Mary Clare Kennedy, second Abbess

Abbess

An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....

 of the Poor Clares of Galway

Galway

Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...

, fl. 1647.

Kennedy became abbess sometime in the mid-1640s. Ó Muraíle has drawn attention to the fact that of the twelve sisters and two novices that founded the Galway convent, twelve had Anglo-Irish

Anglo-Irish

Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...

 surnames yet two, including Kennedy, bore Gaelic

Gaels

The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....

 surnames.

Her background is obscure. Ó Cinnéide is the surname of a branch of the Dál gCais

Dál gCais

The Dál gCais were a dynastic group of related septs located in north Munster who rose to political prominence in the 10th century AD in Ireland. They claimed descent from Cormac Cas, or Cas mac Conall Echlúath, hence the term "Dál", meaning "portion" or "share" of Cas...

, apparently descended from King Cennétig mac Lorcáin

Cennétig mac Lorcáin

Cennétig mac Lorcáin was an Irish king. He was the father of Brian Boru.-Reign:Cennétig was king of the Dál gCais, one of the tribes of the Déisi, subject peoples in Munster. Their name was new, first recorded in the 930s, and they had previously been an undistinguished part of the northern Déisi...

 of Thomond

Thomond

Thomond The region of Ireland associated with the name Thomond is County Clare, County Limerick and north County Tipperary; effectively most of north Munster. The name is used by a variety of establishments and organisations located in , or associated with the region...

 (reigned bef. 944

944

Year 944 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Africa :* The city of Algiers is founded by the Zirid king Buluggin ibn Ziri....

-951

951

Year 951 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* The king of Italy dies and his widow, Adelaide of Italy, is overthrown by an usurper, Berengar of Ivrea.- Asia :...

). However, a similar surname, Ó Ceinnéididh, was borne by an unrelated family, a minor branch of the Uí Maine. Their pedigree is given as Connagan, son of Cernach, son of Ailell, son of Cernach, son of Coscrach, son of Fidhchellach, son of Dicholla, son of Eoghan Finn mac Cormac mac Cairpri Crom mac Lughaidh, the resolute,
Feradhach mac Dallan mac Bresal mac Máine Mór

Máine Mór

-Biography:Máine Mór descended from Colla da Chrioch of Oirghialla/Oriel, which became overpopulated. Máine Mór, his father Eochaidh Ferdaghiall and his two sons Breasal and Amhlaibh, travelled to Connacht to seek new lands...

and were one of eleven surnames listed as of the Clann Cernaigh.

Her presence amid a group of mainly Anglo-Irish women may not have been out of place. There is strong evidence for the use and status of the Irish language within the community. Her successor, Mary Bonaventure Browne

Mary Bonaventure Browne

Mother Mary Bonaventure Browne, Poor Clare and Irish historian, born after 1610, died after 1670.-Background:A daughter of Andrew Browne fitz Oliver, a wealthy merchant and a member of The Tribes of Galway. She was a niece of Martin Browne, whose townhouse doorway, the Browne doorway, now stands in...

, commissioned Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh

Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh

Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh, also known as Dubhaltach Óg mac Giolla Íosa Mór mac Dubhaltach Mór Mac Fhirbhisigh, Duald Mac Firbis, Dudly Ferbisie, and Dualdus Firbissius was an Irish scribe, translator, historian and genealogist...

 to complete the work of translating The Rule of St. Clare, and related documents, into Irish.

Kennedy was succeeded by Browne in 1647 and was among the sisters when Galway surrendered to Cromwellian forces in April 1652. Her subsequent fate is unknown.

Sources

• Historic Galway Convents. I.The Poor Clares, Studies, xxviii (1949), pp. 439–46, Helena Concannon
  Helena Concannon
  Helena Concannon was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, historian, author and language scholar.She was Professor of History at University College Galway...
  
  
• Poor Clares, Galway, 1642-1992, by Celsus O'Brien, 1992
• The Celebrated Antiquary: Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh (c.1600-1671) - His Life, Lineage and Learning, Nollaig Ó Muraíle
  Nollaig Ó Muraíle
  Nollaig Ó Muraíle is an Irish scholar. He published an acclaimed edition of Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh's Leabhar na nGenealach in 2004. He was conferred with the honour of admittance to the Royal Irish Academy in 2009.-Life and career:...
  
  , An Sagart, Maynooth, 1996; reprinted 2003. ISBN 1903896 05 3; ISSN 0 790 8806.