The McNamara family were an
Irish clan claiming descent from the
Dál gCais and, after the
O'Briens, one of the most powerful families in the
Kingdom of Thomond as
Lords of Clancullen (a title later divided into East and West families). They are related to the
O'Gradys, also descended from the Uí Caisin line of the Dál gCais. The name began with the chieftain Cumara, of Maghadhair in county Clare. Cumara is a contracted form of Conmara – hound of the sea. His son, Domhnall, who died in 1099, adopted the surname Mac Conmara, or son of Cumara, thus becoming the first of his name. The name has survived relatively unmodified as MacConmara in Irish and anglicised as MacNamara/McNamara. ==Naming conventions==