Donal III O'Donovan
Encyclopedia
Donal III O'Donovan The O'Donovan of Clancahill, born before 1584, was the son of Helena de Barry and Donal II O'Donovan
, The O'Donovan of Clancahill. From the inauguration of his father in 1584 to the date of his own accession to the chiefship in 1639, the O'Donovan family had risen to become one of the most prominent Gaelic
families remaining in all the province of South Munster
or Desmond
, from a position of semi-obscurity in the mid-16th century, although this was in part due to the misfortunes and sad decline of several once more prominent families, as happens in all ages. Donal II had also been an aggressive seizer of lands during and especially following the Nine Years' War
and his son's inheritance, thought to have been approaching 100,000 acres (or possibly greater considering all septs and territories under his control), was colossal for a Gaelic family of the time. His father also living to a great age, Donal III is believed to have been in his late 50s or early 60s when he began his career as Lord of Clancahill. He died in 1660 at the age of 80 or greater.
in a 1639 ode celebrating his accession to the chiefship of Clancahill. This is edited and translated in its entirety, with notes, by Ronald Black in Scottish Gaelic Studies XIII, Part I, being the sole subject of the article. The poem discusses Donal's ancestry, virtues, regional fame, as well as the ancient lineage of his wife Gylles O'Shaughnessy
and her qualities (selected stanzas below):
under Donagh MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry
(later 1st Earl of Clancarty), along with the MacCarthy Reagh
(Cormac) and the O'Sullivan Beare
, and together they besieged Cork city for three weeks in 1642 with over four thousand men. But their force was opposed and defeated by the government supported Murrough O'Brien, 6th Baron Inchiquin (also later 1st Earl). Complaining of O'Donovan's other activities in 1642, the Reverend Urban Vigors writes:
Later in the Irish Confederate Wars
Donal III assisted his nextdoor neighbor James Tuchet, 3rd Earl of Castlehaven
, who only lived two miles away across the harbour, in the taking of various fortifications in County Cork
, notably Mallow
, Doneraile
, and the castles of Milton, Connagh
, and Rostellan
.
In 1648 he chose to visit Cork to accept the king's (offer of) peace from James Butler
, the Marquess of Ormond, and at O'Donovan's death in 1660 his friends recounted his description of the event:
O'Donovan raised two companies of foot to be commanded by his younger brothers Morrogh and Rickard for the support of Charles II
. Morrogh was commissioned a Captain by the Marquess of Ormond and placed in Colonel Henessy's regiment under the command of the Marquess himself in the Battle of Rathmines
, where he was killed in action along with his entire company. Rickard was Captain of the other in Colonel O'Driscoll's regiment, which had "retired beyond seas", where he also was "killed in his Majestie's service."
The eventual consequence of all the above was that O'Donovan's territories were laid waste by the forces of Oliver Cromwell
in the late 1640s, who also blew up two of his castles with powder, all mentioned by MacCarthy in a 1660 certificate.
, after first declaring they should be restored in their entirety, gave the rest away to Cromwell's soldiers in lieu of pay, O'Donovan not being a peer (although once he was landed as a number) and thus of little political consequence in this new British age. While not quite the estate of a great prince, much of the territory being rocky, Donal's rents were valued at £2000 per annum, unadjusted for inflation, or adjusted coming to approximately £3,650,000.00 (per annum) in 2009, before the confiscations. This did not count the unpredictable profits from the harbours and bays from which he had dues, which depending on the circumstances could be as much as ten times the rents or greater per annum, the case for all lordships along the South Munster coast. However, most of this money was used for the local government of which the lord was head, and especially for maintaining security forces in the region, and so did not really belong to him or his family themselves to spend however they chose. Maintaining even a smallish army was expensive, the region being frequented by pirates, the great trade-off with such a maritime lordship. The threat was certainly real, proven by the nearby Sack of Baltimore
in 1631.
, at least twenty years his junior, the daughter of Elis Lynch and Sir Roger Gilla Duff O'Shaughnessy
, The O'Shaughnessy. Their issue were 1) Donal IV O'Donovan, and 2) Cornelius, 3) Morogh, and 4) Richard. It is probable he also at some point had a daughter Mary, who married Florence MacCarthy, younger son of the celebrated Prince Florence MacCarthy
. They had issue Donogh or Denis, who also had issue, and so on, who are probably survived today.
The last O'Donovan, Lord of Clancahill from the line of Donal III was Richard II O'Donovan
(died 1829), after whom the chiefship passed to the cadet line, descendants of Donal III's younger brother Teige.
