My studies of the history of the O'Flaherty clan have taught me much about the life of our ancestors. Kicked out of Galway in 1238, and almost out of Ireland, the O'Flaherties returned to Iar Connaught and turned some of the most desolate territories in Western Europe into an into a last bastion of Gaelic culture.
There are two mottoes that come down through history that pertain to the O'Flaherties: fortuna favet fortibus, and fortuna faveat.
Fortuna faveat has been translated to mean, fortune favored. This indicates the natural assumption that due to the guidance of providence, the O'Flaherties have either been lucky, or been favored by God.
Fortuna favet fortibus, has sometimes been translated into "fortune favors the bold." This is a mistranslation. A closer understanding comes with the phrase, fortune favors the strong. However, this Darwinian translation sometimes is interpreted to mean, power wins. This would indicate a motto akin to the strategy of the United States military. Acquire overwhelming force, and destroy the enemy.
I hope my personal translation of fortibus is somewhat more nuanced. Because fortune doesn't always favor the strong.
"Fortune favors fortitude" is my modern adaptation for the ancient phrase. Strength becomes many ideas including endurance, integrity, courage and faith. Power becomes something larger than physical force, something deeper and lasting.
To all this we must add the question, what is fortune?
Well, that's a much larger question than this little post should allow. I can only tell you this, I've been trying to post a picture of a window from St. Mark's Church in Brooklyn. The stain-glass window was donated by the O'Flaherties of Brooklyn in the early twentieth century. It reads, "Peace on Earth, Good will toward men; Pray for Julia and Patrick O'Flaherty."
For some reason, my Blog's server keeps rejecting additional photos. Indicating maybe I've been to generous with the size of my photos. I shall endure, I shall figure this out. I will post the window, or email it upon request.
Fortibus.
This post dedicated to Mrs. Andrew O'Flaherty.
A philosophic and historical examination of the genealogy and heritage of O'Flaherty, Flaherty, and the possibilities of the future.
Hola, soy Lucrecia de Argentina. Mi Tatarabuela era Catherine Fattery,(O Flaherty). Parece que acá en Argentina han cambiado el apellido. Ella vino de Irlanda, Dublín. No se nada de sus padres porque en el censo de 1885 hecho en Argentina dice era huérfana. Me gustaría saber un poco mas de donde viene mi familia. Quizás me puedas ayudar a encontrar algún dato, para reconstruir mi árbol. Sólo se que ella nación en Dublin en 1827. Todo esta investigación empezó desde que empece a hacer una terapia de biodecodificacion, en la que me pidieron buscar los datos de mis antepasados. Empece con esta búsqueda y me apasiona, no puedo dejar de buscar. Gravias por difundir esta información al mundo. Un saludo enorme.
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