The Dongan Ancestry:

roots of the Limerick Earldom

with heraldry in the accompanying chart du Donjon and de Courtenay
from Rollestons Quest
by
Steven S. Green
2015
all rights reserved
The exact arrival of the du Donjon in Ireland goes unseen, its detection a daunting
challenge, but they were ensconced there from the earliest years of Norman rule. A
Walter de Dungun died in 1215, leaving a Dublin estate.1 Enough historical evidence
can be assembled concerning the ancestral family, however, that a once circumstantial
case for their origin becomes ironclad. Meticulous reconstruction of the medieval du
Donjon-Corbeil genealogy reveals torch-bearers of a tradition as counselors to the early
Capetian dynasty, and, with the advent of the Crusades, an extensive involvement in the
affairs of the Knights Hospitaller. The great man in whose footsteps one must follow,
the Crusading nobleman from Champagne whose deeds blaze a path to understanding of
the Ireland enigma, is Renaud de Courtenay, spouse of Eustachie du Donjon, known
among Anglo-Normans as Reginald. Along with the legacy of her powerful brother
Guy du Donjon, her union with Renaud anchors both families in chronicle, defines their
destiny, and guarantees the identity of the Ireland offshoot.
The divorce of Elonore, Duchess of Aquitaine and King Louis VII le Jeune
was also the divorce of Aquitaine from France. Having failed to capture Damascus in
1148, Louis stationed the army of the Second Crusade at Antioch. He planned to fulfil
his vows by marching to Jerusalem; but taking the side of her uncle, Raymond, Prince of
Antioch, her senior of just eight years, Elonore favored sending the army of the Franks
against Aleppo. According to William of Tyre, in the course of this dispute, she engaged
in infidelity against the King.2
The usual pretext was invoked by Louis to expedite divorce: consanguinity. No
evidence is seen to support that claim, but annulment went forward uncontested in 1152.
The geo-political facts here provide an excellent motive for Renaud de Courtenay to
have defected from the King of France, whose Second Crusade, though initially great of
strength and ambition, did not recover Edessa, of which Renauds uncle Joscelin had
been Count until 1131, then Renauds cousin until 1144 when it had fallen to the
1 Thomas P. Dungan, John Dongan of Dublin, an Elizabethan Gentleman, Gateway Press, Inc., Baltimore, 1996, p. 10.
2 J. Kelley Sowards, ed., Eleanor and the Chroniclers, Makers of World History 2nd edition, vol. 1, p. 221.

Muslims; for it was pursuant to the fall of Edessa that Pope Eugenius III had issued his
bull to Louis calling for this Crusade. 3 This strongly supports the idea that Renaud
broke with Louis VII and followed Elonore upon her divorce and marriage to Henry
Count of Anjou and Duke of Normandy, as per the following full-throated declaration:
In the year 1152, one Reginald de Courtenay, widower with two adult sons, came
to this country in the train of Queen Eleanor, and he was the indisputable ancestor
of the English Courtenays.4

Elonore saw Henrys star rising, shrewdly married him in 1152, and in 1154 he
was crowned the first Plantagenet King of England, making her a Queen once more.
Confirmation of this scenario appears in Burkes Peerage, which
states that Louis VII King of France quarrelled with Renaud while on
the Second Crusade, confiscated his French possessions, and bestowed
them on his younger brother Pierre whom he married to Renauds
daughter Elisabeth.5

On this wise, it is perfectly clear, French Renaud entered the service of Henry II,
where his prominent appearance in various royal charters must obviate any lingering
doubt regarding his identity as English Renaud. Moreover, any suggestion that a
previously unknown English Renaud (de Courtenay) sprang from obscurity (or
oblivion) to suddenly occupy the first rank of Henrys inner circle has no foundation in
theory or fact; and proof of this view lies not only in the chronology of Renauds
disappearance from France, but also in the timeline of his having fathered Robert de
Courtenay by Hawise dAvranches. This event, following his return (c. 1149) from the
middle east, is adequate evidence that Renaud was not dead.
Now, the Continuator of Aimon de Fleury calmly narrates that Pierre obtained
Renauds lands as there was no other surviving heir: et terram ipsius habuit cum ea,
quia non erat alius hres superstes6 which henceforth must surely be interpreted not as
as proof of death but as a tongue-in-cheek, diplomatic approach to explaining that
Renaud (& sons) had been permanently banished by a King who wished to expunge all
memory of him. Renaud embarked upon a lengthy career in the service of the AngloNorman kingdom known today, by virtue of its Kings origin in Anjou and vast
continental holdings to include Aquitaine, as the Angevin Empire. During 1171/72
Henry held court in Ireland, backed by an army of perhaps 5,500 men, forcing Richard
de Clare Strongbow Earl of Pembroke, to relinquish his conquests, afterwards
3 Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands; France, Capetian Kings; Ch. 1. Kings of France (Capet); C. Kings of France 9871328, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, updated May 30, 2014.
4 Charles Worthy, Esq., The Earldom of Devon. A Digression of the Families Redvers and Courtenay, The History of the
Suburbs of Exeter, 1892.
5 Cawley, Op. cit., Northern France; Champagne Nobility; Ch. 20. Comtes et Vicomtes de Sens; D. Seigneurs de
Courtenay.
6 ibid., Northern France; Champagne Nobility; Ch. 20. Comtes et Vicomtes de Sens; E. Seigneurs de Courtenay 11611303 (Capet).

