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 ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, 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, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...

. 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, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. They settled in

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...

in the thirteenth century.

Fifteenth century

* Sir Robert Dowdall 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 s ...

. * Thomas Dowdall, son of Robert, was Master of the Rolls in Ireland.

Under the Tudors

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

became

Primate of All Ireland The Primacy of Ireland was historically disputed between the Archbishop of Armagh and the Archbishop of Dublin until finally settled by Pope Innocent VI. ''Primate'' is a title of honour denoting ceremonial precedence in the Church, and in t ...

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 best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

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

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', 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 externa ...

. *

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

, cousin of the martyr James Dowdall, was Lord Chief Justice of Ireland.

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 Con Dowdall (born 1945) is an Irish retired hurler who played as a right wing-forward for the Wexford senior team. Born in Wexford, Dowdall first arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of seventeen two when he first linked up with the We ...

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

Harry Dowdall Henry Arthur 'Harry' 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 ...

(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 James Matthew George Dowdall (8 August 1867 – 29 April 1945) was an Australian rules footballer who played for South Melbourne, Collingwood and Richmond in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) and the Victorian Football League (VFL). Jim ...

(1867–1945), Australian rules footballer *

John Dowdall John N. Dowdall (born June 23, 1960) is an American golfer. Dowdall was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. He played college golf at Northeast Louisiana University Dowdall turned professional and played on the Ben Hogan Tour (now Nationwide Tour) an ...

(b. 1960), American golfer *

Leslie Dowdall Leslie Dowdall is an Irish singer-songwriter from Howth, County Dublin. She was the singer in trad/rock group In Tua Nua IN, In or in may refer to: Places * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, G ...

, Irish singer-songwriter * Niall Dowdall (b. 1992), Irish hurler *

Paddy Dowdall Paddy Dowdall (born 1982) is an Irish hurler who currently plays as a midfielder for the Westmeath senior team. Dowdall joined the Westmeath team straight from the minor ranks in 2001, however, he didn't become a regular until the 2003 Nationa ...

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

Surname variants

* Alex Dowdalls (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 mos ...

, Althumney House near Navan,

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

; 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 is most commonly found pro ...

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 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 politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

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