The 9th rally, October 2012, carried the inauguration of Brendan J O’Dowd of Castlebar — the first Irish-born Taoiseach of Tireragh since Tadhg Buí in 1595. The ceremony was held in the church at Enniscrone; the banquet, in the old hall, closed with traditional music from the Tireragh Comhaltas.

The Gathering

Rally week opened with an afternoon excursion to Rathcroghan in Co. Roscommon — the ancient royal seat of Connacht, where the stone marker for Daithí, the last pagan Ard Rí and ancestor of the O’Dubhda, still stands over the ring-forts. The clan walked the souterrain at Oweynagat and visited the Strokestown Famine Museum on the way back.

A second excursion took in Castlebar, the short-lived capital of the Republic of Connacht in 1798, the Museum of Country Life at Turlough House, the Mayo North Heritage Centre at Enniscoe, and the fine late-medieval Castletown / Cottlestown. Frank Tivan gave an evening talk on the deeper historical connections of the O’Dubhda to the sites visited.

The Inauguration

On Saturday, at the Enniscrone church, Brendan J O’Dowd of Castlebar was inaugurated as Taoiseach of Tireragh, succeeding Mike Dowd. Brendan, born in 1965 and raised near Culleens in Kilglass, became the first Irish-born Chieftain to hold the office since Tadhg Buí. Andrew Dowds of Cumbernauld, Scotland — son of Thomas J Dowds, the first modern Taoiseach — was elected Tánaiste.

The MacFirbis Memorial

Archaeologist Martin Timoney briefed the meeting on the MacFirbis memorial at Skreen, which had been temporarily removed for stonework and would be restored in May 2015. The great bardic family, ollamhs to the O’Dubhda chieftains for centuries, were the reason so much of the clan’s lore survives at all.

Tours & Sites

• Rathcroghan Heritage Centre, Oweynagat souterrain, Strokestown Park
• Castlebar, the Museum of Country Life at Turlough, Enniscoe
• Castletown / Cottlestown — the late-medieval O’Dubhda tower-house
• Ardnaree Friary, Moyne Abbey, Killala, Foghill — St Patrick’s first Irish landing