Doherty

also O'Doherty, Ó Dochartaigh, Dougherty

Lords of Inishowen, and the revolt that triggered the Plantation of Ulster.

Origin: Ulster, Ireland
Motto: Ar nDúthchas
Famous bearer: Sir Cahir O'Doherty (1587–1608), last Gaelic lord of Inishowen, burnt Derry 1608
Register: Irish family

Territory of Doherty

CoreHistoric reach

The seat of Doherty

Seat vacant

Chief

No one leads the Doherty community yet. When the movement opens, you can stand for its leadership, or help elect whoever does.

Current mission

No shared goal set yet. Once Doherty has leadership, it sets the public focus: a restoration, a gathering, a real-world project that helps its own.

The Doherty clan is being rebuilt. Join the waiting list for the movement today, and you help decide who leads it and what it does.

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Motto

Ar nDúthchas

“Our heritage”

What does the Doherty name mean?

From Ó Dochartaigh, descendant of Dochartach. The personal name Dochartach means 'obstructive' or 'hurtful', the kind of edged Old Irish byname applied to a man hard to deal with, presumably an honorific in the warrior register in which the surnames froze. The eponymous Dochartach was a tenth-century chief of the Cenél Conaill, the kindred from which the Tír Chonaill royal house also descended. The Ó Dochartaigh ruled the Inishowen peninsula, the great triangular fist of land between Lough Foyle and Lough Swilly, as effectively a sub-kingdom of Tír Chonaill from c.1200 to 1608.

The history of Doherty

Cahir Ó Dochartaigh, Cathaoir Rua Ó Dochartaigh (1587–1608), was the last Gaelic lord of Inishowen and a man who, more than any other single figure, lit the fuse on the Plantation of Ulster. Knighted as a teenager by Mountjoy in 1601 for siding with the English against Hugh O'Neill, Cahir governed Inishowen quietly through the post-Mellifont years. In April 1608, after a quarrel with the new English governor of Derry, Sir George Paulet, who had publicly insulted him, Cahir rose without warning, took Culmore Fort, sacked and burnt the Plantation town of Derry to the ground in a single night, and held Inishowen for ten weeks against everything Dublin Castle could send north.

He was killed at Kilmacrenan in July 1608, shot in the head by a single ball at close range during a skirmish with English cavalry. He was twenty-one. His head was sent to Dublin and spiked over the Castle gate; his lands were forfeited. Three months later, in October 1608, the formal Plantation of Ulster was proposed in Whitehall. Six counties, including Inishowen, were settled on Lowland Scots and English Protestant tenants from 1610. The pattern of Ulster history for the next four centuries was set, in significant part, by a twenty-one-year-old Doherty's furious response to a personal insult.

Champions of the Doherty name

The bearers whose lives are inseparable from this surname. Each has its own page — biography, achievements, geography, connection to the family.

John Doherty
The Inishowen cotton-spinner's son who walked to Manchester at ten, founded the Grand General Union of Operative Spinners in 1829 and the National Association for the Protection of Labour in 1830, the first national general-trades union in British history, and led the working-class campaign for the Ten-Hour Day.

Notable bearers of the Doherty name

Sir Cahir O'Doherty (1587–1608), last Gaelic lord of Inishowen, burnt Derry 1608
Pete Doherty (b. 1979), musician (The Libertines), Liverpool-Doherty diaspora
Shannen Doherty (1971–2024), American actress

Stories of Doherty

Cahir O'Doherty burns Derry
1608
On the morning of Tuesday the nineteenth of April 1608, in the small wooden-and-thatch Plantation town of Derry on the west bank of the lower Foyle, Sir Cahir Rua Ó Dochartaigh, twenty years old, the last Gaelic lord of Inishowen and one of the few O'Donnell-affiliated Gaelic chiefs the Mountjoy administration had retained on its estates after the Flight of the Earls of September 1607, rose without warning in personal revolt against the English Governor of Derry, Sir George Paulet, who four months earlier had publicly insulted him and struck him in the face at the Governor's House. Cahir took the small Culmore Fort at the mouth of the Foyle in a dawn assault on the eighteenth of April; marched the seventy Doherty fighting men on Derry through the early hours of the nineteenth; took the unwalled town in a single charge; killed Paulet personally; and burnt the town and its three hundred Plantation houses to the ground in a single night. He held Inishowen and the lower Foyle country against the response from Dublin Castle for the next ten weeks. He was killed at Kilmacrenan in north-east Donegal on the fifth of July 1608, shot in the head at close range by a single musket-ball in a small cavalry skirmish on the steep ground above the Glashagh river; his head was severed by the English captain who took the field, was sent down to Dublin, and was spiked over the Castle gate. His lands were attainted within three months. The Plantation of Ulster, formally proposed at Whitehall in October 1608 on the strength of the forfeitures, was implemented from 1610 across the six confiscated Ulster counties. The pattern of Ulster history for the next four centuries was set in significant part by the twenty-year-old O'Doherty's furious response to a personal insult on the Foyle.
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Frequently asked

What does the surname Doherty mean?

