Ó Baoighill

Rev Patrick Woulfe
1923

Ó BAOIGHILL—I—O'Boyle, Boyle, &c.; 'descendant of Baoigheall' (probably for baoithgheall, vain-pledge). The O'Boyles, who are one of the principal families of Cinel Conaill and of the same stock as the O'Donnells and O'Doghertys, were originally chiefs of the Three Tuaths in the north-west of Co. Donegal; but when these territories passed into the possession of the MacSweeneys, O'Boyle became chief Tir-Ainmhireach in the west of the same county, which was thenceforward known as Críoch Bhaoigheallach, or O'Boyle's country, now the barony of Boylagh. During the wars in the reign of Elizabeth, the O'Boyles spread into different parts of Ireland, and towards the close of the 16th century were found in nearly every county. The references to the name in the Annals of the Four Masters and the Fiants of Elizabeth are very numerous.

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