Doherty

The O'Dohertys (Irish Ó Dochartaigh) were a Gaelic Irish clan of the Cenél Conaill, the Northern Uí Néill confederation of Donegal, and kinsmen of the O'Donnells of Tír Conaill. They took their name from Dochartach, who flourished in the tenth century, and were originally chiefs of Cenél Eanna.

In 1337 they were a leading sept among the Donegal clans of Tír Conaill, and early in the fifteenth century they became rulers of the Inishowen peninsula. Sir Cahir O'Doherty, the last Gaelic chief, fought for the English in the Nine Years' War but revolted in 1608, seizing and burning Derry. He was killed at Kilmacrennan the same year, his rising collapsed, and Inishowen was confiscated for the Ulster Plantation.