Dowdall is an Irish surname. The earliest forms of spelling were: Dowdell, Dowdale and Dowdle. Dowdall was first used as a surname in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, certainly by the time of the

Norman conquest of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

. The Irish Dowdalls came from the valley of

Dovedale Dovedale is a valley in the Peak District of England. The land is owned by the National Trust and attracts a million visitors annually. The valley was cut by the River Dove, Central England, River Dove and runs for just over between Milldale ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

. They settled in

County Louth County Louth ( ; ) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, Meath to the ...

in the thirteenth century.

Fifteenth century

* Sir

Robert Dowdall Sir Robert Dowdall (died 1482) was an Irish judge who held the office of Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas for more than forty years. He is mainly remembered today for the murderous assault on him by Sir James Keating, the Prior of Kilmain ...

was

Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas The chief justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland was the presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, which was known in its early years as the Court of Common Bench, or simply as "the Bench", or "the Dublin bench". It was one of the ...

. * Thomas Dowdall, son of Robert, was

Master of the Rolls in Ireland The Master of the Rolls in Ireland was a senior judicial office in the Irish Chancery under English and British rule, and was equivalent to the Master of the Rolls in the English Chancery. Originally called the Keeper of the Rolls, he was respon ...

Under the Tudors

George Dowdall George Dowdall (1487 – 15 August 1558) was a sixteenth-century Irish cleric, who was twice Archbishop of Armagh. Biography Dowdall was born in Drogheda, the son of Edward Dowdall. The Dowdall family came to Ireland from Dovedale in Derbyshire ...

became

Primate of All Ireland The Primacy of Ireland belongs to the diocesan bishop of the Irish diocese with highest precedence. The Archbishop of Armagh is titled Primate of All Ireland and the Archbishop of Dublin Primate of Ireland, signifying that they are the senior ...

during

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

's reign. * James Dowdall of Drogheda was executed in 1599 and is regarded as a Catholic

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

. *

James Dowdall James Dowdall (died 20 September 1600) was a Roman Catholic merchant of Drogheda, Ireland. The Dowdalls of County Louth, Louth originated at Dovedale in Derbyshire and became prominent in Ireland in the late Middle Ages.James Dowdall (Chief Just ...

, cousin of the martyr James Dowdall, was

Lord Chief Justice of Ireland The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge ...

Later Dowdalls

Charlie Dowdall Charles Dowdall (7 April 1898 – 7 November 1987) was an Irish footballer. He played for several clubs in both the League of Ireland and the English League and was also capped at international level by Ireland. He was born in Dublin. Club car ...

(1898–?), Irish footballer * Con Dowdall (b. 1945), Irish hurler * Eddie Dowdall (1901–1968), Welsh rugby union player *

Harry Dowdall Henry Arthur Dowdall (29 June 1872 – 9 May 1912) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood in the 1897 inaugural Victorian Football League (VFL) season. Family The son of James Dowdall and Isabella McGowan, Harry was sma ...

(1872–1912), Australian rules footballer * James Charles Dowdall (1873–1939), Irish politician *

Jane Dowdall Jane Dowdall (; 29 September 1899 – 10 December 1974) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, philanthropist, nurse and company director. Early life and family Born Jane Doggett on 29 September 1899 at 28 Smithfield, Dublin. She was the daughte ...

(1899–1974), Irish politician * Jim Dowdall (1867–1945), Australian rules footballer *

John Dowdall John N. Dowdall (born June 23, 1960) is an American golfer. Early life and amateur career Dowdall was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. He played college golf at Northeast Louisiana University Professional career Dowdall turned professional an ...

(b. 1960), American golfer * Leslie Dowdall (b. 1961), Irish singer-songwriter * Niall Dowdall (b. 1992), Irish hurler *

Paddy Dowdall Paddy Dowdall (born 1982) is an Irish people, Irish hurling, hurler who currently plays as a midfielder for the Westmeath GAA, Westmeath senior team. Dowdall joined the Westmeath team straight from the minor ranks in 2001, however, he didn't bec ...

(b. 1983), Irish hurler * Terry Dowdall (b. 1964/65), Canadian politician * Thomas Dowdall (1870–1942), Irish politician

Surname variants

Alex Dowdalls Alex Dowdalls (born 30 January 1960) is a Scottish cricket umpire and sports journalist focusing mainly on football. Alex began umpiring in 1993 with his first appointment with the European Cricket Council was in 1999, an ICC under-19 World Cup ...

(b. 1960), Scottish cricket umpire

Althumney House

George Dowdall built a strong

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the most ...

, Althumney House near

Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town and largest town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is at the confluence of the River Boyne and Leinster Blackwater, Blackwater, around 50 km northwest of Dublin. At the ...

County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

; it was a building of the 15th century that was later enlarged and fortified by other Dowdalls. In 1630 a long, narrow gabled

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

with large

mullioned windows A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

and an

oriel window An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, bracket (architecture), brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window generally projects from an ...

was added.{{cite web, url=http://www.discoverireland.com/gb/ireland-places-to-go/placefinder/n/navan-meath/ , title=Navan - Meath , accessdate=2008-07-27 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705154955/http://www.discoverireland.com/gb/ireland-places-to-go/placefinder/n/navan-meath/ , archivedate=2008-07-05 Today, it lies in ruins near the

River Boyne The River Boyne ( or ''Abhainn na Bóinne'') is a river in Leinster, Ireland, the course of which is about long. It rises at Trinity Well, Newberry Hall, near Carbury, County Kildare, and flows north-east through County Meath to reach the ...

. The tower house had four storeys, with an attic and four projecting corner turrets of different sizes. Inside the manor house, there are small hidden latrines and chambers, where the Catholic Dowdalls used to hide priests. The mansion was supposedly burnt in 1649 as "one of ye families of ye Maguires was living in it when

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

took

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

and to prevent Oliver from getting any shelter or subsistence there, set ye stately fabric on fire which consumed all ye curious apartments which were said to be very rich and costly".

Coat of arms

The Dowdall family coat of arms depicts three red birds on a red and white background. White was meant to represent pureness and at harmony, whilst red was meant to be suffering that Catholics endured.

Notes

External links

Historyeye: Dowdalls in the Registry of Deeds, Dublin
Surnames Surnames of Irish origin English-language surnames