surnames.ie

Irish surname · 32nd most common in 1911

O'Donnell

Also spelt Donnell

O'Donnell, sometimes Donnell, is the English form of Ó Domhnaill, 'descendant of Domhnall'. The leading family ruled Tír Chonaill, most of modern Donegal, from the 13th century until the Flight of the Earls in 1607. Unrelated O'Donnell septs also lived in Clare, Galway, Carlow and Armagh.

Irish Ó Domhnaill · Ó DónaillIrish Ní Dhomhnaill
1901 census
13,907
#33 · 31 per 10,000
1911 census
14,081
#32 · 32 per 10,000
1926 census
11,860
#27 · 40 per 10,000
Most numerous
Donegal
Highest share: Donegal

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

Gaelic Gaelic Irish: several distinct septs called Ó Domhnaill, above all the Cenél Conaill rulers of Tír Chonaill in Donegal.[1][2]

Ó Domhnaill
Modern spelling: Ó Dónaill
“descendant of Domhnall”[1][2]
Woulfe's headword. Wikipedia gives both Ó Domhnaill and the modern spelling Ó Dónaill, and the head of the family was styled Ua Domhnaill, 'The O'Donnell'.
Ní Dhomhnaill
“the form for women”[3]
As in Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, the O'Donnell noblewoman who joined the Flight of the Earls.

The name is built on the personal name Domhnall, usually explained as “world-mighty”. Woulfe calls it an ancient and very common Irish personal name, usually anglicised Daniel. The Tír Chonaill family took its surname from a Domhnall who was grandson of Dálach (died 868).[1]

Pronunciation

O'Donnell: oh-DON-ul

Place

Where the O'Donnells lived

How common the name was in each county, as a share of the population, in the three surviving full censuses of Ireland. Use the buttons to compare years.

Donegal: 296.9 per 10,000 (5,006 people) Waterford: 42.5 per 10,000 (350 people) Dublin: 8.7 per 10,000 (418 people) Kilkenny: 11.5 per 10,000 (86 people) Carlow: 4.1 per 10,000 (15 people) Limerick: 84.1 per 10,000 (1,206 people) Louth: 2.2 per 10,000 (14 people) Tipperary: 69.3 per 10,000 (1,057 people) Roscommon: 26.9 per 10,000 (253 people) Meath: 2 per 10,000 (13 people) Wicklow: 2.6 per 10,000 (16 people) Cavan: 4.6 per 10,000 (42 people) Cork: 10.5 per 10,000 (413 people) Clare: 43.3 per 10,000 (452 people) Galway: 45 per 10,000 (821 people) Mayo: 61.7 per 10,000 (1,186 people) Sligo: 25.4 per 10,000 (201 people) Leitrim: 20.1 per 10,000 (127 people) Offaly: 4.4 per 10,000 (25 people) Laois: 1.8 per 10,000 (10 people) Kildare: 2.1 per 10,000 (14 people) Kerry: 42.4 per 10,000 (677 people) Monaghan: 2.7 per 10,000 (19 people) Wexford: 1 per 10,000 (10 people) Longford: 13.7 per 10,000 (60 people) Westmeath: 2.8 per 10,000 (17 people) Tyrone: 43.5 per 10,000 (622 people) Antrim: 5.7 per 10,000 (271 people) Armagh: 4 per 10,000 (48 people) Fermanagh: 13.2 per 10,000 (80 people) Londonderry: 35.1 per 10,000 (491 people) Down: 2 per 10,000 (61 people)
fewerup to 300 per 10,000

Share of each county's census population. 1926 covers the 26 counties of the Irish Free State only.

Highest concentration · 1911

Donegal

297 per 10,000

5,006 O'Donnells · 9.26× the national share

Highest share, 1911

  1. Donegal 297
  2. Limerick 84
  3. Tipperary 69
  4. Mayo 62
  5. Galway 45
  6. Tyrone 44
  7. Clare 43
  8. Waterford 43

Per 10,000 residents. A concentration index above 1 means the name was commoner there than nationally.

