Niall O Dowd Popular Books

Niall O Dowd Biography & Facts

O'Dowd (Irish: Ó Dubhda) is an Irish Gaelic clan based most prominently in what is today County Mayo and County Sligo. The clan name originated in the 9th century as a derivative of its founder Dubda mac Connmhach. The O'Dowd clan can be traced to the Doonfeeney area of what is now the parish of Ballycastle in Co. Mayo. A large earthen ring fortificatiation still exists called 'Rath O'Dubhda". The nearby early ecclesiastical site at Doonfeeney was more than likely developed under the patronage of the O'Dowds. They descend in the paternal line from the Connachta's Uí Fiachrach. The immediate progenitors of the O'Dowd were Kings of Connacht during the 7th and 8th centuries in the form of Dúnchad Muirisci, Indrechtach mac Dúnchado, Ailill Medraige mac Indrechtaig and Donn Cothaid mac Cathail, before losing ground to their rivals the Uí Briúin. Genealogically, they are closely related to the O'Shaughnessy, MacFirbis, O’Finnerty (Ó Fiannachta) all members of Clan Conway (i.e. Connmhach). Indeed, the O'Dowd were the main patrons of the MacFirbis clan who produced key works of Irish history such as the Great Book of Lecan and the Leabhar na nGenealach. From the 8th to the 15th centuries, the O'Dowd were Kings of Ui Fiachrach Muaidhe, a sub-kingdom within the Kingdom of Connacht. After their realm was incorporated into the Kingdom of Ireland, they were Lord of Tír Fhiacrach Naming conventions O'Dowd is the most common anglicisation of the Irish surname Ó Dubhda. Other anglicised variants are Dowd, Dawdy, Dowdy, O'Dowda and Dowds, with Doody and Duddy, found around Killarney, where a branch of the Connacht family settled. All are Ó Dubhda (pronounced O Dooda) in Irish, the root word being "dubh" black. A quite distinct minor sept of Ó Dubhda was located in County Londonderry. Descendants of this sept in Ulster today are usually anglicised as Duddy, Dowd or Dowds. Annalistic references AI1126.12 Ua Dubda, king of Uí Amalgada, was drowned along with the crews of two coracles. AI1127.11 Gilla Críst Ua Dubda of Cenél Eógain Aelaig died. History The O'Dowd clan or sept traces its descent from Fiachrae, an older half-brother of Niall of the Nine Hostages, through Nath Í mac Fiachrach (aka Dathí), the last pagan High King of Ireland. Irish legend and early texts claim Dathí was killed by a bolt of lightning as he led an army to the foot of the Alps in 455 AD. His grandson Aillil succeeded as King of Connacht and later King of Tara until 482. For centuries they were the leading sept of the northern Uí Fiachrach, a tribal group that occupied the modern counties of Mayo and Sligo. The Uí Fiachrach provided successive kings of Connacht for a long period, but their sphere of influence became confined to North Connacht. In the late 10th century, their king was named Aedh Ua Dubhda (Hugh O'Dooda). He is recorded as having 'died an untroubled death' in the year 982, making this surname one of the oldest in Europe. His grandson, Mulrony, who died in 1005 had the title of Lord of Hyfiachrach. The O'Dowds were a maritime power of considerable ability in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. On land they managed to hold their territory intact against the superior forces of the Burkes and Birminghams. Their territory at its widest embraced the túatha of Erris and Tír Amhlaidh in Mayo and Tir Fhiacrach Múaidhe in Sligo. They forged a kingdom in Uí Fiachrach Muaidhe (Northwest Connacht) which they ringed with 20 castles, often referred to as "10-Pound Castles," and held off all comers for centuries until the incursion of the Anglo-Normans. The style and design of these small Irish castles is said to have originated from a subsidy of 10-Pounds which was granted by Henry IV in 1429. However, many of the O'Dowd castles have a far more ancient history of being built directly over the site of Stone Age and Bronze Age fortifications. They were traditionally inaugurated as princes of Ui Fiachrach at Carn Amhalghaigh near Killala, on the east shore of Killala Bay near the border of Sligo and Mayo. They were considerably reduced by the Anglo-Norman incursion into Connacht in the thirteenth century but were still powerful and in 1354 Sen-Bhrian O'Dowd succeeded in driving all the Anglo-Norman settlers out of Tireragh for a time. The O'Dowds are unique in having left a detailed account of the inauguration ceremony of their Taoiseach (clan leader). This was written in an ancient manuscript known as the Great Book of Lecan, written near Enniscrone in Tireragh between 1397 and 1418 and now carefully preserved in Dublin. The inaugural ceremony of each succeeding O'Dowd was presided over by a MacFirbis, the hereditary chroniclers of the clan. One of the most generous sponsors of the MacFirbis scholars was Tadhg Riabhach Ó Dubhda ('Dark Teige'), who became Taoiseach of Tireragh in 1417. He is particularly remembered in this manuscript where his death is recorded at Enniscrone Castle. The last election of an O'Dowd Taoiseach took place in 1595. By this time they were simply a client clan of the O'Connor clan of Sligo. This coincided with the Nine Years War, when the last independent Irish clans rose to resist English occupation of Ulster. The clan played an honourable role in the war, assisting Hugh Roe O'Donnell, in defending the western border of Ulster from incursions by the Earl of Essex in 1599 (most probably at the Battle of Curlew Pass). With the Irish defeat in 1603, their power rapidly dwindled and they were deprived of most of their patrimonial possessions. Daithi Óg O'Dowd, who married in 1636, was the last generation of O'Dowds given by MacFirbis in his pedigree of the clan. This also coincides with historical events – namely the Cromwellian reconquest (1642) following Ulster's 1641 revolt. From the rarity of the surname today, one must conclude that these successive wars, particularly those in the 17th century against the English, and the subsequent savage repression, greatly diminished O'Dowd numbers along with their power and influence. Several O'Dowds were bishops of the see of Killala. Father John Ó Duada, who was tortured and hanged in 1579, was one of the many Irish Franciscan martyrs. Many of the name appear in the ranks of the Confederate Catholics and, later in the seventeenth century, in Catholic King James II of England's army during the Williamite war in Ireland (1688–1691). The head of the sept at that time, who was killed at the Battle of the Boyne (1690), is said to have been seven feet tall. The O'Dowd castle was built in Carn Amhalghaigh in 1477. The O'Dowds occupied the castle until the Cromwellian re-conquest. The castle was used as a Williamite military base during the later war and ceased to be inhabited shortly thereafter. A smaller keep was built at Castleconner near Ballina in 1520 by Conor O'Dowd, the Taoiseach of the time. Both castles are now in ruins. The noted Irish genealogiest, Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh, was the last of the 'senchai' or hereditary histo.... Discover the Niall O Dowd popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Niall O Dowd books.