Hugh Boy MacDavitt

Hugh Boy MacDavitt (Irish:Aodh Buidhe Mac Daibheid) was a Gaelic Irish warrior from Inishowen. He was the brother of Phelim Reagh MacDavitt and the foster brother of Sir Cahir O'Doherty. Cahir had a strong claim to succeed as chief of the O'Doherty's, the dominant clan on Inishowen. Because of this he was captured by Red Hugh O'Donnell, who supported a rival candidate. The MacDavitt brothers succeeded in rescuing him. They had previously sided with the rebels during the Nine Years War, with Hugh Boy making a failed attempt to capture Culmore Fort.^[1] They now switched to support the Crown and allied themselves to Sir Henry Docwra, the English Governor of Derry.^[2]

On 11 August 1602 MacDavitt was killed during fighting near Omagh. He was later praised by Docwra as "a man whom I found faithful and honest".^[3]

References

Bibliography

• Falls, Cyril. Elizabeth's Irish Wars. Constable, 1996.
• Bradley, Jim & Dooher, John. The fair river valley: Strabane through the ages. Ulster Historical Foundation, 2000.
• McGurk, John. Sir Henry Docwra, 1564-1631: Derry's Second Founder. Four Courts Press, 2006.