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- EXCERPTS: O'Doherty; O'Doherty Coat of Arms / O'Doherty Family Crest
http://www.araltas.com/features/doherty/
"Doherty is an example of a surname in which the resumption of itsprefix 0 during the recent century has been very marked. Comparing thestatistics of 1890 with 1955 we find that in the former year inIreland out of 465 births registered only eight i.e. less than two percent were O'Doherty: at the present time the proportion isapproximately fifty per cent. i.e. those calling themselves Dohertyand 0'Doherty are about equal. Alternative spellings such as Doghertyand Dougherty are rarely met with nowadays.
In Munster Doherty is often not ? Dochartaigh but ? Dubhartaigh: thisis more correctly anglicized Doorty in west Clare.
In Oriel Dorritty is an occasional synonym.
Many Irish surnames in their anglicized forms present problems inregard to their origin. Doherty, however, is simple andstraightforward. In Irish O Dochartaigh, which is said to be derivedfrom the word dochartach meaning obstructive, this large and powerfulsept is of the same stock as tbe 0'Donnells. Originating in the baronyof Raphoe, Co. Donegal, the 0'Doherty chiefs extended their territorytill they became Lords of Inishowen in the fourteenth century, butthey were greatly reduced as a result of the ill-timed rebellion ofSir Cahir O'Dougherty in 1608. The great majority of the present daybearers of the name live, or at least were born, in Donegal or theareas adjacent to that county. Their numbers give them the fifteenthplace in the list of the commonest names in Ireland.
However you choose to spell Doherty, and there are at least half adozen versions apart from with or without the O, it remains a Donegalname. It is believed to be one of the oldest hereditary surnames, andtranslated from the Irish it is thought to mean obstructive. Rankingfifteenth in the list of 100 most common Irish surnames, the motto ontheir coat of arms is Ar nD?thcas (for my inheritance). According tothe O Dogherty pedigree of 5 November 1770 in the Genealogical Officein Dublin, they are descended from one of the eight sons of Niall ofthe Nine Hostages, the legendary chieftain who was killed jousting inFrance in AD 405. Nial is reputed to be responsible for bringing theyoung Patrick to Ireland as a slave. Four of Niall's sons settled inMeath. The eldest, Laogarius, was Ireland's first Christian monarch,surely the very king who saw Patrick light his Pascal fire on the Hillof Slane. Niall's four younger sons went north to Ulster and wereknown as the Hy Nialls. They reigned there for over 600 years until1002, when Brian Boru assumed the high kingship. The names of thedescendants of Niall are renowned in Irish history. They include the ONeills who were princes and earls of Tir Eogan, the O Donnells,princes and earls of Tirconnell, and the O Melaghlins, kings andprinces of Meath. The O Dohertys who descend from Niall owned theInishowen Peninsula until, to quote their genealogical document, "theaccession of King James I to the throne of England and Ireland in1603, at which period six counties of Ulster were escheated to theCrown and granted to Scotch Planters". From the eighth to theseventeenth centuries there was a constant power struggle between theclans and in the twelfth century, against the English invaders - fewNormans penetrated as far as Ulster. For a while the O Dohertysmaintained good relations with the English. Cunningly they used themto play O Neill against O Donnell. Many times they preserved theirland, or their lives, by pretending allegiance to Henry VIII, orElizabeth I. Thus they acquired their knighthoods.
Shane Mor O Doherty was knighted in 1541. His son, Shane Og, who wasknighted in 1585, was the father of Cahir, the most notorious of allthe O Dohertys. Cahir O Doherty (1587 - 1608) was only 14 when hisfather died and there were many family quarrels before Cahir wasfinally acknowledged as Lord of Inishowen. He has been described asextremely tall and handsome and very brave in battle. Still only inhis teens, he was knighted by Mountjoy for military bravery and, in1603, was invited to visit the Court in London. On his return toIreland he was made an admiral of the new city of Derry. Intriguesenmeshed him and he was accused of treason, which provoked him,catastrophically, into the madness of attacking Derry, which hemercilessly burned. Retribution came swiftly; a strong Crown force wasdispatched and he was killed, and his head was sent to Dublin to beexhibited.
Cahir O Doherty earned himself the title "that audacious traitor" andhis actions opened the floodgates for the plantation of Ulster and thetragedy which continues into the twentieth century. Cahir's was theend of the O Doherty lordship of Inishowen. The year before his death,the northern earls had sailed away from Lough Swilly to spread theirbattered wings all around Europe. Cahir's brother Sean O Doherty soonfollowed, and his descendant, Dr Ramon Salvador O Doherty, who livesin Cadiz in Spain, is 11th in direct line from the Lords of Inishowen.In July 1990, he was ceremonially inaugurated as 37th O Dohertychieftain.
The Keep, all that remains of the fine castle built by the O Dohertysin 1430, still stands at Buncrana, in a ruggedly charming area ofDonegal between Lough Swilly and Lough Foyle. A glance in thetelephone directory will confirm that the O Dohertys continue tothrive around Inishmore. Across the sea in Scotland, where they fledto escape the persecutions following the plantations, there are alsomany of the O Doherty name. Following the disaster of Derry, many ofthem went still further afield...etc...
Of course there were Dohertys in plenty in Europe. In the BibliothequeNationale in Paris there are numerous O Doherty papers. TheGenealogical Office in Dublin describes the O Dohertys at variousperiods between 800 and 1845 as Lords of Inishowen in County Donegal,chiefs of the name, and Doherty of Newtown, County Leitrim; of Oldtownand Kedrah and Coolmoyne, of Bruis and Killimley and Outrath, LongOrchard and Cashel, of Ballydrehid and Moortown, all in CountyTipperary." [Transcribed 30 November 2007, SLJuhl, compiler]
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