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A. s TTEIE O'CONORS OF ... CONNAUGHT : Elm Tſ)istorical (II)emoir, COMPILED FROM A MS, OF THE LATE JOHN 0DONOWAN, LL.D. (Clith Elöðition 3 FROM THE STATE PAPERS AND PUBLIC RECORDS. BY THE RT, HON, CHARLES OWEN O'CONOR DON. DUBLIN : H O D G E S, FIG GIS, AND CO., G R A FT O N S T R E E T PUBLISHERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. 1891. w > ii TABLE OF CONTENTS. C H A P T E R I. DESCENT of O'Conors traceable to very remote period, 1. Sir James Mackintosh's opinion on ancient chronicles of Ireland, 2. Early colonisation of Ireland, 2. The sons of Milesius, 3. Feredach the Just, Monarch of Ireland, 4. Descendants of Heremon, 4. War of the Attacots, 4. Moran, chief minister of Feredach, 5. Fiacha Finnola, Monarch, 6. Revolt of Elim, King of Ulster, 6. Defeat and death of Elim, 6. Succession of Tuathal Techmar, 6. Fate of his daughters, 7. Origin of the Boromean tribute, 7. Succession of Felim the Law- giver, 8. The law of Eric, 8. Conn of the Hundred Battles, 9. Leath Cuin and Leath Mogha, 9. Battle of Magh Leana, 10. Death of Conn, 10. Prophecies ascribed to him, 10. Art, son of Conn, 11. Battle of Magh Mucruimhe, 11. Death of Art, 12. Succession of Mac Con, 12. His assassination, 12. Cormac, Son of Art, 12. Artifice of his rival, 13. Description of Cormac, 14. His legislative reforms, 15. His abdication, 15. His death, 16. Finn Mac Cumhail, 16. Story of Diarmid and Grainne, 17. Accession of Cairbre, son of Cormac, 17. Sends troops to Britain, 18. His death, 18. Fiacha, son of Cairbre, 18. War of the Collas, 18. Death of Fiacha, 18. Colla Huas succeeds him, 19. Defeated by Mur- chertagh, son of Fiacha, 19. Destruction of Eamania, 19. Death of Murchertagh, 19. -*- C H A P T E R II. A.D. 358-968. Eochy Moymedon, Monarch, 20. Story of Mongfinn and her brother Crimthan, 20. Nial of the Nine Hostages, 20. Brian, son of Eochy, succeeds only as King of Connaught, 21. Killed at Tullagh Donnell, 21. Buried at Roscam, 21. Duagh Galach, 22. Interview with St. Patrick, 22. Becomes King of Connaught, 22. Eoghan Shreve, 22. Muiredach Mal, 23. Fergus, 23. Eochy Termacherna, 23. Aedh, King of Connaught, 23. His son executed, 23. St. Finian and St. Columbkille, 24. Cathach of Columbkille, 25. Uada, King of Connaught, 25. Roghallach, son of Uada, 25. His death, 26. Fergus, son of Roghallach, 26. Muiredhach Muilethan, 26. Descendants called “Siol Murray,” 26. Innrechtach, King of Connaught, 27. Murgil and Tomaltach, son and grandson of Innrechtach, never kings, 27. Muirgis, son of Tomaltach, King of Connaught, 27. Teige, son of Muirgis, 27. Conor, son of Teige, King of Connaught, 28. Cathal, son of Conor, King of Connaught, 28. Teige of the Three Towers, 28. Death of Teige, 29. - vi CONTENTS. C H A P T E R III. A.D. 968-1106. Conor, son of Teige, King of Connaught, 30. Name of O'Conor derived from him, 30. Cathal, son of Conor, succeeds him, 30. Builds a stone bridge over the Shannon, 31. Brian Boru, 31. Teige of the White Steed, 31. Stated to have been at Battle of Clontarf, 32. This unlikely, 32. Hugh of the Broken Spear, 32. Disputes with O'Rourke, 32, Burns Kincora, 33. Killed at Oranmore, 33. Rory of the Yellow Hound, 34. Submits to O'Brien, 34. Acknowledges M'Loughlin as Monarch, 35. His eyes put out, 35. Enters a monastery, 35. His son Donnell succeeds him, 36. He is deposed, 36. Munificence of Irish princes to the Church, 37. Shrine of St. Manchan, 37. Chalice of Cloonmacnoise, 37. C H A P T E R IV . A.D. 1106-1156. Turlough Mor, son of Rory, becomes King of Connaught, 38. Aspires to the sovereignty of Ireland, 39. Death of the Monarch M'Loughlin, 40. Turlough O'Conor, the most powerful of subordinate kings, 40. Makes his son King of Meath, 41. Defeat of King of Munster, 42. Munster divided between O'Brien and M*Carthy, 42. Turlough now supreme in Ireland, 42. Abduction of O’Rourke's wife by MºMurrough, 43. Turlough supports O'Rourke, 43. Conflicts with O'Brien and M'Loughlin, 43. Death of Turlough, 44. His family, 44. Cathedral of Tuam, 45. Chancel arch there, 45. Cross of Tuam, 45. Works at Cloonmacnoise, 45. Cross of Cong, 46. Castles of Galway, Ballinasloe, and Collooney, 46. Establishment of a mint, 46. C H A P T E R W . A.D. 1156-1186. Roderic, son of Turlough Mor, 47. Succeeds as King of Connaught, 47. M'Loughlin becomes Monarch of Ireland, 47. Roderic submits to him, 47. Death of M'Loughlin, 47. Roderic recognised as Monarch, 48. Assembly in Meath, 48. Division of Tyrone between O'Neill and M*Loughlin, 48. Disputes between O’Rourke and M*Murrough, 49. M*Mur- rough flies to England, 50. His kingdom declared forfeited, 50. Waits on Henry II. in France, 50. Henry receives him favourably, 51. Strongbow promises aid, 51. Fitzgerald and Fitzstephen join him, 51. He returns to Ireland, 51. Tries to recover his kingdom, 51. Roderic marches against him, 52. He submits to Roderic, 52. Renounces claims to Leinster, CONTENTS. vii 52. First landing of Anglo-Normans in Ireland, 52. Taking of Wexford, 53. Expedition into Ossory, 54. Roderic and O’Rourke proceed against M*Murrough, 54. He again submits and gives hostages, 55. Arrival of Fitzgerald from Wales, 56. Attack on the Danes of Dublin, 56. O'Brien renounces allegiance to Roderic, 56. M*Murrough joins him, 56. Roderic defeated, 56. M“Murrough aspires to the sovereignty, 57. Landing of Strongbow, 57. Capture of Waterford, 58. Marriage of Eva with Strongbow, 58. Dublin taken by the invaders, 59. Synod at Armagh, 60. Death of M*Murrough, 61. Strongbow claims suc- cession to throne of Leinster, 61. The Danes attempt to recover Dublin, 61. Their defeat, 62. Hasculph executed, 62. Roderic besieges Dublin, 62. Strongbow almost compelled to surrender, 63. Negotiations with Roderic, 63. Their failure, 63. The besieged sally forth, 64. The Irish forces defeated, 64. Strongbow returns to England, 65. Henry II. lands in Ireland, 65. Submission of Irish kings and chieftains, 66. Peace made between Henry and Roderic, 67. Roderic submits to Henry, 67. Who returns to England, 67. Revolt of Irish chiefs, 68. Victory of Roderic and O'Brien over the English, 69. Marriage of Raymond le Gros, 69. Bull of Pope Adrian IV., 70. Defeat of O’Brien, 71. Treaty of Windsor, 72. Roderic recognised as King of Connaught, 73. His son rebels, 73. The English support him, 73. Their defeat, 74. Death of Laurence O’Toole, 75. John, son of Henry TI., comes to Ireland, 75. Rebellion of Roderic's sons, 76. He abdicates, 76. His character, 76. His death, 77. C H A P T E R W I. A.D. 1186-1201. Conor Moinmoy, son of Roderic, 78. Becomes King of Connaught, 78. He defeats the English, 79. Is assassinated, 79. Accession of Cathal Carrach, 79. Opposed by Cathal Crovedearg, 80. Confiicts between them, 81. DeBurgh joins Cathal Crovedearg, 81. Cathal Carrach slain, 81. Disputes between Cathal Crovedearg and De Burgh, 82. C H A P T E R W II. A.D. 1201-1224. Cathal Crovedearg, son of Turlough Mor, 83. His inauguration, 83, 84. His supposed resignation of two-thirds of Connaught, 85. Subsequently recognised as King of Connaught by English kings, 86. Visit of King John to Ireland, 86. He forms counties there, 87. Returns to England, 87. Succession of King Henry III., 88. DeBurgh's offer, 88. The De Lacys rebel, 89. Subdued by Cathal Crovedearg and Earl of Pembroke, 89. Letters of Cathal to Henry, 89, 90, 91. Death of Cathal Crovedearg, 91. Abbey of Knockmoy, 92. Abbey of Ballintober, 92. viii CONTENTS. C H A P T E R W III. A.D. 1224-1233. Hugh, son of Cathal Crovedearg, 93. Opposed by sons of Roderic, 93. Their defeat, 94. Proposal of De Burgh, 95. Hugh O'Conor summoned to Athlone, 96. Rupture with the English, 96. Charter granted to De Burgh, 96. Death of Hugh, son of Cathal Crovedearg, 97. Hugh, son of Roderic, becomes king, 97. Opposed by Felim, son of Cathal Crovedearg, 98. De Burgh and Felim O'Conor, 99. Hugh, son of Roderic, restored, 99. His death, 100. C H A P T E R IX. A.T). 1233-1274. Rory, son of Hugh and grandson of Cathal Crovedearg, 101. He is drowned in the Shannon, 101. Never king, 101. His uncle Felim proclaimed king, 101. Destroys the castles of the English, 102. Peace made, 103. Felim proceeds to England, 104. Favourably received by Henry III., 104. De Burgh in disgrace, 104. Felim joins Henry in expedition against King of Wales, 105. De Burgh restored to favour, 106. Remonstrances of Felim, 107. Relim reconciled with De Burgh, 108. Battle of Drumderg, 108. De Burgh attacks Felim, 109. Peace re-established, 110. Death of Felim, 111. His tomb at Roscommon, 111. His seal, 111. Succeeded by his son Hugh, 111. Incursion of De Burgh into Hugh O'Conor's territory, 112. Castle of Roscommon erected, 113. Defeat of De Burgh, 114. Castle of Roscommon destroyed, 114. Death of Henry III., 114. Death of Hugh, son of Felim, 114. C H A P T E R X. A.D. 1274-1293. Owen, son of Rory, 116. Succeeds his cousin Felim, 116. Reigns only a few months, 116. Succeeded by Hugh, son of Cathal Dall, 116. Teige, son of Turlough, inaugurated, 117. He seeks recognition from Edward I., 117. Hugh Muimneach disputes the sovereignty with him, 118. Death of Teige, 118. The Irish seek the protection of English law, 118. This refused to them, 118. Succession of Hugh Muimneach, 119. His death, 119. Cathal, of the race of Murtough Muimneach, 120. Treaty with the Justiciary, 121. Famine in Ireland, 122. Manus, brother of Cathal, inaugurated, 122. His death, 123. CONTENTS. 1X: C H A P T E R X. I. A.D. 1293-1324. Hugh, son of Owen, 124. Succeeds Manus, 124. Taken prisoner by Fitzgerald, 124. Deposed by his own people, 125. Subsequently restored, 125. De Burgh claims all Con- naught, 126. Connaught divided into two counties, 126. Death of Hugh, 127. His son Felim, 128. Inaugurated by M*Dermot, 129. Ceremonies of inauguration, 129, 130. Edward Bruce invited to Ireland, 131. Lands in Ireland, 132. Felim joins expedition against him, 132. Overtures from Bruce to him, 133. They are accepted, 133. Felim returns to Con- naught, 134. Defeats his rival Rory, 135. Declares in favour of Bruce, 135. Battle of Athenry and death of Felim, 136. Succeeded by Rory, grandson of Owen, 137. He is deposed, 137. Cathal, son of Donnell, 137. Remonstrance of Irish to Pope John XXII., 138. Defeat and death of Bruce, 139. Cathal slain, 140. C H A P T E R X II. A.D. 1324-1345. Turlough, son of Hugh, 141. Proclaimed king by Irish of Connaught, 141. Attacked by the Burkes, 142. Hostilities between the Burkes, 142. Rebellion of the Clan Costello, 143. Turlough imprisons his nephew, Hugh, son of Felim, 143. Turlough deposed, 143. Subsequently restored, 143. Killed, 144. C H A P T E R XIII. A.D. 1345–1384. Hugh, son of Turlough, 145. Succeeds his father, 145. O'Conor Sligo sept oppose him, 145. His death, 146. Hugh, son of Felim, inaugurated, 146. Duke of Clarence comes to Ireland, 147. Parliament at Kilkenny, 147. Statutes of Kilkenny, 147. Alarm of native Irish, 148. O'Conor and O’Brien unite against the English, 148. Death of Hugh, son of Felim, 149. Roderic, son of Turlough, succeeds, 149. Great plague in Ireland, 149. Roderic dies of it, 149. C H A P T E R X IV . A.D. 1384-1464. Turlough Oge, son of Hugh, 150. Claims the sovereignty, 151. Disputed by his cousin, Turlough Roe, 150. Division of the chieftaincy, 151. Origin of titles “Don’’ and “Roe,” 151, 152. Richard II. lands in Ireland, 153. Irish chieftains submit to him, 153. Tuetter of Turlough Oge, 154. Meets Richard at Waterford, 155. Submits, 155. Richard returns to & * X. CONTENTS. England, 156. Turlough Oge badly received in Connaught, 156. He is killed, 156. Cathal, son of Roderic, succeeds as chieftain, 156. Opposed by O'Conor Roe, 157. O'Conor Roe burns Roscommon, 158. Small Castle of Roscommon erected, 158. Death of Turlough Roe, 159. Death of Cathal, 159. Hugh, son of Turlough Oge, and Teige, son of Turlough Roe, rival chieftains, 159. Death of Hugh, 160. Felim Finn, son of O'Conor Roe, rebels, 161. Death of Teige O'Conor Roe, 161. C H A P T E R X W . A.D. 1464-1474. Felim (Geancach), son of Turlough Oge, 162. O'Donnell invades Connaught, 163. Takes the castle of Sligo, 163. Story of “Leabhar ma-h-Uidhri,” 163. Death of Felim, 164. Castle of Ballintober, 164. O'Donovan's account of it, 165. Taken by Sir Edward Fytton, 166. Walls destroyed by O'Donnell, 167. Rebuilt by Sir Hugh O'Conor Don, 167. Passed to the Burkes of Portumna, 167. Sold to Mr. Mahon, 167. C H A P T E R X W I. A.D. 1474-1503. Owen (Caech), son of Felim, 168. Marries daughter of Felim Finn O'Conor Roe, 181. His death, 169. His cousin Hugh succeeds as chieftain, 169. Exploits of Felim Finn, 169. Death of Felim Finn, 170. Famine in Ireland, 170. Death of Hugh, 171. Castle of Ros- common, 171. Built on land belonging to the monks, 171. Plan of castle, 172. Charges against the Bishop of Waterford, 173. Charges against William De Prene, 174. Castle taken by the O'Conors, 175. Retaken by Sir Henry Sydney, 175. Application of L'Estrange, 176. Lease made to Sir N.Malby, 176. Surrendered to parliamentary army, 177. *-*-am- cHAPTER xv.11. A.D. 1503-1550. Carbry, son of Owen, 178. Feud between O'Neill and O'Donnell, 178. O'Conor sup- ports the former, 179. Defeat of O’Neill, 179. O'Donnell compels O'Conor to give hostages, 180. O'Conor Sligo recognised as head of the clan, 180. Terms of submission of O'Conor Sligo, 180, 181. Parliament in Dublin, 181. Title of King of Ireland conferred on King Henry VIII., 181. Death of Carbry, 182. Hugh, son of Owen (Caech), succeeds, 182. Deposed by Clanricarde, 182. CONTENTS. xi C H A P T E R X W III. A.D. 1550-1585. Dermot, son of Carbry, 183. His birth, 183. Succeeds to chieftaincy, 183. English power in Ireland slight, 183. Accession of Queen Mary, 183. Confiscations in Leinster, 184. Accession of Elizabeth, 184. Connaught divided into six counties, 185. Castle of Roscommon taken by Sir Henry Sydney, 185. Sir Edward Fytton appointed President of Connaught, 186. O'Conor Don and M*Dermot indicted of treason, 187. Civil war in Ireland, 187. Sir Henry Sydney's government, 188. Parliament convened in Dublin, 189. Sir N. Malby and O'Rourke, 188, 189. Sir Richard Bingham appointed Governor of Connaught, 190. Parlia- ment in Dublin, 190. Death of Dermot, 190, 191. C H A P T E R X. IX. A.D. 1585–1632. Hugh, son of Dermot, 192. Sir John Perrot, Lord Deputy, 193. Commissioners appointed in Connaught, 194. Indenture with Hugh O'Conor, 195. He accepts English title to his lands, 196. Perrot's disputes with Privy Council, 197. Bingham, Governor of Connaught, 198. Massacre at Ardnaree, 198, 199. Imprisonment of Hugh O'Conor, 199. Bingham sent to Flanders, 200. O'Conor released by Perrot, 201. Indignation of Bingham, 201. Case of O'Conor Sligo, 202. Bingham seizes castle of Sligo, 203. Perrot orders its restoration, 203. 204. Perrot's resignation, 204. Fitzwilliam appointed his successor, 204. Irish opinion of Bingham, 205. Hugh O'Conor again imprisoned, 206. Bingham and O'Rourke, 206. Execution of O’Rourke, 207. Bingham's tyranny, 207. O'Neill and O’Donnell, 208. Sir Conyers Clifford appointed governor of Connaught, 209. Successes of O'Neill and O’Donnell, 210. Battle of the Curlieus, 211. O'Donnell takes Ballintober, 212. Hugh O'Conor knighted, 212. Battle of Kinsale, 213. Death of Elizabeth, 213. Condition of Ireland, 214. Accession of James I., 215. Boundaries of Co. Roscommon, 216, 217. Inquisitions ordered, 218. Patent to Sir Hugh O'Conor Don, 219, 220. Treatment of Irish Catholic chieftains, 221. Death of Sir Hugh O'Conor Don, 222. C H A P T E R X. X. A.D. 1632-1655. Calvach, or Charles O'Conor, eldest son of Sir Hugh, 223. His birth, 223. His marriage, 223. Lands settled on him, 224. Selected as candidate for Roscommon, 224. Preparation for calling Parliament together, 225. Creation of new boroughs, 225. Co. Roscommon elec- tion, 226. Meeting of Parliament, 227. Inquiry into Roscommon election, 228. Disturbers xii CONTENTS. of Parliament, 229. Description of Connaught, 229. Condition of Ireland, 232. Strafford's proposed plantation of Connaught, 233. Arming of Irish Catholics, 235. Depositions in Trinity College, 236. Meeting at Ballintober, 237. Address to Lord Clanricarde, 237. Battle of Ballintober, 238. Confiscation Act passed in England, 240. Further confiscations, 241. Catholics to transplant to Connaught, 241. Commissioners of Athlone and Loughrea, 242. Death of Calvach, 242. His son Hugh, 242. Appointed colonel in Irish army, 243. A prisoner in Castlecoote, 243. Surrenders to Parliamentary army, 244. Charged with murder of Cunnoghan, 245. Joins the king, 245. Captain in Duke of Gloucester's regiment, 246. Petition from that regiment, 246. Hugh O'Conor presents his claim under Act of Settlement, 248. His death, 248. His son Hugh restored to a portion of his estates, 249. Mortgage to Sir Terence Dermot, 249. Hugh's death, 249. His uncle Charles succeeds, 249. His death at house of Col. Thos. Burke, 249, Burke goes into possession of the estate, 249. Held by his representatives, 250. C H A P T E R X. XI. A.D. 1610-1820. Hugh Oge O'Conor, second son of Sir Hugh, 251. His marriage, 251. Lands settled on him, 252. Conference at Ballintober, 252. Selected to wait on Lord Clanricarde, 252. Interview with Clanricarde, 253. His reply, 254. Hugh O'Conor appointed lieutenant-colonel in Irish army, 256. Battle of Ballintober, 256. Overtures from Clanricarde, 257. Reply from the Irish, 257. Hugh O'Conor taken prisoner, 259. Depositions of O'Flynn, 259. Death of Hugh, 260. His son Daniel, 260. His marriage, 260. Joins the Irish confederation, 261. Supports Owen O'Neill, 262. Letter from Lucas Taaffe, 263. Cromwell successful, 263. Articles of submission of Irish officers, 263. O'Conor retires to Spain, 264. Award of Loughrea Commissioners, 264. O'Conor returns, 265. His petition, 265. His death, 265. Andrew O'Conor, 265. His marriage, 265. Succeeds to title of O'Conor Don, 266. His death, 266. Daniel, son of Andrew, 266. Domnick, son of Daniel, 266. Alexander, son of Daniel, 267. C H A P T E R X. XII. A.D. 1627-1692. Cahill O'Conor, third son of Sir Hugh, 268. His name, 268. His marriage, 269. Deed with his brother, 269. Inquisition in Roscommon, 272. His death, 272. His son, Owen, 273. Joins the king in Flanders, 274. Major in Duke of Gloucester's regiment, 274. The king's restoration, 274. His “Declaration,” 274. Act of Settlement, 277. Bill of Explan- ation, 279. Decree of innocence of Major O'Conor, 280. Act of Grace, 281. Owen O'Conor adheres to James II., 282. His death, 282. Charges on his property, 283. CONTENTS. xiii C H A P T E R XXIII. A.D. 1692–1696. Charles, son of Cahill O'Conor, 284. Espouses cause of James II., 284. Battle of the Boyne, 284. Charles O'Conor declared an outlaw, 284. His will, 284. Felim his son attainted of treason, 285. C H A P T E R X. XIV. A.D. 1696-1750. Denis O'Conor, son of Charles, 286. Trustees of Forfeited Estates, 287. Denis O'Conor's petition, 287. Decree of trustees, 288. Mortgages on his estates, 289. Severity of laws against Catholics, 289. He recovers a portion of his property, 290. Transactions with the Frenches, 290. Col. Tiernan O’Rourke, 290. Carolan, the Irish bard, 291. Bishop O’Rourke, 291. Denis O'Conor's death, 291. amas-s-s C H A P T E R X. X W. A.D. 1750-1884. Charles O'Conor of Belanagare, son of Denis, 292. His early life, 292. His marriage, 293. His first works, 293. His character, 293. His labours as an antiquarian, 294. His works and letters, 295. Bill of discovery filed against him, 296. His retirement to Hermitage, and death, 297. His second son Charles of Mount Allen, 297. Correspondence with John Keogh, 299. Society of United Irishmen, 299. Belfast declaration, 299, Correspondence with Napper Tandy, 300. With Theobald M'Kenna, 301. Catholic Convention, 301. Selected as delegate from Co. Sligo, 301. Letter from Sinclair, 301. O'Conor's proposals, 302. His death, 303. His son Thomas joins United Irishmen, 303. Emigrates to America, 303. His literary labours, 304. His death, 304. His son Charles O'Conor, of New York, 304. A distinguished lawyer, 304. His early life, 305. Success at his profession, 305. American opinion regarding him, 305. His death, 307. C H A P T E R X. X W I. A.D. 1790-1845. Denis O'Conor, son of Charles of Belanagare, 308. Position of Catholics at the close of last century, 308. Catholic Committee, 309. Resolutions of the Committee, 310. Petition to Parliament, 310. Letter from Lewis Lyons, 311. Meeting in Tulsk, 312. Denis O'Conor chairman, 312. Petition to Parliament rejected, 313. Catholic delegates, 315. Address xiv CONTENTS. from Catholics of Roscommon, 316. Letters from Lord Dillon, 316. Appointment of Lord Fitzwilliam, 317. Addresses to him, 318. His recall, 318. Denis O'Conor retires from public life, 318. His death, 318. His second son, Charles, 319. Studies in Rome, 319. Appointed parish priest of Castlerea, 319. Chaplain to Marchioness of Buckingham, 319. His writings, 319. His death, 319. Mathew O'Conor, 320. C H A P T E R X. X W II. A.D. 1793-1831. Owen O'Conor, son of Denis, 321. Joins Irish Volunteers, 321. Delegate to Catholic Convention, 321. Friend of John Keogh, 322. Correspondence with M'Kenna, 322. Letter of Keogh on arrival of Lord Fitzwilliam, 323. Results of Fitzwilliam’s recall, 324. Owen O'Conor opposed to Act of Union, 324. Formation of Catholic Board, 324. Letter from Keogh to Owen O'Conor, 325. O'Conor joins O'Connell's party, 325. O'Connell's letters, 326. Death of O'Conor Don of Clonalis, 328. Owen O'Conor succeeds to title, 328. Catholic Emancipa- tion, 328. Owen O'Conor Don elected for Co. Roscommon, 328. Recognition of his services to Catholic cause, 328. His death, 328. O'Connell's letter to his son, 329. C H A P T E R X. X W III. A.D. 1631-1800. Brian O'Conor, fourth son of Sir Hugh, 330. Captain in Irish army, 330. Depositions against him, 330. Lands decreed to his wife at Athlone, 331. His son Roger joins Duke of Gloucester's regiment, 331. Adheres to James II., 331. His estates forfeited and sold, 331. His son Owen settles at Corrasduna, 332. Roderic O'Conor of Ballycahir, 332. Thomas O'Conor of Milton, 332. CONTENTS. XV A P P E N DIC E S. A.—Letter of Felim O'Conor, 335. B.—Order on petition of Richard De Burgh, 336. C.—Professor O'Looney on title “ Don,” 339. D.—Submission of Turlough Oge O'Conor to King Richard II., 341. E.—Indenture between Sir John Perrot and Hugh O'Conor Don, 346. F.—Disputes between Perrot and Privy Council, 351. G.—Fiant for Letters Patent from James I. to Sir Hugh O'Conor Don, 353. H.—Chancery Inquisition, Co. Roscommon, No. 22, James I., 362. I.—Translation of Chancery Inquisition, Co. Roscommon, No. 87, Charles I., 366. K.—Examination of Hugh O'Conor, 11th February, 1642, before Sir Robert Mere- dith, Knt., 371. L.—Votes of the Lords and Commons upon propositions for reducing the kingdom of Ireland, 374. M.—Reports on the Claims of Transplanted Persons in Connaught and Clare, 375. N.—Depositions made in 1653 by Major Ormsby, Sir L. Dillon, and Col. Hugh O’Connor, 381. O.—List of Officers in Duke of Glocester's Regiment, 382. P.—Translation of Chancery Inquisition, Co. Roscommon, No. 92, Chas. I., 384. Q.—List of lands reserved in Patent to Sir Hugh O'Conor Don in 1617. R.—Genealogical Tables. T 0 11. TLíðt of 3Ilugtration g, O-ºs Lº-O - Page, . THE CASTLE OF BALLINTOBER, Co. Roscom Mon, tº º º tº tº º ... Frontispiece. THE CHALICE OF CLONMACNOISE, ALSO CALLED “THE ARDAGH Cup,” ... ... 37 CHANCEL ARCH IN ANCIENT CHURCH of TUAM, tº a 9 tº a tº gº tº º ... 45 CROSS OF CONG, ... tº € gº tº tº gº tº º ºs & ſº tº © tº º § º ſº ... 77 . ABBEY OF BALLINTOBER, Co. MAYO, tº is tº Q & E. & ſº tº ſº tº e ... 93 . SEAL OF FELIM O'Conor, ... § tº tº tº º tº ë e tº tº e G & a ſº ... 101 ToMB of FELIM O'Conor IN ABBEY OF Roscom Mon, ... sº e ∈ tº a º ... 111 . BALLINTOBER CASTLE, Co. RoscomMON (Second View) tº ſº e tº a tº ... 115 . ROSCOMMON CASTLE, tº ſº tº tº gº º $ ſº c tº t tº tº § {} tº º º ... 171 . STONE CROSS OF TUAM, tº º º © tº º tº ſº tº tº º ſº tº tº tº & e tº ... 223 SHRINE OF ST. MANCHAN, ... tº gº tº tº º ſº tº ſº º tº tº º tº tº º ... 251 INTRODUCTION. §§N undertaking to put together the following Memoir, I am not un- } conscious that the task is one of very considerable difficulty, inasmuch as an Historical Memoir of the O'Conors of Con- naught would, if fully and adequately treated, be nothing less, in the earlier periods, than a History of Ireland, and, at a later date, a History of the Kingdom of Connaught. To become successfully the historian of either is more than I aspire to. The aim I have proposed to myself is of a much more humble character, and is confined to an attempt to place before the reader, in a consecutive form, a record of historical facts which had been com- piled with care by one of Ireland's best known and greatest antiquarians. Memoirs of several of the chief ancient families of Ireland have already, at one time or another, been written ; but up to the present no accurate or detailed account of that family whose chiefs were monarchs of Ireland before and at the time of the English invasion, has ever been published." This omission has not arisen from any want of materials for the subject. For generations after the English invasion the O'Conors were recognised even by the English sovereigns as “Kings” of Connaught. When this formal recog- nition ceased, they continued to be so regarded by their countrymen, and the Irish Annals, down to the very latest periods with which they deal, abound in most detailed information as to the family history, succession, and pedigrees. Armed with this information, the late eminent Irish scholar and antiquarian, 1 Dr. O'Conor, in the opening pages of the Life of his grandfather, has given a brief, but not alto- gether consecutive, account of his ancestors; and, since his time, other short, but, in most cases, very inaccurate, accounts of the O'Conor family have been published. xx INTRODUCTION. Dr. John O'Donovan, some years before his death, undertook, at the solicitation of some members of the O'Conor Don family, to compile a Memoir worthy of the ancient race. No man could have been more fitted for adequately dis- charging the task. A profound Irish scholar, intimately acquainted with all the ancient records which had to be referred to, he possessed, in a remark- able degree, peculiar qualifications for carrying out the project which he had undertaken. Unfortunately he died before its accomplishment, and the materials which he had collected, in an unfinished and rough form, passed into the hands of the late Mr. Charles O'Conor of New York, by whom the MS. was transferred to the writer of these pages, with the expression of a wish that at some future day a Memoir of the family might be published. In the accomplishment of this wish, and to preserve from oblivion all that is of value in Dr. O'Donovan’s MS., I have attempted the following. In what relates to the more ancient part of this History the above- mentioned MS. of Dr. O'Donovan has been the text which I have taken. Records and traditions which run back to the very earliest periods of civilized antiquity must be received with caution ; and I do not ask for them further credence than similar histories in other lands, and even in Ireland, have obtained. “Who is so skilful,” says Camden, “that, struggling with time in the foggy, dark sea of antiquity, may not run upon rocks?” I have not for- gotten the force of this query, nor do I imagine that I have escaped the dangers therein indicated. I do not pretend that every story and tradition handed down to us regarding Milesius and his descendants is to be accepted as true, and in dealing with these very early periods I but record the state- ments of our ancient bards and writers, which have been preserved mainly in the Irish Annals, of which Dr. O'Donovan has been the most eminent inter- preter. So far as mere family pedigree or descent is concerned, this can be traced beyond all manner of dispute for many generations before the English invasion. When Henry II. landed in Ireland, Roderic O'Conor was then chief king, or monarch, in that country. His father, Turlough O'Conor, had held the same position before him. Turlough's father, also called Roderic, had been King of Connaught up to the year IOg2, and the succession of the O'Conors, as Kings of Connaught, anterior to this date, has been preserved with most undoubted accuracy for many centuries. Deprived of the sovereignty of Ireland by King Henry's successful inva- sion, Roderic O'Conor continued, under the Treaty of Windsor, to rule over Connaught, and, as before remarked, the O'Conors were recognised as such INTRODUCTION. xxi rulers even in English official documents down to a much later date. When they ceased to be kings, they were still such great lords and chieftains that their history and the history of their country became one and inseparable. Up to the time of the breaking out of the Irish rebellion in 1641, the family history is recorded in the Irish Annals, in the English State Papers, and in other contemporary documents of a public character. For fifty years after I64I it is written in the records of the confiscations and restorations of pro- perty which followed each other in such quick succession during the reigns of the Stuarts. From the accession of the House of Hanover it is preserved in family letters and law papers, marriage settlements, wills, and other similar documents. Although Dr. O'Donovan's MS. forms the main basis of the earlier por- tion of this Memoir, I have found it necessary in many instances largely to supplement it by references to other authorities. Dr. O'Donovan relied mainly, if not entirely, on Irish sources for his information. I have thought it neces- sary to supplement this by reference to the English State Papers and public records, which, in a most remarkable way, bear out and confirm the accounts given by the native chroniclers. Up to the year 1585, when Hugh O'Conor Don formally relinquished the position of an independent Irish chieftain, and having surrendered his lands to the Queen, accepted them back under a patent from the English crown, I have endeavoured to give an account of all the distinguished members of the family, who at any time claimed to be, or asserted their right to be, leaders or chiefs of the people, and I have arranged this History under the different kings or chiefs according as each succeeded to the chieftaincy. From the beginning of the seventeenth century, and especially after the disastrous rebel- lion of I641, it was impossible to follow the same course, and the history of the family from that date has been confined to the descendants of this Hugh, who accepted a knighthood from Sir John Perrot, the Queen's representative in Ireland, and who, dying in 1632, transmitted his vast estates to his four SO11S. Through the troubled times which succeeded the Parliamentary wars, I have endeavoured to follow the fortunes of the descendants of each of these sons, and to trace what became of the estates which they inherited. In instances of the extraordinary difficulties thrown in the way of the ancient Irish Catholic families preserving their faith and their properties, the history of the descendants of Sir Hugh O'Conor abound. In this respect it commands an interest far beyond that of a mere family history, and one cannot help xxii INTRODUCTION. wondering, not that so little of the ancient extensive estates remained in possession of the family, but that any portion of them was preserved. Since the time of Sir Hugh O'Conor Don, this Memoir, dealing exclusively with his descendants, does not aspire to give more than an account of the different branches of the O'Conor Don family, and the other two great families of the O'Conors of Connaught, viz., O'Conor Sligo and O'Conor Roe, are but inci- dentally referred to. The descendants of Sir Hugh O'Conor Don's eldest son, Calvach or Charles, became extinct in the male line about the year 1699, when the head- ship of the family passed to the then representative of his second son, Hugh or “Hugh Oge O'Conor” of Castlerea. In this line it continued until 1820, when, on the death of Alexander O'Conor Don of Clonalis, the descendants of Hugh Oge, in the male line, also became extinct, and what was left of the family estates and the family honours passed to the descendant of the third son, Cathal, or Cahill, O'Conor, and Owen O'Conor of Belanagare, the grand- father of the writer, became O'Conor Don." Sir Hugh O'Conor Don's fourth son Brian also left descendants, who are referred to in their proper place. In dealing with the history of a family of which different members, living at the same time, frequently bore the same name, it is often difficult to be certain of the identity of the individual; yet there is nothing more striking than the remarkable manner in which one ancient record supplies the informa- tion which is wanting in another, and how all agree in almost all the main facts to which they testify. By careful comparison of these different records, all doubts as to identity are cleared away, and the actual descent itself is rendered perfectly unassail- able. In order to mark this descent from father to son, the names of those through whom it passed are printed in capital letters, other chiefs and leaders having their names printed in italics. In carrying out the investigations necessary for the completion of this work, I was obliged to have much recourse to the records preserved in the Record Office at the Four Courts, Dublin, and in Birmingham Tower, Dublin Castle ; and I have to express my acknowledgments to the officers of both for the courtesy and assistance which they at all times gave me. My thanks are * “O’Conor Don.” The origin and meaning of this title are dealt with in the text at p. 151. This title was borne by the head of one branch of the O'Conors since the close of the fourteenth century, and up to a late period, without any prefix. The use of the definite article “the,” as a prefix, is therefore incorrect, and of modern introduction. It does not date back earlier than the present century. INTRODUCTION. xxiii in an especial manner due to Sir Bernard Burke, and to Mr. Gilbert, to whose works I have had occasion frequently to refer, as also to the late Mr. W. M. Hennessy, whose assistance in deciphering the more ancient and illegible documents at the Record Office, I found invaluable. Besides the entries in the Irish Annals, references to the family history abound in almost all the ancient Irish MSS., and especially in those collected by the Venerable Charles O'Conor of Belanagare, which subsequently passed into the possession of the Duke of Buckingham, and then to Lord Ashburn- ham, and have lately been placed in the strong room of the Royal Irish Academy. Amongst these may be mentioned the following:— “Leabhar Gabaltas.” Ashburnham Collection.—A very ancient MS.; contains, according to Dr. O'Conor, poems written before seventh century. In this will be found an account of the war of the Attacots about the end of the first century. The narrative, supported by a poem, written before A.D. 884. Restoration of “Tuathal,” and the oath of the Irish chiefs, clearly of Pagan origin, supported by two Irish poems of the seventh century. Metrical Catalogues of the provincial Kings of Ireland. Ashburnham Collection.— A poem on succession of the Kings of Connaught. Date 1136, reign of Turlough More. Continuation of this to Torloch, son of Hugh, A.D. 1365. This poem, composed for the inauguration of Torloch, by the court bard, Donchad Mailconaire (168 verses). Poem on Hugh O'Conor's palace at Cairnfree. Ditto by Angus Roe O'Daly. An Irish chronicle of the Kings of Connaught, from the date of St. Patrick to A.D. 1464, with marginal notes by Mr. O'Conor. Translated from the Book of Kilronan about 1727. An Irish poem by the court bard Torna, on the inauguration of Felim O'Conor in I31 O. Another on his restoration in 1315. Pedigree of O'Conor family in Irish, from “Annals of the Four Masters.” A poem of eighty verses, by Calvach O'Conor Don, with the genealogy of O'Conor Don. O'Duvegan's Poems. A.D. 1360. Thirty-one stanzas on the O'Conors, Kings of Connaught. Carmina Hibernica. Written in reign of James I. Chronological series of Irish kings to reign of Torloch Mor. Metrical list of Christian kings to same date. Metrical list of Kings of Connaught, by Donchad Mailconaire. Poem in honour of Magnus O'Conor, who died in 1293, by O'Higgins, who wrote in 1293. The succession of the Connaught kings is given to this date. xxiv. INTRODUCTION. Poem by Concubar, son of Torloch Og O'Conor, on the downfall and subjection of the ancient inhabitants of Ireland. Poem by Teige Mor O'Conor, lamenting his old age, the downfall of Ireland, and his inability to fight for his country, The Book of O’Duigenan – Poem on the death of Hugh, the son of Calvach O'Conor, transcribed in 1672. Poem entitled “The Elegy of Calvach O'Conor.” Irish Synchronisms by O'Flaherty. Maguire Collection :- Poem giving the names, order of succession, and chronology, of the Christian Kings of Connaught. A chronicle synchronizing the provincial Kings of Ireland with the Supreme kings, from A.D. 547 to Roderic, son of Hugh, and father of Torloch Mor. Several Irish Poems, in loose sheets, of very ancient date, dealing with family history of O'Conors. The foregoing all in Ashburnham Collection. In Irish MSS., Trinity College Library, H. 2, 17, p. 238, pedigree of the O'Conors, from Hugh, son of Dermot (Sir Hugh), up to Heremon, son of Milesius. Book of Lecan :- Several genealogies of O'Conors. Poem on Brian, son of Hugh, son of Felim O'Conor, and his wife Margaret, daughter of O’Farrell. Col. 212. * Poem on Torloch O'Conor. Col. 214. THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. C H A P T E R I. HE race whose history is traced in the following pages figure so conspicuously in the annals of Ireland, and have left so many monuments of their former greatness, that no difficulty exists in establishing their claim to a descent as ancient and unbroken as that of any family in Europe. The possibility of proving this is mainly due to the fact, that the Irish, more than any other nation, took great pains to record and to transmit to their successors the illustrious deeds of their pre- decessors. For this purpose, a special order in society was set apart, whose duty it was to record the principal historical events, and to transmit to future generations the genealogies and remarkable feats of their kings and chieftains. Out of this, also, probably arose a desire on the part of their genealogists and antiquarians to trace back the origin of their countrymen to fabulous periods of antiquity, and these pretensions, extending, in some instances, to the time of the Deluge, have produced a feeling even amongst educated Irish- men, that everything connected with the ancient history of their country is unworthy not only of credit but even of investigation. The numerous Irish MSS. of very ancient date, which are still preserved, and which bear incontrovertible marks of authenticity, sufficiently demonstrate that this latter impression would be erroneous, and there can be no doubt that these MSS. are but Small fragments of much larger collections which have perished by lapse of time, or have been destroyed in successive revolutions. Even of the MSS. still extant many remain as sealed books, with their B 2 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. contents undeciphered, and, so far as the present generation is concerned, un- known, in consequence of the want of Irish scholars competent to interpret them, and O'Curry is probably right when he says, that notwithstanding the abundance of the material from which to compile it, the ancient history of Ireland has still to be written. In all investigations into the origin of nations, the most we can expect to discover are certain main facts and important traditions, transmitted in such a way as to leave little doubt as to their general accuracy, although adorned with evident mythological and poetic ornament. The general accuracy of the main traditions and records in regard to ancient Irish history has been admitted and proclaimed by historians whose impartiality and authority cannot be disputed. “We see no reason,” says Pinkerton, “for denying to Ireland a series of kings older than any in Europe.” And Sir James Mackintosh says: “In one respect Irish history has been eminently fortunate. The chronicles of Ireland, written in the Irish language from the second century to the landing of Henry Plantagenet, have been recently published with the fullest evidence of their genuineness. The Irish nation, though they are robbed of their legends by this authentic publication, are yet by it enabled to boast that they possess genuine history several centuries more ancient than any other European nation possesses in its spoken language. They have exchanged their legendary anti- quity for historical fame. Indeed, no other nation in Europe possesses any monument of literature, in its present spoken language, which goes back within several centuries of those chronicles. The ancient date of the MSS. concurs with the same internal proof as in the Saxon chronicles to support the truth of the outline of the narrative.” According to the preliminary account given in these ancient chronicles, Ireland was peopled at a very early period ; and after the Deluge Parthelon, from Mygdonia in Macedonia, is stated to have been the first to colonize the country. His descendants were subdued by the Firbolgs, or Belgae, who in time had to give way to the Tuatha de Danans, called also Damnoni, and these last were brought under subjection by the sons of Milesius,” who *Sir J. Mackintosh's History of England, Vol. I, chap. ii., p. 88. * The following amusing distinctions between the descendants of the different races of the Irish are taken from M*Firbis's genealogies:— “Everyone who is white of skin, brown of hair, bold, honourable, daring, prosperous, bountiful in the bestowal of property, wealth, and rings, and who is not afraid of battle or combat, they are the descendants of Milesius in Erinn.” THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 3 probably arrived in Ireland about 300 years before the birth of Christ, although some writers place their advent at a much earlier, and some at a later, period. Whatever may have been the exact date of the Milesian invasion, it is very generally admitted that several centuries before the birth of Christ a colony Spain did succeed in establishing itself in Ireland, and that the descendants of its leaders became the kings or chief rulers of the country. Milesius, according to the most generally received accounts, had three sons, who landed in Ireland : Heber, Heremon, and Ir; and from Heremon the family whose memoir is attempted in the following pages, claims descent. To prove that descent, it is not necessary, even if it were possible, to go back step by step to Heremon himself. Irish history, as above mentioned, can scarcely claim authenticity much earlier than the second century after Christ, and if we find at or about that date, a monarch reigning, admittedly of the Heremonian line, a pedigree traced back to such a monarch may fairly claim to be connected with the line of Milesius. “The posterity of Heremon,” says O'Flaherty, “by far outstripped all others in dignity and power. From whom to the death of Nial of the Nine Hostages, in A.D. 405, everyone in a direct line for fifty generations was either King of Ireland, or king's son, excepting two.” To one of these monarchs, who reigned towards the close of the first century, the pedigree of the O'Conor family can be clearly traced. “No family in Ireland,” says O’Donovan,” “claims greater antiquity, and no family in Europe, royal or noble, can trace its descent through so many generations of legitimate ancestors. Mr. O'Conor, of Belanagare, after many years' study of the original Irish MSS., and a long correspondence with the cleverest and most sceptical writers of his day, came to the conclusion that we may rely with implicit faith on the truth of Irish history from the commence- ment of the second century. “An earlier or more creditable era of cultivation, he observes, ‘than that which began with the monarch, Feredach the Just, one hundred years after the birth of Christ, no nation in Europe can boast.’” “Everyone who is fair-haired, vengeful, large, and every plunderer; every musical person, the pro- fessors of musical and entertaining performances, who are adepts in all Druidical and magical arts, they are the descendants of the Tuatha de Danans.” “Everyone who is black-haired, who is a tattler, guileful, tale-telling, noisy, contemptible; every wretched, mean, strolling, unsteady, harsh, and inhospitable person; every slave, every mean thief, the disturbers of every council, and every assembly, and the promoters of discord among the people, these are the descendants of the Firbolgs.” - See O'Curry's MS. Materials for Irish History, p. 223. * O’Donovan MS. * Ogygia Vindicated, p. xxxix. 4 * THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. From this Feredach descended in a direct line several monarchs of all Ireland, whose history and exploits have been most carefully transmitted to us in the historical records of the country. - FEREDACH, surnamed THE JUST. About A.D. 75.” Starting with this Feredach, who was admittedly a legitimate descendant of Heremon, we find that he was called to the throne after the death of a usurper, named Cairbry Cinn-Cait, or Carbery of the Catshead. This Carbery became king in a most remarkable manner. For centuries the descendants of the ancient races, as well as the meaner class of Milesians, had been kept in oppression by the great lords and military chieftains; and about the middle of the first century of the Christian era, a plebeian war, called the war of the Attacots, broke out. This name, Attacots, is written, according to O’Curry, in all the Irish manuscripts, both ancient and modern, “Aitheach Tuatha,” and means literally, “rent-payers, or rent-paying people or tribes;” so that almost the first war or rebellion in Ireland, of which we have authentic record, was of an agrarian character, and was due to a disinclination of the rent-payers to comply with their obligations. It is a mistake to suppose that these Attacots were merely or mainly the descendants of the races which peopled Ireland before the coming of the Milesians. During the lapse of ages, countless numbers of noble and pure Milesian families fell away from their caste, lost their civil independence, and became mixed up and reduced to the same level with the remnants of the conquered races, who still continued in a state nearly allied to slavery—tillers of the soil, rent-payers, and toilers in the meanest employments. These debased Milesians were the first to evince a disposition to resistance. Com- binations were subsequently formed between them and the other malcontents, but so profoundly secret, that not one of their intended victims received the faintest hint of the plot that ripened for their destruction. According to the accounts given by most of our historians,” the oppor- tunity taken for putting these designs into execution was when the princes and * It is impossible to determine the exact date when Feredach came to the throne. All that can be stated with anything like accuracy is, that he probably reigned some time in the latter half of the first century after Christ. - * Some of our historians state that the plebeian war took place after the death of Feredach, and in the reign of his son Fiacha, when the king and most of the chieftains were invited to a great feast at a place called Magh Cree, and were there set upon by the conspirators, and murdered. This discrepancy is explained if there were two plebeian wars, which is most probable, THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 5 nobles were assembled at Tara to elect a successor to the monarchy. Public banquets and feasts and games being appointed three days before and three days after the election, the conspirators seized the opportunity, when the Milesian chieftains and their followers were off their guard, suddenly attacked them, put most of them to death, and proclaimed Cairbry as king. This Cairbry was one of the race of Damnoni, or Tuatha de Danans, and reigned about five years. After his death, his son Moran, who was selected to succeed him, refused the proffered honour, and advised the people to restore the royal line of Milesius. Feredach, the legitimate successor of that line, was then unanimously elected, and to him the rebellious plebeians and Belgae swore fealty, “by the sun, moon, and stars,” to him and his heirs.” Feredach appointed Moran his chief minister and law-expounder, next to himself in honour and power. No prince, we are told, ever merited the epithet, “most just,” more than Feredach. His whole study was to restore to the laws all the power and authority which they possessed before the rebellion, and in so doing he over- looked everything that had passed, and punished in no way those who had been engaged in a rebellion which had probably much to justify it, his main endeavour being to remove the abuses and tyrannies which had led to it. In this endeavour he was most ably assisted by Moran, and mutual confidence, peace, and order, were soon restored throughout the island. “With such a monarch, and such a minister at the same time,” says Dr. Warner,” “the reader will soon conceive what must be the happiness of the people; he will see misrule giving place to harmony, insurrection subsiding into tranquillity, and order arising Out of confusion. Such was the state of Ireland at the end of the first plebeian war, and under such governors it could not be otherwise.” So great was the reputation of Moran for wisdom and justice that the gold collar he wore round his neck was used by all his successors, and the people were taught to believe that whoever gave a wrong decree, or swore falsely, with this round his neck was sure to be compressed by it in proportion to his divergency from the line of justice and truth, but in every other instance it would lie loose and easy. The supposed virtue of this collar was a wonderful preservative against perjury and prevarication; for no witness would venture into court to support a bad cause, as he apprehended the effects of it if placed round his neck. According to O'Halloran, even in his day, “to swear by the * Grat-Lucius, p. 67. * Warner's History of Ireland, Vol. I., p. 214. 