restoring Leinster to him as an Earldom. Henry accepted homage from nearly all the
Irish Kings, established Norman government, and did so with the support of Renaud,
who would live until 1194. The marriage of Strongbow to the daughter of Dermot
MacMurrough King of Leinster, whose kingdom he had recovered for him, sets a
noteworthy precedent, for such marriages would become a political issue for Norman
rule.
As fate would have it, the greater Donjon clan was linked by marriage to the de
Brionne/ de Clare branch of the Normandy Dukes in the person of Gauthier Tirell (a
Donjon on his mothers side) whom they had exploited in the assassination of William
Rufus. He had confessed to having loosed his arrow at a stag. 7 No strangers, then, to
Strongbow, his ambitions and Ireland rampage, the du Donjon protgs of Renaud had
every reason to spread their wings and carve out careers under this new conqueror,
Henry II, and satiate their craving for adventure. This is not to presume that they had
been living on Renauds estates in Devon learning English ways between 1154 and
1172, but that does seem probable.
When in the context of the above politics it is clearly grasped that the wife of
Pierre de France, whose son, Pierre II, would be named a Latin Emperor of
Constantinople in 1216, that she, Elisabeth de Courtenay, was born of the union of
Renaud de Courtenay and Eustachie du Donjon, the international prestige of the du
Donjon begins to resonate. As explained at the double asterisk in the accompanying
chart, Eustachie is neither Helvise nor Hawise, for this is Mademoiselle
dAvranches; nor is her name Elisabeth as some suppose, for this is Eustachies
daughter by Renaud. Indeed, Pierre de France and Elisabeth de Courtenay would name
a daughter Eustachie, a fact which should wipe away with finality any confusion
regarding the true name of Elisabeths mother, that true and only name which
Mademoiselle du Donjon receives from her paternal grandmother Eustachie de
Chtillon, founder of labbaye Notre Dame de Yerres, whose uncle was the
aforementioned Gauthier Tirell. In a poignant anecdote, the heroine did not live to see
her daughter marry the Kings son, and chroniclers conflated her with Hawise ever after.
Yes, the Donjons knew the Normans well. Gauthier himself was in the hunting
party with the King of England when the de Clare assassins moved on behalf of Henry
Beauclerc, then urged their scapegoat to flee for refuge to France. Yes, the Donjons
would make perfect Normans, inasmuch as Mauger of Normandy, the son of Richard
Sans Peur, Comte de Normandie, legitimated by the latter having married Gunnora
late in life by Christian sacrament, had become Count of Corbeil in right of his wife. 8
Were the Donjons of Corbeil not Flemings from the outset, more than Frankish, and
moved, as the Danes, by the spirit of adventure?
Here is the circumstance in which Renaud de Courtenay is found in 1172, as per
the Rotulorum Cancellari Hiberni Calendarium edition of 1828: across the Irish Sea,
alongside the King in Wexford, third among a group of witnesses to the installation of
7 Duncan Grinnell-Milne, The Killing of William Rufus, David & Charles, Newton Abbott, 1968.
8 Cawley, Op. cit., Paris Region, Nobility; Ch. 4, Comtes de Corbeil; B. Comtes de Corbeil [et de Mortain] (Normandy).

Hugh de Lacy as Earl of Meath, a post more prestigious than that afforded Strongbow,
one tantamount to that of the later Viceroys, among Earls, a primus inter pares:
Count Richard, Will. de Braose, Reg. de Courtenay, Hugh de Cressy......9

Thus one finds Count Richard (de Clare) being Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke,
and Reg. being Reginald, an abbreviation of the English form for Renaud.
Judging from the gravity of this investiture, it might well be surmised that there were
few men Henry II trusted more.
Stokes work, incidentally, also overturns the widespread but erroneous belief that
the Papal bull of Adrian IV authorizing the rule of Henry II over Ireland was a forgery,
showing that originals of all such bulls concerning Ireland prior to 1215 are missing
from the Vatican Library, and that the chronicler who vouched for it, Geraldus
Cambrensis, was an opponent of Henrys cause, with no possible motive to invent it.10
Stokes closes by affirming that the bull is proven legitimate by virtue of Adrians
successors having upheld it.
Over the duration of his long reign, ranked by sheer number of attestations,
Renaud would place 12th among royal advisors, according to an analysis of some 2,500
documents:
The inner court, the first twenty-five of whom are ranked here according to
their attestations, included: Richard du Hommet, the constable of Normandy (371);
Manasser Biset (298); Thomas Becket, chancellor of England, later archbishop
of Canterbury (296); Richard de Lucy, the English justiciar (249); Reginald de
Dunstanville, earl of Cornwall (240); Geoffrey Ridel, archdeacon of Canterbury,
later bishop of Ely (165); Richard of Ilchester, archdeacon of Poitou, later bishop
of Winchester (163); Ranulf de Glanville, the English justiciar (136); Hugh de
Cressy, constable of Rouen (135); Arnulf, bishop of Lisieux (130); John of Oxford,
dean of Salisbury, later bishop of Norwich (130); Reginald de Courtenay, lord
of Okehampton (123).......11

That this Reginald might have been anyone other than the nephew of the Count of
Edessa and veteran of the Second Crusade who came to the court of Henry FitzEmpress
as a retainer of Elonore is thus shown to be quite impossible; this dovetails with the
reality that the only other Renaud de Courtenay in existence was his own son, a
distinct and not very mysterious individual. With this certitude, heraldic credentials will
be seen to explicitly map out a path to recovery of the invisible Anglo-Norman
Dongan ancestor. Would Renaud not have invited his kinsmen to his new base of
operations? Henry would make Renaud lord of Sutton, Berkshire, in 1161, the jocular
report of the Continuator of Aimon de Fleury suggestive of death notwithstanding.
9 Rev. George Thomas Stokes, D.D., Ireland and the Anglo-Norman Church, Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1889,
p. 151.
10 ibid., pp. 46-47.
11 Thomas K. Keefe, Henry II (1133 1189), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.

