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O'Donovan (Template:Lang-ga Template:IPA-ga) or Donovan is an Irish surname, as well as a hereditary Gaelic title. It is also written Dhonnabháin in certain grammatical contexts, and Donndubháin, being originally composed of the elements donn, meaning lord or dark brown, dubh, meaning dark or black, and the diminutive suffix án. Ó derives from the earlier Ua, meaning grandson or descendant. Compare O'Donoghue and O'Sullivan, containing the same elements.

The O'Donovans are descendants of the 10th century Donnubán mac Cathail, ruler of the regional or sub-provincial kingdom of Uí Fidgenti.

Two Carberys: princely vassals

A royal race in Munster, the O'Donovans became Cairbre Eva (or Uí Chairpre, see map) princes of the ancient regional kingdom of the Uí Fidgenti, once approximately co-extensive with the modern County Limerick, and were for many centuries allies of the Eóganachta, to whom they may be related by common descent from Ailill Flann Bec (or Ailill Aulom), or possibly by marriage, or both. Although allowed to be princely in multiple ancient sources, in the Irish class structure the dynasts of the Uí Fidgenti were only middle tier among the high nobility of the nation, as they never contested for the overlordship of the greater provincial kingdom of Munster, to which they belonged. The Eóganachta were its overkings until the late 10th century. But by a peculiar custom the Uí Fidgenti were also not regarded as "vassals" and did not pay rent, the result of an ancient military alliance with the early Eóganachta kings of Cashel, probably their distant kinsmen. This bound them to support the Eóganachta on hostings outside the province and in the defense of Munster, which they did to the best of their ability.

Their extensive territory followed Limerick's River Maigue, before the Dál gCais and O'Brien dynasty, and later the FitzGerald dynasty, forced them out of their territory between the late 12th and mid-13th century. At first they would wander into County Kerry, but soon after appear in Carbery in the later County Cork, where they would finally become vassals, in a vague sense, of the newly founded MacCarthy Reagh dynasty. The O'Donovans appear to have been joined in Carbery by a junior sept of their Ó Coileáin kinsmen from Uí Chonaill Gabra.

Later, the title Prince of Carbery (Cairbre) would be adopted by the MacCarthy Reaghs, although it is debated whether this is actually derived from the former name of the O'Donovans, and if so then what circumstances extended it well beyond the new territories belonging to the O'Donovans. In any case they were much favoured by the MacCarthy Reaghs, from whom they received the White Wand. The leading family of the O'Donovans, Clann Cathail, paid to their overlords a surprisingly small, economically insignificant rent, but the precise reason for this is lost to history. Possibly earlier times were recalled, or it may be due to the special relationship they developed with Fíngin Reanna Róin Mac Carthaig (see below).

Norse period

From their association with the Limerick and Waterford branches of the Dublin based Uí Ímair dynasty, the O'Donovans are probably descended from the famous Norse dynast Ivar Ragnarsson, through a daughter of Ivar of Limerick or possibly his son Óláf (Amlaíb), married to the family's eponymous founder, Donnubán mac Cathail, King of Uí Fidgenti. In fact for a number of generations after this the ethnicity of the early O'Donovans has been quietly debated, the extent of intermarriage with the Norse alleged to have been very considerable. See O'Donovan, Burke, Cronnelly, O'Hart, and Todd, for their pedigrees, all in the list of references below.

Donndubhán mac Cathail is a major figure and opponent of Mathgamain mac Cennétig and his brother Brian Bóruma in the Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib. He was in part responsible for the death of Mathgamain, and may or may not have been slain by Brian for it, together with his brother-in-law Harald Ivarsson (Aralt mac Ímair), newly elected King of the Danes and Norse of Munster, by Brian in or around the year 978. However, Donnubán's son Cathal mac Donnubáin was later in 1014 probably one of the Munster kings supporting Brian in the famous Battle of Clontarf.

Another figure was Donndubán mac Ímair (Ivarsson) of Waterford, a son of Ivar of Waterford, presumably by a daughter of Donndubán mac Cathail. Mentioned twice in the Annals for his involvement in slayings, he was slain himself in or around the year 996.

Finally, Amlaíb Ua Donnubáin, the last known king of Uí Chairpre Áebda, was slain by William de Burgh and the sons of Domnall Mór Ua Briain in the year 1201. Olaf may be the last O'Donovan, King of Carbery. The line of Clan Cathail, Clan Aneislis, and Clan Loughlin comes through the contemporary Ragnall Ua Donnubáin, a near relation of Amlaíb. Ragnall's grandson was Crom Ua Donnubáin, the second O'Donovan to be noted in County Cork after Amlaíb. Of the family remaining in County Limerick after the 13th century unfortunately no account is preserved.

