The Ó Dálaigh (IPA: [o: 'dˠa:ɫ̪i]) were a learned Irish bardic family who first came to prominence early in the 12th century, when Cú Connacht Ó Dálaigh was described as "The first Ollamh of poetry in all Ireland" (ollamh is the title given to university professors in Modern Irish).

Irish harp

Name derivation

The name Ó Dálaigh means 'descendant of Dálach'. The derivation of the personal name Dálach is not entirely obvious, but the most widely accepted theory is that it derives from the same root as dáil meaning "assembly;" the Irish Parliament is called the 'Dáil Éireann.' Dálach therefore probably meant "assemblyman" or "councillor." ^[1]

Origins and ancestry

The earliest records of the family place them in the region of Tethba in what is now Westmeath, their lands were in Moyashel & Magheradernon barony, Westmeath. The ancestral clan was called Corca Adaimh and they claimed descent from a son of Niall of the Nine Hostages^[2] (High King of Ireland circa 400AD) via Máel Dúin mac Máele Fithrich of the Cenél maic Ercae, who was King of Ailech in Ulster. Máel Dúin's sons included the High King Fergal mac Máele Dúin and Adamh, the Ó Dálaigh ancestor. However, one source claims that Adamh was a son of, confusingly, another Máel Dúin the son of Fergal mac Máele Dúin. The great-grandson of Adamh was called Dálach, from whom the later surname derived.^[3][4] The Ó Dálaigh claimed kinship with the O'Neills and O'Donnells.

The Ó Dálaigh who settled in Munster seem to have been given an alternative descent from the Eoganacht kings of Cashel. However, this pedigree is less well attested than that deriving from Niall and there is no indication that the Munster branch of the Ó Dálaigh were considered to have had separate origins from the others. It may merely represent an attempt to integrate the bardic family with the local dynasties they served.

An eminent dynasty of bards

"The chiefs of high Corca Adhamh, O'Dalaigh of lasting renown."^[5] Many of the Ó Dálaigh were hereditary poets to the various Irish royal courts. Members of the clan founded bardic schools throughout Ireland, and also in Scotland. This diaspora seems to have begun in the early 12th century. The noble bards of Ireland were accorded great prestige and were accounted filid or "men of skill;" in social rank they were placed below kings but above all others. The Ó Dálaigh were the foremost practitioners of the exacting and difficult poetry form known as Dán Díreach throughout the Late Medieval period.^[6] Part of the prestige that attached to the Irish bardic ollamh was derived from fear; a leader satirised in a glam dicenn (satire-poem), by a very able poet, could find his social position badly undermined. Very talented poets were also believed to possess the power to raise boils on the face of the target of their satires (early Irish society placed great store on the physical appearance of leaders). Conversely, the praise of a skilled poet was very greatly valued as it enhanced social and political prestige.

Prominent family members

The most prominent members of the family in the Medieval period include:

• Aonghus Ruadh Mac Cearbhall Buidhe Ó Dálaigh of Meath, fl. 1325. Reputedly his satire-poems on a fellow chieftain were so scathing that his victim emigrated from the Irish midlands to Clare in Munster to escape them.^[6]
• Cearbhall mac Lochlainn Ó Dálaigh, d. 1405, ollamh of Ireland in poetry, died in Corca Mruadh (County Clare).^[7]
• Cú Connacht Ó Dálaigh (also called Cuchonnacht na Sgoile ('of the [bardic] school')), "The first ollamh of poetry in all Ireland," died at the monastery of Clonard, Meath, in 1139.^[3] His is the earliest recorded use of the name Ó Dálaigh.
• Donnchadh Mór Ó Dálaigh. In recording his death, in 1244, the Annals of the Four Masters describes him as "a poet who never was and never will be surpassed". He has been called the 'Irish Ovid', for the smoothness of his verse. He was probably the abbot of the monastery of Boyle in Roscommon and he wrote many religious poems.^[3] At Finnyvara, in County Clare, a monument exists to Donnchadh Mór near the site of the Ó'Dalaigh bardic school. His poems indicate that he was born in Meath.
• Gofraidh Fionn Ó Dálaigh of Cork, d. 1387^[8]. In 1351 a convention of poets and men of learning was held by Uilliam Buide Ó Ceallaigh (the Nodlaig na Garma), this occasion was commemorated in Gofraidh Fionn Ó Dálaigh's poem, Filidh Éireann go haointeach.