It seems then entirely reasonable to propose that during the very interval of
Henrys court at Dublin, Renaud secured government posts for the nephews of his
deceased first wife, to whom he himself was uncle indeed; for by trade and inheritance,
these sons of his brothers-in-law were skilled accountants, scribes, arbitrators, expert
horsemen, swordsmen and bankers, ready to serve, able to enforce the laws of a
blossoming kingdom, an empire requiring such men. A long enduring and trusted
advisor of high standing, Renaud lived on splendidly, to witness many more important
charters of the King of England as a few more examples illustrate:

[1167 1068. Charter of Henry II. addressed to the bishop of Angers and all his officers of Anjou.
1175.] He grants and gives for ever to the abbey of Fontevrault and the nuns there serving God
(MS. lat., and the glorious virgin Mary, for the souls of his father Geoffrey count of Anjou and
fo. 84, Matildis the empress etc., the minagium belonging to him at Angers and at Saumur, and
from a site at Angers and one at Saumur for making a granary in which to place the minagium
original, etc.
with
tag of blue
and
white
silk.)
Testibus: Alienora regina Angl[orum]; Reginaldo archidiacono Saresbiriensi; Johanne
decano Saresbiriensi; Ricardo de Hum[eto] constabulario; Unfrido de Bohun
constabulario; Willelmo de Sancto Johanne; Reginaldo de Curtenai; Willelmo de
Lanval[leio]; Stephano de Turon[is] tunc senescallo Andegavie; Roberto de Stutevilla;
Willelmo de Stutevilla; Hugone de Laci, et Lancelino filio comitis Vendoc[ini], et Aluredo
de Sancto Martino, et Willelmo de Ostilli. Apud Chinon (sic.)
[?1162 1071. Charter of Henry II. addressed to the bishop of Chichester, etc. He confirms
1169.] (concedo) the gift by William de Sancto Johanne and Robert his brother to the abbey of
(MS. lat., Fontevrault, namely 10l. sterling annually from (in) the manor of Contona so long as their
fo. 266, mother shall live, and after her death, three marcs of silver annually in perpetuity.
from
original,
with seal in
white
wax,
[Drawing]
on
tag of red
silk,
perfect.)
Testibus: Symone de Castellione; Gastinel camerario; Symone de Tornebu; Raginaldo
de Cortenaio; Apud Turonim.

[1182, Sept.] 1078. Charter of Henry II. addressed generally. He confirms (concessisse) the
(MS. lat., fo 421, following agreement (conventionem et concordiam) made in his court before him,
rom original, by his counsel and assent, between the abbess and nuns of Fontevrault (etc. as
with seal of below). He wills and directs, therefore, that this agreement hold good and lasting,
green wax on and be kept unbroken by them both.
tag of red and
yellow silks.)
Testibus: Radulfo Andegavensi episcopo; Ricardo comite Pictav[ie], et Gaufrido
comite Britannie, et Gaufrido cancellario, filiis meis; magistro Gualtero de
Constanciis archidiacono Ox[oniensi]; Godefrido de Luci archidiacono de Derbi;
Ricardo vicecomite de Sancta Susanna; Johanne comite Vindoc[ini]; Stephano de
Turon[is] senescallo Andeg[avie]; Guillelmo filio Radulfi senescallo Normannie;
Reginaldo de Curtenai; Gaufrido Huterti preposito Lauduni; Aimerico de
Bernezaio; Hugone Galler; Joisberto de Prescin[neio]; Petro filio Guidonis;
Guillelmo de Ostilleio; Guillelmo Rolland; Bartholomeo Rolland fratre suo,
preposito Andegavensi.; Nicholao de sancto Paer. Apud Chinonum (sic).12

In item 1068, Renaud is found standing not at all far removed from Alienora
regina Angl[orum], Elonore (of Aquitaine) Queen of England who played the key role
in instigating Renauds decision in Antioch to part company with the King of France,
and to whom his loyalty was higher. Indeed, Renaud here occupies a position of higher
priority than that of Hugone de Laci, the same Hugh de Lacy who shortly before or
after this was sworn in at Wexford as Earl of Meath.
It seems a likely conclusion that at the apex of his career, Renaud had the status to
accompany the King of England wherever he went, to ask a few favors on the strength
of his valued counsel; and that this advisory office might well explain the inception of a
long tenure as Norman officials in Ireland for the du Donjons. In that age, this kind of
intercession, although nepotism in the purest sense, would have been perceived by
nearly everyone concerned as a good and natural act.
There was no letter j in English at that time, a soft g usually being substituted
when writing the name, one often corrupted into a hard g over centuries through the
vagaries of pronunciation. Under the influence of Latin, where i is the j, the name
had long been transliterated as Donion, which means dominion, a double-entendre for
the early French donjon, a tower, the etymological origin of the English word which
would come to connote a prison in the basement of a tower or other stone fortification.
The association of the ancestral family with an outpost and military office in a town
12 J. Horace Round, ed., Calendar of Documents Preserved in France 918 1206; Anjou: Part 1, British History Online,
Originally published by Her Majestys Stationery Office, London, 1899, pp. 372 394.

south of Paris named Corbeil, le donjon-Corbeil or tower of Corbeil, is the source of

the original placename patronymic du Donjon-Corbeil, literally meaning, of, or from,
the tower of Corbeil. The memory of their true name survived for 400 years among the
Dongans of Ireland, and in 1574 it would be resurrected.
Nor did the Donjon prestige wane in France, where Guy du Donjon held royal
favor of an intriguing nature. In the year 1217, due to its sack by the 4 th Crusade in
1204, Constantinople was ruled by a Latin Emperor, a Capetian. By any estimate, Guy
was then an old man. In a charter (essentially an oath) to Philippe-Auguste, King of
France, Guy vouched for the loyalty of Robert de Courtenai, of whom several exist.
His identity is revealed by the preceding charter, however, item 1780, in which he
pledged his faithful service to the King and the use of two fortresses if ever required,
one being Conches, a known property of the Capetian de Courtenay family. So this
Robert is definitely the future Emperor and son of the Emperor Pierre, (a.k.a. Pierre II,
Seigneur de Courtenay); but Robert is also the great-grandson of Guys sister Eustachie.
What kind of knight, then, is Guy, upon whom the King of France calls to indoctrinate
his own Capetian cousins boy, or who pledges a payment of 300 silver marks in the
event of the Kings own kinsmans default? This is a highly confident, accomplished,
venerable and inspirational figure.
[entry] 1781
1217, nov., Paris. (Parisius, a. 1217, m. nov.) - Gui du Donjon,
chevalier, garantit au roi, jusqu concurrence dune somme de
trois cents marcs dargent, la fidlit de Robert de Courtenai.13

As suggested by his estimated lifespan, Guy du Donjon was probably a much

younger half-brother to Eustachie, by their common father. Yet his arms find their way
to Powderham Castle and into the family records of the de Courtenay Earls of Devon.
These arms celebrate the marital union of Renaud and Eustachie, showing the de
Courtenay and du Donjon arms impaled.14 In reporting this event more than 700 years
later, the compilers of Lady Evelyn Courtenays volume do err, failing to correctly name
Ferry as the father of Eustachie, their caption being here reproduced verbatim:
IV. Renaud (Reginald) = . . . . . .
Seigneur de
fille de
Courtenai.
Guy de
Donjon.
This signals the historical prominence of Guy as eclipsing that of his less famous
father in the hearts and minds of the early de Courtenay family of Powderham in Devon.
These armorial bearings clearly identify the English de Courtenay line as that imported
13 Lopold Delisle, Catalogue des Actes de Philippe-Auguste, Auguste Durand, Paris, 1856, p. 393.
14 The Lady Evelyn Courtenay, ed., The Courtenay Family Armorial, Bernard Quaritch, London, 1896.

from France by Renaud, and should relieve all skepticism. The right half of the arms
shown in the accompanying chart corresponds precisely with the blazon according to
Rietstaps armorial under the entry:
Donjon (du) France. Dor la fasce dazur, ch. dune toile (5) dor;
au chef manch de trois pices dazur.15

This would loosely translate to: du Donjon France. Gold, with a blue fesse charged
with a (5-pointed) gold star; a blue chief indented of three.
In the late 14th century, a direct descendant of Renaud and Eustachie, Philip de
Courtenay, was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland; and this is a Viceroy. To the
extent the Dongans had then slipped from the glory of their ancestors, this imperial
cousin was a harbinger of improving fortune. The name Philip is duly logged for
future reference.
Of the du Donjons with a j, one stands out uniquely. Geoffroy du Donjon
(sometimes called de Duisson) was the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, order
of Margat whose tenure, by the best estimate, lasted from 1193 to 1202.16 That he held
such an honor is commensurate with the many documented acts of largesse by the du
Donjons of France in support of that organization, serving as knights for them, settling
disputes, donating funds, and operating their offices known as commanderies. The fight
against leprosy is an intriguing element. Pierre de Donjon, brother of Eustachie,
(1145/50 1226>) contributed to the leprosery of Beaulieu, 17 or Grand Beaulieu at
Chartres, which was based loosely on the rule of St. Augustine. This begs the question,
did some relationship subsist between the Dongans and Geoffrey de Marisco, who
several times in the early 13th century held the post of Justiciar of Ireland; for it seems
more than coincidental that the Augustinian monastery which he founded at Killagh, co.
Kerry as reported by the Monasticon Hibernicum, p. 304, also bore the name Beaulieu.
Nor is the mystery diminished by his foundation of Hospitaller commanderies at Any
(Knockainy) and Adair in co. Limerick,18 the seat of the later Dongan Earldom. Perhaps
the real question should be, did the Dongans have a close relationship with each and
every Justiciar of Ireland in succession.
In the medieval period and for many centuries thereafter, prominent families
traditionally prevailed upon younger sons to take up the cloth. Guillaume du Donjon,
a.k.a. Berruier exemplifies this. While sources are ambiguous on his identity, one
interpretation reconciles the conflicting accounts. If Guillaume was a full brother to
Baudouin, Guy and Pierre or half-brother by a common father, Ferry and his last wife
Moene who as a widow married a man named Berruier, the correct relationship of
Guillaume to the descendants of Eustachie manifests itself; for it is then to be perceived
15 Johannes Baptista Rietstap, Armorial Gnral, Tome I, Deuxime dition, G.B. van Goor Zonen, Gouda, 1884, p. 552.
16 H. E. Thierry Aim Guberan, Grand Prieur Melitense, Souverain Ordre de Saint Jean de Jrusalem Chevaliers de
Malte, knights-of-malta.org.
17 Cawley, Op. cit., Paris Region, Nobility; Ch. 4, Comtes de Corbeil; E. Donjon (Corbeil).
18 William Hunt, Marisco, Geoffrey de, Dictionary of National Biography, 1885 1900, vol. 36.

with complete certainty that Elisabeth (dtr. of Eustachie, and the domina de MonteArgisi.....soror vel neptis illius19 of Alberic de Trois-Fontaines), is the niece, and not the
sister, of Guillaume du Donjon. This established, the episode of Ingebjrg of Denmark,
the Queen of France as of 1193 whom Philippe-Auguste swiftly repudiated, takes on
clear meaning. The Pope never recognized the repudiation and a long struggle ensued,
Guillaume interceding on behalf of Ingebjrg (in France, Isambour) through an
intensive campaign as Papal legate. By 1199 Guillaume was Archbishop of Bourges,
and before the turn of the century, France was placed under Papal interdict.
Philippe-Auguste yielded, remarried her, and eventually restored her title as Queen.
Late in life she donated a Knights Hospitaller commanderie to Corbeil 20 in an obvious
suggestion of her gratitude to the greater du Donjon family. Again, the du Donjon are
seen to wield disproportionate influence over the Capetian monarchy, and their status as
highly placed administrators of the Hospitallers, or Knights of St. Jean, is confirmed.
Ingebjrg died at the Priory of St.-Jean-en-lle in close proximity to Corbeil in 1236.21
In 1574, John Dongan, then 2nd Engrosser of the Exchequer in Dublin among
many distinctions he would hold during a career of service to the Crown, received his
grant of arms. In 1598, his less prolific nephew William was granted a coat quartering
those with completely different arms. Taken together, these two grants and the
genealogy preserved through the heraldic process affirmatively solve the problem of the
Ireland Dongans and their continental origins. Evidence emerges of involvement in
Limerick at a very early stage of the Norman occupation, and of widespread violations
of the Statute of Kilkenny which forbade intermarriage with the Irish.
Although arcane, the language of heraldry is not impenetrable. Symbols were
frequently incorporated to reflect an ancestral heritage. The arms of John Dongan typify
such a usage, and their intent is perfectly clear. The blazon entry follows, preceded by
the identity of its recipient:

Dungan (Dublin, by Patent; JOHN DUNGAN, Esq., of that city, d. 1592).

az. six plates, three, two, and one, on a chief or, a demi lion ramp. gu. Crest An orb
ar. banded and surmounted by a cross patte or.22

The crisp, simple achievement bears no resemblance to the Powderham arms of Guy as
verified by Rietstaps armorial, however, more ancient armorial bearings, the Premires
armes des Donjons23 do provide a basis for comparison. The old arms feature a red lion
rampant against a white background surrounded by a green bordure. The upper section
19 Cawley, Op. cit., Champagne Nobility; Ch. 20. Comtes et Vicomtes de Sens; E. Seigneurs de Courtenay 1161 1303
(Capet).
20 M. Pinard, Recherches tymologiques et Historiques sur les Rues de Corbeil, Crt, 1852.
21 Cawley, Op. cit., Kings, Denmark; Ch. 3, Kings of Denmark, 1047 1412; B. Kings of Denmark, 1047 1412.
22 Sir Bernard Burke, C.B., LL.D., Ulster King of Arms, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales,
Harrison, London, 1884, p. 307.
23 tienne Pattou, comt et vicomt de Corbeil, Donjon de Corbeil-Yerres, racineshistoire.

of Johns arms are a red demi-lion rampant, but now upon a background of gold.
Initially, it might be viewed as coincidental that this combination of gules (red) charges
on a field or (gold) is also that of Renauds arms. If one envisions a wholly new bottom
portion overlying the primary motif of the old, the demi-lion image would result in
outline. The inspiration for the lower overlay is actually easier to recognize. Six (white)
plates, in a downward-pointing triangular configuration in rows of 3, 2 and 1, fit
comfortably onto a blue background. The general arrangement is similar enough to the
arms of de Courtenay to pique even the casual observer. The doubling of discs from
three to six suggests a proclamation by John Dongan that through his surpassing
accomplishments as a key official of the Anglo-Norman government, his family line has
overcome its dependence on the de Courtenay branch of the family for assistance, and
rewarded them twofold by becoming successful. The plates symbolize his responsibility
for financial matters of the Exchequer, the doubling of the number of discs also
suggesting the greatness of his appointment and complexity of his task, yet continue to
faithfully honor the family of their ancient partnership. For it was the alliance of du
Donjon and de Courtenay which had once approached the throne of France, via the
marriage (1154/60) of Elisabeth to Prince Pierre, in the unforeseen aftermath of
Renauds loss of his French honors.
In the very bottom area of the shield known as the base, the foundation of this
success is still found, unimpinged and plain to see, the rows of 2 and 1 still
corresponding exactly to the outlines of the ancient de Courtenay arms, those of Renaud.
Through his auspices, and despite his exile, a grandson of Eustachie du Donjon had once
been seated on the vestigal eastern throne of the Emperor Constantine. John Dongans
arms are a signpost showing that he had not forgotten.
Suspicions are thereby aroused that the Ireland Dongan-as-Courtenay-in-laws
explanation may be correct. Proof of this ideas accuracy is found in the crest. The orb
of dominion surmounts the shield, serving a dual role; expressing solidarity with the
Crown of England then governing much of Ireland, but likewise acting as a rebus,24
enshrining in a pictogram the ancient family name as it had been written in Latin by the
scribes long ago: Donion. Students of heraldry will confirm that such images were
regularly installed in armorial bearings as messages not intelligible to the world at large.
Heraldry is, in a very real way, hieroglyphic.
In an age when honor was more a matter of life or death than it is today, the
regulation of heraldry was the jealously guarded domain of a chosen few. Obedience to
its rules was not merely a requirement among gentlemen, it was legally binding. Fraud,
as in genealogical falsehood, could be harshly punished. This applied especially to the
illegal appropriation of arms belonging to another, which in fact were assigned to
individuals, although arms differentiated by minor variations known as cadencies were
common among close family members. Although then as now, not every falsification
was preventable, it is generally agreed that periodic enforcement was carried out through
the process of visitation of the heralds, and that sentences were meted out to offenders.
24 Dungan, Op. cit., p. 82.

10

John Dongans sterling reputation and lifetime of distinguished service to an unforgiving

