Donnchadh mac Eamonn Ó Cellaigh, king of Uí Maine, Chief of the Name, fl. 1536 - after 1557.

Overview

Donnchadh's reign saw the final subjugation of Ui Maine to the Clanricarde

Clanricarde

Clanricarde was a term meaning both a territory and a title in Ireland between the 13th and early 20th centuries.-Territory:The territory, in what is now County Galway, Ireland, stretched from the barony of County Clare in the north-west along the borders of County Mayo, to the River Shannon in the...

's, after two centuries of virtual independence and seizure of lands conquored by the Burkes in the 13th century. The Clanricarde married the daughter of Ó Madadhan of Síol Anmchadha

Síol Anmchadha

Síol Anmchadha was a sub-kingdom or lordship of Hy-Many, and ruled by an off-shoot of the Ui Maine called the Síol Anmchadha , from whom the territory took its name....

 - a vassal of the Ui Cellaigh within their kingdom.
Ó Madadhan's residence was Portumna

Portumna

Portumna is a market town in the south-east of County Galway, Ireland, on the border with County Tipperary. The town is located to the west of the point where the River Shannon enters Lough Derg. This historic crossing point over the River Shannon between counties Tipperary and Galway has a long...

, which became the new home of the Clanricarde's, who abandoned the town of 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 :...

.

This, as well as a gradual reconquest of Ui Maine by successive Clanricarde's, finally brought the clan Cellaigh under Burke dominance.

Warfare and end of political independence

The Mac an Iarla wars, which flared up regularly between c.1544 and 1583, greatly disturbed and devastated Ui Maine. This, and the onset of the Nine Years' War (Ireland)

Nine Years' War (Ireland)

The Nine Years' War or Tyrone's Rebellion took place in Ireland from 1594 to 1603. It was fought between the forces of Gaelic Irish chieftains Hugh O'Neill of Tír Eoghain, Hugh Roe O'Donnell of Tír Chonaill and their allies, against English rule in Ireland. The war was fought in all parts of the...

, had by the early 17th century destroyed its political independece and brought it fully within the ambit of the Anglo-Irish

Anglo-Irish

Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...

 administration based in Dublin. The title 'King of Ui Maine' was abolished under the terms of Surrender and regrant

Surrender and regrant

During the Tudor conquest of Ireland , "surrender and regrant" was the legal mechanism by which Irish clans were to be converted from a power structure rooted in clan and kin loyalties, to a late-feudal system under the English legal system...

 in favor of the less threatening 'Captain of his Nation'.

Chiefs of the Name

In the 17th century this became modified by the Gaelic

Gaels

The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....

-Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 to Chief of the Name. The clan, in common with dozens of other Gaelic-Irish, and some Anglo-Irish families, has had a recognised senior chosen by primogeniture

Primogeniture

Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...

, called The Ó Cellaigh (or, The O'Kelly), ever since.

The current Ó Cellaigh is Count

Count

A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...

 Walter Lionel O'Kelly of Gallagh and Tycooly, Count of the Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

. He lives in Dublin.

Further reading

• The Tribes and customs of Hy-Many, John O'Donovan
  John O'Donovan (scholar)
  John O'Donovan , from Atateemore, in the parish of Kilcolumb, County Kilkenny, and educated at Hunt's Academy, Waterford, was an Irish language scholar from Ireland.-Life:...
  
  , 1843
• The Parish of Ballinasloe, Fr. Jerome A. Fahey
  Jerome A. Fahey
  Father Jerome A. Fahey was an Irish priest and writer, 1843–1919.Fahey was born at Killomoran, Gort, and educated in the town's national school and St. Jarlath's, Tuam. He studied at Maynooth from 1860, been ordained there in 1867....
  
  .
• The Surnames of Ireland, Edward MacLysaght
  Edward MacLysaght
  Edward MacLysaght was one of the foremost genealogists of twentieth century Ireland. His numerous books on Irish surnames built upon the work of Patrick Woulfe's Irish Names and Surnames and made him well known to all those researching their family past.-Early life:Edward was born in Flax Bourton...
  
  , Dublin, 1978.
• A New History of Ireland - lists and genealogies, vol. 9, Oxford University Press, 1984.
• Revised edition of McCarthy's synchronisms at Trinity College Dublin.