O'Dea ( ; ga, Ó Deághaidh, italics=no, formerly ), is an

Irish surname A formal Irish name consists of a given name and a surname. In the Irish language, surnames are generally patronymic in etymology but are no longer literal patronyms as, for example, most Icelandic names still are. The form of a surname varies ...

derived from ', the name of a tenth-century clan chieftain.

O'Dea clan origins

The O'Dea clan, also found as O'Day or just Day, came originally from

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,81 ...

in Ireland where there is a fortified

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

over 500 years old known as

O'Dea Castle O'Dea Castle, also known as Dysert O'Dea Castle, is an Irish fortified tower house, loosely described as a castle at Dysert O'Dea (), the former O'Dea clan stronghold, from Corofin, County Clare.Dysert O'Dea Monastery Dysert O'Dea Church (Irish: ''Díseart Uí Dheá'' - "the hermitage of Deá") near Corofin in County Clare, Ireland stands on the site of an early Christian monastery which was reportedly founded by St. Tola in the 8th century. Most of the pr ...

, round tower, and St. Tola's high cross are 265 metres to the south-southwest of the castle in the adjacent townland of Mollaneen (), near Corofin. ()

Edward MacLysaght Edgeworth Lysaght, later Edward Anthony Edgeworth Lysaght, and from 1920 Edward MacLysaght ( ga, Éamonn Mac Giolla Iasachta; 6 November 1887 – 4 March 1986) was a genealogist of twentieth century Ireland. His numerous books on Irish surnames ...

, the former

Chief Herald of Ireland The Genealogical Office is an office of the Government of Ireland containing genealogical records. It includes the Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland ( ga, Príomh Aralt na hÉireann), the authority in Ireland for heraldry. The Chief Herald ...

, writing in his book, ''Irish Families'', began his discussion of the O'Dea family as follows: In another book, ''The Surnames of Ireland'', MacLysaght describes the O'Deas as "one of the principal Dalcassian septs", and about the name itself, he remarks, "The prefix O is now almost always used, but a century ago Dea was quite usual and the surname Day was regarded as synonymous."

Ancestry

The O'Deas – together with the O'Quinns ( ga, Ó Cuinn, links=no) and the O'Griffins ( ga, Ó Gríofa, links=no) – belonged to the group, which was a branch of the Dalcassian tribe.

Notable O'Deas

Addison O'Dea Addison O'Dea (, ) is an American filmmaker and writer who specializes in anthropology. His work has been published and broadcast by National Geographic, Discovery and Ozy. Family and education Hugh Addison White O'Dea was born on June 15, ...

– American documentary filmmaker *

Ann O'Dea Ann O'Dea is an Irish businesswoman, the co-founder and CEO of Silicon Republic and the CEO of Inspirefest. Life O'Dea co-founded the Silicon Republic online newspaper for science, business and technology with Darren McAuliffe in 2001. She is a c ...

– Irish journalist and businesswoman *

Ben O'Dea Ben O'Dea (born 6 May 1992) is a New Zealand beach volleyball player. Ben and his brother Sam O'Dea represented New Zealand at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, where they won the bronze medal in the men's pair competition. They were the nation's f ...

– New Zealand beach volleyball player *

Bob O'Dea Robert John O'Dea (27 January 1930 – 16 July 1986) was a New Zealand rugby union player. A flanker, O'Dea represented Thames Valley at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks, on their 1953–54 ...

– New Zealand rugby player *

Brian O'Dea Brian O'Dea (born September 1, 1948) is a Canadian businessman, author, television personality, and former drug smuggler. He is best-known for a large marijuana smuggling enterprise he masterminded in the mid-1980s. Set up to move marijuana in b ...

– Canadian smuggler and author * Cornelius O'Dea – Irish bishop * Danny O'Dea – British actor * Darrell O'Dea – Canadian musician and recording engineer *

Darren O'Dea Darren O'Dea (born 4 February 1987) is an Irish retired professional football player, who is currently the coach of Celtic B team. O'Dea has played as a centre back for clubs in Scotland, England, Canada, Ukraine and India, and represented th ...

– Irish football manager and player *

Denis O'Dea Denis O'Dea (26 April 1905 – 5 November 1978) was an Irish stage and film actor. He was born in Dublin and attended Synge Street CBS. When very young he and his mother Kathleen (from County Kerry) moved in with her sister, who kept a boardin ...

