The Clan/Sept History

Aherne is an anglicisation of Ó Echtigerna, from Echtigern meaning "lord of horses", and is also found in the variants "Hearn" and "Hearne". An earlier and phonetically closer version was O'Hagerin. Echtigern was a relatively common personal name in Gaelic society, borne by a nephew of Brian Ború for instance. The surname originated, in fact, in the sept or tribe of Brian, the Dál gCais, and has always been strongly associated with their homeland in Co. Clare. The Dál gCais were a dynastic group of related septs located in north munster, and who rose to political prominence in the early medieval era in Ireland. They claimed descent from Cas mac Donal Eculath (Hence the term Dal, meaning portion or share of Cas ), though in later times for resons of political expediencey they claimed descent from the ancestor of the Eóganachta Kings of Munster, Oilliol Olum. In early historic Ireland they were a very obscure, one of many of the subject peoples of the Éoganacht. However, in the seventh and eighth centurys they moved north and annexed Tuadh Mumhan (Thomond), when the overkingdom of Uí Fiachrach Aidhnefell into decline. Up to this time it was part of Connacht; it remains part of Munster to this day. Thomond was to remain the heartland of the Dal gCais and its septs; it is most especially associated with the family of O'Brien(Ua Briain, Ó Briain), who reigned as its kings from the 930s to 1543, and from 1543to the present day as Baron Inchiquin. The current incumbent (18th Baron Inchiquin) is Conor O'Brien; a thirty-second generation descendant of Brian Boru(High King of Ireland, 1002-1014. He is also known simply as The O'Brien, and is Chief of the Name, Prince of Thomond.
The family territory was in the south-east of the county, around Sixmilebridge. At an early date, however, the entire family and their descendants appear to have been forced to migrate from this ancestral territory; one source records them being driven out by the MacNamaras in the early fourteenth century. At any rate, by the mid seventeenth century the surname is not recorded as one of the principal Irish names of Co. Clare, appearing instead in east Cork and Waterford. In Cork the family were followers of the Hiberno-Norman lords of the area, the Fitzgeralds, Earls of Desmond and Lord Roche. In 1890 122 births of the forms Ahern/Aherne were recorded, principally in counties Cork and Limerick, while 15 of the form Hearne/Herne/Hearn were noted, mainly in Co. Waterford. To this day, the name remains most numerous in these three counties. The arms of the family include three herons, in an obvious pun on the name. Patricio Lafcadio Hearne (1850-1904). Born in Greece, the son of a Co. Westmeath surgeon and a Greek mother, Lafcadio Hearn is remembered for his writings on Japan, where he lived and worked for the last years of his life. In that country he has remained something of a national hero. John Aheron (c.1720-c.1780) was the first Irish architect who designed and built for Irish conditions. His General Treatise on Architecture (Dublin 1754) is regarded as the foundation of Irish architecture. Bertie Ahern (b. 1952) is the leader of Fianna Fáil, the largest political party in the Republic of Ireland. He has been Minister of Labour and Minister of Finance in previous governments, and is currently Taoiseach. James A. Hearne (1840-1901) (originally Ahern) was born in New York, the son of Irish immigrants and had tremendous success with his two plays Hearts of Oak and Share Acres. Jon Aherne (b.1971) currently head of the Lough Sect of the Aherne Clan and King of Ireland.