County figures as a table
County190119111926Per 10k 1901Per 10k 1911Per 10k 1926
Antrim285271—66—
Armagh5748—54—
Carlow211511643
Cavan494248556
Clare423452395384342
Cork467413502121114
Donegal4,8885,0064,582282297300
Down4061—12—
Dublin2924185137910
Fermanagh7580—1213—
Galway887821782464546
Kerry661677632404242
Kildare71420124
Kilkenny948692131213
Laois10108222
Leitrim160127115232020
Limerick1,2551,2061,096858479
Londonderry433491—3035—
Longford656060141415
Louth61424124
Mayo1,0891,1861,097556264
Meath61327124
Monaghan211913332
Offaly272527545
Roscommon254253237252728
Sligo198201169252524
Tipperary1,1221,057981706970
Tyrone572622—3844—
Waterford411350348474345
Westmeath201717333
Wexford81033114
Wicklow41631135

Local strongholds in 1911

District Electoral Divisions (300+ residents) where O'Donnells made up the largest share of the population. In Maghery, Co. Donegal, about one resident in 4 was a O'Donnell.

DEDCountyO'DonnellsShare
MagheryDonegal487 23.9%
KilgobbanKerry88 22.4%
RutlandDonegal506 16.2%
DunglowDonegal216 15.7%
CrovehyDonegal76 15.6%
Aran Islands off the coastDonegal231 14.0%
AnnagaryDonegal386 11.3%
GlenleheenDonegal95 11.0%

Origins

Septs & territories

Many Irish surnames were adopted independently by unrelated families. These are the distinct O'Donnell lineages described in the sources.

A surname can point you towards a place. On its own, it cannot establish a pedigree.

Ó Domhnaill of Tír Chonaill (Clann Dálaigh)

Tír Chonaill: most of Co. Donegal except Inishowen, with parts of Sligo, Leitrim, Fermanagh and south Londonderry · Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Fermanagh, Derry

Descendants of Conall Gulban, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. Their first patrimony was Cinel Luighdheach, between the Swilly and the Dobhar, but after the Anglo-Norman invasion they displaced the O'Muldorys and O'Canannains as rulers of Tír Chonaill. They held it for about four centuries, until the Flight of the Earls in 1607.[1][2][4]

O'Donnells of Limerick and Tipperary

Counties Limerick and Tipperary · Limerick, Tipperary

According to John O'Donovan, as reported by Woulfe, these descend from Shane Luirg, son of Turlough 'of the Wine' O'Donnell, who was lord of Tír Chonaill at the start of the 15th century.[1]

Ó Domhnaill of Corca Baiscinn

Corca Baiscinn, west Clare · Clare

Named from Domhnall, son of Diarmaid, lord of Corca Baiscinn, who was killed at Clontarf in 1014. They remained lords there until the MacMahons dispossessed them early in the 14th century, and Woulfe thought they were still numerous in Thomond.[1][5]

Ó Domhnaill of Uí Maine

Clann Flaitheamhail · Galway

A family of the Uí Maine who were chiefs of Clann Flaitheamhail in what is now Co. Galway.[1]

Ó Domhnaill of Uí Drona

Uí Drona, now the barony of Idrone · Carlow

Anciently lords of Uí Drona in Co. Carlow, the district now called Idrone.[1]

Ó Domhnaill of Cinel Binnigh

Cinel Binnigh

A sept of the Cenél nEógain, the northern Uí Néill kindred of the O'Neills. Woulfe gives no location or history.[1]

Ó Domhnaill of Uí Eathach

Uí Eathach · Armagh

A sept of the Oirghialla seated in what is now Co. Armagh.[1]

