Terence Francis MacCarthy
Terence Francis MacCarthy (born 21 January 1957), formerly
In 1992, having presented falsified documentation regarding his ancestry for official perusal, MacCarthy gained
MacCarthy Mór
On 28 January 1992, the Irish
MacCarthy claimed the title based on tanistry rather than primogeniture, and said that his father renounced the title in his favour in 1980. He led an affiliation of MacCarthy clan associations in Ireland, Canada, and the United States, which appealed to heritage tourism trends of the time. MacCarthy instituted a quasi-chivalric order, the Niadh Nask, and conferred titles of nobility on his supporters.
In the early 1990s, MacCarthy joined the
In 1996, Robert Gayre died and Terence MacCarthy assumed his position as president of the ICOC. For the next three years, he continued to use its offices, influence, and publications to lend credence to his nobiliary claims.[citation needed]
Controversy
![]() | This section of a poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. )Find sources: "Terence Francis MacCarthy" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2017) |
On 20 June 1999, The Sunday Times in Dublin published an article questioning both the facts of MacCarthy's particular application of tanistry, and his claim of descent from former chiefs of the MacCarthy clan. Various public statements on both sides were released over the next few months. His critics, pointing to his falsified ancestry, alleged that he was an impostor who misused his genealogical skills to fraudulently claim the title, then exploited it for personal financial gain and aggrandisement. His supporters[who?] argued that a culturally inappropriate and impossibly stringent standard was applied to MacCarthy's pedigree. They also claimed that MacCarthy was being singled out because of "jealousy of his success".[citation needed]
Investigation of the case was rendered more difficult due to the refusal of the Genealogical Office to release all documents relating to the 1992 courtesy recognition. The Irish Freedom of Information Act of 1997 does not apply retrospectively, but documents relating to the case from April 1998 onwards were released. Sean J. Murphy, a County Wicklow genealogist, has published online accounts of the MacCarthy Mór case and also a full-length book.[2]
Media reported on research showing that MacCarthy's claim to be the MacCarthy Mór was based on fabricated documentation; rather than being aristocrats of Munster origin, his ancestors were ordinary Belfast working people.[3] The surname of MacCarthy's paternal grandfather Thomas is listed on his birth certificate as "MacCartney", rather than the expected "MacCarthy".[4]
On a practical level, the issue was settled by two events. In August 1999, the Irish Genealogical Office nullified its previous recognition of Terence MacCarthy as the MacCarthy Mór.[
See also
- Sliocht Cormaic of Dunguile, sept of the MacCarthy dynasty into whose pedigree Terence MacCarthy inserted himself
References
- ^ a b "The International Commission on Orders of Chivalry". Heraldica.org. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
- ISBN 1930901437.
- ^ Burns, John. "Irish chieftains lose their crowns". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
- ^ "Photographic image: Birth certificate" (JPG). Homepage.eircom.net. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
- ^ Notes and records of the "Atlanta Group", private collection of Patrick M. O'Shea.
Sources
- ISBN 000716212X.
- Murphy, Sean J. (2004) Twilight of the Chiefs: The Mac Carthy Mór Hoax. Bethesda, Maryland: ISBN 1930901437.