Clan Honours
April 23, 2026 2026-04-23 4:28Clan Honours
Recognition & Esteem
Why We Keep This Record
A clan endures not through ceremony but through the quiet labour of its members — the historian who spends a lifetime among parish registers, the local man who never misses a rally, the scholar who reads a Gaelic manuscript the rest of us cannot. This page keeps their names.
Some of those named here have been recognised by Clans of Ireland — Finte na hÉireann — the national body for registered Irish clans. Others have been thanked by the O'Dubhda clan itself at our rallies. Both kinds of honour belong here.
The Clans of Ireland Order of Merit
The Clans of Ireland Order of Merit (post-nominal CIOM, in Irish Compánach Fhinte na hÉireann) is the highest honour that can be bestowed by Irish clans. It was instituted by Clans of Ireland in 2010 and conferred for the first time in 2011.
It is awarded for outstanding contribution to Irish culture and heritage, or for bringing conspicuous honour to one's clan name. No more than four Companions may be named in any one year. Recipients are announced each St Patrick's Day and formally invested at the Cultural Summit in April.
Our CIOM Recipients
Members and long-standing supporters of the O'Dubhda clan who have been formally invested as Companions of the Clans of Ireland Order of Merit.
Who Has Earned This Name?
There are members of our clan, and friends of it, whose work for our history and heritage deserves formal recognition. If someone comes to mind — a researcher, a custodian of a site, a quiet keeper of the stories — tell us.
- You write to us with the person's name, their work, and why you think their contribution rises to this standard. A paragraph is enough; two is better.
- The Council reviews. If it supports the nomination, the Taoiseach carries it forward.
- Clans of Ireland decides. Our representative on the Clans of Ireland Board puts the proposal formally before them; they, not we, confer the Order of Merit.
- Internal recognition — rally presentations, citations from the Taoiseach — can be made by the clan directly, without any outside process.
Context & Related Pages
A Note from the Clan
Most of the work that has kept the O'Dubhda name alive — in parish registers, in archaeological reports, at the gates of overgrown castles — was done by people who asked for nothing in return. This page is a small correction of that silence.
If you know of a person whose name belongs here, we would be glad to hear from you.
