Talk:Cathal mac Donnubáin

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Your article lists Uainide as being the older brother of Cathal. From what I've seen, the annal reference was

 AI982, Uainide son of Donnubán, king of Uí Chairpri, died. 

What is the reference for Uainide being the older brother of Cathal, as opposed to being a brother? ```` — Preceding unsigned comment added by Modonovan (talk • contribs) 13:07, 3 January 2011 (UTC)

Hello again and Happy 2011! Yes, you are right. I just made that assumption. It is corrected now. DinDraithou (talk) 15:13, 3 January 2011 (UTC)

Uainide, son of Cathal

It should be noted that the Irish naming convention prevalent from the 15th-18th century had to have a start somewhere. That naming convention, for which there is no evidence that it applies in this case, was that the first son was named after his father's father. With respect to Uainide, died 982, it is clear that he desceended from Uainide, father of Cathal, father of Donovan and Uainide. If the naming convention was being practiced then, Uainide would be the older brother of Donovan, and the first born grandson of Uainide. It's possible Uainide was the older brother of Donovan, but not provable at this time. Modonovan (talk) 10:19, 6 January 2011 (UTC)

I was unaware of all of this and think you might be on to something. That that was a convention I did not know. A possible brother of Donovan whom I haven't mentioned anywhere yet is Gebennach mac Cathail, Abbot of Inis Cathaig in Donovan's time. Of course the majority of its abbots were from the Ui Fidgenti, who claimed the island. Then it ended up the alt capital of the Kingdom of Hlymrek at the same time for a while. DinDraithou (talk) 02:33, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

Cathal mac Donovan

Cathal mac Donovan is listed as son of Donovan by both Geofrey Keating (b. 1569, d. 1644 - History of Ireland) and Eugene O'Keefe (Eoghanacht Genealogies 1703). O'Keefe was the parish priest of Doneraile for twenty years, and was a contemporary of Daniel O'Donovan (Catholic) whom represented the manor of Doneraile in the 1690 James II Parliament. The geneaologies of a number of family lines are still in existence today in manuscripts going back 1600 years in the office of the Chief Herald, but they are extremely difficult to access, for a variety of reasons. Thus, there is evidence of Cathal's existence outside the various O'Donovan families' manuscripts. Modonovan (talk) 10:46, 6 January 2011 (UTC)

I'll bet he did exist. The O'Clery pedigree is probably of 14th century date and we find him there. I don't know if there are any older ones. It's just kind of amazing for how notably the family appear in the two great Munster political tracts, one by the O'Briens and the other the MacCarthys, that they have such a non-presence in the annals. It's almost like once everyone was satisfied the family were finally knocked down in 1201, then the coverage starts again. Admittedly throughout this period it was difficult for anyone but the O'Briens and MacCarthys to get coverage, so we only see the O'Mahonys and O'Donoghues and others mentioned occasionally, but it really, really looks like the O'Donovans are the victims of an omission campaign. One answer why is in that topographical poem: without tribute, for which see the main article. So they were guilty of refusing to recognize most anyone's authority and were probably very tight knit. Therefore the policy very well might have been to not recognize the O'Donovans as legitimate. So we don't even get death notices. Finally there's the bad pedigree, which if you read O Corrain's paper, which I can send you, you'll see was just as lacking in the early 12th century as it is today. We really have no one beyond Donovan's father except for maybe someone named Olaf. Donovan may have been a Gael on his father's side but his family were probably relative nobodies if so. Then the Norse show up and things become possible. Sleeping with nobody else but them makes you unpopular and eventually less than Irish, rich but with not that many Irish friends. It stayed that way for centuries. Maybe it's still that way. It would be so nice to see those other genealogies because more than anything we need a name and certain parentage for Cathal's mother. DinDraithou (talk) 03:31, 7 January 2011 (UTC)