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 The
O'Donovan name, according to Peadar O'Donovan, has been associated with
South West Cork for 800 years. O'Donovans and their kinsmen, the
Collinses and the Connollys, were forced south around 1200 A.D. by the
Geraldines, after the Norman invasion (1169), from the kingdoms of Ui
Conaill Gabhra and Uí Cairbre Aofa in Co. Limerick.
He suggests
that the warcry "Crom Abú" was the O'Donovan warcry, first
heard in Croom, Co. Limerick where Crom, the progenitor and chieftain of
the O'Donovan Clan built a castle 200 years before the Norman invasion.
This warcry was later to be taken up by the Fitzgeralds.
He goes on
to explain the derivation of the name. Derived from Donndubháin, Donn
being a proper name of those of noble rank and dubháin
signifying anything black, especially a black haired person. Surnames
came into usage around 1000 A.D. the name became Ó Donnabháin, meaning
grandson (Ó) of Donovan.
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