From Ó Donnghaile, descendant of Donnghal — kin to the O'Neills, and a name reshaped when Cromwell's Ireland made Irish surnames a liability.
Gaelic Origin · Root name Donnghal, ‘noble valour’
Donnelly descends from Donnghal, built from donn ('noble' or 'brown') and gal ('valour'). The Ó Donnghaile were part of the Cenél nEógain, kin to the O'Neills, first holding ground in Donegal before their power settled further east at Ballydonnelly, in Tyrone.
Under Cromwell, an Irish-sounding name became a liability, and Ó Donnghaile was quietly reshaped into Donnelly. A different kind of fame came later from Dan Donnelly, the bare-knuckle champion whose giant footprints are still cut into the turf at Donnelly's Hollow on the Curragh.
Irish form: Ó Donnghaile
