in, but this lineage takes us back in time to around the middle of the 12h Century, about 1156ad.

And it was about this time that the O'Hara family came from their original location in County Sligo, to settle in the County Antrim area, having been granted lands by Henry II.

This is a small list; it is, really! It is possible to trace back through the O'Hara's of the Route, through the family of O'Hara Reagh, through their ancestors, the O'Hara Buidhe, to Hugh O'Hara, the first man to assume the surname.

It is then possible to trace the lineage of Hugh O'Hara, back through time to Olioll Olum, King of Munster. He is a direct descendant of Heber.

Heber was a son of Milesius of Spain, and was the first King of Ireland and from him all the Kings were descended (sometimes referred to as the Stem of the Irish nation).

It is interesting to note that Milesius can trace his ancestors all the way back to Adam, the first man!

I bet there are a lot of people out there who didn't know we had such a Royal connection.