INTRODUCTION
This website presents material relating to the wider historical community of the Clan O'Donnell of Tyrconnell, gradually bringing previously unpublished or inherited material into the public domain for educational, heritage, and cultural preservation purposes. The focus here is on hitherto little-known facets of O'Donnell history, and not the recounting of well-known story-lines, such as the life of Red Hugh O'Donnell, the Flight of the Earls, or the historically-prominent branches of the clan in Austria, Spain, or elsewhere. My late mother claimed O'Donnell descent on her side, from a female ancestor, and my late father participated in the first Clan reunion in three centuries that took place under the auspices of An Tóstal in Donegal around Easter in 1954.
On my own side, like my late father, I was an early member of the O'Donnell Clan Association (ODCA), and for some years its Delegate to Clans of Ireland, and a Director of the latter, over a decade ago. Lately, with support from other members, we have re-instated its membership in Clans of Ireland, and are engaged in a process for renewal and upgrading. I have also lately been honoured to be appointed President of the Genealogical Society of Ireland on 12 March 2024, following election by its members late last year.
The statements throughout the following pages result from deep research over many decades by my late father and myself, as well as others' published sources. These sources are now made available in a comprehensive account published internationally and after extensive peer review by historians, genealogists, and other knowledgeable persons. Responsibility for errors remains uniquely mine, and corrections of fact are welcomed.
Lectures & articles
My series of occasional lectures/talks on O'Donnell history and heritage continues. The first was delivered at the O'Donnell Clan Gathering in Donegal, on 8 August 2013. The second, in honour of our Clan patron Saint Colmcille/Columba, whose feast day is Monday, 9 June, was held on the following day. A pre-Schism saint, he is honoured by Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants (Anglican, Presbyterian, Lutheran). I subsequently gave a lecture to the Genealogical Society of Ireland (GSI) on Tuesday 10 June 2014, at the Dún Laoghaire Further Education Institute (formerly Dún Laoghaire College of Further Education), Cumberland St., Dún Laoghaire, Ireland.
The topic on which I spoke was: “Clans of Ireland – A Case Study of the O’Donnell Clan”. The talk covered a broad outline of the revival of Irish clans and historical families, and current challenges. It also took the example of the Clan O’Donnell of Tyrconnell (Ó Domhnaill Tír Chonaill also known as Clan Dálaigh) touching on the more notable branches of the Clan, in Flanders, Spain, and Austria, and including the “lost” French branch of Counts O’Donnell, extinct since 1879. I also spoke on the challenges of adjusting clan mythologies/histories to the fruits of new research, interpretive issues/historical quandaries, and implications for clan governance in the 21st century. The lecture was open to the public, and well attended.
In 2015, the Military History Society of Ireland, in its journal, The Irish Sword, Volume XXX, no. 119 of Summer 2015, published my article "The Chevalier Michel O'Donnell (1730-1803) - A Wild Goose from Mullet", who served in the Irish Brigade in France, and hailed from Termoncarragh in County Mayo.
The Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society also published an article of mine on "The Kerry Days of the Knights Hospitaller" in its Journal, Series 2, Volume 12, in 2015. The article covers the Knights' historic presence in Ardfert, Rattoo, and Tralee, as well as the influence of St. Aubin on the town land of Ballintobeenig.
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Austro-Irish Society, hosted by the Irish Embassy, in Vienna, I gave give a brief talk on my book “The O’Donnells of Tyrconnell - A Hidden Legacy” on 16 May 2019. A similar talk was given to the book club of the Association Française - Belgrade Acceuil, in Belgrade on 15 November 2020.
At the prompt of my old friend, Donal Denham, retired Irish Ambassador, the University of the Third Age (U3A-DLDK; Dun Laoghaire, Dalkey & Killiney) also approached me to give an online lecture on "The O'Donnells of Tyrconnell - Dynasty, LIneages and their Monuments", which I delivered on 1 February 2022. From its origins in France in the 1970s, the University of the Third Age has spread rapidly across the world : 7 million Chinese citizens are in U3A groups. Australians enjoy a popular, well-organised nationwide spread of branches. In the UK there are 1,035 branches, while in Ireland there are 30 to date and they are affiliated to AIUTA - L'Association Internationale des Universités du Troisième Age - a confederation of over 50 countries supporting U3A.