O'Donnells of Newport and Larkfield

Newport, Co. Mayo, and Larkfield, Co. Leitrim · Mayo, Leitrim

Branches of the Tír Chonaill family descended, according to Burke, from sons of Con O'Donnell, son of the chief Calvagh. The O'Donnell baronets of Newport later recovered the Cathach of St Columba and entrusted it to the Royal Irish Academy. Woulfe notes that some Inishowen Toolans moved to Mayo with the O'Donnells in the 17th century.[6][2][7]

The name over time

History

The kindred of Conall Gulban

The O'Donnells belonged to the Cenél Conaill, a branch of the Uí Néill named after Conall Gulban, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. Their cousins the O'Neills descended from Conall's brother Eógan. A legend preserved in a Life of St Patrick written around 1185 says the saint baptised Conall and marked a cross on his shield, and his land became Tír Chonaill, 'Conall's land'. Woulfe explains that the later clan name, Clann Dálaigh, came from Dálach, who died in 868, and the surname from Dálach's grandson Domhnall.[2][1]

Rulers of Tír Chonaill

Before the Anglo-Norman invasion the O'Donnells held only a mountainous district between the Swilly and the Dobhar, and only two of their ancestors had ruled all of Tír Chonaill. As the O'Muldorys and the O'Canannains declined, they took over the kingship, and Woulfe dates the end of O'Canannain rule to the mid-13th century. Gofraidh Ó Domhnaill defeated Maurice FitzGerald at Creadran-Cille in 1257. Over the next four centuries the family's chiefs fought the O'Neills, notably at Knockavoe in 1522 and Farsetmore in 1567, and pressed claims over northern Connacht.[1][4][2]

A Gaelic court

O'Donnell power rested on a network of hereditary families. Woulfe records that the O'Freels, erenaghs of Kilmacrenan, had the right to inaugurate the O'Donnell as chief; that the MacSweeneys settled in Tirconnell in the early 14th century as captains of his gallowglasses; that the O'Gallaghers acted as marshals of his forces; and that the O'Clerys, chroniclers to the family, went on to compile the Annals of the Four Masters. The Mac an Bháird family were their bards. Aodh Ruadh, who ruled from about 1460 to 1505, built Donegal Castle, and Manus O'Donnell wrote a life of St Colum Cille.[8][9][10][11][12][2]

Red Hugh and the Nine Years' War

Hugh Roe, or Red Hugh, O'Donnell was born in 1572. The Lord Deputy had him kidnapped in 1587 and held in Dublin Castle, fearing an alliance between the O'Donnells and Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone. Red Hugh escaped and was inaugurated at Kilmacrennan in 1592, though several rivals, including his kinsman Niall Garbh O'Donnell, stayed away in protest. With O'Neill he led the Irish confederacy in the Nine Years' War, marching south to Kinsale, where they were defeated in 1601. He died at Simancas in Spain in 1602.[13][14][2]

The Flight of the Earls

Red Hugh's brother Rory O'Donnell was pardoned after the Treaty of Mellifont in 1603 and created Earl of Tyrconnell. In 1607 he left Ireland with Hugh O'Neill and other Ulster leaders in the Flight of the Earls; his sister Nuala went with them. Rory died in Rome in 1608, the earldom was attainted in 1614, and Tír Chonaill was opened to the Plantation of Ulster. His son Hugh Albert, still recognised as earl in Spain, died without heirs in 1642.[2][15][3]

O'Donnells in Europe and at home

Woulfe notes that many O'Donnells became soldiers in continental armies. Daniel O'Donnell commanded an O'Donnell regiment in the French service against Marlborough, Leopoldo O'Donnell became Prime Minister of Spain and Duke of Tetuán, and an Austrian line became counts of Tyrconnell. Burke records that the Emperor of Austria allowed Count Maximilian O'Donell to add the imperial arms to his own in 1853, after he helped save the emperor from an assassin. In Ireland, Woulfe found the name very numerous in Ulster and Munster.[1][2][6]