6 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. collar of Moran was a common and most solemn appeal.” After a useful and comparatively peaceful reign of twenty years, Feredach died in his palace at Tara. FIACHA FINNOLA, son of Feredach, about A.D. 95. Fiacha did not succeed his father immediately. Several years elapsed during which the throne was usurped by another. The exact date of his accession to the throne is not easily fixed, nor is it possible at this remote period to lay down, with anything like accuracy, the dates at which particular rulers commenced to reign or died. Shortly after his accession, he is reported to have sent forces into North Britain to contend against the Roman legions, at that time engaged in the conquest of that island. Advantage was taken of these enterprises by his enemies at home, and Elim, King of Ulster, revolted. To his standard the discontented Belgae and plebeians resorted; and, although they had so lately sworn fealty to Feredach and his heirs, they now joined in a new insurrection. Fiacha, with diminished forces, was attacked by his rebel- lious subjects, and an engagement took place, in which he lost his life. Elim then took possession of the chief monarchy, and Tuathal, son of Fiacha, was obliged to fly to Alba (Scotland). Elim's tenure of power was not of long duration. He was a cruel and despotic prince, and the partisans of the house of Heremon found themselves in a position to bring about a new revolution. The first step was to invite the son of Fiacha to return. Tuathal gladly responded to their appeal. At the head of his followers, and a select body of troops, given to him by his grandfather, the King of the Picts, he sailed for Ireland, and proceeded to Tara, where his supporters saluted him king. Elim soon met his competitor in the battle-field, when his army was put to flight, and he himself left dead on the field. TUATHAL, or TOOLE, surnamed TUATHAL “TECHMAR,” or “THE ACCEPTABLE,” about A.D. 130. Tuathal's first act after his accession was to convene an assembly of the states at Tara. There the usual oath of fealty, by the sun, moon, and stars, was sworn to him and his posterity of the house of Heremon, and to add more power and dignity to the monarchy, large tracts of land were granted to the monarch round about Tara, corresponding very much to the present county of Meath. Having been confirmed on the throne by the adhesion of the states, Tuathal revived the great annual gathering for games and feats of arms, called the fair of Tailtin. Here the chieftains competed in all martial *- THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 7 exercises, whilst the charms of female beauty were engaged in a no less import- ant struggle. This annual gathering was no less remarkable for the trophies won on the field of valour than for the successes of the fair sex; and most of the marriages and alliances between the noble families were arranged at, and took their origin from, this general assemblage of the élite of the nation. The fair, as it was termed, lasted twenty-eight days: fourteen days before and fourteen days after the first of August, which was the great feast day. As before remarked, it is impossible, after the lapse of so many centuries, to fix the precise dates at which the various Irish kings came to the throne; but with regard to this particular monarch, the date at which he reigned is more or less accurately determined by the record that he was the contemporary of the Emperor Hadrian, and ruled at the time the great Roman wall was built by that emperor in Britain. This would fix the date of his reign some time about the year A.D. I3O. Tuathal's political prosperity was soon blighted by 'domestic troubles, which were destined in their results to affect the future destinies of Ireland for many generations. He had several children, and, amongst others, two beauti- ful daughters, named Fithir and Dairiné. The hand of the latter was sought for and obtained by the King of Leinster. This prince subsequently became tired of his wife, and attracted by the charms of her sister, and there being no prohibition against marriage with the sister of a deceased wife, he shut his wife up in a dungeon, and pretended that she was dead. Having done this, and allowed a reasonable period to pass by, he became a successful suitor for the elder sister. After the celebration of the marriage, and the arrival of the new queen at her court in Leinster, the injured Dairiné contrived to escape from confinement, and quite unexpectedly made her appearance in the pre- sence of her faithless husband and his new wife. The deceived sister, seeing her alive and well, for the first time knew how falsely both had been treated, and filled with shame and horror fell dead on the spot ; and Dairiné, no less affected by the treachery of her husband, and the death of her sister, returned to her solitary chamber, and shortly after died of a broken heart. Upon hearing this melancholy news regarding his two daughters, Tuathal became incensed, and determined to exact satisfaction for the injury done to his family, and the insult given to himself. Accordingly, he marched an army into Leinster, defeated the king who in this shameful way was doubly his son-in-law, and compelled him to submit to terms, under which ever after- wards a certain tribute was to be paid by the Kings of Leinster to the monarch of Ireland. This tribute, called the “Boroimhe Laighean,” or cow tribute, was 8 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. subsequently the cause of innumerable wars and calamities to the people of Leinster, and indeed to the whole of Ireland. It consisted in the payment every second year of a certain number of cows and hogs, and even of human slaves; and it continued to exist with various intermissions for nearly 500 years, until it was abolished in the seventh century, at the desire of one of the Irish saints. Subsequently it was occasionally enforced, and notably by the great Brian, King of Munster, who became monarch of Ireland, and who, from the fact of his restoring it, or enforcing it, received the designation of Brian Boroimhe, or Brian Boru. Tuathal, having thus avenged the insult cast upon his family, returned to his own dominions, and the rest of his reign was chiefly devoted to the arts of peace. Amongst other improvements, he established courts of municipal juris- diction for the better regulation of the concerns of tradesmen and artificers." After a long and prosperous reign of thirty years, he was killed in battle by Mal, King of Ulster, who thereupon seized the throne by right of conquest. Mal, having reigned five years, was, in his turn, defeated and slain by Felim, son of Tuathal, who then assumed the sovereignty. TELIM, surnamed “THE LAWGIVER,” about A.D. 164. This prince reigned for about nine years, and during his sway the country enjoyed almost uninterrupted peace. He turned his attention mainly to im- proving the laws and the civil government of the land. He it was who first established the system of Eric,” or the payment of a fine for any outrages com- mitted in a district, instead of the previously existing law of retaliation, under which “an eye for an eye,” and “a tooth for a tooth,” was always exacted. This law of “Eric’ continued to exist for centuries, and was in its nature very similar to the “weregeld " of the Saxons. Felim, unlike most of his predecessors and successors, died quietly in his palace at Tara. His death left the crown of Ireland in dispute between various rivals, the most successful being Cather, King of Leinster, who succeeded in obtaining the sovereignty for a few years, until he was defeated and slain by Conn, son of Felim. * Moore's History of Ireland, Vol. I., p. 126. * According to O'Halloran and some other historians, the change which Felim effected was exactly the reverse, he having abolished the law of “Eric,” and substituted that of the “lex ſa/ionis,” or law of retaliation. As the law of “Eric’” existed for centuries after Felim's death, and was embodied in the ancient Irish code, it is much more probable that this was what Felim inaugurated. THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 9 CONN CAED CATHA, or CONN OF THE HUNDRED BATTLES, about A.D. I77. Conn succeeded to the throne of his ancestors four years after his father's death. As his surname indicates, his reign was remarkable for events of a very different character from those which signalized that of his father. He was almost constantly engaged in warlike pursuits, his chief competitor being Eoghan Mor, or Owen Mor, King of Munster. His first warlike expedition of importance was undertaken to establish more absolute authority over the kingdom of Leinster than preceding Irish monarchs had usually aspired to. On this occasion the King of Leinster was assisted by Eoghan Mor, who was also called Mogha-Nuadht; but Conn defeated them both, and Mogha-Nuadht was obliged to fly from Ireland, and, according to some accounts, he went to Spain, where he was well received, and married a Spanish princess. About seven years afterwards, he returned to Ireland, and having met with a favour- able reception in Munster, he again took possession of that kingdom, and immediately began to make preparations for attacking his old enemy Conn. In this he was joined by the King of Leinster, and with a large army, stated to amount to 30,000 men, he proceeded to Tara to attack the monarch. When Conn became aware of the danger which threatened him by this attack, finding himself unable at once to cope with such an overwhelming force, he retired to Cruachan, in Connaught, and there, with his ally the King of Connaught, awaited the arrival of his foes. The King of Munster speedily followed him, and an engagement appeared imminent, when negotiations were entered into, which resulted in an agreement to divide Ireland between the contending parties, by a line drawn across the country from Galway to Dublin. The northern portion, called Leath Cuin, or Conn's portion, was here- after to be Conn's kingdom ; and the southern division, called Leath Mogha, or Mogha's portion, was handed over to Eoghan. The southern half was to acknowledge the race of Heber as sovereigns, and the northern half, with the title of monarch, was reserved for the descendants of Heremon. This famous division of Ireland was known as the settlement of Leath Mogha and Leath Cuin, a settlement which subsequently led to many wars and disputes. In the very beginning it secured only a temporary peace. Shortly after the arrangement had been ratified, disputes arose between Conn and Eoghan relative to the revenues derivable from the Ports of Dublin and Galway, and a fierce battle took place at Magh Leana, in the present King's County, in which Eoghan Mor was killed. Conn then made peace with his successor on the throne of Munster, having secured to himself the disputed 1°CVCIlueS. . C 10 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. Peace being restored in the southern division of the country, the restless spirit of the Irish monarch manifested itself in the north. Disputes arose between him and his subordinate king, the ruler of Ulster, and Conn led a large army into that kingdom. In this desultory war many battles were fought with various results. About two years after the battle of Magh Leana, Conn, according to some accounts, was killed in one of these conflicts. According to other accounts, he was murdered at Tara. Conn was noted in ancient Irish history not only for his warlike deeds, but also for prophecies connected with his name. An account of these prophecies is given in a MS. in the British Museum, stated to have been transcribed in the year A.D. I 590, and they are referred to in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick. One of these so-called prophecies is written in prose, and has reference to the Kings of Tara. Conn commences with his own son Art, and runs on through the different kings to the reign of Leoghair, when he foretells the coming of St. Patrick. Another prophecy, connected with Conn's name, with a long his- tory of what led up to it, is also in a MS. in the British Museum. Conn is represented as watching the firmament, when a stone at his feet gave forth a shriek, and asking his Druids what this meant, they, after fifty-two days’ consideration, told him that the number of shrieks which came from the stone signified the number of kings of his race who should succeed him. After this Conn became suddenly wrapped in darkness, and a knight and a princess appeared to him and foretold all that would happen to his posterity. The princess had a silver vat full of red ale, and a golden cup and a golden ladle before her. The knight, having introduced Conn to her, told him that he had come to tell him the lengths of his own reign and of that of every one of his descendants. Upon this the princess presented to Conn the bare rib of an ox, and the bare rib of a boar, and the golden cup. She then took up the ladle and filled the cup, and said, “Who shall this cup with the red ale be given to ?” And the knight answered, “To Conn of the hundred battles; fifty years shall he reign, when he shall be slain at Tuath Amrois.” The princess said again, “Who shall this cup of red ale be given to ?” “Give it,” said the knight, “to Art, the son of Conn, who shall reign thirty years, when he shall be slain at Magh Mucruimhe.” The princess continued to ask the same question for a number of times, and in each case the knight answered, giving the name of each succeeding king, the length of his reign, and the time and manner of his death, up to the time of Leoghair, in whose reign St. Patrick came to Ireland. The knight then said, “Five years he shall have reigned, when a stranger shall come, that is Patrick, a bearer of great dignity, whom God THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. * 11 will honour, and who will light a great torch that will illuminate Erinn even to the sea.” The prophecy is then continued down to the year 718, when the copy which has been preserved breaks off. O'Curry says, “That this piece, what- ever was its date, was a well-known tract and of authority for the succession and reigns of the monarchs of Erinn in the middle of the eleventh century, is clear, as we find it quoted by Flann of Monasterboice (who died in IoS6), in the sixteenth stanza of his poem on the succession of the Kings of Tara.” The real value of these so-called prophecies, it is scarcely necessary to add, consists not in foretelling the future succession of kings, but in preserving a very ancient record of the succession which had already taken place. The practice of ascribing predictions of the coming of St. Patrick to persons who had lived some centuries before his time, “was not confined,” says O'Curry, “to the case of Conn.” “We find in the ancient historic tract on the battle of Magh Mucruimhe (which was fought in the year of our Lord 195), a prophetic poem, ascribed to Art, the son of Conn, who was slain in this battle.” This poem is preserved in the ancient MS., called the “Leabhar na h-Uidhrè,” compiled before the year I IO6. This poem is one of the most ancient now extant, and, according to the same writer, “was probably com- posed prior to the Danish and Saxon invasions.” ART, surnamed “THE SOLITARY,” about A.D. 195. On the death of Conn, the states proceeded to the election of a successor, and the choice of the majority fell on Conaire, another prince of the house of Heremon, who had married the daughter of the late king Conn. After a reign of nine years, Conaire was killed in battle, and was succeeded by his brother- in-law Art, son of Conn. This Art had a long and prosperous reign of about thirty years, when his authority was disputed by another chieftain, named Mac Con, who claimed the Leath Mogha, or southern half of Ireland, which Art had taken to himself. Art refused to give this up, and a great battle took place at Magh Mucruimhe. This was the battle alluded to above, on the eve of which, it is stated that Art foretold his own death, and that his son, then un- born, would subsequently come to the throne, and arrive at great power and dignity. The prophecy, as described, arose out of a dream of Art's queen, which her husband is represented as interpreting. * O’Curry's Lectures on MS. Materials for Irish History, Lecture XVIII., p. 389. 12 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. This battle was one of the most sanguinary that is recorded in Irish history, and from it, as from a new era, many of the Irish historians date. There perished in the battle with the monarch Art, his ally, the King of Con- naught, and numbers of distinguished chieftains, whose names are recorded in the piece above alluded to. O'Curry in his lectures gives the following account of this battle and what led to it 1:—“Art, the chief monarch of Ireland, was killed in the battle of Magh Mucruimhe, that is, the plain of Mucrivy, about A.D. 195, by Mac Con, who was the son of his sister. This Mac Con was a Munster prince, who had been banished out of Erinn by Oilil Olum, King of Munster, after which, passing into Britain and Scotland, he returned in a few years at the head of a large army of foreigners. They sailed round by the coast of Ireland, and landed in the Bay of Galway, and being joined there by some of Mac Con's Irish adher- ents, they overran and ravaged west Connaught. Art immediately mustered all the forces he could command, and marched into Connaught, where he was joined by Mac Con's six or seven step-brothers, sons of Oilil Olum, and the forces of Munster. A battle ensued at a place between Athunree and Galway, in which Art was killed, leaving behind him an infant son Cormac.” CORMAC, son of ART, about A.D. 227 to A.D. 267. Whether Cormac was actually born at the time of his father's death or not, he was certainly not of an age to succeed to the throne, which was at once seized by the victorious Mac Con. Under such circumstances, it is not sur- prising that historians should inform us that “Cormac's youth was passed in adversity;” but we are also told “ that to the ambition of filling the throne of his ancestors, he added the more laudable one of wishing to merit it.” Under the teaching of the Druids, he became an accomplished scholar, and was such an adept in the use of arms, that he was regarded as one of the first champions of Ireland in those days of martial enterprise. At the age of twenty-five he visited Munster and Connaught, with the view of obtaining support to regain the throne. Shortly after, an assassin laid the way open before him. Mac Con was assassinated near his palace at Tara, and the Irish monarchy was again vacant. Cormac at once openly aspired to the dignity, and solicited the support of the chieftains. His only important rival was Fergus, King of Ulster, and he, by a shabby and malicious manoeuvre, succeeded for a time in obtaining the Sovereignty. * O’Curry's Lectures on MS. Materials for Irish History, Lecture II., p. 43. * According to the prophecy, Cormac was yet unborn, THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 13 It was one of the fundamental rules which governed the Irish succession, that no one could be king who was subject to any personal deformity, and no one could be a candidate whose person was not in every way perfect. The hair of the head and the beard were considered the principal adjuncts of the features. To cut off the hair of an adversary was considered a mark of the highest contempt, and no one dare appear abroad with such a brand of infamy. In order to do away with Cormac's chance of being elected, Fergus so arranged that, during the entertainments which took place preparatory to the election, Cormac's hair and beard were set on fire, and burned off his head and face. Smarting under the disgrace and pain of this outrage, Cormac was obliged to retire and hide himself, and his rival being relieved from the opposition of the only dangerous candidate with whom he had to contend, was proclaimed monarch without difficulty. Fergus was not left long in undisturbed posses- sion of the dignity which he had gained in such an unworthy way. As soon as Cormac had regained all his personal qualifications, he was not slow in asserting the claims which his misfortune had obliged him temporarily to relinquish. Having secured the support of the King of Munster, and engaged the services of Teige, son of Cean, one of the great warriors of the day, he collected a large army, and invaded Leinster. Fergus was not behind- hand in preparations to receive him, and a decisive battle was fought in Meath. In this battle Fergus and his three brothers were killed. Notwithstanding the loss of their leader, the Ulster men maintained the contest, which remained doubtful, until Teige himself, at the head of a select body of troops, that had not yet been engaged, rushed into the conflict, scattered the Ulster king's forces, and pursued them for many miles. After this battle Cormac claimed the throne of Ireland as his right by conquest as well as descent, and was soon after proclaimed with great pomp. His inauguration is described in the Book of Ballymote in the following terms –“A noble and illustrious king assumed the sovereignty and rule of Erinn, namely, Cormac, the grandson of Conn of the Hundred Battles. The world was full of all goodness in his time. There were no killings or plunderings, but everyone occupied his land in happiness. “The nobles of Erinn assembled to the banquet at Tara with Cormac at a certain time.” Then a list is given of the different kings who assembled. “Magnificently did Cormac come to this great assembly, for no man his equal in beauty had preceded him, excepting Conaire, or Angus. His hair was slightly curled, and of a golden colour: a scarlet shield, with engraved devices, and golden 14 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT hooks and clasps of silver he bore : a wide-folding purple cloak on him, with a gem-set gold brooch over his breast: a gold torque round his neck : a white- collared shirt, embroidered with gold, upon him : a girdle with golden buckles, and studded with precious stones, around him : two golden network sandals, with golden buckles, upon his feet : two spears with golden sockets, and many red bronze rivets, in his hand; while he stood in the full glow of beauty without defect or blemish. You would think it was a shower of pearls that were set in his mouth : his lips were rubies: his symmetrical body was as white as snow : his cheek was like the mountain-ash berry : his eyes were like the sloe : his brows and eyelashes were like the sheen of a blue black lance.” Such was the Irish monarch, according to this ancient record, when he presented himself to what is styled “the noblest convocation ever held in Erinn before the Christian era ; for the laws and enactments instituted in that meeting were those which shall prevail in Erinn for ever.” “The nobles of Erinn proposed to make a new classification of the people, according to their various mental and material qualifications : both kings and Ollamhs (chiefs of professions), and Druids and farmers and soldiers, and all different classes likewise.” Previously, for a great number of years, “each man usurped the profession of another, until this great meeting around Cormac. They then again separated the professors of every art from each other on that great meeting, and each of them was ordained to his legitimate profession.” “Cormac ordered a new code of laws and regulations to be drawn up, extending to all classes and professions. He also put the State or Court regulations on a new and permanent footing, and revived obsolete tests and ordeals, and instituted Some important new ones; thus making the law of testimony and evidence as perfect and safe as it could be in such times.” “If we take this and various other descriptions of Cormac's character as a man, a king, a scholar, a judge, and a warrior into account, we shall see that he was no ordinary prince ; and that if he had not impressed the nation with a full sense of his great Superiority over his predecessors and those who came after him, there is no reason why he should have been specially selected from all the rest of the line of monarchs, to be made above all the possessor of such excellence.” Such a man could scarcely have carried out his various behests without Some written medium; and it is not unwarrantable presumption to suppose that either by his own hand, or at least in his own time, and by his command, his * O’Curry's Lectures, p. 46. THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 15 laws were committed to writing. “There still exists,” says O'Curry, “a law tract attributed to Cormac. It is called The Book of Acai/Z. It is found annexed to a law treatise by a learned compiler named Cennfaeled, who lived A.D. 634, and there is found with it an account of the time at which, and the circumstances under which, it was written. It was written at Accaill, or Akill, near Tara, in the time of Carbery, son of Cormac, by Cormac, after his having lost the sight from one eye.” Cormac's reign was not, however, altogether devoted to promoting the peaceful arts, and to legislative reforms. Like most of his predecessors, he became involved in domestic hostilities. One of his sons named Callach having committed an Outrage on a neighbouring chieftain named Angus, was killed by the latter in the presence of the monarch at Tara. Enraged at the murder of his son, Cormac raised an army to attack Angus, who, on his side, had enlisted the support of the King of Munster, to whom he had fled for protection. Since the division of the country which took place in the time of Conn, the Munster king had maintained a quasi-independence, and Cormac now attempted to put an end to this ; but he found his opponents too strong, and he was obliged to come to terms with them, and to recognise formally the old division of the country, which he was obliged to swear that he would respect. The difficulties into which the unsuccessful invasion of Munster threw the Irish monarch compelled him to undertake new enterprises. One of these was the subjugation of Connaught. After various encounters he destroyed the power of the Damnonian ruler of that kingdom, and reduced it to subjection to himself. It is supposed that in one of these expeditions he lost an eye, and was compelled to abdicate, and to withdraw into retirement. According to other accounts, the accident to his eye occurred at the same time as his son Callach lost his life, and the perpetrator of the double deed was Angus. This, however, does not appear probable, as Cormac did not abdicate immediately on the death of his son; and that he was obliged to abdicate in consequence of this misfortune, is attested by all the records regarding him. The rule that no one could be king who had any personal defect told with very great hardship against Cormac. As we have seen, he was kept out of the Sovereignty when a young man by this rule; and later on, when in the full vigour of his life, and in his greatest power as king, he was obliged by it to abdicate. In his retirement he wrote the treatise above referred to. When his son * O'Curry's Lectures, p. 47. 16 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. Carbery was called to the throne, he wrote for his benefit another treatise in the form of a dialogue, entitled, Advice to a King. In it he treats of the duty of a king as a legislator, a soldier, a statesman, and a scholar, and of the laws of poets, philosophers, antiquarians, and Druids." It is also stated that he devoted much attention to the study of religion, and that he became acquainted with and embraced the tenets of Christianity, and that he was thus in reality the first of the kings of Ireland who embraced the Christian faith. His death subsequently arose from an accident. He was choked by a fish bone which he swallowed, and which fastened in his throat, and could not be got up or down. His body was not interred—it is said, at his special request— with his pagan ancestors at the royal burial-place; and as one proof that he had embraced Christianity, it is related that three centuries later his remains were sought for by St. Columba, and that a church and an altar were erected over them. The character and career of Cormac have, if not from his own time, at least from a very remote period, formed the fruitful subject of panegyric to the poet, the historian, and the legislator. Our old and most accredited annalists record his victories and military glories. Our historians dwell with rapture on his honour, his justice, and the native dignity of his character. Our writers of historical romance make him the hero of many a tale of curious adventure ; and our poets find in his personal accomplishments, and in the regal splendour of his reign, inexhaustible theme for their choicest numbers. “The poet Maelmuira, who died A.D. 864, styles him ‘Cormac Ceolach,' or Cormac the Musical. Kenneth O’Hartigan, who died A.D. 973, gives a glowing description of the magnificence of his palace at Tara ; and Cuin O'Loughlin, A.D. IO24, is no less eloquent on the subject of his mental and personal qualities, and the glories of his reign.” During Cormac's reign the celebrated warrior, “Finn M'Cumhail,” is supposed to have lived. Of him O'Curry says:—“It is quite a mistake to suppose that Finn MacCumhail was a purely imaginary character. Much that has been written of his exploits is no doubt apocryphal enough, but he himself is an undoubted historical personage, and that he lived about the time at which his appearance is recorded in the Annals, is as certain as that Julius Caesar lived and ruled at the time stated by Roman historians.” One of the most ancient Irish tales which has been preserved and handed * O'Halloran (Vol. II., p. 267) states that this treatise is preserved entire in O’Dunegan's book— “a copy of which I have.” * O’Curry's Lectures on MS. Materials for Irish History, p. 42. ° O'Curry's Lectures, p. 303. THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 17 down to us records the flight of Grainne, one of King Cormac's daughters, with a young man named Diarmid, one of Finn's retainers, in order to escape marriage with the redoubted Finn himself, who was then far advanced in years, and who had successfully sought the hand of the young princess from her father the monarch. In order to escape the hated marriage, Grainne is stated to have drugged the beverages partaken by her intended husband and all the courtiers, and then whilst they were asleep to have fled with her young lover. The pursuit of the lovers, which subsequently took place, forms the theme of one of the most ancient of what are called the Finian tales of Ireland." CAIRBRE, or CARBERY LIFFECHAIR, A.D. 268 to A.D. 284. On the abdication of Cormac, his son Carbery not being of full age, one of the descendants of Fergus was declared monarch : he held the throne only for about one year, after which Carbery succeeded. During his reign, Finn M“Cumhail died, and after his death the Irish Militia, of which he was Captain, revolted against Carbery, and a civil war ensued, in which the monarch, with the aid of the Connaught troops, defeated the rebels in seven different engage- mentS. * The following account of King Cormac is quoted in Petrie's Round Towers, p. 97. It is extracted from Semchas na Relec in Zeabhar na h-Uidhre, and is also to be found in an ancient vellum MS. in Trinity College, Dublin, Class H. 3, 17:— “A great king of great judgments assumed the sovereignty of Erin, i.e., Cormac, son of Art, son of Conn of the Hundred Battles. Erin was prosperous in his time, because just judgments were distributed throughout it by him; so that no one durst attempt to wound a man in Erin during the short jubilee of Seven years ; for Cormac had the faith of the one true God according to the law; for he said that he would not adore stones or trees, but that he would adore Him who had made them, and who had power over all the elements, i.e., the one powerful God, who created the elements; in Him he would believe. And he was the third person who had believed in Erin before the arrival of Patrick. Conchobhar M’Nessa, to whom Altus told of the crucifixion of Christ, was the first; Moran, son of Cairbre Cinn-cait, the second, and Cormac was the third, and it is probable that others followed on their track in this belief. “Where Cormac held his court was at Tara, in imitation of the kings who preceded him, until his eye was destroyed by Engus, the son of Eochaidh, but afterwards he resided at Acaill, and at Cenannas (Kells), and at the house of Cletech ; for it was not lawful that a king with a blemish should reside at Tara. In the second year after the injury of his eye, he came by his death at the house of Cletech, the bone of a salmon having stuck in his throat. And he told his people not to bury him at Brugh, for he did not worship the same God as any of those interred at Brugh, but to bury him at Ros-na-righ, with his face to the east. He afterwards died, and his servants of trust held a council, and came to the resolution of burying him at Brugh, the place where the kings of Tara, his predecessors, were buried. The body of the king was afterwards thrice raised to be carried to Brugh, but the Boyne welled up thrice, so as that they could not come; so that they observed that it was ‘violating the judg- ment of a prince’ to break through this testament of the king, and they afterwards dug his grave at Ros-na-righ, as he had himself ordered.” D 18 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. About this time a leader, named Carausius, said to be of Irish descent, carried on hostilities against the Romans in Britain, and called to his assistance his Irish countrymen. The Irish king gave a favourable answer to this appeal, and Irish auxiliary troops were sent into Britain. Weakened by the despatch of these troops, Carbery found it no easy matter to maintain his authority at home. In an endeavour to enforce the payment of the Leinster tribute he was defeated with great loss, three of his sons per- ishing in the engagement. This defeat was somewhat counterbalanced by the full recognition of his authority in Connaught ; and emboldened by the increase of power in this direction, he attempted the subjugation of Munster; but the remnants of the Militia, which gave him such trouble on his first acces- sion to power, having joined the Munster king, a powerful confederacy was formed against him, and a decisive battle took place, A.D. 284, near Tara, in which the principal chieftains on both sides were slain, and Carbery himself lost his life. During his reign it is recorded that a regular standing army, corresponding to the Roman legion, was first formed. TIACHA, surnamed SRAIFTENE, A.D. 286 to A.D. 322. Fiacha, son of Carbery, did not succeed his father immediately. Accord- ing to some accounts, he came to the throne in A.D. 286, whilst other accounts state that he was not proclaimed king until A.D. 297. He, too, attempted the conquest of Munster; but this enterprise was indirectly the cause of his death. His brother Achy had married an Albanian princess, and had by her three sons, who went by the name of the three “Collas.” These young men con- spired together to seize the throne of Ireland by getting rid of their uncle. In carrying out this design they had recourse to deception, and at first ostensibly joined him in his enterprise against Munster ; but as soon as the royal troops under the command of his son, Murchertagh, were engaged in the south, they retraced their steps, proceeded to Tara, and challenged their uncle to fight. Upon this unexpected turn of events, Fiacha, as was usual, consulted his chief priests or druids, and they foretold that if the rebellious nephews fell in the threatened battle, the sovereignty of Ireland would pass from Fiacha's descend- ants, but that if they were successful it would continue in his line. Fiacha, although disturbed by this forecast, said that he would cheerfully sacrifice his own life to preserve the crown for his posterity. The next day he marched his troops into battle, eagerly pushed on to the front, where he soon met the fate he dared to tempt, and his nephews were left victors on the field. THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 19 One of them, named Colla Huas, was immediately proclaimed king, and attempted to seize the person of his cousin, Murchertagh, whom he naturally dreaded as a rival; but the latter escaped, and after the lapse of four years succeeded in obtaining such support as to enable him to depose Colla Huas, and regain the throne of his fathers. MURCHERTAGH, or MUIREDHACH FIREACH, A.D. 327 to A.D. 356. Upon the assumption of the sovereignty by Muiredhach, the Collas were obliged to fly to Scotland, where they were well received by the King of the Picts, who was their near relative. After a time, through his interposition, the brothers were allowed to return to Ireland, and as they were bent upon warlike exploits, they were permitted to make an expedition against the King of Ulster, the descendant of Fergus, who, it will be remembered, had obtained the sovereignty of Ireland for a time, by burning the beard and hair of their common ancestor, King Cormac. The Collas, accordingly, invaded Ulster, and after an engagement which lasted six days they completely defeated the Ulster king, and destroyed the famous palace of Eamania. The destruc- tion of Eamania, which took place about A.D. 336, marks a distinct epoch in Irish history, and is taken as one of the remarkable resting-places up to which and from which time is reckoned by the ancient chroniclers, the date of par- ticular events being recorded as having taken place so many years before, or so many years after, the destruction of this palace. After having been plundered of everything that was of value, it was set on fire by the Collas, and was never afterwards restored or rendered habitable. Some years later Muiredhach him- self was slain in a battle in the north of Ireland,” and the sovereignty passed for a short time to Calvagh, one of the descendants of Ir, third son of Milesius. After his death it again reverted to the Heremonian line, and Eochy, son of Muiredhach, was installed as monarch. * According to the Chronicum Scotorum, translated by Mr. Hennessy, Muiredhach Fireach was slain by Calbach in A.D. 364. C H A P T E R II. O-ºs º-0 ſº With this monarch, who came to the throne about the year 9 Sº º A.D. 358, most of the special pedigrees of the O'Conors usually ** start, probably because he was the last monarch of Ireland of their line, until the time of Turlough Mor in the eleventh century, and by connecting the pedigree with him it is connected with the long list of previous sovereigns. Eochy, it would appear, had been proclaimed King of Connaught for some years before he assumed paramount authority in Ireland. Not many remarkable incidents are recorded in his reign. He appears to have been engaged in constant warfare with the King of Leinster, by whom he was defeated in several battles. He was married twice, and apparently divorced from his first wife, Mongfinn, one of the royal family of Munster, as she sur- vived him. His second wife was Corrine, a Saxon princess; and by both marriages he had a large number of children. After a reign of thirteen years, he died peaceably in his palace at Tara. [Jpon his death, Crimthan, King of Munster, brother to Eochy’s first wife, Mongfinn, succeeded to the throne; and a most remarkable tradition is handed down in regard to his tragic end. Mongfinn, actuated, it is said, by motives of ambition for the aggrandise- ment of her own offspring, determined to poison her brother, in the hope that her eldest son, Brian, would then succeed to the throne. For this purpose she joined her brother's court, and prepared with her own hands the fatal cup, and, having, to prove her good faith, first drunk of it herself, she presented it to him, and both she and her brother died from its effects. This desperate deed of the Irish queen had not the result she anticipated, as on the death of Crimthan, Nial, a son of Eochy by his second wife, Corrine, was selected in preference to Brian, the eldest son, and no descendant of Mongfinn ever reigned over Ireland except Turlough O'Conor, and his son Roderick, in the twelfth century. THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT, 21 As Brian was the ancestor of the O'Conors, their pedigree can no longer be traced through the monarchs of Ireland ; and hence, from this period, the information handed down in regard to each generation is more scanty, although the succession has not been less clearly recorded. BRIAN, son of Eochy, died A.D. 397. Although the claims of Brian, who was then King of Connaught, to the succession to the monarchy, had been set aside in favour of his younger brother Nial, surnamed “ of the Nine Hostages,” yet he still held the throne of Connaught, and his descendants retained possession of that kingdom until long after the English invasion. The records of the history of this subordinate kingdom are naturally much less detailed than those of the Irish supreme monarchy; and from this date until the sovereignty reverted to the line of Brian in the person of Turlough the Great, in IO56, little more is recorded, in many instances, than the dates of the accession and death of various Connaught princes. For the purpose of a pedigree, and tracing the line of succession, this of course is amply sufficient ; and as the greatest care was taken to register and hand down to posterity these dates and this descent, as little doubt can be cast upon them as upon any previous event in Irish history. ". Soon after the accession of Nial to the throne of Ireland, dissensions arose between Brian, King of Connaught, and another half-brother, named Fiacha, and a battle was fought, in which Fiacha was defeated and taken prisoner, and delivered by Brian into the hands of Nial. After this, Dathi, son of Fiacha, determined to be revenged for his father, and challenged Brian to a battle at a place called Damclone, near Tuam, where Brian and his forces were defeated. The victorious Dathi pursued his retreating uncle to Tullagh-donnell, where Brian was overtaken and slain, and his body was buried in the place where he fell, and there it remained for many years, until St. Aedus, patron of the Church of Roscam, near Galway, removed his bones and buried them at Roscam." After the fall of Brian, his half-brother, Fiacha, was set at liberty, and was made King of Connaught, and generalissimo of the forces of his brother Nial, the monarch. He was killed in a predatory incursion into Munster, upon which, his warlike son, Dathi, became King of Connaught, and on the death of Nial, A.D. 406, he was unanimously chosen to succeed him as monarch of Ireland, * “The burial-place of King Brian is to be seen to this day at Roscam, near the round tower.”— Tribes and Customs of Hy Feachra, p. 344. 22 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. leaving the kingdom of Connaught to another brother, named Auley. Dathi was subsequently killed by lightning at the foot of the Alps, but his body was brought over to Ireland, and interred at Rathcroughan in Roscommon." DUAGH GALACH, son of Brian, died A.D. 438. Brian left, it is said, twenty-four sons; and after the death of Oilil Molt, son of Dathi, who succeeded Auley as King of Connaught, one of these sons, named Duagh Galach, or Duagh the Valorous, became King of Connaught. Duagh was the youngest son of Brian. Before he came to the throne, and whilst it was held by his uncle's family, St. Patrick is stated to have visited Connaught. Of this visit and its results, so far as Duagh is concerned, O'Flaherty, in his History of West Connaught, gives the following account”:— “An old unpublished History of Ireland, preserved in the library of the R.I.A., informs us that St. Patrick arrived in Connaught, A.D. 434; and making towards the twenty-four sons of Brian, Eoghan, the eldest, mounting his horse, set spurs to him, and advised the rest of his brethren to do the same, and not to countenance the blessed man, which they all did, save only Duagh Galach, the youngest, who, staying on foot, Courteously saluted St. Patrick, and ten- dered him respect and obedience. The holy man went still after Eoghan; and having overtaken him, asked him if he was the man, which he denied, but St. Patrick, notwithstanding, cursed him, saying, “If you be Eoghan, I deprive both you, and all your brethren about you, of all royalty and plenty, except him only who honoured and cherished me for my Lord Jesus Christ's sake.’ Then Duagh replied that if he was the eldest son he would have further pleased the holy man, St. Patrick blessed him, saying, ‘You and your posterity shall be kings over your brethren ;' and so it came to pass, for the future Kings of Connaught were descended from this Duagh.” Duagh Subsequently became King of Connaught, and reigned for nineteen years. According to the Annals of the Four Masters, he died in A.D. 438, the chronology here not corresponding with the date given in the above recited legend. Duagh left one son, named Eoghan, or Owen Shreve. EOGHAN SHREVE died about A.D. 464. He does not appear to have been King of Connaught. He left a son. * The tombstone of “Dathi” is still shown at Rathcroughan. * Hardiman's O'Flaherty's West Connaught, p. 147. THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 23 MUIREDACH MAL, who also never became King of Connaught, the kingship having at this period passed to the family of Oilil Molt, son of Dathi, Son of Fiacha, who was, as related above, a brother of Brian. Muired- hach Mal died about the year A.D. 489, leaving two sons, Cathal and Fergus, neither of whom, according to O'Donovan, ever became King of Connaught. FERGUS, according to some accounts, was, for a time, King of Connaught; but if so he did not retain the kingship for more than a few years, and had relinquished it before his death, which took place A.D. 517. He left two sons, Duagh Teangumha and Eochy Termacherna. Duagh became King of Con- naught during his father's lifetime, and was killed in the battle of the Seaghais (the Curlieu Mountains) in the year A.D. 504. EOCHY TERMACHERNA probably became King of Connaught after the death of Eoghan Bel, descendant of Dathi, who was a most distinguished king, and who died from a wound received in the battle of Sligo, A.D. 537. This battle was fought by the King of Connaught against Fergus and Donnell, Sons of the then monarch of Ireland, some days before his death. Finding his end approaching, this Eoghan Bel besought St. Keiran of Cloonmacnoise, to allow his son Ceallagh, who was intended for the priesthood, and who was pre- paring for holy orders at the monastery, to leave this retreat, and to take on himself the government of Connaught; but it does not appear that St. Keiran Consented to this, or that Ceallagh ever reigned for any length of time. Eochy died A.D. 543, a natural death, leaving a son named Aedh. AEDH, or HUGH, came to the throne of Connaught some time before the year A.D. 554, as in that year" an occurrence took place which is related in all the old records, and which proves that he was then King of Connaught. It is stated that Curnan, the son of Hugh, son of Eochy Termacherna, King of Connaught, who was a hostage for his father, with Diarmid, monarch of Ireland, was put to death by that monarch, in violation of the guarantee of St. Columbkille. The result of this was a war between Hugh and Diarmid, in which St. Columbkille exercised all his authority and powers against the monarch, and raised up his family adherents in Tirconnell and Tyrone to oppose Diarmid. A battle ensued in the Co. Sligo, in which Diarmid was defeated with great loss. After the battle, Diarmid and Columbkille were *According to some of the Annals, this took place A.D. 562, According to the Annals of Ulster, 560, 24 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. reconciled, and a MS., about which Columbkille and St. Finian had been dis- puting, was handed over to Columbkille. The following account of this dispute, and of the events which followed it, is given by O’Donovan in his MS., and is stated by him to be taken from O'Donnell's Life of Columbkille":— “St. Finian had a unique MS. of the Psalter, which he lent to Columbkille, who secretly made a copy of it. St. Finian, when he discovered this, claimed the copy as his, but Columbkille resisted. The matter was referred to Diarmid, who decided that as the lamb belonged to the sheep, so did the copy to the book, and that St. Finian, as the owner of the one, was entitled to the other; his judgment being thus against Columbkille. “At the same time Curnan, son of Aedh, King of Connaught, who was a hostage in the hands of Diarmid, was playing ball in the pomarium of the city with other youths; and a quarrel having arisen in the game, he slew the son of the chief of the household by striking him on the head with his hurlet, and to avoid the anger of the king, he fled to St. Columbkille, whose asylum he thought no man would dare violate ; but the king's rage was so great that, regardless of the privileges of the Church, and of the sanctity of Columbkille, he dragged the youth from the very bosom of the saint, and immediately put him to death. Columbkille, who could not brook this insult to the privileges of the Church, threatened revenge, and said to the king, “I shall expostulate with my brethren and kinsmen concerning thy unjust decision and contempt of me and thy violation of the immunity of the Church, that they may take revenge of thee for so profane deeds.’ “The saint proceeded into Ulster, and induced his kinsmen of the races of Eoghan and Connell to challenge the monarch to a pitched battle, at a place called Cuil-Dreimhne, in the territory of Carbury, north of Sligo. There they were joined by Aedh, King of Connaught, who was glad to avail himself of their aid, to take revenge for the death of his son. They mustered their forces to the number of 3,000 men, and the monarch met them with a force of 2,300 men, consisting of charioteers, cavalry, and pedestrians. The monarch was defeated with great slaughter, in consequence, it is said, of the efficacy of the prayers of St. Columb, who knelt and prayed on a neighbouring hill during the battle.” After the battle, Diarmid and Columb were reconciled, and the copy of the book made by him from St. Finian's MS., was left to him. * > * O'Donnell's Life of Columbkille, Lib. II., Trias. Thaum, p. 409. THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 25 *g “This identical MS., in an ancient reliquary, called the Cathach or Caah of Columbkille, is still in existence, and has been deposited in the Museum of the Irish Academy by its present owner, Sir Richard O'Donnell.” The MS. here referred to had been preserved for generations in the O'Donnell family, and one of its possessors, Brigadier Daniel O'Donnell, in 1723, caused a solid silver rim to be placed round the shrine. Some years later he left this important heirloom of his family in a monastery in Belgium, with an injunction that it should be delivered to whoever could prove himself to be the representative, or head, of the O’Donnell family. In this monastery the relic remained, until the late Sir Neal O'Donnell of New- port, having received from Sir W. Betham the necessary certificate, claimed and obtained it. From him it passed to his son, the late Sir Richard O'Donnell, who placed it in the care of the Royal Irish Academy." Although successful in the contest with the monarch Diarmid, the King of Connaught, does not appear to have gained much by his victory; and little more is recorded regarding him until his death, which took place in the year 577. UADA, son of Hugh, died A.D. 599 or 60I. Hugh, the late King of Connaught, was succeeded by a Cousin, who reigned seven years, and was followed by another cousin, who also reigned seven years, after which the government reverted to his son Uada. He reigned for nine years, and died a natural death, according to the Annals of the Four Masters, in 601, and according to other accounts, in 599.” After the death of Uada, the Sovereignty of Connaught again passed to the descendants of Dathi, until Roghallach, son of Uada, recovered it after the battle of Ceann- Gabha, in which the then King Colman was slain. ROGHALLACH, son of Uada, died A.D. 645 or 648. Roghallach, having wrested the Sovereignty from his rival, reigned twenty- five years. According to the Annals of the Four Masters, he was killed in 645. In the Ammals of Ulster his death is placed in 648, and O'Donovan accepts this date as correct, whilst Charles O'Conor adopts the date fixed by the Four Masters. sº Roghallach was a great warrior, and his exploits formed the subject- matter of many ancient lays. He was killed whilst on horseback by a * O'Curry's Lectures, p. 331. * This discrepancy of three or four years between the dates in the Annals of the Four Masters and other records exists in regard to almost every event recorded, but as the dates usually vary in exactly the same ratio, the discrepancy really rather strengthens than weakens the authority of these records. E 26 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT chieftain named Moyle Bride. The Annals of the Four Masters thus record his death — * “Roghallach, son of Uatach, was pierced on the back of a white steed; Muireann (his wife) hath well lamented him, Cathal (his son) hath well avenged him ; Cathal is this day in battle, though he is bound (to peace) in the presence of kings; Though Cathal is without a father, his father is not without being well revenged. Estimate his terrible revenge from the account of it related; He slew six men and fifty, he committed sixteen devastations; I had my share like another in the revenge of Roghallach ; I have the grey beard in my hand of Maelbride, son of Mothlachen.” FERGUS, son of Roghallach, died A.D. 649 or 654. Roghallach left three sons, Cathal, Ceallagh, and Fergus, all of whom appear to have held for a time the sovereignty of Connaught. Fergus did not reign for a long term. He was killed in battle, in the Co. Galway, A.D. 649 or 654. After his death the sovereignty passed to other branches of the descendants of Brian, and for a short period was held by his brother Cellagh. Eventually it reverted to Fergus's son, Muiredhach. MUIREDHACH MUILETHAN, died A.D. 700 or 702. Muiredhach Muilethan, or “Murray of the Broad Crown,” was elected King of Connaught about the year 696,” and died in 700 or 702.” He was called also Muiredhach of the Maghery or plains of Connaught ; and the race which descended from him, and which became very numerous, was called the Sil Muiredhach or Siol Murray. Amongst the families belonging to this race were the O'Conors, M*Dermots, M’Donoughs, O’Beirnes, O'Flanagans, Magheraghtys, and O'Feenaghtys. Muiredhach left three sons, Conway, Innrechtach, and Cathal.” From the first are descended the O'Feenaghtys of the valley of the Suck, from the second the O'Conors, and from the third the O'Flahertys. The eldest son, Conway, never obtained the sovereignty, which was bestowed on the second son, Innrechtach, or Enright;" but in consequence of his seniority, his descendants were granted great privileges over the other chieftains. “O’Feenaghty,” says Duald M*Firbis, “was called the Royal Chieftain of “Clann’ Conway, and possessed before the English invasion forty “ballys,’ lying along both sides of the river Suck; but the Burkes drove him from his patrimonial territory.” * The Annals of the Four Masters, p. 265. * O’Donovan MS. * The Annals of the Four Masters, p. 301 ; Chronicum Scotorum, p. 115. * O’Donovan MS. * O'Donovan MS. THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT 27 Muiredhach Muilethan was succeeded by the descendants of other branches of the family; and three kings intervened before the succession reverted to his second son, Enright. INNRECHTACH, or ENRIGHT, died A.D. 723. This prince reigned ten years as King of Connaught, and died peaceably in 723. He left two sons, Aedh, or Hugh, who succeeded him, and Murgil. Hugh reigned fourteen years, and died a natural death in 737, without issue. After his death the sovereignty reverted to the descendants of Ceallach, son of Roghallach, and several kings of this line intervened before the descendants of Innrechtach recovered possession of the throne.” MURGIL, son of Enright, died A.D. 751. Murgil, the second son of Enright, never attained the sovereignty.” He left one son, Tomaltach. --- TOMALTACH, son of Murgil, died A.D. 774. Tomaltach also was never king. He is called illustrious in the Book of Lecan.” He died about the year 774, leaving three Sons, Muirgis, Fenachta, and Dermot Finn. Both Muirgis and Dermot Finn were subsequently Kings of Connaught. MUIRGIS, son of Tomaltach, died A.D. 8 Io or 813. Muirgis, eldest son of Tomaltach, reigned as King of Connaught for several years, and died a natural death in 810 or 813.” He had four sons, Teige, Flaithnia, Cathal, and Maelduin. Of these only one, Cathal, ever attained the sovereignty. He became king in 832, and died in 836.” TEIGE, son of Muirgis, died A.D. 841 or 842. Teige was apparently set aside in favour of his brother Cathal. Whether he ever became king seems doubtful. O'Donovan states that he did not ; but * Z'he Annuals of Ulster record death of Innrechtach in 722. * According to the pedigree of the Siol Murray, preserved in the Book of Zecam, fol. 74, Murgil, the second son of Enright, was the ancestor of the O'Conors. * O’Donovan MS. * O’Donovan MS. * The Annals of Ulster, p. 814; The Annals of the Four Masters and O’Donovan MS. * Chronicum Scotorum, p. 163. 28 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. as he is styled Teige Mor, or Teige the Great, in the Annals, it would appear that he did. He died in 84I or 842, leaving one son, Concovar, or Conor. Shortly before his death, in 837, Dublin was first taken by the Danes. CONCOVAR, or CONOR, son of Teige, died A.D. 879. Conor was King of Connaught for about thirty years. He fought on the side of the Irish monarch Hugh, in a battle which took place near Drogheda, against the Danes of Dublin and the Leinster men. On this occasion the Ammals of the Four Masters record that the Foreigners and the Leinster men were defeated.” Conor died about the year 879,” leaving five sons—Hugh, who became King of Connaught, and was killed by the Danes" in 885, Maelcluiche, Innrechta, Teige, and Cathal. CATHAL, son of Conor, died A.D. 925. Cathal, one of the younger sons of Conor, became king after the decease of his brothers Hugh and Teige, both of whom preceded him as Kings of Connaught. Teige died in the year 899." The fair of Tailton was revived in the reign of Flann, Monarch of Ireland, in the year 894,” and Teige revived the fair of Connaught. Cathal assumed the sovereignty probably about the year 900. In 903 he joined Flann in an expedition against Cormac, King of Munster, who was defeated and slain.” In 920 his eldest son, Innrechtach, died, and he himself followed five years later, dying in the year 925.” TEIGE OF THE THREE TOWERS, died A.D. 954 or 956. Immediately after the death of Cathal, a contention arose between his two sons, Donnell and Teige, each of whom sought to become king. Donnell being killed in this contest, Teige was left undisputed victor.” Why he received the surname “ of the Three Towers” is not clear. O'Donovan says:10 “It may be safely conjectured that the appellation arose from the fact of his having built three towers of defence, but whether these were castles or round tower belfries it is impossible to determine. Our historians,” he adds, “are of opinion that the ‘Castellum' erected in the twelfth century by King Turlough * O’Donovan MS. * The Annals of the Four Masters, p. 553. * The Annals of the Four Masters, p. 505. * Zbid., p. 567. * The Ammals of Ulster, p. 881. * Zbid., p. 613; Chronicum Scoforum, p. 195. * The Annals of the Four Masters, p. 537. * Ibid., p. 613. * Ibid., p. 554; Chronicum Scotorum, p. 177. 19 O’Donovan MS, THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 29 O'Conor, at Tuam, was the , first castle of any importance ever erected in Ireland.” In 93 I* Murtough, a general of the monarch of Ireland, made a circuit of the country, and compelled most of the provincial kings to submit to him, and to give hostages to his master, Donchad the monarch. He came to Connaught amongst other places, and there met Conor, son of Teige, who, however, gave no hostages. He then returned, carrying with him some of the provincial kings and their hostages, whom he sent to Donchad. The death of Teige is recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters as having occurred in 954.” According to the Chronicum Scotorum, he died a year later, in 955. He left five sons—(1) Conor, (2) Cathal, who was King of Connaught for a few days, and was killed in 97 I, (3) Muirgis, (4) Mulrooney, ancestor of the MºDermots, and (5) Muiredhach. * Zhe Annals of the Four Masters, p. 663. * Ibid., p. 673; Chronicum Scotorum, p. 213. C H A P T E R I I I. A.D. 968—A.D. I IO6. ONCOVAR, or CONOR, son of Teige, died A.D. 971. Upon the death of Teige, the sovereignty of Connaught passed à Šº 㺠for a time to the family of the O'Rourkes, who were descended *** from Fergus, third in descent from Duagh Galech. Firgal O'Rourke, their chieftain, who was recognised as king, was slain in the year 964 by Donnell, Lord of Breagha. Four years later, in 968,” Conor, son of Teige, recovered the sovereignty held by his father. He died in 971, and in the same year his brother Cathal was killed after a reign of a few days.” From this Concovar, or Conor, the family name of O'Conor has arisen, his descendants being called O'Conor, or the sons, or descendants, of Conor. “This name, O'Conor,” says O’Donovan, “is written in Irish O’Concho- bhair, and it has been variously at different times anglicised O'Conquovar, O'Conogher, O'Knogher, O’Konnor, O'Conner, O'Connor, and O'Conor, according to the ever-varying whims of usage. The Irish form of the second part contains a guttural sound, which was usually represented by ‘gh' in old English, but for the last three centuries it has been usually written O'Connor or O'Conor. The Irish Conchobhair means a hero or champion, and the motto of the family, “O Dhia gach cu cabrach, i.e., “From God comes every helping hero, has reference to this signification of the name of their pro- genitor.” CATHAL UI CONCOVAR, or CATHAL O'CONOR, died A.D. IoIO. Whether Cathal succeeded his father immediately appears to be doubtful. Most probably he did not, as the sovereignty about this time, and for many years later, appears to have alternated between the O'Rourkes and O'Conors, both descendants of the same stock. * Annals of the Four Masters, p. 687. * Zbid., p. 693. * Annals of the Four Masters, p. 697; Chronicum Scotorum, p. 223. * O’Donovan MS, A.D. 980–IO23.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 31 In the year 98o the Annals record the death of Muirgis, Son of Conor, and royal heir of Connaught ; and in 991 the death of Mor, daughter of Teige of the Towers, whom they style Queen of Ireland. According to O'Donovan, Cathal O'Conor reigned for thirty years, and as he died in Iolo," he must have succeeded to the throne of his father about the year 980. In the year IOOO he built a stone bridge over the Shannon at Athlone, probably the first bridge of such magnitude ever constructed in Ireland. He it was who also built the sepulchral chapel of the O'Conors at Cloonmacnoise, which is referred to by Petrie in his work entitled Ancient Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland.” In the year Iool” Brian Boru, King of Munster, deposed the monarch of Ireland, and assumed the chief sovereignty himself. Before succeeding in this enterprise, he marched an army to Athlone, and obtained the submission of Connaught to his authority. Brian was nearly connected with Cathal ; his wife Dunchalvy being the daughter of the King of Connaught. Cathal having reigned twenty-eight years, resigned his throne, took the habit of a monk, and died two years afterwards in IoIO." He left five sons—Teige of the White Steed ; Brian; Conor; Donnell Dubhshuilech, or the Black-eyed ; and Teige Direch, or the Straight. TEIGE OF THE WHITE STEED, died A.D. 1030. After the death of Cathal, the O'Rourkes again became possessed of the sovereignty of Connaught, and held it for fifteen years,” when Teige, Son of Cathal, surnamed Teige of the White Steed, recovered the throne of his fathers. According to the Annals of the Four Masters, O'Rourke held the throne for less than five years,” as Teige is named as King of Connaught in IOI 5, when he is referred to as having slain the son of O’Rourke, in revenge for the death of his brother Donnell. In IO23 he is again styled King of Connaught,' on * According to Annals of Ulster, he died A.D. Ioog. * “In the still perfect doorway of another church at Cloonmacnoise we have a specimen of a work of the close of the tenth century. The doorway occurs in the sepulchral chapel of the O'Conors of Connaught, which, from the registry of Cloonmacnoise, appears to have been erected by Cathal, son of Conor, King of Connaught, who died A. D. IoIo.”—Petrie's Acclesiastical Architecture, p. 273. The entry in the registry here referred to is as follows:– “Thus have the O'Connors their part of that cemeterie, and they gave this for their sepulture place, i.e., a place for six little cells belonging to Cloon, 48 days to every cell. The O'Connor who bestowed those lands was called Cathal O’Connor.” Petrie adds: “Temple Connor is now used as the Parish Church. It measures externally 45 feet in length by 27 in breadth, and the walls are 4 feet in thickness.” * Annals of the Four Masters, p. 747. * O'Donovan MS. * Zbąd. * Annals of the Four Masters, p. 785. * Ibid., p. 805; Chronicum. Scotorum, p. 263. 32 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. III. the occasion of his leading an expedition into Leyney in Co. Sligo. In Io25" Neal O'Conor, called the royal heir of Connaught, was killed, and in Io28% Brian, brother of Teige, met the same fate. In IO29 he appears to have blinded” his brother Conor, who probably was engaged in some plot to sup- plant him, and in IO3O" he himself was slain by Melachlan, Lord of Meath. This Teige, or his father Cathal, was the first who took the name of O'Conor as an hereditary surname, and about this period the adoption of such Surnames appears to have become general. The white steed of magical fleet- ness, from which he took his particular designation, had been presented to him by O’Hanly." It is stated in the Dublin copy of the Ammals of Immisſallen that this Teige Commanded the forces of Connaught in the battle of Clontarf, on the side of Ring Brian Boru, but his name does not appear in any of the older annals, and the very contrary is recorded in the Ammals of Cloonmacnoise, which state that the O’Neals forsook King Brian in this battle, as did all Connaught, except Farrell O'Rourke, and Teige O'Kelly." Besides this, as Teige did not come into the sovereignty of Connaught until a year after the battle of Clontarf, which was fought in IoI4, it is not probable that he took part in the encounter. Teige left one son Hugh. HUGH OF THE BROKEN SPEAR, died A.D. 1067. Hugh succeeded his father as King of Connaught, but his supremacy in that kingdom appears to have been disputed by the O'Rourkes, with whom, for many years, he was engaged in almost constant contentions." In IO36 he slew Melachlan, King of Meath, in revenge for the death of his father Teige and his brother Brian.” Whether he was King of Connaught at this time or not is not clear, as O'Rourke was at one moment in the ascendant, and O'Conor at another. In IO46 his great antagonist, Art O'Rourke, was killed, and in IO47° Neal O'Rourke met the same fate, when Hugh O'Conor appears to have, beyond doubt, been generally accepted and recognised as king. In IO5 I he fixed his residence in West Connaught” (Co. Galway), having deposed the * Annals of the Four Masters, p. 809. ° O’Donovan M.S. * Zbid., p. 817. 7 Zöza. * Zbid., p. 819. * Annals of the Four Masters, p. 850, * Ibid., p. 819. * Ibid., p. 853. * O’Donovan MS. * Zbid., p. 859. A.D. IO54—IO76, THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 33 chieftain of that district. In Io;4 he made an expedition into the Co. Clare," and took “innumerable spoils,” and in the following year he did the same in Westmeath, making many prisoners.” In IoS9 the son of Brian Boru, the late monarch, Submitted to him,” and acknowledged his authority, and he seemed to be on the high road to obtain the sovereignty of Ireland. In IO61* he defeated O'Flaherty, chief of West Connaught ; and carried his head as a trophy to Rath Cruachan, the chief seat of the Connaught kings. In the same year the following entry in the Annals of Cloonmacnoise shows that King Hugh's ambition extended far beyond the limits of his own province :-" A.D. IOSI, Hugh O'Conor broke down the royal palace of King Brian at Kincora ; burned Killaloe, and did also eat the two salmon that were kept in the king's fountain, or fish-pond, there.” In IO63 another battle took place between the forces of Hugh O'Conor and O'Flaherty's son, in which O'Flaherty was defeated." About this time the monarch of Ireland, probably alarmed at the prowess displayed by the King of Connaught, marched an army into that kingdom, and Hugh O'Conor, as well as the O'Rourkes, submitted to him, and acknowledged his supremacy.” In IO66, the year in which William the Conqueror came to England, O'Kelly and O'Rourke made an expedition against Cloonmacnoise, and plundered it, upon which Hugh O'Conor raised an army, and proceeded against them and defeated them, “through the miracles of God, Kiaran, and Brennain, whose churches they had plundered,” and a great slaughter ensued, and O'Kelly and O’Rourke left their boats, and the ship which had taken them on the Shannon, in the hands of Hugh O'Conor. In the following year.” Hugh himself was slain in a battle near Oranmore, in Co. Galway. This battle was fought between Hugh O'Conor on the one side, and Hugh O'Rourke on the other, and in it perished, along with Hugh O'Conor, several of the principal chieftains of Connaught.” After the battle Hugh O'Rourke became King of Connaught, and reigned for twenty-one years.” Hugh O'Conor left several sons. The following are mentioned by * Annals of the Four Masters, p. 867. * Zbid., p. 869. * Ibid., p. 877. “Ibid., p. 881. * In the Chronicum Scotorum, under the year IoS9, p. 287, the same account is given. These salmon were regarded as sacred fish. * Annals of the Four Masters, p. 883. * Zbid., p. 885. * Zbid., p. 893. * In Chronicum Scotorum, p. 289, the following entry appears, in reference to Hugh O'Conor — “The men of Breffni, with Hugh, son of Art O'Rourke, went to plunder Connaught. Their number was 6,000. A sharp, valorous battle was fought, in which was slain Hugh O'Conor, the champion of the west of the world; the Cuchulain of the Gaidhil, the flood of dignity and nobility of Erinn, and the man who was wont to give the most of food and clothing, of gold and cows, for his soul in Erinn.” 10 O’Donovan MS. F 34 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. III. O’Donovan: Rory, Cathal, Teige, and Hugh.” And the Ammals of the Four Masters” mention another son Murtough, probably the eldest, who is called royal heir of Connaught, and who was killed in IO70. O'Donovan says: “The origin of the cognomen ‘ of the Broken Spear, though a most remarkable one, has not been explained by our genealogists or historians.” RODERICK O'CONOR, surnamed “RORY OF THE YELLOW HOUND,” died A.D. I IO6 or II 18. Whether Roderick succeeded to the throne of Connaught immediately on his father's decease, or whether some years intervened before his accession, is not quite certain. He is first mentioned as king in Io?6,” when he submitted to Turlough O'Brien, King of Munster, who in that year invaded Connaught. This submission was probably only a temporary expedient, as shortly afterwards, in Io/9,” O’Brien re-entered Connaught, and expelled Roderick from the kingdom. After O’Brien's departure, Roderick again obtained supreme power in Connaught, which he held until Io82, when his brother Cathal set himself up as a rival for the throne, encouraged in doing so by promises of aid from O'Brien.” Cathal's first exploits were, as was usual in those days, stained with the blood of some of his nearest relatives. He killed, say the ancient annalists, his nephew, Donnell O'Conor, son of his brother Teige, and heir to Connaught, “without any reason known to any man except envy and malice,” and then engaged in battle with his brother Roderick. In this battle he was unsuccessful; his followers being defeated, and he himself slain. After this, Roderick regained full possession of the country, threw off all allegiance to O'Brien, and in Io87 defeated and killed Hugh, son of Art O'Rourke, who disputed his authority.’ Roderick O'Conor was doubly allied by marriage with his chief enemy, O’Brien, Roderick's wife being O’Brien's daughter;" whilst, on the other hand, O'Brien, after the death of his first wife, had married Dervorgil, sister to Roderick. These family alliances had little effect in preventing hostilities. O’Brien was determined, if possible, to make his son-in-law his subject; and after the death of O'Rourke, twice unsuccessfully invaded Connaught ; first * O'Donovan MS. Cathal, son of Hugh, had two sons Catha land Teige, and this latter had a son Cathal mentioned in the Annals in II 18 and 1135. * Annals of the Four Masters, p. 889. * Ibid., p. 911. * Ibid., p. 915. * O'Donovan MS. "Annals of the Four Masters, p. 919. * Ibid., p. 929. * Chronicum Scotorum, p. 299. A.D. Io98–I IO2.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 35 proceeding up the river Shannon, and subsequently attacking the country from the sea-coast. O'Conor, finding these repeated attacks from Munster more than he could constantly repel, determined to strengthen himself by an alliance with Donnell M'Loughlin, the then monarch of Ireland. Accordingly, he made his submission to him, and induced him to proceed to Munster, where the allied forces of the monarch and the King of Connaught burned Limerick, and demolished O’Brien’s palace of Kincora, and carried off as hostages one hundred and sixty of the most distinguished men of Munster. This war was continued in the following year. O’Brien first sailed up the Shannon to Lough Ree; Roderick O'Conor then blocked the passage of the Munster ships, which eventually were abandoned at Athlone, after which O'Conor and M'Loughlin again proceeded to Munster, and laid waste the country as far as Tipperary. O'Brien, finding that he could no longer withstand the combined forces of the north and west, in Io90 submitted to M'Loughlin, and a meeting took place in that year between the respective Kings of Ulster, Munster, and Con- naught, and “they all mutually acknowledged M'Loughlin as monarch, and gave hostages to him, and parted in peace, and tranquillity was restored to the island.” Two years later, in Io92,” Roderick O'Conor's eyes were put out, and his reign brought to a close, by the treachery of one of his subordinate chiefs, O'Flaherty, with whom he was on the most intimate terms, and connected by a tie regarded as sacred by the Irish, namely, the tie of gossipred, O'Conor having stood as sponsor for seven of O'Flaherty's children. After this, O'Flaherty became king for a month, but was then killed ; in revenge, it is said, for his treachery to O'Conor. King Roderick, having been blinded by O'Flaherty, was obliged, accord- ing to the rules which bound the Irish succession, to abdicate, being no longer eligible as a sovereign. He entered the monastery of Cloonmacnoise, and lived there in seclusion for twenty-six years, his death occurring in II 18.” After his abdication the Sovereignty of Connaught remained for several years in dispute. O'Flaherty first assumed it; Teige O'Conor, son of Roderick, then held it for a short time, or, at least, was recognised as the head of the Siol Murray. He was killed in Io97.* O'Rourke then became king, and held the crown till he was killed in IIo2.” After this, Donnell O'Conor, brother of * Annals of the Four Masters, p. 939. * Ibid., p. 943. * O’Donovan MS. “Annals of the Four Masters, p. 955. * O’Donovan MS. 36 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. III. Teige, and son of Roderick, became king. In I IO3 he joined in an expedition with the King of Meath into Munster, and Donchod, son of Turlough O'Brien, was killed on this occasion." Three years later he was deposed by O’Brien, and his brother Turlough, afterwards known as Turlough Mor O'Conor, was inaugurated in his place, at the ford of the Termon, probably near Tarmon- barry.” From the preceding account it might appear that Roderick O'Conor's reign, like that of most of his predecessors, was occupied with nothing but civil war, and that the murder or mutilation of one king seemed to be almost the necessary prelude to the succession of another. No doubt the temper of those days was warlike, and the position of a king very dangerous. Few of the Irish kings escaped a violent death ; but in this respect Ireland differed little from other nations at the same date. “Examine the thrones of the world,” says Gratianus Lucius, “and how few of the occupants do you find dying a natural death !” How many Roman Emperors fell by poison and the sword l Caligula, with pillows, smothered his predecessor Tiberius, and perished himself by the dagger; Claudius was cut off by poison, administered through the treachery of his wife, who desired the succession of her own son Nero—and he, in his turn, met a violent death by his own hand. Galba, who succeeded him, had his head struck off by the followers of Otho ; who, after a short reign of three months, made way, by suicide, for Vitellius ; and Vitellius was beaten to death by the soldiers of Vespasian. England supplied similar examples in abundance. In the time of the Heptarchy, kings followed each other in regular succession, through the violent deaths of their predecessors; and under the military system then in force, and the elective character of the monarchies, no other result could be expected. Besides this, as the warlike successes of the different princes were considered the most important events of the day, these are the principal items recorded by the chroniclers, and all the other really more noble actions and deeds of the rulers of the country escaped record or transmission to posterity. It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that the sole, or indeed the chief, occupation of the rulers of the people consisted in bloodshed and destruction of property. That the fine arts flourished in these days is proved by many of the monuments preserved even to the present time. * Annals of the Four Masters, p. 975. * /hid., p. 983. THE CH A Li C E OF CL 0N MAGN 0ISE : A-GO CALL-E.D. T H E A R D A G H U U P. A.D. I IO6.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 37 The kings and princes, notwithstanding their frequent quarrels, were munificent in their endowment of the Church. Rich presents and gifts of all sorts were constantly made ; and it is to what has remained of these that we have to look, in order to understand the position which the fine arts had attained amongst our ancestors. The Abbey of Cloonmacnoise, where many of the kings were buried, was specially favoured in this respect. Referring to this fact, Lord Dunraven, in his Motes on Irish Architecture, observes" — “The monastery of Cloonmacnoise seems to have been singularly rich in objects of art. The altar of the great church there was adorned with jewels, which were carried away, when it was plundered in I 129. The annalists enumerate amongst other things stolen, a model of Solomon's temple ; the cup of Donchad, son of Flann; the three jewels presented by King Turlough O'Conor; also a silver goblet, a silver cup with a gold cross over it, and a drinking-horn of gold, the drinking-horn of Ua Riada, King of Aridh; a silver chalice, with a burnishing of gold upon it, with an engraving by the daughter of Ruaidhri O'Conor, and the silver cup of Ceallagh, the successor of St. Patrick. The crozier of Ciaran is also mentioned in the year 930. The shrine of St. Manchan, at Lemanaghan, within a few miles of Cloonmacnoise, is also another work of this school, which, we are told, was executed in 1166 by Ruaidhri O'Conor, and an embroidery of gold was carved over it in as good a style as a relic was ever covered in Ireland.” “This shrine is still in existence, and forms a fine example of late Celtic Christian art.” The Ruaidhri O'Conor first alluded to is the king of whom we now treat, and Finola, his daughter, who designed the carving on the chalice, died in 1147, in the Abbey of Cloonmacnoise. This beautiful chalice, of which we give an engraving, is still preserved in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy. It was stolen, with other ornaments of great value, from the Church of Cloonmacnoise, in I I29, by a Dane, but was recovered in II 30 by O'Brien, King of Munster, who restored it to Cloonmacnoise. The Dane who committed the robbery was arrested, and executed, and before his death confessed that he had made many efforts to get out of Ireland, and had tried to escape from the ports of Limerick, Waterford, and Cork, but, on all occasions, the ship in which he was a passenger was put back, as he said, by St. Ciaran.” * Notes on Irish Architecture, by the Earl of Dunraven, Vol. II., p. 90. * An engraving of this shrine is given later on. * Monasticon Hibernicon. Chronicum Scotorum, p. 329, Hennessy’s Edition. C H A P T E R IV. TURLOUGH MOR O'CONOR, MONARCH OF IRELAND. A.D. I IO6-II 56. late King Roderic, became for a short time King of Connaught, but he too was deposed, in I IO6, by O'Brien, King of Munster, when his next brother, Turlough, then only fifteen years of age, was inaugurated, as mentioned before, at the ford of the Termon. To follow the career of this great man through all the acts of his long and illustrious reign would be a task outstripping the ordinary limits of a family memoir, but as he was, in the words of O'Donovan, “one of the greatest rulers that Ireland ever produced,” it will be necessary to devote more attention to his history than to that of any of his predecessors. In the year I I Io Donnell M'Loughlin, King of Ailech, invaded Con- naught, and carried off 3,000 prisoners, and many thousand cattle. Against this attack the youthful Turlough does not appear to have been able success- fully to defend himself, although in the same year he was engaged in a conflict with the O'Ferralls and others, whom he defeated. Three years later, in II 14, the same Donnell M'Loughlin, who was king of the northern half of Ireland, made a circuit of the whole country, and was recognised as Supreme monarch by all the princes and chieftains, including the King of Connaught, who met him at Dunloe on the Suck. About this time Turlough O'Conor appears to have been engaged in family conflicts with his brother Donnell, whom he banished into Munster, and with the sons of Melachlin O'Conor, and in one of these encounters he narrowly escaped being killed, having received a wound of a most dangerous character. After his recovery he crossed the Shannon into Leinster, attacked his old enemies, the O'Ferralls, and compelled Donnell O’Melaghlin, King of A.D. I I I8–I I2O.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 39 Meath, to submit to him, and, in order to weaken the future power of that kingdom, he divided the territory between O’Melaghlin's two sons. In the year I I I 8 Roderic, the late King of Connaught, and Donnell, his eldest son both died. All rivals to the throne of Connaught being thus removed, Turlough's ambitious mind turned towards the idea of making himself supreme ruler over the whole of the island. Before attacking M'Loughlin, the reigning monarch, directly, it became necessary for his purposes to weaken the power of the other provincial kings, some of whom might prove dangerous rivals to his pretensions. Fore- most amongst these, and by far the most powerful, was O'Brien, King of Munster, and against him, accordingly, Turlough first directed his efforts. Being joined by his father-in-law, Morrough O’Melaghlin, one of the kings of Meath, and by O'Rourke, Chief of Breifny, he marched into Munster as far as Glanmire, in the Co. Cork, defeated the O'Briens, and, carrying out the policy he had previously followed in Meath, divided the territory of Munster between O'Brien and M'Carthy, and received hostages from both. He then returned to Leinster, attacked the Danes in Dublin, defeated them, rescued the son of O’Melaghlin, who was a captive in their power, and received hostages as a mark of their submission to his authority. Not satisfied with his previous assertion of his authority in Munster, he returned again to that province, marched against Kincora near Killaloe, tore down this, the royal palace of the O’Briens, and hurled its materials into the Shannon. By these proceedings O’Brien was humbled, and his power shaken, but still Turlough regarded him as his most formidable rival, and in the following year, having made an alliance with M*Morrough, King of Leinster, and M'Gillapatrick, chief of Ossory, and with the Danes of Dublin, he made another expedition into Munster, proceeding down the Shannon to Killaloe, where he remained for some considerable time exercising sovereign sway. Two years later, in I I2O, he appears to have fallen out with his previous ally, Morrough O'Melaghlin, and he marched into Meath and expelled him from his territory. O’Melaghlin immediately sought the protection of the monarch M'Loughlin, who was his kinsman, and the latter marched as far as Athlone to give battle to O'Conor. It did not suit Turlough's purposes to engage in an open conflict with his sovereign at this moment. M'Loughlin was old, O'Conor young, and in full possession of all his faculties, he could afford to wait until the monarch's death, when the occasion of a new election might afford him an opportunity of pressing his claims, whereas a premature encounter might endanger his ultimate success; accordingly, he temporised 40 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. IV. with the monarch, and what is called. by the annalists “a false peace” was made between them. Having by these means induced M'Loughlin to return to the north, O'Conor set about strengthening his own authority. He built two bridges over the Shannon—one at Athlone, and the other at Atheroe, and also a bridge over the Suck at Dunloe, near the present town of Ballinasloe; and in order to prepare the country for his subsequent claims, he called together the great national fair, or celebration of games, sports, and combats at Tailton in Meath, which act was considered as the exclusive privilege of the chief monarch, as much as the calling together of the states general at Tara. In the following year, I I2 I, the event expected by O'Conor occurred. M'Loughlin, King of Ulster, and Monarch of Ireland, died in the seventy- third year of his age, and twenty-ninth of his reign, and left the King of Connaught beyond doubt the most powerful of the subordinate kings. O’Brien of Munster was still, however, a rival. He had not acknowledged Turlough's supremacy, and although his country had been frequently ravaged, and he had suffered many defeats, he was yet unsubdued. Accordingly Turlough again organized an expedition against him. In this expedition he lost several of his chieftains, amongst others, O'Flaherty of West Connaught, O'Heyne of Hy Fiachrach, O'Lorcan, and many others. In 1122 he compelled MºMorrough of Leinster to Submit to him, and in the same year received the hostages of Desmond. In II 24 he again proceeded into Munster, going down the Shannon to Lough Derg, where what was called the great fleet of Munster was given up to him, after which he remained encamped in the southern part of the County Galway for six months. About this time he erected three castles, the first buildings of the kind recorded ever to have been built in Ireland, namely, the Castle of Dunloe on the Suck, the Castle of Galway, and the Castle of Cul-maoile or Collooney, near Sligo." His next exploit appears to have been against Morrogh O’Melaghlin, who had regained authority in Meath, whom he deposed, and placed three lords over Meath in his place, after which he marched to Dublin, defeated the Danes, and made his own son, Conor, King of Dublin, and of part of Leinster; he then turned his forces again to the south, defeated M’Carthy, and burned his camp, and marching thence into Ossory, remained there for eight months, and compelled the chieftains to recognise his authority, and to give him hostages. * Chronicum Sootorum, edited by Hennessy, p. 325. A.D. II 27–II32.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 41 Disturbances having again arisen in Munster in I I27, he led another expedition to the south, a portion of his forces marching by land, whilst the remainder sailed round the coast to Cork. Here he engaged and defeated Cormac M'Carthy, King of South Munster, and divided the province into three parts, and carried off many hostages. This success had, however, but a temporary result; Turlough having returned to his own immediate territory, Cormac M'Carthy again asserted his authority, deposed his son, who had been set up as one of the petty kings, and with the other chieftains of Munster, prepared to attack the King of Connaught, who met him on sea, when an engagement took place between the fleets of Connaught and Munster, in which the former was victorious, after which peace was restored through the mediation of Celsus, Archbishop of Armagh. Whilst these conflicts were going on in the South, the son of M'Loughlin, in the north, was preparing to attack the King of Connaught ; he had never submitted to him, and in II 3 I marched with an army into Connaught, but was met near the Curlieu hills, and defeated with the loss of many chieftains. O'Conor's power appeared to be now nearly established, yet the Munster men made another effort to throw it off; in the year II 32 they carried the war into the enemy's country, demolished the Castle of Galway, defeated the men of West Connaught, and slew their leader, O'Flaherty. Taking courage from these successes, Cormac M’Carthy and O’Brien, in the following year, marched into Connaught, a great part of which they laid waste, and having destroyed the castle and bridge at Athlone, retired without hostages. After this a conference was held, at which the chiefs and clergy of Connaught and Munster attended, and peace for one year was made between the combatants. Relieved, by this truce, from anxiety in regard to attacks from Munster, O'Conor proceeded to extend his authority in Leinster. On the allegation that O’Melaghlin, King of Meath, had violated a treaty into which he had entered, he made a sudden incursion into Meath, took O’Melaghlin prisoner, and confined him in the fortress of Dunmore until he consented to abdicate in favour of Conor O'Conor, Turlough's son, who had previously been placed as ruler over Dublin, and who now became King also of Meath. The Meath men, however, received their new ruler with reluctance, and very shortly after he was assassinated by O’Dowly, chief of Tertullagh. The assassination of his son immediately roused the indignation of Tur- lough, who marched an army into Meath, exacted an eric of 400 cows, and G 42 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. IV. divided the kingdom between the son of O’Melaghlin, Dermot M'Murrough, and Tiernan O’Rourke, to be held under him." About the same time Turlough O'Conor's jealousy was excited, for some reason or another, against his own Sons, Roderick and Hugh, and with unre- lenting force of character, he seized their persons, threw the one into prison, and caused the eyes of the other to be put out.” This practice of blinding or otherwise mutilating those who were regarded as dangerous rivals was common at this age, and was resorted to, as before explained, in order to put an end to any pretensions to the sovereignty which might be entertained by the persons implicated, for, according to the customs of the times, no person who was blind or mutilated was eligible as ruler. Turlough's severity to his sons was, however, considered so great that it became the subject of remonstrance from the chiefs and clergy of Connaught, who met together and petitioned the king to release his young son Roderick ; but the father was inexorable, and kept him in prison for a year, after which he was released through the intervention of the Bishops of Armagh and Cashel. From this time forward the power of O'Conor” was on the increase, and that of the O'Briens on the wane. In Munster the remaining years of the reign of O'Brien passed in obscurity; the decided ascendancy acquired by his rival having thrown the deeds of his latter days into the shade. Family dissensions again broke out between the races of Eoghan Mor and Cormac Cas, and the desertion of the latter, under two of their princes, to the ranks of O'Conor, rendered O'Brien's pretensions to the monarchy quite contemptible. Nevertheless it would appear that the O'Briens were unwilling to acknowledge the superiority of O'Conor till the year II 51, when the great battle of Moin- Mor, near Emly, decided the contest. In this battle the army of Munster was totally defeated, and seven thousand of the Munster men, with Murtough, son of Conor O'Brien, King of Thomond, and the flower of the Dalcassian nobility, were left dead upon the field. The result of this victory was decisive. Turlough O'Brien was obliged to fly to Ulster, where he took refuge with M'Loughlin, chief of the Northern Hy Nial, whilst the King of Connaught divided Munster between Teige O'Brien and Dermot, son of Cormac M'Carthy. Turlough O'Conor now reigned supreme over all Ireland, and an oppor- * Annals of Cloonmacnoise. *In the Annals of Cloonmacnoise it is stated: “Turlough O'Conor, King of Ireland, did put out the eyes of his own son Hugh, for some heinous misdemeanour of his.” * O'Donovan MS. A.D. II 5 I–II 52.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 43 tunity was soon afforded to him for exercising his sovereign powers by the occurrence of an event which, in subsequent years, turned out to have the most momentous consequences. Dervorgill, daughter of O’Melaghlin, and wife of O'Rourke, was carried off, during the absence of her husband," by Dermot M“Murrough, King of Leinster. She had not lived happily with her husband, and left his house, it is said, by the advice of her brother. The insult involved in this outrage naturally raised the ire of O'Rourke; he immediately declared war against MºMurrough, and invoked the aid of Turlough O'Conor as his sovereign. The latter took the side of the injured prince, marched an army into Leinster, forced Dermot to submit, and carried back the erring lady,” who was committed to the charge of her father's family, and subsequently entered as a penitent the convent of Cloonmacnoise. About the same time, in I 151,” Cardinal John Papiron, papal legate, arrived in Ireland from Rome. He established rules for the good govern- ment of the Church, and a synod was held under his presidency in II 52 at Drogheda, which was attended by 3OO ecclesiastics. Visitations of the different dioceses by the archbishops were ordered, and on the occasion of one of these, in II 51, Turlough O'Conor presented to the successor of St. Patrick, the Archbishop of Armagh, a ring of gold weighing twenty ounces.” Shortly after this O'Conor's Supremacy was again disputed, O’Brien and M'Loughlin endeavouring to re-establish the supremacy of Ulster. The King of Connaught was then in his fifty-sixth year, and his military ardour was on the decline, yet learning the designs of the northern and southern princes he prepared at once to crush them in detail, and M'Loughlin having proceeded to Munster to reinstate O'Brien, O'Conor invaded Ulster both by land and sea. Alarmed by the formidable attack made on his territory, M'Loughlin despatched agents to the coast of Scotland, to the Hebrides, and to the Isle of Man to engage men and ships, in order to enable him to cope with the superior fleet opposed to him. Having received these reinforcements, a naval engagement took place off the coast of Innishowen, which lasted from sunrise to sunset, in which the Ulster men and their allies were defeated, the foreigners were deprived of their ships, and the Supremacy of O'Conor was completely restored. The remaining years of Turlough's reign were spent in consolidating the power which he had at length acquired, and one of the last of his public acts * Annals of the Four Masters, p. 1 Io:3. * Annals of the Four Masters, p. 1095. * Ibid., p. 1107. * Zºd, p. Io95. 44 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. IV. was to receive the submission of his old rival, Turlough O'Brien, who acknow- ledged him as his Supreme sovereign, and gave him hostages for his good behaviour. A few months after this, in II 56, Turlough O'Conor died ; he willed all his personal effects, consisting of jewellery and vessels of gold and silver, to be distributed between different churches, and directed that his body should be buried near the altar of St. Kiaron, in the great church of Cloonmacnoise. Turlough O'Conor, styled in the ancient annals “Turlough the Great,” left many descendants to perpetuate his race, having been married no less than three times, and having had children by each marriage. His first wife was Tailltin, daughter of Morrough O'Melaghlin, King of Meath ; by her he had several sons: amongst others, Malisa, the eldest, who became abbot of Roscommon ; Conor, who was for a time King of Dublin and Meath, and who was assassinated in II.44; Roderic, born in I I I7; Hugh, who was blinded in II 36, and who died at an advanced age in I IQ4; and probably several others. Turlough's first wife died in II 28, and in I 131 he married, secondly, Dervorgilla, daughter of Donnell M'Loughlin, late Monarch of Ireland. She was, according to the annalists, the mother of Cathal Crove- dearg, afterwards King of Connaught, and ancestor of the O'Conor Don and O'Conor Roe family. Dervorgilla died in II 51. Subsequently Turlough married his third wife, Durcoulagh, daughter of Melachlin O'Mulroony, who died in II69. Besides the sons above-mentioned, Turlough had the following; by which of his wives it is not stated —Brian Luighnech, ancestor of the O'Conor Sligo family; Manus, ancestor of the Clanmanus ; Loughlin, ancestor of the Clanloughlin ; Muirchertach Muimhnech, ancestor of the warlike sept of the Clan Murtough, which supplied several kings to Connaught; and many others, the number in all being, according to O'Donovan, at least twenty. By his first and second marriages he became united with the chief royal family in Ireland, out of which the hereditary monarchs of the country had been almost invariably selected, but what little effect marriage relationships had in these days is apparent from the fact that he set aside the brother of his first wife, who was King of Meath, replacing him by his own son, Conor, * “A.D. 1156. Turlough O'Conor, King of Connaught, Meath, Breifne, Munster, and of all Ireland with opposition, flood of the glory and splendour of Ireland, the Augustus of the west of Europe, a man full of charity and mercy, hospitality and chivalry, died after the 68th year of his age, and was interred at Cloonmacnoise, beside the altar of Kieran, after having made his will, and distributed gold and silver, cows and horses, amongst the clergy and churches of Ireland in general.”—Annals of the Four Masters, p. I IQI. º *- | || | ||| GHANUEL ARCH IN ANCIENT CHURCH 0F TU. A. M. A.D. I I 56.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 45 and he himself took possession of the position of Monarch of Ireland, which, according to the usual custom, more properly belonged to the brother of his second wife. Though so much of Turlough O'Conor's reign was given up to warlike pursuits, there are evidences that the arts of peace were not neglected, and that he was not merely a savage warrior, and his people wild, irreligious, uninstructed boors. No Irish monarch has left more lasting monuments of his munificence to the Church, or attention to the wants of his country, than Turlough O'Conor. -- The old cathedral church of Tuam, with its magnificent stone cross, stands to the present day as a testimony of his devotion to the Church. Referring to this cathedral, Petrie says":- “Of the ancient church of Tuam the chancel only remains ; but, for- tunately, this is sufficient to make us acquainted with its general style of architecture, and to show that it was not only a larger, but a more splendid structure than Cormac's church at Cashel, and not unworthy of the powerful monarch to whom it chiefly owed its erection. This chancel is a square of 26 feet in external measurement, and the walls are 4 feet in thickness. The great feature of this chancel is its triumphal arch, now, erroneously, supposed to be a doorway, which is perhaps the most magnificent specimen of its kind remaining in Ireland. It is composed externally of six semicircular, con- centric, and compressed arches, of which the Outer is 20 feet 6 inches in width at its base, and 19 feet 5 inches in height ; and the inner, I 5 feet 8 inches in width, and 16 in height.” An engraving, taken from a photograph, shows the position and condition of this arch at the present day, and, from it, the reader may be able to judge of the perfection to which workmanship in stone had been carried by the Irish at this early period. Outside of this church, and for security attached to it, was the famous stone cross, unique both as regards its immense height and exquisite work- manship. This cross, of which also an engraving is given, was about 30 feet high, and was composed of eight stones, including the base. Three of the stones are missing, but those that remain are all covered with most intricate and beautifully carved lace-work. At Cloonmacnoise, on the Shannon, further specimens of the workmanship of Turlough's reign may still be seen, and the great belfry, or turret, was erected there under his auspices by Gillechrist O'Malone, the abbot, in I I2O. * Petrie's Ancient Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland, pp. 317, 318. 46 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. Iv. Workmanship in the precious metals also was not backward, and in the smaller reliquary cross, called the “Cross of Cong,” which is still preserved in the Royal Irish Academy, and of which we give an engraving, we have a further memorial of King Turlough's reign. “This cross,” says Sir William Wilde, “is undoubtedly one of the finest specimens of its age in the western world. In its centre there is a large polished crystal, under which was placed originally the relic sent from Rome to King Turlough O'Conor in 1125, and referred to in the Annals of Innisfallen in that year.” Around it is an inscrip- tion: “A prayer for Turlough O'Conor, the King of Erin, for whom this shrine was made.” Besides these specimens of ecclesiastical architecture and workmanship, the castles of Galway, Ballinasloe, and Collooney, were erected by King Turlough,” as well as the first stone bridges over the Shannon at Athlone, and the Suck at Ballinasloe.” In this reign also we have the first account of money having been coined by an Irish prince.* Previously, the Danes who had settled in Ireland had established a coinage, but there is no account of the regular establishment of a mint until the time of King Turlough, although it is evident from many records that the precious metals, whether in the shape of coins, or merely as bars, had long been used as a medium of exchange. Turlough having gained the superiority in Ireland by the force of his own character, and not by hereditary right, left nothing undone to consolidate that authority, and to raise up and benefit his people. “In life and in death,” says Gratianus Lucius, “he was not less eminent for his piety than for the government of his kingdom, whether agitated by the troubles of war, or enjoying the rich blessings of peace.” * The learned author of Cambrensis Eversus, Vol. I., p. 67, states: “This cross Turlough O'Conor ordered to be carried in procession through Ireland, and honoured everywhere with the greatest veneration.” * Chronicum Scotorum, p. 325. * Chronicum Scotorum, p. 323: “A.D. III6, three principal bridges were constructed by Turlough O'Conor in this year, viz., the bridge of Athluain, the bridge of Ath Cröha (Shannon Harbour), and the bridge of Dun Leodha (Ballinasloe).” * According to the Annals of Ulster, Turlough O'Conor, in the year II 50, erected a mint, and had silver money coined at Cloonmacnoise. * Gratianus Lucius, chap. ix., p. 59. C H A P T E R V. Osº Lº-º- RODER/C O'CONOR, MONARCH OF TRELAND, II 56–II86. 9% S&N the death of Turlough the Great, his son Roderic succeeded him º; as King of Connaught; but the sovereignty of all Ireland passed” without contention into the hands of Murtough M'Loughlin, the heir of the previous monarch, King of Ailech, and head of the northern Hy-Niall. Although M'Loughlin soon became as powerful as any of his predecessors since the time of Niall of the Nine Hostages, yet Roderic, who did not feel himself at once strong enough to enter into a contest for the Sovereignty, entertained hopes of being able, later on, to assume the position occupied by his father. To accomplish this object, he had recourse to the same tactics as had formerly proved so successful, and at once set about subduing some of the hereditary enemies of his race, and obtaining the recognition of some of the subordinate kings, who were disaffected towards the reigning family of Ulster. With this view, he invaded Munster in II 57, and received hostages from both O'Brien and M'Carthy. He then demanded hostages from the King of Leinster, and shortly after he collected some ships on the river Shannon, and prepared for an attack on the northern kingdom. After several encounters with his sovereign, Roderic found him too powerful, and submitted to his authority, giving hostages in the usual way. At the same time, Dermot M'Murrough, King of Leinster, adopted a similar course, and then, in the words of the annalists, Murtough M'Loughlin “became King of Erin without opposition, and he gave the half of Meath to Dermot O’Melaghlin and the other half to Roderic O'Conor.” From this date until his death, M'Loughlin was recognised without dispute as the monarch of Ireland. In the year 1166 he was slain in an insurrection raised by his own ‘The account given here, and in subsequent pages, of the proceedings of Roderic O'Conor is taken mainly from the Annals of the Four Masters. 48 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. v. subjects in Ulster, and on his death the sovereignty reverted to the King of Connaught ; and Roderic, as the most powerful provincial king, was soon recognised as monarch by the whole island. His first assertion of authority was in a conflict with the Danes of Dublin, against whom he marched with a large force, and having taken their city, and Secured their allegiance, he was inaugurated “as honourably as any king of the Gaels had ever been.” On this occasion he presented the Danes with the stipends due to him from them as his vassals; after which they accompanied him to Drogheda, where he was met by Donough O'Carroll and the chieftains of Oriel, who submitted to him and delivered hostages. He then returned to South Leinster, received the hostages of Dermot M'Murrough, and proceeded with the forces of Connaught, Breifny, and Meath, into Munster, where all the chieftains of the South having submitted to him, he divided *Munster into two parts between M'Carthy and O'Brien. Roderic O'Conor, being now fully recognised as supreme sovereign of all Ireland, turned his attention towards the pacification and better government of the whole island, and with this view convened an assembly of the chieftains and clergy of the northern half of Ireland at Athboy, near the famous hill of Flactga in Meath. To this assembly came Gelasius, Archbishop of Armagh; Catholicus O’Duffy, Archbishop of Tuam; and Laurence O’Toole, Archbishop of Dublin. The following chieftains and their supporters also attended :- O’Melaghlin, King of Meath; Randal MacRandall, King of the Danes of Dublin; O'Rourke, Chief of Breifny; M'Felen, Chief of Offaly or Offalon; O'Carroll, and several others. At this meeting various laws and regulations relating to the ecclesiastical and temporal affairs of the country were enacted ; and the annalists remark, that so great was the order, peace, and tranquillity which prevailed immediately after, that women were wont to traverse Ireland alone without any protector. All this is attributed by the annalists to “the blessings which God showered down on Erin in consequence of the righteous- ness of its sovereign, Roderic O'Conor, the descendant of the elder brother of Niall of the Nine Hostages.” Shortly after this, Roderic, hearing that Tyrone was disturbed, in conse- quence of a dispute between M'Loughlin and O'Neill, respecting the portion of Tyrone which each ought to possess, “summoned a hosting” of the men of Erin, and was joined by Cormac M'Carthy, King of Desmond, Murtough O'Brien of Thomond, Dermot O'Melaghlin of Meath, Donough O'Carroll, Lord of Uriel, and all the chieftains of Leinster. This large force having been collected, he marched into Tyrone, and divided the territory between Neal A.D. I I66.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 49 M'Loughlin and Hugh O'Neill, giving to the former the southern part, and to the latter the northern portion of the district, and, as monarch, received hostages from both as pledges for their obedience and fealty. This enterprise being ended, the several kings and chieftains returned to their respective homes, Roderic O'Conor escorting the King of Desmond as far as Knockany, near Bruff, in the County of Limerick, where he dismissed him with many presents. Whilst everything seemed thus to indicate a long and successful reign for Roderic, and all sorts of prosperity for his country, a storm was about to burst on the island over which he held sway, which was as little expected as it was far-reaching in its consequences. Hitherto, with the exception of the Danish irruption, Ireland had been free from any serious foreign invasion, and all her struggles and conflicts were confined to her own sons; but the '' . moment now approached when completely new actors were to appear on the Scene, and when the independence of Ireland as a separate and distinct nation was to vanish. The two most warlike and turbulent chieftains in Ireland during the reign of Turlough O'Conor, and who disturbed the kingdom for many years under his son, were Tiernan O'Rourke, chief of Breifny, and Dermot M'Murrough, King of Leinster. M'Murrough, who was about ten years younger than O'Rourke, had long been distinguished for his fierce activity in those scenes of violence with which Ireland was then agitated. He had been active in the field so early as the year 1137, and in 1141 had rendered himself an ohiºſ. ºf . dread and horror throughout the kingdom by treacherously seizing upon seven- teen of the principal nobles of Leinster, some of whom he put to death, and others he caused to be blinded. Between him and O’Rourke, who was also a fierce warrior, a hostile feeling had arisen at an early period, which continued to increase by slow degrees, until at last it rose to its highest pitch of rancour and fury in the year II 52, when both were far advanced in years. In that year, as before mentioned, Dervorgill, the wife of O’Rourke, was carried off by Dermot, whilst O'Rourke was on a pilgrimage at Croaghpatrick. O'Rourke, on his return, found that his wife had left his house, taking with her all her trinkets, having been encouraged to do this by her brother, Melaghlin, son of Murrough O'Melaghlin, who had a quarrel with her husband some time previously. O'Rourke at once appealed for redress to the monarch, Turlough, who, sympathizing with him, marched in the year II 53, with a numerous army, into Leinster, rescued Dervorgill from M*Murrough, and H 50 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. V. conveyed her back with her trinkets and ornaments, to Meath, where he placed her under the care of her father's family, the O’Melaghlins." So long as Turlough O'Conor lived, O’Rourke found in him a sturdy protector; but on the accession of Murtough MacLoughlin to the sovereignty, M*Murrough renewed his attacks upon O'Rourke, and subjected him to every variety of wrong and insult. A check was put to these proceedings when Roderic O'Conor became king. Dermot by his haughtiness and cruelty had rendered not only the men of Breifny and Meath his bitterest enemies, but also many of his own subjects in Leinster, especially the Danes of Dublin. All these were now anxiously bent on his destruction, and flocked to the standard of his adversary. Attacked by such a formidable alliance, and deserted by his own subjects, Dermot retired at first to the castle of Ferns; but seeing no chance of being able to withstand his assailants, he determined to seek foreign aid, and having set fire to his castle, in the seventy-eighth year of his age, he fled privately, to England, whereupon his kingdom of Leinster was declared by the monarch to be forfeited, and his cousin, Murrough, was nominated in his place. On arriving at Bristol, Dermot learned that the King of England was at that time in Aquitaine, and thither he hastened to seek him. Henry listened to the fugitive old man with great complacence; and Dermot offered, if restored by Henry's aid to his kingdom of Leinster, to receive it as a fief, and render him homage as his vassal. No evidence has been discovered to show that Dermot had any previous coinmunication with the King or ºngſand on the subject of the ºvasıör of Ireland, and it is highly probable that he had not. Henry at that time had his hands full with other troubles; but it is well known that this able and ambitious monarch had many years previously contemplated the acquisition of Ireland; and the celebrated Bull of Pope Adrian IV., dated A.D. II53, and which purported to give the Pope's sanction to the invasion, clearly shows that Henry had long had designs on that country. The much debated question of the authenticity or otherwise of this Papal Bull, is a subject quite outside the limits of this memoir; but whether really granted by the Pope or not, there can be no doubt that King Henry produced it, that it was accepted as genuine by many of the clergy and people of Ireland, and * Dervorgill was never reconciled to her husband, and entered into a convent, and died in the Abbey of Mellifont at an advanced age, in 1193, having lived to see her country invaded and partially conquered by foreigners, invited and brought over for this purpose by the man for whom she had basely deserted her husband. A.D. 1166–II67.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. #1 that upon it Henry founded his claim to interfere as a superior lord in the affairs of that country. He had long desired an opportunity for such inter- ference ; and although the flight of Dermot from Ireland and his appeal for assistance came at an unfortunate moment, the opportunity was not to be rejected." Henry received without hesitation the proffered fealty of his new liegeman, and gave him letters patent, to be employed throughout his dominions, authorizing any of his subjects to assist him. Furnished with these credentials, Dermot hastened back to England, and repairing once more to Bristol, made every effort, by promulgating the King's letters, and holding forth liberal offers of lands and other rewards, to induce adventurers to take up arms in his cause. He was not long without receiving an answer to his appeal. This answer came from Richard, Earl of Pembroke,” surnamed Strongbow, a brave nobleman of ruined fortune. To him Dermot offered his daughter in marriage, and the succession to the kingdom of Leinster, on condition that he would raise for him an efficient body of forces, and bring them over with him into Ireland in the course of the ensuing Spring. To these propositions Strongbow assented, and Dermot, removing from Bristol to the town of St. David's, met there two young men of high rank and ruined fortunes, Maurice Fitzgerald and Robert Fitzstephen, both Normans, and half-brothers, being sons of Nesta, mistress of King Henry I. To these he also made overtures, but difficulties were thrown in their way by Rice Ap. Griffith, King of Wales, who had thrown Fitzstephen into prison for debt. In consequence of this, the negotiation lingered for some time, but concluded satisfactorily to the three parties; Dermot pledging himself to give in fee to the two brothers the town of Wexford and two cantreds of land adjoining it; while they on their side undertook to transport into Leinster, as Soon as the season permitted, a body of English and Welsh forces, to aid him in recover- ing his kingdom. Thus assured of English aid, Dermot ventured to return into Leinster; and proceeding privately to Ferns, remained concealed there during the greater part of the winter. After some time he emerged from his concealment, and in the year I 1672 took the field, and regained possession of the territory of Hy-Kinsellagh, a district co-extensive with the diocese of Ferns. Surprised at the suddenness of Dermot's reappearance, and still more on hearing that he was attended by foreigners, King Roderic collected some forces, and being * This account of Dermot's proceedings with King Henry is mainly taken by O'Donovan from Giraldus' Hibernia Expugmata. Annals of the Four Masters, p. 1165. 52 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. V. joined by O'Rourke, marched into the territory of Hy-Kinsellagh. Dermot, being able to make but a feeble resistance, only some stragglers from Wales having as yet arrived, was obliged to retreat to the woods, where he was pursued, surrounded, and taken prisoner." He made ample submission ; denied all his negotiations with the Welshmen, and was pardoned by the Irish monarch. Renouncing all claim to the kingdom of Leinster, he re- quested to be allowed to retain only ten cantreds of that province, agreeing to hold them from Roderic, and giving seven hostages for his future fealty. He offered to pay one hundred ounces of gold to O'Rourke as “eric” for the injury he had done to him, and in every way submitted to O'Conor. Although these were but false promises and hollow pretences made to gain time, and to ward off the danger to which his premature operations had exposed him, yet they were, to a great extent, successful. Neither the Irish monarch nor his chieftains had any idea of King Henry's designs, or of the understanding which existed between Dermot and his English allies, and satisfied with the ample submission made by the King of Leinster, Roderic returned to Meath, and there, in the year I 168° for the last time celebrated the great fair of Tailton, the host assembled on this occasion spreading out over six miles. Roderic O'Conor and his followers having withdrawn in fancied security in the following May, A.D. I I69, the first landing of the Anglo-Normans in Ireland took place. The commander of this expedition was Robert Fitz- stephen, who brought with him thirty knights, all his own relatives or house- hold, sixty men in coats of mail, and three hundred of the most skilful archers of South Wales. With this small army, which landed at a creek called Bannow, in the South of the present county of Wexford, came also Harvey de Montemarisco, the paternal uncle of Strongbow, who is also described as a person in needy circumstances, who without either arms or means, had joined the expedition rather as the emissary of his nephew than as a soldier. On the day following, there arrived at the same place Maurice de Prendergast, a valiant gentleman of Wales, at the head of a few knights and a small body of archers. Messengers were immediately despatched to announce their arrival to Dermot, who instantly collected his forces, and having got together about 500 men, hastened to join them. The united army, numbering in all about 1,000 men, then marched to the town of Wexford. On reaching the suburbs of this maritime city, which was inhabited * On this occasion, it is stated that amongst Dermot's followers was the son of Griffith, King of Wales, and that he was slain in the conflict. sº *Annals of the Four Masters, p. 1169. A.D. II69.] THE o'conoRS OF CONNAUGHT. 53 chiefly by Danes, they were met by about 2,000 of the inhabitants. These were mainly a tumultuous crowd, and as soon as they had observed the orderly array of the Anglo-Norman troops, the cavalry drawn up on the flank of the archers, according to the Norman discipline; when they beheld the shining armour and the shields of the knights, the novelty of the spectacle made them waver, and after a little hesitation, they set fire to the outskirts of the town, and retired within its fortifications. Fitzstephen, taking advantage of what he believed to be a panic on the part of the townsmen, and anxious to strike a decisive blow before the real strength of the invaders became known, led on his men at once to scale the walls of the town, but he was met with a brave resistance from its glefènders, who hurled down huge stones and beams on the heads of their assailants, so that the latter were obliged to withdraw for the moment, after having burned all the shipping lying at anchor in the harbour. On the following day, Fitzstephen resolved to renew the attack; but the citizens believing that their ex-king had countless forces at his back, and being quite ignorant of the real weakness of their assailants, came to the conclusion that it would be better to make terms with Dermot ; accordingly they offered to capitulate ; and a negotiation was carried on through the mediation of two bishops, under which it was agreed that the town should be given up, and hostages delivered for the future good conduct of its inhabitants, whom Dermot pardoned and received again as his subjects. These negotiations being completed, Dermot took possession of Wexford with great pomp, marching into it with his allies. Hastening to fulfil his engagements to the two Norman brothers, he invested Fitzstephen and Maurice Fitzgerald with the lordship of the town and its domain, while he gave to Harvey de Montemarisco, in order to attach him to his service, two cantreds of land lying on the sea side between Wexford and Waterford." “This tract of land is now comprised in the baronies of Forth and Bargy, in which the descendants of these, the first English settlers in Ireland, are still distinguishable from the native Irish by their customs, characteristics, and personal appearance ; and, even to a recent date, a dialect remained in use peculiar to these baronies, which was generally known throughout Leinster as the barony of Forth dialect.” After this triumphant entry into Wexford, Dermot conducted his allies to his own castle at Ferns, and remained with them there for three weeks, ! O'Donovan MS. * Zöta. 54 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. V. whilst they laid plans for future operations. The united forces now amounted to about 2,000 men. Dermot's first project was to be revenged on M'Gilla- patrick of Ossory, who had, some time before, seized and blinded his eldest son, and who had been one of the first to shake off his authority when he perceived that his tide of good fortune began to ebb. To carry out this pro- ject, an expedition into Ossory was organized, and a battle ensued, in which the men of Ossory were overpowered by the Anglo-Norman cavalry, and the native infantry. After this battle three hundred heads were placed as a trophy at the feet of Dermot, who, as we are informed by Giraldus, on turning them over, leaped with delight as he recognised the faces of his former enemies, and at length, holding up his hands, shouted out thanksgiving to God. After this battle, Dermot and his followers overran Ossory, meeting with no further resistance. Tidings of these proceedings soon reached the ears of the monarch Roderic, who ordered out his troops, and proceeded to Tara, where he was joined by the chieftains of east and central Ulster. The combined army then marched to Dublin, whence they intended to proceed to Wexford, but the “curse of all Irish counsels,” disunion and dissension, began to work its accustomed paralyzing effects. The Ulster chieftains became jealous of the power of Roderic O'Conor. They refused to co-operate with him, and returning to their own country, left him with his own provincial troops from Connaught, assisted by O'Rourke, and the Dano-Irish of Dublin, to take the field against the invaders. Dermot was meanwhile, with his allies, concealed in a fortress near Ferns, surrounded by almost impassable woods and morasses. Daily expecting additional aid from England, his object was to gain time; and to attain this end he was ready to make any temporary submission which the indignant monarch might demand. Many of his Irish subjects had deserted him ; and he was left few supporters, except the band of Anglo-Norman adventurers and their followers. Roderic knew little of the true position of affairs; he regarded the present insurrection much in the same light as those that had preceded it, and imagined that by negotiations and parading an over- whelming force, he could compel Dermot to return to his allegiance, and to give pledges for his future good behaviour. Accordingly, instead of crushing at once the rebellious chieftain, and driving the foreign invaders out of the kingdom, he opened negotiations with both. The result of these negotiations was that a compact was entered into between the two parties, in which it was agreed that the full rights of sovereignty over the province of Leinster should A.D. II69.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 55 be enjoyed by Dermot and his heirs on the usual condition of his acknow- ledging the supremacy of Roderic, and rendering him homage as his liege subject. In pledge for the performance of this service, Dermot delivered hostages, and among them his eldest son Conor, his grandson Dermot (the son of his son Donnell Kavanagh), and the son of his foster-brother, O'Caelly. Roderic, on his part, undertook that should the compact be faithfully observed, he would give his daughter in marriage to Dermot's son." By this compact Dermot was forgiven his treason, and restored to his kingdom of Leinster, under the sanction of Roderic, who knew nothing as yet of the agreement between him and the Earl of Pembroke, and nothing what- ever of King Henry's designs upon Ireland. It would appear, however, from the work attributed to Maurice Regan, who was Dermot's interpreter, that another article was added to the treaty by which the King of Leinster pledged himself not to call over any more strangers from England, and to dismiss the hireling soldiers then in his service, as soon as the affairs of Leinster had assumed a more settled state. These articles being ratified, and the hostages given, Roderic drew off his forces, leaving Dermot and his allies to settle between themselves. Reviewed by the light of subsequent experience, the conduct of the Irish monarch seems infatuated and pusillanimous to the last degree. Dermot had on more than one occasion before entered into compacts which he had unhesitatingly broken, and how the monarch could have been persuaded into again trusting him seems difficult to understand. Yet a judg- ment such as this on the conduct of Roderic may not be altogether fair. It must be remembered that all that was claimed by the monarchs of Ireland from the subordinate kings was their acknowledgment of the monarch as their superior lord. The delivery of hostages, and the payment of tribute, fulfilled this acknowledgment. Dermot was the hereditary King of Leinster. In acknowledging Roderic as monarch, and taking his kingdom under him, he did all that any of the subordinate kings could be expected to do, and his having called in the aid of foreign hirelings to assist him when in difficulties, was not a completely novel proceeding, as it had previously been frequently done by other chieftains, when mercenaries from Scotland, the Hebrides, and the Isle of Man were called in. Moreover, Roderic's own right to the monarchy was not itself universally admitted, without jealousy; and even on * It is stated in the Annals of the Four Master; that Roderic thought nothing of the “Flemings,” that is to say, of the English in the service of Dermot, regarding them as mere hired soldiers, who would leave when their pay ceased. 56 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. V. this very expedition against Dermot, he was deserted by nearly all the other provincial kings. In entering into this arrangement the Irish monarch may, therefore, have imagined that he secured an ally, and accomplished all that he could justly expect to gain by further warlike proceedings. The sincerity of Dermot's submission was, however, soon put to the test. Shortly after Roderic's departure, Maurice Fitzgerald, the half-brother of Fitz- Stephen, arrived in the port of Waterford, attended by ten knights, one hundred archers, and thirty horsemen; and, in violation of his treaty, Dermot proceeded immediately to meet him. Leaving Fitzstephen to superintend the erection of a fort on the summit of a hill near Wexford, he associated the new-comer with himself in the command of an expedition against the Ostmen, or Danes of Dublin. For about four generations the Dano-Irish of Dublin had acknowledged Dermot's ancestors as their sovereigns, but they had frequently rebelled ; and if we can believe Giraldus, they had murdered Dermot's father, and buried his body with that of a dog. No good feeling had ever existed between them and the King of Leinster, who tyrannized over them with the utmost severity when his power was in the ascendant; whilst they, on their part, whenever an opportunity offered, endeavoured to shake off his authority. During the reign of the late monarch, Turlough Mor, they had received his son Conor as their king ; when Roderic proceeded to Leinster, they were his allies; and now when that monarch departed, having agreed to reinstate Dermot, they found themselves left to the mercy of their old enemy and superior lord. His hostility was soon declared. Accompanied by Maurice Fitzgerald, and his knights and archers, Dermot marched with a numerous army of the Leinster men to the neighbourhood of Dublin, and commenced a siege of the city, destroying all the property belonging to the citizens on which he could lay hands, but before he had succeeded in forcing the citizens to surrender, a change came over his plans, and more important projects in the south diverted his attention from Dublin for a short time, At this moment troubles arose in the south between Roderic O'Conor and Donnell O'Brien, King of Munster, who had cast off his allegiance. Roderic, to maintain his authority, was obliged to lead his forces against O'Brien. The news of these proceedings reached Dermot whilst engaged in operations before Dublin, To weaken, or, if possible, destroy the power of the Irish monarch, became his first object, and he at once determined to join O'Brien. Abandon- ing for the moment the siege of Dublin, he marched with as great rapidity as possible to Munster, and having united with O'Brien, a battle ensued, in which Roderic was defeated, and obliged to retire to Connaught. A.D. 1169–1170.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 57 New dreams of aggrandisement now filled the brain of Dermot, and he flattered himself with the idea of obtaining the sovereignty of Ireland for himself. His grandfather had been Monarch of Ireland ; and if the King of Connaught could be set aside, no other provincial king could be regarded as more powerful than the King of Leinster, especially when aided by his foreign allies. To these allies Dermot communicated his designs. Fitzstephen and Fitzgerald applauded his ambition. These able warriors perceived at once how efficiently such a scheme would serve their own and the English interests generally, and they advised him to renew his application for assistance to the Earl of Pembroke, and to urge him to come over with reinforcements without delay. Richard, Earl of Pembroke, commonly called “Strongbow,” had been watching the proceedings of his countrymen in Ireland with much anxiety; but it appeared to him that before he himself took any part in them, he should obtain direct authority from Henry. He therefore set out for Normandy, where Henry was, waited on him, and having urged his suit with earnestness, received in return an ambiguous answer, which he knew was designed to bear a double interpretation. Armed with this answer, which he was determined to accept as an assent to his petition, he returned to England, and prepared to proceed on his expedition. As soon as the season permitted the embarkation of troops, he sent over to Ireland, as his advance-guard, ten knights and seventy archers, under the command of Raymond le Gros, who, landing at a place not far from Waterford, was soon joined by Harvey de Montemarisco and his followers. Here they raised a small fort, in which they hoped to be able to maintain themselves till the arrival of Strongbow ; and if Giraldus can be believed, they successfully resisted an attack from 3,000 of the citizens of Waterford, whom they repelled with the loss of 5oo killed. Whilst these events were passing in Ireland, Strongbow himself having left Chepstow, proceeded along the coast of South Wales to St. David's, gathering new followers to his standard ; and after having collected a sufficient force, consisting partly of volunteer adventurers, and partly of his own vassals, he was on the point of embarking with his army from Milford, when an order reached him from King Henry, positively forbidding that he should leave the kingdom. He hesitated for a moment; but his dark prospects at home, and the hope of bettering his fortune in the western island, induced him to disobey. He boldly issued the order to sail ; and on the eve of the feast of St. Bartholo- mew, in the year I 170, he landed near Waterford, with an army of 1,200 men of whom 200 were knights. Immediately on his arrival he was joined by I 58 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. V. Raymond le Gros, with a small body of horsemen; and as Strongbow was anxious to commence his operations by an attack upon Waterford, it was determined that with the forces then under his command, and without waiting for the promised aid of the King of Leinster, the assault should be undertaken on the following day. The citizens of Waterford, consisting mainly of Dano-Irishmen, defended their city with resolution and spirit, and twice repulsed the attempts of the assailants. “At length,” says Giraldus, “Raymond, perceiving in the east angle of the walls a small house projecting on timber props, ordered some of his knights to hew down the props, which being done, the house fell, and with it part of the wall. A breach being thus opened, the troops poured into the city, and took dreadful revenge for the resistance which they had encountered, by a general slaughter of all whom they met in the streets without distinction or mercy.” In a tower (now called the king's tower), of which Reginald, a Dano-Irish lord, was governor, that chieftain and O'Phelan, chief of the Desies, had taken refuge, but being dragged forth, were on the point of being put to death when most unexpectedly they found themselves rescued by the interposition of Dermot, who had just arrived on the scene of carnage, with his daughter Eva, and his trusty liegemen Fitzstephen and Fitzgerald. The Earl of Pembroke received him with all honours; but little time was allowed for welcome or ceremony, as intelligence had arrived from Dublin that Hasculph, the Danish governor of that city, had revolted, and it was deemed necessary to march thither without delay. Giraldus relates that the marriage of Dermot's daughter Eva, with Strongbow, was first celebrated, and that after it the whole army set out for Dublin, with the exception of a small body of troops left to garrison Waterford. The bold step taken by Hasculph, in declaring his defection from Dermot, was encouraged by the monarch, Roderic O'Conor, who becoming alarmed on hearing of the arrival of so many hostile foreigners, had assembled a large army, and had taken up his position at Clondalkin, near Dublin. In the meantime, the confederate troops of Earl Strongbow and Dermot were rapidly pressing on their march; and learning that the woods and defiles between them and Dublin were occupied by the Irish troops, they turned out of the ordinary route, and made their way along the tops of the mountains of Glendalough, and so reached unmolested the very walls of the city. The inhabitants, who had relied for protection on the large army under Roderic O'Conor, were seized with consternation at the sudden appearance of their ferocious enemy, King Dermot, at their very gates, supported with a large foreign force A.D. II 70.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 59 In this emergency they had recourse to the mediation of the clergy, and the celebrated Laurence O’Toole, Archbishop of Dublin, who was then in the city, undertook, at the earnest solicitation of the citizens, to mediate on their behalf. Whilst the negotiators on each side were conferring together outside the walls, Milo de Cogan, a puissant Anglo-Norman knight, and his comrades, were inspecting the ramparts in search of an assailable point, and as soon as the time allowed to the bishop for the purpose of parley had expired, or, according to some accounts, even before its expiration, Milo de Cogan and Raymond le Gros gave the signal for the assault, and leading their troops to a part of the walls which they had observed to be ill-defended, were in a few moments in the streets of Dublin, where the unfortunate inhabi- tants, taken off their guard, were slaughtered and plundered without mercy. Hasculph and some of the leading citizens succeeded in escaping to the vessels which lay at anchor in the harbour, and with the aid of a favourable wind made their way to the Orkney Islands, but the city remained in the possession of the invaders. Meanwhile Roderic O'Conor, who lay encamped outside of Dublin, instead of rushing to the aid of the unfortunate inhabitants, was induced to draw off his forces to assist his liegeman, O'Rourke of Breifny, whom he had lately made King of Meath, and whose rights over that kingdom were at this moment disputed. Hearing of this, and having made themselves masters of Dublin, and having thus secured the most important city in Ireland, Dermot and his allies determined to follow up the war at once against Roderic, and to attack him in Meath, where he had gone to assist O'Rourke. In addition to the desire of further humbling Roderic O'Conor, Dermot's old grudge against O'Rourke urged him to this enterprise. Having, at Strongbow's recommendation, entrusted the government of Dublin to Milo de Cogan, he sent the Earl with a large force to invade and lay waste the lands of Meath, and followed himself soon after with the remainder of his army. Roderic, now finding himself insulted and humbled, despatched deputies to the camp of Dermot, to upbraid him with these gross and repeated viola- tions of all his solemn engagements, and to threaten that if he did not instantly withdraw his troops, and restrain the incursion of his foreign auxiliaries, the head of his son, Conor, who was still a hostage in Roderic's hands, should be cut off and sent to him. To this message Dermot haughtily replied that he intended to persevere as he had begun, nor would he desist till he had brought Connaught under his sway, and also recovered for himself the monarchy of all Ireland, to which, he said, that he had better title than the 60 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT [CHAP. V. King of Connaught. On receiving this insolent answer, the monarch Roderic became implacable, and at once ordered Conor, son of Dermot, heir of Leinster, to be beheaded ; and executed, at the same time, Dermot's grandson and his foster-brother, O'Caelly.1 Whilst these proceedings were taking place in the east of Ireland, a synod of the Irish Church was called together at Armagh, for the purpose of taking into consideration the perilous state of the country; and, if we can believe Giraldus, the conclusion at which the synod arrived was, that the sins and offences of the people were the cause of the awful calamities which now threatened them ; and it was therefore resolved to seek in some national and general act of repentance the means both of propitiation and relief. In accordance with this view, the synod unanimously decreed that all the English throughout Ireland who were in a state of slavery should be restored to liberty. Just at this moment a check was put to the proceedings of the invaders, by intelligence which they received from England. It will be remembered, that Strongbow had set sail for Ireland in defiance of the command of King Henry, who now issued an edict forbidding all traffic and intercourse with Ireland from any part of his dominions, and commanding all his subjects then in Ireland, of every order and degree, to return home before the ensuing feast of Easter, under pain of perpetual banishment and the forfeiture of all their estates in England. The effect of this mandate was soon felt by Strongbow. His supplies from England ceased, and a number of his soldiers and knights deserted. Alarmed by this change in his fortune, he summoned a council of his followers, to consider what steps should next be taken, and it was decided that Raymond le Gros should be despatched to King Henry, who was then in Normandy, with a letter from Strongbow, stating that he thought he had had His Majesty's permission to go to Ireland to aid the King of Leinster, and offering to place whatever he had acquired in that country at His Majesty's disposal. Although this acknowledgment was all that Henry could well desire, yet he did not deign even to notice the Earl's letter; and Raymond, after waiting some time at Henry's court, had the mortification to return to Ireland without any reply. To add to the embarrassment of the English adventurers, their great * A fresco painting in the Abbey of Knockmoy is stated by Dr. Ledwich and Dr. Petrie to repre- sent this execution of the hostages of Leinster; but whether this is so or not seems doubtful. A.D. II/O-I I-7I.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 61 patron, Dermot M'Murrough, King of Leinster, died, at the close of this year, at Ferns, of some frightful disease, which rendered him in his last moments an object of horror and disgust to everyone who approached him.” The personal appearance and physical characteristics of Dermot are graphically described by his contemporary, Giraldus Cambrensis, who states that he was “a man of great stature and ample dimensions; his voice hoarse and harsh from his continual shouting in the battle ; kind to the clergy and the poor, but severe and tyrannical towards the gentry and the nobility; his hand against every man of power, and every man's hand against him.” On the death of the King of Leinster, his son-in-law, Richard, Earl of Pembroke, claimed succession to the throne ; Conor, the son and heir of Dermot, having been executed by Roderic O'Conor, and the illegitimacy of his other son, Donnell Kavanagh, having been proved by the Lady Eva, Strongbow's wife. The great body of the Irish of Leinster, however, refused to acknowledge his claims, and attached themselves to the next Irish heir to the throne. This defection in no way disheartened Strongbow, who, with the view of asserting his authority in other parts of Leinster, now left Dublin, entrusting its defence to De Cogan and others of his most powerful knights. These were soon afforded an opportunity of displaying their valour. The late Danish governor of Dublin, Hasculph, who had succeeded in escaping to the Orkney Islands, had collected there a large army of Danes and Norwegians, and with these he now sailed up the river Liffey. His armament consisted of sixty ships, which were under the special command of a chieftain, called by his 'countrymen Hans Thewoode, or “John the Furious.” Hasculph, having landed his forces, attacked the eastern gate of the city, where being encountered by Milo de Cogan, he was repulsed with the loss of 500 men. The Anglo- Norman knight, flushed with this advantage, was tempted to pursue the fugitives too eagerly, and soon found himself surrounded by superior numbers, whilst some of his followers were seized with a sudden panic on seeing the thigh of a knight, which was cased all over in iron, chopped off by the Danish chieftain with a single blow. Finding himself in this difficulty, De Cogan endeavoured, with his small band, to regain the city; but the besiegers still crowding upon him, he was on the point of falling beneath their numbers, when his brother Richard suddenly issued forth with a body of horse from * According to other accounts, Dermot died penitently, “triumphant over the devil and his other enemies.” This is the account given in the Annals of Leinster. 62 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. v. the southern gate of Dublin, and coming on them unobserved, charged the assailants in the rear. After a long struggle, John the Furious was at length killed by the Anglo-Norman Baron, Walter de Riddlesford, and Hasculph, believing defeat to be inevitable, attempted to fly to his ships, but was taken prisoner upon the strand, and brought back alive to be reserved for ransom." On appearing before the governor and a large assembly in the council house, and being questioned as to his intentions and resources, he had the courage to exclaim, “We came hither with only a small force, and this is but the begin- ning of our labours, and if I live, far other and greater things shall follow.” This bold speech had an immediate effect, and the unfortunate Hasculph was ordered to be beheaded. Notwithstanding this temporary success of the English in Dublin, it soon became evident that without further assistance from England they could scarcely hold out for any length of time, in what was now clearly a hostile country, and all aid from England was stopped by the edict of King Henry. Under these circumstances, another opportunity was afforded to the Irish monarch to get rid of the invaders. What had been done by him immediately after the execution of the Leinster hostages is not recorded, and probably he was engaged in other parts of Ireland dealing with internal dissensions which seemed to be ever cropping up between the subordinate princes. About this time he was waited on by Laurence O'Toole, the Archbishop of Dublin, who, shocked at the excesses committed by the Anglo-Normans, urged the Irish monarch to take advantage of the present weakness of his enemies, and to lose no time in coming to the assistance of the Irish of Dublin. Roderic yielded to these representations, and determined on a general attack on the city both by land and sea, and for this purpose sought the aid of the fleet of the Isle of Man, and of the other islands off the coast of Ireland. In a short time Dublin was invested on every side. The fleet of the isles blocked up the harbour, whilst the Irish forces were encamped around the city, and amounted, if one can believe Giraldus, to 30,000 men. But no attempt was made to enter the city, the Irish monarch having determined to starve out the garrison. Believing that a patient blockade, and the stoppage of supplies, would be the most effective and least destructive mode of reducing the foreigners to submission, the Irish army remained inactive for nearly two months, occupied solely in * Gilbert, in his History of the Viceroys of Ireland, p. 23, referring to this engagement between the Danes and Anglo-Normans, remarks: “In the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, are pre- served what are supposed to be the remains of some of the Swords or javelins used in this engagement, which were turned up about forty years ago, in excavating the southern side of College Green.” A.D. 1171.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 63 preventing all communications beween the besieged and those outside. These tactics had at length the desired result. Strongbow, finding his provisions falling short, and knowing that he could not much longer hold out, notified a desire to negotiate, and the Archbishop of Armagh was deputed by Roderic to receive his overtures. The proposition made by Strongbow under these circumstances was, that if Roderic would raise the siege, and consent to receive him as his vassal, he would, on his part, agree to take the province of Leinster from him, and acknowledge him as his sovereign. This proposition having been laid before Roderic by the Archbishop, an answer was returned, that unless the English forthwith surrendered the towns of Dublin, Waterford, and Wexford, together with all the forts and castles then possessed by them, and agreed to depart on a given day with all their forces from Ireland, the besieging army would, without delay, attack and storm the city. By one of those inspirations of courage, founded on despair, which, for the time, invest men with an almost supernatural strength, and enable them to control and conquer fortune herself, the whole situation was, in a few eventful hours, changed. Just at this moment, intelligence reached the leaders of the English in Dublin, which made their position even more in- tolerable than before. Donnell Kavanagh, the natural son of the late King Dermot, having by some means eluded the vigilance of the Irish army, entered Dublin, and acquainted Earl Strongbow that Robert Fitzstephen was closely besieged in the fort of Carrick by a large multitude of the inhabitants of the town of Wexford, and the territory of Hy-Kinsellagh ; and that having with him but five knights, and a small body of archers, if not relieved within a few days, he and his followers, and Strongbow's wife and children, who were shut up with him in the fort, must fall into the hands of the besiegers. On hearing this painful intelligence, Strongbow summoned a council of war to consider what measures should be taken. When the council met, Maurice Fitzgerald, the half-brother of Fitzstephen, boldly proposed to his comrades that they should at once sally forth with the whole of the garrison, and escape from Dublin, cutting their way as best they could through the besieging cordon of the Irish army. This suggestion was seconded by Raymond le Gros, and met with general approval. Not a moment was lost in putting it into execution. Three bodies of horsemen were selected from the garrison, the first of which, consisting of twenty knights, was placed under the command of Raymond ; the second, thirty in number, under Milo de 64 - THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. v. Cogan, and the third, consisting of forty knights, was commanded by the Earl himself, whilst Maurice Fitzgerald was appointed to bring up the rear. Meanwhile Roderic O'Conor, who had been lulled into security by the negotiations which had been entered on, and who was daily expecting the surrender of the city, had, according to the Irish annalists, drawn off a part of his army, and proceeded into another part of Leinster with the cavalry of Breifny and Oriel, in order to lay waste the corn of the English, having left what he considered a sufficient force to uphold the investment of Dublin, until such time as the expected surrender would take place. The moment was thus most opportune for a sally on the part of the besieged ; and, animated by despair, the small band of valiant knights and their followers marched out in the order above indicated. Taken quite by surprise by this unexpected sally, and their leader absent, the Irish troops were completely disconcerted. A panic seized them, and, instead of cutting off the retreat of the English knights and their retainers, they fled on all sides, leaving to the victors stores of provisions, with which the beleaguered city was speedily revictualled, and all the advantages gained by the preceding long siege of two months were lost in a few hours.” From the effects of this disaster the Irish cause never afterwards recovered. Tiernan O’Rourke, and the Irish cavalry of Breifny and Oriel returned again to Dublin, and a fresh assault was made by the Irish upon the English, but the circumstances of the two armies were now altogether different. The foreigners had ample supplies of all sorts, and headed by De Cogan, they repelled the attack; O'Rourke was defeated, and his eldest son, Hugh, killed. The prestige of the Irish army was now gone for ever, and Strongbow was able speedily to open communication with Wexford and the other besieged portions of the kingdom of Leinster. Previously to this he had sent over Harvey de Montemarisco to King Henry, to try and propitiate that monarch ; but on arriving at Waterford, he found that Harvey had returned with letters and messages from various persons in England, advising him not to lose a moment in presenting himself before the king. Acting on this advice, he at once sailed for England, and waited on King Henry, who was then at Newnham, in Gloucestershire, with a large army, in a state of preparation to cross over to Ireland. * According to Giraldus Cambrensis, the Irish monarch was with his army at the time when the English Sallied forth, and fled with the others, having with difficulty made his escape, after having lost his right hand, which was cut off by De Burgo, one of the Anglo-Norman knights. This is extremely unlikely, as such an event would certainly be recorded in the annals, A.D. I I 7 I.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 65 At first the king refused to admit Strongbow into his presence; but the readiness evinced by the latter to submit unconditionally to his royal will and pleasure had soon its effect, and smoothed the way to reconciliation. Henry demanded immediate possession of the city of Dublin and the adjacent country, together with all the other seaport towns possessed by the English in Ireland, and consented that all the other Irish possessions of Strongbow should remain in perpetuity to him and his heirs, to be held under homage and fealty to the Crown of England. At the time of Henry's proclamation against Strongbow he had seized on the English estates of that Earl, as forfeited to the Crown by his act of dis- obedience, and the restoration of this property was one of the first-fruits of the reconciliation now effected. Everything having been satisfactorily arranged between the king and his vassal, they proceeded along the Severn to Pembroke in Wales, where they remained during the interval which elapsed before the necessary ships were collected for the transport of the army to Ireland. Even here the jealous wakefulness of King Henry's fears, with regard to the danger likely to result from Strongbow's example, was very strikingly mani- fested, for, during his stay in Wales, he called severely to account all those barons who had permitted an expedition, forbidden by himself, to sail un- opposed from their coasts, and even punished the proof of their disloyalty, as he termed it, by seizing their castles, which he garrisoned with his own troops. To meet the expenses of the intended expedition to Ireland, the king also levied from the landed proprietors throughout his dominions that pecu- niary composition, in lieu of personal service, called “Escuage,” or “Scutage,” and from the disbursements made for the arms, provisions, and shipping of the army, as set forth in the Pipe-roll of the year I 17 I, which is still preserved, it would appear that the force raised for this expedition was more numerous than has been represented by contemporary historians. The whole of the armament being ready, the king, having previously performed his devotions in the church of St. David, embarked at Milford Haven, attended by Strongbow, William FitzAdelm de Burgh, Humphry de Bohun, and other lords. His entire force, which was distributed in 440 ships (“magnis navibus"), consisted of 500 knights and about 4,OOO men-at-arms. After a prosperous voyage, he landed at Crook, near Waterford, on St. Luke's Day, the 18th October, 1171." *According to Leland and other historians, Henry landed in Ireland in 1172; but this O’Donovan states to be inaccurate. K 66 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. V. Henry had scarcely landed in Ireland when an event occurred which tended much to his subsequent triumphant reception in the country. The citizens of Wexford had taken Robert Fitzstephen prisoner; and hearing of the king's arrival in Waterford, they carried to him their prisoner, and delivered him up as one who had made war without his sovereign's permission. Henry at once perceived the use he could make of this incident, and deter- mined to pose before the Irish people as their protector against the aggres- sions of his daring subjects. Accordingly, he ordered Fitzstephen to be hand-cuffed and chained, and committed him as a state prisoner to Reginald's tower in Waterford. By this skilful policy he made his arrival appear rather as the visit of an acknowledged sovereign, who had come to redress the wrongs of his people, than the descent of a foreign invader on a kingdom to which he had no claim. The Irish chieftains, struck by the magnitude of the force which accom- panied the king, were not slow in waiting on him and tendering their homage. The first who came to offer him submission and tribute was M“Carthy, King of Desmond. After receiving his homage, Henry advanced to Lismore, and thence, after a sojourn of about two days, proceeded to Cashel, near which, on the banks of the river Suir, he was met by Donnell O’Brien, King of Thomond, who surrendered to him his city of Limerick, and swore fealty. This Irish king had renounced his allegiance to the Irish monarch, Roderic O'Conor, whose vengeance he dreaded, and he was therefore glad to place himself under the protection of a more powerful sovereign, in order to be enabled to humble the pride of Roderic. Having received these submis- sions, Henry placed governors of his own over the cities of Cork' and Limerick. MacGillapatrick, chieftain of Ossory, and Malachy O'Phelan, chieftain of the Desies, were the next to submit, and the example of these was soon followed by all the inferior chieftains of Munster, each of whom, after a most courteous reception, was sent back to his own territory laden with royal gifts. Henry on his return remained some time at Waterford, where he liberated Fitzstephen, and then marched to Dublin. Here he was well received, and many of the Irish chieftains came forward and offered their allegiance, and amongst others the veteran warrior, Tiernan O’Rourke, so long the faithful follower of Roderic O'Conor, and of his father, Turlough. In the midst of this general defection, Roderic O'Conor had collected together his provincial troops, and taken up a position on the banks of the A.D. I 172.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 67 Shannon, apparently determined to make a last stand for the independence of his country; but it was too late; he felt the feebleness of his power when deserted by O'Rourke, and opposed by his powerful neighbour O’Brien, and he consented to meet on the borders of his kingdom Hugh de Lacy and William FitzAdelm de Burgh, who were deputed by the King of England to treat with him. Preliminary matters having been arranged, peace was concluded between the two sovereigns, Roderic agreeing to acknowledge the Supremacy of the King of England, and to hold the kingdom of Connaught under him. The festival of Christmas being now close at hand, Henry prepared to celebrate it with great pomp in Dublin. Many of the Irish chieftains and nobles attended on the occasion, and were feasted with sumptuous hospitality at the royal table. Having by these devices propitiated one important class of the Irish community, Henry turned his attention to gaining the support of another. Early in the year I 172, a synod was convened by his order at Cashel, for the purpose of reforming certain abuses which had sprung up, especially in connection with marriages of consanguinity. The decisions arrived at by this synod were ratified by Henry, whose desire at the time was to gain over to his side the powerful influence of the Church. With the same motive, he and his council also enjoined the payment of tithes, and he represented himself as in every way desirous to uphold legitimate ecclesiastical authority. In February, I 172, the king removed from Dublin to Waterford, leaving Hugh de Lacy, assisted by Maurice Fitzgerald and Robert Fitzstephen, as Governor of the former city. During the whole of this winter the weather had been so tempestuous that all communications with England were inter- rupted. At length, about the middle of Lent, couriers arrived from the Continent with intelligence that the Cardinals Albert and Theodine, who had been sent into Normandy to investigate the circumstances of the death of Thomas à Becket, had summoned Henry to appear before them, threatening in the cvent of his not presenting himself, to lay all his kingdom under an interdict. Alarmed by this information, and convinced that his presence in England was of vital importance, the king ordered his troops to Waterford, where his fleet was then lying, and setting sail himself from Wexford on Easter Monday, the 17th of April, I 172, arrived the same day at Portfinnan in Wales. After Henry's departure, Ireland relapsed into a state of civil war, which 68 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. V. soon promised to become chronic. His prodigal grants to his English followers and their creatures had established in the East of Ireland an oligarchy of enriched bankrupts and upstarts which soon became intolerable to the people. Although the King of England had received the nominal submission of most of the Irish kings and chieftains, this submission lasted in reality only so long as he was present to enforce it, and his real power was confined to but a small portion of the island. Ulster still remained abso- lutely independent, and many of the other kings and chieftains who had recognised the authority of the English sovereign were ready to repudiate it on the first convenient opportunity. Such an opportunity soon arose. Strong- bow, who had taken up his residence at Ferns, the ancient seat of the Kings of Leinster, received orders shortly after Henry's departure, to join him with all the forces he could command, in order to oppose a formidable league which had been raised up against the English monarch by his own sons. These orders he immediately obeyed, and leaving his yet unsettled possessions in Leinster open to the Irish enemy, he started for England. Strongbow's departure furnished the opportunity desired by the Irish chieftains. They boldly disavowed their late submission, and broke out into open revolt, which so alarmed the English monarch that he at once dispensed with Strongbow's services in England, and sent him back to Ireland with in- creased powers. Before his departure he was invested with the office of Viceroy of Ireland, and the city of Waterford and the castle of Wicklow were granted to him by the king. Immediately after his return, Strongbow determined, in the first instance, to punish O'Brien, who had in his absence shown signs of disaffection, and accordingly he proceeded with a large army into Munster. In this emergency Roderic O'Conor, forgetting his former rivalry with O'Brien, and the treachery and desertion of the Irish cause by the latter, laid aside all feelings of jealousy, and marched to O'Brien's assistance. Disconcerted by this addition to the Munster army, the English commanders sent for reinforcements to Dublin, and these having arrived, they proceeded with all possible speed to Thurles, where they were attacked by the united armies of Munster and Connaught, { *In this year, 1172, Tiernan O’Rourke was treacherously slain near Athboy, in Meath, by Hugh de Lacy and an O’Rourke, one of his own tribe. “He was beheaded by them, and they conveyed his head and body ignominiously to Dublin. The head was placed over the gate of the fortress as a spec. tacle of intense pity to the Irish; and the body was gibbeted, with the feet upwards, at the northern side of Dublin.”—Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1172. 4- A.D. I I72.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 69 completely defeated, and forced to retreat to Waterford, having lost I,7OO men." Instead of following up this brilliant victory by an advance upon Water- ford, O'Brien, satisfied at having driven the English out of his own territory, returned home, leaving to Roderic O'Conor alone the task of carrying on the war against the English. Roderic, who was now little more than King of Connaught, was shortly after joined by Donnell Kavanagh, the son of the late Dermot M'Morrough, who had seen with jealousy the throne of his father Occupied by a stranger, and who hoped to recover the kingdom of Leinster for himself. The confederate Irish force then marched into Meath, and demolished all the forts which had been erected there by Sir Hugh de Lacy, laying waste the country to the very gates of Dublin, whilst Hugh Tyrrell, Governor of the castle of Trim, finding himself unable to defend it, destroyed the fortifications, and burned down all the combustible portions of the castle, to prevent O'Conor placing a garrison therein, and then fled to Dublin with his soldiers. Strongbow now began to be seriously alarmed at the spread of this anti- English spirit, and fearing a mutiny amongst his own troops, sent messengers to the popular champion, Raymond le Gros, who was then in England, requesting him to return and resume the command of the army in Ireland assuring him, at the same time, that his own sister, Basilia, was anxiously awaiting his arrival in order to marry him. On receiving this intelligence, Raymond hastily collected together 30 knights, IOO men-at-arms, and 300 archers, and embarked with Meyler Fitz- Henry for Waterford. Just as his ships appeared in sight, the citizens of Waterford were about to rise and to put all the English to death, but his arrival completely changed the state of affairs. No opposition was offered to him, and, having united his forces with those of Strongbow, they both pro- ceeded to Wexford, where his nuptials with the Lady Basilia were speedily celebrated. Immediately after the ceremony, the English at Wexford were affrighted on hearing that Roderic O'Conor was marching upon Dublin, and Raymond was forced at once to take the field. This, however, was but a false rumour, as Roderic, having overrun Meath, and destroyed the castles which were erected there, returned to Connaught in triumph, without coming into contact with the English forces. Raymond then appointed Hugh Tyrrell 'According to the Irish Annals, the English lost only 700 men. O'Donovan states the number at I,7OO, 70 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. V. Governor of Meath, and having given him the charge of rebuilding or repairing the castles which had been injured or destroyed by the Irish, returned to Wexford. By his marriage, Raymond le Gros obtained the lands of Idrone and Fothart, now the barony of Forth and Glascarrig, in the north-east of the county of Wexford, and he was appointed by the Earl of Pembroke to the high office of Constable and Standard-bearer of Leinster. He also acquired the district of Courtstown, in the county of Kilkenny, which he transmitted to his descendants, who assumed the surname of Graas, or Grace, from his sobriquet of “le Gros.” To retain his influence with the soldiery, Raymond soon found it neces- sary to renew hostilities, and the unfortunate people of the south became the prey of the rapacious band which he commanded ; but a check was put for a time to these proceedings by news which came from England. According to Giraldus, the Bull of Pope Adrian IV., before alluded to, and a subsequent confirmation of it by Pope Alexander III., were, for the first time, published in Ireland, in the year I 175, and William FitzAdelm de Burgh, and Nicholas, Prior of Wallingford, were appointed to make known the contents of these documents to the Irish hierarchy and clergy; and to get their adhesion to the English monarch. A synod of the bishops was assembled to meet them, and the papal grants were there inspected and publicly read. After performing their commission, the Prior of Wallingford and FitzAdelm repaired to the king, who was then in Normandy, and reported to him their views on the state of Ireland. In explanation of the increased disorders which prevailed in that unfortunate country, they accused Raymond le Gros of having converted the English army into a mere band of freebooters, whose continual depredations had driven into revolt, not only the native Irish, but even the more friendly disposed population of the Dano-Irish towns. To this they added, that Raymond intended, with the aid of the army, to usurp the dominion of the whole island, and had even secretly sworn the soldiers to assist him in his treasonable designs. Henry listened with attention to their recital, and giving full credence to it, sent over two lords of his court, ordering them to bring Raymond with them into Normandy; whilst two other noblemen, who accompanied them, were charged to remain with the Earl of Pembroke, and to assist him with their advice. On receiving the orders of his sovereign, Raymond prepared at once to obey, but as he was waiting for a fair wind to set sail for Normandy, intelli- gence arrived that O'Brien of Thomond had surrounded Limerick with a large A.D. I 175.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 71 force, and that all the provisions laid in for the garrison having been exhausted, they were reduced to the last extremity. On the receipt of this information, Strongbow ordered out all his forces, and prepared to march at their head for the relief of Limerick. But a new triumph awaited Raymond. The Soldiers refused to march under any other leader, and Strongbow, having consulted with the king's commissioners, and received their sanction, requested him to take the command of the expedition. To this Raymond, with feigned reluctance, consented. The force he had then under his command consisted only of 80 heavy cavalry, 200 horse, and 300 archers; but these were joined, on their march, by bands of Irish infantry, under the chiefs of Ossory and South Munster, who were hostile towards O'Brien. Before this force arrived at Cashel they learned that O'Brien, hearing of their approach, had raised the siege of Limerick, and lay, strongly entrenched, in a defile, near Cashel, through which the English and their adherents must necessarily pass. Undaunted by the dangerous nature of the defile, Raymond determined to force his way through it, and was strengthened in this resolution by the taunts of the chieftain of Ossory, who plainly told him that, if he hesitated, he would join O'Brien. Meyler FitzHenry, taking command of the vanguard, the expedition started, the defile was reached, and, before very long, the English carried all before them, the men of Thomond being routed with great slaughter. This victory was followed by the most important results: Limerick was immediately relieved ; Raymond was free to return to Leinster; and O’Brien, exhausted by the useless struggle in which he had been engaged, was induced to sue for terms of peace. About the same time Roderic O'Conor, finding himself deserted by nearly all his allies, determined also to come to an arrangement with the English, and a conference was agreed upon, which took place near the river Shannon; Roderic O'Conor, with his troops, taking up his position on the western shore of Lough Derg, O'Brien and his followers occupying the opposite bank, and the English general choosing a place near Killaloe, at an equal distance from both. This conference ended in the submission of both O'Conor and O’Brien, who renewed their allegiance to King Henry, and gave hostages for their future good behaviour. In the course of the same year, I 175, Roderic O'Conor sent over to England an embassy empowered to negotiate in his name, consisting of Catholicus O’Duffy, Archbishop of Tuam, Concors, abbot of St. Brendan's, and Laurence O'Toole, Archbishop of Dublin and Chancellor of the Irish king. These plenipotentiaries, having waited upon the King of England at 72 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. V. Windsor, a great council was held there by extraordinary summons, and a solemn treaty ratified, the terms of which were as follows:– “Henry granted to his liegeman, Roderic, that, so long as he continued faithfully to serve him, he should be a king under him, and that he should hold his hereditary territories as firmly and peaceably as he had held them before the coming of Henry into Ireland. He was likewise to have under his dominion and jurisdiction all the rest of the island, and the inhabitants thereof, kings and princes included, and was bound to oblige them to pay tribute, through his hands, to the King of England, preserving to that monarch his other rights. These kings, chieftains, and nobles, were likewise to hold peaceable possession of their principalities, so long as they remained faithful to the King of England, and paid him their tribute, and all other dues, through Roderic's hands—saving in all things the honour and prerogative of both these kings. And in case that any of them should rebel against the King of England, or against Roderic, and refuse to pay their tribute, or perform other duties in the manner before prescribed, or should depart from their fealty to the King of England, Roderic was then authorized to judge them, and if required, remove them from their govern- ments or possessions; and should his own power be insufficient for that purpose, he was to be assisted by the English king's constable and his household. The annual tribute demanded of Roderic and the Irish at large was a merchantable hide for every tenth head of cattle slaughtered in Ireland. “The said Roderic, King of Connaught, was, moreover, empowered to take hostages from all those whom the King of England had committed to him, at his own and the King of England's choice, and was to give the said hostages to the King of England or others at the king's choice; and all those from whom these securities were demanded, were to perform certain annual services to the King of England, and were not to detain any person what- soever, belonging to any land or territory of that prince, against his will or commandment.” “It was further agreed that if any of the Irish who had fled from the territories of the king's barons, should desire to return thither, they might do so in peace, upon paying the tribute above-mentioned, or performing the services they were anciently accustomed to per- form for their lands—according as their lords should think proper; and if any of the Irish, who were subjects of Roderic, as King of Connaught, should refuse to return to him, he was empowered to compel them to do so.” Such in substance were the articles of the treaty drawn up, and ratified in a council of prelates and barons, eight of whom, including Laurence O’Toole, Archbishop of Dublin, subscribed their names to the document. The amount of power and jurisdiction still left to the King of Con- naught by this treaty was very great; but the extent of territory within which he could exercise his authority was strictly limited. In none of the districts immediately under the dominion of the King of England and his barons was Roderic allowed to interfere, or to claim any rights whatsoever. This exempted territory, which formed what was called the English Pale, included Dublin, the whole of Meath, besides Waterford, and the country A.D. II/5–II.77.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 73 thence to Dungarvan. By this treaty it was recognised that the Kings of England should for the future be lords paramount of Ireland, and that all future monarchs of that country should hold their dominions as tenants in capite, or vassals of the English Crown. “Reciprocal relations of chief and vassal,” says O’Donovan, “which arose out of military service, and furnished the great principle on which the feudal system was founded, were not unknown to the Irish, although their polity was not exactly the feudal system. They were familiarized to the custom of holding their lands and territories under superior lords on conditions of allegiance and homage, and therefore there was nothing new in the mere forms of submission agreed upon between Roderic O'Conor and the King of England. But it is quite clear that the Irish chieftains who submitted to Henry II. did not understand the feudal system in all its bearings: they did not, for example, see that, according to this system of law, on the rebellion or disobedience of any of them, Henry could deprive him and his tribe of their territory at his pleasure, and grant the same to his English followers.” The treaty of Windsor was followed, two years later, by a council of the bishops and abbots convoked by Cardinal Vivian, in which the right of dominion over Ireland, conferred by Pope Adrian on Henry, was set forth by the cardinal, who impressed on the assembled prelates the necessity of paying obedience to this authority, under pain of excommuni- cation. Amongst other regulations which were promulgated at the Council, was one giving leave to the English soldiers to provide themselves with pro- visions out of the churches, into which, as inviolable sanctuaries, the Irish frequently removed them. The obligations contracted by this treaty of Windsor were not long observed by the English barons, who, regardless of all engagements, were determined to take advantage of every opportunity for extending their possessions. In the year II.77 such an opportunity seemed to arise out of the unnatural conduct of Murrough O'Conor, one of Roderic's sons. This young man, having had a quarrel with his father, fled to Dublin, and invited FitzAdelm de Burgh to make war on his father, offering to con- duct safely into Connaught any army that might be sent for this purpose. This offer was too tempting to be resisted, and although the King of Con- naught had done nothing to justify an attack being made on his dominions, FitzAdelm despatched a body of horsemen and archers, under the command of Milo de Cogan, in aid of the treasonable revolt of the undutiful Murrough. Crossing the Shannon at Athlone, the English army advanced as far as L 74 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. V. Roscommon. The Irish king, surprised at this sudden attack, and unprepared to meet his enemies in the field, adopted the expedient of retiring before them, laying waste the country, so that the invaders could obtain no spoil or provisions. Meeting with no resistance at Roscommon, De Cogan and his followers marched on to Tuam, still unopposed ; but there they began to feel the effects of the stratagem which had been employed against them, and, after remaining in Tuam for about eight days, they were obliged to turn round and to organize a retreat. The retreat had scarcely begun, when the Irish, who were waiting for this, followed them, intercepted their route, and attacked them at the causeway of Mone-Conway, near Ballymoe. Here they succeeded in cutting their way through the Irish forces, and escaped to Oran, where they were again attacked, and would probably have been annihilated, had it not been for the assistance given to them by Murrough O'Conor. The next day they were again attacked, and fled precipitately from Connaught, having lost many men in the enterprise. In this last engagement, Murrough, Roderic's son, was taken prisoner, and delivered into the hands of his father, who, in accordance with the practice of the times, ordered that his eyes should be put out. Shortly after this, Roderic O'Conor became reconciled with the English, and gave his daughter in marriage to Sir Hugh de Lacy, the Lord of Meath, and Viceroy of Ireland. This marriage having been solemnized without King Henry's assent, aroused his jealousy to such an extent that he removed De Lacy from his position as Viceroy. De Lacy's good sense and forbear- ance, and the explanations he was able to give to the King of England, Soon, however, cleared away Henry's suspicions, and after the space of three months he re-instated him, sending over Robert of Shrewsbury to act as his counsellor and assistant. In the year I 180, Roderic sent one of his sons as a hostage to King Henry for the fulfilment of the treaty of Windsor, and with him Laurence O'Toole, Archbishop of Dublin, and a venerable and prudent man, named David, who was young O'Conor's tutor. On their arrival at Abingdon, they learned that King Henry was in Normandy, and had given orders that when the Archbishop of Dublin landed in England, all the ports should be closed against his re-embarkation for Ireland. Having waited for three weeks in the monastery of Abingdon, the Archbishop resolved to follow the king to Normandy, hoping by an interview to remove his jealousies, and to forward the objects he had in view. He embarked at Dover, and landed on the coast of Normandy at a creek, which, to the present day, bears his name, being called A.D. I 180–II86.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 75 “St. Laurent.” Shortly afterwards he was seized with illness, and finding himself unable to proceed to where the king was, he determined to stop at the nearest religious establishment which he could reach. Observing in the distance the towers of the Abbey of “Eu,” he made inquiries of some shep- herds on the road-side to what religious order the establishment belonged; he was told that it belonged to monks of the order of St. Victor. “Here then,” said he, “shall my labours terminate.” He approached the Abbey gate, and entered, and having made himself known, received a cordial greeting from the Abbot Osbert, and his community. He was then seized with fever, and David was sent to King Henry to inform him that the Archbishop lay on his death-bed, and to request that the monarch would consider the sad condition of his Irish subjects. The king, on hearing the state he was in, sent the messenger back, after a delay of four days, with cheering assurances to soothe the dying prelate. On the 14th November, I 180, St. Laurence O’Toole breathed his last. Shortly before he expired, his attendants heard him exclaim in the Irish language, “Ah! foolish and senseless people, what is now to become of you ? Who will now cure your misfortunes—who will hear you ?” Immediately on receiving intelligence of the death of the Archbishop of Dublin, Henry took the vacan; Archbishopric into his own custody, and despatched Geoffry de la Hay, his chaplain, to Dublin for the purpose of seizing on the revenues of the see, and collecting them into the exchequer. About this time Sir Hugh de Lacy, Roderic O'Conor's son-in-law, again began to cause Henry uneasiness. He had become very popular, and it was generally rumoured that he aspired to the sovereignty of Ireland. This rumour excited for the second time the jealousy of the King of England, who on this occasion determined to counteract De Lacy's supposed designs, by sending over his own son John, as the nominal governor of Ireland. John, when he came to Ireland, was only twelve years of age ; and his advisers and the ministers who governed in his name, having acted most insolently towards the Irish, provoked greater resistance to the English authority than had here- tofore existed. Henry soon perceived the mistake which he had made, and determined to recall his son, who had accomplished nothing except the erection of three castles, one at Tibraghny, near Carrick-on-Suir ; another at Ardfinan, near Clonmel ; and a third at Lismore. The whole government of the country, both civil and military, was then placed in the hands of John de Courcy, who had at all times been the great rival of De Lacy. De Lacy did not long survive his disgrace. He was murdered in the year I 186, at the 76 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. V. castle of Durrow, by one of his own Irish vassals, and King Henry is said to have publicly rejoiced at the news of his death. Meanwhile disturbances again broke out amongst the Irish of Connaught. The sons of Roderic O'Conor rebelled against their father, and his eldest son, Conor Moinmoy, having driven him into Munster, the greatest part of Connaught was devastated by civil war. Wearied out by these unnatural Conflicts, and being now advanced in years, Roderic O'Conor at last determined to put an end to the strife, by abdicating in favour of his eldest son, and in I 186 he retired into the monastery of Cong. Although he appeared again on the death of his son, as a candidate for the throne, his reign was now practically over, and the remaining years of his life were, for the most part, spent in retirement. His more powerful rival, the King of England, had about the same time to suffer from similar misfortunes. He, too, had his last days embittered, and his death probably accelerated, by the conduct of his sons, and especially by the ingratitude of his favourite son, John, and he died in Normandy in I 189, cursing his children. Roderic O'Conor's character has been variously described by different English and Irish writers, according to their particular bias." After such a long lapse of time it would now be difficult to estimate it at its proper value. His lot was cast in an unfortunate crisis, and the calamities which befell his country under his reign have been, with more or less reason, ascribed to his want of firmness and activity. The apparent ease with which a handful of foreign adventurers took possession of a portion of the island, and gained a permanent position there, and the submission of all the chief Kings and Princes of Ireland to the English monarch, which followed shortly after, are facts which have been taken by many writers as a proof of the barbarity of the Irish nation, and the pusillanimity of its chief king. A more correct conclusion probably would be that these events were mainly due to the system of divided authority which existed within the island, which fostered petty jealousies, and which rendered united action, even against a foreign foe, almost impossible. Upon this subject Mr. O'Conor, in his Military History of the * Gratianus Lucius says: “He governed the island with as absolute sway as any of his prede- cessors. He was a wise ruler, repressing the evil-doer by severe penalties, and the armed enemy by force of arms. Literature received from him every encouragement, and besides renewing the games at Tailton, he endowed a professorship at Armagh.” “Roderic O'Conor built a wonderful castle at Tuam, which was admired as a novelty, not because it was of stone, but probably because it was provided with arches. The walls of this castle are standing to the present day.”—Cambrensis Eversus, Vol II., pp. 73 and I91. SN ſt- OF */cº G R O SS OF GONG. [A.D. I 186. THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 77 Irish Nation, justly remarks : “Our subjection by the Anglo-Norman adherents of Dermot MacMurrough, imperfect as it was, was not in any sense of the word a greater gonquest than the English themselves had recently endured at the hands of the invading Duke of Normandy; nor will the character of our Roderic in any wise suffer in comparison of their Harold. Roderic erected towns, built bridges, constructed highways, founded religious houses, and endowed professorships in learning. With causes of dissension and defeat, palpable in the circumstances of the times in which he lived, it is harsh to charge such a man with individual want of conduct, because, at the head of only a section of his nation, opposed or deserted by those who ought to have been his natural friends and allies, he failed in resisting an invasion invited by an entire province, and prosecuted by the united valour and policy of England and of Rome. Yielding to the same force, in an aggravated degree, that had overturned the dynasty of Alfred in the person of Harold, though the latter monarch fought at the head of a united people.” Roderic O'Conor survived his abdication twelve years. He died tran- quilly in the monastery of Cong, in the year I 198, in the eighty-second year of his age. Both Cong and Cloonmacnoise claim to possess the remains of Ireland's last Irish monarch, and Roderic's tomb is pointed out in both places. The discrepancy between these claims is, however, easily reconciled, as it appears from the records of the Annals that Roderic's remains were disinterred in the year I2O7, and placed in a stone shrine, and transferred to Cloonmac- noise, from which the deduction is obvious that his remains were interred first in the Abbey of Cong, where he died, and were subsequently transferred to the royal burying-place at Cloonmacnoise, where they were deposited near the tomb of his illustrious father, Turlough Mor O'Conor. C H A P T E R V I. @-sº X >e A.D. I I86–I2OI. CONOR MOINMOY, SON OF RODER/C O'CONOR. (A.D. I 186—I 189.) intº 㺠PON the banishment of his father into Munster, Conor Moinmoy Hºliº took on himself the government of Connaught, and Roderic } having, shortly after, abdicated in his favour, he was recognised * , without dispute as the legitimate king. In the conflict with his father he had been assisted by some of the English mercenaries, to whom, it is related, after the struggle was over, he paid the wages of 3,000 cows." Having been firmly established on the throne, his friendship with his English allies ceased ; and being now one of the most powerful of the native Irish princes, he determined, if possible, to bring them under subjection to his rule. In the year II.87 he ravaged the territory of Leinster, and proceeded as far as Kildare,” where he burned the castle, then garrisoned by the English ; so that, as the annalists state, “not one of the garrison escaped, but they were all suffocated, or otherwise killed.” This attack provoked a retaliation ; and in the same year, John de Courcy, who was now Governor of Ireland, made an incursion into Connaught at the head of the English of Leinster, accompanied by a kinsman of the King of Connaught, named Connor O'Dermot. To resist this invasion, Conor Moinmoy assembled his army on the confines of the counties of Roscommon and Sligo. Here he was joined by O’Brien, King of Thomond, and the men of Munster. The English, meeting with no resistance in the eastern part of Connaught, marched on confidently * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1186. * According to some of the annalists, the castle here referred to was not at Kildare, but at Killion, Co. Westmeath. A.D. I 187—I 189.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 79 to Ballisodare, which they burned, and then retreated towards the Curlieu hills, a mountainous range lying between the present counties of Sligo and Roscommon. Here the combined Irish army attacked them, and a battle ensued, in which the English were completely defeated and driven out of Connaught, and De Courcy and the remnant of his forces were obliged to retire precipitately to Meath. After this battle the supremacy of Conor Moinmoy was for a time firmly established. O'Brien, King of Thomond ; Mac Dunlevy, King of Ulidia; MacCarthy, King of Desmond ; O'Melaghlin, and O'Rourke, all submitted to him ; the kings and chieftains of Munster giving in their adhesion at O'Conor's palace at Dunloe, on the river Suck, near Ballinasloe. By this defeat of his foreign foes, and by the submission of the native chieftains, Conor Moinmoy became almost as powerful as his father had ever been. He had thrown off all acknowledgment of the English Supremacy; and, with the exception of Ulster, where he was not recognised as Sovereign, he would appear to have re-established the supremacy of the King of Connaught over the native Irish of the whole island. This authority was not destined to be of long duration. In 1189, the same year as Richard I. was proclaimed King of England, Conor Moinmoy was assassinated by one of his own people, named Manus O'Feenaghty, at the instigation, it is said, of Connor O'Dermot, who was himself, shortly after, slain by Cathal Carrach, the son of Conor Moinmoy, for having been accessory to his father's death. CATHAL CARRACH, son of Conor Moinmoy, A.D. I 189—I2OI. New troubles and dissensions broke out in Connaught on the death of Conor Moinmoy, and the right to the sovereignty was disputed by three competitors—Roderic O'Conor, the former Monarch of Ireland ; Cathal Carrach, son of the late king ; and Cathal Crovedearg, the brother of Roderic. Roderic, who had been previously supplanted and banished by his own son, was invited back again, and proclaimed king, by a section of the people ; but this proclamation was not generally recognised, and had no lasting effect. It was not easy for a monarch who had abdicated, or who had been forcibly dispossessed, and in whose reign some of the greatest misfor- tunes had happened to his country, to regain any permanent authority over such a people as the Irish of Connaught, and Roderic's claims to the sove- reignty appear to have been treated with very little respect either by his grandson or his brother. These two warlike princes contended bitterly with 80 TIIE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP VI. each other for Supremacy, both apparently quite oblivious of any claims o Roderic. In 1190 a meeting was held in Clonfert Brendon, at which the Archbishop of Armagh, Thomas O'Conor," attended, for the purpose of arranging terms of peace between the two rivals; but it ended unsuccessfully. In leaving this meeting Cathal Crovedearg very nearly lost his life, as proceeding on the Shannon to Cloonmacnoise and Lough Ree, his boat was caught in a violent storm, and wrecked, and all on board perished, excepting Cathal Crovedearg and six of the crew. *. In the following year Roderic, finding himself without support in Con- naught, appealed for assistance to the Irish of Ulster, and not receiving any encouragement there, he then turned to the English settlers in Meath. At the head of these was Hugh de Lacy, to whom the former Monarch of Ireland and ex-King of Connaught had given his daughter in marriage; but here, too, his overtures were unsuccessful, and resigning himself to his fate, he appears to have withdrawn from any further contest, and to have become reconciled to his kinsmen, at whose hands he then received grants of land. About the same time, in 1193, Dervorgill, the wife of O'Rourke, Prince of Breifny, whose forcible abduction by M“Murrough, King of Leinster, was the cause of so many misfortunes to her country, died in a convent near Drogheda. The retirement of Roderic in no way tended to remove the difficulties between the other aspirants to the throne of Connaught; the two Cathals were now left face to face, and each in turn sought the assistance of external allies, including the English in Ireland. These, on their side, appear to have been as little united as the native Irish, and were ever ready to offer their services to the highest bidder, or to fight on the side which promised them the most advantage. Accordingly, at one time they were found assisting Roderic's brother, at another his grandson, and even at the same time Some of the English were on one side and some on the other. In I Ig5, Cathal Crovedearg, with some of the English and Irish of Meath, went into Munster, and arrived at Emly and Cashel, where they burned four large castles and some small ones; but advantage being taken of Cathal’s absence by M“Dermot, who ravaged his territory in Connaught, he was obliged to return home. The death of Roderic O'Conor, which occurred in II98, had at first a * This Thomas O'Conor, called in the Annals the successor of St. Patrick, had been consecrated Archbishop in 1181. A.D. .I IQO-I2OI.