Conferences & seminars
I was also invited to participate in the second International Colloquium on Nobility, held in Madrid on 20-21 October 2017, and hosted by the Real Asociación de Hidalgos de España (Royal Association of Nobles of Spain), and to present the gist of my synoptic paper on the subject of Irish Nobility and Armigerous Families, which was subsequently featured in Actas – Il Coloquio Internacional Sobre La Nobleza (2nd International Colloquium on Nobility, Madrid 20-21 October 2017), published by the Real Asociación de Hidalgos de España, Madrid, 2019.
For many years, I also drew attention of the Irish Government to the UNESCO 2003 International Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage as an instrument that can prove beneficial for the global recognition and national preservation of elements of our ancient heritage, such as heraldry, and Ireland finally ratified the Convention in December 2015, and accepted several of the elements I had recommended, acknowledging my direct advocacy, such as the ancient Gaelic sport of Hurling and the Celtic music of the Uileann pipes, and Irish Harping, for which stakeholder groups already existed. I have also recommended others, such as Irish heraldry, and those that can be seen under the "Heritage" tab.
In 2018 I was invited to present a seminar in French on 17 October to Master's Degree students at the Sorbonne University in Paris. Under the general rubric of social anthropology and culture, the seminar dealt with the contribution of genealogical research to cultural history, in a series directed by Professor Eric Mension-Rigau. An introduction on the Wild Geese (Les Oies Sauvages) was given by Patrick Clarke de Dromantin, a direct descendant and France's most published authority on the subject. My subject dealt with The O'Donnell Counts in France and their transition from ancient chivalry and military service to the highest echelons of the civil service, the Conseil d'Etat. I gave a talk on the same subject on 9 November 2018 at Griffith College in Dublin for the 2018 Lecture Programme of the Military History Society of Ireland. Further talks were postponed on account of the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic.
Books & reviews
In 2019, my book, The O'Donnells of Tyrconnell - A Hidden Legacy, was published in hardback by Academica Press LLC, Washington DC. The book extends to 750 pages, with 33 pages of coloured illustrations, an appendix on heraldry and genealogy providing 50 pages of genealogical tables/family trees and source notes and commentary for the main dynastic lines, a rich and structured bibliography on a further 50 pages, and a detailed index on 55 pages. Over 1,700 footnotes provide detailed commentaries and references, and over 1,100 sources are cited. The book has taken over 14 years to prepare and is based on 30 years of research. Further details can be had on the publisher's website: http://www.academicapress.com/node/330, and the improved 2nd printing version is available widely on the internet (Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, Alan Hanna, Waterstones, etc.) . My book No Man's Land - Selected Poetry & Art, was published in Dalkey, in March 2020, in a very limited edition.
The first, the history book, has been favourably reviewed as follows:
- by Caitlin Bain, & Brian Donovan, Director, Eneclann: The O’Donnells of Tyrconnell: A Hidden Legacy, review thereof published by Eneclann – The Irish Family History Centre, Dublin, 26 January 2020.
- by Michael Merrigan: Celebrating Ireland in Belgrade (front cover story about the book The O’Donnells of Tyrconnell – A Hidden Legacy) published in Ireland’s Genealogical Gazette, Volume 15, no. 2, monthly newsletter of the Genealogical Society of Ireland, February 2020.
- by J. Anthony Gaughan: The Astonishing History of One of Ireland’s Great Clans, published in The Irish Catholic, 12 March 2020.
- by Kenneth Ferguson, LL.B, Ph.D, Honorary Editor, in Book Reviews – The O’Donnells of Tyrconnell: A Hidden Legacy, published in The Irish Sword, the Journal of the Military History Society of Ireland, Volume XXXII, no. 129, Dublin, Summer 2020 (pp. 351-352).
