O'driscoll Family History & Genealogy

History

The O’Driscolls (Ó hEidirsceoil) were powerful chiefs in West Cork, being originally lords of the whole southwest of that county, the baronies of Carbery, Beare and Bantry. After the Anglo-Norman invasion, their territory was reduced by the encroachments of the O’Donovans, O’Mahonys and O’Sullivans, as a reaction to Norman pressure on those families. From that time the O’Driscolls possessed the seacoast area around the Bay of Baltimore, and were still a considerable power in the area in the seventeenth century, with several strong castles. They took an active part in the Munster wars during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. After the defeat of Irish forces at Kinsale, the property of the O’Driscolls was confiscated and given to Lord Castlehaven.
Personal names associated with the family in its early years were Finn and Con or Mac Con, later anglicized as Florence and Cornelius The name is one of the very few to be clearly identified with the Érainn, or Fir Bolg, Celts who were settled in Ireland well before the arrival of the Gaels. Although the evidence is sparse, before the eighth century A.D. what is now Co. Cork appears to have been populated mainly by tribes of Érainn descent, including the Corca Laoighde tribal grouping of whom the Uí hEidirsceoil were the chief family. The encroachment southwards of the Gaelic Eoghanacht of Cashel from the eighth century on resulted in the assimilation or displacement of all of the original Érainn tribes. In the case of the Corca Laoighde, this displacement was towards the south-west of the county, into an area which later became part of the diocese of Ross, roughly defined by the modern towns of Roscarbery, Skibbereen, Schull and Baltimore. Baltimore was the seat of O’Driscolls, and gets its name ("Baile an Tighe Mór") from their castle or great house. From the twelfth century, the Annals describe the O’Driscolls as kings of the Corca Laoighde. A further indication of their power comes in their inclusion in the Gaelic genealogies; although they were not ethnic Gaels, a lineage was produced for the family to connect them to Lughaidh Laidhe, a supposed descendant of Milesius, the progenitor of the Gaels. Such was respectability in medieval Ireland. Given the nature of the land they occupied, with its wild twisting coastline, and their constant fight against the encroaching pressures of the Eoghanancht, the Anglo-Normans and the English, it is not surprising that the O’Driscolls became expert seafarers with a reputation for ferocity. From the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries they struck an alliance with the Powers of Co. Waterford in their long feud with the burgesses and merchants of Waterford city, and many of their leaders were killed in battle on land and sea. One of the best known incidents occurred in 1413, when the Mayor of Waterford, Simon Wicken, arrived in Baltimore on Christmas Day and was invited to join in the Christmas festivities. He did, and enjoyed the company so much that he took O’Driscoll and his family back to Waterford, as prisoners. From the fifteenth century on, the family struggled to retain their lands and power against the English. By 1610, Baltimore had become an English port and there is some evidence that the family may have had a hand in the notorious pillage of the town by Algerian pirates in 1631; a year earlier there had been reports of one Cornelius O’Driscoll "an Irish pirate with his rendezvous in Barbary". Despite the struggle, the O’Driscolls, like so many others of the old order, were ultimately completely dispossessed, though the family and the name remain inextricably linked to their old homeland. Some indication of the strength of awareness of the past can be found in the history of the surname itself: in 1890, over 90% of those bearing the name recorded themselves as "Driscoll" while today, in a remarkable reversal of the nineteenth-century trend, virtually all are called "O'Driscoll". Their arms reflect the family's traditional prowess as seafarers, developed during their long lordship of the sea-coast around Baltimore.

Name Origin

The surname comes from the Irish Ó hEidirsceoil, grandson of Eidirsceol (from eidirsceol, meaning "go-between" or "bearer of news"). The original Eidirsceol from whom descent is derived is reputed to have lived in 910 A.D.

Spellings & Pronunciations

Throughout the centuries, the surname, in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling: Dieskel, Drescal, Drescall, Drescoll, Dreskell, Dreskill, Dricll, Drieskil, Driscal, Driscale, Driscall, Driscat, Driscell, Drischal, Drischall, Drischaugh, Drischel, Drischoll, Driscill, Drisckell, Drisco, Driscob, Driscoe, Driscol, Driscold, Driscole, Driscoll, Driscolls, Driscom, Driscomb, Driscott, Driscul, Driscum, Drisdal, Drisdale, Drisdall, Drisdell, Driseall, Drisell, Drisgal, Drishel, Drishell, Drishill, Drisicoll, Drisk, Driska, Driskael, Driskal, Driskall, Driskaol, Driske, Driskee, Driskeel, Driskel, Driskele, Driskell, Driskey, Driskie, Driskiel, Driskil, Driskile, Driskill, Driskille, Driskills, Driskin, Driskkil, Driskkill, Driskle, Driskly, Drisko, Driskoal, Driskol, Driskole, Driskoll, Driskull, Drisky, Drisoll, Drisscol, Drissel, Drissell, Dristcall, Dristell, Driswold, Dryskill, Eidersceoil, Griskell, O' Driscal, O' Drisceoil, O' Driscoll, O' Edeirsceoil, O' Edersceoil, O' Edriscolle, O' Eederschall, O' Eedricoils, O' Eedriescol, O' Eedriescols, O' Eedriscolle, O'Driscol, O'Driscolls, O'hEidersceoil, and other variant spellings.

Nationality & Ethnicity

The O'Driscoll family are of Érainn, descent, specifically the Corcu Loígde population group. By the time the family began using the surname, the territory known as Corcu Loígde (roughly the same as the diocese of Ross) in south-west County Cork, was identified as their homeland, with the town of Baltimore being their seat. From the 1100s the Ó hEidirsceoil's were recorded as kings of Corcu Loígde.

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Early O'driscolls

These are the earliest records we have of the O'driscoll family.