Donal IV O'Donovan

Donal IV, or (Colonel) Daniel O'Donovan (Irish: Domhnall Ó Donnabháin), The O'Donovan, of Clancahill (died 1705), was the son of Donal III O'Donovan, The O'Donovan of Clancahill, and Gyles (Sheela) O'Shaughnessy, daughter of Elis Lynch and Sir Roger Gilla Duff O'Shaughnessy, The O'Shaughnessy.

O'Donovan was MP for Baltimore, County Cork, Ireland, in James II's Patriot Parliament of 1689, along with his kinsmen Jeremiah O'Donovan, The O'Donovan of Clan Loughlin, and Daniel O'Donovan. Following the Parliament, Donal was outlawed in 1691. At the time he was outlawed, he was characterised as a gentleman, of Benlahane, an archaic spelling of Bawnlahan, then the family seat. Donal's grandson, Daniel, son of Richard, changed the name of the family estate from Bawnlahan to Castle Jane when he married (at age 60) Jane Becher, who was then 15.

O'Donovan's Infantry Regiment

O'Donovan served during the Siege of Cork, as Deputy Governor of the 1200 strong garrison of Charles Fort, Kinsale under Sir Edward Scott.

His regiment also appears later in the preparations for the Siege of Limerick.

See also D'Alton, pp. 708 ff.

Although it is likely that Donal IV was Catholic, as he was a member of the House of Commons of the James II Parliament in 1689 and subsequently outlawed, neither of his wives was Gaelic. This may have contributed to his success in avoiding confiscation of his remaining lands. From his tenure his branch made a massive shift to anglicise and conform, inevitably ruining their reputation (which was already low due to his gandfather's surrender and regrant of clan lands) but which facilitated their retention of property during the Penal Laws.

He was first married to Victoria Copinger, daughter of Captain Walter Copinger of Cloghan, by whom he had a daughter, Helena, who married her 2nd cousin Conn (Cornelius) O'Donovan of Montpellier, ancestor of the present O'Donovan, Lord of Clancahill.

Secondly, he married in 1665 Elizabeth Tonson, daughter of Major Richard Tonson (ancestor of Baron Riversdale), by whom he had:

• Sarah, married Samuel Morris of Skibbereen
• Honora, married ?
• Catherine, married ?
• (Elizabeth), married ?

• Richard I O'Donovan
• Daniel, who died young
• Barry, who died young
• Cornelius (Conor), married Honora, daughter of O'Sullivan MacFineen Duff. He died in 1737. According to O'Hart he was called Conchobhar-na-Bhuile, or "of the madness", and had his residence at Achres in the parish of Drimoleague.
  • Richard
    • Cornelius, died 1841, last descendant in the male line
  • Honoria, born 1741, possible great grandmother of Edmond Roche, 1st Baron Fermoy and ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales is claimed as a daughter of Cornelius. This claim is doubtful as Honoria's birth in 1741 would have been fours years after her father's death in 1737, when he would have been around 65 years of age. Neither John O'Donovan, in the Appendix to the Annals of the Four Masers listing the descent of this family, nor O'Hart, credit Cornelius with a daughter, Honoria.

His son Captain Richard I O'Donovan, The O'Donovan of Clancahill, would marry Elinor FitzGerald, daughter of John FitzGerald, 13th Knight of Kerry, by Honora O'Brien, daughter of Connor O'Brien, 2nd Viscount Clare. Their issue was (1) Daniel V O'Donovan, The O'Donovan of Clancahill, (2) Richard, who died unmarried, and (3) some daughters, the eldest of whom Elizabeth married Sylvester O'Sullivan, head of the sept MacFineen Duff of Derreenavurrig in Kerry, by whom she had numerous issue. The eldest son of Daniel V O'Donovan was Richard II O'Donovan, the last Lord of Clancahill in the male line from Donal IV. But through Helena Donal IV is still an ancestor of all subsequent Chiefs of the Name of O'Donovan.