Clooney's ancestors did, in fact, originate in Knockeen, Windgap in South Kilkenny. New research has shown that most of the story displayed on television has no factual basis. Despite claims in the television documentary, researchers from Eneclann, the country’s most respected genealogist specialists, now say the Clooney family were not evicted during the Famine, but remained on their land until the mid 1850s when it was sold as a bankrupt’s estate.
George Clooney makes frequent and fond references to his Irish roots and his Catholic upbringing. Clooney has Irish roots on both sides of the family, but has more Irish ancestors on his father's side than his mother's. The name Clooney reportedly is an anglicized version of the Gaelic O’Cluanaigh, which translates as a descendant of Clugnach, meaning a rogue or a flatterer. His father’s mother’s maiden name, meanwhile, was Guilfoyle.
You can read the full story on the Kilkenny People web site at http://goo.gl/Z7E5O.
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