In addition to their poetry, the senior members of the Ó Dálaigh sept were also chieftains, their lands included the minor 'kingdom' of Corca Raidhe (Corcaree) in Meath and Mhuintir Bháire in Cork. Royal courts would often grant lands to their bards, and many townlands such as Ballydaly, near Strokestown, Co. Roscommon, commemorate this in their names. In theory, the lands of Irish poets were held sacrosanct and could not be despoiled during warfare or raiding. Other members of the family were ecclesiastics: monks, abbots and bishops; they often combined their church roles with the production of religious poetry.