• Máel Íosa Ó Dálaigh, died 1185, was described as “Chief poet of Ireland and Scotland," he was also lord of the minor midland kingdom of Corca Raidhe.^[6] The annals state that in 1185, Maelisa O'Daly, ollave (chief poet) of Ireland and Scotland, Lord of Corcaree and Corca-Adain, a man illustrious for his poetry, hospitality, and nobility, died while on a pilgrimage at Clonard.^[9] Máel Íosa would appear to have been the chief of the senior branch of the Ó Dálaigh, based in their ancestral home in Westmeath.
• Muireadhach Albanach Ó Dálaigh, fl. 1213-1220. Brother of Donnchadh Mór, he had to flee Ireland after killing an insolent royal steward (of the lord of Tír Conaill) with an axe. He reputedly founded a Scottish branch of the family, the clan MacMhuirich (MacVurrich). From the evidence of his poems he took part in the Fifth Crusade.^[10]
• Ragnall Ó Dálaigh, ollamh of Desmond (Munster), died in 1161.
• Tadhg Camchosach (bandy-legged) Ó Dálaigh, fl. 1375 Moved to the Continent and became a Franciscan monk.^[3]

The principal members of the family in the Early Modern Era are as follows:

• Aonghus Fionn Ó Dálaigh, fl. 1520-1570, prob. born Co. Meath; head of the branch of the Ó Dálaigh family who were poets to MacCarthys of Desmond. His poem to the Blessed Virgin, Grian na Maighdean Máthair Dé (Sun of All Maidens is the Mother of God) is extant.
• Aonghus Ruadh Ó Dálaigh (also known as Aonghus Ruadh na nAor), 1550-1617. He was employed by Sir George Carew and Mountjoy to lampoon the Irish chieftains and instigate enmity between them, and was assassinated.
• Cearbhall Óg Ó Dálaigh of Ossory, fl. 1620. Composer of many dánta grádha love poems and the celebrated song Eileanóir na Rún (Eleanor my Love), also known as 'Eileen Aroon'.
• Diarmuid Mac Taidhg Mhic Dhiarmuid Oig Ó Dálaigh, of Kerry, fl.1620-80
• Dominic Ó Dálaigh 1596-1662 (also known as Daniel O'Daly), born in Kerry, a cousin to Diarmuid Mac Taidhg. Instead of following the bardic profession he entered Dominican Order in Galicia as Dominic de Rosario. He was Rector of the University of Louvain and established Irish College of Dominicans in Lisbon, and later acted as advisor to the Queen of Portugal and Portuguese envoy to Louis XIV. He was Bishop elect of Coimbra and president of privy council of Portugal. His works include Initium, incrementa, et exitus gamiliae Geraldinorum Desmoniae Cornitum (The Geraldines, Earls of Desmond), published in Lisbon in 1655; Dominic was a descendant of the Geraldines on his mother's side.^[11]
• Lochlin mac Tadhg Óg Ó Dálaigh of Munster, fl. ca. 1610. He wrote poetry lamenting the eclipse of the native society and culture of Ireland. "Cait ar ghabhader Gaoidhil"; "Where have the Gaels gone?" he asked, and answered himself thus: "In their place we have a proud impure swarm of foreigners".^[12]

Later history of the sept

Denis Daly of Dunsandle, MP for Galway. A portrait by Joshua Reynolds.

The end of the prominence of the Gaelic-speaking nobility of Ireland, epitomised by the Flight of the Earls, in the early 17th century meant the social eclipse of those bardic families, such as the Ó Dálaigh, that depended on their patronage. The name Ó Dálaigh also changed, becoming anglicised to Daly, O'Daly, Daley or Dawley. With the loss of land in the wake of rebellions against English rule and in the Plantations of Ireland, most branches of the Ó Dálaigh became, to a greater or lesser extent, impoverished. One prominent exception was the Daly family of Dunsandle, which became part of the Protestant Ascendancy though its members often espoused the extension of Catholic rights. Generations of this family served as mayors of, and MPs for, Galway, they were also raised to the peerage as Barons of Dunsandle. The Dunsandle Dalys were descended from Donnchadh Mór Ó Dálaigh and incorporated the Red Hand of Ulster into their coat of arms to record their ancient Uí Néill connections.

The most notable bearer of the Ó Dálaigh surname, re-adopted in its Irish (Gaelic) form, in modern times is:

• Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh (1911-1978), 5th President of Ireland

References and sources

Notes

Sources

• Daly, Edmund E. (1937). History of the O'Dalys; the story of the ancient Irish sept; the race of Dalach of Corca Adaimh. New Haven, Conn.: Tuttle, Morehouse and Taylor. p. 479.  OCLC 4286380.
• Koch, J.T., (2006) Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, ISBN 1851094407
• Rigby, S.H., (2003) A Companion to Britain in the Later Middle Ages,, Historical Association, Blackwell Publishing, ISBN 0631217851
• Welsh, Robert, (1996) Oxford Concise Companion to Irish Literature. ISBN 0-19-280080-9
• This article incorporates text from the entry Daniel O'Daly in the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913. [2]

External links

• Daly Family History

For the adventures of Muireadhach Albanach Ó Dálaigh:

• The Annals of the Four Masters of Ireland, s.a. 1213
  • English Translation

An account of the bardic tradition in Clare and photographs of the monument to Donnchadh Mór and the Ó Dálaigh bardic school at Finnyvara (Finnavara):

• http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/literature/bardic/clares_bardic_tradition.htm