Places linked to the name

  • Donegal Castle, Co. Donegal — The chief O'Donnell castle, built by Aodh Ruadh O'Donnell (ruled c. 1460–1505) and restored in the 1990s.[2]
  • Kilmacrennan (Cill Mhic nÉanáin), Co. Donegal — Where the O'Freels, its hereditary erenaghs, inaugurated the O'Donnell chiefs; Red Hugh was inaugurated at the friary in 1592.[8][13]
  • Lifford, Co. Donegal — Chief residence of Manus O'Donnell and later the base of Sir Niall Garbh O'Donnell.[2]
  • Corca Baiscinn, Co. Clare — Territory in west Clare ruled by a separate Ó Domhnaill family until the early 14th century.[1][5]

Everyday lives

The O'Donnells in the census

Who the O'Donnells were in the 1901 and 1911 censuses (and 1926 where recorded), set against everyone in Ireland in the same census.

O'Donnells All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the O'Donnell bar

Religion, 1911

Catholic +21.8 points vs Ireland
O'Donnells 95.4%
All of Ireland 73.6%
Church of Ireland −10.9 points vs Ireland
O'Donnells 2.3%
All of Ireland 13.2%
Presbyterian −8.0 points vs Ireland
O'Donnells 2.1%
All of Ireland 10.1%
Methodist & other −2.9 points vs Ireland
O'Donnells 0.2%
All of Ireland 3.1%

Irish language

Spoke Irish, 1901 +27.3 points vs Ireland
O'Donnells 42.6%
All of Ireland 15.3%
Spoke Irish, 1911 +25.6 points vs Ireland
O'Donnells 39.1%
All of Ireland 13.5%
Spoke Irish, 1926 · 26 counties +16.5 points vs Ireland
O'Donnells 30.0%
All of Ireland 13.5%

505 O'Donnells spoke Irish only in 1901.

Reading & writing

Could read and write, 1901 · aged 15+ −11.1 points vs Ireland
O'Donnells 69.3%
All of Ireland 80.4%
Could read and write, 1911 · aged 15+ −9.1 points vs Ireland
O'Donnells 76.7%
All of Ireland 85.8%

Family life, 1911

Household size · 2,843 households higher than Ireland
O'Donnells 5
All of Ireland 4.83
Children born per mother · women 45–59 higher than Ireland
O'Donnells 6.83
All of Ireland 6.46
Children still living +2.3 points vs Ireland
O'Donnells 82.1%
All of Ireland 79.8%

Commonest occupations

Adults aged 15+, 1901 and 1911 combined.

Farmer3,520
Farmer's son1,795
Farmer's daughter971
Agricultural labourer392
Farm servant341
Farm labourer297
General labourer295
Seamstress276
House keeper264
Labourer253

Born outside Ireland

2.2% of O'Donnells in 1911 gave a birthplace outside Ireland.

England145
Scotland102
United States42
India11
Australia & NZ3
Wales3

Median age: 24 in 1901, 25 in 1911.

Given names

First names among the O'Donnells

Men and boys

  1. John3,037
  2. Patrick2,156
  3. James1,923
  4. Michael1,517
  5. Thomas1,024
  6. William699
  7. Hugh658
  8. Charles432
  9. Edward397
  10. Daniel354

Women and girls

  1. Mary3,663
  2. Bridget2,002
  3. Ellen944
  4. Margaret939
  5. Annie913
  6. Catherine726
  7. Kate693
  8. Maggie536
  9. Anne521
  10. Sarah445

All three censuses combined. Top five in 1926: John, Patrick, James, Michael, Thomas; Mary, Bridget, Annie, Margaret, Ellen.

Spellings

Spellings

This page combines the spellings below, which census enumerators and families used for the same name.

