Daingean is in the heart of Co. Offaly and was the seat of the O'Connell clan. The name means 'stronghold'. The English established a fort here in the 1540s called Fort Governor. The town grew up to support the fort and was renamed Philipstown in honour of Philip the II of Spain - who was Mary Tudor's husband, and she was Queen of England and Ireland at the time. When the Irish Free State was established in 1922, Philipstown became Daingean once more and King's County reverted to County Offaly.