Count Doughlas O'Donnell & family
The little-known story of the Austrian O’Donnells, descendants of one of two brothers who left Ireland to fight for the king of Spain back in the eighteenth century, is the subject of a documentary Newstalk 106-108 this weekend. AIRPI member Mary Phelan of Soundwoman Productions travels to Austria in the company of clan convenor Vincent O’Donnell to meet up with the Austrian cousins.
Expelled from their native Donegal in the aftermath of the Flight of the Earls, brothers Joseph and Henry O’Donnell set off to seek their fortunes abroad. Joseph went to Spain and Henry to Austria. Both rose quickly through the ranks of the military aristocracy in their respective adopted homeland.
The programme first meets up with Count Douglas O’Donnell and gets a guided tour of the enormous hunting lodge built by his grandfather at Hochrecht, high in the Austrian alps and right next to emperor Franz Joseph’s pad. These days Douglas runs a wildlife park there, the sounds of the park feature strongly in the programme.
The programme then moves to Vienna to meet Rory O’Donnell and Irene Montjoie O’Donnell. Both bear the name Columba/Columbanus as their middle name, a tradition that has persisted with all the Austrian O’Donnells down through the eight generations since they left Ireland.
Irene, an expert on eighteenth century history, gives an overview of the wider O’Donnell clan in Austria and indeed in middle Europe. Some 500 Irish families lived in Austria at one stage, having left Ireland with the Wild Geese.
Auf Wiedersehen O’Donnell is made with the support of Sound & Vision, Broadcasting Funding Scheme, a BAI initiative. The programme will be broadcast at 7am on Saturday next, May 8th, and repeated on Sunday at 9pm.