monarchy ensure the integrity of his grant, one which surely would have had to pass
every test and inquisition, perform every genealogical proof, since no Dongan had
claimed arms in recent memory. Add to this the marriages throughout his extended
family to other highly placed, ethnically segregated and historically documented AngloNormans of the greater Dublin Pale, and his profile is perfected. As a matter of law,
therefore, it may now be concluded with moral certitude and beyond a reasonable doubt
that he knew the illustrious history of his own family, and was keenly aware that his
name was Donjon.
The Gordion Knot of the genealogy submitted to King of Arms William Dethick
in 1598 by William Dongan, nephew of John and Clerk of the First Fruits of the
Exchequer, is intricate enough to cause confusion in later generations regarding an
alleged patrilineal Celtic descent. Careful scrutiny is required to refute that. His claims
begin with a long line of supposed Celtic ancestors from Matnn born 516 a.d. to
Donald ODougan circa 1220.25 All of the names in this preliminary segment are
Irish. From that watershed forward, Norman names predominate. His objective: to
secure unto himself the arms of one of the Celtic wives of the early Dongans.
The OHogan arms, also belonging to members of the same bloodline going by
the surname Cosgrave, are similar enough to the arms of the 10th - 11th century High
King Brian Bor that it is understandable why someone living in 16th century Ireland
would seek to lay claim. According to the monolithic work of OHart, two sons of
Lorcn (King of Caisel, #103 in OHart tract OBrien Kings of Thomond), Cineidi and
Cosgrach, were respectively the father of Brian Bor and ancestor of the Cosgrave/
OHogan line.26 William (Clerk of the First Fruits) whose ancestors of Norman names
commence in 1245, shows as the second Dongan in this sequence Sir William Rufus
ODougan (1270 1314). William identifies Marin OHogan, Niece of Maurice
Bishop of Killaloe as this mans wife. By this reckoning, they must have been married
circa 1300.
This may sound quite enchanted, but Bishop Maurice is perfectly real. Mauricius
h-cin or Maurice OHogan is the historically attested Bishop of Killaloe who
served from 1281/2 until his death in 1298. His arms, replicating those of his brother,
Marins father, are putatively those awarded William Dongan; whereas, the Bishops
pedigree from the High Kings uncle Cosgrach is supported by no less an authority than
OHart 27 and should be weighed accordingly. The Celtic ancestors ending with
Donald ODougan are real persons as well, the ODubhagain (ODugan) Chiefs of
Fermoy,28 excepting a few fictional characters sprinkled in by William for good measure
to drag out the chronology; but they are in no way related to William; their line is
spliced on as has been done innumerable times through history by those angling for
25 John R. Dungan, MD, Dongan of Castletown Family Tree, citing Sean OHogan, Prior of Lorrha, Ormond;
Ancestry.com.
26 John OHart, Irish Pedigrees, fifth edition, vol. 1, James Duffy and Co., Limited, Dublin, 1892, pp. 96-97.
27 ibid., p. 220.
28 ibid., pp. 308-9.

11

some advantage from identity theft. Williams reasons are discernible, but only to
students of the law.
The OHogan arms secured by William Dongan appear as follows in Burkes,
under Hogan:
Gu. three lions pass. in pale or, each holding betw. the forepaws an esquires
helmet ppr.29

In laymans terms, this may be described as, on a red shield, three reclining gold lions
arranged vertically, each holding between the forepaws an esquires helmet of its normal
color (argent/ar./silver). The OHogan arms, resembling the arms of Brian Bor the High
King but for the helmets between the lions paws, were quartered with the authentic,
patrilineal arms of John Dongan.
The William Dongan claim of descent from Marin OHogan is to be judged as
true on the basis of its acceptance by the Garter King, William Dethick and the College
of Arms, for duplication of arms was unlawful. Therefore the legitimate or AngloNorman portion of the bloodline reported by William should, in its entirety, be
tentatively treated as if vindicated. This would bring genealogical research as far back
as the birth date in 1245 of an ancestral John Dongan, who chronologically could have
as his father any one of several de Donjon nephews of Eustachie shown in the
accompanying chart, or more probably, one of their sons in the succeeding generation.
One anecdote helps restore objectivity and provides the comic relief requisite to
quelling any confusion in this inquiry. William names Philip Dongan as his great
grandfather. All the onomastic and civic documentary evidence points to the high
probability that his name was really Patrick30. Celtic ODougan, indeed! The desire
to impress the herald through blood ties to the de Courtenays reveals itself here, in a
ploy suggesting that the name of the Viceroy Philip de Courtenay lived on in his own
family; and great was the hypocricy of that fib; but the connection was real. Ferry du
Donjon is ancestral to them both.
If William should have declared himself Anglo-Norman in his quest for the arms
of the greatest Irish Kings uncle, all the marriages to all the illustrious Irish princesses
would have been exposed as illegal under the Statute of Kilkenny (c.1367), he, William,
branded a charlatan, deprived of his arms, and the Dongans disgraced. Therefore this
well educated character hatched a plot based on 13 th century calligraphy. The fact was
known in certain circles that the English Dongan and Irish Dougan of the early
scribes were sometimes indistinguishable, even to a trained eye. He would announce
himself to the herald as a Celtic Dougan (ODugan) of the Fermoy chiefs, then persuade
him, as through the prevalent practice of bribery, to look the other way at the fact that
the particular arms he desired were those of his 9-times-great-grandmother, which was a
violation, not without precedent, of the rules of patrilineal heraldic inheritance. Since
29 Burke, Op. cit., p. 497.
30 Dungan, T., Op. cit., p. 32.