Spelling190119111926Records
O'Donnell13,21313,54811,732Search
Donnell694533128Search

Related forms

  • Donnell — The name without the O prefix.[1]
  • O'Donel, O'Donell — Older spellings used by several branches, including the Larkfield and Austrian lines.[6][2]
  • Daniel — Woulfe records Daniel as an English form of Ó Domhnaill, matching the usual anglicisation of the personal name Domhnall.[1]
  • McDonnell (a separate name) — From Mac Domhnaill, 'son of Domhnall', the name of the Scottish MacDonalds and of other unrelated families; not a form of O'Donnell.[16]
  • Donnelly (a separate name) — From Ó Donnghaile, a Cenél nEógain family descended from Donnghal, not from Domhnall.[17]

Diaspora

The O'Donnells abroad

Emigration carried the name worldwide. In the 2010 United States census:

SpellingPeopleUS rank
O'Donnell43,460795th
Donnell6,4945361st

Source: US Census Bureau, 2010 surname file (public domain).

Heraldry

Is there a O'Donnell coat of arms?

Arms belonged to particular branches, so there is no single O'Donnell crest. Burke links the family's arms to the legend of St Patrick marking a cross on Conall's shield. He records the arms of Sir Hugh O'Donnell, lord of Tirconnell, in 1567 as an arm in a blue sleeve holding a red cross on gold, and those on Earl Rory's tomb in Rome as an arm holding a red passion cross, with the motto 'In hoc signo vinces' ('In this sign you will conquer'). The Newport, Larkfield, Spanish and Austrian branches each bore their own variations.[6][2]

Websites selling a single “O'Donnell family crest” are selling a design, not an inheritance. Arms in Ireland belonged to individuals and their heirs, and the Chief Herald of Ireland still grants arms that way today.

People

Notable people named O'Donnell

  • Manus O'Donnell (1490–1563)
    Ruler of Tyrconnell from 1537 and author of a life of St Colum Cille.
  • Sir Niall Garbh O'Donnell (c. 1569–1626)
    Rival of Red Hugh who sided with the Crown during the Nine Years' War.
  • Hugh Roe O'Donnell (c. 1572–1602)
    'Red Hugh', lord of Tyrconnell and a leader of the Irish confederacy in the Nine Years' War.
  • Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell (1575–1608)
    Last O'Donnell ruler of Tyrconnell; left Ireland in the Flight of the Earls in 1607.
  • Nuala O'Donnell (c. 1575–c. 1630)
    Noblewoman who joined the Flight of the Earls, remembered as 'the Lady of the Piercing Wail'.
  • Leopoldo O'Donnell (1809–1867)
    Spanish general, 1st Duke of Tetuán, and several times Prime Minister of Spain.
  • Patrick O'Donnell (1856–1927)
    Donegal-born Archbishop of Armagh from 1924, made a cardinal in 1925.
  • Peadar O'Donnell (1893–1986)
    Republican, socialist and writer, one of 20th-century Ireland's foremost radicals.
  • Guillermo O'Donnell (1936–2011)
    Argentine political scientist known for his work on authoritarianism and democratisation.
  • Daniel O'Donnell (born 1961)
    Irish singer and television presenter, a household name in Ireland and Britain since the 1980s.
  • Rosie O'Donnell (born 1962)
    American comedian, actress and talk-show host.
  • Chris O'Donnell (born 1970)
    American film and television actor.

Questions

Questions about the O'Donnell name

Is O'Donnell an Irish surname?

Yes. O'Donnell is the English form of the Gaelic Irish Ó Domhnaill, 'descendant of Domhnall'. The best-known family ruled Tír Chonaill in Donegal for about four centuries, but Woulfe records separate O'Donnell septs in Clare, Galway, Carlow, Armagh and among the Cenél nEógain, and a Munster branch of the Donegal family in Limerick and Tipperary.[1]

What is O'Donnell in Irish?

Ó Domhnaill, also written Ó Dónaill in modern Irish; a woman uses Ní Dhomhnaill. The head of the Tír Chonaill family was known simply as Ua Domhnaill, 'The O'Donnell'. The personal name Domhnall is usually anglicised Daniel.[1][2][3]

Are O'Donnell and McDonnell the same name?

No. Both come from the personal name Domhnall, but O'Donnell is Ó Domhnaill, 'descendant of Domhnall', while McDonnell is Mac Domhnaill, 'son of Domhnall'. Woulfe traces the main McDonnell family to the Scottish MacDonalds, who came to Ireland as gallowglass leaders, so the two families are unrelated.[1][16]

Are O'Donnell and Donnelly related?

No. Donnelly is Ó Donnghaile, from the personal name Donnghal, and belonged to a Cenél nEógain family who were marshals to the O'Neills in Tyrone. Woulfe notes that the Cenél Conaill, the O'Donnells' own kindred, had earlier driven them from their first seat near Lifford.[17]

Where does the O'Donnell name come from?

Mainly from Tír Chonaill, most of modern Co. Donegal, where the O'Donnells ruled from Donegal Castle and inaugurated their chiefs at Kilmacrenan. After 1607 branches settled in Mayo, Leitrim and abroad. Separate O'Donnell families came from west Clare, Galway, Carlow and Armagh.[1][2][8][6]

Is there an O'Donnell coat of arms or motto?

There is no single crest for every O'Donnell, but the arms of the Tír Chonaill chiefs are well documented. Burke records arms showing an arm holding a cross, linked to the legend of St Patrick marking Conall's shield, with the motto 'In hoc signo vinces' ('In this sign you will conquer'). Different branches bore different versions.[6][2]

Is there an O'Donnell clan chief?

In 1945 the Chief Herald of Ireland gave John O'Donel, of the family's Larkfield branch, official recognition as The O'Donnell, Chief of the Name. In 2003 the Genealogical Office stopped giving courtesy recognition to Chiefs of the Name, and Wikipedia notes that the O'Donnell clan association now has patrons rather than a recognised chief.[2]

Where in Ireland is the O'Donnell surname most common?

In the 1911 census the largest numbers of O'Donnells lived in Donegal (5,006), Limerick (1,206), Mayo (1,186). Relative to population, the name was most concentrated in Donegal (297 per 10,000), Limerick (84 per 10,000), Tipperary (69 per 10,000).

How common was the O'Donnell surname in Ireland?

14,081 people were recorded as O'Donnell or Donnell in the 1911 census of Ireland, making it the 32nd most common surname. That is roughly 0.3% of the population, or 1 person in 312.

Looking for a O'Donnell ancestor?

Search every O'Donnell household in the 1901, 1911 and 1926 censuses, with free images of the original forms.

Search records on irishcensus.com

Evidence

Sources

  1. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Domhnaill, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  2. Wikipedia, O'Donnell dynasty (2026)
  3. Wikipedia, Nuala O'Donnell (2026)
  4. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Canannáin, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  5. Wikipedia, Corcu Baiscind (2026)
  6. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). Entry 'O'Donnell, O'Donel, or O'Donell' and following O'Donnell entries.
  7. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Tuathaláin, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  8. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Firghil, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  9. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Suibhne, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  10. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Gallchobhair, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  11. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Clérigh, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  12. Patrick Woulfe, Mac an Bháird, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  13. Wikipedia, Tyrconnell (2026)
  14. Wikipedia, Hugh Roe O'Donnell (2026)
  15. Wikipedia, Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell (2026)
  16. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Domhnaill, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  17. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Donnghaile, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  18. Census of Ireland 1901 and 1911, and Census of Population 1926, National Archives of Ireland. Counts compiled by surnames.ie from the irishcensus.com transcription (dataset 20260831130351). 1926 data © National Archives of Ireland, CC BY 4.0.
  19. Irish forms cross-checked against Gaois surname data (Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge, DCU).

How we compile these figures: methodology.