Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 41.djvu/441

   O'DONNELL, GODFREY (d. 1258), Irish chief, was son of Domhnall Mór O'Donnell, chief of the Cinel Conaill, who died in 1241, and was son of Egneachan O'Donnell, also chief, who died in 1207. When his brother, Maelsheachlainn O'Donnell, was killed by Maurice FitzGerald in 1247, Ruaidhri O'Cannanain was made chief of the Cinel Conaill, to a branch of which, senior to O'Donnell, he belonged; but in 1248 the tribe banished him, and made Godfrey (in Irish Goffraidh) chief. Ruaidhri O'Cannanain, who had fled to Tyrone, brought the Cinel Eoghain against him, but they were defeated and Ruaidhri slain. In 1249 Godfrey ravaged Lower Connaught, and in 1252 made an expedition into Tyrone. Brian O'Neill [q. v.] followed his retreat, but was beaten off, and the Cinel Conaill got home with their plunder. In 1256 he marched into Fermanagh, and thence into Breifne Ui Ruairc, now the co. Leitrim, and brought back spoil and hostages. Maurice FitzGerald attacked him in 1257 at Roscede near Drumcliff, co. Sligo. He and Maurice FitzGerald fought a single combat, and both were wounded severely. The English were defeated, and driven out of this part of Connaught. On the march back to Donegal he destroyed an English castle at Caeluisce, on the river Erne. O'Donnell retired to the crannog, or artificial fortified island, in Lough Beathach in the barony of Kilmacrenan. The glen in which the lake lies has steep cliffs or wooded slopes on two sides, and the ends, though more open, are only accessible through a difficult country. The crannog was one of the last in regular use in Ireland, and was a fortress till the reign of James I. Even in the last century the island was occasionally used as a place of refuge. His wounds kept him in bed for a year, and at the end of that time Brian O'Neill sent messengers to demand hostages in token of submission from him. O'Donnell summoned the Cinel Conaill, and ordered himself to be carried among them on an árach, or litter, and set off to fight O'Neill. The Cinel Conaill came up with the Cinel Eoghain on the river Swilly, near the present town of Letterkenny. The Cinel Eoghain were defeated, and O'Neill retreated, and lost many prisoners and horses and property. After the victory Godfrey O'Donnell was carried on his bier into Conwal, close to Letterkenny, and died when the bier was put down in the street, exhausted by his old wounds. O'Neill heard of his death, and again sent to demand hostages. The Cinel Conaill were deliberating when Domhnall óg, younger brother of Godfrey, who had been for some time in Scotland, came up, and was at once elected chief. To the envoys of Brian O'Neill he replied ‘Go mbiadh a domhan féin ag gach fer’ (‘Every man ought to have his own world’). O'Neill went home, and the poets compared Domhnall's advent to that of Tuathal Teachtmhar, who returned from Scotland after the massacre of the Milesian chiefs by the Aithech Tuatha, and restored the monarchy.

 O'DONNELL, HUGH BALLDEARG (d. 1704), Irish soldier of fortune, was the son of John O'Donnell, a Spanish officer, and of Catherine O'Rourke, but was born in Ireland. His grandfather was Hugh O'Donnell of Ramelton, who died in 1649, after taking an active part in the proceedings of the catholic confederation. This Hugh, who was known as ‘The O'Donnell,’ was grandson of Calvagh [q. v.], who died, the undoubted head of the O'Donnells, in October 1566. Calvagh's daughter Mary married Shane O'Neill [q. v.], and his eldest son, Con, was Hugh of Ramelton's father. The chiefry passed in Elizabeth's time to a younger branch, who acquired the earldom of Tyrconnel [see, first ]; and Burke, who had such information as the Austrian O'Donnells could give, supposes that Hugh Albert, the last titular earl, who died childless in 1642, made Hugh Balldearg his testamentary heir, thus restoring the headship of the clan to the elder line. The name Balldearg, which means ‘red spot,’ is derived from a personal peculiarity found in several members of the family. Burke says that Conal O'Donnell, who was made lord-lieutenant of Donegal by James II (, State of the Protestants, App. p. 8), was Hugh Balldearg's brother. Hugh O'Donnell himself had some property in Spain, where he was known as Count O'Donnell, and commanded an Irish regiment there, with the rank of brigadier. In 1689 he was refused leave to go to Ireland, where he might be of some use to Louis XIV, and went secretly to Lisbon, where he published a manifesto, and put himself in communication with the French ambassador. He reached Cork in July 1690, four days after the battle of the Boyne, and visited the fugitive king on board ship at Kinsale harbour.