Where does the Doherty family come from?

The Doherty family is rooted in Ulster, in Ireland. Within that, the name was particularly concentrated in Donegal. The atlas page for the name records the historical territory it has held over the centuries.

Where did the Doherty family historically hold territory?

At its greatest historical extent, the Doherty name has been concentrated in Derry and Tyrone. The atlas page distinguishes the core territory of the name from this wider historical reach with hatched silhouettes on the map.

Is Doherty a Ireland surname?

Yes, Doherty is a Ireland surname. Its editorial home in this atlas is Ireland, where the historical territory and family record of the name are concentrated.

How old is the Doherty surname?

Cahir Ó Dochartaigh, Cathaoir Rua Ó Dochartaigh (1587–1608), was the last Gaelic lord of Inishowen and a man who, more than any other single figure, lit the fuse on the Plantation of Ulster. European hereditary surnames crystallised broadly between the 12th and 14th centuries, and the Doherty name took its modern form within that long settlement.

What is the Doherty family known for?

Lords of Inishowen, and the revolt that triggered the Plantation of Ulster. Cahir Ó Dochartaigh, Cathaoir Rua Ó Dochartaigh (1587–1608), was the last Gaelic lord of Inishowen and a man who, more than any other single figure, lit the fuse on the Plantation of Ulster.

What is the Doherty motto?

The motto of the Doherty family is "Ar nDúthchas", which translates as "Our heritage". Family mottoes were registered with the chief of the name and carried on the heraldic arms and battle-banners.

What does "Ar nDúthchas" mean in English?

"Ar nDúthchas" is the motto of the Doherty family. In English it means "Our heritage". The phrase is typically rendered in Latin, though some Highland families carry their motto in Gaelic and some Norman lines in Old French.

Who is the most famous Doherty?

The best-known bearer of the Doherty name is Sir Cahir O'Doherty (1587–1608), last Gaelic lord of Inishowen, burnt Derry 1608. Other prominent figures of the family include Pete Doherty (b. 1979), musician (The Libertines), Liverpool-Doherty diaspora and Shannen Doherty (1971–2024), American actress.

Who are some famous Dohertys?

Notable bearers of the Doherty name include Sir Cahir O'Doherty (1587–1608), last Gaelic lord of Inishowen, burnt Derry 1608, Pete Doherty (b. 1979), musician (The Libertines), Liverpool-Doherty diaspora and Shannen Doherty (1971–2024), American actress. Each is profiled on the family page, with cross-links to the geography, stories, and historical events tied to their life.

What stories are told about the Doherty family?

The Doherty family is associated with Cahir O'Doherty burns Derry. Each story has its own page on this site with the full account, the date, the location, and the other families involved.

What is the story of Cahir O'Doherty burns Derry?

On the morning of Tuesday the nineteenth of April 1608, in the small wooden-and-thatch Plantation town of Derry on the west bank of the lower Foyle, Sir Cahir Rua Ó Dochartaigh, twenty years old, the last Gaelic lord of Inishowen and one of the few O'Donnell-affiliated Gaelic chiefs the Mountjoy administration had retained on its estates after the Flight of the Earls of September 1607, rose without warning in personal revolt against the English Governor of Derry, Sir George Paulet, who four months earlier had publicly insulted him and struck him in the face at the Governor's House. Cahir took the small Culmore Fort at the mouth of the Foyle in a dawn assault on the eighteenth of April; marched the seventy Doherty fighting men on Derry through the early hours of the nineteenth; took the unwalled town in a single charge; killed Paulet personally; and burnt the town and its three hundred Plantation houses to the ground in a single night. The event is dated to 1608.

Is O'Doherty the same family as Doherty?

Yes. O'Doherty is a historical spelling variant of the Doherty name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Is Ó Dochartaigh the same family as Doherty?

Yes. Ó Dochartaigh is a historical spelling variant of the Doherty name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Is Dougherty the same family as Doherty?

Yes. Dougherty is a historical spelling variant of the Doherty name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Where is the Doherty surname found today?

Ireland is the primary historical home of the Doherty surname. In the modern era, the name is also borne across the wider diaspora, particularly in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where families carry the line of descent from the same Ireland origin recorded on this page.

What does the Clan Rising page for the Doherty family cover?

The Clan Rising page for the Doherty family covers the meaning of the surname, the historical geography of the name, the family motto, famous bearers of the name, traditional stories and the seat of the head of the family. Each section is linked to the underlying atlas of Ireland so the name can be read in the geography that shaped it.

Who is the head of the Doherty family today?

The seat for the head of the Doherty family is currently vacant on this register. Clan Rising is rebuilding the chief and family structure for the modern era, and the family page allows readers to claim the seat or pledge to the name.