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(O) Monahan, Monks
The name Monahan or Monaghan (the latter is the more usual spelling in Ireland ) is chiefly to be found in the counties of Galway, Mayo and Fermanagh, all of which are not far from the original habitat of the O'Monaghans, viz. that part of the Co. Roscommon which les between Elphin and Jamestown. The Four Masters record O'Monahgan (O Manachain in Irish) as Lord of the Three Tuathas of Roscommon in 1287, about the time they were displaced from lordship by the O'Hanlys. The Manachan from whom the family takes its name was a famous Connacht warrior of the ninth century. Manachain denotes a monk, hence the synonym Monk used in some places as the anglicized from of the name. Dick Monk, who fought with the rebels at the battle of Arklow in 1798, was also known as Richard Monaghan. There is a remarkable Monaghan tomb in the Dominican Church at Athenry, Co. Galway, dated 1686. The name has not been important in history or literature. The Irish-American poet James Monaghan was born in Co. Westmeath (1862); James Henry Monaghan (1804-1878), b. Co. Galway, was notable as the prosecutor (in his capacity of Attorney-General) of William Smith O'Brien, T. F. Meagher, Gavan Duffy, John Mitchel etc., and later as the Catholic Chief Justice who tried the Fenian prisoners.