Fearghal Ó Gadhra (c. 1597 – after 1660), sometimes referred to as Farrell O'Gara, was lord of Coolavin, and patron of the Annals of the Four Masters.
[1] Despite the 1589 rebellion of his father, Iriell O'Gara, Fearghal inherited most of his estate, thanks to the protection of Dillon, and in the 1630s was one of the wealthiest Catholic landowners in the county.
Ó Gadhra welcomed the arrival of Owen Roe O'Neill in 1642, and his son John served as a captain in the Confederate forces.
[5] Scholars still scrutinise the motives behind the Franciscan order who chose "this politically minor lord ... as the patron of the most important annalistic collection of early modern Ireland ... A common explanation for Ó Gadhra's engagement ... is that his attendance at TCD brought him into contact with the antiquarian scholars James Ussher and James Ware, who, it is suggested, communicated their interest in collecting Irish literary and manuscript material to the young man.
One of Dillion's sons, Edward (Father Louis), held the position of novice master in the Irish college at Louvain in the 1620s, when Ó Cléirigh was also there."
In appreciation of his support, he was presented with a copy of the manuscript, which included a lengthy acknowledgement of his efforts, by Ó Cléirigh.
This manuscript was inherited by Ó Gadhra's sons, and taken to the continent by Colonel Oliver O'Gara, in his exile following the Treaty of Limerick.