Draft:Barony of Dunkellin

The Barony of Dunkellin, originally Doonkillen, in County Galway is a member of the great Liberty of Connaught, granted by Henry II of England in about 1170 to Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. Dunkellin also gives its name to the administrative Barony (Ireland) of Dunkellin

The Barony was long in the hands of the O'Conor dynasty until the 17th century. After Calbhach O'Conor took the side of Charles I of England, the Barony was sequestered by Oliver Cromwell in 1651. With the death without issue of Calbhach's son, Hugh, the O'Conor lands and the Barony fell into the hands of the Crown and were granted out by Charles II to John 'Tierna More' French. The title was for centuries held by the family of the Baron de Freyne before passing to the Dorgan family.

The title is an Irish feudal barony, i.e., the holder is and has the right to call himself Baron. However, the holders of Irish feudal baronies did not necessarily hold a peerage and so had no automatic right to a seat in the Irish House of Lords. The Dunkellin barony is one of the few Irish feudal baronies to still survive as a personal right, held in gross. The current holder of the barony succeeded to it in 2000 and does not actively use it.