Men of mystery

The Kennedys (Gaelic Ceannaideach) are one of the great Lowland families of Scotland, their heartland being that southern portion of Ayrshire called Carrick.

Some claim that they crossed from Ireland and settled in south west Scotland. Their progenitor was on Céndetig (“ugly-headed”) who is mentioned in the book of Leinster.

Others say they are descended from one Cunedda, a minor prince of the Votadini, a British tribe whose capital was either Edinburgh or Traprain Law.

In the “Black Book of Scone” (now lost) it was claimed that they came from the Western Isles, and that the name was originally Mackenane or Mackenede, both meaning “son of Kenneth”.

One of these “sons of Kenneth”, living during the reign of Malcolm II (105-1053) was the founder of the clan.

His descendants were supposed to have fought alongside Alexander III (1249-1286) against the Danes at the Battle of Largs in 1263. For this, he was given the lands of Dunure in Carrick.

However, the name was actually in use in south west Scotland long before the reign of Alexander III, and it may even be that the Kennedys are descended from early lords of Galloway.

Any one of the above explanations may be the right one, and unless any new evidence is unearthed, the origins of the Kennedys will remain a mystery.

In 1158, Henry Kennedi is named as one of the rebels in a plot against Roland, earl of Galloway. And there was a Gilbert Mackenedi who witnessed a charter in the reign of William the Lion (1165-1214).

We find a Gillescop MacKenedi mentioned as Steward of Carrick in 1243, and a charter of Duncan, 1st earl of Carrick (died 1250), was witnessed by one “Murthac the Steward”. This was probably the same Murthac Mackenedi who witnessed another charter in the same year.

By about 1260, however, the name was becoming increasingly common. Murthac Mackenedy, Samuel Mackenedi and Henry Mackenedi were members of the assizes at Ayr on July 21 1260.

And on September 22, Murthac and Henry were members of another assize court this time at Girvan.

Kennedys certainly fought alongside Wallace and Bruce. But there were Kennedys on the English side as well. One Alexander Kennedy, “clerico” (suggesting that he was in holy orders) swore fealty to Edward I of England in 1296.

In the same year, he witnessed John Baliol’s renunciation of the treaty with France which had established the Auld Alliance.

However, Kennedys later fought for the French against England, and we know that a group of Scottish mercenaries who were in Joan of Arc’s army in the early 15th century was commanded by a Kennedy.

Before the 14th century, the name appears in various spellings, mostly with the “mac” prefix, though sometimes without.

By at least 1346, however, the prefix had been dropped completely. In the year we first hear of John Kennedy, head of the Kennedys of Dunure.

His first wife was Marjorie Montgomerie, and from her he acquired the important lands of Cassillis, near Dunure. From then on the Dunure branch became known as the Kennedys of Cassillis, and they chose to live in Cassillis Castle near Dalrymple.

Neil, 2nd earl of Carrick, had at one time granted a charter to his nephew Roland de Carrick “and his heirs” creating him kenkynol or chief of his branch of the family.

In 1372 Robert II, 1st Stewart king, reaffirmed this charter in favour of that same John Kennedy of Dunure.

However, this kenkynolship, by royal charter, had to pass through the female line. John’s second wife was Mary de Carrick, and from her he and his heirs obtained the title. He was now chieftain, not only of the Kennedys, but of a family with direct links to the earldom of Carrick.

Today the earldom is a royal one, and borne by the heir to the throne. Prince Charles is therefore the present earl.

John’s son was Sir Gilbert Kennedy (1340-1408). His son James married Princess Mary, daughter of Robert III, and from that time there was royal blood in the main Kennedy line.

Their son Gilbert was one of the Regents of Scotland during James III’s minority, and in 1457 created 1st Lord Kennedy.

Another son was more famous, however. He was James, who became Bishop of St Andrews. He was one of the great statesmen of his time, and was guardian and councillor to James III.

By now, the family was beginning to fragment into minor, but still powerful, cadet branches. The Kennedys, it seems, were ambitious people, and second and third sons were not content to play second fiddle. They carved out careers and powerful families for themselves.

