MacCarthy Cremeen sept

Whereas many have gained the McCarthy surname by the aforementioned means, others have lost it through the use of agnomens to distinguish one McCarthy family from another and which subsquently supplanted the McCarthy name altogether. These agnomens could typically indicate a physical characteristic or disability in the founder, a location in which the family lived or a mother’s maiden name, and some could clearly lend themselves to other original surnames in different locations. And since the written form of names would vary according to the whim of the writer, interpreting the spoken word, further variations occurred as families migrated to parts of the world initially unfamiliar with Irish names. Thus a West Cork McCarthy family - known to the undersigned - which took Cremane as an agnomen in due course became the Creamer family following migration to London, with no hint any longer of its McCarthy origins. Similarly some nineteenth century baptism and marriage records refer, for example, to the surnames Farshing and Crimeen, but it is often clear from research that these are McCarthys.References can be provived
From August 2011, where a McCarthy sept name or other agnomen is known, this will be shown in brackets at the beginning of the "Paternal Ancestor Name" field. These agnomens may be the original sept names (e.g Mór, Reagh, [of] Dunhallow, [of] Muskerry), as used from about the fourteenth century, or subsequent sub-sept or other supplementary names used to distinguish different McCarthy families (e.g. Crimeen, Cruig, Daunt, Fars(h)ing (Fairsinn), Guidagh, [of] Lyradane, Na Mona, Norsa, Sowney (Samhna), Rabagh). The original sept names should only be indicated where there is a sound paper trail or strong oral tradition in the family. It is recognised that some of these agnomens may have arisen independently in different families: however it is hoped that their reliable identification will enable us to establish modal haplotypes associated with each which will then greatly facilitate the study of both our distant and more recent history.