The excavation of the remains of Red Hugh O'Donnell has also created renewed interest in the O'Donnell dynasty and its fate. Several recent articles on that subject are referenced in my Twitter feed (@fmod1), and on the Facebook page "The O'Donnell of Tyrconnell - A Hidden Legacy", and some of which I authored and can also be accessed on the Academia.edu website, here:
https://independent.academia.edu/FrancisMartinODonnell
Historic Commemorative Webinar
On Wednesday 21 October 2020 a webinar was held under the auspices of the formerly-Franciscan Irish College of Saint Anthony in Louvain, now the secular Irish College Leuven (ICL), supported as an all-Ireland institution in Europe by the governments in Belfast and Dublin. It was the first webinar of the ICL and was held under the commemorative theme "Memorialising Emigré Dignity", to mark 400 years since the first burial in the Chapel of St. Anthony in September 1620, that of my family’s ancestor Donal Oge O'Donnell, nephew of the famous Red Hugh O’Donnell, Prince of Tyrconnell, and who participated in the Flight of the Earls as part of the entourage of his other uncle and successor as Prince of Tyrconnell, namely, Rory O’Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell. Donal Oge was the ultimate beneficiary-in-remainder to the Lordship of Tyrconnell in the Letters Patent of King James I for the Earldom of Tyrconnell, but died prematurely of wounds inflicted in 1620.
The webinar was also held to honour the 250 Irish emigré friars, scholars, soldiers and friends interred or associated with the College over the centuries, and brought out the cultural and social richness of the diverse personalities associated with it, many famous in the annals of Irish history, and reflecting a great number of Irish clans and historic families. My most recent visit to Leuven's Irish College was in 2017, with an old friend, Baron Bernard Snoy et d'Oppuers, former President of the Association de la Noblesse du Royaume de Belgique (the Association of the Nobility of the Kingdom of Belgium) on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the re-opening of the Irish College in 1927, when Bernard's grandfather and my second cousin thrice-removed, the late Cardinal Patrick O'Donnell, presided. Following on that visit, a commemoration was planned, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this evolved instead into the webinar which was organised with the keen collaboration of David Grant, Chief Executive Officer of the Irish College, and with the support of the Leuven Centre for Irish Studies and the European Federation of Associations and Centres of Irish Studies.
The webinar was hosted and moderated by David Grant, and the speakers were Dr. Katharine Simms, PhD, Fellow of Trinity College Dublin and member of the Royal Irish Academy, who spoke on the theme of “Queens in later medieval Ireland”; Mag. Douglas O’Donell von Tyrconnell, M. Phil., who addressed the subject of “The Wild Geese and the Holy Roman Empire”; Prof. Fr. Mícheál MacCraith, OFM/NUI (Galway) of the Franciscan House of Studies in Dún Mhuire, Killiney, who treated of “The re-fashioning of the exiles in the continental culture of national and religious identity”; Baron Bernard Snoy et d'Oppuers, who gave his exposé on how his family helped give sanctuary to “The Irish in exile with the persecution of the Irish friars in Leuven in occupied Belgium”; Prof. Johan Verberckmoes, KU/Leuven, who talked about “The four Irish Colleges in Leuven in the 17th and 18th centuries”, concluding with my own presentation on “An O’Donnell Odyssey - Preserving intangible cultural heritage: emigrés, allies and patrons in sanctuaries abroad”. The webinar recording can be viewed on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz6uZz1U3jg&t=41s
With the revival of the O'Donnell Clan Association (ODCA) now underway collectively, and other initiatives, especially capitalising on 2024, which marks the 550th anniversary of the erection of Donegal Castle and the foundation of Donegal Abbey, many opportunities lie ahead, both at home and abroad. It is also the 70th anniversary of the O'Donnell Clan Association. A new Constitution for the ODCA was adopted by a general assembly of members meeting in Lough Eske Castle, Donegal on 9 June 2024, and a new Council was elected to govern its future activities. Details of these can be found under the tabs "Clan Revival" and "Clan Association".
We look forward eagerly to sharing more with time, in a spirit of friendship and mutual collaboration,
Yours in stewardship, service & sincerity,
Francis M. O'Donnell
Ambassador (ret.), GCMM, GCEG, KM, KC*SG, KCHS, KCMCO, FGSI
President of the O'Donnell Clan Association
President of the Genealogical Society of Ireland
Contact: on social networks or by email: chancery@odomhnaill.com