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 81 tranquillizing effect on the rival claimants for the throne of Connaught, and peace was made between them, Cathal Crovedearg being apparently recognised as the superior, for it is recorded that he brought Cathal Carrach into his territory and gave him lands. In the following year, however, Cathal Crovedearg was deposed, banished from Connaught, and Cathal Carrach set up in his place. War then again broke out, in which the Irish chieftains and the English settlers seem all to have been engaged. In the first instance, O'Neill marched to relieve Cathal Crovedearg, but on coming to Ballisodare, he was overtaken by Cathal Carrach, with the chiefs of Connaught and William FitzAdelm de Burgh, with the English of Limerick. A battle was fought, in which O'Neill was defeated, and Cathal Carrach for the time was placed on the throne. Whilst the English of the south and west thus took the part of Cathal Carrach, the English of Leinster and Meath, under De Courcy and De Lacy, took the side of Cathal Crovedearg, and marched to Kilmacduagh, where they were met by the King of Connaught, and defeated. From Kilmacduagh they fled to the Shannon, but were closely pursued as far as Rinn Duinn on Lough Ree, and were there so hemmed in that all who were unable to cross the lake in boats were driven into the water and drowned, or slain on the banks. The year I2OO opened with a fresh attack on Cathal Carrach by the English of Leinster, who marched to Cloonmacnoise, plundered the town, and attacked the churches, whilst Cathal Crovedearg proceeded to Munster, where he endeavoured to gain over to his side M’Carthy and William de Burgh. The attack made on Cathal Carrach was, for the moment, unsuccessful; and in this year he formally assumed the Sovereignty, and promulgated a sentence of banishment against his rival. On the other hand, Crovedearg succeeded in his mission to Munster, and persuaded De Burgh to join his standard. This English adventurer, who had before fought on the side of Cathal Carrach, now joined Cathal Crovedearg, who at the head of the English and Irish forces of Munster, marched from Limerick into Connaught, to Tuam, and thence proceeded to Oran, to Elphin, to the rock of Lough Key, and to the monastery of Boyle, which was turned into a barrack. The fortunes of war, hitherto favourable to Cathal Carrach, now became adverse, and in the battle which ensued he was defeated and slain, as the annalists say, through the miracles of God and St. Kieran. After the defeat and death of his rival, Cathal Crovedearg and his allies proceeded through West Connaught, and arrived at Cong, where they spent * M 82 THE O'CONORS OF CONN AUGHT. [CHAP. VI. Easter. Here disputes arose amongst them, and William De Burgh and O'Flaherty conspired against the life of the Irish prince; but, in the words of the annalists, “God protected him.” The English then demanded their pay for the services they had rendered, and disagreements arising out of this, a conflict took place, in which the Connaught forces were victorious, and De Burgh, having lost 200 of his men, returned to Limerick, whilst Cathal Crove- dearg assumed undisputed sway in Connaught. C H A P T E R V II. CATHAL CROVEDEARG, SON OF TURLOUGH MOR O'CONOR. (A.D. I2OI-1224.) the time by his own historiographer," Donough, son of Toney O'Mulconry, who was present at the ceremony, and whose proper office it was to place the royal sceptre in the king's hand. As an illustration of the manners and customs of the times, it may not be uninteresting to give an abstract of the proceedings as recorded by him — “This is the lawful form of inauguration of the King of Connaught, as it was established in the olden time, and ordained by St. Patrick on the day that he inaugurated Duach Galach, and on which occasion he was assisted by twelve bishops. And it is necessary that the successors of these bishops should be present at his inauguration, namely, the successor of St. Patrick at Elphin, the successor of St. Bridget” at Ballintober, the successor of Dachonna of Asmacnerk (now Assylin), the successor of Beo-Aedh of Ardcarn, the successor of Barry at Clooncorby (now Kilbarry), the successor of St. Fathlenn of Cloontus- kert, the successor of St. Brendan of Ogulla, the successor of St. Colman of Mayo, the successor of St. Giallan of Moygillen, the successor of Bishop Sochell of Lough Salchern, the successor of St. Grellan of Creeve, the successor of St. Callin of Fenagh, the successor of St. Finian of Clooncraff. “It was also ordained that the twelve dynasts or sub-chiefs of Connaught should be present at this inauguration, namely, O'Flannagan, O'Mulrenin, O’Finaghty, and Mageraghty, ‘This document is preserved in a vellum MS. in the Stowe collection, Codex iii., fol. 28. A part of it was translated by Dr. O'Conor in his Stowe Catalogue, p. 168, and in Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores Vet., Vol. I., Proleg. 2, p. 91. The whole of it has been printed for the Kilkenny Archaeological Society, Vol. for 1853, p. 338. * O’Donovan remarks on this that St. Bridget was a female bishop. Probably she was the patron saint of the see of Ballintober, 84 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. VII. (who were called the four royal chieftains of the King of Connaught); O'Flynn, O’Hanly, O'Fallon, O’Beirne, O'Concannon, O'Heyne, O'Shaughnessy, and O’Teige, who was chief of the household of the King of Connaught. “It is also required that the following chiefs should be present at his installation, namely, O'Rourke, O'Reilly, O’Hara, and O'Gara, with their followers, and M*Dermot, chief of Moylurg. “It is the privilege of O'Mulconry to place the rod in the hands of O'Conor, the day on which he assumes the sovereignty of Connaught, and it is considered unlawful that any man should be along with the king on the carn except O'Mulconry and O’Connaghten fronting O'Mulconry, or more truly fronting O'Mulrenin, who kept the entrance of the carn. “The king's clothing and arms were given to O'Mulconry, and his steed to O'Flynn, the coarb of St. Dachonna, who was privileged to mount that steed from O'Conor's back. An ounce of gold was decreed to O'Connaghten as a perennial tribute, on condition of his repairing the carn when it required repairs. The following are the subsidies paid to the different chieftains of Sil Murray by O'Conor, King of Connaught. Twelve score milch cows, twelve score sheep, and twelve score cows, to O'Flannagan, and the same number to Mageraghty and O'Mulrenin. The office of High Steward to O'Conor was ceded to O'Flannagan, O’Hanly is the keeper of his hostages, and he had the command of his fleet from Slieve- in-iarain to Luimnech (Limerick), with all the perquisites thereunto belonging. MacBranan is his henchman, and chief of his kerne, and the caretaker of his hounds. MacDockwra is his procurator-general, who is bound to furnish light and bedding. It is the duty of O'Flannagan, O’Beirne, and MacDockwra to guard the spoils of O'Conor, whenever he encamps to rest. MacBranan has the perquisites arising from O'Conor's marchership, from Curragh-Rinnetty (near Roscommon) to Kells in Meath ; O'Flynn the marchership in the tract extending from Curragh-Kinnetty to Croaghpatrick, together with its stewardship. “The chief command of O'Conor's fleet belongs to O'Flaherty and O'Malley. O'Kelly is the chief treasurer of his precious stones, and all other species of treasure. MacDermot of Moylurg is his marshal; O'Teige the chief of his household; O’Beirne his chief butler; O’Finaghty his chief doorkeeper; O'Mulconry the recorder of all his tributes; MacTully his physician, and MacEgan his brehon (judge). “Twenty-four townlands constitute the lawful patrimony of each of these eight chiefs, in payment of the offices they discharge for O'Conor. Forty-eight townlands constituted the patrimony of each of his four royal chiefs, O'Flannagan, O'Mulrenin, Mageraghty, and O'Finaghty, together with all dead Church lands." “The chiefs tributary to O'Conor were those of Galenga Costello, Clann Cuan, Conmaicne, Carra, and the two Leynies. In short, there was not a king, or royal heir, or chieftain, of a cantred, or a district, or a hundred-cattled farmer of a townland from Assaroe to Luimnech (Limerick), and from Uisnech in Meath to Inish-Boffenne, and from Lough Erne to Lough Deirgderc, who was not specially bound to attend with his forces at the hostings of O'Conor. “The free states of Connaught are the following, namely, Ui-Bruin of Brefney, the Ui-Fiachrach of the Moy, and the race of Muiredhach, son of Fergus, and even of these, not- withstanding their freedom, two are bound to attend with their forces at the hostings of O'Conor, and to assist him in all his troubles and difficulties.” * O’Donovan interprets this to mean “lands wrested from the Church by the violence of laymen, or forfeited by the crimes of the Church.” * Dr. O'Conor's translation of a part of this is somewhat different from O’Donovan's. | A.D. I2O1–1205.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 85 The inauguration here described usually took place at Carnfree in the plains of Rathcroghan, in the old barony of Ballintobber. “Here,” says Hardiman, “a remarkable upright stone, about seven feet over ground, called the ‘lia Dearg, or the red stone, is pointed out as the monument of Dathy, the last pagan king.” The territorial integrity of Connaught, the hereditary kingdom of the last Monarch of Ireland, had been preserved intact, as guaranteed by the treaty of Windsor, up to the date of the accession of Cathal Crovedearg ; but the conflicting claims of the different rivals for the throne, after the abdication of Roderic, had undermined its stability, and rendered the recognition of the supremacy of the English sovereign more necessary than ever. Cathal Crovedearg, a few years after his installation, about the year I2O4, is stated! to have gone further than this recognition, and to have resigned two-thirds of Connaught to King John, with an undertaking to pay an annual subsidy of IOO marks for the remaining third. This statement is based upon the follow- ing letters from King John, dated August, I2O4, and 20th December, I2O5:— THE KING to MEYLER FITZHENRY, JUSTICIARY OF IRELAND. “The justiciary has advised that the King of Connaught quit-claimed to the K. two- third parts of Connaught, the other third to remain to the King of Connaught by right of inheritance, at a yearly rent to the K. of 100 marks. The K. and his council deeming this expedient, the K. commands the justiciary that he select for the K.’s use the two-thirds in which lie the best towns and harbours, those fittest for the K.’s interest and for fortifying castles. That he take from the King of Connaught hostages and security for his faithful service, for which service the third of Connaught shall remain to him ; that he cause the villeins and fugitives from the K.’s two-thirds to return with their chattels and retinue ; that he strengthen castles, found towns, and assess rents in those parts; that to the best of his judgment he forward the K.’s interest, and that, for these purposes, he take, if necessary, the issues of the land and the K.’s rents. When the justiciary shall have advised what he has done in this matter, the K. will give his charter to the King of Connaught.” DEC, 20th, 1205. THE K. to MEYLER FITZHENRY, JUSTICIARY OF IRELAND. “Dermot has laid before the K. that the King of Connaught demands to hold in fee of the K. a third part of Connaught as a barony, at 100 marks a-year, and for two-thirds of that land he will render a tribute of 300 marks. He will, moreover, grant to the K. two cantreds out of these two-thirds with their villeins to farm, or do the K.’s pleasure therein. Mandate. * > * Leland, Vol. I., p. 175. * Close, 6 John, m. 18. This letter is also recorded in Rymer's Fadera, &c, London, 1816, Vol. I, p. 9 I. * 86 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. VII. —That the justiciary carry out this arrangement if he deem it for the K.’s advantage. He is, however, if possible, to procure an increase in the gift, for the K. has heard that the King of Connaught would give a fine (gersum) of 400 marks at least. The justiciary is, moreover, to procure a yearly gift of cows and other contributions to maintain the K.'s castles.” That the statement contained in these letters was not a correct representa- tion of the facts appears clear from subsequent treaties and charters between the two kings. It is very probable that Cathal Crovedearg did, like Roderic, acknowledge John as his liege lord, and that negotiations went on at different times involving the promise of payment of tribute to the English king ; but that Cathal ever surrendered the greater part of his kingdom is disproved by the charters of King John, as well as by other mandates and letters issued by him. If Cathal had surrendered two-thirds of his kingdom, and retained the other third merely as a subject, his title to be called King of Connaught would have ceased, yet in I2O8 the English king writes to him as King of Connaught, and informs him that he is “to give credence * to Alban, Bishop of Ferns, Meyler FitzHenry, and Philip of Worcester, who are sent to Ireland as the king’s representatives. In 1214 he orders all his bailiffs and faithful subjects in Ireland to consider “Cathal, King of Connaught, as under his protection;” and in the following year he grants certain lands to O'Brien, on “the King of Connaught undertaking that this would conduce to the peace and security of the country.” Lastly, in I2 I5 he grants and confirms to the King of Connaught all the land of Connaught,” saving only the castle of Athlone;” the witnesses to this last grant being Henry, Archbishop of Dublin, Geoffrey de Marisco, Roger Pipard, Walter de Rudeford, Eustace de Reepe, Ralph Petit, and Geoffrey Luterell. In addition to these proofs drawn from English sources, there remains the fact that no mention is made in the Irish Annals of this alleged surrender of the greater part of his territory by Cathal Crovedearg, and the reverence in which his memory was held by the Irish of Connaught, would in itself refute the statement. In the year 12 IO King John having been successful in an expedition into Scotland, came to Ireland with a numerous retinue, and upon this occasion many of the Irish kings and chieftains waited on him, amongst others, O’Neil * Close, 7 John, m. 5. * Pat, Io John, m. 5. * Pat, Io John, h. 1, m. 7, & m. 13, n. 2. * Close, 17 John, m. 25. * Chart, 17 John, m. 3. * The castle of Athlone was erected in 1210 by the Bishop of Norwich on the site of the more ancient castle built in 1129 by Turlough Mor O'Conor. Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1210, note by O'Donovan. A.D. I2O5–12 IO.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 87 and O'Conor. Whether either of them then submitted does not appear. The annalists state that O’Neil returned without submitting, and O'Conor probably did the same, although he united his forces with those of the English king in repressing the De Lacys,” one of whom John expelled from Meath, and the other from Ulster. Later on O'Conor again waited on King John at a place called Rathwire in Westmeath, and there a submission took place, the king demanding O'Conor's son as a hostage. This the King of Connaught refused, but he consented to give other hostages, four of his own chiefs, viz-O'Hara, Lord of Leyney, O'Mulrooney, Lord of Moylurg, O'Carmacan, and Torvenn, son of the King of the Gall-Gails. King John then returned to England, carrying these hostages with him. Before he left Ireland he formed that portion of the country which was really conquered, and which was planted by his English subjects, into counties or shires. The counties which he formed were Dublin, Kildare, Uriel (Louth), Catherlough (Carlow), Kilkenny, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Limerick, Kerry, and Tipperary; and his omission to form any counties in Connaught may be taken as an almost conclusive proof that its integrity was fully recognised by the King of England, who was obliged to rest satisfied with receiving hostages for the peaceable behaviour of its king. King John, on the occasion of this visit, endeavoured to establish firmly in Ireland the laws and institutions of England, and for this purpose, as appears by a record of the reign of his successor, King Henry III., “he brought with him into Ireland discreet men skilled in the English laws, by whose advice he commanded that these laws should be observed in Ireland, and he left them reduced to writing under his seal in the Exchequer of Dublin.” Previous to the departure of King John, and after his alleged submission and surrender of his dominions, Cathal Crovedearg, in 1207, expelled O'Flaherty from the principality of West Connaught, and placed his own son Hugh over it. In the same year the remains of Roderic O'Conor were exhumed and deposited in a stone coffin or shrine. About this time as much discord prevailed between the English in Ireland as between them and the native Irish. Feuds of the most bitter description raged between Meyler FitzHenry and the De Lacys, and wars were carried on by them totally regardless of their King. This state of things was somewhat checked by the arrival of John, who, when in the country, was chiefly occupied in an endeavour to bring his English subjects under control. * Gilbert's Viceroys of Ireland, p. 73. 88 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. VII. After his return to England, a war having broken out between him and the King of Wales, John summoned to his aid the English nobles in Ireland, and at their head the Bishop of Norwich, whom he had previously appointed Lord Justice. The return of King John to England was the signal for fresh disturbances between the Irish in Connaught. Roderic O'Conor and Teige, the son of Conor Moinmoy, crossed the Shannon, and, accompanied by the people of the Annalys, made an incursion into the territory of the King of Connaught, but were repulsed, with the loss of many men and horses, by Hugh, the son of Cathal Crovedearg. In 1216 King John died, and his son Henry was proclaimed King of Eng- land. Henry being then but ten years old, it became necessary to appoint a guardian, both of his person and the realm ; and the Earl of Pembroke, who, as Marshal of England, was already at the head of the army, and who, though constantly faithful to the unpopular John, had nevertheless retained the respect of the people of England, was by a general council of his brother barons, appointed Lord President of England. This nobleman, in addition to his immense possessions in England and Wales, had, by his marriage with Isabella, daughter of Earl Strongbow, and grand-daughter of Dermot M“Murrough, acquired the lordship of Leinster, and had therefore a deep personal interest in the prosperity of the English settlement in Ireland, to which he consequently paid especial attention. One of the first steps taken by the new government in England was an endeavour to replenish the king's exchequer ; and in furtherance of this, a mandate was issued to Geoffrey de Marisco, the justiciary, and to Henry, Archbishop of Dublin, “to impose a toll and an aid on the cities, burghs, and demesnes of the king ;” and to “seek an add from the Kings of Connaught and Thomzond, and from the other ſings of Ireland.” Probably taking advantage of this want of money in the English Exchequer, Richard de Burgh, in September, 1219, proposed that the land of Connaught should be given to him, and promised that he would give for it “2OO marks a year, and 3 OOO marks,” or “that the King of Connaught shall have a moiety of Connaught during his life, and shall render a moiety of the service, and that after the death of the King of Connaught, Richard shall have the whole of the land, and render the whole service;” and for this he offered £1,000 sterling. * Close, 2 Hen. III., p. 2, m. 15, dors. A.D. I2 IO-I22O.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 89 Upon this proposal the following order was made —“That having regard to the circumstances touching the situation of the King of Connaught, and those touching the king's safety, honour, and interest, the justiciary so consider the matter, that on his arrival in England, he may be able to offer the K. sound, safe, and salutary advice.” What was the advice given by the justiciary is not recorded, but ap- parently it was opposed to the acceptance of Richard de Burgh's offer ; as in the following February a patent was issued granting “protection to Cathal, King of Connaught, his chattels, goods, men, and possessions, for five years.” In 1220 a royal letter was issued from the king to “Cathal, King of Con- naught, and other kings, informing them that for divers reasons the appoint- ment of Geoffrey de Marisco, a justiciary, had been revoked, and that Henry, Archbishop of Dublin, had been appointed in his place.” Meanwhile the feuds between the English settlers and the Irish continued as great as ever. Whatever submission Cathal Crovedearg made to the English monarch, it in no way prevented his repelling with force all incursions of individual English leaders, nor did Henry's protection secure the King of Connaught from their attacks. The De Lacy's were the especial enemies of Cathal, and were also anything but obedient to King Henry's representative in Ireland. In 1220 Walter de Lacy, with the English of Meath, crossed the Shannon, near Ballyleague, and erected a castle on the Connaught side of the river; but Cathal Crovedearg outflanked them by crossing the river eastwards at another point, and compelled them to withdraw from his territory, and to make terms of peace, after which he destroyed the castle which they had erected. A few years later, and shortly before his death, Cathal Crovedearg having been joined by the Earl of Pembroke, made another attack upon the De Lacys, who were defeated and brought under subjection. This assistance given to the King of Connaught in repressing the De Lacys was apparently in reply to the following application from the King of Connaught, written in Latin, to King Henry 4:— A., KING OF CONNAUGHT, to HENRY, KING OF ENGLAND. “Rarissimo dno. H. Dei gratia Regi Anglie. Domino Hibernie. Duci, Nor- mannie et Aquitannie. et comitti Andigavvie : Suus fidelis, K. Rex Connactie. Salutem * London: Close, 3 Henry III., p. 2. * Pat. 4 Henry III., p. 1, m. 9. * Royal Letters, 17th July, 1221. * The originals of this and the following letter are preserved in the Record Office, London. A facsimile of each is given by Mr. Gilbert in his Facsimiles of Ancient Irish MSS., Part II. N 90 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. VII. et fidele obseq. Vestram majestatem non latet qualiter inimicus vester et patris vestri et noster ; nimirum. quum dominus pater vester. ipsum cum jam ei rebellis exstiterat; de Hibernia per consilium nostrum ejecit, videlicet. Hugo de Lascy; vobis inconsultis ; ad partes Hibernie pervenit ; qui quantum in ipso est regnum vestrum in Hibernia confundere molitur, contra cujus adventum, licet antea in obsequio vestro stabiles fueramus; nunc tamen sicut Dublinensi Archiepiscopo. Hibernie justiciario, satis notum est; in fidelitate vestra erga nos stabiliores et constantiores existimus. Et quanto minus de servitio vestro nos retrahere videmur et dinoscimur; tanto magis abillis. Qui fidelitatem erga vos pretendunt; et contra predictum hostem vestrum ; nobis sicut justiciarius vester satis novit; effronite defecerunt ; crebris vexationibus et injuriis aggravamur. Et itainter predictum vestrum inimicum ; H. de Lascy. qui propter odium vestrum & nostrum nobis inimicatur. ex una parte; et predictos qui sã fideles vobis esse simulant ex altera in magna angustia. fuerimus constituti. Qua propter vestram dignitatem obnixe rogamus et exhortamur quatentis nisi tranquillitatem vestram in Hibernia quod absit per predictum disturbatorem ; et propter defectum quorundam nos- trorum ; presit confundi. ad ejus insolentiam compescendam ; valedam manum indilate ad partes Hibernie transmittere velitis : Valete.” Which may be summarized in English as follows:– “To his very dear Lord, Henry, King of England, Lord of Ireland, &c., Kathal, King of Connaught, sends greeting. Hugh de Lascy, the enemy to Henry and to his father King John, who by Kathal's advice had formerly banished him, has now returned to Ireland, and labours to subvert the authority there of the King of England. Kathal's fidelity is known to the Archbishop of Dublin and the Irish Justiciary, who is also aware how much he has been harassed by De Lascy and those who pretend loyalty to Henry. Through these circum- stances Kathal will be placed in great straits; and to prevent the peace of Ireland being dis- turbed, and to repress the insolence of De Lascy, he requests the king to send a strong force without delay.” The defeat and submission of the De Lacy's shortly after took place, when another letter was written by the King of Connaught to the following effect:- K., KING OF CONNAUGHT, to HENRY, KING OF ENGLAND. Circa A.D. 1224. “Karissimo dno. suo H. Dei gratia Regi Anglie ; Domino Hibernie ; Duci Nor- mannie & Aquitannie ; Comiti Andigavvie ; Suus fidelis K., rex Connactie salutem, et cum fideli obsequio sincere dilectionis retinaculum. Bene credimus quod vos per fideles et consiliarios vestros et patris vestri audivistis; qualiter nos dno. patri vestro Johanni bone memorie, fideliterac devote servire non defecimus: et post obitum ipsius sicut fideles vestri per Hiberniam constituti liquide noscunt et noverunt; simili modo devotum obsequium vobis exhibere non deficimus; nec unquam quamdiu vixerimus vobis deficere volumus. Unde licet nos cartem dni patris vestri super terra Connactie, nobis et heredibus nostris, et nominatum AEd. filio nostro et heredi possidemus; tamen nihilominus affectamus ; et a vestra regia majestate obnixe postulamus, quatenus, predicti fidelis servitii nostri intuitu ; A.D. I22O-1224.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 91 cartem vestram. AEd. filio et heredi nostro, sibi nominatim, et heredibus suis super terra Connactie tradere dignemini. Tantum in hoc negotio mostro si placet facturi quod nos et pre- dictus filius noster et tota gens nostra, ad obsequium vestrum et servitium contra omnes inimi- cos vestros, de cetero merito devotiores et animationes efficiamur. Ad hoc vestram digni- tatem attentius exoramus, quatenus, partem Connactie, Scilicet Ubrium et Conmacniet Caled; quam inimicus noster et inimici vestri germanus, videlicet, Willelmus de Lascy detinet; pro- fideli humagio quod vobis prestare desiderat predicto filio nostro tradatis. Et latoribus pre- sentium S. et F. nuntiis nostris fidelibus ex parte nostra fidem adhibere, et responsum vestrum per eosdem nobis significare dignemini : Valete.” Summary in English :- “To his very dear Lord, Henry, King of England, Lord of Ireland, &c., Kathal, King of Connaught, sends greeting. He believes that Henry has heard through faithful counsellors of himself and his father, K. John, that Kathal had never failed in his fidelity, nor will he ever. He possesses a charter of Connaught from K. John to himself, to his heirs, and to his son and heir Aedh (Hugh), and for the latter he solicits a similar charter from Henry. This would render his son and his people more zealous for the K.’s interest, and he urges his request as Will. de Lacy, brother of the K.’s enemy, holds Ubrium, Conmacni, and Caled in Connaught, which Kathal desires for his son, who was ready to do homage for them. He prays an answer through his messengers, S. & F.,” &c. Both of these letters, in which the kingly plural number is used by Cathal, are distinct proofs that he had never relinquished his kingdom of Con- naught, and that in treating with Henry he treated as a king, and was so regarded and acknowledged by the English monarch. The request contained in his last letter appears also to have been granted ; as in June, I224, a mandate was issued to the justiciary “to cause Aedh" (Hugh), son of the King of Connaught, to have for his maintenance Obrun, Conmacin, and Caled, which William de Lacy, the king's enemy, held in Ireland.” Cathal Crovedearg did not long survive the writing of these letters; he died in the same year, I224. A description of his death, and of the portents which accompanied it, is given in the following terms by the annalists”:— “An awful and strange shower fell this year in Connaught, extending over Hy-Many Sodain, Hy-Diarmeda, and other districts, followed by terrible diseases and distempers among the cattle that grazed on the lands where this shower fell, and their milk produced extra- ordinary internal diseases in the persons who drank it. It was no wonder that these ominous signs should appear this year in Connaught, for great was the evil and affliction which was suffered this year, namely, the death of Cathal Crovedearg O'Conor, son of Turlough Mor, * The Irish name Aedh, translated into English as Hugh, is often found entered in documents of this early date as “Odo,” “Od,” and even “O.” In this very mandate, as Cathal is abbreviated into A, so is “Odo?’ to “O.” * Close, 8 Henry III., p. 1, m. 3. ° Annals of the Four Masters, 1224. 92 * THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. VII. King of Connaught—a man who, of all others, had destroyed most of the rebels and enemies of Ireland. He who most relieved the wants of the clergy, the poor, and the destitute; he who, of all the Irish nobility that existed in his time, had received from God most goodness and greatest virtues, for he kept himself content with one married wife, and from the period of her death till his own led a single and virtuous life. During his time tithes were first collected in Ireland. This just and upright king, this discreet prince, and justly judging hero, died on the 28th day of the summer, on a Monday, in the habit of a grey friar, in the monastery of Knockmoy,” which he himself had dedicated to God and granted to the monks, and in which he was interred with due honours and solemnity. He was born at the port of Lough Mask, and was nurtured and educated in Hy-Diarmeda with O’Concannon.” Such is the account given in the Annals of the Four Masters of the death of Cathal Crovedearg ; but according to the Annals of Cloonmacnoise, he died at Braycall, in the county Roscommon, near the river Suck. This prince, of whom his countrymen were so proud, and to whom such praise is accorded by the native historians, was undoubtedly a most remarkable man, and endowed with great genius, both in the arts of peace and war.” His benefactions to the Church were most numerous. In I 189 he founded the Abbey of Knockmoy in the county of Galway, and in the year of his death he founded another Abbey at Athlone, the Monastery of St. Francis on the east bank of the Shannon. The Abbey of Ballintober in Mayo, of which we give an engraving, stands to the present day as a lasting monument of his munificence, and is still used for weekly divine service, being the only pre-Reformation church in Ireland which has never been forsaken by the people. Cathal Crovedearg married Mor, the daughter of O’Brien, King of Munster. She died in 1217. By her he had several sons, more than one of whom subse- quently succeeded to the throne of Connaught. During his lifetime his eldest son Hugh was a distinguished chieftain and warrior, and on his death, he immediately succeeded to the Sovereignty. *The Abbey of Knockmoy was built by Cathal Crovedearg on the spot where, in 1189, he had gained a great victory over the English. It was called the Abbey “De Colle Victoriae.” O’Donovan disputes this latter statement. See Note to Annals of the Four Masters, p. 194. *The author of Cambrensis Fzersus thus refers to him (Vol. III., p. 309):—“Cathal of the Red Hand, King of Connaught, must not be passed over in silence. Gaspar Tongilinus styles him ‘the intrepid defender of his country and her laws, the terror of his enemies, the patron of the clergy, the protector of the poor, and distinguished above all his contemporaries for his virtues.’ He erected in a short time twelve great monasteries, and endowed them with large properties.” | W. - | | | | | | | | Nº º *= º A BBEY OF º | s -- - º BALLINTUBBER, G0, MAY 0. TºT I | | | | C H A P T E R V III. O-ºſ Rºc- A.D. I.224–I233. HUGH, SON OF CATHAL CROVEDEARG. (1224–1228.) jºkHE succession of the son of Cathal Crovedearg to the throne of his º º father was not left long undisputed. His first cousins, Turlough śl tº and Hugh, the sons of the last monarch, Roderic, aided by * O'Neill and M'Geraghty, soon rose in rebellion. The latter chieftain, Donough M“Geraghty, who was one of the principal lords of Connaught, had been deposed a short time previously by Hugh O'Conor. In consequence of this, he entertained the bitterest feelings of animosity against him, and persuaded O’Neill to join the sons of Roderic. A sanguinary war immediately broke out, and O'Flaherty of West Connaught, smarting under the injuries inflicted on him during the late reign, joined the malcontents, upon which the desertion of Hugh O'Conor's followers became general; M“Dermot and O'Flynn, of all the chieftains of Connaught, alone adhering to his standard. O'Neill, who was still regarded by many of the Irish as their superior lord and monarch, lost no time in prosecuting the war. In the year 1225, he marched into the very heart of the Sil Murray, the territory of the O'Conors, and having plundered it, proceeded to Carnfree, where he triumphantly inaugurated Turlough, Son of Roderic, as king. Hugh O'Conor, finding himself deserted by the great mass of his subjects, and unable to meet the forces brought together against him, retired to Athlone, whence he despatched envoys to some of the other Irish princes, and craved their support. His appeal was not fruitless. After some time, he was joined by O'Brien and O’Melachlin, and having enlisted a number of the English in his service, he determined to make an attempt to regain his authority, and marched suddenly into Connaught. 94 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. VIII. Unprepared for this sudden attack, some of his opponents fled to Leyney in the county of Sligo, and to Tyrawly in Mayo, whilst the sons of Roderic with- drew to Kilkelly, where they got ready to defend themselves. Hugh, with the English in his pay, pursued them to Meelick, in the barony of Gallen, and county of Mayo, and then devastated Leyney, where he compelled the chief- tain of that district, O'Hara, to submit to him, upon which the sons of Roderic and their followers separated, some joining O'Flaherty, and some submitting to Hugh O'Conor, who had meanwhile proceeded to Tyrawly. Whilst these events were taking place in the northern part of Connaught, O’Brien and the English mercenaries from Munster, were devastating the southern part of that kingdom, much to the dissatisfaction of Hugh, who, now that his enemies had submitted, was very desirous to get rid of his allies. To accomplish this was not so very easy, as the troops from the south were determined not to leave the country without securing for themselves a large share of plunder. “Woeful,” say the annalists, “were the misfortunes which God permitted to fall upon the best province in Ireland at that time, for the young women did not spare each other, but preyed and plundered each other to the utmost. Women and children, the feeble, and the lonely poor, perished of cold and famine in that war.” O'Flaherty, finding that further resistance was useless, at length sued for peace, and an arrangement was agreed upon between him and Hugh O'Conor at Tuam, after which Hugh dismissed the English who had been in his service, giving hostages to them for the payment of their wages. The peace thus hurriedly concluded lasted no longer than the power to enforce it was apparent. As soon as the English and the other allies of the King of Connaught departed, O'Flaherty again revolted, and raised the standard of the sons of Roderic. The English justiciary, hearing of this revolt, at once sent an army under the command of William Grace to oppose O'Flaherty in south-west Connaught, whilst Hugh O'Conor himself attacked the sons of Roderic in the north. Success for a time favoured O'Flaherty, who completely defeated the English, and drove them eastwards towards Athlone; but Hugh O'Conor, having broken up the combination in the north, turned his attention to the south, defeated O'Flaherty, and compelled him to give hostages for his future good behaviour, and for the preservation of peace. And “this,” according to the annalists, “was a necessary rest, for there was not a church or a hosting in Connaught which had not been plundered and devastated.” * A.D. 1224–1226.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 95 After this war Hugh O'Conor's authority in Connaught was completely re-established, and peace for a short time restored. The wants of the English exchequer very soon disturbed this tranquillity. The bribe offered by Richard de Burgh, for a recognition of his claim to Connaught was not without its effect, and, as a larger subsidy was apparently to be obtained from him than what the King of Connaught was willing to grant, it was determined to deprive the latter of his kingdom. A mandate was accordingly issued to Geoffrey de Marisco, the justiciary, on 3oth June, 1226, directing him to summon Odo (Hugh), King of Con- naught, before the king's court, that he might “surrender the land of Connaught, which he ought no longer to hold, on account of his father's and his own forfeiture;” and further directing that “if he do not surrender” the kingdom, the justiciary shall inquire into the truth of the forfeiture, and, “if it be proved,” take the country into the king's possession." At the very same time, and without waiting for any proof of forfeiture, another order was issued to the same functionary, directing him to hand the territory over to De Burgh, “to hold of the K. at a rent of 300 marks, for the first five years, and 500 marks subsequently; five of the best cantreds” nearest to the castle of Athlone, to be retained for the K.” In the following month, July, I226, the justiciary was further ordered that “when Richard de Burgh shall have obtained seizin of the land of Connaught by judgment of the king's court in Ireland, the justiciary cause Richard to have forty-six days for rendering the service due to the king in Ireland to aid him in fortifying that land.” These directions of the King of England were not so easily carried out. * Windsor (Pt. Io, Henry III., m. 4). * * “Cantred.” The extent of land in a cantred is uncertain. Sir James Ware, in his Antiquities of Ireland, Vol. II., p. 30, quotes the following from a MS. written about the beginning of the reign of Edward I., and preserved in the library of Archbishop Usher:— “A cantred contains thirty townlands. Every townland can pasture 300 cows, and if the cows be divided into four herds, none of the herds shall come near the others. Every townland contains eight plowlands. Munster contains 70 cantreds ; Leinster, 31 ; Connaught, 30; Ulster, 35, and Meath, 18; in all 184 cantreds.” Cambrensis states : “A cantred is such portion of land as usually contains IOO towns.” “So that,” says Ware, “the quantity of a cantred, which is the same with the Saxon ‘hundred,” is not ascertained by any fixed measure. And as the quantity of a cantred is variable and uncertain, so also is the quantity of a caracute, or plowland, which is greater or less according to the quality of the soil, though it is commonly reputed to be such portion of land as can give employment to one plow through the year.” * Windsor (Pt. Io, Henry III, m. 3). * Close, Henry III., m. Io. º 96 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. VIII. The King of Connaught naturally declined, in this easy way, to surrender his dominions, and in August, I226, the justiciary informed the King of England that “the King of Connaught, at the instigation of William Crassus," has become heedless of the K.’s mandates. The justiciary summoned him to come to Dublin with, and under the safe-conduct of, William de Lacy. As the king did not come, the justiciary appointed a day for him at the K.’s castle of Athlone, which is on the confines of the king's territory, and is forti- fied with men and provisions against the K. If he does not come thither, the justiciary will proceed to carry out against him such orders as the king may give.” This latter alternative, of meeting the English representative at Athlone, Hugh O'Conor does not appear to have accepted, but in the following year, 1227, he consented to attend a council in Dublin, when the Anglo-Norman barons treacherously attempted to make him a prisoner.” To this treachery the viceroy, De Marisco, was no party. Having received some intimation of the intended attempt, he most honourably gave Hugh timely notice of it, and thus enabled him to defeat the project, and to make his escape. The King of Connaught at once returned to his own country, assembled his forces, attacked the English at Athlone, defeated them, and took many prisoners, some of whom he subsequently exchanged for his hostages, then in the hands of his opponents.” This complete rupture between the King of Connaught and the English was immediately followed by the execution of the grant of Connaught to Richard de Burgh. Henry, by royal charter, dated 21st May, I227, granted to Richard de Burgh “all the land of Connaught” which the King Oethos (Hugh) had forfeited, reserving “the rents mentioned above;” “five of the best cantreds near Athlone,” and “ episcopal investitures.” This decree of the English monarch appears to have troubled the King of Connaught very little. Henry had no power to enforce it ; and, for the time at least, it was regarded merely as an idle threat. The provincial king was just then far more troubled by domestic dissensions. The sons of Roderic O'Conor were again in arms against him, and seized his wife Rainault," or Reginalda, who was daughter of * William Crassus. William Grace, who, as before mentioned, had been sent by the justiciary to assist the King of Connaught. * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1227. It is there stated that William Mareschal assisted Hugh O'Conor to escape, and escorted him to Connaught. * Annals of the Four Masſers, A. D. 1227. Hugh O'Conor's son and daughter were hostages with the English. * Irish Synchronisms. Ashburnham Collection. A.D. I226–1229.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 97 Auley O'Ferrall, and delivered her a prisoner to De Burgh. Probably at the same time, Hugh's daughter also fell into the hands of the Anglo-Norman baron, who, struck by her beauty,” determined to make her his wife, and, by marrying her, established a new claim to the succession of Connaught. Shortly after the capture of his wife, Hugh became reconciled with Geoffrey de Marisco, the justiciary, who had acted such a friendly part on a former occasion, and in I228 accepted an invitation to pay him a visit, which turned out most unfortunately for the King of Connaught, who met his death under the following circumstances, as narrated in the Annals of Cloonmac- ŽO2S62 – “In 1228 Hugh O'Conor came to an atonement with Geoffrey March (De Marisco), Lord Deputy of Ireland, and was again recognised as King of Connaught, and, being afterwards in the deputies house, he was treacherously killed by an Englishman, for which cause the deputy the next day hanged the Englishman that killed him for that fowle fact. The cause of killing the King of Connaught was, that after the wife of that Englishman (that was hanged by the deputie) had so washed his head and body with sweet balls and other things, he, to gratifie her for her service, kissed her, which the Englishman seeing, for mere jealousie, and for none other cause, killed the King of Connaught presently unawares.” During Hugh's reign, in the year 1227, the castle of Athleague was built by the justiciary; and, about the same time, was also built the castle of Randown, or St. John's, near Athlone. HUGH, SON OF RODERIC O'CONOR, A.D. 1228-1233. Upon the death of Hugh, the son of Cathal Crovedearg, a war broke out in Connaught between the two sons of Roderic. They, who had been united before in disputing the sovereignty with the late king, now with equal fierce- ness struggled for it between themselves. The choice of the chieftains ultimately fell upon the younger son, Hugh, who, in preference to his elder brother, Turlough, assumed the sovereignty. The country over which he thus became king was then in a deplorable condition. Excessive famine prevailed in consequence of the protracted wars. The churches and country were plundered, the clergy and learned men were exiled, and the people perished of cold and famine.” Little respite was given for the recovery of prosperity. Hugh had scarcely been two years on the * Hardiman's West Connaught, p. 39. * Annals of Cloonmacnoise, M*Geoghegan's translation. * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1228. 98 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. VIII. throne when O’Donnell marched his forces against him, and laid waste a great part of Connaught. On the other hand, the English, who had at first favoured his election, now turned against him. Richard de Burgh, to whom Henry had granted a charter of the land of Connaught, and who, meanwhile, had been appointed justiciary of Ireland, in succession to Geoffrey de Marisco, alter- nately played one chieftain of the O'Conor sept against another; first supporting Hugh, the son of Roderic, and subsequently Felim, son of Cathal Crovedearg. In 1229 the advisers of the English king, whose object seems to have been to get as much money as possible out of Ireland, had the meanness to propose to the justiciary that a money payment should be asked for the release of the wife of the late King of Connaught, who was still in the hands of the English. This appears from the following order, issued to the justiciary from Daventry, in the name of the king, and dated 3rd June, 1229:—“If it be to the honour and advantage of the K. to take a ransom from Iwinia,' who was wife of the K. of Connaught, for her release from prison, to take it; but if not, that he suffer her to go free.” This ransom was probably never exacted, as De Burgh's wife was the daughter of the imprisoned queen, and it is scarcely likely that he would have advised that it would be to the honour of the king to have taken it. Shortly after De Burgh joined with the opponents of Hugh, the son of Roderic, expelled him from Connaught, and invited Felim, the brother of the late king, and son of Cathal Crovedearg, to take his place. Felim was accordingly proclaimed king in 1230,” and a treaty was entered into with him, and guarantees given securing him in his dominions. This treaty had not long a binding effect, and the guarantees turned out to be worthless. In the following year, De Burgh, finding that the succession of Felim to the throne did not answer the purpose which he intended, declared war against him, took him prisoner to Meelick," and treated him so badly that the King of England had to interfere. In August, 1232, Henry wrote as follows:– “The king is informed that Richard de Burgh, justiciary of Ireland, seized Feidhlim, son of a former King of Connaught, imprisoned and treated him grievously and shamefully. * Iwinia. The name is given in the Irish records as “Rainault,” or “Reginalda.” * Close, Hen. III., m. 9. * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1230. * In the Annals of the Four Masters this is entered as if Felim was taken prisoner at Meelick; but as Meelick was De Burgh's castle, it is more probable that Felim was conducted there as a prisoner. * A.D. I229–1233.