Origins

Ó Dónalláin was a member of a minor family of bard

Bard

In medieval Gaelic and British culture a bard was a professional poet, employed by a patron, such as a monarch or nobleman, to commemorate the patron's ancestors and to praise the patron's own activities.Originally a specific class of poet, contrasting with another class known as fili in Ireland...

s based at Ballydonnellan, Loughrea

Loughrea

Loughrea is a town in County Galway, Ireland. The town lies north of a range of wooded hills, the Slieve Aughty Mountains.The town expanded in recent years as it increasingly becomes a commuter town for the city of Galway.- Name :...

, County Galway

County Galway

County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...

, in what was then the kingdom of Uí Maine. Their pedigree

Pedigree chart

A pedigree chart is a diagram that shows the occurrence and appearance or phenotypes of a particular gene or organism and its ancestors from one generation to the next, most commonly humans, show dogs, and race horses....

 is given in Leabhar Uí Maine:

gave their descent as

Domnallan mac Maelbrigdi

Domnallan mac Maelbrigdi

-Biography:Domnallan was the son of Maelbrigdi, a member of the Ui Maine dynasty, located in south-east Connacht. His pedigree is given as Domnallan mac Maelbrigdi mic Grenain mic Loingsich mic Domnallain mic Bresail mic Dluthaig mic Fithchellaig mic Dicholla mic Eogain Find.-Descendants:The...

, mic Grenain, mic Loingsich, mic Domnallain, mic Bresail, mic Dluthaig, mic Fithchellaig, mic Dicholla, mic Eogain Find.

Domnallain mac Maelbrigdi was alive about the reign of king Muirgus mac Domnaill (973

973

Year 973 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Edgar of England is crowned king by Saint Dunstan.* Otto II becomes Holy Roman Emperor and King of Germany....

-986

986

Year 986 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* March 2 – Louis V becomes King of the Franks....

.

An alternative term for them and their associated families was Clan Breasail, indicateing their joint descent from Breasail mac Dluthaig.

The original castle of was said to have being built in 936

936

Year 936 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* King Taejo of Goryeo defeats Hubaekje....

, and was rebuilt after a fire in 1412

Cuige Connacht

Ó Dónalláin is known from a single extant poem of one hundred and ninety-two verses, Cuige Connacht, in praise of Aedh Mac Diarmata (MacDermot

MacDermot

Mac Diarmata is an Irish surname, and the surname of the ruling dynasty of Moylurg, a kingdom that existed in Connacht from the 10th to 16th centuries.-Overview:...

) of Moylurg

Moylurg

Magh Luirg or Magh Luirg an Dagda, Anglicised as Moylurg, was the name of a kingdom located in the north-east of Connacht, the western province of Ireland, from c.956-1585...

. This is either Aedh Mac Diarmata (reigned 1368–1393) or Aedh mac Diarmata, (1458–1465).

O'Reilly specifically states that he was a poet to the MacDermots.

See also

• Nehemiah Donnellan
  Nehemiah Donnellan
  Nehemiah Donnellan , Archbishop of Tuam, fl. c. 1560-1609.-Background:Donellan was born in the county of Galway, a son of Mael Sechlainn Ó Dónalláin, by his wife Sisly, daughter of William Ó Cellaigh of Calla...
  
   (1560–1610), Archbishop of Tuam
  Archbishop of Tuam
  The Archbishop of Tuam is an archiepiscopal title which takes its name after the town of Tuam in County Galway, Ireland. The title was used by the Church of Ireland until 1839, and is still in use by the Roman Catholic Church.-History:...
  
  .
• Sir James Donnellan
  Sir James Donnellan
  Sir James Donnellan was an Irish lawyer and politician, who became chief justice of the Common Pleas in 1660.He was the third son of Nehemiah Donnellan, Archbishop of Tuam, and father of Nehemiah Donnellan, Chief Baron of the Exchequer...
  
   (fl.
  Floruit
  Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
  
   1607-1665.
• Muircheartach Ó Domhnallain (fl. 1695-1706), Bishop of Clonfert
• Captain John Donnellan, fl. 1777-1781
• Seosamh Ó Dónalláin
  Seosamh Ó Dónalláin
  Seosamh Ó Dónalláin, , member of the Irish Republican Army, died 1920.Ó Dónalláin was a native of Kilkerrin, Ballinasloe, and came to be involved with the volunteer movement via his brother, Tom Donnellan, who was principal teacher at Brierhill.He was shot dead in an ambush at the Old Gallows near...
  
  , Republican (d. 1920).
• Michael Donnellan (1900–1964), Clann na Talmhan politician.

External links

• http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?fuseaction=Go.&UserID=
• http://www.ballyd.com/
• http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G105007/index.html