Apart from the main Cassillis line, there were the Kennedys of Bargany, the Kennedys of Kirkmichael, the Kennedys of Girvanmains, and so on. And within each minor line there were further cadet branches.

David, 3rd Lord Kennedy, was created 1st Earl of Cassillis in 1509. However, he was killed at Flodden in 1513.

About that time, many minor Kennedy lairdships disappear from the scene, no doubt because the lairds and their retainers perished also.

The Kennedys eventually spread south into Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. The main stronghold in the south was Castle Kennedy near Stranraer. The lands had been acquired in 1482 by John, 2nd Lord Kennedy.

The park lands were laid out as magnificent gardens by the Earl of Stair, who eventually bought them, and can now be visited.

Legends and dark deeds

No history of the Kennedys would be complete without the famous story of the “roasting of the abbot” in 1570.

At the Reformation, the Abbey of Crossraguel’s possessions and lands were placed in the hands of Allan Stewart, who was styled “Commendator of Crossraguel”. He was strictly speaking, not an abbot, but he enjoyed the powers and privileges of one.

Gilbert, 4th Earl of Cassillis, was “ane wery greidy man”, and coveted the abbey lands. Promises and threats had failed to make Allan sign them over, so Gilbert captured him and brought him to Dunure Castle.

There he had him tied to a spit, then basted and roasted over an open fire until he signed away the lands.

He was eventually rescued by his brother-in-law, Kennedy of Bargany, sworn enemy of Gilbert. Allan rescinded his signature, and appealed to the Crown.

The Crown, however, thought better of crossing so powerful a man as Gilbert, and did nothing. The 4th Earl therefore kept the Crossraguel lands.

Another well-known story about the Kennedys, however, has no basis in fact. This concerns Sir John Faa of Dunbar, nicknamed “Johnny Faa, King of the Gypsies”.

It seems that Lady Jean Hamilton, daughter of the Earl of Haddington, unwillingly married John, 6th Earl of Cassillis. However, she was in love with another – Sir John Faa.

She went reluctantly to live in Ayrshire, and eventually bore the Earl many children. However, she never forgot Sir John, and he never forgot her.

Then, one day, when the Earl was in London on church business, Sir John returned to rescue Jean from Cassillis Castle. With him were fourteen gypsies, and he himself was disguised as one.

They tricked their way into the castle, and rescued Jean. However, the Earl returned early from London, and set out in pursuit. He caught up with the runaways and took them to Cassillis, where he made Jean watch as Johnny Faa and the gypsies were hanged from the Earl’s “dule-tree”.

Thereafter Jean was incarcerated within Maybole Castle, where she spent her days making tapestries. Above one window of the castle you can still see carvings which are said to represent Johnny and his gypsies.

The story is completely untrue, as letters written by the 6th Earl on the death of his countess show they were a close couple. The story is found in many forms throughout Europe, and has formed the basis of many a ballad.

The Kennedys were fighters. They fought with their Ayrshire neighbours, but most especially they fought among themselves.

The great Kennedy feud was between the Cassillis and Bargany branches. The reasons were complicated, and not always understood even by the families themselves.

It lasted over two generations in the 16th century, and dragged in minor Kennedys, other families in the area, and serfs who owed allegiance to either family.

They even fought on opposite sides at the Battle of Langside in 1568. Carrick was awash with blood, and the feud only ended with the death of the head of the Barganys in 1601.

The Bargany stronghold was Ardstinchar Castle at Ballantrae. The head of the Barganys, Gilbert Kennedy, and some of his men had been riding home from Ayr, and were met by John, 5th Earl of Cassillis and 200 men near Maybole. Knowing he was outnumbered, Gilbert tried to ride round them.

But the Cassillis men were spoiling for a fight, and one duly took place. Gilbert was wounded and died five days later in Ayr.

His widow had him buried in a magnificent tomb within Ballantrae church, and, though the church is now gone, you can still see it today in the churchyard.

The funeral procession was said to comprise over 1,000 people, with Earls and Lords among them. His nephew carried a banner which read “Judge and Revenge my Cause, O Lord!”

