3. Ware informs us that this Thaddeus was by some called Mechar (pag. 563), and the documents of Ivrea place beyond doubt that such was his true name. Thus the Bishop of Ivrea writes, "Thaddaeum Machar,[ 2] Episcopum Hib. illum esse innotuit ex chartis quas deferebat", and the old parchment record to which the same bishop refers, apparently quoting from the inscription on his tomb, describes our Blessed Thaddeus as,
"Regia progenies alto de sanguine Machar".
Now the learned editors of the Martyrology of Donegal inform us that the name Mechar is the same as the O'Meachair which appears so often in the ancient monuments of our history (see Martyr. of Donegal, published by I. A. S. 1864, pag. 517), and which at the present day has assumed the Anglicized forms of Meagher and Maher.
4. The ancient Latin verses published in the Record,[ 3] present two important data for determining the family to which this bishop belonged. One is his native district, which is called Solum Cariense: the other is the royal ancestry to which his family had a just and ancient claim: "Regia progenies alto de sanguine Machar". Now are these data verified in the family of the O'Meachair? if not, it must be admitted that it can have no claim to our holy bishop; but if, on the other hand, those data accurately agree with what the ancient monuments of our island attest regarding the sept of the O'Meachairs, we must conclude that no link is wanting in the chain of evidence, and that the Blessed Thaddeus has justly been referred to that distinguished family.
5. Nothing now remains but to cite some few passages from our early writers which serve to illustrate these points in the history of the O'Meachairs.
In the first place, the topographical poem of O'Huidhrin (who died in 1420) has one important passage which not only throws some light on the family name, but moreover points to the territory of Ui-Cairin as the chief abode of the O'Mahers, precisely as the name Carinum in the Latin poem cited above marks the native district of our holy Bishop Thaddeus. The translation of this poem of O'Huidhrin was the last work achieved by our illustrious O'Donovan, and was published by the I. A. S. in 1862. At page 133 we find the following verse:—
"Mightily have they filled the land
The O'Meachairs—the territory of Ui-Cairin
A tribe at the foot of Bearnan Eile;
It is no shame to celebrate their triumph".