The Byzantine Emperor, Constantine the Great, converted to Christianity after a vision before the famous Battle of the Milvian Bridge, having seen a sign of the cross in the sky, and thence the motto In Hoc Signo Vinces, telling him he would be thus victorious. A short time later, St. Patrick struck the shield of Conall, son of King Niall of the Nine Hostages, with his crozier, called Bachall Isa (the staff of Jesus) inscribing thereon a sign of the cross and told him the same, and baptized him. His land became Tír Connaill, Tyrconnell, the land of Conall. His Constantinian shield, and this motto, have been the main O’Donnell arms, in various forms, through the centuries.
Tyrconnell, the territory named after the Cenel Conaill, is the vast territory where the O'Donnells held sway, comprised the greater part of the modern county of Donegal except the peninsula of Inishowen. But it also included areas outside Donegal, such as the baronies of Carbury in County Sligo, Rosclogher in County Leitrim, and Magheraboy and Firlurg in County Fermanagh, and part of southern County Londonderry, hence it straddled the modern Irish Republic and also part of Northern Ireland in the UK. It also therefore bordered on territory ruled by the O'Neills of Tyrone, who were continually attempting to assert their supremacy over it, and hence the history of the O'Donnells is for the most part a record of clan warfare with their powerful neighbours, and of their own efforts to make good their claims to the overlordship of northern Connacht. Nonetheless Tyrconnel existed for a period as an independent kingdom, recognised by King Henry III of England (see Close Roll, in the Tower of London, 28 Hen. 3m.7).
The first chieftain of mark in the family was Goffraidh (Godfrey, called after Godfrey de Bouillon, 1st Crusader ruler or proto-King of Jerusalem), son of Dónall Dónall Mór Ó Dónaill (d. 1241). He rapidly came to power, with the initial support of the Norman FitzGeralds, in the aftermath of the suppression of the Cathars in France in 1244. Later, the O'Donnell rulers aided Templar knights fleeing to Scotland via Tyrconnell and Sligo, where a Templar priory existed at Ballymote [1], a Percival family estate for the last 300 years. The O'Donnell King of Tyrconnell became known as the Fisher-King, on the Continent, ostensibly due to the export of fish traded for wine in La Rochelle.
Goffraidh, who was inaugurated as "The O'Donnell",buddies i.e. chief of the clan, in 1248, made a successful inroad into Tyrone against Brian Ó Néill in 1252. In 1257 he drove the English out of northern Connacht, after a single combat with Maurice Fitzgerald in which both warriors were wounded. O'Donnell while still incapacitated by his wound was summoned by Brian O'Neill to give hostages in token of submission. Carried on a litter at the head of his clan he gave battle to O'Neill, whom he defeated with severe loss in prisoners and cattle; but he died of his wound immediately afterwards near Letterkenny, and was succeeded in the chieftainship by his brother Dónall Óg, who returned from Scotland in time to withstand successfully the demands of Ó Néill.
At times they co-operated with the English, especially when such co-operation appeared to promise triumph over their ancient rivals the O'Neills, at other times joining with the latter as allies against the English authorities. In the 16th century, when the English began to make determined efforts to bring the whole of Ireland under subjection to the crown, the O'Donnells of Tyrconnel played a leading part, led by the famous Prince Hugh Roe O'Donnell. Under his leadership, and that of Hugh O'Neill, they advanced to Kinsale and laid siege to the English forces in anticipation of a Spanish invasion. En route, they implanted some O'Donnell kinsmen in Ardfert and Lixnaw to protect the territories of their ally, FitzMaurice, Lord of Kerry. The Battle of Kinsale was lost in 1601, heralding the end of the Gaelic order and Brehon Laws in Ireland, and the completion of the Elizabethan conquest. It was the end of Irish independence until re-gained in 1922.
Patrick Cardinal O'Donnell was probably the next famous O'Donnell to emerge in Ireland after the exile of Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnel. Thomas O'Donnell, M.P. for West Kerry (1900-1918) was a leading agrarian reformer, and the first Member of Parliament to address the House of Commons in Westminster in the Irish language (Gaelic), but was called to order by the Speaker, but not without having made his mark with John Redmond's support.