However, no revenge took place, and his heir Thomas died childless in 1621. With him, the Bargany line died out.

After the death of Gilbert, when the Earls of Cassillis became undisputed heads of the whole family, the Kennedys settled down to more peaceful pursuits.

On the field of battle

A name of truly ancient pedigree rooted deep in the soil of the Emerald Isle, ‘Kennedy’ has two possible points of origin.

In common with many other surnames, it derives from what was originally a forename – while Irish-Gaelic forms of this given name are Cinnéide and Ceannéidigh.

The surname Ó Cinnéide denotes ‘grandson of Cinnéide’, while Ó Ceannéidigh denotes ‘grandson of Ceannéidigh.’

‘Ceannéidigh’, meanwhile, derives from ceann, indicating ‘head’ or ‘leader’, while éidigh indicates ‘ugly’ or ‘grim’ – and both Ceannéidigh and Cinnéide may originally have denoted ‘grim-headed’ or even ‘helmet- headed.’

Intriguingly, the ancient Coat of Arms of the Ó Cinnéides, or Kennedys, features three helmets in profile, helmets that would have been worn in battle.

This indicates that the appellation of ‘grim- headed’ or ‘helmet-headed’ may therefore have originally been descriptive of a warrior chief, clad for combat, the very sight of whom on the bloody field of battle would have struck terror into the hearts of his enemies.

Also, in keeping with the martial tradition of the Kennedys, the Crest of their Coat of Arms features an embowed arm with the hand firmly grasping a scimitar.

Travelling back through the dim mists of time, ‘Ceannéidigh’ is also thought to relate to the Gaelic name ‘Cénnetig’, and further unravelling a highly complex genealogical skene, this is why some bearers of the Kennedy name today may trace a descent from some of Ireland’s most colourful and illustrious historical figures.

Foremost among them is Brian Boru, or Brian Boruma, also known as Brian mac Cennétig, son of Cennétig MacLorcain, a tenth century king of the territory known as Thomond, in the province of Munster, and which embraced most of the modern day counties of Tipperary, Limerick, Clare and Kerry.

In common with the more dominant O’Briens, Boru’s lineage was of the mighty tribal grouping known as the DálgCais, the Race of Cas, or Dalcassians, and whose territory was Dal Cas in the upper reaches of Thomond.

This powerful grouping was named from the legendary Cormac Cas, the early to mid-third century chieftain of Munster who was renowned for his remarkable, courage, strength and dexterity.

He inflicted a celebrated defeat on the men of the province of Leinster in a battle fought near present day Wexford, but was killed in battle in 254 A.D. at Dun-tri-Lag, or the Fort of the Stone Slabs, known today as Duntrileague, in Co. Limerick.

His deathblow, according to the ancient annals, came from the spear of the Leinster king known rather colourfully as Eochy of the Red Eyebrows.

It is from a descendant of Cormac Cas that the proud O’Briens take their name, while it was the Dalcassian Brian Boru, ancestor of the Kennedys, who stamped an indelible mark on Ireland’s historical record.

This was at the battle of Clontarf, fought about four miles north of Dublin on Good Friday of 1014.

Late tenth and early eleventh century Ireland was the scene of vicious inter-clan rivalry as successive chiefs fought for supremacy over their rivals.

It was this disunity that worked to the advantage of the Norman invaders of the twelfth century and the Viking invaders of previous centuries.

The period 795 A.D. to 1014 A.D. is known to Irish history as the Viking Tyranny, and it was largely through the inspired leadership of Brian Boru that Viking power was diminished, although not completely eliminated.

He was able to achieve this by managing to rally a number of chieftains to his cause – although by no means all.

With his battle-hardened warriors known as the Dalcassian knights at his side, Boru had by 1002 A.D. achieved the prize of Ard Rí Éireann, High King of Ireland, but there were still rival chieftains, and not least the Vikings, to contend with.

These Vikings, known as Ostmen, had occupied and fortified Dublin in the mid-ninth century and had other important trading settlements on other parts of the island.

