septs and regional families. In the modern day, there are over 250 variations in spelling of the name Ó Dochartaigh, of which O'Doherty and Doherty are the most common anglicized forms.[3][4]
Lebor Gabála Érenn is recorded in more than a dozen medieval manuscripts including the Book of Leinster shown here, which is just one of the primary sources of text. Image: Dublin, TCD, MS 1339 (olim MS H 2.18)
Their coat of arms is a gules rampant stag in an argent field, vert chief with three stars. The clan motto is Ár nDuthchas (English: Our heritage).
In Munster O'Doherty is often a different surname, Ó Dubhartaigh, which has sometimes been anglicized as Doorty in County Clare.[6]
The O’Doherty clan and family name is one of the most ancient in Europe. The clan traces its pedigree through history, pre-history and mythology to the second millennium BC. Their story was transmitted orally for thousands of years and was first put in writing by Christian monks between the 6th and 11th centuries AD. The principal written sources are manuscripts, genealogies, king-lists, chronologies and poems including:
The Lebor Gabala Érenn (the Book of the Taking of Ireland, usually known in English as The Book of Invasions or The Book of Conquests, and in Modern Irish as Leabhar Gabhála Éireann or Leabhar Gabhála na hÉireann) was compiled in Irish in the 11th century AD. It is now considered primarily myth rather than history by most scholars.
The Annals of the Four Masters (Irish: Annála na gCeithre Máistrí), a.k.a. the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland (Irish: Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) were compiled between 1632 and 1636. Written in Irish.
The Foras Feasa ar Éirinn (English: Foundation of Knowledge on Ireland) chronology was compiled by Geoffrey Keating (Irish: Seathrún Céitinn) in 1634. Written in Irish.
According to these sources, the O’Dohertys are descended from Breogán, the famous Celtic King of Galicia in Spain in the second millennium BC. His grandson Galam, famously known as Míl Espáine (Irish: Soldier of Spain) a.k.a. Milesius, gave his name to the Milesians who are said to have been the first Celtic (or Gaelic) peoples of Ireland). Breogan's great-grandson Érimón was one of the Celtic chieftains who conquered Ireland from the pre-Celtic neolithic Tuatha Dé Danann (Irish: People of the Goddess Danu), and was the first Milesian King of Ireland.
Annals of the Four Masters, entry for the year 432 AD
The O’Doherty clan traces its descent from Erimon through some 150 generations of his descendants including 54 kings and 26 princes. Notable among Erimon's descendants are:
Eochu Feidlech a.k.a. Eochaid (i.e. the enduring) was High King of Ireland in the 4th century BC and the father of Queen Medb or Maeve the great warrior Queen of Connacht who started the famous Táin Bó Cúailnge (English: Cattle Raid of Cooley) to steal Ulster's prize stud bull, opposed by the teenage Ulster hero Cú Chulainn.
Conn of the Hundred Battles (Irish: Conn Cétchathach), High King of Ireland in the 2nd century AD. He was the ancestor of the Connachta and, through his descendant Niall Noígiallach, the Uí Néill dynasties, which dominated Ireland in the early Middle Ages. Conn appointed the legendary hero Finn MacCool (Irish: Fionn mac Cumhaill) the last leader of the Fianna, the small, semi-independent warrior bands in Irish mythology.
Anglo-Norman and English conquests of Ireland, the aristocratic titles of Irish Kings and clan chieftains were designated by the foreign system of primogeniture
through which the first-born "legitimate" son would automatically inherit his father's title and or property (which transmitting and concentrating power and wealth to men with no regard of their merit or ability).
King Conall Gulban (died c. 464 AD) was the son of Niall Naoigiallach. He is the eponymous ancestor of the Cenél Conaill, and founded and gave his name to the kingdom of Tír Chonaill, comprising much of what is now County Donegal in Ulster. He is important in the history of Irish Christianity as he was the first Gaelic nobleman baptised by St. Patrick, thus opening the way for the conversion of the nobility in Ireland. The Kingdom of Tyrconnell was part of the Kingdom of Aileach until 1185 AD.
Donagh Dochartach, who lived in the 9th century AD, gave his name to the O'Doherty family. The later chiefs of the clan, elected by tanistry under the
, the northernmost peninsula of the island of Ireland.
Conor-an-Einigh O Dochartaigh (1359–1413) was the first of the clan to settle in Inishowen, namely at Castleross in the parish of Desertegney (Irish: Díseart Einigh, i.e. the refuge or hiding place of Einigh) which is named after him. Other members of the clan subsequently born in Desertagny include a brother of the rebel Sir Cahir O’Doherty (1587–1608) and the ancestors of the politician Joseph O’Doherty who lived a few miles further south in the same parish at Gortyarrigan.
Modern history
Seán More O Dochartaigh (Abt. 1505 – 26 May 1582 or 1566?) had castles at Aileach, Inch and Burt. The O’Doherty's were called the ‘Lords of Inishowen’. An agreement was reached in abt. 1540 that O’Dochartaigh would not cross the River Foyle if the British would stay out of Inishowen. In doing this under the process called
English King Henry VIII in 1541 and became Sir John O’Doherty. This strategy essentially sought to assimilate
the Gaelic leadership into the new Tudor Kingdom of Ireland and the Anglican Church.
Sir John Og O’Doherty (Abt. 1540–1601, Lord in 1582). Son of Seán Mor O’Doherty and Rosa O’Donnell. Lived at Burt Castle. In 1600 he protected Inishowen against an invasion by the English fleet which had set up three forts around Lough Foyle, one of which was built on the O’Dogherty estate at Culmore. Later in 1600, he slew Colonel Sir John Chamberlain and many members of the English army who had marched against him. John Og was slain on 27 January 1601. "There was not a lord of a barony amongst the Irish more distinguished for manual action and hospitality, or more bold in counsel than he."
