The Daly family claim descent from Dalaigh tenth in descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages in the 4th Century.
The first of the family that can be traced as settled in County Galway was Dermot O'Daly (d. 1614) of Killimer who built a house there
and also got a grant of the manor of Laragh in 1578. He had five sons including Donagh O'Daly of Laragh. Donagh was succeeded by
his son James Daly who established the Daly's of Carrowenkelly and it was his great-great grandson Denis Daly who established the
fortunes of the Daly's of Dunsandle and had estates in Mayo, Galway, Clare and Limerick. He had to sell off half of these estates to
pay debts, but on his marriage to Henrietta Maxwell, only Daughter of the Earl of Farnham his fortunes once again increased. He built
Dunsandle House sometime in the mid to eighteen century. Denis was a Member of Parliament, a friend of Gratten and Mayor of Galway
in 1769 and again in 1772. There was a bitter conflict as to the mayoralty between Denis Daly and Patrick Blake of Drum and their
respective supporters from 1772 to 1776, but Daly finally prevailed. From 1776 to 1820 every mayor of Galway was a member of the
Daly family, save in 1817 when their nominee Parnel Gale was mayor.
As already mentioned he married Henrietta Maxwell in 1780 and this union produced two sons: James who inherited Dunsandle and
was created Baron Dunsandle on 6th June 1825, Rev. Robert Daly, who was Bishop of Cashel and five daughters. James the first was
succeeded by his sons Denis St. G. Daly, (2nd Baron Dunsandle), who was born in 1810, Skeffington James Daly and Robert Daly.
Denis St. G. Daly died on 11th January 1893 without leaving a legitimate male issue, so his brother Skeffington James Daly became the
3rd Baron (at this stage the Dunsandle Dalys' had estates of over 37,000 acres). Skeffington James died unmarried on the 7th September
1894 and he was succeeded as 4th Baron Dunsandle by his nephew James Fredrick Daly who also died unmarried on the 25th November
1911 and the title extinct with him. Dunsandle house was sold in 1954 and dismantled in 1958.