, from the tower of Castle Donovan
in spectacular fashion to avoid this, resulting in her family, who were Protestant, cursing him and his line to eventual extinction. This is said to have caused a braon sinsir or "corroding drop," said to be her tears, to drip from the castle until the last of his line were gone, although it has apparently never stopped and so to whom exactly this applies has always remained unclear, because his descendants in the male line died out before 1850. Surveys of Ireland's haunted places regularly include the site and the story has become more elaborate as time has gone by, for example including the element of the O'Donovan family inviting Dorothy Forde to the castle to discuss the matter before seizing her.
The scholar Diarmuid Ó Murchadha considers the entire tradition to be "ill-founded", however, because a number of Protestant Carbery men of fine standing were present at Donal's death in 1660, and composed a testimonial to his excellence and good treatment of them during the conflicts, with no mention made of Dorothy Forde or her family.
Donal III also appears in the early-mid 19th century short story "Emma Cavendish" (author now unknown), as the host of the main character, an Englishman adventuring in Carbery, who refers to him as a decent man interested in the welfare of the English living there, making sure of their protection in his territories. However, O'Donovan's nephew, a person unknown to history, becomes a chief villain in the story eventually killed by the protagonist.
, after his death in 1660, was composed by Conchubhar Cam Ó Dálaigh
. It was still extant in the mid 19th century but had not yet been printed. One for Gyles was also composed and may survive.
Donal II O'Donovan
Donal II O'Donovan , The O'Donovan of Clann Cathail, Lord of Clancahill , was the son of Ellen O'Leary, daughter of O'Leary of Carrignacurra, and Donal of the Skins, The O'Donovan of Clann Cathail....
, The O'Donovan of Clancahill. From the inauguration of his father in 1584 to the date of his own accession to the chiefship in 1639, the O'Donovan family had risen to become one of the most prominent Gaelic
Gaels
The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....
families remaining in all the province of South Munster
Munster
Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...
or Desmond
Desmond
Desmond may refer to:*Desmond , a common given name and surname* Kingdom of Desmond, medieval Irish kingdom* Earl of Desmond, Irish aristocratic title* Desmond Rebellions, Irish rebellions during the 16th century led by the Earl of Desmond...
, from a position of semi-obscurity in the mid-16th century, although this was in part due to the misfortunes and sad decline of several once more prominent families, as happens in all ages. Donal II had also been an aggressive seizer of lands during and especially following the Nine Years' War
Nine Years' War (Ireland)
The Nine Years' War or Tyrone's Rebellion took place in Ireland from 1594 to 1603. It was fought between the forces of Gaelic Irish chieftains Hugh O'Neill of Tír Eoghain, Hugh Roe O'Donnell of Tír Chonaill and their allies, against English rule in Ireland. The war was fought in all parts of the...
and his son's inheritance, thought to have been approaching 100,000 acres (or possibly greater considering all septs and territories under his control), was colossal for a Gaelic family of the time. His father also living to a great age, Donal III is believed to have been in his late 50s or early 60s when he began his career as Lord of Clancahill. He died in 1660 at the age of 80 or greater.
Dragon of Clíodhna
The great wandering Scottish poet Maol Domhnaigh Ó Muirgheasáin (Muldony O'Morrison) refers to Donal III as the Dragon of ClíodhnaCliodhna
Clíodhna is a Queen of the Banshees of the Tuatha Dé Danann. In Irish literature, Cleena of Carrigcleena is the potent banshee that rules as queen over the sheoques of South Munster, or Desmond. She is the principal goddess of this country...
in a 1639 ode celebrating his accession to the chiefship of Clancahill. This is edited and translated in its entirety, with notes, by Ronald Black in Scottish Gaelic Studies XIII, Part I, being the sole subject of the article. The poem discusses Donal's ancestry, virtues, regional fame, as well as the ancient lineage of his wife Gylles O'Shaughnessy
O'Shaughnessy
Ó Seachnasaigh, O'Shaughnessy, collectively Uí Sheachnasaigh, clan name Cinél nAedha na hEchtghe, is a family surname of Irish origin.The name is found primarily in County Galway and County Limerick...
and her qualities (selected stanzas below):
Career
O'Donovan, and a number of his kinsmen, joined the so-called Irish Rebellion of 1641Irish Rebellion of 1641
The Irish Rebellion of 1641 began as an attempted coup d'état by Irish Catholic gentry, who tried to seize control of the English administration in Ireland to force concessions for the Catholics living under English rule...
under Donagh MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry
Donagh MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry
Donagh [Donough] MacCarthy, 1st Earl of Clancarty, 2nd Viscount Muskerry was an Irish noble. He married Ellen Butler , who was the sister of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde). The Earl served as a Munster general during the Irish Confederate Wars...
(later 1st Earl of Clancarty), along with the MacCarthy Reagh
MacCarthy Reagh
The MacCarthy Reagh dynasty are a branch of the great MacCarthy dynasty, Kings of Desmond, deriving from the ancient Eóganachta, of the central Eóganacht Chaisil sept. The MacCarthys Reagh seated themselves as Princes of Carbery in what is now southwestern County Cork in the 13th century...
