O'Dea
O'Dea /oʊˈdiː/; (Irish: Ó Deághaidh, formerly Ua Deághaidh), is an Irish surname derived from Deághaidh, the name of a tenth-century clan chieftain.
The O'Dea clan came originally from County Clare where there is a fortified tower house over 500 years old known as O'Dea Castle at the 80-acre (320,000 m2) townland of Dysert O'Dea (Irish: Dísert, meaning "hermitage"). The ruins of Dysert O'Dea Monastery, round tower, and St. Tola's high cross are 265 metres to the south-southwest of the castle in the adjacent 260-acre (1.1 km2) townland of Mollaneen (Irish: Molainín, meaning "the little hill"), near Corofin. (52°54′41″N 9°03′59″W / 52.911361°N 9.066381°W)this surname is popular with many Irish families.
The name O'Dea is normally pronounced oh-dee, and sometimes oh-day, in English. Clan descendants may have the surnames Alday, Allday, O'Dea, Dea, Day, Daye, O'Day, O'Daye, Dee, Dees, O'Dee, Godwin, or Goodwin.
Edward MacLysaght, the former Chief Herald of Ireland, writing in his book, Irish Families, began his discussion of the O'Dea family as follows:
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