Castledonovan:
Courtesy Mike Collins:
https://youririshheritage.com/castle-donovan/
Genealogy of O’Donovan Family from Castledonovan, West Cork to Malaga Spain.
Records in the National Library, Dublin.
The O’Donovan lands were forfeit adn the Evanson family Cromwellians came into possession c 1690 they later sold and moved to Durrus.
The O’Donovans were displaced in the 13th century from Co. Limerick by the Normans along with the Mccarthys, O’Mahonys. It is likely that it was not a mass migration rather that of an elite group. DNA evidence would suggest that the indigenous population of West Cork adopted these surnames.
Some branches of the O’Donovans converted to the Church of Ireland and Methodist Church. The Chieftainship passed to the Protestant Branches ‘The O’Donovan’. These features as Magistrates. Interestingly these ‘The O’Donovans’ retained an affinity with historical scholarship looking at book subscription lists adn membership of learned societies.
Daniel O’Donovan, 1686
Henry Wintrop ‘The O’Donovan’ (1812-1896), TCD, MA, DL. Pre 1910, Clann Cathal, Lis Ard, Skibbereen, son Rev. Morgan, Corl ed Dr. Coughlan, m Amelia d ‘The O’Grady’, Courcy O’Grady, Kilbollyowne, Co.Limerick. Son Colonel Morgan William MA, JP, ‘The O’Donovan’ and Alicia Jones.
Colonel Morgan William O’Donovan or ‘The O’Donovan’ -1870), MA, ‘The O’Donovan’, Mountpelier, Douglas, Cork, son Rev. Morgan Donovan (1769-1839) m Alicia Jones, 1863 d William Jones Cork. On the death 1829 of Lieutenant General O’Donovan, Bawnlahan he became Chieftain of the O’Donovan family a claim disputed by some. patron Masonic concert Skibbereen, subscriber 1861 to Smith’s History of Cork. 1835 received benefit from Morgan O’Donovan of rent charge at lands at Carrigfadda and Lisardreeher entitling him to vote. Member Irish Society Antiquaries 1861. 1861, correspondence with Dr. John O’Donovan re genealogy. Probate to son Henry Winthrop O’Donovan, Lissard, Skibbereen, £35,000. Land record, 1870, 3,620 acres.
Rev. Morgan O’Donovan (1740-1802), Ballinacalla, West Carbery, m. Melian Towgood French c 1776, Daughter Mary m John Townsend Beecher with £5,000, died Blackrock.
Colonel Morgan William ‘The O’Donovan’ Oxon (1861-1940), CB, D.L., MA, 1888, ‘The O’Donovan’, Clann Cathal, Lis Árd, Skibbereen, son of Henry Winthrop ‘The O’Donovan’ MA, DL. and Amelia d ‘The O’Grady’, Courcy O’Grady, Kilbollyowne, Co. Limerick. Ed. Haileybury and Oxford, Lieutenant-Colonel Munster Fusiliers, Colonel South Cork Militia Boer War, Succeeded Colonel Aylmer C. Somerville 1899 as President Carbery Agricultural Society. Presented organ to Creagh Church to commemorate the Jubilee of Queen Victoria. M Mary Eleanor, (Madame) odo Rev. J Yarker Barton, Chaplain to British Forces, she chaired the Women’s Emergency Recruiting Committee WW1, Skibbereen, listed 1921.
W(inthropp) O’Donovan, Skibbereen, 1861 ‘The O’Donovan’.
West Cork History 