– Irish actor *

Donnacha O'Dea Donnacha "The Don" O'Dea (born 30 August 1948) is an Irish professional poker player. In his youth, he was a swimmer, and represented Ireland in the 1968 Olympics. He was also the first Irish swimmer to swim 100m in less than one minute. His par ...

– Irish Olympic swimmer and professional poker player *

Ebony O'Dea Ebony O'Dea (born 15 November 1998) is an Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She was drafted by Greater Western Sydney in the 2018 national draft. Delisted after one season, she was re-drafted by ...

– Australian rules football player *

Edward John O'Dea Edward John O'Dea (November 23, 1856 – December 25, 1932) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Nesqually in Washington State from 1896 until 1907. When the Vatican renamed the diocese as t ...

– American bishop *

Ernest Charles O'Dea Ernest Charles O'Dea (19 February 1889 – 21 November 1976) was an Australian trade union official, Labor Party politician, Lord Mayor of Sydney and Member of the New South Wales Parliament. Early life O'Dea was born in Armidale Armida ...

– Australian politician and union official * Fabian O'Dea – Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland, Canada * Jane Skiles O'Dea – American navy officer *

Jim O'Dea Jim O'Dea (born 2 February 1949) is a former Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 player ...

– Australian rules football player *

Jimmy O'Dea James Augustine O'Dea (26 April 1899 – 7 January 1965) was an Irish actor and comedian. Life Jimmy O'Dea was born at 11 Lower Bridge Street, Dublin, to James O'Dea, an ironmonger, and Martha O'Gorman, who kept a small toy shop. He was one ...

– Irish actor and comedian * John O'Dea – American Civil War soldier * John R. O'Dea – Canadian businessman and politician * Jonathan O'Dea – Australian politician *

Judith O'Dea Judith O'Dea (born April 20, 1945) is an American actress. She portrayed Barbra in the 1968 George Romero classic horror film ''Night of the Living Dead''. Career In addition to her signature role, O'Dea has appeared in the television movie '' ...

– American film actress *

Ken O'Dea James Kenneth O'Dea (March 16, 1913 – December 17, 1985) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the Chicago Cubs (1935–38), New York Giants (1939–41), St. Louis Cardinals (1942 ...

– American baseball player * Kevin O'Dea – American football coach *

Larry O'Dea Larry Davies (1944 – 30 June 1997) was an Australian professional wrestler best known as Larry O'Dea. He was one half of the tag team known as "The Australians" with Ron Miller. Larry made his professional wrestling debut in the 1960s for ...

– Australian wrestler and promoter *

Louis O'Dea Louis Edward O'Dea (died 19 February 1955) was an Irish politician and solicitor. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Sinn Féin Teachta Dála (TD) for the Galway constituency at the 1923 general election. He did not take his seat in ...

– Irish politician * Luke O'Dea – Irish rugby player * Luke O'Dea – Australian football player * Mark O'Dea – British television presenter * Michael O'Dea – Irish politician * Michael O'Dea – Australian politician * Mick O'Dea – Irish painter *

Pat O'Dea Patrick John "Kangaroo Kicker" O'Dea (17 March 1872 – 5 April 1962) was an Australian rules and American football player and coach. An Australian by birth, O'Dea played Australian rules football for the Melbourne Football Club in the Victoria ...

– Australian and American football player and coach * Patrick O'Dea – New Zealand civil servant *

Paul O'Dea Paul O'Dea (July 3, 1920 – December 11, 1978) was an American professional baseball player, manager and scout. He saw Major League service during World War II for the and Cleveland Indians. He threw and batted left-handed, stood tall and we ...

– American basketball player * Richard W. O'Dea - American politician * Stephanie O'Dea – American food and lifestyle writer * Steve O'Dea – Australian rugby player *

Terry O'Dea Terence "Terry" O'Dea (3 May 1945 – 18 May 2021) was an Australian professional darts player who competed in the 1970s and 1980s. Darts career O'Dea rejoined of the BDO in March 1978. O'Dea played in ten successive BDO World Darts Champions ...

– Australian darts player * Thomas O'Dea – Irish bishop * Tom O'Dea – American attorney and politician * Trent O'Dea – Australian volleyball player *

Willie O'Dea Willie O'Dea ( ; born 1 November 1952) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Limerick City constituency since 2011, and previously from 1982 to 2011 for the Limerick East constituency. He has served as Min ...

– Irish politician

References

External links

O'Dea Clan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odea Irish families Surnames Surnames of Irish origin Septs of the Dál gCais Anglicised Irish-language surnames

O'Dea clan origins

Ancestry

Notable O'Deas

See also

References

Further reading

External links