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 99 Mandate to the justiciary to release Feidhlim on his finding sureties to abide any charge that may be made against him ; and to certify to the K. for what cause he imprisoned Feidhlim.”” - Richard de Burgh, not having attended to this mandate, was removed from the position of justiciary or viceroy, and Maurice Fitzgerald was appointed to succeed him. He was instructed on 4th May, 1233*—Felim meanwhile having been set at liberty—that “if Richard de Burgh will not surrender the castle of Miloc (Meelick), and the prisoners of Connaught, the justiciary shall labour to recover them, and that he take the land of Connaught into the K.’s hand, and by his bailiffs keep it for the K.’s use. It is his will that the justiciary strive to subject the whole of Connaught to the K., and to establish peace in Ireland as well as in Connaught.” Ten days later, on the 6th May, a mandate was issued to Richard de Burgh “to deliver to Maurice Fitzgerald, justiciary of Ireland, the castle of Miloc in Connaught, and the K.’s prisons. If he does not deliver the castle and the prisons, he shall answer for the cost incurred by the K. in recovering them.”4 Not satisfied with this, Henry directed Felim himself to take the castle of Meelick from De Burgh. Writing to the justiciary on 28th May, he says:–“Our well-beloved and faithful F(elim), son of a late revered King of Connaught, has signified that he proposes to come to England to see us, and to confer with us on his and our affairs; and we have replied that ere he comes he should strive to take the castle of Miloc, which is in the hands of De Burgh ; and that having taken it, and delivered it to you, and Connaught being quieted, it is our pleasure that he should come.” § The justiciary was ordered to give him safe-conduct, &c., &c. * Felim, however, had other enemies to deal with in Connaught besides * Close, 16 Hen. III., m. 5. * According to the Annals of the Four Masters, Felim was set at liberty before this in 1232. * Close, Hen. III., m. Io, dors. * Pat. 17 Hen. III., m. Io. * This direction to the justiciary is given in Rymer’s Faedera, Vol. I., p. 209. The full text is as follows:— A D. I233. Rex dilecto & fideli suo Mauritio filio Gerardi, justiciario suo Hiberniae, An. 17 Hen. III. salutem. Pat. 17 Hen. III. Significavit nobis dilectus & fidelis noster F. filius carissimi quondam Regis Im. 4, n. I2, Connac, quod proposuit ad nos venire in Angliam, causã nos videndi, & nobiscum in Turr. Lond, J loquendi de negotiis nostris & suis. Et nos renunciavimus ei, quod, ante adventum suum, laboret, de consilio vestro, ad captionem castri de Miloc' quod est in manu R. de Burg’ & cum dictum castrum captum ſuerit, et vobis commissum, 100 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. VIII. De Burgh. During his imprisonment, his rival Hugh had been restored to the throne, with the assistance of De Burgh, and was now the recognised king. Against him he determined first to proceed ; and having collected as large a force as he was able to muster, and being joined by MºDermott and other chiefs, he went in pursuit of the King of Connaught. The rival Irish armies met in the “Tuathas,” near the river Shannon, and a battle ensued, in which Hugh and his brother, and many supporters, were slain ; and, to use the words of the annalists, “from that day the kingdom and government of Connaught were taken from the descendants of Roderic; and Felim, son of Cathal Crovedearg, assumed the sovereignty.”” “The descendants of Roderic’’ are often mentioned later on as attempting to regain the power which once belonged to their ancestor; but after this date, none of them ever succeeded in holding the kingdom of Connaught for any considerable time; and with the death of Brien, son of Turlough, who died in the monastery of Knockmoy in 1267, their race appears to have become extinct. et terra Connac' sedata, et vobis fuit liberata, bené placet nobis, et volumus quod ad nos veniat in Angliam, simul cum nunciis vestris quos ad nos mittetis in Angliam. Hiis igitur, ut praedictum est, expeditis, salvum et securum conductum praeſato F. habere faciatis, causá veniendi ad nos in Angliam, in cujus etiam adventu nuncios vestros cum eo mittatis, viros, vide- licet, discretos, qui de statu terrae nostrae Hiberniae nos sciant et velint certificare. Teste me-ipso, apud Teokesbir’ vicesimo octavo die Maii, anno regni nostri decimo septimo.— Rymer’s Faedera, Vol. I., p. 209. iº * “The Tuathas ” was that part of the present county Roscommon extending from the northern part of Lough Ree to Jamestown, from Jamestown to Elphin, and thence back to Lough Ree.— O’Donovan. * Ammals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1233. C H A P T E R IX. O-º-O- A.D. I233–I 274. RORY, SON OF HUGH, SON OF CATHAL CROVEDEARG. ~ HºORY, or Roderic, who was the eldest son of Hugh, and grand- i 2ND § son of Cathal Crovedearg, was never king or chief of the Irish in 2 Connaught. His uncle, Felim, succeeded to the sovereignty in 1233, and Rory, who was regarded as his heir presumptive, was accidentally drowned in the Shannon during Felim's reign. This accident occurred near Ballyleague in the year 1244, and the annalists say that Rory “was buried with great veneration and honour in the Abbey of Cloontuskert.” He left several sons, and is mentioned here because, through his eldest son Owen, who was afterwards King of Connaught, the descent of the O'Conors is traced. FELIM, SON OF CATHAL CROWEDEARG. (A.D. I233–1265.) Felim, the son of Cathal Crovedearg, as appears from the impression of his royal seal, which we place at the head of this chapter, undoubtedly claimed to be King of Connaught, and was one of the most powerful princes who reigned there after the English invasion. The history of his exploits as a warrior occupies many pages of the Annals. As before mentioned, he was first recognised as ruler in 1230, was deposed in 1232, and again resumed authority on the death of Hugh in 1233. 102 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. IX One of his first acts after the defeat and death of his rival was to destroy the castles of Galway, Castlekirke, Castlenacally, and Donamon," which had been erected in his territory by his opponents. This roused the indignation of the English king. A reconciliation with De Burgh was immediately effected, a “safe-conduct” was issued to him and his men “while coming to confer with the king in England, remaining and returning,” “ and “a grant that the castle of Miloc remain until the Octave of St. John in the same state and tenancy.” “ De Burgh was also informed that he might come with confidence to the king, and that justice would not be denied to him.” In September, 1234, “all his land in Connaught which he had of the king's gift,” was formally restored to De Burgh; and the justiciary was directed to give him “such seizen thereof as he had when the king ordered him to be dis- seized.” Subsequently, in October of the same year, a patent was issued and addressed to the justiciary, with a letter notifying that “Richard de Burgh has made a fine with the king of 3,000 marks, to have such seizen of the land of Connaught as he had when the king disseized him, to have and to hold in fee rendering yearly to the king 500 marks and 20 knights' service, saving the five cantreds and ecclesiastical investitures.” " The result of this new policy of the King of England soon became visible. Richard de Burgh and Maurice Fitzgerald the justiciary, with Hugh de Lacy Earl of Ulster, Walter Riddlesford, John Cogan, and the English of Leinster and Munster, crossed the Shannon at Athlone, and proceeded to Roscommon, which they burned. Thence they went to Elphin, where they burned the great church, and thence to the monastery of Boyle. “Here a party of their soldiers attacked the monastery, broke open the sacristy, and robbed from it chalices, vestments, and other precious articles.” Subsequently, after various encounters with Felim, they “made peace with him, not being able to bring him into subjection, or to obtain any hostages; but they left Connaught bare of food, raiment, and cattle ; and depriving the inhabitants of peace and happiness, left them nothing but discord and slaughter.”” These events occurred in 1235; and in the following year the justiciary summoned a council at Ath-feorainne,” which Felim was invited to attend This invitation was issued with a treacherous design, of which Felim was * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1233. Castlenacally, or the hag's castle, was situated on Lough Mask. The castle of Donamon had been erected only the year before. * The safe-conduct was dated March, 1234. * Pat. 18 Hen. III., m. 16. * Close, 18 Hen. III., m. 91. * Close, Hen. III., m. 5. * Pat. 18 Hen. III., m. 3. ' Annals of the Four Masters, 1235. * Ath-feorainne, situate on the river Suck, in the parish of Taghboy, and barony of Athlone, A.D. 1233–1242.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 103 ignorant, and, unconscious of the dangers which awaited him, he attended the conference; but having proceeded there, he received, in time, a friendly warn- ing, which enabled him to escape safely to Roscommon. Thither he was pur- sued and driven as far as Sligo, whence he fled to O'Donnel for protection. Upon this Connaught again became the scene of civil commotion. ‘Brien the son of Turlough, and grandson of Roderic O'Conor, was set up as king by the justiciary in opposition to Felim, who, having been joined by O'Kelly and others, returned to Connaught, and marched to Rinn Duin," where Brien was encamped, and a battle ensued, in which Brien was defeated. The defeat of Brien having been made known to Richard de Burgh, he took the field at once, marched into the territory of the King of Connaught, and laid waste the country as far as Tuam and “Mayo of the Saxons.” Meanwhile Felim, having been joined by O'Reilly and MºRannell, crossed the Curlieu mountains northward, and prepared to give battle to the English and the Sons of Roderic, at a place called Drum Raide. Foreseeing the advantage of a hand-to-hand fight, Felim directed his men to lose no time in discharging arrows, but to engage the enemy at once at close quarters. His directions were carried out, and the result was a complete victory; the English, and the other supporters of the sons of Roderic, being driven back and defeated with great loss. After this the justiciary abandoned Brien to his fate, and made peace with Felim, giving to him what were known as the five cantreds, or districts of land, appertaining to the king, free of tribute for ever. Having made peace with Felim, the justiciary was directed by the King of England to erect and fortify two other castles in Connaught, in addition to the three already built there, and representatives of the king were sent to Ireland to determine what other steps should be taken to strengthen his authority in the land.” In Connaught that authority was then merely nominal, and varied according as it served the purposes of Felim on the one side, and De Burgh on the other, to obtain the sanction of the King of England for any of their enterprises. In 1242 Felim, being on friendly terms with the English, marched an army, in conjunction with them, into Tirconnell, in pursuit of Teige O'Conor, whom he made prisoner. This Teige was his nephew, being the son of Hugh, Felim's eldest brother, and formerly King of Connaught. He was committed to the custody of O’Reilly, and was liberated a year later, but was shortly after seized by another O'Reilly, and first blinded, and then * Also called Randown, near Athlone. *Close, 21 Hen. III., m. 22, and Close, 22 Hen, III, m, 9. 104 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. IX. hanged.1 Felim, notwithstanding his previous quarrel with his relative, could not put up with this outrage, and declared war on O'Reilly. During the progress of this war the soldiers and followers of Felim encamped one night at the Abbey of Fenagh, in Leitrim, when the following events, as recorded in the quaint language of the Annals, occurred :— “The abbot was not at home on that night, and a party of the soldiers, the church of Fenagh being unroofed, without the permission of their leaders, burned the tents and huts that were erected inside, and smothered the alumnus of the abbot. The abbot came himself the next day, being very much enraged and incensed at the death of his alumnus, and demanded his ‘eric' from O'Conor, who answered that he would grant him his own demand. ‘My demand,’ said the abbot, “is that the best man among you be given as an eric for my alumnus.’ ‘That person,’ said O'Conor, “is Manus, son of Murtough Muimneach.” “I am not, indeed,” replied Manus, “but the chief commander is.’ “I shall not part with you,” said the abbot, ‘till the eric is paid.’ The party after that marched out of the town, and proceeded to cross the river Geiretheach, but the flood was so great they could not cross it, and in order to pass over, they broke open the chapel house of St. John the Baptist, which was adjacent to the ford, and placed the timber across the river. While Manus, son of Murtough, was giving directions to a man who was stripping the roof, a beam fell on his head, which smashed it and killed him on the spot. He was buried on the outside of the church of Fenagh, and three times the full of the king's bell of money was given as an offering for his soul, and also thirty steeds, and thus it was that the comarb of St. Cuillen obtained an eric for his alumnus. A monument of cut stone and a handsome carved cross were raised over the body of Manus; but after some time they were broken by the people of O'Rourke.” About this time Felim, being still harassed by De Burgh, determined to wait upon the King of England, and to make known his grievances in person. Letters of safe-conduct” were granted to him, dated I3th December, 1243, and shortly after he started for England. He was most warmly received, with all the honours due to him as King of Connaught, and returned safely home, well satisfied with his interview. “So successfully did Felim plead his cause, and expose the injustice of De Burgh, that the king wrote to Maurice Fitzgerald, then Lord Deputy, desiring him that he should pluck up by the root that fruitless sycamore, De Burgh, which the Earl of Kent, in the insolence of his power, had planted in those parts, nor suffer it to pullulate or bud forth any longer.” The king also wrote to the nobility of Ireland that they should - * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1244. * A.D. 1243. Fedlimus Ocancanir, filius Regis Conactiae, qui venturus est in Angliam ad loquendum cum rege, habet litteras de conductu, duraturas a Natale Domini anno, &c., xxviii usque in unum annum completum. (Pat. 28 Hen. III., m. 13, in Turr. Lond.) Rymer's Faedera, Vol. I., p. 254. * This extract is given by O’Donovan in his MS. as taken from Rymer. The quotation may also be found in Cox's History of Ireland, but under the year 1235, which is clearly a mistake. A.D. I.243–1245.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 105 banish the said De Burgh, and establish the King of Connaught in his kingdom. Notwithstanding this expression of the King of England's wish, no really effective steps were taken to carry out his orders, the fact being that neither Henry nor his vassals in Ireland had the power to molest De Burgh ; and the fruitless sycamore sent its roots so deeply into the Soil of Connaught, and pullulated so widely over the entire province, that when it became the policy of the Government to tear it up by the roots, it was found impossible to do so. Henry being about to march against the King of the Scots, in 1244, appealed for assistance to his Irish subjects and the native tributary kings, with whom he was then in amity. On the 7th July of that year, he issued a proclamation addressed to “Donald, King of Tirconnell,” “Felim, son of the late king (of Connaught),” O’Reilly, and others, urging them to join with the justiciary, and “in person and with forces,” to attach themselves to the king's army, which was about to start for Scotland.” For their protection, letters of safe-conduct were granted, and, amongst others, to Felim O'Conor,” who is styled “King of Connaught.” It does not appear that Felim, or the other Irish kings or magnates, responded favourably to this appeal ; but another opportunity was soon afforded for testing their friendliness. In 1245 King Henry, finding himself involved in difficulties with Llewellyn, King of Wales, over whom he claimed feudal superiority, again sought Irish aid, and wrote a letter to the justiciary and Irish magnates asking their assistance.” On this occasion his appeal was not unheeded. Felim, calling his army together, joined the justiciary, and set sail for Wales. A letter, written at the time by a nobleman at King Henry's court,” gives the following interesting account of the state of the English army previous to the arrival of their Irish allies:— ‘‘The king with his army lyeth at Gannock fortifying that strong castle, and we live in our tents thereby, watching, praying, and freezing with cold. We watch for fear of the Welchmen, who are wont to come upon us in the night-time; we fast for want of meat, for * Richard de Burgh, commonly called “the great Richard,” died in France in this year, and was succeeded by his son, also named Richard. * Rymer's Faedera, Vol. I., p. 256. Calendar of State Papers. * “Fethel rex Comatiae habet litteras de protectione duraturas usque ad proximum adventum Regis in Hibernia. Teste Rege apud Gounack in castris, vicesimo primo die Octobris, 1244.—Rymer's Aſadera, Vol. I., p. 257. “This letter is preserved in Rymer, and is addressed to the justiciary. It will be found in Rymer's Federa, last edition, Vol. I., p. 258. * This letter given in O’Donovan MS. is stated to be taken from Rymer and Matthew Paris. P 106 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. IX. the halfpenny loaf is worth fivepence ; we pray to God to send us home speedily; we starve with cold, wanting our winter garments, having no more than a thin linen cloth between us and the wind. There is an arm of the sea under the castle where we lie, whereto the tide cometh, and many ships come up to the haven, which bring victuals to the camp from Ireland and Chester.” “All this time,” says Matthew Paris, “the king was looking out im- patiently for his Irish forces. At length their sails were descried, the fleet reached the shore, and Maurice Fitzgerald and the King of Connaught pre- sented themselves in battle array before the king.” The war in Wales having terminated, O'Conor and Maurice Fitzgerald returned to Ireland, and in the following year, 1246, Fitzgerald collected a large force, and marched into Tirconnell, where he attacked O'Donnell, defeated him, and gave half of the principality to Cormac, son of Dermod, and grandson of Roderic O'Conor, and took hostages from O'Donnell for the other half. O'Donnell was not allowed to remain long in quiet possession even of this half. In 1247 the justiciary again marched into Tirconnell, and, on this occasion, ended the war by the death of O'Donnell, and then handed over the government of the territory to O’Kane, another chieftain. In the same year Turlough, son of Hugh, and nephew of Felim, escaped from prison, and attacked the English in Connaught, and having collected together the sons of the chiefs of Connaught, marched through the country, seizing and destroying all the property of the English on which he could lay hands, whilst they, on the other hand, burned Ardcarne and Roscommon. Taking advantage of these disturbances, Richard de Burgh, or, as he was designated by the Irish chroniclers, M*William Burke, approached the King of England, and prayed that the custody of Connaught might be con- fided to him, “as well for the K.’s benefit as for his own ;” and a mandate was issued to the justiciary that this prayer should be granted, if such could be done “without disadvantage to the K.” The year 1248 opened with more troubles in Connaught. The English Settlers and the Irish natives had recourse to arms against each other, and Felim, in 1249, defeated the English at an engagement near Sligo, in which the English leaders, Piers Poer and David Drew, were slain.” After this, the son of Felim proceeded to Tyreragh, and through the territory of Birmingham, which he overran from the Moy to Ballisodare. As Soon as the knowledge of this attack on his countrymen reached the ears of * Mandate dated September, 1247. Close, Hen. III., m, 3. *Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1249. A.D. I245–1256.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 107 Fitzgerald, he collected his forces, and entered Connaught. Felim, not being ready to meet him in the field, sent all his movable property across the Shannon to Breifny and to the north, and retired thither himself, whereupon the English ravaged Connaught, and set up Turlough, Son of Hugh, as king in his place." Felim, however, was not long absent. In the following year, 1250, he set out with a large force from Tyrone, and marched to Breifny, and thence into Roscommon, whence he expelled his rival Turlough, and shortly after made peace with the English, on his being again recognised as King of Connaught.” Between this and the year 1255 Henry tried to reassert his authority in Connaught, and claimed the right of disposing of its lands and dignities. In 1252 he ordered a new coinage,” and withdrew what had been previously in circulation. In May, 1255, he issued a decree, announcing that he would not dispose of the lands of the King of Connaught to anyone “until further orders,” and, in July of the same year, he promised four cantreds to his cousin Stephen Longespee, “in case he would give for them as much as another.” Subsequently, in June, 1255, he granted “500 librates” of land in Connaught to Godfrey de Luzignac, and Felim, having remonstrated against this, he wrote to him on 29th July, 1255, informing him that he intended to do him no harm, and that some of Felim's own relatives acknowledged the king's right to these lands.” Felim's remonstrances were not, however, without effect. Henry, in 1256, withdrew the grant made to Godfrey, gave him in lieu thereof grants of land in England and in other parts of Ireland,” and an interview having taken place between the new justiciary, Allen de la Zouch, and Hugh, the son of Felim, the terms of an agreement were drawn up,' by which Felim undertook not to molest the English in their possessions, whilst, on the other hand, the integrity of the King of Connaught's territory was guaranteed by the justiciary. About the same time a reconciliation took place between Felim and De Burgh, *Annals of the Four Masters. * Zbia. 8 Ibad. * State Papers. Close, 37 Hen. III., m. II, dors. * “29th July, 1255. The K. to Feidhlim O'Cohonor. Has done him no injury by giving to Godfrey de Luzignac two cantreds of land in Conac. Some of Feidhlim's relatives, who would not derogate from his right, if any, to these lands, have offered the K. large sums of money for a grant of them. Edward, the K.’s eldest son and heir, and the said Godfrey, the K.’s brother, are shortly going to these parts. The K. has empowered them to provide that no injury arise to Feidhlim.” (Nottingham. Close, 39 Hen. III., m. 8. State Papers.) * State Papers. Chart, 41 Hen. III., m. 13, Windsor. " Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1256. 108 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. IX. and peace was made on terms most satisfactory to the former. In I257 the agreement between Hugh O'Conor and the justiciary was ratified at a confer- ence held in Athlone, between Felim himself and De la Zouch, and the grant by charter of the five cantreds of the king to Felim was renewed.” Peace being restored, the attention of the King of Connaught was directed to works of munificence and devotion. Amongst other such works he founded a monastery at Tumona, and another at Roscommon, for the friars of St. Dominic, and the church in connection with the latter, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, was, in 1257, consecrated by Tumultogh O'Conor, then Bishop of Elphin, and one of Felim's royal house.” The ruins of this ancient abbey, with the beautiful tomb of its founder, attest to the present day his munificence and power. Unfortunately for Connaught and Ireland, the blessings of peace were not of long duration. The treaty concluded between Felim and the English was in 1258 destined to meet a severe trial. O'Neill, whose ancestors had, for a long time before the English invasion, possessed the sovereignty of Ireland, now claimed his hereditary rights. Hugh O'Conor, the son of Felim, who had already distinguished himself in the field as an active warrior, joined the standard of O’Neill; and a conference was held near Newry, at which O'Brien, O'Conor, and O'Neill attended, and the sovereignty of Ireland was acknow- ledged as vesting in O'Neill, and hostages were given to him in pledge of this acknowledgment. Shortly after this, Hugh O'Conor proceeded to Derry Columbkille to espouse the daughter of Dugald M'Sorly, Lord of the Hebrides. The proclamation and recognition of O’Neill as sovereign of Ireland was of course a direct challenge to the English, and was intended as the com- mencement of a concerted movement amongst the Irish princes to regain independence for their country. As such it was taken up by the justiciary, who at once despatched troops against O’Neill. Hugh O'Conor immediately joined his recognised chief, and a battle was fought at Drumderg, near Downpatrick, in which the Irish were defeated, and O’Neill was killed. In this battle a great number of the Irish chieftains perished, but the death *Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1255. “A meeting took place between O'Conor and M*William, 1’eace was concluded between them, and all his conditions were granted to Felim.” * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1257. * Annals of Cloonmacnoise, A.D. 1257. This Tumultogh O'Conor was, in the following year, appointed Archbishop of Tuam, and went to Rome, where he was consecrated in the pope's palace, and received the pallium. A.D. 1257–1262.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 109 of O'Neill was the gravest blow the Irish cause had received, since the English Supremacy in the country had first been established. His head was sent as a trophy to London, to the King of England, and his loss was mourned as irreparable by his countrymen. “There is still extant,” says O'Donovan,” “a cotemporaneous Irish poem, composed by Gilbride M'Namee, in lamentation of Brien O’Neill and the other Irish chiefs who fell in this battle. In this poem, the bard remarks that the Irish fought at great disadvantage, being clad in satin shirts, whereas their adver- Saries were protected with coats of mail. He lauds the hospitality and laments the loss of O'Neill, King of Tara, and wails the misfortune of the Irish in losing him. He enumerates the chiefs who fell along with him, amongst whom he sets down Manus O'Cahan as the greatest loss after the king himself.” The success of the English at Drumderg emboldened them to attack the Irish chieftains who had joined O'Neill, and amongst those singled out for vengeance was O'Conor. M'William Burke, his old enemy and chief leader of the English in Connaught, was the first to attack the old King Felim, and proceeding against him, plundered the country until he reached Roscommon. Here he was met by Felim and his son Hugh, who had returned with his forces to Connaught after the disastrous defeat in the north. The Irish troops were sufficiently numerous and well-disciplined to make Burke feel that Success against them would be very doubtful, and changing his tactics, he offered to come to terms of peace with the King of Connaught, which offer being accepted, he returned to his own territory, without having accomplished the object of his expedition. Peace made under such conditions naturally was not lasting. Notwith- standing an appeal made by Felim” to the King of England in 1261—in which he sets out his own fidelity to his engagements, his grievances against the De Burghs, who had established themselves in the greater part of Galway and Mayo, and the promises made to him of restitution for the losses he had suffered—war again broke out. In 1262, De Burgh, joined by the justiciary, marched against Felim, who being unprepared to meet his adversaries openly in the field, retired to the north-west, towards Ballyshannon, whilst his *An ancient Irish MS. copy of this poem is in the possession of the writer of this memoir, and a literal translation of it into English may be found in the Transactions of the Celtic Society Miscellany for 1849, pp. 146-183. * Felim's letter, addressed by him as King of Connaught to the King of England, is preserved in the Tower of London. A facsimile of it is given in Gilbert's Irish MSS., Part II. It is also given in Rymer's Fadera, Vol. I., p. 240, but under a wrong date. See Appendix A. 110 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. IX. son Hugh withdrew into Mayo. The English advanced in two divisions. M‘William Burke, from the south-west, proceeded across the plains of Con- naught to Elphin, whilst the justiciary, Sir Richard de Rupella, and John de Verdon, came from Athlone to Roscommon. Scouting parties were sent out by them through the barony of Ballintobber, and the place for a castle was marked out at Roscommon. Meanwhile Hugh O'Conor was not inactive; he assembled his forces in the north-west of Mayo, and overran the country west of Bella and Mayo, driving out the English settlers wherever they were to be found. Subsequently he proceeded into southern Connaught, devastated the country of his enemy, Burke, and carried all before him from Tuam to Athlone. Finding their incursion into Connaught on the present occasion so unsuccessful, the English sent envoys to Felim and his son craving peace ; and shortly after, a conference was held, at which the terms of peace were agreed upon, but neither party gave hostages to the other. At the conclusion of this conference, Walter M*William Burke and Hugh O'Conor became thoroughly reconciled, passed a night together merrily and amicably, and as a proof of greater friendship, even slept together in the same bed." This intimate amity and forgetfulness of the wrongs which each had inflicted on the other was, however, merely assumed, and continued only so long as it suited the purposes of both parties. The very next year after this apparent reconciliation of O'Conor and M*William Burke, the latter marched an army as far as Roscommon to attack Felim and his son, and O'Conor's people were obliged to fly, carrying all their movable property with them. In retaliation for this invasion of his father's country, Hugh O'Conor, having secured the co-operation of O’Donnell, ravaged the whole territory of the De Burghs (known as the territory of Clanricarde) as far as the confines of Thomond, and the fortress of Galway. These mutual depredations were followed in 1264 by another conference, held in Athlone between Felim and his son on the one side, and the justiciary of Ireland, and Maurice Fitz- gerald, and the Earl of Ulster, on the other. To this conference the Irish king proceeded in such force and with such state that “the English were much perplexed and dismayed in mind at beholding the Irish forces, and at once sued for peace, which was granted by Felim, and the conditions of which were ratified before they separated.” * Hugh O'Conor and Walter M*William Burke were near relatives; the former being the grandson, the latter the great-grandson, of Cathal Crovedearg, * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1264. | º * º - º | | º | - º "| * | = | * | Tººl tº - - - - - | - | | | - | | | º --- - | | | | º - - º - lº - | | | "|Tº | º * | | * Tºmº-º-º: º | --- - - | | º | | | | - - - º: | | | º | lºº | - - *I'll º |º º - - | | | - == º º - º | - - º º - - | º | ºſ º!. º º | | T0 MB 0 F FELIM 0' 00 N 0 R. M. ABBEY OF ROS GONIMON. A.D. 1262–1265.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 111 Notwithstanding these conferences, and the sovereign rights of making peace and declaring war claimed and exercised by King Felim, it is evident that during his reign the De Burghs and other English settlers obtained a firm footing in Connaught, and that the Irish king's authority was really exercised only over the Irish chieftains and their followers. The greater part of the present county of Galway, and a considerable part of Mayo, were practically in possession of the English, whilst Felim's sway was recognised mainly in that part of Connaught which now forms the counties of Roscommon and Sligo. The year 1265 was memorable for the death of Felim, who had been for more than thirty-three years King of Connaught, and of whose character the Irish annalists have drawn a most brilliant picture in the following terms — “In the year 1265 Felim, son of Cathal Crovedearg O'Conor, King of Connaught, the defender and supporter of his own province, and of his friends on every side, the expeller of his foes—a man of hospitality, prowess, and renown—a patron of the religious orders, and of men of science—a worthy materies of a monarch of Ireland, on account of his nobility, per- sonal shape, heroism, wisdom, clemency, and truth—died, after the victory of unction and penance, in the Monastery of the Friars of St. Dominick at Roscommon, which he himself had dedicated to God, and granted to that order.” - Felim was interred within the walls of this abbey, and a beautiful monu- ment was erected to his memory, which remains even to the present day as a testimony of the taste and skill of the Irish of the thirteenth century. An engraving is given of this monument. - The engraving of Felim's royal seal, which is reproduced at the beginning of this chapter, is taken from one of the plates in Ware's Antiquities.” This seal, according to the account given of it by Wentworth Lord Strafford, was of silver, and was found in the earth in the county Galway, in the time of King Charles I., and was presented to that monarch by Sir Beverly Newcomen in the year 1634.” : HUGH, SOW OF FELIM O'CONOR, A.D. 1265–1274. Upon the death of Felim, his son Hugh immediately succeeded as King of Connaught, and at first the peace concluded before his father's death ap- pears to have been maintained. Hugh, like his father, recognised the English king as his superior lord. One of the rights claimed and exercised by the King of England in this capacity was that over ecclesiastical investitures, and * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1265. * Ware's Antiquities, by Harris, Vol. II., p. 68. * Strafford’s Zetters, Vol. II., pp. 50 and 267. 112 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. IX. the appointment of bishops. Shortly after his accession, in June, 1265, Hugh O'Conor, as King of Connaught, wrote to Henry, praying him “to give to the messenger of the Dean and Chapter of ‘Akadensis’ (Achonry), the Royal license and assent to the election of a bishop in their church,” in which a vacancy had occurred." Shortly before, the king's right to this prerogative had been recognised by Felim in the case of the see of Elphin, for which there were two rival candidates, Milo O'Conor, and Thomas, Abbot of Boyle, and many conflicting and contradictory representations were made as to the validity of each election. The dispute in this case was settled by the death of Milo, when Thomas's appointment was sanctioned.” This recognition of certain sovereign rights on the part of the King of England did not prevent the Irish king from claiming and exercising the rights of a subordinate sovereign in his own territory; and although some writers have asserted that Felim O'Conor was the last recognised King of Connaught,” there can be no doubt that Hugh, as well as many of his suc- cessors, exercised these rights in as full and ample a manner as Felim himself. In their exercise, Hugh O'Conor, in 1266.4 deposed Art O'Rourke, Chief of Breifny, and set up Conor O'Rourke in his place ; and in the same year the English and Welsh settlers in West Connaught having displeased him, M“Dermot and O’Hara were sent to chastise them, and many prisoners were brought in from them to O'Conor. In the following year Hugh O'Conor being “seized with a grievous disease, the report of which spread through all Ireland,” his old foe, De Burgh, made an incursion into Roscommon, whilst others amongst the English settlers plundered the territory at present forming the county of Sligo. Having par- tially recovered from his illness, Hugh marched to Athlone, attacked and defeated the English, but his health again giving way, he was unable to follow up this victory.” It had long been the wise custom of the English to erect, wherever they got a footing in the country, strong castles, in which they placed garrisons to protect their settlers, and to overawe the Irish natives. In 1269, the castle of * This letter, addressed “From Odo O’Konchur, King of Connaught, to the K.,” is preserved amongst the series of “Royal Letters,” No. 2,458, and is noted in Calendar of State Papers by Sweetman. * State Papers, Sweetman's Calendar. * Bagwell's Ireland under the Tudors, Vol. I, p. 62. * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1266. * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1267. A.D. 1265–1270.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 113 Sligo, which had been destroyed by Hugh, was restored by Fitzgerald. In I262, as before remarked, the site for a castle at Roscommon had been laid Out, but at that time no further progress was made with it. A new justiciary, Robert de Ufford, having come to Ireland, he determined to carry out, if pos sible, the intentions of his predecessor. The illness of the King of Connaught furnished an opportunity for doing this ; and in 1269 the castle of Ros- Common, which subsequently passed through so many vicissitudes, was first erected. In the following year, Walter M*William Burke (then Earl of Ulster).” observing the increasing power and popularity of the King of Connaught, collected an army to destroy him.” The justiciary, De Ufford, having joined the expedition, the united English army marched first to Roscommon, then to Elphin, and then to Portlecce (near Jamestown), where they encamped. Next day the Earl of Ulster crossed the Shannon, and proceeded with a detachment northward to a ford on the same river, called Ath-cara-Connell. Meanwhile Hugh O'Conor, who had for some time been aware of this preparation to crush him, had all his forces in readiness. He was joined by Turlough OBrien, the implacable enemy of the Earl of Ulster, and the united Irish army encamped on the plain of Moy Nish, on the east side of the Shannon. When the earl arrived at Ath-cara-Connell, he was attacked by a detachment of the forces of the King of Connaught, who slew some of his troops, after which all the English crossed the Shannon, and encamped in Moy Nish, not far from their adversaries. The justiciary having learned the number and position of the forces opposed to him, advised the Earl of Ulster to make peace with Hugh, and to deliver to him his brother William Oge, as a hostage, whilst Hugh himself should come to the earl's tent to arrange the terms of peace. To this the Earl of Ulster agreed ; but when his brother William Oge came to O'Conor's tent, he was seized and his attendants slain. * A.D. 1269.—“The castle of Roscommon was built by Robert de Ufford, Lord Justice of Ireland, taking advantage of the illness of Hugh, King of Connaught, who on that account could not engage the English in battle, or oppose the building of the castle ; and Connaught was plundered a hundred times over by the English before his recovery.”—Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1269. “The Annals of Loch Cê have the following account of this :-‘A new justiciary came to Erinn from the King of the Saxons. He proceeded to Connaught, accompanied by the foreigners of Erinn, and a castle was erected at Roscommon by them, and the reason it was erected was that Hugh O'Conor was at that time in sickness and ill-health.’” * Walter was son of the great Richard de Burgh, and married the daughter and heiress of De Lacy, Earl of Ulster. * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1270. Q 114 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. IX. When information of this seizure of his brother reached the ears of the Earl of Ulster, he was filled with indignation, and is reported to have “passed the night sleepless in sadness and sorrow;” and early next morning he marched with his forces to Ath-an-chip, to give battle to O'Conor, who “behaved him- self as a fierce and froward lion about his prey, without sleeping or taking rest, so that he did not suffer his enemies to take refection or rest.” When the English arrived at the ford, they met Turlough O'Brien face to face, and the earl, recognising his deadly enemy, rushed on him and slew him at once. O'Conor immediately after came up with his forces, and a sanguinary conflict ensued, in which the Connaught men poured down upon the English so impetuously with horse and foot, that they broke through their van and forcibly destroyed their rear. In this conflict nine of the chief English knights were slain, together with Richard de Burgh, surnamed “ of the wood,” one of the earl’s brothers ; and the earl himself escaped with difficulty, and died soon after.” The exact number of those slain in this engagement is nowhere recorded, but the effect of the battle was most decisive, and after it O'Conor's power in Connaught became Supreme. One of his first acts after the battle was to execute William Oge de Burgh, in revenge for Turlough O'Brien, whom the earl had slain with his own hand. He then proceeded to consolidate and establish his authority, and, as one of the means for so doing, set about destroying the fortresses and castles which had been erected within his dominions by the English. The first castles which he razed were Ath Angaile, in Corran, Castlemore Costelloe, in Mayo, Kilcolman, in the vicinity of the latter, Rinnduin, at St. John's, near Lough Ree, and Uillin Uanagh, near Athlone. In 1271 he demolished the castle of Templehouse, in county Sligo, and Ballyleague, near Lanesboro’, and in 1272 the castle of Roscommon, the latest and strongest fortress erected by his enemies for the purpose of subduing him. Having destroyed these fortresses, Hugh next proceeded to Leinster, and attacked the English in Meath, devastating the country as far as Granard ; after which he returned to Connaught, having broken down the bridge over the Shannon at Athlone. In this year Henry III., King of England, died, and was succeeded by his son, Edward I., who was proclaimed king on the 16th November. * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1270. * 1270–The following reſerence to this battle occurs in Cox's History:—“The King of Connaught in plain field defeated Walter Burke, and killed a great number of nobles and knights, especially Richard and John Verdon, and a great famine and festilence spread all over Ireland.” A.D. I270–1274.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 115 Two years later, Hugh himself died ; his death being recorded in the Annals of Cloonmacnoise in the following terms:– “A.D. 1274.—Hugh M'Felim O'Conor, King of Connaught for nine years, died the fifth of the nones of May, on Thursday, the Feast of the Invention of the Cross. This the king that wasteth and destroyed Connaught on the English ; this is he that razed and broke down their houses and castles, and made them even with the earth, and gave themselves many conflicts and Over- throws; this is he that took the hostages of the Hy Bruin and Tirconnell; this is he that defended from others the spoils of Connaught and Tirawly; this is he that most was feared by the English of all the Kings of Connaught before his time. A king the most eminent for hospitality and magnanimity, and who, though some time a spoiler, was also an improver of Ireland. He was with great reverence buried with the monks in the Abbey of Boyle.” C H A P T E R X. O-sºº º-o- A D. I274—I293. OWEN, SON OF RORY, SON OF HUGH, SON OF CATH AL CROVEDEARG. (A.D. 1274.) Tºlfº PON the death of Hugh O'Conor, the son of Felim, son of Cathal TIS Crovedearg, his cousin Owen, who was the son of Rory, or Roderic, son of Hugh, the eldest son of Cathal Crovedearg, succeeded to the throne ; but his reign was of short duration, as about three months after his accession to the government, he was slain in the church of the Friars Minors in Roscommon, by his own first cousin, Rory, son of his uncle Turlough. HUGH, SOW OF CATHAL DALL, SON OF HUGH, SON OF CATHAL CRO VE DEARG, 1274. On the murder of his cousin Owen, Hugh, the son of Cathal Dall (or “the blind”), son of Hugh, son of Cathal Crovedearg, was made king ; but he, as a king, was even more short-lived than his predecessor, as he was killed a fort- night after his accession, by Mageraghty and O’Beirne, and the sovereignty passed to another cousin, Teige, son of Turlough, Son of Hugh, son of Cathal Crovedearg, and the brother of Rory, who had killed the late king Owen. This quick succession of kings, and the similarity of the names, is a little confusing ; but if it be remembered that they were all the grandsons of Hugh, the eldest son and successor of Cathal Crovedearg, the difficulty in distin- guishing them will disappear. This Hugh had three sons, Rory, Cathal Dall, and Turlough. Owen was the son of Rory the eldest, Hugh, the son of Cathal Dall, and Teige and Rory, the sons of Turlough. A.D. 1274–1276.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 117 TEIGE, SOAV OF TURLOUGH, SOAV OF HOWGA, SOAV OF CATHAL CROVE DEARG, 1274–1278. The disputes between the different members of the house of O'Conor, which frequently ended in the death of one of the combatants, were not confined to cousins; even brothers were found in deadly hostility to each other; and one of the first acts of Teige, after he had been recognised as King of Connaught, was to seize his brother Rory,” and to throw him into prison. This Rory, it will be remembered, had a few months before killed his cousin Owen, then King of Connaught, in the church of Roscommon. From the prison into which he was thrown by his brother, Rory soon escaped, and took refuge with O’Hanly; but Teige pursued him, again took him prisoner, and killed O’Hanly, who had given him protection. What happened subsequently to bring about a reconciliation between the brothers is not related; but that they were shortly after reconciled appears from the fact that they are described as fighting together on the same side in some of the subsequent struggles which took place. In 1275, Teige endeavoured to get a recognition of his authority from the King of England, and presented a petition for this purpose to Edward I. In response to this petition, Hugh, Bishop of Meath, Stephen, Bishop of Waterford, and Geoffrey, the justiciary, were appointed to treat with him, and were commanded “to send the treaty to the king, under the seal of the justiciary, and to return the writ.” What was the result of this treaty, is not recorded; and in the following year, a new and formidable competitor for the throne appeared in the person of Hugh Muimneach, or the Munsterman, who claimed to be a son of Felim, the son of Cathal Crovedearg. This Hugh, who, as the annalists say, was fathered on Felim a long time after his death, came to Connaught from Munster, where he had been fostered and brought up; and as soon as he proved himself, to the satisfaction of some of the chiefs of the O'Conors and M*Dermots, to be the son of Felim and half-brother of the great Hugh, he was held by them in great account and reverence. On being received in Connaught as the son of Felim, he repaired to O'Donnell to solicit his aid, which he succeeded in obtaining; and with O'Donnell he marched into Tirrerill. Here O'Donnell left him, and returned to the north, whilst Hugh remained in Connaught. The arrival of Hugh O'Conor in Connaught was naturally the prelude to a war between him ! Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1274. * Petition of Tadgh, or Teige O'Conogher, State Papers, Pat. 3, Ed, I., m. 19, 118 TIIE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. X. and Teige O'Conor, who, assisted by his brother Rory, collected his forces to oppose him.” * A desultory war was the result, which ended in 1278 in the death of Teige, who was killed by the sons of Cathal MºDermot. In the same year, Rory, the brother of Teige, was killed by M'Clancy and the people of Leitrim, and thus the way to the throne was left open to the pretender, Hugh. These quarrels between the O'Conors attracted the attention of the King of England. Referring to them in his Hibernia Anglicana, Sir R. Cox says:*— “As if some malignant star had influenced all the inhabitants of Ireland to contention, the Irish also quarrelled with one another, and M*Dermot of Moylurg encountered the King of Connaught, and slew him and 2,000 of his men,” whereupon the Lord Justice was sent over to give an account of this bustle, and why he permitted it, and also to answer why he did not in person assist Thomas de Clare against the O'Bryans. To the first he answered that it was no damage to the king that one rebel destroyed another, and to the second he gave such answer as was satisfactory.” The policy indicated in this answer was, unfortunately for Ireland, the policy almost uniformly followed by the English rulers since their advent to that country: to foment wars and dissensions, and to excite the Irish princes and chieftains against each other, appeared to be the main object of most of the king's representatives—a policy followed upon the principle that so long as the Irish quarrelled amongst themselves, and wasted their strength against each other, the English invaders were safe. This same policy prevented the Irish obtaining what they often prayed for, namely, the benefit of the English laws. Over and over again in the records of these times we read that the Irish begged that the English law might be their law, and that they might be placed under its protection. The English monarch was willing to grant this, but the English settlers in Ireland would not allow it. The Irish offered even to purchase this privilege, but still it was denied to them. In 1277, writing to the justiciary, Robert de Ufford, the king says:— “As to the offer which the Irish community make to the king of 8,000 marks for a grant of the use of the English laws in Ireland, the king wishes the justiciary to know, that having fully deliberated with his council, it seemed meet to them that a grant of the English laws should be made, because the laws which the Irish use are detestable to God, and so contrary to all law, that they ought not to be deemed laws. The common consent of the people, or at * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1276. * Cox, Hibernia Anglicana, p. 77. * O'Donovan disputes the accuracy of this statement, as the whole following of O'Conor and M“Dermot could not have amounted to 2,000 men, | | | s A.D. 1276–1280.