Paul Walsh stated that "The celebrated Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh ... informs us that the O Duigenans followed the profession of historiographers under the families of Clann Mhaiolruanaidh and Conmhaicne in Magh Rein, that is, with the Mac Dermotts and the MacDonoughs in the west, and with the O Farrells in the territory of Annaly."
The earliest known reference to a bearer of the surname dates to 1296, when, according to the Annals of the Four Masters, "Maelpeter O'Duigennan, Archdeacon of Breifny, from Drumcliff to Kells, died."
The Four Masters include the following early references to the family, and Kilronan church: By 1400 a secondary line had established themselves in Muintir Eolais, at Baile Caille Foghair, or Castlefore, now in County Leitrim.
However, there exists a slight possibility that he remained in Ireland, as a copy of the annals was in the town of Galway, and used as a source by none other than Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh, who explicitly references having used it in 1649, although typically he gives us no clues as to how he obtained it.
24.P.9., he writes on page 238: "I stop now, and I on Loch Mask in the house of Tadhg Og Ó Flaherty, 1 April 1651, David Duigenan who wrote this."
Over the course of his life he penned such works as "The Frenzy of Sweeney", "The Adventures of the Two Idiot Saints", "The Battle of Magh Rath", and "The Banquet of Dun na Gedh".