12

that fell under the jurisdiction of the herald, however, no one else need have known. His
Celtic ancestry would legitimize the marriages to the noble Irish women, and if caught
in his lie, he could plead ignorance of being a Dongan, and Norman, blaming the
confusing calligraphy of the medieval scribes. It was on this wise that William secured
the matrilineal OHogan arms.
In wake of the heraldic chaos ushered in by William and his ensuing triumph, the
following conclusions evidently must hold: Williams ancestor, Sir William Rufus
Dongan, 12701314, was armigerous in the estimation of Garter King William Dethick,
eligible to quarter the OHogan arms with his own; that this was never actually carried
out during that lifetime might not have negated Williams assertion, though untimely, of
the privilege. So the real issue here may be only, was Marin OHogan in reality an
heiress in blood 31 from whom arms could legitimately be inherited (which seems
improbable, as her patrilineal line was far from any danger of extinction), but, once
again, a heralds latitude was considerable, he alone being cognizant. The peculiarity in
the grant therefore resides in the positioning of the OHogan arms in quadrants 1 and 4,
where normally the paternal arms appear. That other heralds indeed took note that these
were the OHogan arms without further comment 32 suggests they understood and
accepted it in terms of an incompletely codified frivolity then prevailing: Paternal
quarterings were dropped, and the result has been that many coats of arms are now
known as the arms of a family with quite a different surname from that of the family
with which they originated.33
The arms of William Dongan are then to be justified, in legal terms, as follows: A
hypothetical more ancient, quartered coat of arms, the du Donjon/ OHogan, though
unregistered, would have been entirely compliant. These, William claimed three
centuries afterwards. From them, with the consent of a virtually autonomous herald,
William then dropped the paternal arms in quadrants 1 and 4, leaving arms identical to
the stand-alone OHogan arms. These then, are the ancient arms William quartered
with the newer arms of his uncle, John Dongan, those granted in 1574, which thus came
to occupy quadrants 2 and 3 of the new arms, this format for division of old and
new also being standard practice. The only remaining issue, one rather easier for a
herald to brush aside, would have been the dubious status of Marin OHogan as an
heiress in blood. Were she found wanting, William would simply have pointed out the
marriage of his ancestor John Dongan, Porter of Dublin (14351480>) to Mr OHogan,
an heiress who indeed must have borne the same arms, and all the conditions above
would apply redundantly; on what basis, then, was a herald to deny William his wish?
Like a broken fossil, one documentary clue juts from the sand of time. A legal
dispute of the year 1291 appears in the Calendar of Documents Relating to Ireland
1875-86, vol. 3. p. 403. Of one party to this case, John, a Dublin resident, it is found
that His name was transcribed as Dougan, but given the context in which he appears
31 Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry, T. C. & E. C. Jack, London, 1909, p. 67.
32 Dungan, T., Op. cit., p. 77.
33 Fox-Davies, Op. cit., p. 544.

13

there can be no doubt that he was a Dongan. 34 More detailed identification is

unavailable, but chronologically it is possible that he could be the same John Dongan
submitted by William, Clerk of the First Fruits to Dethick as the earliest in his AngloNorman ancestral line, John ODougan, who would then have been 46 years of age.
Be that as it may, the misspelling of this mans name in a court transcript supports the
contention that William masqueraded as Celtic by superimposing the Dougan name on
his own.
One may object that since his uncle John had recently been granted arms by virtue
of an Anglo-Norman descent, William could not have run the table so smoothly; but
such were the times, this was not London, and cash greased many wheels. John Dongan
the uncle was armigerous, and that was all that really mattered to the Garter King, who
could be very flexible if the silver were sufficient. Once granted, never revoked; in
expression of his pride in the OHogan bloodline, William named a son Ogan after the
ancestral grandson of Cosgrach whose name gives rise to Oh-Ogain, 35 whence
OHogan. Later generations of Dongans into the era of the Earldom of Limerick would
revel in Williams tales of Celtic royalty and in the arms, which would have inspired the
Celtic element within the family and without. Williams arms would never be expunged,
and on that basis it is only fitting to carve for him a champions portion, even if to the
chagrin of the prim and proper.
The Earls of Limerick would style themselves kings of Fermoy and Arra. Claims
of descent from the ODugan chiefs of Fermoy having been debunked, a likely Arra
connection now warrents attention. William of the First Fruits shows that a Siobhan
ODonegan, heiress of Arra married his ancestor (here emended as William Dongan).
A parallel may now be drawn to the marriage of Strongbow to Aoife, daughter of the
King of Leinster, whose kingdom the former then inherited. A pattern became
established, whereby prominent Normans took noble Celtic wives when positioning
themselves politically, a pattern so pervasive that it was feared it could threaten to
undermine Norman rule in the island. It would probably be difficult or impossible to
determine whether the king of Arra had acquiesced to some similar arrangement with
this representative of the new Norman overlords, but clearly the later Dongans were
drawing on some such supposed agreement in declaring themselves kings of that sept.
Which of the heroes of Donjon-Corbeil, Eustachies brothers, was the ancestor of
this line has yet to be determined. If they had a hand in naming Beaulieu in Killagh
under de Marisco, it might point to Pierre who married Giroie, but that is conjectural.
One possible set of clues involves a Daundon family of early Norman Limerick which
held the office of Sheriff repeatedly in the 14th century.36 These were an offshoot of the
de Alneto family of Somerset, but there may be grounds to suspect that a small number
of early de Donjons could conceivably have settled in Limerick in the late 12 th century
34 Dungan, T., Op. cit., p. 11.
35 OHart, Op. cit., p. 97
36 Brian Hodkinson, Who Was Who in Medieval Limerick; from Manuscript Sources, B. Hodkinson, Assistant
Curator, Limerick Museum, 2014, p. 64.