Rev. John Begley (see references), of St. Munchin's, gives an account of the Christianization of the Norse of Limerick by the O'Donovans, and their long intermarriage. Munchin is the patron saint of the diocese of Limerick, and he was adopted by the Norse of Limerick city from the family.

A considerable presence of the Norse in O'Donovan territory is confirmed beyond any doubt in an ancient topographical poem:

Dual d O Donnabáin Dhúin Cuirc
an tír si, na tír longphuirt;
fa leis gan cíos fon Maigh moill,
is na cláir síos co Sionoinn. Hereditary to O Donnabhain of Dun Cuirc
Is this land, as a land of encampment;
To him, without tribute, belonged along the sluggish Maigh.
And the plains down to the Sionainn.

The longphorts were the famous Viking ship fortresses and later settlements.

Many Irish families intermarried with the Scandinavians, but it was a question of degree and sometimes necessity. In their case the O'Donovans simply took a particularly large dose, probably the greatest in Ireland, and undoubtedly it was a mix of both Dane and Norwegian. It is truly unfortunate that nearly all of that noble people's long history in Munster has been lost, the Limerick Norse having now only the O'Donovans left to maternally represent their nobility in any major capacity. Because of the nature of Irish society and landholding patterns it is likely that any paternal lineages have gone extinct, and it eventually reached a point where even the finest behaved Norse families were easily dispossessed of what little they had remaining. The advent of the Norman invasion of Ireland ruined them as a political class, and Limerick was hit especially hard. See History of Limerick. Only the Cotter family of County Cork continue to prosper today in Ireland, but they are not of Limerick provenance.

Final ancient deeds

The O'Donovans are first found associated with the MacCarthys only four years after the death of Amlaíb. The Annals of Inisfallen report that in 1205

AI1205.3: Cellachán son of Mac Carthaig, i.e. the son of Cathal Odar, was slain by the mounted horse of Domnall, son of Mac Carthaig, i.e. by the followers of Donnocán and by Ua Donnubáin of Uí Chairpri.

Later in 1260 the O'Donovans are found raiding Norman lands alongside none other than Fíngin Reanna Róin Mac Carthaig, according to Norman documents. This was one year before his famous victory at the Battle of Callann, where they are also believed to have been at his side. In 1259 he aided them in a fight against the O'Mahonys, who appear to have been unfairly blamed for the slaying of Crom Ua Donnubáin.

Up until this period the O'Donovans and O'Mahonys are generally regarded to have been allies and friends, their ancestors Máel Muad mac Brain and Donnubán having joined forces against the Dál gCais in the 10th century.

Later history

After their move south the O'Donovans fell into relative obscurity for several centuries, in part because they were the last of the signigicant Munster dynasties to arrive in the greater province or Kingdom of Desmond, some two centuries after the Eóganacht Chaisil. Fragmenting into several smaller-sized lordships, they grew content and were protected by the powerful MacCarthy Reaghs, of whom they were the chief vassals, their relationship being ancient. One Domhnall Ó Donnabháin was Bishop of Ross in the mid-late 15th century, while the first of the family to be noted in the 16th century was killed for piracy, along with his O'Driscoll accomplices, by the lords of the O'Driscolls in 1551.

However, despite their relative obscurity for a period the O'Donovans were still counted among the 64 leading Gaelic families in all of Ireland by the author of the mid-16th century Book of Howth.