Resenting Boru’s High Kingship, a number of chieftains, particularly those of Leinster, found common cause with the Ostmen and the two sides met in final and bloody confrontation at Clontarf.

Boru proved victorious, but the annals speak of great slaughter on the day, with the dead, including the High King’s three sons Murrough, Conaing and Moltha, piled high on the field of battle.

Boru had little time to celebrate his victory – being killed in his tent by a party of fleeing Vikings led by Brodar the Dane.

The first to enter the tent had his legs cut off with a sweep of the High King’s mighty two-handed sword.

Brodar then struck him a fatal blow on the back of his head with his axe, but Boru rallied the last of his dying strength to cut of his assailant’s head with another sweep of his sword before killing yet another Viking.

Brian Boru and all who had fought for him at Clontarf passed into legend, and the great warrior king was interred in a stone coffin on the north side of the high altar in Armagh Church.

It is through a nephew of Brian Boru, Mahon, son of Boru’s older brother Donncuan, that the Kennedys trace a descent from the victor of the battle of Clontarf.

Mahon was the first to designate himself ‘Ó Cinnéide’, and the Ó Cinnéides, or Kennedys, came to hold sway in the region known as Ormond – comprising northern Tipperary, Mayo, northern Limerick and eastern Clare.

Before establishing themselves beyond the river Shannon in Ormond, they had been settled in Glenmor, near Killaloe.

The Annals of the Four Masters state that by 1300 the Kennedys were “undisputed Lords of Ormond”, with castles that included Ballintotty, Dromineer, Garrykennedy and Nenagh – while the Kennedy name also survives on the Irish landscape to this day with place names that include Coolkennedy and Killokennedy.

So numerous were the Kennedys that they split into three branches, originally ruled over by chiefs who were distinguished from one another by their hair colour. Thus arose the rua (red) Kennedys, the don (brown) and the fionn (blond).

Adding complexity to the presence of bearers of the Kennedy name throughout the Emerald Isle today is that in the early years of the seventeenth century a number re-located north to settle in Co. Antrim, one of the six present day counties of Ulster, or Northern Ireland.

Meanwhile, there was also an influx of another totally separate group of Kennedys to Ulster.

These Kennedys, from the south-western Scottish coast of Galloway and the western coast of Ayrshire – all within relatively short sailing distance of the north of Ireland – were related to the Scottish Clan Kennedy, whose motto is Consider the End and crest a dolphin.

The proud Clan Kennedy, who supported the great Scottish warrior king Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Independence against England, achieved high honours and distinction with, in 1457, Gilbert Kennedy being created Lord Kennedy.

The seat of Clan Kennedy is Cassillis House, near Maybole, in Ayrshire, while their former seat was the magnificent Culzean Castle, which remains a major tourist attraction to this day.

Other properties include Dunure Castle and Greenan Castle, while the Chief of the Name of Kennedy is The Most Honourable Archibald Angus Charles Kennedy, 8th Marquess of Ailsa and Earl of Cassillis.

Those Kennedys who settled in Ulster from Scotland did so through what was known as the policy of ‘plantation’, the settlement of loyal Protestants on lands held by native Irish that was started during the reign from 1491 to 1547 of Henry VIII, and whose Reformation effectively outlawed the Roman Catholic faith throughout his dominions.

The plantation continued throughout the subsequent reigns of Elizabeth I, James I (James VI of Scotland) and in the wake of the Cromwellian invasion of 1649.

It was during the reign of James I that many ‘Scottish’ Kennedys were settled in Ulster – where their descendants remain to this day as part of a proud Ulster-Scots heritage.

It is because of the intermingling of original native Irish Ó Cinnéides, or Kennedys, and those whose roots are in Scotland, that all Kennedys on the Emerald Isle today are recognised by the Chief of the Scottish Clan Kennedy as part of the clan and therefore entitled to share in its honours and traditions.

Wealth and power

It was in June of 1963 that U.S. President John Fitzgerald “Jack” Kennedy, also known as JFK, paid a four-day state visit to the Irish Republic.

