The Conynghams are originally a Scottish Protestant family, who planted in Ireland in 1611, during the Plantation of Ulster in County Donegal. With that, the family asserted control over lands around the village of "", near Donegal Town in the south of County Donegal. Concurrently, the then head of the family, Charles Conyngham, renamed the village in his own honour as Mountcharles (pronounced locally in South Donegal as 'Mount-char-liss'). The family also controlled an extensive estate in West Donegal, especially in The Rosses district.