Clandonagh

Clandonagh Clann Donnchadha (Irish)
Barony
Round tower and church in Borris-in-Ossory
Barony map of Queen's County, 1900; Clandonagh is peach-coloured and in the southwest.
Sovereign state	Republic of Ireland
Province	Leinster
County	Laois
Area
• Total	176.98 km2 (68.33 sq mi)

Clandonagh (Irish : Clann Donncha ^[1] ) is a barony in County Laois (formerly called Queen's County or County Leix), Republic of Ireland. A barony was a historical subdivision of a county; mainly cadastral rather than administrative. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Etymology

Clandonagh barony is named after the Ó Donnchadha (Dunphy) clan who ruled the area during the Middle Ages.

Geography

Clandonagh is in the southwest corner of Laois; it is bordered by Upper Woods to the north, Clarmallagh to the east, County Kilkenny to the south and County Tipperary to the west. The Erkina River flows through it, and the Slieve Bloom Mountains are in its north. ^[5]

History

Clandonagh was one of three traditional subunits of Upper Ossory, which was extant as a barony by 1657 and formally abolished in 1846, and divided into Clandonagh, Upper Woods and Clarmallagh. ^{[6] [7] [8]} The name refers to the "Clan Dunphy", referring to the Ó Donnchadha, who claimed descent from Donnchad Midi (AD 733–797). ^{[9] [10]} They were related to the Fitzpatricks. ^[11]

Clan Moroghoe migrated from Clandonagh to their seat in County Cork in 1709. ^[12]

It is referred to in the topographical poem Tuilleadh feasa ar Éirinn óigh (Giolla na Naomh Ó hUidhrín, d. 1420):

O'Cearḃaill dar corcraḋ croinn,
O'Donnchaḋa dreaċ dioghoinn,
Sloiġ liag as don tár toraid,
Dá riġ iad a haonchonair.

("O'Cearbhaill for whom trees are ruddy, O'Donnchadha of honest aspect, Whose rocklike hosts possess the fruitful land, Are two kings of the same territory.") ^[13] This refers to Ely O'Carroll, located to the immediate west of Clandonagh.

List of settlements

Below is a list of settlements in Clandonagh barony:

• Aghaboe
• Ballybrophy
• Borris-in-Ossory
• Donaghmore
• Errill
• Rathdowney ^[4]

References

1. "Clann Donncha/Clandonagh". Logainm.ie.
2. "Clandonagh". www.townlands.ie.
3. "Genuki: County Laois (Queens), Laois (Queens)". www.genuki.org.uk.
4. Lewis, Samuel (1 January 1849). "A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland: Comprising the Several Counties; Cities; Boroughs; Corporate, Market, and Post Towns; Parishes; and Villages; with Historical and Statistical Descriptions: Embellished with Engravings of the Arms of the Cities, Bishoprics, Corporate Towns, and Boroughs; and of the Seals of the Several Municipal Corporations". S. Lewis and Company – via Google Books.
5. "Queen's County (Laois)". www.libraryireland.com.
6. "The Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland: Adapted to the New Poor-law, Franchise, Municipal and Ecclesiastical Arrangements, and Compiled with a Special Reference to the Lines of Railroad and Canal Communication, as Existing in 1814-45". A. Fullarton and Company. 1 January 1846 – via Google Books.
7. "Thom's Directory of Ireland". 1 January 1878 – via Google Books.
8. "A.D. 431-1056. Ed. by W.M. Hennessy". H.M. Stationery Office. 1 January 1887 – via Google Books.
9. "Sloinne". www.sloinne.ie.
10. "Ó Donnchadha - Irish Names and Surnames". www.libraryireland.com.
11. "O'Murphy (No.4) family genealogy - Irish Pedigrees". www.libraryireland.com.
12. "O'Murphy (No.5) family genealogy - Irish Pedigrees". www.libraryireland.com.
13. O'Dubhagain, John (1 January 1862). "The Topographical Poems of John O'Dubhagain and Giolla-na-naomh O'Huidhrin: Edited in the original Irish from MSS. in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, with translation, notes, and introductory dissertations, by John O'Donovan". A. Thom. – via Google Books.