In many ways it was a homecoming for the charismatic 35th President of the United States, for it was from Ireland that his paternal great-grandfather had emigrated in the early years of the nineteenth century for a new life in America – and, unwittingly, laying the foundations for one of the nation’s greatest and wealthiest political dynasties.

In addition to becoming the first foreign leader to address the Houses of the Oireachtas, the Irish Parliament, President Kennedy also visited the humble cottage at Dunganstown, near the town of New Ross, in Co. Wexford, where his great-grandfather Patrick Kennedy had been born in about 1823 – a descendant of the original native Irish Ó Cinnéides.

The son of a farmer and one of three children, it was his older brother who inherited the family farm following the death of their parents.

At the time of the Irish potato famine and with scant prospect of being able to maintain a living in his native land, Patrick Kennedy departed for America when he was aged 26.

He had already been taught the skills of coopering, or barrel making, by a friend who worked in a brewery in New Ross.

This friend, Patrick Barron, had left for America before Kennedy and he welcomed him when he arrived in Boston.

Obtaining employment as a cooper, he later married Bridget Murphy, a cousin of Barron, and the couple had five children who included Patrick Joseph “P.J.” Kennedy, also known as Joe Kennedy.

Patrick Kennedy died of cholera shortly after P.J.’s birth in 1858, and his widow Bridget went on to establish a highly successful grocery and liquor store in Boston.

Educated at both Boston Latin School and Harvard University, the ambitious Joe Kennedy entered the world of finance and, through shrewd stock market investments and investment in a range of enterprises that included real estate, the steel industry and even the Hollywood movie industry, soon accrued a substantial fortune.

Also appointed to political office, the Democrat Joe Kennedy served from 1936 to 1938 as 1st Chairman of the U.S. Maritime Commission, 1st Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and, from 1938 to late 1940, as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom.

It was while in the latter post that he was effectively consigned to the political wilderness after declaring, in war-torn Britain, that “democracy is finished.”

In 1914, Joe Kennedy had married Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald, eldest daughter of his political rival at the time John Francis “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald.

The couple had nine children between 1915 and 1932, but it was a family afflicted with tragedy, leading to what was referred to as “the Kennedy curse.”

Their oldest son, Joe Kennedy, Jr., was killed at the age of 29 in an aeroplane crash over the English Channel in 1944 while serving as a U.S. Navy pilot.

A daughter, Rose Marie “Rosemary” Kennedy, born in 1918, underwent a lobotomy in 1941 which left her severely incapacitated; institutionalised in 1949, she died in 2005.

Following the death of Joe Kennedy, Jr., Joe Kennedy Sr. invested his hopes for Kennedy family political greatness in the person of his second son John Fitzgerald Kennedy, born in 1917.

Working carefully behind the scenes and utilising his financial and political clout, Joe Kennedy was able to steer his son towards a career in politics.

This included, following a distinguished Second World War naval career, election as a Democrat to the House of Representatives in 1947, election to the U.S. Senate and, the greatest prize of all, election in 1961 as President of the United States.

As 35th President, he was the youngest to hold the powerful office while he was the first and, to date, the only Catholic to hold the office.

His powerful cabinet or ‘court’ of appointees and advisors, known as ‘Camelot’, signalled a Golden Age in American politics.

Key events during his tenure in office included the African-American Civil Rights Movement and his support for landmark legislation to improve the lot of African-Americans, the abortive Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, the Space Race with the Soviet Union, the building of the Berlin Wall and the very early stages of the Vietnam War.

But the Golden Age of Camelot came to a tragic end on Friday, November 22, 1963, when he was assassinated while on a visit to Dallas, Texas.

Travelling in a motorcade through the city with his wife, Jacqueline, beside him, he was shot three times; rushed to Parklands Hospital, he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

Lee Harvey Oswald, an employee of the Texas School Book Depository from where the fatal shots were believed to have been fired, was taken into police custody.

Claiming that he had been a ‘patsy’ in the affair – set up to take all the blame – he was shot and killed two days after the assassination by the nightclub owner Jack Ruby while being taken from custody in a Dallas police station.

