The MacCarthy
Reagh Clan
Clann Mhic Cárthaigh Riabhaigh
The MacCarthy Reagh are a historic Gaelic clan of Carbery in southwest Ireland, descended from the great MacCarthy Clan of Munster. Today the Clan brings together descendants, kinsmen, friends, and researchers around the world to preserve the history of Carbery, strengthen the bonds of kinship, renew Gaelic-Irish cultural traditions, advance serious genealogical research, and carry the ancient ideal of hospitality and service into the present age.
OUR MISSION
To organize the global MacCarthy Reagh Clan in a spirit of kinship; to preserve and revitalize Gaelic-Irish culture and tradition; to recover the histories and genealogies of Carbery; and to bring practical charitable service to those in need.
Welcome - Fáilte
Whether you come as kin, as a friend, or as a fellow student of Irish history, fáilte.
The MacCarthy Reagh form one of the principal branches of the greater MacCarthy Clan of Munster. The Carbery line descends from the family of Domnall Guid MacCarthy, commonly known as Donal Goth MacCarthy, King of Desmond. In the thirteenth century his descendants became associated with the territory of Carbery, and around 1280 the lands of Desmond south of the River Lee were ceded to Domnall Maol MacCarthy. From this territorial lordship emerged the dynasty later known as Mac Cárthaigh Riabhach - the MacCarthy Reagh.
For more than three centuries the chiefs of this family ruled Carbery. The old territorial order was gradually broken by Tudor and Stuart expansion, war, confiscation, and the transformation of Gaelic law and lordship. The last historically recognized Chief of the Name died in 1754, after which the chiefship lay in interregnum until a modern Dearbhfhine election in 2025. The family itself, however, never disappeared. Its descendants spread through Ireland and across the wider world, carrying with them the names McCarthy, MacCarthy, Carty, Carthy, and numerous local family traditions.
What We Value
Tradition - Seanchas
The Clan seeks to preserve Irish culture and the spirit of the Gaelic way of life with seriousness rather than nostalgia. Historical custom, Brehon law, genealogy, heraldry, music, language, martial tradition, and the memory of Carbery are studied because they give continuity and meaning to a living community.
Charity - Déirc
Mutual assistance was woven into the old Irish legal and social order. The modern Clan therefore regards service to those in need as more than an optional activity: it is one of the clearest ways in which inherited values can be made useful in the modern world.
Family - Muintir
Family is the bond that makes a clan more than a historical society. Political power may vanish and records may be lost, but kinship endures. The long-term work of the MacCarthy Reagh is therefore to reconnect the dispersed family, preserve its stories, and hand a coherent inheritance to the generations that follow.
Discover the Clan
Our History
Carbery
The Chiefship
Genealogy & Research
The Clan Today
The restored Clan is not intended merely to commemorate a lost medieval polity.
Its work is directed toward practical cultural restoration: supporting scholarship and genealogy, preserving Gaelic customs, maintaining ceremonial and household offices, developing the Gallowglass as a fellowship of charity and heritage, and creating opportunities for the global diaspora to participate in the life of the Clan.
