History of Name

Historians have said that St. Patrick met Muldowney when he made his cross country trip from Rome to Ireland. The story goes, that St. Patrick advised the Muldowney clan of his message and Muldowney refused to adhere to a new thought process. One of the young Muldowney boys whom was know for his cross bow skill was asked by the elder, to shoot St. Patrick died if he did not leave thier land. St. Patrick threw out his arms, said that he was devine and asked for God to shield him. The skillful young marksman Muldowney, ended up shooting a couple shots from his cross bow and missed everytime. As the story goes, that began the Christian movement that swept the country within a few short years.

The name Muldowney is found both in Ireland and Scotland. In Ireland it appears as the name of a sept akin to the MOLONYS, while in Scotland it was more commonly a personal rather than a surname. The origin of the name is the Gaelic O MAOLDOMNAIGH, meaning "Sunday's servant" or "Devotee of the Church."

In Gaelic the prefix "maol" means "servant" and stems from a word meaning "cropped" in the sense of "close-cropped hair." Close-cropped hair was a mark of a servile position among the Gaels whose nobles wore their hair long. When the Christianization of the Gaels took place, the prefix was often added to the personal names of popular saints to indicate an individual devoted to a saint.

In Ireland the Gaelic name MAOLDOMNAIGH has been variously anglicized as MULDOWNEY, MacGILDOWNEY, GILDOWNEY, MacDOWNEY, and DOWNEY, as well as MOLONY. The names MULDOWNEY and MOLONY were often synonymous and Malachy O'MOLONY, the first Bishop of Kilmacduagh from 1570 to 1610, was also called MULDOWNEY. In Kilkenny, in the barony of Fassadinin, the census of 1659 lists MULLOWNEY AND MULDOWNEY AS one name.

The MULDOWNEYS were part of the Dalcassian troops of the Royal House of O'BRIEN. The arms depicted above is recorded under the synonymous name MOLONY, and would seem to indicate their reputation as warriors.

The name is also common in Scottish records where it was more often a personal rather than a last name. In Skye it was given as a personal name to a boy whose care was provided for from the Sunday collection.



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National Arbor Day Foundation

A donation to the National Arbor Day Foundation was made in memory of Carrie Anne Muldowney on 12/29/2008.