An investigation into the Kennedy assassination, the Warren Commission, concluded that Oswald had been a lone assassin – but a much later United States House Select Committee on Assassinations, after carefully re-examining all the evidence, determined that JFK had ‘probably’ been assassinated as part of a much wider and carefully organised conspiracy.

Further tragedy struck the Kennedy family in 1968 when JFK’s brother, Robert Francis Kennedy, better known as Bobby Kennedy, was assassinated at the age of 43.

Having been appointed by his brother as U.S. Attorney General, it was while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination that he was shot and killed by a 24-year-old Palestinian, Sirhan Sirhan, after addressing supporters in the Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles.

His younger brother, Edward Moore “Ted” Kennedy, born in 1932, meanwhile served as Senator for Massachusetts for close on 47 years; he died in 2009. His son Patrick J. Kennedy is a U.S. Congressman.

Joe Kennedy, Sr. died in 1969, while his wife Rose died in 1995 at the age of 104.

Their daughter Kathleen Agnes “Kick” Kennedy, born in 1920 and who became Marchioness of Huntington following her marriage to William “Billy” Cavendish, was killed in an aircraft crash in France in 1948.

Her sister Eunice Mary Kennedy, born in 1921 and who died in 2009, was an international advocate for the disabled and the founder of the Special Olympics. Her younger sister, Jean Ann Kennedy, born in 1928, served from 1993 to 1998 as U.S. Ambassador to Ireland.

It had been in 1953 that the future President Kennedy had married Jacqueline “Jackie” Lee Bouvier. Five years after her husband’s assassination she married the Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, who died in 1975; after pursuing a career in the arts, including as a book editor, she died in 1994.

She and JFK were the parents of four children – one child was born stillborn in 1956 – while Patrick Bouvier Kennedy died from infant respiratory disease only two days after his birth in 1963.

Their son John Fitzgerald “John-John” Kennedy, the lawyer and magazine publisher born in 1960, was killed in an aeroplane crash along with his wife and her sister in 1999.

His sister, Caroline Bouvier Kennedy, born in 1957, is the president of the John F. Kennedy Library Association, while her sister Maria Owings Shriver, born in 1955, is the journalist and author who was married for a time to the actor and Republican California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Among the many memorials throughout the world today to the late President Kennedy is a statue of him unveiled by his sister Jean at New Ross, Co. Wexford, in 2008.

There is also the magnificent John F. Kennedy Arboretum near New Ross and the J.F. Kennedy Memorial Park in Eyre Square, Co. Galway.

Still in the Kennedy homeland of Ireland and in the world of politics, Hugh Kennedy, born in Dublin in 1879, was one of the architects of the Constitution of the Irish Free State, which was established in December of 1922.

Appointed the first Attorney General of the Irish Free State and later its first Chief Justice, he died in 1936.

In contemporary politics, Charles Kennedy, born in Inverness in 1959, is the British Liberal Democrat politician who led the party from August of 1999 until January of 2006.

Member of Parliament (MP) for the Scottish constituency of Ross, Skye and Lochaber, he was elected rector of Glasgow University in 2008 and then again in 2011.

Born in Glasgow in 1950, Helena Ann Kennedy, elevated to the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1997 as Lady Kennedy of The Shaws, in Cathcart, Glasgow, is the leading barrister, broadcaster and Labour member of the House of Lords whose father, Joshua Kennedy, was a printer with the Scottish newspaper the Daily Record and a trade’s union official.

The recipient of a number of honours and awards, she is also a former chair of the Human Genetics Commission.

Knighted in 1994 for his services to journalism, Ludovic Kennedy was the journalist, author and broadcaster born in Edinburgh in 1919.

An investigative reporter, he exposed a number of miscarriages of justice that include the wrongful conviction and hanging of Timothy Evans for crimes actually committed by his landlord John Christie.

This is detailed in Kennedy’s 1961 book Ten Rillington Place, adapted for a film of the same name in 1970.

Married to the actress Moira Shearer, he died three years after her death in 2006.