"If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand"
Gospel: Mark 3:20-35 (9 June 2024)
The O'Donnell Clan and Clans of Ireland
Participation in Clans of Ireland
The O'Donnell Clan Association has participated in the Clans of Ireland organisation for many years, both as a member clan, and on the Board of Clans of Ireland, as well as in its Order of Merit. The Patron of Clans of Ireland is the President of Ireland. Clans of Ireland ~ Finte na hÉireann is an independent permanent authority established in 1989 to register Irish clans and historical families, thirty-five years after the O'Donnell Clan Association was first established when the O'Donnell Clan was itself the first to revive in its renewal at the historic Rally of the Clans in 1954. The Rally of the Clans was held in Donegal under the auspices of An Tóstal, and following the official launching of An Tóstal in 1953, when the second President of Ireland at the time, Seán T. O'Kelly, declared: "An Tóstal will be a time of pageantry and national rejoicing, in which the Irish Clans from far and near come together in joyful reunion". As a registered member, the O'Donnell Clan Association benefits from the fact that Clans of Ireland is an Irish registered charity (Charity Reg. No. 20032111), a company limited by guarantee (Company Reg. No. 159373) and a civil society non-governmental organisation accredited to the Economic & Social Council of the United Nations.
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In Memoriam
Vincent O’Donnell (27 November 1947 – 19 June 2021)
The late former teacher, piper, and most of all Secretary and President Emeritus of the O'Donnell Clan Association, Vincent O’Donnell, or Vincie Shíle as he was known to his family and friends, devoted the majority of his life to his passions and interests, namely Irish music and language, the genealogy of Rann na Feirste area in Tír Chonaill (Ranafast in County Donegal) and the O’Donnell Clan. From his upbringing in the Ghaeltacht he was surrounded by Irish music and language. Throughout his life he was in a number of pipe and flute bands, and as a national school teacher, he started a band in his school that were successful at many competitions. He was a keen scholar of the Irish Language and its history throughot the ages from annals and manuscripts. From his early twenties, he became interested in his own family and its roots. He began to research their connections in his home town in the Ghaeltacht, Rann na Feirste. In doing so he realised how connected the families in the town were and continued to record the genealogy of the town until he catalogued the many families going back a number of generations. As his son Rory put it, this simple question of “who am I”, was the catalyst to the many years of Vincent’s study into the O’Donnell Clan and its promotion. After joining the O’Donnell Clan Association, he worked on many projects which saw the preservation of the Clan’s history, the most significant of these was the housing Rupert O Cochlain's archive of the O'Donnell at The Lifford Courthouse Heritage Centre in Donegal and working with local committees to secure government funding to renovate the O’Donnell ancestral family home, Donegal Castle. While with the O’Donnell Clan Association, he has been instrumental in organising many Clan gatherings and trips to commemorate significant Clan events. In 2008, after the Clan trip to Kinsale to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the battle, he organised and led a follow-up trip to commemorate the journey of the Flight of the Earls through Europe to Rome following the same path as the Earls. It was wonderful to see the number of younger members that attended the gatherings and trips, learning about the O’Donnell Clan and now aware of their rich family history thanks to Vincent’s efforts. He fostered a great bond between the O’Donnell Clan in Ireland and those abroad in Austria and Span, as well as beyond. As such they have been present at many of the Clan events and have invited him to be a representative at events in their own countries, such as the unveiling of a plaque commemorating the death and burial of Red Hugh O’Donnell in Valladolid and the official renaming of Calle O’Donnell in Malaga. Vincent launched the published the Ó Domhnaill Abú Clan Newsletter in 1985 which was distributed by him globally to keep Clan members informed of future events and to promote the Clan’s history. He moved with the times and set up a website which took over from the newsletter and further spread the Clan name and gathered more interest from those abroad and at home and helped bring the awareness of the O’Donnell Clan to a new generation.
In 2012, Vincent was decorated by Leo Varadkar with the medal of Clans of Ireland as a Companion of its Order of Merit, and in January 2020, he received a papal decoration from the Bishop of Raphoe, Most. Rev. Dr. Alan McGuckian SJ. He continued to promote and record the O’Donnell Clan’s history as long as he was able to, and the legacy of his work is that he preserved the Clan's history and educated a new generation so that the O’Donnell Clan’s global community may continue for many generations to come.
Vincent O'Donnell at the Hohensalzburg Fortress in Salzburg, during the Clan visit to Austria in 201
In Memoriam
Aodh Ua Domhnaill - Hugh Ambrose O’Donnell, OFM (1940-2023)
Rev. Fr. Hugh Ambrose O’Donnell, OFM, who passed away on 11 July 2023, was the last of the line of the O'Donels of Larkfield reckoned by male primogeniture and as registered in the Genealogical Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland, and his father John O'Donel was recognised as Chief of the Name - "The O'Donnell of Tyrconnell" on 11 September 1945 in the official gazette of Ireland, Iris Oifigiúil, and almost nine years later inaugurated as Chief of the Clan Dálaigh Ua Domhnaill at Easter 1954 in Donegal. Fr. Hugh, succeeded his father, but having taken religious vows, was not formally inaugurated as Chief of the Clan, albeit was honoured by the Clan Association and others as Chief of the Name, Ua Domhnaill. He passed away peacefully in Beechfield Manor Nursing Home, Shankhill, County Dublin, where he had moved in recent times. He was received into the Franciscan novitiate in 1957, made solemn profession in 1961, and was ordained in 1965. After a few months in Cork, he went to Zimbabwe as a missionary and remained there for 42 years, before returning to Ireland. He later lived in the Franciscan convent in Dún Mhuire, Killiney, and assisted in St. Fergal's parish in Bray from 2008 to 2017. Thereafter he was chaplain at Miguel House in Castletown, County Laois, where he ministered to the De La Salle Brothers. In responding to condolences, the Provincial Secretary of the Irish Franciscans observed: "As a Friar Minor, Hugh lived his life quietly and without drawing attention to himself, giving himself generously in the service of the church both here in Ireland after his return from Africa, and in Zimbabwe during his many years of ministry there, especially during the War of Independence".
The ODCA clan secretary and later president, the late Vincent O'Donnell, had been in touch with Fr. Hugh on at least one occasion back in 2012, but Fr. Hugh told him in a friendly manner that he had no interest in Clan matters, let alone in the Chieftainship of any kind. I learnt much about his quiet vocation and sincerity through his confrères in Dún Mhuire over the years of my research visits, facilitated by Fr. Ignatius Fennessy, and collaboration with Fr. Vincent Gallogly, OFM, Fr. John Kealy, OFM, and Professor Fr. Micheál Mac Craith. OFM,. Fr. Hugh's vocational choice epitomised the calling in the cruciform arms borne by his and our ancestors and the motto "In Hoc Signo Vinces". I know that many of us in the O'Donnell Clan Association share in mourning his loss while celebrating his life divinely-led. In giving his life to the Church and in service to others, in many years of ministry abroad in Zimbabwe, including during its War of Independence, and in service to parishes back home in Ireland, he exemplified the Christian calling, and by his example showed us how to follow. Chief of the Name, he earned a place as Chief of our Hearts, and we pray for his joyful repose in the loving embrace of the Creator, Our Lord Jesus Christ. May he rest in peace and may his family and community cherish his service as we may also find inspiration in his example.
Fr. Hugh Ambrose O'Donnell, OFM, wearing a sacerdotal stole bearing the Cross of Jerusalem.