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 Families bearing the
surnames O'Donnelly, Donnelly, and Donneely are
most probably derived from the original Gaelic family O'Donnaghaile
(this has been anglicized from the Gaelic), meaning 'descendant of
Donnghal'. In Gaelic, 'dhonn' means 'brown',and 'galach'
means 'valiant'. The Donnelly family is one of the 65 most numerous in
Eire, comprising nearly ten thousand persons. Practically all belong to
the Ulster clan, which is described here.
The surname originated in
the 10th century. This distinguished family belonged to that group of
clans known as Cinel Eoghain, of whom the O'Neill family is perhaps the
best known in history. They were located in Ulster and derive their name
and descent from Donnghal, the fourth descendant of Domnall, King of
Aileach, and brother of Niall Glundhubh (black knee), the famous
ancestor of the O'Neills. This would make Donnqhal the great, great
grand-nephew of Niall Glundhubh, although it has been recorded elsewhere
that Donnghal was the great grand-nephew of Niall Glundhubh. He was also
seventeenth in descent from Niall the Great, ancestor of the royal house
of O'Neill.
The chief of the
O'Donnelly clan was hereditary marshal of O'Neill's forces: Donnell
O'Donnelly, who accompanied Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, in the Battle
of Kinsale (1603) as 'captain of one hundredmen', who
fought bravely in that hopeless, one-sided struggle until he and all his
men were slain. His nephew, Patrick Donnelly, was a noted captain under
Sir Phelim O'Neill in the rebellion of 1641.
The O'Donnellys were
originally seated at Druim Lighean, (now anglicized to Drumleen), a
short distance to the north of Lifford in County Donnegal. They were
expelled by the Cinel Conaill sometime before 1641. Patrick Modardha
O'Donnelly captured the Castle Caufield in 1641, and it was renamed
Ballydonnelly. Located to the west of Dungannon in Co. Tyrone, it was at
Ballydonnelly that the celebrated Shane O'Neill (Shane the Proud) was
fostered by the O'Donnellys. Later, Ballydonnelly was granted by James I
to Sir Toby Caufield, ancestor of the Earl of Charlemont, and renamed
Castle Cautield. This is the area where the Donnelly family is still
most numerous.
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