Dennehy

The name Dennehy is principally associated with Irish counties Cork and Kerry. In Cork, the name is most common in the Duhallow area, around the Blackwater river. The original form in Irish is Ó Duineachdha meaning descendant of Duineachaidh. Duineachaidh was chieftain of a small tribe in north-western Co. Waterford, on the border of Co. Cork who participated in the battles against the Danes in Limerick in 934. The name goes back to the 11th century recorded in the Battle of Dublin. There are two meanings of the name in the books. One is "humane" and the other is "man from the fairy hills". Variations include "duineachaidh", meaning pure. This sept is from the same ancestral line as the O'Sullivan family. Maonach Ui(O)Duineachdha was the founder of the sept.