http://www.amazon.com/The-Origins-Irish ... 0500051755
"This is the first major attempt to deal with the core issues of how the Irish came into being. J. P. Mallory emphasizes that the Irish did not have a single origin, but are a product of multiple influences that can only be tracked by employing the disciplines of archaeology, genetics, geology, linguistics, and mythology."
I brought this book with me to the last meeting, Its no joke but surprisingly refreshing to read despite its academic credentials.
Anyone who wants a real in-depth study of the subject should ask to borrow it and read it cover to cover.
On a similar note, I've been toying with the idea of getting my DNA tested to see exactly where it will lead to. This also relates to a question Comyn brought up last meeting about the Fir Bolg....
They were an actual group of clans. They are believed by some to have more properly be the "Fir Belg" - the men on lightning - Belgic celts who may have settled parts of Ireland from the continent.
Mythologically/ folklorically speaking, the Fir Bolg were reputed to hold the holly sacred in distinction to mistletoe, they typical Druidic plant of choice.
One of the earlier / synonymous names of the McNamara clan was "Clan Cuilean" - the clan of the Holly.
Recent genetic research of members of the Dal Cais has found that the O'Brians and the McNamara share surprisingly less DNA than expected.
There is also this snippet from an antiquarian book on the MacNamara's:
Six generations on from Cormac Cas we have Cas. Having twelve sons of which the second was named Caisin. It is from Caisin that Clan McNamara takes it’s earliest name ‘Ui Caisin’ the children of Caisin. The territory ruled over by the Clan came to be known as Ui Caisin. Which comprised of a larger part modern day County Clare. The territory it’s self was formally known as Magh Adhair meaning the plain of Adhair. This was the name given to it by it’s pre Celtic inhabitants the Adhar, the Firbolg, who possessed the land in the first century.
So... It a conjecture on my part, but given all the above, and the fact that the Dal Cais supposedly moved into the area of Clare and took it over - Clare having changed hands between Connaught and Munster a couple of times, I wonder if the McNamara,s were older residents of the area that got absorbed by treaty. There are numerous stories of the Macs interceding on behalf of O'Brian dynastic struggles. If they weren't as closely related to the rest of the septs, it might have made them ideal as enforcers to beat on other clan members, and hence their position as hereditary marshals of the clan who had the right to inaugurate the OBrian as kings of the Dal Cais.
Also, of curiosity is Ptolemy's map of Ireland. The area of Clare lists a tribal name of "Gangani" or "Concani" Con means hound in Irish, Cani being Latin for dog it might be a stretch or coincidence, as I'm no linguist here but, of note, the only sept within the Dal Cais that I am aware of that has a canine related name is McNamara - which is a simplification of the original Mac Con na Mara - "Son of the Hound of the Sea"
As I said, it's conjecture on my part and there may be holes in the theory for lack of dates of certain events and misinterpretation, but I wonder if my DNA might lend a bit more fuel for the fire or douse it.