Macdara

"Macdara" is an Irish first name that originates from the Christian saint, Macdara who lived off the west coast of Ireland on a remote island over 1,500 years ago, whose own first name was Sinach.

"St. Macdara's Island, a tiny speck of green about a half-mile long, was home in the sixth century to St. Macdara, Connemara's most respected saint, who built a one-room chapel here, with a dirt floor, walls of huge stones and a steep stone roof. In 1975 the church was restored and today it is considered one of the finest early Christian oratories in Ireland."^[1]

Today in Ireland the name Macdara is quite rare as a first name but one of the most prominent uses of the name is a second level school located in the south of Dublin city named St Mac Dara's College and a renowned international clarinet soloist Macdara Ó Seireadáin. Another notable musician by the name of Macdara is Mac Dara Ó Raghallaigh, 1992 All-Ireland Champion on the fiddle.

Notes

1. ↑ Daryln Brewer Hoffstot, "Where Legends Outnumber People", New York Times, 1 August 1999

See also

• Enda of Aran
• Brendan
• Conainne
• Grellan
• Kerrill
• Jarlath

References

• Celtic and Old-English Saints
• Cruach—na—Caurra (Saint Mac Dara's Island)
• Hoffstot, Darylin Brewer; New York Times