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O'Hara
The O'Haras are an important sept of distinguished origin. They are descended from Eaghra (pronounced Ara), who was chief of Leyny in Co. Sligo, a scion of the family of Olioll Ollum, King of Munster. In Irish the name is O hEaghra, of which the anglicized form O'Hara is a phonetic rendering. About 1350 this sept formed two divisions, the chiefs of which were called respectively O'Hara Boy (I.e. buide, tawny) and O'Hara Reagh (I.e. riabhach, grizzled). In the "Composition Book of Connacht" (1585) O'Hara Boy is seated at Collooney and O'Hara Reagh at Ballyharry: the latter is a contemporary English attempt at writing Baile ui Eaghra or Ballyhara. A branch migrated to the Route, Co. Antrim. As might be expected, therefore, the O'Haras of to-day are chiefly found in Counties Sligo and Leitrim. The famous manuscript known as "The Book of O'Hara" is still in existence: it contains a very full record of chiefs of the name. Boswell in his Tour to the Hebrides with Dr. Johnson (sep. 28, 1773) tells an interesting anecdote which illustrates the respect in which the O'Haras and other ancient Gaelic families were held by the native Irish in the eighteenth century. A century later they were very extensive landlords: in Co. Sligo the O'Haras of Cooper's Hill and Annaghmore possessed more than 21,000 acres, and this family is still of importance in that county.
Among many distinguished O'Haras the most notable, in addition to three bishops of Anchonry, were Kane O'Hara (1712-1782), author of the popular burlesque Midas, a Sligo man; James O'Hara (1752-1819), American revolutionary, son of John O'Hara an Irishman; Theodore O'Hara (1820-1867), whose father Kean O'Hara escaped from Ireland after participating with Lord Edward Fitzgerald in the 1798 insurrection; Most Rev. William O'Hara (1816-1899), first bishop of Scranton. The Sligo O'Haras who took the side of England were rewarded with a title (Baron Tyrawley) in the year 1706. One of the founders of Pittsburg, U.S.A., was an O'Hara. Maureen O'Hara, nee Fitzgerald, the Irish actress, has made the name well known all over four continents.