(Cormac) and the O'Sullivan Beare
O'Sullivan
O'Sullivan or simply Sullivan is an Irish surname, associated with the southwestern part of Ireland, originally found in County Tipperary before the Anglo-Norman invasion, then in County Cork and County Kerry, which due to emigration is also common in Australia, North America and Britain...
, and together they besieged Cork city for three weeks in 1642 with over four thousand men. But their force was opposed and defeated by the government supported Murrough O'Brien, 6th Baron Inchiquin (also later 1st Earl). Complaining of O'Donovan's other activities in 1642, the Reverend Urban Vigors writes:
Later in the Irish Confederate Wars
Irish Confederate Wars
This article is concerned with the military history of Ireland from 1641-53. For the political context of this conflict, see Confederate Ireland....
Donal III assisted his nextdoor neighbor James Tuchet, 3rd Earl of Castlehaven
James Tuchet, 3rd Earl of Castlehaven
James Tuchet, 3rd Earl of Castlehaven was the son of Mervyn Tuchet, 2nd Earl of Castlehaven and his first wife, Elizabeth Barnham...
, who only lived two miles away across the harbour, in the taking of various fortifications in County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
, notably Mallow
Mallow, County Cork
Mallow is the "Crossroads of Munster" and the administrative capital of north County Cork, in Ireland. The Northern Divisional Offices of Cork County Council are located in the town....
, Doneraile
Doneraile
Doneraile is a town in County Cork, Province of Munster, Ireland. It is located on the R581 regional road 8 km east of the N20 road which runs from Limerick to Cork. It is about 12 km north of Mallow town...
, and the castles of Milton, Connagh
Connagh
Connagh is a townland of the village of Ballineen, County Cork, Ireland. It was previously the location for the national school serving Connagh and neighbouring townlands....
, and Rostellan
Rostellan
Rostellan is a townland in the civil parish of the same name in County Cork, Ireland.-References:*...
.
In 1648 he chose to visit Cork to accept the king's (offer of) peace from James Butler
James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde
James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde PC was an Irish statesman and soldier. He was the second of the Kilcash branch of the family to inherit the earldom. He was the friend of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, who appointeed him commander of the Cavalier forces in Ireland. From 1641 to 1647, he...
, the Marquess of Ormond, and at O'Donovan's death in 1660 his friends recounted his description of the event:
O'Donovan raised two companies of foot to be commanded by his younger brothers Morrogh and Rickard for the support of Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
. Morrogh was commissioned a Captain by the Marquess of Ormond and placed in Colonel Henessy's regiment under the command of the Marquess himself in the Battle of Rathmines
Battle of Rathmines
The Battle of Rathmines was fought in and around what is now the Dublin suburb of Rathmines in August 1649, during the Irish Confederate Wars, the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
, where he was killed in action along with his entire company. Rickard was Captain of the other in Colonel O'Driscoll's regiment, which had "retired beyond seas", where he also was "killed in his Majestie's service."
The eventual consequence of all the above was that O'Donovan's territories were laid waste by the forces of Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
in the late 1640s, who also blew up two of his castles with powder, all mentioned by MacCarthy in a 1660 certificate.
Estates
Donal III was ultimately stripped of his estates by Cromwell in 1652. Only a very small portion, three thousand acres, of the tens of thousands of acres of his patrimony were eventually restored to his son and successor Donal IV. The infamously ungrateful Charles II of EnglandCharles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
, after first declaring they should be restored in their entirety, gave the rest away to Cromwell's soldiers in lieu of pay, O'Donovan not being a peer (although once he was landed as a number) and thus of little political consequence in this new British age. While not quite the estate of a great prince, much of the territory being rocky, Donal's rents were valued at £2000 per annum, unadjusted for inflation, or adjusted coming to approximately £3,650,000.00 (per annum) in 2009, before the confiscations. This did not count the unpredictable profits from the harbours and bays from which he had dues, which depending on the circumstances could be as much as ten times the rents or greater per annum, the case for all lordships along the South Munster coast. However, most of this money was used for the local government of which the lord was head, and especially for maintaining security forces in the region, and so did not really belong to him or his family themselves to spend however they chose. Maintaining even a smallish army was expensive, the region being frequented by pirates, the great trade-off with such a maritime lordship. The threat was certainly real, proven by the nearby Sack of Baltimore
Sack of Baltimore
The Sack of Baltimore took place on June 20, 1631, when the village of Baltimore, West Cork, Ireland, was attacked by North African pirates from the North African Barbary Coast. The attack was the biggest single attack by the Barbary pirates on Ireland or Britain. The attack was led by a Dutch...
in 1631.
