Old Black
Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hÉamhthaigh ‘descendant of Éamhthach’ and
male descendant of the follower of the last king also an adjective meaning ‘lucky and beautiful. Traditionally, Irish family names are taken from the
heads of tribes, and are usually prefixed by O', as above, or Mac, denoting "son of". It seems very likely that the original holder of this surname was a descendant of the original king, but no strictly direct descendant. In the census of Ireland in 1659 the clan was recorded as ruling " the County Waterford". However if this was true then, it is certainly not so now, all surviving church register recordings being principally in the counties of Kerry and
Cork. This suggests that the clan
may have come to some grief, perhaps as supporters and relatives of King
James of Ireland in 1690, and being dispossessed of their properties, and forced to
flee west.
