Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/O'Daly, Donnchadh
O'DALY, DONNCHADH (d. 1244), Irish poet, called in Irish Donnchadh Mór Ua Dálaigh, was the most famous member of the greatest family of hereditary poets in Ireland. They traced their descent from Maine, son of Niall (Naighiallach) (d. 405) [q. v.] He lived at Finnyvarra, co. Clare, and was head of the O'Dalys of Corcomroe, co. Clare. He died at Boyle, co. Roscommon, in 1244, and was buried in the Norman abbey there, the ruins of which are still to be seen. More than thirty poems, some of great length, are attributed to him. Most of them are on devotional subjects, such as ‘Creidim dhuit a Dhe nimhe’ (‘I believe in Thee, O God of Heaven!’) and ‘A Cholann chugad an bas’ (‘O body! to thee belongs death’). A short poem of his, of which there is a copy in the ‘Leabhar Breac’ (p. 108, col. 2, line 66), a fourteenth-century manuscript, beginning ‘Dreen enaig inmhain cách’ (‘Wrens of the marsh, all dear to me’), shows some love for animated nature. Many of the copies of O'Daly's poems have been modified from the idiom of his time to that of some later date; and till a collation of the several texts of the poems attributed to him has been made, it is impossible to ascertain which are really his.
Other remarkable members of his family were:
Goffraidh fionn O'Daly (d. 1387), chief poet of Munster, who wrote a poem of 224 verses on Dermot MacCarthy of Muskerry, ‘Fa ngniomhradh meastar mac riogh’ (‘By deeds is the son of a king valued’); a poem of forty-eight verses, ‘A fhir theid i ttir Chonaill’ (‘Oh man! who goes to Tirconnell’), to Conchobhar O'Donnell; and a poem of 140 verses to Domhnall MacCarthy, ‘Maith an locht airdrigh oige’ (‘Forgive the fault, O young archking!’), urging him in his youth to drive out the English, as Conn Cedcathach had driven out Cathaoir Mor, king of Leinster, from Tara.
Cearbhall O'Daly (d. 1404), chief poet of Corcomroe.
Domhnall O'Daly (d. 1404), ollav of Corcomroe, was son of Donnchadh. He is often quoted in Irish literature as ‘Bolg an dana’ (‘the wallet of poetry’).
Domhnall O'Daly (fl. 1420), poet. He was son of Eoghan O'Daly, and wrote a poem on Domhnall O'Sullivan, chief of Dunboy, who died in Spain, ‘San Sbain do toirneamh Teamhuir’ (‘It is in Spain Tara was interred.’).
Aengus O'Daly fionn (fl. 1430), poet. He wrote several devotional poems still extant, and ‘Soraidh led cheill a Chaisil’ (‘Blessing be with thy companion, O Cashel!’), of 208 verses, on the death of Domhnall MacCarthy, who died in 1409.
Lochlann O'Daly (fl. 1550), poet. He lived in Clare, and wrote (1) ‘Uaigneach a taoi a theagh na mbrathair’ (‘Solitary art thou, O house of the friars!’), on the expulsion of the Franciscans at the Reformation; (2) ‘Mealltar inde an taos dana’ (‘We are deceived, the poetic tribe’); (3) ‘Cait nar gabhadar Gaoidhil’ (‘Where did the Irish find shelter?’), on the dispossession of the natives in Ireland.
Aengus O'Daly fionn (fl. 1570), poet. He is called the Divine, and wrote many theological poems. Edward O'Reilly's collection of Irish manuscripts contained fifteen poems by him, extending to more than 650 lines, of which all are theological, and eight in praise of the Virgin.
Eoghan O'Daly (fl. 1602), poet. He wrote a poem of 180 verses on Dermot O'Sullivan's going to Spain after the defeat of the Spaniards at Kinsale, ‘Do thuit a cloch cul d'Eirinn’ (‘The back rock of Ireland has fallen’).
Tadhg O'Daly (fl. 1618), poet. He wrote a lament of 148 verses on Eoghan O'Sullivan of Dunboy, ‘Cia so caoinéas crioch Banba’ (‘Who is this that Banba's land laments?’).
[Leabhar Breac, facsimile, Dublin, 1872; O'Reilly in Transactions of Iberno-Celtic Society, Dublin, 1820; O'Daly's Tribes of Ireland, Dublin, 1852; Annala Rioghachta Eireann, ed. O'Donovan.]