The O'Connor Kerry were chiefs of a large territory in north Kerry, displaced further northwards by the Norman invasion to the Limerick borders, where they retained much of their power down to the seventeenth century. Today, the descendants of these O'Connors are far and away the most numerous, with the majority of all the many O'Connors in Ireland concentrated in the Kerry/Limerick/Cork area.
Celtic world, Connor became the title of the one who triumphed, of he who won rule of the land. Perhaps it derived for Conn - but that's not important. Even today, the inherent meaning of Connor is `the wilful one.' But one thousand years later, in a once-Celtic land which had been occupied by Romans for a few centuries, and into which had streamed Danes and Norse and Angles and Saxons - as well as Irish and Scots - a foreign invader defeated local forces and established his rule on this land. Is it so acceptable to the Brits to believe that the name given to William by the locals - Conqueror - derived from the Irish / Celtic Connor (pronounced con-coo-ear) rather from the postulated 'conquirre' of Latin, a term apparently cobbled together in medaevial times and interpreted today as `questing together'?"
O'Connor Kerry, as the chief of the Munster O'Connors was called, derives his name from a different Conchobhar. He was lord of an extensive area in north Kerry, but after the invasion of 1170 Anglo-Norman pressure pushed the O'Connors northwards towards the Shannon estuary. However, they still retained a considerable territory, in fact the greater part of the modern barony of Iraghticonor, which is an attempt at a phonetic spelling of Oireacht ui Chonchobhair, i.e. O'Connor's district of government: their chief stronghold in Iraghticonor was Carrigafoyle Castle. From this sept came a number of distinguished officers of the Irish Brigade in France, the best known of whom was Arthur O'Connor (1763-1852), United Irishman and later a general in Napoleons army; his brother Roger O'Connor (1761-1834), an erratic character who was also a member of the United Irishmen, and the latter's son, Fergus O'Connor (1794-1855), the Chartist.
Some of this family changed their name to Conner. The three most notable Irish-American O'Connors were of this sept: the brothers Michael O'Connor (1810-1872), and James O'Connor (1823-1890), both Catholic bishops in U.S.A., and Patrick Edward O'Connor (1820-1871), pioneer, Indian fighter and soldier in the Civil War on the Confederate side. The O'Connor sept of Kerry is at the present day much the most numerous of them all. It is estimated that there are almost 30,000 persons of the name in Ireland to-day - it comes ninth in the list of commonest surnames and the vast majority of these are from Kerry or from the adjoining counties of Cork and Limerick.
Septs: The Clans eventually broke up into a number of distinct septs or groups. These groups were headed by an original member of the clan and dominated a particular part of the countryside. It was not uncommon for septs from the same clan to be found in completely different parts of the country (O'Connor for example) so it is important when researching your roots to try to find out the original part of the country that your ancestors came from as this may be a completely different area from that where the 'major' sept was domicile. The sept system was an integral part of Gaelic society and survived and was even propagated by the Norman invaders. The system did not survive the English invasion and colonisation of the seventeenth century however, and it became a disadvantage to have a Gaelic sounding name.
Anglicization: The Penal laws that were enforced by the colonists attempted to completely subjugate the Gaelic way of life. It is about this time then, that many Gaelic names changed to their Anglo equivalent or translation. This can cause confusion as many of the names were misinterpreted or misspelled. (O'Connor, Connor, Conner, Conaire). There are many different origins for Irish names today but the vast majority can be broken down into either of three categories: Gaelic Irish, Cambro-Norman, and finally Anglo-Irish.
Source: O'Connor Ancestors
Memoirs of Charles O'Conor of Belenagare,
with a historical account of the O'Conor family by the Rev Charles O'Conor
of Dublin ,1776
Memoir of the O'Connors of Ballintubber, Co Roscommon by R O'Conor
1859 Dublin
Lineal descent of the O'Connors of Co Roscommonby Roderic O'Connor
1862 Dublin
Historical and Genealogical Memoir of the O'Connors, Kings of Connaught by
R. O'Connor Dublin 1861
The O'Connor Papers : thier significance to Genealogists by Dunleavy,
G.W., + J.E. Dunleavy Eire-Ir 11 (2) (1976):104-18
The O'Connor Family: Families of Daniel and Matthias O'Connor of Corsallagh
House, Achonry, Co Sligo, Ireland, A.D. 1750. Brooklyn, NY by O'Connor,
Watson Burdette. 1914 (Daniel O'Connor went to Trinidad and his descendants
are still to be found there whilts Matthias went to New York.)
The O'Connors of Connaught: An Historical Memoir- manuscript of John ODonovan
LLD and state papers, public records by RT Hon. Charles O'Conor Don. Pub
by Hodgis, Figgis and Co Grafton st in 1891.
Memoir of a Controversy Respecting the Name Borne by the O'Connors of
Ballintobber, The title of Don and the Legal Representatives of the Family by
Roderic O'Conor Esq.Dublin 1857
This small booklet appears to be a "family feud" committed to writing :-) I
suspect that Roderic O'Conor (the author who takes great pains to show that
the spelling "O'Conor" is wrong!) is the author of the later work of 1859 "Memoir
of the O'Connors of Ballintubber, Co. Roscommon" and would be his way of "correcting" the
inaccuracies that he perceived in Weld's Statistical Survey of the County of
Roscommon and which inaccuracies were apparently submitted by the brothers
Owen and Matthew O'Connor.
Memoirs of Gerald O'Connor : of the princely house of the O'Connors
of Offaly in the Kingdom of Ireland done into modern English by his kinsman
William O'Connor Morris. AUTHOR O'Connor, Gerald. London : Digby, Long, 1903.
311p.
Connor Will Book, 1818- 20, 1853 58. National Archives.
O'Connor: People and Places, by Hugh W. L. Weir Ballinakella Press
Whitegate, Co Clare, Ireland Tel/Fax :061-927030
The subject book, which lists several Connor/Conner/O'Connor/Connors lines
a long time back, generally ending about 1900, with the final descendant generally
still in Ireland.
O'Conor; Roderic O'Conor, 1860-1940 by Paula Murphy ISBN#: 0948524383
Publisher: Roberts Rinehart Publishers, Incorporated Format: Hardcover Date
Published: June 1992 >> Buy the Book! 
O'CONNOR, PATRICK: The Royal O'Connors Of Connaught. Old House Press,
Ireland, 1997. 80pp. 0 9529928 1 7: IR£7.00
A small light : ten songs of O'Connor of Carrigafoyleby Brendan
Kennelly. Dublin: Gallery Press, 1979. 18p.
The lion of freedom : Feargus O'Connor and the Chartist movement, 1832-1842 /
James Epstein Publisher London:Croom Helm, c1982
History of O'Connor Corcomroe Clanwritten by Brother Michael O'Connor
can by purchased from Lorcan O'Connor Post Master Ennistymon, Co Clare, Ireland.
O'Conor Don: "WHAT IS MEANT BY FREEDOM OF EDUCATION" 1872, 52pp.,
stitched as issued. V.g..
"SPEECH OF THE O'Conor Don on The 2nd Reading of the Land Tenure (Ireland)
Bill" Extracted from Hansard, 1878. 6pp., double-column. V.g..
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