From Ó Cianáin, ‘little ancient one’ — hereditary historians to the Maguire chiefs of Fermanagh.
The Keenan certificate.
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Gaelic Origin · Root meaning ‘ancient, long-standing’
Keenan comes from Ó Cianáin, a diminutive built on cian, ‘ancient’ or ‘long-standing’ (the same root behind Ó Céin, one of the two names collapsed into Keane). The family served as hereditary historians to the Maguire chiefs of Fermanagh, alongside the Cassidys' medical line in the same court.
A family whose entire inherited job was remembering everyone else's history — and whose own has outlasted the court they kept it for.
Irish form: Ó Cianáin