Clancahill

As the descendants of Cathal Ua Donnubáin, eldest son of Crom Ua Donnubáin, Clancahill claimed to be the leading family of the O'Donovans, or O'Donovan Mor. But when they reappear in the mid-16th century they are found in a spectacular state of disorder and disrepair, with rival branches assassinating each other and each supported by more distantly related smaller septs. Unfortunately this was common enough in Ireland. But it appears that by a fortuitous marriage to an O'Leary of Carrignacurra and the ardent support of Clan Aneslis that the branch of the celebrated Donal of the Hides were able to set aside their rivals, in the person of Diarmaid an Bhairc ("Dermot of the Bark", meaning born at sea), who were supported by Ire O'Donovan of the Sliocht Íomhair ("Seed of Ivor"), descendants of the legendary Ímar Ua Donnabáin, younger son of Cathal, and also by the Sliocht Tioboit ("Seed of Toby"), another distinguished sept of Clancahill. In a terrible local conflict occurring in Rosscarbery in 1560, where Diarmaid was being inaugurated with the White Wand by the MacCarthy Reagh, Donal, with Clan Aneslis and a contingent of O'Learys, stormed the town, slaying Diarmaid and a great number of the Sliocht Íomhair at the start, and others of his followers were soon found and slaughtered in the streets of the town. The MacCarthy Reagh, who would have been Cormac na Haoine MacCarthy Reagh, 10th Prince of Carbery, then inaugurated Donal with the White Wand on the spot, declaring him "O'Donovan", after he had just run his kinsman Diarmaid through. Unfortunately what is alleged to have followed was the spread of this massacre to the countryside and the dispossession and almost total annihilation of the ancient Seed of Ivor, whose lands were taken and their castle demolished. The fine people, lands and castle of Sliocht Tioboit then suffered the same fate.

Ellen O'Leary is believed to have come with a substantial dowry, which significantly improved Donal's fortunes. They were married at Dromale, and their issue was, among other sons, Donal II O'Donovan, who may or may not have been a bastard born before their marriage was solemnised. In any case he succeeded to the chiefship in 1584, and received the White Wand from none other than his new father-in-law, Owen MacCarthy Reagh, 12th Prince of Carbery, to whose daughter the Lady Joanna he was now married. This was an immense rise in Clancahill's fortunes, from where they had been less than three decades before, and the O'Donovans would now become a part of the regional aristocracy again for probably the first time in centuries. The MacCarthy Reagh was the wealthiest prince in Ireland and the dowry was surely massive, giving Donal the means to raise a small army and play a notable enough regional role in the Nine Years' War, joining the side of Hugh O'Neill. Previously he was actually married to Helena de Barry, daughter of William Barry of Barryroe, son of James de Barry, 4th Viscount Buttevant, and she was actually mother to his son and heir Donal III O'Donovan, but it is not known in what year she may have died or was possibly divorced.

Donal III proved to be a warlike man and joined the so-called Irish Rebellion of 1641 under Donough MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry, with the result that his lands were later wasted and two of his castles blown up by the Cromwellians. Later in the Irish Confederate Wars he would assist his near neighbour, James Tuchet, 3rd Earl of Castlehaven in the taking of a number of fortifications in County Cork. For all this he was eventually stripped of his estates by Oliver Cromwell in 1652. Donal married Gylles O'Shaughnessy, daughter of Sir Roger Gilla Dubh Ó Seachnasaigh, The O'Shaughnessy, and his heir by her was Donal IV O'Donovan.

In 1660 Daniel IV was eventually restored to a small portion of his father's estates by the infamously ungrateful Charles II of England, who gave the rest away to Cromwell's soldiers. In 1689 he joined the Patriot Parliament of James II of England, and in the next year, under Governor Sir Edward Scott, was the Deputy Governor of Charles Fort, Kinsale, when besieged by John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (then 1st Earl). After holding out for ten days, they received guarantees before surrendering, O'Donovan delivered the keys to Marlborough, and they and the 1200 strong garrison were allowed to march out to Limerick. See Siege of Cork.

Daniel IV's last descendant in the male line was Richard II O'Donovan, who does not have the best reputation in the family, for willing the last of the ancient Clancahill estates, Bawnlahan, to the family of his wife, by whom he had no issue. At his death in 1829 the chiefship passed to the recent cadet line in the person of the Reverend Morgan O'Donovan of Montpelier, ancestor of the current O'Donovan. Reverend Morgan was a descendant of Teige O'Donovan, son of Donal II by the Lady Joanna née MacCarthy Reagh.

The grandson of the Reverend Morgan was Morgan William II O'Donovan, who fought in the Second Boer War 1900-1902, and was mentioned is despatches. He was later Colonel of the 4th Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers 1903-1914. His mother was Amelia, daughter of Gerald de Courcy O'Grady, The O'Grady.

Morgan William's son was Morgan John Winthrop O'Donovan, who fought in World War I and was decorated with the Military Cross. He later commanded the 1st Battallion, Royal Irish Fusiliers during World War II. His son is the present O'Donovan.

