The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1916-01-29
Cenealogy Of the o'Dowd Family

O'Dowd-Doody. This fine old, and
as a consequence, very historic sept,
is interviewer with that of the domi-
nant clan of the O'Connor, who long
were high rulers in the old Kingdom
of Connacht. From the renowned
Brian, brother of Mall Nor, who is
the prime star of the famed .O'Neill
family, Brian is accepted as the gen.
eric father of those who made Con-
nacht thing of stirring moment. The
brother of Brian was Fiachra Folt.
leathan, or he of the broad veins"
and from whom came the O'Fuilt-
leatha, which is anglicized O'F>ulton
and Fulton, from whom also came
very many centuries after, Robert
Fulton, who gave to America the
steamboat. Then came Dathi, Ard
Righ of Eirinn, A. D. 4O5-427, a brave,
bold and venturous man, who, seized
by the spirit of his great-uncles con-
quests, followed Mall Nor into France
His proper name was Feredach, but
he was called "Dathi," or Dathe,"
which is held to mean agility" So
expert was he in the use of his arms;
so clever at handling weapons, that
the wonderful legends, call them ira
ditional, if you will, said: "a hundred
persons attacking him at any given
time-all' discharging their arrows
and javelins at him, he could ward off
every weapon by his dexterity!" This
was certainly wonderful. Hence, his
career was in full consonance with
his fame. Uncle Mall Nor was his
ideal, and Dathi buckled on his sword,
collected his legions, and away to
France (then GauD and Britain he
went, to beat back the broken Rom
ans. His last trip to Gaul meant his
final trip on earth; for. right at the
foot of the Alps, a lightning bolt-so
it is held-brought the end. They
brought his body to Ireland, and, as
he was Pagan, buried it in Reiligh-
ma RICH, or the Cemetery of the
Kings" where Connaught's regal dead
were inferred.
Dathi had three sons, one of whom
was Fiachra Ealg, who had son nam
ed Maoldubh, who had a son named
Tiobrad, who had son named Don.
och, who had son named Olioll, who
had a son named Cathal, who had a
son named Duncatha, who had son
named Conmac. So on runs the pedi-
gree to Conmac, who having two sons,
the eldest being Dubhda ("dubhda,"
Irish, dark complexioned), was, or is
accepted the common ancestor of o.
Dubhda. And this, in many forms, has
Englished O'Dowd, Dowd, Dowde,
Doody, and some claim, Deedy.
In highly interesting description
of Connacht by Sir Oliver st. John, of
the Cromwellian settlement era, he
states: 1.-THE O'Dowds, the McDon-
oghs, the O'Hara's and the O'Harts re-
tanned the residue (of estates) of the
County Sligo, besides that which the
O'Connor Sligo held" At Cairn Am
halgaidh, or "Carnawley," supposed
to be the hill of Mullaghcarn, where
King Awley was buried, the chiefs of
the O'Dowds were inaugurated as
princes of Hy-Fiachra, while, accord
ing to other accounts, they were in.
augurated on the hill of Ardnaree,
near Ballina. Thus they were chiefs
of northern Hy-Fiachra, and their ter.
ritory comprised nearly the whole of
the present county Of Sligo, with a
large part of Mayo. d -..#
They are reputed to be men of very
big stature. The annals of the -Four
Masters" hold much report of the i'm
portant part the O'Dowds played in
Connacht's history.
"A. d. 1917. O'Dubhda (Ruadhri,
son of Bomhnall, who was son of
Brian, son of Taitleach), fountain of
the prosperity and wealth of Tireragh,
died at his own mansion seat (Dun
Neill) after the festival of St. Brigid,
and his brother, Tadhg Riabach, as
sumed his place." A brother of Rory's
named Tadgh Riabach, who succeeded
as chief of Tireragh in 1417, and died
in 1882. It was in the time of this
Tiege Reagh that the Abbey of Ard
naree, near Ballina, was founded for
monks of the Order of ST. Augustine.
A. d. 1927, the ruins Of which are still