Thirty-five years of clan Rallies in north Connacht — from the first hosting in 1990 to the Silver Jubilee of the Inauguration in 2025. From 2028, the tradition continues under a new name: the O'Dubhda Homecoming.
Begin with 1990 →For nearly four hundred years after the fall of the Gaelic order, no O'Dubhda Taoiseach walked the old ground as chief, and no clan gathering met in the O'Dubhda homeland. The last inauguration at Carn Amhalghaidh was in 1595. Afterwards, the family scattered — to Mayo, to Dublin, to America, to Australia, to every port that would take a ship.
The thread never quite broke. Gertie Mac Hale's husband, Tomás Mac Héil, gathered the scattered stories in his 1971 book Stories from O'Dowda's Country — a small volume, published in Enniscrone, that reminded the clan that it still had a country. Nineteen years later, Gertie and a handful of neighbours decided the book was not enough. The O'Dubhda needed to come home in person.
In July 1990 the first Clan Rally opened in Enniscrone. A rowan sapling was planted at the castle — a deliberate echo of the Rowan of Dubhros, the sacred tree at the heart of the oldest clan legend. That small ceremony began the tradition this page records: every two or three years since, O'Dubhdas have gathered in the family's ancient territory to walk the sites, hear the history, and — from 2000 onwards — to inaugurate a new chieftain on the old inauguration mound.
From 2028 onward, this tradition takes a new name: the O'Dubhda Homecoming. The fifteen Rallies that came before keep the names they were given in their own time. What follows is the timeline of those Rallies, in order.
Fifteen Rallies between 1990 and 2025 — click any year to read its story.

Rowan tree planted at Enniscrone Castle

President Mary Robinson sends a goodwill message

Céide Fields tour; the Dowds of Dublin

Thomas J Dowds — first Taoiseach since 1595
Baron James Vippler O'Dowda memorial unveiled

White Wand ceremony at Cahirmore Fort

The White Wand passes at Enniscrone Castle

Three successive chieftains gather

400 years after Rathmullan

First Australian chieftain; Netherlands delegation

First Irish-born Taoiseach since Tadhg Buí

Andrew Dowds inaugurated; 25-year milestone

Inauguration on Enniscrone beach

2025 Silver Jubilee preview — five chieftains together

Sean O'Dowda Stephens raises the White Wand on the old mound
Dates are locked in for 3rd – 8th October 2028 in Enniscrone, with a new base at the Diamond Coast Hotel. The homecoming will close Taoiseach Sean's three-year term and see the inauguration of his successor. A planning committee is at work — full programme and registration open in early 2028.
See the 2028 Homecoming page or write to info@odubhda.org.
For related context see also the rite of inauguration, the ancient and sacred sites, and the castles of the O'Dubhda.
The first hosting of the clan on home ground in three hundred and ninety-five years.
Read the 1990 Rally →