Mac an Bhaird

The Mac an Bháird family (Irish: Clann an Bháird) was one of the learned families of late medieval Ireland. The name has evolved over many centuries, the anglicised forms coming down to us as MacAward, McWard, MacEward, MacEvard, Macanward, M'Ward, and its most commonly used variant today: Ward. The name means 'son of the bard' and has no connection with the English name Ward, which originated from the Saxon word weard meaning watchman or guardian. Additionally, considerable numbers of Latin, French, and Spanish variants can be found in Continental records: Vardeo, Bardeo, U Bart, Wardeum, Vyardes, Wardeus, not to mention Verdaeorum familiae: the Ward family.

The origin of the Mac an Bháird septs lay in the province of Ulster. Possibly as early as the third century AD, they migrated to the province of Connacht as one of the Tribes of the Six Soghain, under the leadership of Eocha, a son of Sodhán Salbhuidhe na Sreath – Sogan of the Battle-lines, or Sogan of the Preys – who in turn was the son of Fiacha Araidhe, a third-century King of Ulster and a direct ancestor of all the Wards of Ireland. They were one of the leading clans of the Soghain in what is now County Galway and were based at Muine Casáin (or Muine an Chasáin) in the modern parish of Ballymacward (Baile Mhic an Bháird) in that county, in a territory known as Uí Maine. This is the parent sept of all Mac an Bháird septs. Eventually, as many as seven branches of the sept may have established themselves in this area, though only two of them are known today. They were frequently employed as bards by the O'Kellys and O'Connors, a profession that would become a hereditary right, as it was with others of Ireland's learned classes in such fields as law, history, and medicine.

Twenty-four generations of the family are recounted in Leabhar Ua Maine (also called the Book of the O'Kellys), extending back to quasi-historical and mythological times. This work was compiled c. 1380, a massive, oversized vellum book written in Irish, for Muircertach ua Ceallaigh (O'Kelly), Bishop of Clonfert from 1378 to 1394. Also found in this work are quatrains paying tribute to the long reign and continuing prosperity of the Uí Dhiarmada (i.e., the descendants of Diarmuid Mac an Bháird), praising the Mac an Bháirds in their capacity as Chiefs of Cinél Rechta, one of the six Sodhán tribes. Rendered into English, it reads: "Though long has been their honorable possession of their patrimony, that domain still rests with the house of Uí Dhiarmada." The next quatrain tells us: "Chiefs of Cinél Rechta of lasting fame are the strong Uí Dhiarmada, the race of the bard, the well-armed stern warriors of Ulster descent."

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