The O'Dohertys are kinsmen of the O'Donnells, rulers of Tír Connaill, and the O'Gallaghers, and senior descendants of Conall Gulban, founder of Cenél Conaill and a son of Niall of the Nine Hostages.

In the modern day, there are over 250 variations in spelling of the name Ó Dochartaigh, of which O'Doherty and Doherty are the most common anglicized forms.

10th century), a member of the Cenél Conaill dynasty which in medieval Irish genealogy traced itself to Niall of the Nine Hostages (see Uí Néill).

Eochaid (i.e. the enduring) was High King of Ireland in the 4th century BC and the father of Queen Medb or Maeve the great warrior Queen of Connacht who started the famous Táin Bó Cúailnge (English: Cattle Raid of Cooley) to steal Ulster's prize stud bull, opposed by the teenage Ulster hero Cú Chulainn.

He was the ancestor of the Connachta and, through his descendant Niall Noígiallach, the Uí Néill dynasties, which dominated Ireland in the early Middle Ages.

His grandson Saint Columba (Irish: Colum Cillle) (7 December 521 – 9 June 597) introduced Christianity to what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission.

He founded the important Abbey of Iona on the Scottish island of the same name, which became a dominant religious and political institution in the region for centuries.

He is the eponymous ancestor of the Cenél Conaill, and founded and gave his name to the kingdom of Tír Chonaill, comprising much of what is now County Donegal in Ulster.

In doing this under the process called Surrender and Regrant, Seán Mor O’Dochartaigh bent the knee before the English King Henry VIII in 1541 and became Sir John O’Doherty.

In 1600 he protected Inishowen against an invasion by the English fleet which had set up three forts around Lough Foyle, one of which was built on the O’Dogherty estate at Culmore.

Cathbarr, Rosa and her infant son Hugh accompanied Rory to Continental Europe during the 1607 Flight of the Earls, which signalled the end of the ancient Gaelic nobility in Ireland.

They embarked on a French ship from Rathmullan on the shore of Lough Swilly heading for La Coruña in Spain on 14 September with the Earls O’Neill and O’Donnell along with a great number of the nobles of the province of Ulster.

The Annals of the Four Masters described the event as follows: "That was a distinguished company for one ship, for it is most certain that the sea has not borne nor the wind wafted from Ireland in the latter times a party in any one ship more eminent, illustrious, and noble than they were, in point of genealogy, or more distinguished for great deeds, renown, feats of arms, and valorous achievements; and would that God had granted them to remain in their patrimonies, until their youths should arrive at the age of manhood!

Woe to the Council that determined on the project which caused the party who went on that voyage to depart, while they had no prospect to the end of their lives of returning safe to their hereditary estates or patrimonial inheritance."

His great-grandfather was Conn O’Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone, the most powerful figure in Ulster and the first Ó Néill to take a title from the Crown as part of the surrender and regrant policy.

He was known throughout Europe as a strong and able leader, a hearty warrior, and looked to by the Catholic world as a bastion of strength against the English crown, despite his conversion to the Protestant faith.

Owen Roe became a leading figure of the Irish Confederacy, enjoying mixed fortunes but winning a notable success against Scottish forces at the Battle of Benburb in 1646.

The Latin inscription on the stone slab that covers her grave (here translated into English) reads as follows: "To the Greater Glory of God —Here lies awaiting the Resurrection D.O.M.

Provoked by the English Governor George Paulet, Cahir and his followers attacked and destroyed Derry and burned several castles in Strabane and Lifford in 1608.

O'Dogherty received the traditional white wand of office and was handed the sword which Cahir O'Doherty bore during his death in battle in 1608.

[10] Today there are Doherty families in many parts of Ireland, with primary concentration in their homeland of the Inishowen Peninsula, County Donegal and the vicinity of Derry.

[14][15] The O’Dohertys built or occupied numerous castles to defend their territory of Inishowen against Viking, Saxon, Anglo-Norman and English invaders.