O'Keeffe

O'Keeffe and Keeffe, are the anglicised versions of the Irish Ó Caoimh, from caomh, meaning "kind" or "gentle".

The original Caomh from whom the family descend, lived in the early eleventh century, and was descended of Art, King of Munster from 742 to 762. See the main article, Eóganachta, for more discussion, as well as Eóganacht Glendamnach, the specific sept of the O'Keeffes.

For all of their history the family has been strongly associated with County Cork. Originally the territory of the family lay along the banks of the Blackwater river, near modern Fermoy, and were active in the wars of the twelfth century between the O'Connors and the Eoghanacht dynasties of Munster.

However, the arrival of the Normans displaced them, like so many others, and they moved west into the barony of Duhallow, where their territory became known, and is still known, as Pobal O'Keeffe, where the senior branch of the family had their seat at Dromagh in Dromtarriff Parish.

The last chiefs of this branch were Domhnall O'Keeffe of Dromagh (d. c. 1655), who was prominent in the Catholic Rebellion of the 1640s, and his son Captain Daniel O’Keeffe, who was killed fighting for King James at the Battle of Aughrim in 1691. The family estates were confiscated in 1703, and sold to the Hollow Blades Company.

Even today, Pobal O'Keeffe is still the area in which the name is most common, with surrounding areas of County Cork also including many of the name. It remains relatively rare outside that county. In 1890, more than two thirds of the births under the name are recorded in County Cork.

Like many of the dispossessed Irish nobility, the O’Keeffes were active in the service of the Catholic monarchs of Europe. In 1740 Constantine O'Keeffe (born c. 1670) was admitted to the French aristocracy on the basis of his Irish pedigree, and his long service. The bearers of the surname "Cuif", found in the Champagne district of northern France, are descendants of O'Keeffe soldiers.

The original spelling is with 2 ff's (O'Keeffe), and church officials recorded names as they were wrongly spelled, then often resulting in the name of a single person being recorded under several spelling variations, such as O'Keefe, Keefe, Keeffe, Keiffe, and others

People

• Andrew O'Keefe, Australian TV personality
• Alfred Henry O'Keeffe, New Zealand artist and art teacher
• Batt O'Keeffe, Irish politician
• Ciarán O'Keeffe, British parapsychologist
• Daniel O'Keefe (b. 1950), author and professor at Northwestern University
• David O'Keeffe, jurist
• Derrick O'Keefe, Canadian writer, teacher and political activist
• Eoin O'Keeffe, Irish composer based in the UK
• Eugene O'Keefe, 1862 founder of the O'Keefe Brewery in Toronto
• Frank O'Keefe (1912-1989), Australian politician
• Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986), prominent American artist/painter
• James O'Keeffe (1912-1986), Irish Fine Gael politician
• Jim O'Keeffe, Irish politician
• Jodi Lyn O'Keefe (b. 1978), American actress and model
• John O'Keefe, cognitive neuroscientist
• John O'Keeffe (Irish writer), an Irish playwright
• John O'Keeffe, Irish footballer
• John O'Keeffe, Irish Radio and Club DJ, also known as "Johnny Murda"
• John A. O'Keefe, American planetary scientist
• Johnny O'Keefe, Australian musician
• Jonathan O'Keeffe, birth name of Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers
• Joseph "Specs" O'Keefe, one of the participants in the Great Brinks Robbery
• Kerry O'Keeffe, Australian cricketer and sports commentator
• Lauren O'Keefe, American singer and member of girl group Jada
• Michael O'Keefe, American actor
• Michael A. O'Keefe, Australian-American physicist
• Miles O'Keeffe, American actor
• Ned O'Keeffe, Irish politician
• Padraig O'Keeffe (1887-1963), Irish traditional musician
• Richard O'Keefe, computer scientist
• Ruth O'Keeffe, British government councillor
• Sean O'Keefe, Chancellor of Louisiana State University, former Administrator of NASA and former United States Secretary of the Navy
• Sean O'Keeffe, DJ and musician, founding member of 2 Bad Mice, also records under his solo alias Deep Blue
• Timothy O'Keeffe, Irish editor and publisher
• Brothers Joel O'Keeffe and Ryan O'Keeffe, members of Australian hard rock band Airbourne

See also

• Clídna
• Eóganacht Glendamnach
• Eóganachta
• His Majesty O'Keefe, a 1954 adventure film, as well as the 1952 book of the same name, from which the film derives
• Irish nobility
• Irish royal families
• Carling O'Keefe breweries
• The O'Keefes, a short-lived television series

References

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (July 2009)

• Byrne, Francis J., Irish Kings and High-Kings. Four Courts Press. 2nd edition, 2001.
• Charles-Edwards, Thomas M., Early Christian Ireland. Cambridge University Press. 2000.
• MacLysaght, Edward, Irish Families: Their Names, Arms and Origins. Irish Academic Press. 4th edition, 1998.

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