O'Donoghue

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Donoghue or O'Donoghue is an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Donnchadha ‘descendant of Donnchadh’, a personal name composed of the elements donn = ‘brown-haired man’ or ‘chieftain’ + cath = ‘battle’.

Spelling variations (which include an initial O' or omit it) include Donoghue, Donaghoe, Donoughe, Donaho, Donahoe, Donough, Donahue, Donahow, Doneghoe, Donehue, Donighue, Donoho, Donohoe, Donahugh, Donohough, Donohow, Donohue, Donaughue, Donaghie, Donaghy and many more.

The O'Donoghue name is first found in County Kerry, Ireland, where they held a family seat, O'Donoghue of the Glens, from very ancient times.

Chieftans of the O'Donoghue Clan had resided in Ross Castle, Killarney Ireland. It was one of the last, if not the last castle to fall to the English during the Cromwellian period of invasion.

The O'Donoghue family were Kings of all of Ireland and managed to build a peaceful and prosperous kingdom. During this time the Irish were very powerful and probably were as rich as the rest of Europe.

It should be noted that the Scottish Clan Robertson, anciently known as Clann Dhònnchaidh, 'Children of Dònnchadh' or Duncan, is of separate origin.


Notable people with this relatively-common surname include: