For many years, Edward MacLysaght, in his book, Irish Families, Their Names, Arms and Origins, 1972, one of the most referenced works on Irish genealogy, has presented the Curtin name, though “popularly regarded as a Co. Cork surname,” as actually the name of an ancient sept of Thomond, present day Co. Clare. Those were MacCruitins and had their territory in the barony of Corcomroe, near Ennistymon. MacLysaght makes no further distinction between the Cork and Clare Curtins, and in his listing of notable Curtins of more modern times, seems to place them all under the same aegis.

            However, modern scholarship has cast doubt on MacLysaght’s supposition, and shows that today’s Curtins, spread around the world, fall into two distinct families, unrelated save through intermarriage! Our own Brian MacCurtain is a scholar of Onomastics, the study of proper names. Through his research, he has traced, in ancient texts and references, the various occurrences of the Curtin name, and demonstrates that the name has two different origins.

The Clare Curtins of old were of a learned and talented family, the MacCruitin. They were hereditary ollamh (bards) to the powerful O’Brien family, Lords of Thomond. The Cork Curtins, who are numerous in that county, and who comprise most of the present membership of our Clan, descend from the MeicCoirtein o Baili MeigCoirtein, hereditary landed proprietors of the barony of Fermoy, with their seat in Rahan, near Mallow.

The name MacCruitin derives from the word cruit, which means “hunchback” Thus MacCruitin can be taken to mean, “son of the hunchback.” However, cruit is also the name given to the small, portable harp used by the bards and minstrels. Some contend that this shared meaning stems from the appearance of the small harp, with the rounded top of its forepillar resembling a hunched back. Today’s Irish Euro coin portrays such a harp, showing the similarity. Others point out that the bards, making their way from one seat of the O’Briens to another, with their harp slung over their shoulder, (as the Minstrel Boy of the familiar ballad) could appear from afar to be hunchbacks. Thus, the name could also mean, “son of the harp,” a much more evocative, even romantic name. The black harp on our crest enhances this interpretation.

The name MacCoirtein, in Brian’s estimation, is most probably derived from the word coirt, meaning, “tree bark.” By extension, he feels this would refer to the color tan, since bark was used in tanning and dying leather. In the name, it probably refers to hair color or complexion, thus “the son of the tan man.”

Brian points out that it is linguistically impossible that the two ancient versions of the name could be derived from the same root. Both of these names became anglicized to “Curtin or Curtain” in the 18^th century. He also dismisses the contention in some quarters that the Cork Curtins are a branch of the MacCartan family of Co. Down, who supposedly settled in East Cork before the end of the 16^th century. He says that all the evidence suggests that the East Cork and Mallow families are related, and that there is no evidence connecting either of them to Co. Down.

The earliest reference Brian has found to a Curtin name is in a late 13^th or early 14^th century Co. Cork document called Crichad an Chaoill, which lists the hereditary landed proprietors of the territory of that name. Among these are, to use the more modern spelling, the MacCurtains of Ballymaccurtain, who were of the Rahan people.

In Co. Clare, Brian has found mention of Curtins in the Irish Annals, dating from about the last quarter of the 14^th century, a bit later than in Co. Cork. These are the distinguished learned family of Mac Cruitin, the hereditary historians to the O’Briens of Thomond. Some members of this family continued to be scholars and poets down to the 19^th century. Among them were Hugh Buidhe MacCurtin (1580-1755), styled, “Chief of the Sept,” on whom was bestowed the coat of arms and crest we use for our clan symbol. Hugh was also a lexicographer as well as a poet. In more recent times, Andrew Gregg Curtin (1815-1894), the son of a Clare man, was the notable governor of Pennsylvania during the American Civil War. Jeremiah Curtin, (1836-1906), a noted linguist, translator and collector of folk tales, was also secretary to the American Legation in Russia in 1864.  Jeremiah Curtin was born in Detroit, Michigan to David Curtin of Newcastle West, County Limerick and Ellen Furlong of Buttevant, County Cork.

The Cork MacCurtins have given us, in modern times, two notable men of government. Thomas MacCurtain (1885-1920) was Lord Mayor of Cork City, murdered for his political beliefs by the “Black and Tans” during the War for Irish Independence.  John Curtin, of a Cork family, was the very effective Prime Minister of Australia during World War II. Curtin University in Western Australia is among many tributes to this larger-than-life man of the people.

In our present times modern technology has contributed to our search for origins and relationships. The Clan has undertaken a DNA project to determine relationships among members. As of this writing, September 2011, a total of 77 males with the Curtin surname have been tested to varying degrees. Those tested are divided according to test results into “haplogroups,” which may be likened to branches of the vast tree of mankind.

The preponderance (75) of those tested fell into one of two haplogroups. Of these, 28 are in Haplogroup R1b1a2, which originated in the in the middle east, is the most common group in Western Europe, and includes 80% of the people in the British Isles. However, this group of our members includes descendents of both Clare and Cork Curtins. The majority of those tested (47), who are descended from Curtins in the Feale valley, in Cork, Kerry and Limerick, fall into haplogroup J2. This haplogroup is very unique for Ireland. Less than 5% of the Irish population are in J2, which was centered in the Near East, and can be found all along the Mediterranean coast of Africa, and from Spain and Italy eastward to Israel and Palestine.

All of this, at first glance, might seem to shoot holes in our earlier conclusions about relationships, but we must realize that these haplogroups cover many dozens of modern nationalities and indicate origins and migrations as well. They indicate probable relationships through common ancestors many hundreds, if not thousands of years ago, before the adoption of surnames. Thus we find that our two famous political Curtin/MacCurtain men are from two different haplogroups. Thomas MacCurtain, Lord Mayor of Cork, was in the R1b1 group, while John Curtin, Prime Minister of Australia, was from a Feale Valley J2 group. To add further complexity, we have learned that Liam Curtin, a member from Brosna, Co. Kerry, shares the Y chromosome of Niall of the Nine Hostages, the progenitor of the mighty O’Neill family of Ulster, and possibly the ancestor of one in twelve of today’s Irishmen in group R1b1.

To further refine and define these relationships requires much more testing. We urge all men who bear the surname Curtin to join the Clan DNA project and submit samples for testing. It is a very simple process, and painless, except perhaps to your wallet! In this regard, the Clan’s policy is to offer one year’s free Clan membership for any Curtin man taking at least the 37-marker test, or any male or female taking the Family Finder test.

So, those of you members who haven’t yet tested, we urge you to do so; and all members are encouraged to seek out and recruit Curtin men to join the project, and, thereby, the Clan.

NOTE:

The material for this article was gathered from Brian MacCurtain’s lectures at Clan Gatherings, MacLysaght’s works, and Dan (NY) Curtin’s reports on the DNA project.

CURTIN