14

and infiltrated, owing to the fluidity of transliteration, whereby the spelling of the
Dongan name might not have been readily distinguishable from that of Daundon. Three
early Dongan wives, Marin OHogan, a daughter of Turlough Mr OBrien and Siobhan
ODonegan, belonged to noble Irish families in close proximity to Limerick, suggesting
that Limerick, more than Dublin, may have been their 13th - 14th century epicenter.
In any event, future research should focus on any available documentation
regarding Dongan activity at the offices of the Hospitallers in the vicinity of Limerick.
One very lately developed line of inquiry offers encouragement. It is claimed that
on August 6 of the year 1577, the year of his marriage and the third following upon his
letters patent, John Dongan of the Dublin Exchequer and one Thomas Cotton of England
were granted . . . . . possessions of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in Ireland37
among a variety of other benefices. The casual observer might dismiss this, supposing
the fate of the knighthoods properties irrelevant to a society of the late Renaissance.
For the student of the medieval du Donjon Hospitallers, however, this event is seismic.
For this rare individual to have summoned the courage to rise from the ashes and
reclaim after many centuries some vestige of a lost heritage that had defined his
ancestors and shaped medieval policy internationally was an unfathomable act of
devotion to a time-honored ideal. This ensures that the Ireland Dongans have as their
only possible historical roots the Donjon/ Courtenay Crusader origin.
It is highly ironical but equally fulfilling that despite an all-consuming analysis of
source material, final and incontrovertible proof of the Donjon-Corbeil ancestry has
been in plain sight from the outset, awaiting interpretation. For critical scholarship,
proof is often accepted through the inviolable truthfulness of witnesses and the
solemnity of sound judgment. The recovery in 2015 of the lost knowledge of the
Dongan ancestry had been foretold in a document set forth on August 16, 1772. The
identity of its author is key. He was the father-in-law of (the deceased) Col. Thomas
Dongan, 5th Earl of Limerick. This was preserved for posterity through neither
encyclopedic knowledge of the middle ages, nor memorization of voluminous pedigrees,
but through the innocent reality of a tradition as passed down through the generations for
seven hundred years by the family into which his daughter had married. These words,
Of an illustrious Family, Long Settld Near Dublin & lineally descended from the
Ancient Counts of Corbeil and Seigneurs du Donjon, Cousins in Blood to the
Conqueror38, were inscribed on his own family tree of the Earls of Limerick, then in
New-York. They were penned by Rev. Richard Charlton, who was also the maternal
grandfather of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton; and because in the 18 th century the isolated
documentary fragments of du Donjon history and genealogy had never been assembled,
their true story was unknowable but to those who had lived it. Therefore, Rev.
Charltons statement cannot have been fabricated. That some alternative might exist to
the narrative of Dongan origins as herein presented is thus shown to be absolutely
impossible.
37 Tommy Alligood, Kenneth D. Lampp, Descendants of Arnold (St. Arnulf), Genealogy.com.
38 Dungan, T., Op. cit., p. 160.

15

In 1627, a grandson of John Dongan and Margaret Forster, Sir John Dongan, 2nd
Baronet of Castletown, married Mary Talbot, daughter of Sir William Talbot, Baronet of
Cartown and Alice Netterville. This Mary was sister to Richard Talbot, Duke of
Tyrconnell. A son of John and Mary, Sir William Dongan, 4 th Baronet, of Castletown
and Viscount Clane, was created 1st Earl of Lymerick in 1685. Williams only son
Walter perished in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
The attainder of the 1st Earl was ratified in December of 1695. His younger
brother Thomas was, however, exempted from being disinherited of the Earldom by this
act of the Irish Parliament, as were the 1st Earls great nephews. Perhaps in recognition
of his highly praised administration of New York (as Governor commencing 1682)
Thomas found favor with the King upon his brothers death in 1698 and took up the
Peerage as 2nd Earl. The attainder of Williams widow, the Dowager Countess of
Lymerick, was reversed by Parliament in 1702, enabling her to return to Ireland. When
in 1715 the second Earl died, his deceased elder brothers grandson Thomas lived on to
inherit his honors. Residing in New York on dwindling fortunes, the Dongans lacked the
wherewithal to keep up the estates, which were sold; thus the Earldom then went
dormant, and not extinct as has often but incorrectly been stated. Their home in Staten
Island, New York, the Manor of Castletown, was so named for their Ireland residence
when Sir Walter Dongan had first been created Baronet. The titles to the Baronetcy, the
Viscountcy and the Earldom remained, and with the signet ring of their ancestors,
subsequent generations embossed the wax seal on their correspondence with the
quartered Dongan arms of the Earls of Limerick, in perpetuation of the Royal
prerogative.
This state of affairs is not unprecedented. To the uninformed, the ostensible lapse
of so prominent an honor might appear an aberration from the Royal standard, and
arbitrary, in view of the enormity of hardships endured for the Crown over generations
by the Ireland Dongans, their sacrifices and several heroic deaths on the battlefield in
service to the Crown, loss of great estates inflicted upon them by enemies of the Crown,
a glorious heritage dating back to long before the Crusades and their risky initial act of
forsaking a native France to loyally serve England. Despite divestiture of their lands
and relocation to a colony of the New World which would throw off the yoke of its
sovereign, a line of succession to the honor of the first Earldom is maintained to the
present day, even in the awareness that a second Earldom of Limerick was afterwards
created in favor of a different family. The survival of the title today is therefore
something of an enigma peculiar to a system designed to accommodate any conceivable
scenario, even, as here, loss by the Crown of the actual territory by virtue of rule over
which the honor was originally created.
The living patriarch of the Dongan cadets, eldest son of his predecessor John
Russell Duggan of Massachusetts, successor by rightful inheritance to the title of the
dormant first Earldom of Limerick and 12th Earl is John Russell Dungan, MD, DDS, of
Hastings, in the United States. His eight-times-great-grandfather in the agnatic line,
16

who in 1663 fell on the field of battle at Ameixial, is Lt. Col. Michael Dongan, brother
from before their creation to the Earls of Limerick, and paternal grandfather of Thomas
Dongan, the 3rd Earl.

Epilogue
The close association of the le Riche family with the Capetians from the 10 th
century onward is well known. In the course of the study that led to this report,
however, the Donjon line of descent from the le Riche Seigneurs de Beauvais
increasingly manifested scholastic neglect. The chart du Donjon and de Courtenay is
an attempt to bind together the work of others, individual components which fit into a
larger scheme. If this spurs debate on the topic, a key goal of this research will have
been realized.
It seems therefore that it may soon become possible to trace an unbroken le Riche
de Beauvais du Donjon Dongan Dungan line from the birth of Arnould in 880
a.d. to the present day.
The Christian names in vogue among the le Riche and du Donjon families not
only suggest an origin in Flanders. They suggest yet undiscovered ties with the ruling
house, dating from the 9th century origins of the Counts of Flanders. Such a bond, if
ever to be discerned by scholarship, might have played a role in the smooth transition
from service to the Capetian Kings to those of Norman England, of which Mathilde de
Flandre is the matriarch. Onomastics, it is therefore suggested, point to a possible
hypothesis regarding common ancestry of the du Donjon and the earliest generations of
the Counts of Flanders, one which could conceivably have hastened the building of a
relationship of trust with Henry II, a great-grandson of Mathilde through the Empress.

17