O'Conor Don

The O'Conor Don ( _ga. Ó Conchubhair Donn) is the hereditary chieftain of the traditional royal family of Connacht, one of the premier Irish Royal Families a lineage which is descended through sixty-six generations providing some twenty-seven Kings of Connacht and numerous High Kings of Ireland.

The O'Conor Don was a lordship of one of the three main lines of the O'Conor ("Ó Conchobhair") family of Connacht. Many of its leaders were High Kings of Ireland. Well into the 1400s members of their dynasty were recognised as half-kings, or full Kings of Connacht. The succession of descent continues unbroken from 76AD to the present day, making it one of oldest royal families in Europe. The O'Conor Don is regarded as the senior hereditary chieftain of Ireland and has been styled the O'Conor Don since the fourteenth century.

According to the obituary published in the Irish Times on 22 July 2000, "it is generally acknowledged that the holder of the title would be the foremost claimant to the Irish throne, if one were proposed. Over the last few hundred years, members of the O'Conor family have continued to contribute to the social, political, cultural and religious life of Ireland. The fact that they remained staunchly Catholic during the dark days of the Penal Laws in the eighteenth century, is a source of great pride."

The present holder of the title is Desmond O'Conor Don.

Clonalis House, the ancestral home of the O'Conor Don Family passed to Gertrude O'Conor-Nash on the death of her brother The Rev Charles O'Conor Don SJ in 1981. On her death in 1994 Clonalis passed to her only son Pyers. Clonalis House with its highly important collect of archives and library is now the residence of Pyers, his wife Marguerite and their three children, Barbara, Richard, and Letitia.

The O'Conor Dons 1406-2006

* Toirdhealbhach Óg Donn mac Aodha meic Toirdhealbhaigh, d. 9th December 1406.
* Cathal mac Ruaidhri Ó Conchobhair Donn, d. 19th March 1439.
* Aodh mac Toirdhealbhaigh Óig Ó Conchobhair Donn, d.15th May 1461.
* Feidhlimidh Geangcach mac Toirdhealbhaigh Óig Ó Conchobhair Donn, d. 1474.
* Tadhg mac Eoghain Ó Conchobhair Donn, d. 1476.
* Eoghan Caoch mac Feidhlimidh Gheangcaigh Ó Conchobhair Donn, d. 1485.
* Aodh Og mac Aodh Ó Conchobhair Donn, died ?
* Toirdhealbhach Óg mac Ruaidhri Ó Conchobhair Donn, d.1503
* Conchobhar mac Eoghain Chaoich Ó Conchobhair Donn, d.?
* Cairbre mac Eoghain Chaoich Ó Conchobhair Donn, d. 1546.
* Aodh mac Eoghain Chaoich Ó Conchobhair Donn, deposed 1550.
* Diarmaid mac Cairbre Ó Conchobhair Donn, d. 1585.
* Sir Hugh/Aedh Ó Conchobhair Donn, d. 1632.
* An Calbhach mac Aedh Ó Conchobhair Donn, d. 1654; last inaugurated king, in 1643.
* Hugh Óg mac Aedh Ó Conchobhair Donn, d. 1662.
* Major Owen O'Conor Don of Belangare, d.s.p.m. 1692
* Cathal Óg O'Conor Don of Belangare, d. 1696.
* Denis O'Conor Don, 1674-1750.
* Charles O'Conor Don, 1710-1791.
* Denis O'Conor Don of Belangare, 1732-1804
* Owen O'Conor Don of Clonalis, 1763-1831
* Matthew O'Conor Don, 1773-1844; popularly inaugurated in 1830's.
* Denis O'Conor Don of Clonalis, 1794-1847
* Charles Owen O'Conor Don, 1838-1906.
* Charles O'Conor Don, 1869-1917.
* Owen Phelim O'Conor Don, 1870-1943
* Fr. Charles O'Conor Don, 1906-1981
* Denis O'Conor Don, 1912- 10th July 2000
* Desmond O'Conor Don (Chairman of the British-Chile Chamber of Commerce, former banker, resides in Sussex)

Family tree

Sir Hugh/Aedh Ó Conchobhair Donn mac Diarmada mac Cairbre, d. 1627. = Mary ni Brian Ó Rourke, King of Breifne
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Calvach Hugh Óg Cathal (1597-1634) Bryan Roe = Anne Mulloy
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Major Owen of Belangare Cathal Óg of Belangare dspm 1692 = Finola ni Fhlionn of Ballinlough

Denis O'Conor Don (1674-1750) = Máire ni Colonel Tiernan Ó Rourke
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Daniel Thomas Charles (1710-91) Hugh Elinor Anne d. 1769 Officer = Catherine ni Fagan in France


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Dominick Alexander Jane Denis O'Conor Don Charles Bridget d.1777 dsp 1795 d. unm 1820 (1732-1804) = Myles MacDermot = Catherine Browne of Cloonfad
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Owen O'Conor Don Rev. Charles Matthew O'Conor Don Catherine Mary Elizabeth (1763-1831) (1773-1844) = Jane Moore of Mount Browne
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Denis O'Conor Don Edward Jane Catherine (1794-1847) = Mary Blake of Tower Hill
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Charles Owen O'Conor Don Denis Maurice, M.P. (1838-1906) (1840-1883) = Georgina Perry

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Charles O'Conor Don Owen Phelim O'Conor Don Charles Hugh Roderick Charles William (1869-1917) (1870-1943) (1872-1939) (1872-3) (1878-1963) = Ellen More Ó Ferrall = Evelyn Lowry-Corry

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Rev. Charles Mary Gertrude Eva Josephine Helen Fearga Georgina Denis Armar O'Conor Don 1912-2000 O'Conor Don d.1953 d.1994 d.1989 d.1980 b.1910 d.1986 b.1916 =Elizabeth Marris =Rosemay O'Connell Hewett


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Desmond Roderick O'Conor Don Kieran Rory Gail =Virginia Williams d. aged 13
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Emma Joy Philip Hugh Denise Sarah =Rebecca Eagan ______________|_____________________
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Eochy Piers Adelaide Barley

ee also

*Irish Royal Families
*Chiefs of the Name
*Chief Herald of Ireland

External links

* "A New History of Ireland",

References