The current nominal head of the O'Donnell Clan (Clan Dálaigh), who bears the courtesy title of "The O'Donnell", i.e. the latest in the line of Chiefs of the Name of O'Donnell of Tyrconnell, customarily recognised as a Prince, is Fr. Hugh O'Donel, O.F.M., a Franciscan priest in Africa. His Tánaiste (or heir apparent) as The O'Donnell of Tyrconnell, Prince and Chief of the Name of O'Donnell, is S.E. Don Hugo O'Donnell, Duke of Tetuan, a Grandee of Spain. He is known as S.E. Don Hugo O'Donnell y Duque de Estrada - the latter appendant Duque de Estrada is not a title but a maternal family name. Don Hugo is an active member of the Clan Association of the O'Donnells of Tyrconnell, and a member of the nobiliary Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta, i.e. a Knight of Malta.
The Cinel, or Kinel, was a group of related clans occupying an extensive district. See P. W. Joyce, A Social History of Ireland (London, 1903), i. 166.
The Life of Hugh Roe O'Donnell, Prince of Tyrconnell (Beatha Aodh Rua O Domhnaill) by Lughaidh O'Cleirigh. Edited by Paul Walsh and Colm Ó Lochlainn. Irish Texts Society, vol. 42. Dublin: Educational Company of Ireland, 1948 (original Gaelic manuscript in the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin).
Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland (Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) by the Four Masters, from the earliest period to the year 1616, compiled during the period 1632-1636 by Brother Mícheál Ó Cléirigh, translated and edited by John O'Donovan in 1856, and re-published in 1998 by De Burca, Dublin.
Vicissitudes of Families, by Sir Bernard Burke, Ulster King of Arms, published by Longman, Green, Longman and Roberts, Paternoster Row, London, 1861. (Chapter on O’Donnells, pages 125-148).
A View of the Legal Institutions, Honorary Hereditary Offices, and Feudal Baronies established in Ireland, by William Lynch, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, published by Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, Paternoster Row, London, 1830 (O’Donnell: page 190, remainder to Earl’s patent).
The Fate and Fortunes of the Earls of Tyrone (Hugh O’Neill) and Tyrconnel (Rory O’Donel), their flight from Ireland and death in exile, by the Rev. C. P. Meehan, M.R.I.A., 2nd edition, James Duffy, London, 1870.
The Fighting Prince of Donegal, A Walt Disney Film, made in 1966 about the life of Prince Red Hugh O’Donnell (i.e. Hugh Roe), starring Peter McEnery, Susan Hampshire, Gordon Jackson, and Andrew Keir.
Erin’s Blood Royal – The Gaelic Noble Dynasties of Ireland, by Peter Berresford Ellis, Constable, London, 1999, (pages 251-258 on the O’Donel, Prince of Tirconnell).
Blood Royal - From the time of Alexander the Great to Queen Elizabeth II, by Charles Mosley, published for Ruvigny Ltd., London, 2002 (O'Donnell listed as Baron, page v) [ISBN 0-9524229-9-9]
History of Killeen Castle, by Mary Rose Carty, published by Carty/Lynch, Dunsany, County Meath, Ireland, April 1991 (ISBN 0-9517382-0-8) - page 18 refers to Elizabeth O'Donnell as 1st Countess of Fingal, by marriage to Lucas Plunkett, 1st Earl of Fingall.
Vanishing Kingdoms - The Irish Chiefs and Their Families, by Walter J. P. Curley (former US Ambassador to Ireland), with foreword by Charles Lysaght, published by The Lilliput Press, Dublin, 2004 [ISBN 1-84351-055-3 & ISBN 1-84351-056-1]. (Chapter on O'Donnell of Tyrconnell, page 59).
A Political Odyssey - Thomas O'Donnell, by J. Anthony Gaughan, Kingdom Books, Dublin, 1983.
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