There was a very good turnout for Declan Keenan’s lecture entitled “Mapping the Devolved Gaelic Territories of the O’Tooles”, on Tuesday evening, 1 November 2022 at the Lalor Centre in Baltinglass. The talk initially focussed on the south Kildare origins of the O’Tooles and their migration to the mountainous Glens of Wicklow after the Anglo-Norman invasion. Declan explored how the lordship expanded and diverged over the centuries so that by the late Sixteenth century there were three distinct septs, namely the Imaal O’Tooles, the Fercullen O’Tooles and the Castlekevin O’Tooles. With the aid of annotated maps, Declan plotted the respective O’Toole territories and the septs’ differing political fates up to the collapse of Gaelic Ireland. The talk had a unique viewpoint. Needless to say, the O’Tooles were well represented in the audience on the night.
Popular Talk on the O’ Tooles
