J·.JURNAL OF THE COUNTY DONEGAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY privileges of an Austrian Count; . ni as a further pmof of our imp~rial and royal grace and 1:avour, we augunent henceforlth h:s hereditary and family arms, by th: insertion of our own i:Jitials and shield of our most serene ducal house of Austria; and finally, 1the dou1ble~headed ta!'"le of our empire, to be and rndure as a visi•ble and imperis.h21b'.e memorial of his proved and devoted services." Count Maximillian did not Leave a son and the line is con1"nued through his brother, Count Moritz John, born 1815, died .1:890. He had two sons, Hehri'.'h Karl Joseph, 5th Count. born 1845 and Count Hugo ho,.,., '70. The former marriei · in 187'1 and had a daughter and a so·i. Rory, 6th Count vo'1 Tvrconnell He married in 190~ aw:'I ha~ P 0 on. Heinrich. born 1908. Count Hutto "1•ar,.i0 d i11 1~6 an<l died in l9CM l"aving two sons Douglas, bnrn 1890. a"'d Maximilli.an. born 1892 a~"I. +wo drn1E?"hters. B01t.h boys W"re unmarried in 1914. RAM EL TON BRANCH Once again we must go back to the line of Hugh DUJhh Og, Cnisf of Tyrconnell in 1537. In aJ.diLon to Manus, •the common ancestor of all present-day branches of the O'Donnells, there was another son, Aodh Dubh, of Rame'.iton. He was a very famous person that has been descriibed as ''Glun deireanach gaiscidh Gael" or ''T!he Achilles ·of the Irish Race." He livEd to an advanced age. · His great-grandson, Brigadier Daniel O'Donnell, fought with 1the Jacobites and went to France with the Irish B~ igades, He e:gmmanded the Regimerut of O'Donnell from 1708 to 1715 and distinguished himself in the "field. W!hen he left Ireland he took with him thart sacred heirloom, the Cathach. How it came into -Jssession of a junior branch of the llamily cannot now be explained. After having the shrine repaired in 1723 he deposited the relic in a Belgian monastery. He died withoUJt issue in 1735, be· quearthing the Battle Book to whosoever should prove himself t.) be t:>1e he1d of the O'Donnens. For almost a ce:itury the Cathach lay unclaimed until discovered by Dr. Prendergast, the las•t .'\hbot of Cong, while pursuing bis Etudies abroad. Upon his return to Ireland he told 1the news to Sir Neal O'Donnell, 2nd Bart. of ~ewport. wh::> :-ecovered it as 'a:re~dy sta!tfd. The p,arcih)menits h8ve found a last resting place in the Lilbrary of the Royal Irish Academy, Du1blin, while the h2autiful c<' ske1ts a::e displayed i:i a place of honour in the main hall of our National Museum. MUNSIER O'DONNELLIS To::lac·h an Fhiona, King of Tyrconnell, who died in 1422, had a younger son, Sean a Loirg, w'w settled in Tipperary. He is ;he reputed ancestor of the Munster O'Uonnells, but I have seen no p-digrce that establishes a::i unibroken conneDtion with him. THE LINE OF DONNCHADH :SCAITE When dealing with Sir Hugh O'Donnell. father .of Aodh Ruadh, I mentioned that he married :wice. His first lady was an Irish woman. Unforrtunately we do not know her name lbut the Annals record the death of two of her sons, viz. Rory, killed at Donegal, 1575 and Domhnall s1ain a1t the Battle of DoireIeathan. in 1590. In' the Calendar of State Papers, under date .T::>nuarv, 1592, there is a reference t~ a surviving boy. He is oitated t" be "strong in the opinion of the country because he is the eldest son and by an Irishwoman." Neither his nor his mother's name is given but 1the fact is established that at ithe time of iAodh Ruadh's escape from Dublin Ca-stle ihe had a !ialf:ibro~.her a live. There is a widespread tradition in Donegal that Aodh Ruli.dh's father ·was married twice and tha1t his first wife was an Irish woman. Their eldest son is said to have been Donnchadh. 278 •. .
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