The O'Donovan

Morgan Gerald Daniel O'Donovan is The O'Donovan, Chief of his Name and Arms, formerly styled Lord of Clancahill and O'Donovan Mor (all three are equivalent). Born in Pau, France, in 1931, the only son of the late Brigadier Morgan John Winthrop O'Donovan (1893–1969), The O'Donovan, M.C., by his wife Cornelia Bagnell (d. 1974), he succeeded to the Chiefship in 1969. Educated at Stowe and Trinity College, Cambridge, The O'Donovan currently resides in Skibbereen, West Cork. The Chief is a member of the Executive Committee of the Church of Ireland and has served as Chairman of the Standing Council of Irish Chiefs and Chieftains. Married to Frances Jane, only daughter of the late Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer, with whom his father served in the Royal Irish Fusiliers, he has issue: a son and Tanaiste, Morgan Teige Gerald (b. 1961), and two daughters, Katharine Jane (b. 1962) and Cecilia Mary Cornelia (b. 1966).

Currently, O'Donovan is joined in Munster by O'Donoghue of the Glens, McGillycuddy of the Reeks, O'Callaghan (Tortosa), and of course by the princely Baron Inchiquin, and O'Grady, the last his near cousin.

O'Donovan is profiled and interviewed by Curley, Chambers, and Ellis, for which see the list of references below.

Gaelic rank and titles

Gaelic titles are historically difficult for outsiders to understand, because medieval Ireland recognized no less than three grades of king, in addition to other nobility. From the 10th to the beginning of the 13th century the O'Donovans were titled rí or rig and belonged to the middle grade, either as kings of Uí Fidgenti, a once relatively large regional kingdom, or as kings of Uí Chairpre, itself a small but expanding regional kingdom containing at least two local kingdoms and a number of tuatha, as well as additional occupied and conquered territories, stretching into County Tipperary and apparently including the majority of the lands surrounding Norse Limerick, according to the author of the Cogad Gaedel re Gallaib himself. A king of the middle or regional grade was known as a Ruiri or "over-king", and was of inferior rank only to a Rí ruirech or "king of overkings", generally otherwise known as a provincial king. No O'Donovan ever achieved this highest rank.

However, by becoming a feudal lord underneath the MacCarthy Reagh Princes of Carbery, one interpretation is that the O'Donovan effectively dropped this limited but genuine royal status. An alternative interpretation is that the White Wand proves the O'Donovans retained some extremely limited "royal" status and were simply downgraded to very small petty kings or local Rí túaithe.

Arms

The coat of arms as in the infobox, with supporters, belong to and may be used by the Chief of the Name only (and of course the image itself belongs to the artist).

• Arms - Argent, issuing from the sinister side of the shield, a cubit dexter arm, vested, gules, cuffed, azuze, the handproper, grasping an old Irish sword in pale, the blade entwined with a serpent, proper.

• Crest - on a chapeau, gules, turned up, ermine, an eagle rising, proper.

• Supporters of the Chief of the Name only - Dexter, a lion guardant, proper; sinister, a griffin, proper.

• Mottoes - Adjuvante Deo in hostes; Vis super hostem.

Clan Loughlin and Ballymore

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2010)

These O'Donovans are notable for many accomplishments. A important junior sept, the Donovans of Ballymore, established themselves in County Wexford. Many have distinguished themselves in political office and the military.

• Jeremiah O'Donovan (MP Baltimore)
• Juliana Donovan, Countess of Anglesey - scandalized widow of Richard Annesley, 6th Earl of Anglesey
  • Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Mountnorris
  • George Annesley, 2nd Earl of Mountnorris - finally cleared his grandmother's name, but had no surviving male issue
• Edward Westby Donovan - fought in the Crimean War, later Commander of British Troops in Hong Kong. Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur.

The representative of Clan Loughlin is currently Brian Donovan of Eneclann / Trinity College, a descendant of Donel Oge na Cartan O'Donovan, Lord of Clan Loughlin (d. 1629).

Known pedigree

For the entire known male line descent of the O'Donovan septs of Carbery derivation into the time of Elizabeth see Crom Ua Donnubáin. Unfortunately this is not very extensive.

Territory

Between them Clancahill and Clan Loughlin controlled the entire harbour of Glandore, the former on the west side and the latter on the east. Clan Loughlin were seated at Cloghatradbally, now called Glandore Castle, a 13th century Norman castle built by the Barretts, from whom they took it. This is the sacred harbour of Clíodhna, a famous goddess still sometimes found around there.

Clancahill also controlled half of Castlehaven harbour as well, the ancient O'Driscolls of Corcu Loígde in control of the other. From the ocean the territory of the O'Donovans then stretched north and northwest into the area of Drimoleague, with the well known Castle Donovan found in a valley not far from that village.

At what was probably their height in Carbery, between the late 16th century and their partial dispossession following the so-called Irish rebellion of 1641 and the Irish Confederate Wars in the mid 17th, the O'Donovans were in control of approximately 100,000 acres right in the center of the principality, with territories both in West and East Carbery. Of this, however, only around 15,000 acres were usable as farmland. In the remaining they were still owed rents and had the rights to hold court(s), fairs, and so on. From the several harbours and bays they controlled actually came their chief income, which was the case for lords all along the South Munster coast. Following the Cromwellian confiscations, the infamously ungrateful Charles II of England, after first giving his deceitful word he would restore them entirely, granted the vast majority to soldiers of Cromwell's horrid army in lieu of pay. The O'Donovans would regain possession of less than one twentieth their former territories, a few thousand acres... although this was better than many Gaelic families did. The great MacCarthys Reagh lost virtually everything, receiving not enough back to even live on respectably, a few hundred acres out of the approaching 600 square miles they once controlled at their height (this included the O'Donovan territories, which were at one time probably much less than 100,000 acres), so they eventually left.

In 1878 various branches of the O'Donovan family were reported successful (landed) and in possession of 17,213 acres of estates in several counties in southern Ireland, not counting estates and homesteads of less than 500 acres, and the loss of the Manor of Bawnlahan in 1829, which added would have substantially increased the total. By this time some had established themselves in England as well and were prospering, not to mention around the world.

DNA

To date, fairly few O'Donovans have been tested, but it is expected that in the future the relationships between the various alleged Eóganachta septs will be better understood. It may or may not be possible to separate the Eóganachta from the more ancient Érainn. There appears to be a South Irish R1b cluster which is clearly distinct from the Irish Type III of the Dál gCais to the immediate north, but this is all that is clear so far.

John O'Donovan

One of Ireland's most celebrated historians was John O'Donovan, who claimed descent from a supposed son, Edmond, of Donal II O'Donovan. He published an Irish Grammar and translated and edited the first complete edition of the Annals of the Four Masters, and is often regarded as the greatest Irish scholar of the 19th century. The enormous amount of knowledge collected by John O'Donovan in the Irish countryside is still frequently relied upon for research, for example the recent title on Royal Inauguration in Gaelic Ireland by Elizabeth FitzPatrick. A son of John O'Donovan was Edmund O'Donovan.

Other notable O'Donovans

See Notable people surnamed O'Donovan.

See also

• Chiefs of the Name
• Irish nobility
• Clonakilty
• Donovan (disambiguation)
• Donovan (name)

Notes

1. A sept of the Uí Chairpre Áebda. See Máire Herbert and Pádraig Ó Riain (eds. & trs.), Betha Adamnáin: The Irish Life of Adamnán. Irish Texts Society 54. 1988.
2. All surviving sources either support or fail to challenge a mixed origin for the early O'Donovans.
3. Donnubán's final style in the Annals of Inisfallen at his death in 980. This was an ancient walled city in County Limerick, the location of which has now been lost. See also Colmán of Cloyne.
4. The Clanloughlin O'Donovans are survived and prospering but have not had a recognized chief for many years.
5. The fate of the Sliocht Aneislis, the smallest of the three Carbery O'Donovan septs, has been unknown since the 17th century. Unfortunately their pedigree has not survived. The last known had their lands confiscated for their part in the so-called Irish Rebellion of 1641.
6. Begley
7. Byrne
8. Butler, "The Barony of Carbery"
9. O'Donovan 1856, volume VI, Appendix, pp. 2430 ff
10. See Downham
11. Annals of Inisfallen and Mac Carthaigh's Book
12. pp. 118–9
13. Ó Murchadha, p. 261
14. Annals of Inisfallen
15. Ó Murchadha, p. 125
16. Mac Carthaigh's Book
17. Ó Murchadha, p. 126
18. Book of Howth, p. 255
19. thePeerage.com
20. The O'Donovan, Independent.ie, Sunday January 14, 2007, accessed Wednesday March 3, 2010
21. Todd, p. 87
22. Dillon, Myles, "The consecration of Irish kings", in Celtica 10 (1973): 1–8. Dillon refers to O'Donovan as a petty king under MacCarthy.
23. The Landowners of Ireland, pp. 348, 133

