History
The O'Dowd clan or sept traces its descent from Fiachra, brother of
Niall of the Nine Hostages, through Daithi, the last
pagan King of Ireland who, legend has it, was killed by a bolt of lightning as he led an army to the foot of the
Alps in 455 AD. His grandson Aillil ("Al-ill") succeeded as King of
Connacht and later King of
Tara until 482.
For centuries they were the leading sept of the northern
Ui Fiachrach, a tribal group that occupied the modern counties of
Mayo and
Sligo. The Uí Faichrach 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 baronies of
Erris and
Tirawley in Mayo and
Tireragh in Sligo. They forged a kingdom in
North 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 O'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 historicans to the family. He was murdered in 1671.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O
