At the time JCHAS published its definitive article on Kinalmeaky (1930), only one or two pre-historic artifacts had been discovered and preserved, though the barony was found to have had a higher density of ancient forts than the rest of County Cork overall.

Kinalmeaky was the birthplace of the Uí Eachach Mumhan clan, who resided in West Cork centuries before the Norman invasion, and whom eventually became the O'Mahonys. These people conquered territory coinciding with the Diocese of Cork, and split into two branches around 1260. One branch went deep into southwest Cork, the other maintained a tenacious hold on Kinalmeaky.

O'Hart does not list Cromwell confiscations for this barony.

The 1659 census did not enumerate by household. However, surname frequencies were noted. Below is a list of the surnames found in Kinalmeaky, in descending order of frequency.

Notice Mahowny (14) and Ô Mahowne (8). If these are both counts for O'Mahony surnames, there were 22 such persons counted bearing these surnames. If Ô Canniffe (6) is a form of O'Mahony, then there were 28 O'Mahony persons counted.