References

• Begley, John, The Diocese of Limerick, Ancient and Medieval. Dublin: Browne & Nolan. 1906.
• Bugge, Alexander (ed. & tr.), Caithreim Cellachain Caisil: The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel. Christiania: J. Chr. Gundersens Bogtrykkeri. 1905.
• Burke, Bernard, and Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, Burke's Irish Family Records, or Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland. London: Burke's Peerage Ltd. 5th edition, 1976.
• Burke, J. M., "Carbery Topographical Notes", in Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society Volume X. Second Series. 1904. Pages 204-7.
• Burke, J. M., "Kilmacabea, Co. Cork", in Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society Volume X. Second Series. 1904. Pages 213-30.
• Butler, W. F. T., "The Barony of Carbery", in Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society Volume X. Second Series. 1904. Pages 1–10, 73-84.
• Byrne, Francis J., Irish Kings and High-Kings. Four Courts Press. 2nd revised edition, 2001.
• Carroll, Michael J. and Alan Langford (illus.), The Castles and Fortified Houses of West Cork. Bantry Design Studios. 2001.
• Chambers, Anne, At Arm's Length: Aristocrats in the Republic of Ireland. New Island Books. 2nd revised edition, 2005.
• Charles-Edwards, T. M., Early Christian Ireland. Cambridge University Press. 2001.
• Cronnelly, Richard F., Irish Family History, Part II: A History of the Clan Eoghan, or Eoghanachts. Dublin: 1864. (O'Donovan pedigrees: pgs. 252-64)
• Curley, Walter J. P., Vanishing Kingdoms: The Irish Chiefs and their Families. Dublin: Lilliput Press. 2004.
• Cusack, Mary Francis, A History of the City and County of Cork. Dublin: McGlashan and Gill. 1875.
• D'Alton, John, Illustrations, Historical and Genealogical, of King James's Irish Army List, 1689. Volume II. London: J.R. Smith. 2nd edition, 1861.
• Downham, Clare, Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ívarr to A.D. 1014. Edinburgh: Dunedin Academic Press. 2007.
• Ellis, Peter Berresford, Erin's Blood Royal: The Gaelic Noble Dynasties of Ireland. Palgrave. Revised edition, 2002.
• FitzPatrick, Elizabeth, Royal Inauguration in Gaelic Ireland c. 1100-1600: A Cultural Landscape Study. Boydell Press. 2004.
• O'Donovan, John (ed. & tr.), Annala Rioghachta Eireann. Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters, from the Earliest Period to the Year 1616. 7 vols. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. 2nd edition, 1856. Volume VI (pp. 2430-83)
• O'Donovan, John (ed. & tr.) and Duald Mac Firbis, The Genealogies, Tribes, and Customs of Hy-Fiachrach, Commonly Called O'Dowda's Country. Dublin: Irish Archæological Society. 1844.
• O'Donovan, Miriam, A Short History of the O'Donovan Clan: stair agus seanchas mhuintir Uí Dhonnabháin. Publisher: O'Donovan Clan. 2000.
• O'Donovan, Peadar, Irish Family Names. Skibbereen: Southern Star Newspaper. 1991. (many O'Donovan septs and nicknames included)
• O'Hart, John, Irish Pedigrees; or the Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation. 5th edition, 1892.
• Ó Murchadha, Diarmuid, Family Names of County Cork. Cork: The Collins Press. 2nd edition, 1996.
• Todd, James Henthorn (ed. & tr.), Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh: The War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill. Longmans. 1867.
• Ua Súilleabháin, Seán and Seán Donnelly (eds. & trans.), and Tadhg Olltach Ó an Cháinte, "Music has ended: The Death of a Harper", in Celtica 22. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. 1991. Pages 165-75. PDF
• Westropp, Thomas Johnson, "A Survey of the Ancient Churches in the County of Limerick", inProceedings of the Royal Irish Academy Volume XXV, Section C (Archaeology, Linguistic, and Literature). Dublin. 1904-1905. Pages 327-480, Plates X-XVIII.

External links

• The Territory of Thomond discusses the size of the territory of the Kingdom of Uí Fidgenti and the O'Donovans
• Tuadmumu has maps and convenient Uí Fidgenti-related genealogies
• Tribes & Territories of Mumhan
• Tracys of the Eóganachta features a very detailed genealogy of the Uí Fidgenti, compiled and translated from numerous primary and secondary sources
• Ireland circa 1100 A.D. shows the location of the Ua Donnabháin and Uí Chairpre kindred before the time of the Norman Invasion

• Surnames
• Irish families
• Irish genealogy
• Noble families
• O'Donovan family
• Gaelic families of Norse descent
• Cliodhna