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Your friend is pretty much on the money. Kearney is used as an English language version of two Irish names - O Cearnaigh and O Catharnaigh. O Cearnaigh is a patronym based on the personal name Cearnach, which is said to mean "victorious"; O Catharnaigh is based on the name Catharnach, said to mean "warlike". This is probably the name your friend was referring to. O Catharnaigh has also become Carney in English, and some of this name have adopted the English surname Fox for a reason it would take a long time to explain.