Owen Roe O'Neill (1585 – 1649). Second husband of Rosa O'Doherty. Lithograph copy of a painting attributed to the Flemish artist Van Brugens.
Owen Roe O’Neill died of natural causes at Cloughoughter Castle in Cavan November 1649. Rosa had been in Galway and arrived a few days after her husband's death. She went to Flanders following the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, living in Brussels until her death in 1660. She was buried near the altar of the Franciscan College of St. Anthony of Padua in Louvain. The Latin inscription on the stone slab that covers her grave (here translated into English) reads as follows: "To the Greater Glory of God —Here lies awaiting the Resurrection D.O.M. The Most Excellent Lady Rosa O’Docharty, Daughter and Sister of Chiefs of Inishowen. The honour of her exalted race; illustrious by character and by her splendid alliances. She was first married to that eminent man, her kinsman Lord Cathbar O’Donnell, Chief of Tirconnell. Subsequently she married, His Excellency Lord Eugene O’Neill, Commander-in-Chief of the Catholic Army in Ulster. She experienced good and evil fortune, And strove through her beneficience to become worth of Heaven. She was more than seventy years when she died in Brussels, 1st November A.D. 1670. This monument was erected by her first-born son Hugh O’Donnell. Here, her body awaits the resurrection."[7]
The severed heads of Sir Cahir O'Doherty (right) and Felim Riabhach McDavitt (left) displayed on pikes at Newgate, Dublin, 1608
O'Doherty's Rebellion. Provoked by the English Governor George Paulet, Cahir and his followers attacked and destroyed Derry and burned several castles in Strabane and Lifford in 1608. However, the King's Marshal Richard Wingfield (1st Viscount Powerscourt) recovered the city in a counter-attack and on 5 July 1608, Sir Cahir was killed at the Rock of Doon during the Battle of Kilmacrennan on 5 July 1608. The remaining rebels were then crushed by Sir Arthur Chichester
who received the Lordship of Inishowen for himself, together with a grant of O’Doherty's entire 170,000 acres of land in Inishowen.
After this loss the O'Doherty family lost much of its power and influence. By 1784, the leading branch of the family (i.e. with titles recognised according to the English system of primogeniture) fled the country and has not returned since.
Clan "chiefs"
During the 1990s, the
Chiefs of the Name. The chieftainship of the Dohertys was thus claimed by Dr. Ramón Salvador O'Dogherty.[8]
In July 1990, an O'Dogherty Clan Gathering was held and Ramon Salvador O'Dogherty of Spain was ceremonially installed as Chief of the Name at the ancient inaugural stone in Belmont House, Derry. O'Dogherty received the traditional white wand of office and was handed the sword which Cahir O'Doherty bore during his death in battle in 1608.[9] However, after Terence MacCarthy was exposed as a fraud after being recognised as Chief of the MacCarthy clan, a scandal threw the credibility of the "chiefs of the name" into question, including that of Ramon O'Dogherty in Spain.[10]
Clan reunions
Today there are Doherty families in many parts of Ireland, with primary concentration in their homeland of the Inishowen Peninsula, County Donegal and the vicinity of Derry. The O’Dohertys are an important part of the Irish diaspora. To this end, the family continues through voluntary organisations, exploring family and Irish history and hosting regular family reunions.[11]
The Ó Dochartaigh Clann Association was formed in the 1980s by a collaboration of American and Canadian clanfolk with its base in Michigan.[12] It operated from Inch Island, Co, Donegal from 1985 until 1999, and from Buncrana from 1999 until 2007. The association is now based in Michigan again, offering international membership and a newsletter.
Ó Doherty reunions have been hosted in Ireland every five years since 1985, by the Ó Dochartaigh Irish Reunion Committee (an amalgamation of the reunion committees from Inishowen and Derry). A special reunion was held in July 2008, commemorating the 1608 death of Cahir Ó Doherty. The next reunion is scheduled for 23–28 July 2020.[13] In 2005 the reunion hosted the film premiere of Roots of a Man – "A Journey Through The Land of the Clan O'Doherty".[14][15]
O'Doherty castles
The O’Dohertys built or occupied numerous castles to defend their territory of Inishowen against Viking, Saxon, Anglo-Norman and English invaders. These included:
Caisleán Nua (a.k.a. Green Castle or
Anglo-Norman lord, to control access to the lough. It was taken by the O’Dohertys in 1332 or 1333 following the collapse of Norman power in the western part of Ulster
, and held by the O’Doherty clan for 222 years before it was destroyed by siege in 1555.
O’Doherty's Keep in Buncrana that was inhabited by the O’Dohertys in 1602 but seized in 1608 by the English.
Burt CastleCarrickabraghy Castle stands on a rocky outcrop at the north-western extremity of Doagh Island, at the head of Pollan Bay, in the north of Inishowen. The place is first mentioned in 834. The castle was built before 1600 by Phelemy Brasleigh O’Doherty. Because of its seclusion, it was chosen by Sir Cahir O’Doherty to plan his revolt in 1608.
Culmore Castle (Irish: Cuil-Mor, meaning "large point" or "angle") on the Foyle river estuary north of Derry. This was an ancient fort of the O’Dohertys according to the poet Dugald Mac Fadyen in a footnote to his poem, Cahir Roe. The castle was first held by the Crown of England in 1559 but was captured by Sir Cahir O’Doherty in April 1608 the day before he besieged and destroyed the English settlement at Derry.
Burt Castle (built around 1560–1580 by the O’Dohertys); Sir Cahair O’Doherty took up residence there in 1601.
O’Doherty's Tower in Derry. Built in 1615 by Patrick O’Doherty "to satisfy tax liability owed to the O’Donnells".