Marriage and issue
Before 1639 he married Gyles (Sheela) O'ShaughnessyO'Shaughnessy
Ó Seachnasaigh, O'Shaughnessy, collectively Uí Sheachnasaigh, clan name Cinél nAedha na hEchtghe, is a family surname of Irish origin.The name is found primarily in County Galway and County Limerick...
, at least twenty years his junior, the daughter of Elis Lynch and Sir Roger Gilla Duff O'Shaughnessy
Roger Gilla Dubh Ó Seachnasaigh
Sir Ruadhri Gilla Dubh Ó Seachnasaigh , Chief of the Name, 1583–1650.-Biography:Ó Seachnasaigh was married to Elis Lynch at the time of his father's death, by whom he had his heir, Sir Dermot, and a daughter, Gyles...
, The O'Shaughnessy. Their issue were 1) Donal IV O'Donovan, and 2) Cornelius, 3) Morogh, and 4) Richard. It is probable he also at some point had a daughter Mary, who married Florence MacCarthy, younger son of the celebrated Prince Florence MacCarthy
Florence MacCarthy
Finnian or Fínghin mac Donnchadh Mac Cárthaigh , known to the English as Florence MacCarthy, was an Irish prince of the late 16th century and the last credible claimant to the MacCarthy Mór title before its suppression by English authority...
. They had issue Donogh or Denis, who also had issue, and so on, who are probably survived today.
The last O'Donovan, Lord of Clancahill from the line of Donal III was Richard II O'Donovan
Richard II O'Donovan
General Richard O'Donovan II, The O'Donovan of Clancahill, born 1764 or 1768, was the son of Jane Becher, daughter of John Becher, and Daniel V O'Donovan, The O'Donovan of Clancahill....
(died 1829), after whom the chiefship passed to the cadet line, descendants of Donal III's younger brother Teige.
Legends and reputation
Of all the early modern Lords of Clancahill Donal III has the misfortune of having the worst reputation, for a single alleged act of appalling brutality, utter heartlessness and disregard for humanity which is still legendary in the countryside to this day: The Hanging of Dorothy Forde, which whether fictional or historical fact has damaged the local reputation of Clancahill for centuries. As it is most often told, Dorothy had lent a sum of money to Donal, but when she later asked for it to be repaid he incomprehensibly hanged her, with the aid of his brother-in-law Teige-an-Duna MacCarthyTeige-an-Duna MacCarthy
Teige-an-Duna MacCarthy , Lord of Glean-na-Chroim, was the last hereditary Prince of the Dunmanway branch of the MacCarthy Reagh dynasty of Carbery "who exercised the rights of his position." He was Prince from 1618 to 1648, dying the following year on 24 May 1649...
, from the tower of Castle Donovan
Castle Donovan
Castle Donovan or Castledonovan or ODonovan's Castle refer to the remains of an Irish tower house or túrtheach, in a valley near Drimoleague, of medium size which was the so-called "seat" of the Clann Cathail sept of the O'Donovans for a period during the 16th century...
in spectacular fashion to avoid this, resulting in her family, who were Protestant, cursing him and his line to eventual extinction. This is said to have caused a braon sinsir or "corroding drop," said to be her tears, to drip from the castle until the last of his line were gone, although it has apparently never stopped and so to whom exactly this applies has always remained unclear, because his descendants in the male line died out before 1850. Surveys of Ireland's haunted places regularly include the site and the story has become more elaborate as time has gone by, for example including the element of the O'Donovan family inviting Dorothy Forde to the castle to discuss the matter before seizing her.
The scholar Diarmuid Ó Murchadha considers the entire tradition to be "ill-founded", however, because a number of Protestant Carbery men of fine standing were present at Donal's death in 1660, and composed a testimonial to his excellence and good treatment of them during the conflicts, with no mention made of Dorothy Forde or her family.
Donal III also appears in the early-mid 19th century short story "Emma Cavendish" (author now unknown), as the host of the main character, an Englishman adventuring in Carbery, who refers to him as a decent man interested in the welfare of the English living there, making sure of their protection in his territories. However, O'Donovan's nephew, a person unknown to history, becomes a chief villain in the story eventually killed by the protagonist.
Elegy
Donal's elegyElegy
In literature, an elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.-History:The Greek term elegeia originally referred to any verse written in elegiac couplets and covering a wide range of subject matter, including epitaphs for tombs...
, after his death in 1660, was composed by Conchubhar Cam Ó Dálaigh
Ó Dálaigh
The Ó Dálaigh were a learned Irish bardic family who first came to prominence early in the 12th century, when Cú Connacht Ó Dálaigh was described as "The first Ollamh of poetry in all Ireland" .-Name derivation:The name Ó Dálaigh means 'descendant of Dálach'...
. It was still extant in the mid 19th century but had not yet been printed. One for Gyles was also composed and may survive.