Donal II O'Donovan
| Domhnall II Ó Donnabháin | |
|---|---|
| Lord of Clancahill, The O'Donovan | |
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| Family | O'Donovan |
| Father | Donal of the Skins |
| Mother | Ellen O'Leary |
| Born | circa 1560, Castle Donovan |
| Died | 1639, Rahine Manor |
| Buried | Timoleague Abbey |
Donal II O'Donovan (Irish: Domhnall Ó Donnabháin), The O'Donovan of Clann Cathail, Lord of Clancahill (died 1639), was the son of Ellen O'Leary, daughter of O'Leary of Carrignacurra, and Donal of the Skins, The O'Donovan of Clann Cathail. He is most commonly referred to as Donnell O'Donevane of Castledonovan in contemporary references of his time.
His elder brother Diarmaid O'Donovan was slain by Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare in 1581 following a raid urged by Elizabeth I into O'Sullivan territory. Donal is credited with taking the leadership of Clan Cathail following the death of his father, and was inaugurated and granted the White Rod by the MacCarthy Reagh, his father-in-law Owen MacCarthy Reagh, Prince of Carbery, in 1584. He was then later recognized by the Lord Chancellor Adam Loftus in 1592, defeating an attempt by his younger brother Teige, who alleged Donal to be a bastard, to depose him. He was the last of his line so inaugurated in the ancient Gaelic manner.
Following his adherence to Philip III of Spain during the Nine Years' War, in 1608 Donal surrendered his territory to James I of England, receiving a regrant of the entire estate to himself personally in 1615. A series of inquisitions from 1599 to 1636 show his to have been the greatest land holdings during that period in Carbery after the territories of the MacCarthy princes, although how this came about is a matter of some controversy.
Donal II's inauguration in 1584 by his father-in-law Owen MacCarthy Reagh is testified to in a complicated lawsuit filed essentially against the both of them by O'Donovan's younger brother Teige sometime previous to February 12, 1592. The suit was concurrent with the anticipated surrender of the sept lands by Donnel O’Donovane (with similar surrender of other sept lands being undertaken by other chiefs, namely Conoghor O’Kallaghane, Conoghor O’Mahoney and Teig M’Owen Carty) in exchange of a regrant of the lands into the personal estate property of the respective chief by patent. The surviving court document from that date contains a summary of the case and the decision of the Lord Chancellor Adam Loftus on the matter. In the suit Teige alleges that Donal was born before his father Donal I and mother Ellen O'Leary were married, and thus that he was in fact (according to Teige) illegitimate or a bastard and had no rights to the Lordship of Clancahill, with Teige even questioning whether Donal was a son of his father, Donal of the Hides, at all.
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