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Author’s Note: Interested readers can find all previous volumes of this series here.
Thanks for joining our study as we celebrate Independence Day with Bible verses referencing liberty and freedom. Those were the foundational principles upon which our nation was birthed, compelling the Founding Fathers to declare independence from what was then the world’s leading military power. The Founders wrote that such a declaration required “firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence,” and were motivated by a bold, revolutionary idea.
Whereas traditionally, human rights emanated from kings, in the new nation, rights were derived from God. Thus, the phrase “endowed by their Creator” is famously part of the Declaration of Independence:
The Carroll coat of arms. By Louise Carroll, Contributor
The O’Carrolls go back to the third century King Oilioll Olum of Munster. Their name derives from Cearbhaill, who was the Brian Boru in 1014 at the battle of Clontarf.
Cearbhaill means warlike champion and the O’Carrolls have lived up to the name. Carvill and MacCarvill are anglicized versions of Carroll and are mostly to be found in Ulster.
The O’Carrolls’ senior septs were the chieftains of O’Carroll Ely (Tipperary and Offaly) and O’Carroll Oriel (Monaghan and Louth). They struggled to hold onto their land, which proved particularly difficult when it was illegal for Catholics to own land in Ireland. Ultimately the O’Carrolls came under the subordination of the crown in 1627, which marked the end of the Ely O’Carroll chieftains.