Nehemiah Donellan was born in the county of Galway, a son of Mael
Sechlainn Ó Dónalláin,
by his wife Sisly, daughter of William Ó Cellaigh of Calla. He was entered at King’s College,
Cambridge as Nehemiah Daniel on 13 Jan. 1579-80 ,
and shortly afterwards matriculated . Subsequently he migrated to
Catharine Hall, where he took the degree of B.A. in 1581-2.
On his return to Galway, he acted for some time as coadjutor to
William Ó Maolalaidh, archbishop of Tuam, and afterwards, on the recommendation of
Thomas, earl of Ormonde, he was appointed the
successor of that prelate, by letters patent dated 17 Aug. 1595.
Two days later he received restitution of the temporalities. In the
writ of privy seal directing his appointment, it was alleged that he was
very fit to communicate with the people in their mother tongue, and a
very meet instrument to retain and instruct them in duty and religion;
and that he had also taken pains in translating and putting to the press
the Communion Book and New Testament in the Irish language, which her
majesty greatly approved of.
It is asserted by Teige Ó Dubhagáin (see Dugan, who drew up a pedigree of the Donellan family, that he was
never in holy orders, but probably the genealogist may have been led to
make this startling assertion simply by an unwillingness to acknowledge
the orders of the reformed church. In addition to his see, the archbishop
held by dispensation the rectory of Kilmore in
the county of Kilkenny, and the vicarages of
Castle-doagh in the diocese of Ossory, and of Donard in
the diocese of Dublin. He voluntarily resigned his see in 1609, and dying
shortly afterwards at Tuam, was buried in the
cathedral there.
Nehemiah Donellan was a master of the Irish
language, and continued the version of the New Testament which had been
commenced by John Kearney and Nicholas Walsh, bishop of Ossory, and which was completed by William O'Donnell
or Daniell, who was afterwards raised to the
archiepiscopal see of Tuam. It was published in
1602 at Dublin, under the title of Tiomna
Nuadh ar dtighearna agus ar slanaightheora Iosa Criosd, ar na tarruing
gu firinneach as Gréigis gu gaoidheilg. Re Huilliam O Domhnuill. It was brought out at the expense of
the province of Connaught and of Sir William Usher, the clerk of the
council in Ireland. Great expectations were formed of this undertaking,
and it was confidently believed that it would be the means of destroying
the Roman church in Ireland. It is a noteworthy fact that of the four
scholars engaged in translating the New Testament into the Irish
vernacular, three - Kearney, Walsh, and Donellan
- received their education in the university of Cambridge.
By his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Nicolas O'Donnell, Nehemiah Donnellan had issue:
- - John
- - James, who was knighted,
and became lord chief justice of the common pleas in Ireland
- - Edmund, of Killucan in the county of Westmeath
- - Teigue,
of Ballyheague in the county of Kildare
- - Murtough,
who received holy orders in the Roman Catholic Church.
