The Lenaghan distant common relative? By M.O’Neill

It’s has been over 5 years without any concrete y-dna matches outside a cluster of a similar group of people with origins in Yorkshire, England, and the Czech Republic. Until recently with a match of 32/37 with a person of the surname Lenaghan, and looking at the markers that mutate I believe that this Lenaghan y-dna match looks that they might have shared a common family relative, and not a common ancestor, but during what time period. Due to the genetic y-dna distance of the O’Neill’s of Puerto Rico and this Lenaghan match it’s too far apart to share a common ancestor. Now it should be noted that none of the Lenaghan’s, so far, have tested positive for the SNP L48/S162 R1b1a2a1a1a5c at the moment only found among those O’Neill’s in Puerto Rico those being the descendants of Don Juan O’Neill the last of a possible extinct bloodline. Also I have only seen two Lenaghan get tested for y-dna and the two seem to have the value of 13 at DYS 456. The few Lenaghan’s that I have seen tested have the value of 13 at DYS 456, very uncommon, and found among the O’Neill’s of Puerto Rico. Hopefully more Lenaghan come forward with y- DNA test, and more info on their origins and Sept will be available.

13 23 14 11 11-14 12 12 11 13 13 29 - O’Neill’s of Puerto Rico

13 23 14 11 11-14 12 12 11 13 13 29 - Lenaghan

There are many versions of what this surname means, since it was Anglicized from two Irish sources.

1.   The Ó Lennacháin of Roscommon.

2.   The Ó Luingeachán sept of Limerick and Tipperary.

The surname "Ó Leannacháin" is also understood to be derived from 'leann' in the form of 'leannach' meaning 'cloaked' or 'mantled,' and while typically made "Lenihan or "Lenaghan."

Are the Lenaghan’s the descendants of a cloaked man? The only people that wore cloaks in Ireland were those of nobility, and the Vikings. The surname Lenaghan also may be translated to “Long Ship”, and the possible association with Norse or Dane Vikings in Ireland, or a person in Ireland that used long ships.

 Others say the word Leannach or leanach means "possessing mantles", a mantle being a loose, and sleeveless coat.

 The word 'leannán' does mean 'lover' is this as a source of the surname Lenaghan? I have my doubts about that origin.

The variants of this surname: MacClenaghan, McClenaghan, MacLenaghan, McLenaghan, MacClannachan, McClannachan, MacClenahan, McClenahan, Lenaghan, Lenahan, Linehan, MacClenahan, McClenahan, MacClanaghan, McClanaghan, MacClanahan, McClanahan, MacDlenathan, McClenathan, MacClenathen, McClenathen, MacClenathin, McClenathin, MacLanachan, McLanachan, MacLanaghan, McLanaghan, MacLanahan, McLanaghan, MacLenahan, McLenahan, MacLenachan, McLenachan, and Lanachan.

The Lenaghan’s are an obscure clan with limited knowledge of its origins available. One origins of the Lenaghan surname is in Co. Limerick and Co. Cork were it is the most common, and there is the Munster sept which was called O'Luingeachan or O'Leannachain. Another origin is of Connacht from where many of the Lenaghan’s probably descend of the sept named O'Leannachain, which was located in County Roscommon. Some believe this sept O’Lenaghan, were of the Hy Brune Tribe descending from Brian.

There is a group of MacLeannachain or Lenaghan’s that belongs almost exclusively to Ulster, mainly in the Co. Antrim and Co. Derry. The Lenaghan’s appear in the Elizabethan Fiants in the O'Neill Country, and among the Co., Cork “Pardons of 1601”.

 “It is recorded in the O’Neill Country of sixteenth-century Tyrone as Mac Leanachain,”“A common name in the Scottish province of Galloway, from which so many Plantation settlers stemmed.” - The Book of Ulster Surnames by Robert Bell.

“The Lenaghan family is traditionally linked with the Co Roscommon in Ireland. The family is found centered in Tuamma, in the Barony of Boyle, on several occasions.” - The Book of Irish Families Great and Small by Michael C. O’laughlin.
  

Anyone with any further info I can be contacted at Theredhandking@gmail.com