TheIrish name is Mág Tighearnán meaningthe Son of Tighearnán. While there are several unrelated McTiernan families, one prominent clan orsept of this name claims descent from one Tighearnán who lived c. 1100 AD. He was descended from the 8th-century Dúnchadh, a descendant ofBrión mac Echach Muigmedóin. Dúnchadh gave his name to Teallach Dúnchadha (Irish meaning the Hearth of Dúnchadh), the modern day barony ofTullyhunco in County Cavan. Dúnchadh’s brother was Eochaidh from whom the neighbouring McGovern clan ofTullyhaw barony descend.
There are many variations found in the spelling of the name, all of which are attempts at a phonetic spelling of the GaelicMág Tighearnán. The Mág part can be found as Mag, Meg, Mac, Mec, Mc, Ma or M'. The Tighearnán part (which may be attached to or detached from theMág part and all its variations) can be found as Tighearnán, Thighearnán, Cighearnán,McKiernan, McKernan, McKernon, McKernin, McKeirnan, McKiernen, McKyernan,McTiernan,McTernan, MacKiernan, MacKernan, MacTiernan, MacTernan, Kiernan, Kernan, Tiernan etc.[1][2]
The following is a provisional list of the chiefs of the McKiernan Clan, Barons or Lords of Tullyhunco.
c.1080-1120 Tighearnán mac Maenuigh, after whom the clan is named and who lived in the townland ofListiernan (meaning the Fort of Tighearnán), parish ofKildallan, barony of Tullyhunco,County Cavan
c.1120-1160 Amhlaoibh Mág Tighearnán, (i.e. the first chief to bear the name Mág Tighearnán or McKiernan), son of Tighearnán
c.1160-1200 Gíolla Chríost Mág Tighearnán, son of Amhlaoibh
c.1200-1231 Íomhaor Mág Tighearnán, the First, son of Gíolla Chríost
1231-c.1240 Duarcán Mág Tighearnán, the First, son of Íomhaor the First
C. Parker, “Two minor septs of late medieval Breifne”, in Breifne Journal, Vol. VIII, No. 31 (1995), pp. 566–586
M. McShane, 'Land "parcells" of Tullyhunco from the Ulster inquisitions of 1629', in Breifne Journal, Vol. XIII, No. 51 (2016), pp. 756–781.
M.V. Duignan (1934), "The Uí Briúin Bréifni genealogies", pp. 90–137, in JRSAI Vol. 4, No. 1, Jun. 30, 1934.
^[1]The Utica Kernans: descendants of Bryan Kernan, gentleman, of the townland of Ned in the parish of Killeshandra, barony of Tullyhunco, county of Cavan, Province of Ulster, Kingdom of Ireland[2]Supplement to The Utica Kernans: descendants of Bryan Kernan, gentleman, of the townland of Ned in the parish of Killeshandra, Barony of tullyhunco, County of Cavan, Province of Ulster, Kingdom of Ireland, 1968-1993 by John Devereux Kernan
^A study of eight townlands in the parish of Killeshandra, by Maura Nallen in Breifne Journal, Vol. IX, No. 35 (1999), pp. 5-85
