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IRELAND

Fortunately, we are able to document our lineage back to a specific Irish ancestor,
the Cahir Rua. The O'Dochyartaighs World Family Research Association, of Inche Isle
has documentation mentioned earlier under the history section of this book with the first
known ancestor of our line coming to America, Mr. John Daugharty, Sr. (page 31).
Many geneologists and historians have suggested that there are several accounts of
the origins of this surname. One school of thought is that the Daughtry (and variant
spellings) family's origin was either France or Spain; our research tends to discredit this
idea; it is of course possible that they came from the continent to Ireland, but if so were
soon assimilated by the Irish. Such an event would have taken place most likely in the
1500's when there was considerable migration from both France and Spain to Ireland as
well as to other countries; this was sufficiently long enough ago to satisfy us that they
were adequately converted into Irishmen by the time we became concerned with them.
According to a history of the O'Doherty family by Anthony Matthews, the
O'Dohertys of Inneshowen (a peninsula in the northernmost part of County Donegal),
descended form Conall Gulban, a Milesian prince of the royal house of Heremon who won
possession of the area now know as Donegal. (Note: Milesians were sons of a legendary
Spanish King who reputedly conquered Ireland ca 1300 BC; and were ancestors of the
Irish).
Specifically the O'Dohertys get their name from Dochartaigh, son and heir of
Maongal and grandson of Franan, Lord of Innishowen, who was the third son of
Oeanfaola, prince of Tir Connell, and 12th in lineal descent from the aforesaid Conall
Gulban. In itself the name Dochartaigh means "hurtful" or "disobliging".
The name has been anglicized in a variety of fashions, the most common being
O'Docherty, O'Doharty, O'Doherty, Dockerty, Doherty, Dougharty, and in America
further varied to Dautry, Daughtry, Daughtery, Daughtrey, etc.
The O'Dohertys are of the same stock as the O'Donnells of Triconnell,
the O' Boyles and the O'Gallaghers. They are also closely related to the McDevitts of
Innishowen and it is from David O'Doherty, a chieftain in Cinel Conaill, who was killed in
AD 1208, that the McDevitts are descended. Another important step descended from the
ODohertys are the McConnells.
The name O'Doherty is one of the oldest hereditary surnames in the w orld-it was
first used as such in AD 901. Proof of its envied antiquity can be found in the lineage
charts by John O'Hart in his "Irish Pedigrees" published in 1875. (Charts omitted due to
space limitations).
These then were the great progenitors of today's widely-flung members of the
O'Doherty step and however remote the connection or however reduced in circumstances
some of its members may have become, it is from these self-same great men of yesteryear
that every O'Doherty in the world today is descended!
We know not when our first Daughatry ancestors landed in America, nor to what
port, nor specifically what motivated them to come. The "Colonization" of America came
about and developed no doubt because it was a new world, offering untold opportunities