Lios Uí Dhálaigh Lisdaly Ring Fort

Lios Uí Dhálaigh (O’Daly’s fort), situated just south-east of Croghan, is the only ring-fort in the parish officially identified by name (see OS map 1907). Lisdaly lake and townland (aka Lissigala 1611 > Lishidully 1659 > Lisdowly 1666 > Lissagouly 1670 > Lisdaly 1837) were named after the fort’s new occupants. The Ua Dálaig were bards of ancient Meath who were dispossessed by the Norman invasion in 1172. They survived by spreading throughout the country, acting as ollamhs (Brehon Law professors) to the most prominent Gaelic families. From the 11th to the 17th centuries there were no less than thirty outstanding O’Daly poets. 

“There is certainly no family to which the bardic literature of Ireland is more deeply indebted than that of O’Daly”                   John O’Donovan (1805-61) historian.

The branch of Ua Dálaig that blew in to Co. Roscommon were patroned by the O’Connor Kings of Connaught (who sat at Cloonfree near Strokestown) and flourished. It was customary for patrons to provide residential lands in compensation for bardic services rendered at kingly seats (which brought about “Ballydaly” in the parish of Killukin). Unfortunately, the history of Lisdaly fort itself is obscure. It’s possible that the Ua Dálaig settled here by way of a patronage out of Canbo (the MacDermots being a branch of the regal O’Connors).

The Gaelic tradition survived a lot longer in north Roscommon (compared to other parts of Ireland) as a result of McDermott patronage. The McDermotts and the O’Connors were among the most powerful Gaelic septs in Ireland during the 13th and 14th Centuries. Sadly, this all came to an end when Canbo was confiscated by the English following the Tudor Conquest of 1540. During the 16th and 17th Centuries the English had confiscated a great deal of land owned by Catholics and enacted penal laws restricting land-ownership to Protestants.