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 119 least of the well-affected prelates and magnates in Ireland, must, however, first regu- larly intervene. The K. therefore commands the justiciary to ascertain the opinions of the prelates and magnates by a conference; and having agreed for a higher fine in money, to arrange with them, or with the larger and sounder part of them, what may seem most for the R.'s honour and advantage.” . - - . Again, in 1280, the king issued an order to “the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, knights, and all English in Ireland.” “The Irish had humbly prayed that he would, of his grace, grant them that they may use and enjoy in Ireland the same laws and customs as the English, etc. The K. being unwilling to comply, without the consent of the archbishops, etc., commands them to meet, and diligently to debate whether or not the K. can, without prejudice to themselves, their liberties and customs, make this concession.” The result of the deliberations of the prelates and magnates was, how- ever, not favourable to granting to the Irish the benefit of English laws; it was thought more conducive to their own interest, that the Irish should wage war upon each other; and “the king's honour and advantage,” and the benefit of the country, were made subservient to their own private and personal 3.11]].S. - HUGH MUIMNEACH, 1278–1280. By the death of Teige, the sovereignty of Connaught lay at the feet of Hugh, the Munsterman, supposed to be an illegitimate son of the great Felim. It does not appear that he was either elected or proclaimed king, but having overthrown his competitor in the field, he assumed the sovereignty by the right of the strongest. Before the death of his predecessor, he had been engaged in conflicts with the English, and in 1277 destroyed the castle of Roscommon, which had been re-erected by the justiciary in 1275 or 1276.” Hugh Muimneach's usurpation was not left long undisputed. New com- petitors for the throne appeared in the descendants of another branch of the O'Conor family, and the warlike sept of the Clann Murtough, from amongst whom no king had as yet been chosen, raised the standard of revolt; and, after varying fortunes, Hugh was killed in 1280, in the wood of Dangan. * Royal Letters, No. 2,679. Calendar of State Papers (Sweetman), A.D. 1280. * Calendar of State Papers, Sweetman. (Pat. 8 Ed. I., m. 13.) - * In the accounts of the English expenditure in Ireland at this time sums are set down in 1276 for building and fortifying the castles of Roscommon and Rinnduin. The castle of Roscommon was again restored shortly after its destruction by Hugh Muimneach, and remained in the custody of successive English governors for many years, 120 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. X. During his reign, in 1279, Tumultogh O'Conor, the Archbishop of Tuam before referred to, the son of Turlough, son of Malachy O'Conor, died. CATHAL, SON OF CONOR ROE, DESCENDANT OF MUR- TOUGH MUIMNEACH, 1280-1288. Upon the death of Hugh Muimneach, the sovereignty of Connaught passed for a time to a totally different branch of the O'Conors. Hitherto the contests regarding it were carried on, first between the descendants of Roderic O'Conor and those of his brother, Cathal Crovedearg, and sub- sequently, after the Superiority of the sons of Cathal had been firmly estab- lished, the , rivalry arose between different descendants of Cathal. Thus, for instance, the last king, Hugh, was the descendant of Felim, Cathal Crove- dearg's youngest Son, whereas those with whom he contended were descended from Cathal's eldest son and successor, Hugh. Now the contention was altogether changed, and competitors for the sovereignty appeared amongst the descendants of Murtough, son of Turlough Mor, and brother of Cathal Crovedearg, and of Roderic, the last Irish monarch of Ireland. The descendants of Murtough, usually called Murtough the Munsterman, designated in the Annals as the “Clann Murtough,” although they had never hitherto aspired to the Sovereignty, had always distinguished themselves as brave and determined men, and their support had, on more than one occasion, turned the balance in favour of one or other rival candidate. In the person of Cathal, the Son of Conor Roe, they now secured supreme sway, and in I28O he was solemnly inaugurated king by the Connacians. Ireland and the kingdom of Connaught presented a most melancholy spectacle during the reign of this king and his immediate predecessors and successors. In the short space of six years almost as many different members of the O'Conor family claimed and assumed the sovereignty of Connaught, and one after the other met with a violent death. Nor were the civil com- motions which prevailed confined to conflicts between the natives, or between the natives and the English settlers. The latter carried on between them- selves as bitter feuds as any with the native Irish, and the contentions between the rival families of the De Burghs and the Geraldines caused as much evil and bloodshed to Ireland as any produced by contentions amongst the Irish. Meanwhile the King of England continued to make grants of land to his favourites in Connaught. His authority seems to have been pretty firmly established in and about Roscommon. In 1280 he caused money to be coined A.D. 1280–1286.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 121 there “on account of the keeper of the mint,” and made a grant of land in the same district to Richard of Exeter.” Two years later, in 1282, a charter was granted by him to the prior and convent of St. Comon at Roscommon, “for an exchange of lands,” and a further grant to the same community, “of a weekly free market on Saturdays in their ‘Irish vill,’ between their house and that of the Dominicans in the same vill.” Also “a grant to the prior and convent, and their successors, that they may for ever water all their animals in the lake under the K.’s castle at Roscommon.” He further issued, in the same year, a mandate to the justiciary to commit the custody of the “earldom of Connaught” to Robert Taillard, “so long as Robert shall act well and faithfully in that custody.” This exercise of English authority in the very heart of the O'Conor territory must have been very galling to the native king; and in 1284 Cathal set about destroying some of the castellated habitations which afforded such security and strength to his enemies. In that year he himself destroyed the castle of Kilcolman, whilst his subordinate chief, O'Flynn, destroyed that of Dunmore.” Shortly after, he found it to be his interest to become reconciled to his superior lord, the King of England; and in 1284 he entered into a treaty with the justiciary, Stephen, Bishop of Waterford, and passed a bond for 1,000 marks of silver for the possession of his territory, and undertook “ for himself and his men” that he would “ thenceforth keep firm peace,” and for further security gave hostages and pledges to the king.” No treaty or arrangement with the English monarch could, however, secure the Irish against the attacks of that monarch's subjects; and Cathal soon found that this treaty was of very little avail in the eyes of the old enemies of his race, the De Burghs. In 1286 Richard de Burgh, the Earl of Ulster, who claimed to be Lord of Connaught, made another determined attempt to crush the O'Conors, and overran the country, destroying habita- tions, churches, monasteries, and everything that came in his way." On this occasion he gained a complete victory, and obtained hostages from the O'Conors. He also compelled them to accompany him with their forces on * State Papers Calendar (Sweetman), A.D. 1280. * Pat. 8 Ed. I., m. II. State Papers Calendar, A.D. 1282. * State Papers Calendar (Sweetman), A.D. 1282. * Rolls II Ed. I., m. 24. * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1286. * “Bond by Kathal O'Kenewer to the K.” Liber A., Chapter House, fo. 416. * Ammals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1268. 122 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. X. an expedition into Tirconnell and Tyrone, where he subdued O'Neill and O'Donnell, deposing Donnell, son of Brian O'Neill, and making Nial Calvach O'Neill chief in his place. This Richard de Burgh, commonly called the Red Earl, was the eldest son of Walter, who had married the daughter and heiress of Hugh de Lacy, and had been created Earl of Ulster. On account of his great possessions, and his turbulent and independent character, he was esteemed the most powerful subject of the King of England in Ireland. The disputes between him and the Geraldines continued during the greater part of the reign of Edward I. The deaths in 1286 of the two leading barons, Gerald, son of Maurice Fitzgerald, and Thomas de Clare, threw the ascendancy, without dispute, into the hands of the Red Earl, who obtained such immense power, that his name is mentioned in the king's letters even before that of the justiciary or Lord Deputy; and he appears to have made peace or declared war of his own authority, and without any reference to the English king. In consequence of the inclemency of the seasons, and the constant civil wars and distracted state of Ireland, in 1286 the country was prostrated by a severe famine. Corn and other provisions became so scarce they were sold at enormous prices, and a malignant murrain seized the cattle. Meanwhile the contentions between different members of the house of O'Conor did not abate in the least. The most miserable dissensions arose between Cathal and his brother Manus; and instead of uniting to resist their common foe, De Burgh, they came to an engagement with each other near Elphin in 1288, when Cathal was defeated and taken prisoner. MANUS, BROTHER OF CATHAL, A.D 1288–1293. Manus having defeated and deposed his brother, assumed the Sovereignty in his place, and, not feeling very secure in his new position, appealed for support to the justiciary and to that portion of the English settlers who were opposed to De Burgh. Immediately after the battle in which he had defeated his brother Cathal, he was attacked by Turlough O'Conor, son of Owen, who was the rightful heir to the throne, and was wounded. His wound not being of much consequence, in 1289 he made an incursion into Meath with Richard Tuite and others against Melachlin. For this enterprise he was rewarded by the King of England; and although Tuite was killed, and the invasion of Meath was not very successful, the expenses of the undertaking were ordered A.D. I286–1293.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT, 123 by the king to be paid. Meanwhile an attack was projected against him by De Burgh, who marched into Roscommon; but finding Manus supported by Fitzgerald and other English allies, he thought it more prudent to avoid a battle, and quietly retired. In the following year Cathal, the late king, endeavoured to regain his superiority, and raised an insurrection against his brother, who, after various reverses, succeeded in retaining the supremacy which he had previously won. About this time great complaints were made to the King of England of the conduct of his bailiffs and officers in Connaught, in seizing the property of the inhabitants by violence, and without payment; and in September, I290, he issued an order prohibiting these excesses, and ordering restitution to be made to those who had already suffered from them.” He also ordered payments to be made for fortifying the castles of Roscommon, Rinnduin, and Athlone.” In 1292 the Red Earl again led an army into Roscommon, and had to retire without accomplishing anything ; but Manus, dreading a repetition of these attacks, followed him to Meelick, and there made peace with him. Having thus propitiated his most dangerous opponent, Manus's sway in Connaught became firmly established until the next year, when he died, after three months' illness. He is described by the annalists as “a warlike and valiant prince, the most victorious, puissant, and hospitable of the Irish of his time.” * Expenses to be paid of “William Dodingiseles and William L'Enfaunt, Lieutenants of John, Archbishop of Dublin, Justiciary of Ireland, with other knights, and the King of Connaught with his force, namely, with a great army to overcome Omalachlyn and the other enemies of the K., then at war in the marches of Meath, and to cut the pass of Delvin, for four days in Easter week, 1290.” (State Papers, Ireland, Calendar) (Sweetman.) It will be remarked that Manus is here called “the King of Connaught.” He is similarly called King of Connaught in another official document in the same year, and is, in it, distinguished from the king's subjects or vassals. * Sept., 1290. “The king to his justiciary, bailiffs, and lieges of Ireland; had learned that the citizens of Roscommon are so depressed and impoverished by the taking of their goods and victuals against their will, and without payment, by the K.’s constables and bailiffs of those parts, and by the depredations and burnings frequently inflicted on them by Irish adversaries, that they have scarcely enough to live upon. The K., wishing to relieve them, commands the justiciary not to take or permit to be taken goods, merchandise, or victuals, from the citizens by the constables or other bailiffs of the castle of Roscommon, or otherwise, in Ireland, against their will, unless necessity should demand it in time of war. If anything be taken from them at the present time for the K.’s use, the K. wills that the justiciary make reasonable satisfaction to them for it. These letters to endure during pleasure.” (State Papers Calendar (Sweetman), Pat. 18 Ed. I., m. Io.) * Payment of 4300 to be made to Geoffrey Brun, Clerk, to be spent on fortifications of castles of Roscommon, Rinnduin, and Athlone. (State Papers Calendar) (Sweetman.) * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D, 1293. C H A P T E R X. I. A.D. I293–I324. HUGH, SON OF OWEN O'CONOR. (A.D. 1293–1309.) : 59 wº the superiority claimed by the English Nº. king, and the fact that a great part of Connaught was now prac- £ tically in the possession of the De Burghs and other English * settlers, the Irish still acknowledged a ruler of their own; and a member of the house of O'Conor still claimed the rights and exercised the authority of King of Connaught. Upon the death of Manus, this sovereignty over the Irish of Connaught again reverted to the descendants of Cathal Crovedearg, and with them it remained, with some brief interruptions, from this period until its final extinction. It will be remembered that Owen, great-grandson of Cathal Crovedearg, had been king for a few months in the year 1274. His son Turlough, during the usurpation of the descendants of Murtough Muimneach, had been regarded by many as the rightful heir ; and on the assumption of authority by Manus, he had attempted to enforce his rights, had attacked Manus and wounded him, but was unsuccessful in the attempt to dethrone him. In 1291 Turlough was killed,” and all his claims vested in his younger brother Hugh, who on the death of Manus was inaugurated as ruler.” Hugh's reign did not begin under peaceable auspices. Ten days after his accession he was taken prisoner by Fitzgerald ; and Cathal, the brother of Manus, who had previously been deposed, again assumed chief command, but * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1291. Turlough was killed by Nial O'Conor, another member of the same family. * Annals of the Four Masters, A, D, 1293. A.D. I293–1297.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT, 125 was after a short lapse of time killed by Rory, son of Donnough O'Conor; when Hugh, recovering his liberty, re-asserted his authority over the kingdom. About the same time John Thomas Fitzgerald, Hugh O'Conor's deadly enemy, and the enemy also of De Vesci, the justiciary, obtained possession of the castle of Sligo, and endeavoured to entrench himself in the heart of Connaught. In carrying out this project, he was thwarted by a summons from the King of England, commanding him to appear before him to answer certain accusations made against him by the justiciary. Fitzgerald imme- diately repaired to England; and both he and De Vesci waited on King Edward I.” De Vesci having stated his case against Fitzgerald, the latter, repudiating most of the charges made against himself, brought counter charges against De Vesci, and appealed for their truth to the wager of battle or personal combat. This the king sanctioned ; but De Vesci, fearing the result, retired to France, upon which all his lands and authority were made over to his rival, who returned to Ireland more powerful than before. In 1294 he took Richard de Burgh, the great Earl of Ulster, prisoner, and with Birmingham committed great depredations in Connaught. During his absence in England, Hugh O'Conor had seized the castle of Sligo, and razed it to the ground, and Fitzgerald now attempted to depose him. In this he was unsuccessful; and “the great Earl” having been liberated by command of the king, or, as some writers assert, by command of the Parliament assembled at Kilkenny, Fitzgerald himself was again summoned to England, where he remained in the king's hands until 1316. For a short period in 1296 Hugh O'Conor was deposed by his own people, and Conor Roe, the son of Cathal, the representative of the Clann Murtough O'Conors, was inaugurated, and hostages given to him. This deposition of Hugh was followed by the usual desultory conflicts between the rival chief- tains, which continued until the close of the year, when they were terminated by the death of Conor Roe, who was killed in an engagement against M‘Dermot. After his death, Hugh O'Conor resumed authority over the Irish in Connaught, his claims being no longer disputed. Whilst the O'Conors and the other Irish chieftains were thus fighting with one another, and wasting their strength in petty brawls, an unlooked-for opportunity arose for driving out the foreign foe from their midst. Nearly all the Anglo-Irish chiefs were called upon by the King of England to join * Cox's Hibernia Anglicana, A.D. 1293. According to Gilbert, in his Viceroys of Ireland, p. 116, De Vesci accepted the challenge, and it was Fitzgerald who did not appear, 126 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XI. him in an expedition into Scotland." Amongst those who obeyed this sum- mons were Richard de Burgh, or the Red Earl ; Gerald Fitzgerald ; and John FitzThomas Fitzgerald ; who with their followers poured into Scotland, and committed similar depredations there as they had been accustomed to commit in Ireland. The native Irish chieftains were, however, too much engaged in domestic strife to take advantage of the absence of the most powerful leaders of their adversaries, some of whom returned in the year 1300,” when Richard de Burgh erected the castle of Ballymote. This Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, some years after his return, presented a petition to the king, praying that the cantreds of land which Felim O'Conor formerly held, and which had passed to his descendants, and were called the land of Sil Murray, should be granted to him, De Burgh, for the same tribute as O'Conor had been wont to pay. In response to this petition, an inquiry was directed by the king, and held at Castledermot before the justiciary, John Wogan, in September, 1305. The jurors, on this occasion, being all Englishmen, reported in favour of De Burgh's petition. They represented to the king, that during Felim O'Conor's life he had been faithful, but that after his death, his son had destroyed the castles of Roscommon and Rinnduin, which had been erected by Robert de Ufford, when justiciary, and that subsequently the king took little or no advantage from the aforesaid land; that “if the Irish were driven from these parts, and the land settled with faithful men,” those cantreds would be worth 250 marks a-year ; that this could not be done without incurring enormous expenses, exceeding the value of the land, “as the aforesaid O'Conoghur (O'Conor) is one of the five captains of Ireland;”“and they, there- fore, recommended that the land should be granted to De Burgh; especially as the aforesaid earl has his lands in Connaught and Ulster, and a large power of English and Irish close by that land, by means of which he shall be better able to chastise the Irish of that land than another.” Shortly after this, Connaught was, by English authority, nominally divided into two divisions, called counties, viz., the county of Connaught and the county of Roscommon, and sheriffs were appointed, whose principal duties * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1297. * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1300. * There were five families of native Irish race to whom the rights of English law were allowed, viz., O'Neill of Ulster, O’Melachlin of Meath, O'Conor of Connaught, O'Brien of Thomond, and M*Murrough of Leinster. These were called the five privileged bloods, and are mentioned in the Plea Rolls, A.D. 13 Io, Cambrensis Eversus, Vol. I., p. 211. *See Hardiman's West Connaught, p. 189. Also Appendix B. A.D. 1297–1309.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 127 appear to have been to render an account to the king of the different rents or tribute collected in the territory each year. In 1299, the first mention of Roscommon as such county is made; and Hugh O'Conor is entered as holding the “three cantreds of Felim;” Cathal O'Conor as holding two cantreds; and Richard de Exon as being sheriff." These were evidently the cantreds upon which De Burgh had fixed his eyes; and notwithstanding the report made in his favour by the jurors above mentioned, it would appear that he did not succeed in obtaining possession of the lands; as for many years after, not only did they remain in O'Conor's hands, but the payments of tribute made by him to the English sovereign are regularly recorded in the Pipe Rolls of Ireland.” Whilst De Burgh was thus endeavouring surreptitiously to secure the royal permission to take to himself all the land of Connaught, the O'Conors, untaught by previous misfortunes, were again at war amongst themselves. Hugh, the son of the late King Cathal, in 1306, made a bold move to recover his father's position; and after having spent four months encamped on the banks of the Shannon, watching for his opportunity, he crossed that river, marched to Carnfree, the residence of his rival, and burned it. His success, however, was only temporary. Hugh O'Conor, who was absent, soon returned, attacked and defeated his opponents, and became again undisputed Lord of the Irish in Connaught. In 1307, Edward I., King of England, died, and was succeeded by his unfortunate son, Edward II. This change in the English sovereign made little alteration in the state of Ireland, and the death of one English king, and the succession of another, are events scarcely ever even noticed in the Irish Annals. After the defeat of his rival in 1306, Hugh O'Conor remained in undisturbed possession of his territory until 1309, when he was again attacked, and on this occasion killed by the same competitor, Hugh, the son of Cathal. His death is recorded in the following terms in the Ammals of the Four Masters:— “A.D. 1309–Hugh, Son of Owen, Son of Rory, son of Hugh, son of Cathal Crovedearg, King of Connaught, and worthy heir to the monarchy of Ireland, the most hospitable and expert at arms of all the Irish in his time, was slain by Hugh Breifneach, son of Cathal O'Conor, together with many chiefs of his people; and of those who fell with him were Conor M'Dermot; Dermot Roe, ‘Pipe Rolls, Bermingham Tower, Dublin, A.D. 1292–1299, p. 217. * Pipe Rolls, Bermingham Tower, 3rd to 8th Ed. II. 128 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XI. son of Teige O'Conor; Hugh, son of Murtough Mulroony; and Dermot O'Heally.” Hugh O'Conor, according to the Irish Synchronisms,” was married to Finola, daughter of Turlough O'Brien, who died in 1335; according to other accounts, he was married to a sister of O'Ferrall of Annaly. FELIM, SON OF HUGH, A.D. 1310–1316. Immediately on the death of Hugh, an interregnum of some months intervened before any successor was acknowledged by all Connaught. At first Rory, the son of Cathal, the representative of the Clann Murtough branch, was selected by the Sil Murray as their chief; but shortly after a disagreement arose between the chieftains, and a conflict followed, in which Rory was defeated and many of his adherents slain. Meanwhile M’Dermot, chief of Moylurg, and foster-father of Felim, the son of the late king, who was still under age, Collected the revenues and tributes of Connaught for his foster-son, and made the people swear that they would never yield allegiance to any but Felim; on the other hand, Hugh Breifneach, brother of Rory, retaliated on M'Dermot, plundered his territory, and slew men, women, and children. The head of the De Burghs at this time in Connaught was William, cousin of the Earl of Ulster. He had some time before dropped his Norman name De Burgh, and called himself in the more Irish form, Burke. When he heard of the conduct of Hugh Breifneach, he sent his forces, ostensibly to assist M’Dermot and his protégé, but in reality determined to turn the dissensions amongst the O'Conors to his own advantage. Burke having left his own territory, Hugh Breifneach and his brother Rory resolved to divert the scene of the war from the O'Conor territory to that of Burke, and Rory, with almost all the forces of the Clann Murtough, attacked Burke's castle of Bunfinne, and took it with all the property he could find in it. This diversion weakened materially the forces with Hugh Breifneach, who was left almost alone with some hired gallowglasses under the control of a leader named Jinkin M'Quillan. To him the wily Burke had recourse, and at a private interview bribed him to murder his master, Hugh Breifneach. Jinkin, finding his master alone and unsuspecting, treacherously assassinated him, and then withdrew with his gallowglasses to Burke. * Annals of the Æour Masters, A.D 1309. * Irish Synchronisms, p. 97, Ashburnham M.S. collection, now in Royal Irish Academy. A.D. I.309–13 IO.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 129 Hugh Breifneach being thus out of the way, and the Clann Murtough disposed of, the time had arrived when the designs of Burke over the sovereignty of Connaught became apparent. He utterly disregarded the claims of Felim, in whose interest he had ostensibly entered on the conflict, and plundered and oppressed the people, regardless of the party to which they belonged. When M*Dermot saw this, and that the rights of his foster- son were set at nought ; when he saw that the revenues which by right belonged to Felim, were appropriated by Burke to his own use ; and when he heard it rumoured that Burke had said that if he (M“Dermot) could be cut off, there was no one in the whole territory of Connaught who could resist him, and that all Connaught, without dispute, would acknowledge him (Burke) as their chief, he determined without delay to inaugurate the young prince as king, whether Burke willed it or not. Accordingly he conducted the youthful Felim to Carnfree, where the kings were usually inaugurated, and there “made him king with as great solemnity, ceremonies, and other customs theretofore practised, as any one of his ancestors since the time of Brian MacEochy Moymeone, sometime King of Connaught.” MºDermot also “made a magnificent feast in honour thereof, with the assembly and presence of all the nobility of Connaught, such as none of his ancestors, predecessors, Kings of Connaught, ever before him was heard or read in books to have made.” The ceremonies observed at the inauguration of the Kings of Connaught have been before described in relating the inauguration of Cathal Crovedearg. In the Tribes and Customs of the Hy Fiachrach, printed for the Irish Archaeological Society, pp. 425 to 452, a detailed account is given of these ceremonies, and the conditions necessary before the inauguration of most of the Irish kings and chieftains. From the account given therein O'Donovan” draws the following conclusions as to the conditions generally required to constitute a legitimate installation or inauguration of an Irish chieftain:— “I. That he should be of the blood of the original conqueror or acquirer of the territory, and free from all personal blemishes, deformities, and defects, and be of fit age to lead the clan to the field. “2. That the greater part of his sub-chiefs and freeholders should declare in his favour. “3. That the inauguration should be celebrated at a remarkable place in the territory, appointed of old for the purpose; and in Connaught, this was * Annals of Cloonmacnoise, A.D. 1310 * O’Donovan MS. 130 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XI. where there was a stone with the impression of two feet believed to be of the size of the feet of the first captain, chief, or acquirer of the territory. “4. That the hereditary historian or chronicler of the territory should be present to read to the chief about to be installed the heads of the law relating to the conduct of the chieftain, and that the latter should swear to observe those laws, and to maintain the customs of the territory inviolable. “5. That after taking this oath, the chief laid aside his sword and other weapons, upon which the historian of the district, or some other person whose proper office it was, handed him a straight white wand as a sceptre and an emblem of purity and rectitude, to indicate that his people were to be so obedient to him that he required no other weapon to command them. “6. That after receiving this straight white wand, one of his sub-chiefs put on his shoe or sandal in token of obedience, or threw a slipper over his head in token of good luck or prosperity. “7. That after the foregoing ceremonies were performed, one of his sub-chiefs pronounced his surname without the Christian name in a loud voice, after which it was pronounced in succession by the clergy according to their dignity, and by his sub-chiefs and freeholders, according to their respective ranks. After this the chieftain turned round thrice backwards and thrice forwards in honour of the Most Holy Trinity, and to view his people and his territory in every direction, which being done, he was the legitimate chief of his name.” * On the subject of the inauguration of Christian kings the evidence given by Cumin and Adamson is the most ancient. The earliest authorities given by Selden for the coronation of the Christian emperors, and for that of the Kings of France and England, are subsequent to the time of Adamson, who died in 704. The sacred cruet of Rheims used in anointing the Kings of France is not mentioned before the ninth century. In the AVotitia Apiscopatum, printed at Rome in 1533, we are told that the ancient kings, usually consecrated according to the ceremony of the Roman ritual, were those of Castile, Arragon, Ireland, Scotland, Poland, and Hungary. “In the year 993, Muregan, successor of St. Patrick, Archbishop of Armagh, made a visitation of Tyrone, and conferred the degree of king upon Hugh, son of Donnell, in the presence of the congre- gation of St. Patrick.” “And,” says O’Donovan, “it is highly probable that since the introduction of Christianity the sole monarchs of Ireland were inaugurated by the Archbishops of Armagh, attended by the four provincial kings, who took a conspicuous part in the ceremony. There is every reason to believe that the clergy were engaged in the inauguration of the lords of large districts, but that the chief of a single cantred or baronyt was appointed by the head chieftain, with the consent of the clan or sept, by the simple ceremony of delivering him a rod at a certain place appointed for that purpose.”— O'Donovan MS. * Annals of Ulster, f O’Donovan here uses the name “cantred” as synonymous with “barony.” According to Hardiman, “barony” was a denomination much older than “county,” and corresponded to the territery of a chieftain. S A.D. I3 IO-I3I4.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 131 For some years after the inauguration of Felim, little is recorded of his- torical interest. Rory, the brother of Hugh Breifneach, made some attempts to dispossess him ; but these attempts were unsuccessful, and no further opposition to his succession seemed likely to arise. Other actors, however, soon appeared upon the stage, and events occurred which very nearly changed the whole destiny and fortune of the Irish nation. A few years before the period at which we have now arrived, negotiations had taken place between King Edward II. and the King of Scotland, in which Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, was one of the negotiators on the part of England. A war had previously raged between the two countries, but a truce was made for the purpose of the negotiations. This truce being violated, a renewed war was the result, in which the Scottish king, Robert Bruce, was victorious. The English monarch, stung by this defeat, collected his forces from all quarters, ordered levies of infantry to be made in Wales and in the northern counties of England, and issued a proclamation to his own vassals and the native Irish chieftains, calling upon them to aid him. To this call no voice of loyal obedience responded from the heirs of the ancient Irish kings. The noble stand made by the Scots for their independence had a magical effect on the Irish. Bruce was no stranger to them. In the very earliest part of his career, immediately after his coro- nation, he had been obliged to fly to Ireland for protection, and remained concealed for some months in a small island off the north coast. Having received aid from sympathizing friends in Ulster, with a fleet of thirty-three galleys and about 300 men, he initiated that career of victory which ended in his country's independence. When success crowned his efforts in the victory of Bannockburn, the Irish felt that he might be made the instrument of their deliverance; and instead of being tempted to assist the English to subdue him, they sent deputies to Bruce, and having placed themselves and all that belonged to them under his protection, they prayed that if he himself could not be spared from his royal duties, he would send his brother Edward to be their king. To Bruce this offer was in many ways acceptable. It opened out a new point from which the power of England might be attacked, and it tended to remove a difficulty from which he was already suffering. His brother Edward was a proud, imperious man, ambitious in the extreme, impatient of inferiority to his elder brother, and had already made a claim to a share in the sovereignty of Scotland. The offer of the Irish envoys afforded him an opportunity for gratifying his ambition, and at the same time inflicting a further wound on his 132 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XI. deadly enemies the English. Nevertheless Bruce hesitated. He saw clearly the dangers connected with the proposal, and the magnitude of the enterprise involved in it. The conquest of Ireland was no light undertaking, and a con- siderable time elapsed before he took any serious steps towards the accom- plishment of the design. At length, in the spring of the year 1315, Edward Bruce, with a fleet of 3oo sail, appeared off the coast of Antrim, and landed at Larne with an army of 6,000 men. He was immediately joined by O'Neill, and an immense number of the Irish of Ulster, and overran the whole earldom without meeting with much resistance. The English lords, deserted by their Irish followers, were unable to make any adequate efforts of defence; and the Earl of Ulster alone appeared ready to face the danger which threatened them. The towns of Dundalk and Louth successively yielded to the invaders, and were burned ; and the church of the Carmelite Friars at Ardee, filled with men, women, and children, was also committed to the flames. Strange to say, little is recorded in the Ammals of the Four Masters of the proceedings of Bruce, or of the war which his invasion of Ireland originated ; but the Annals of Connaught and of Innisfallen give some details of the part taken by the O'Conors in the struggle which raged in Ireland at this period. The following account is taken mainly from these sources : — “A.D. 1315. Edward, 1 son of Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, and brother of Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, landed with a fleet of 300 vessels in the north-east of Ulster, at whose coming all the inhabitants of the kingdom, both English and Irish, were stricken with such great terror that it made the lands and inhabitants of Ireland to shake with fear. Immediately after his arrival he burned the towns of Dundalk, Ardee, and Rathmore of Moylinny, and having devastated Ulster, taken the hostages, and collected the revenues of the province for his own use, he compelled the Ulstermen to acknowledge him as their sovereign, and assumed the title of the King of Ireland.” When the Red Earl heard that Bruce had thus invaded Ireland, and had usurped the name of King of Ireland, he summoned his vassals to attend him, and marched to Athlone, where he was met by Felim O'Conor, King of the Irish of Connaught, with his provincial troops. The English army spared neither spiritual nor temporal land as they marched along from the river Shannon to Coleraine and Innishowen. They plundered all without respect to patron saint, or shrine, or ! “Iste Edwardus erat homo ferox et magni cordis valde nec voluit cohabitare fratri suo in pace nisi dimidium regni solus haberet et haec de causa mota fuit guerra in Hibernia.”—Fordun. * “Bruce, whilst at Dundalk, caused himself to be crowned King of Ireland; and then after over- running that part of Ireland at present comprising the counties of Down, Armagh, Louth, and Meath, he returned again to the north, where taking up a position in the neighbourhood of the river Bann, he resolved to wait for supplies from his own country.”—O’Donovan MS. A.D. 1314–13 I5.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 133 sacred place. Whilst they were thus marching on, spoiling and destroying all places, they met Edward Butler, then Lord Deputy of Ireland, also marching on to meet the Scots, with thirty cohorts of well-appointed soldiers, armed at all points, at the sight of whom the Red Earl was somewhat angry, alleging that he himself had sufficient force to expel Bruce and his Scots out of the kingdom, and desired the deputy not to join him, as he needed not his assistance.” “The earl encamped that night at Ardee, near Sleivebrey, and Bruce with his Scots and Ulstermen encamped at Innishkeen. The next day the earl followed him, and encamped at Louth, where William Burke, the earl’s relative, skirmished with him without gaining any advantage. By the advice of O'Neill, Bruce marched to Coleraine to delay the earl’s passage across the Bann. The earl followed him, and arrived at the same river. Both armies here moved face to face on each side of the river Bann without being able to come in contact, or march upon each other, for they were separated by that deep, broad, smooth-running river. However, they discharged arrows at each other across the stream. “Edward Bruce, hearing of the great fame of Felim O'Conor, who was them in the army of the Red Earl, sent him a secret message promising that he would secure him in the kingdom of Connaught if he would adhere to him ; and he advised him to return home, and defend his kingdom of Connaught against the rivals of his own family.” This advice of Bruce's was given not without reason. The part taken by Felim in lending his aid to the Red Earl drew down on him the odium of the other septs of the O'Conors, and of his fellow-countrymen in general ; and the favourable opening afforded by this feeling for an attempt to supplant him in the sovereignty of Connaught was quickly perceived, and as quickly taken advantage of by Rory, son of Cathal Roe, the chief of the restless and warlike sept of the Clann Murtough, who also opened secret communications with Bruce, and promised that he would banish all Englishmen out of Connaught if Bruce would accept his services. Bruce replied by authorizing him to make war upon the English, but directed him not to interfere with Felim's territory. To make war on the English was not, however, Rory's chief design. His real object was to supplant Felim. To accomplish this, he assembled the men of Breifny and Connaught, and hired great companies of gallowglasses, and entering the territory of Sil Murray, burned the towns of Sligo, Ballymote, Kilcolman, Ballintober-Bride, Dunamon, and the castles of Roscommon, Rinnduin at St. John's, and Athlone, together with all the houses that lay in his way between these places. * “Respondet Dominus Ricardus comes Ultoniae, Ego habeo de meo posse xxxvi cohortes et sufficit ad tot—de terra expellandos.”—Annals of Innisfallen, Bodl. Lib. Oxoniae. “You may return home ; I and my vassals will overcome the Scots.”—Dalrymple, Annals of Scotland. * Annals of Innisfallen, and O’Donovan MS. 134 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XI. Having achieved these exploits, he desired MºDermot to inaugurate him, and to yield him obedience and hostages; but this MºDermot absolutely refused. Rory then received hostages and pledges from all the other chiefs of the province, and repaired to Carnfree, where he was invested King of Connaught by the twelve chiefs and twelve coarbs of Sil Murray, and the other spiritual men who were accustomed to perform the ceremonies usual on such occasions; but, add the annalists, “MºDermot refused to attend, or to put on the royal slipper, which was his proper office.” ** After his inauguration Rory avenged himself on those who refused to acknowledge him as king, and in every way exercised sovereign power in the country. Meanwhile Felim, acting on the hint which he had receiyed from Bruce, represented to the Red Earl that it was absolutely essential for him to return to Connaught, as his absence had been taken advantage of by his rival Rory; and accordingly, shortly after, he took his departure from the north, and returned homewards. On his march through Ulster and Oriel he had not one day of rest, being continually assaulted by the natives, until he reached Granard, the territory of his maternal uncle, Shane O'Ferrall. Thence he proceeded to Connaught, and on his arrival there, finding that Rory had such a firm hold over the kingdom that it was not safe to oppose him immediately, he advised some of the chieftains who were favourably disposed towards himself to render osten- sible and temporary Submission to his rival, and to wait for a more favourable opportunity for disputing his right to exact such. Meanwhile the Red Earl and his companions, deprived of Felim's assist- ance, determined to retreat, and retired to Coleraine, and to the castle of Connor. Thither the Scots and the Ulstermen followed them. Some skir- mishing then ensued, in which William Burke and some of his knights were taken prisoners, and the Red Earl was put to flight, and pursued by the enemy all the way to Connaught. On his arrival there, all those who had been suffering from the oppression of Rory O'Conor, both Irish and English, flocked to his standard. In the Annals of Commaught and of Cloonmacnoise we find the names of Some of the principal chieftains who attended :— “The following were the chief men who waited on the Red Earl, and who had been banished from their lands by Rory O'Conor: Felim O'Conor, King of Connaught; Murtough O'Brien, King of Thomond; Mulroony MºDermot, Chief of Moylurg; and Gilbert O'Kelly, Chief of Hy-Many.” M“Dermot, seeing so many deposed chieftains waiting upon the Red Earl, resolved to abandon his foster-son Felim for the present, and to submit to A.D. I.315–1316.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 135 Rory. Accordingly he repaired to Teige O'Kelly, a rival chief of Hy-Many, who was Rory's greatest friend, and received from him a promise that he would be restored to the chieftainship of Moylurg. The promise, however, was easier than the performance; as another M*Dermot, named Dermot Gall, had been installed in his place, and naturally refused to give way. A desultory conflict ensued; the territory of Moylurg was devastated; Dermot Gall was driven out; and disease and famine followed, until the unfortunate inhabitants of Moylurg were reduced to the lowest state of misery. Meanwhile the national feuds continued in the other portions of Con- naught. Felim O'Conor now made a determined effort, with the assistance of Burke, to drive out his rival Rory; and a battle was fought near Ballymoe, in Moin Conway, in which Rory was defeated and slain, together with many of the most distinguished men of Connaught, who had supported him." The defeat and death of Rory restored the sovereignty to Felim, who immediately reassumed control over the kingdom, and received the hostages of the principal chieftains. Felim, when once established, without a rival of his own name, soon turned his attention to getting rid of the English, who had previously been his allies. This fickleness and apparent treachery on the part of the Irish kings and chieftains of those days at first sight appears inexcusable; but a little consider- ation of the actual position in which they were placed, and the treatment which they received, may lead us to alter this opinion. The English settlers were ever ready to use the Irish leaders as tools and instruments for destroying each other; and probably, though quite ready to assist Felim to subdue his rival, they were little inclined to support him when that object was attained. A remonstrance published about this time, and which was addressed to Pope John XXII., very vividly portrays the position in which the Irish chieftains found themselves, and furnishes sufficient explanation why they should have sought the intervention of Bruce, and why Felim O'Conor, although assisted by the English at one time, should have turned against them and endeavoured to assert his independence and that of his countrymen, as soon as the opportunity was afforded to him. Whatever may have been the cause of this change of tactics, Felim and the English soon found themselves on different sides; and to drive the De Burghs or Burkes and all the English settlers out of Connaught, whilst * In the Book of Hy-Many this Rory is called “the warlike King of Croghan;” but it adds: “He was cut off by the true heir, Felim, son of Hugh, son of Owen O'Conor, who was the true and legitimate heir to the monarchy of Ireland.”— Tribes and Customs of Hy-Many, p. 138. 136 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XI. Bruce continued to attack them in the north, became the object of the King of Connaught. For this purpose he assembled all the Irish chiefs of Con- naught, and many out of Meath, Leinster, and Thomond. At this juncture, the Earl of Ulster was absent ; he had probably returned to the north to defend his territory there against Bruce; but William de Burgh, the head of the family in Connaught, and Richard Bermingham, mustered all the English forces they could command, and prepared to meet Felim. . The two armies met near Athenry, in the county of Galway. A great battle ensued, which resulted in the total defeat of the Irish, of whom not less than I2,OOO fell in the field; amongst them their leader, the gallant young king, Felim O'Conor. This battle of Athenry was one of the most decisive events which had occurred since the defeat of Roderic O'Conor's army before Dublin, and it settled for ever the predominance of the English, not only in Con- naught, but over all Ireland. It was also the first great blow given to Bruce's adherents. Had the Irish been successful in Athenry, it can scarcely be doubted that Felim would have joined his forces with O'Neill and Bruce, and that a general attempt would have been made all over Ireland to drive out the English. The Connaught Irish were not only defeated at Athenry, but their forces were almost annihilated. The number of chieftains who were killed in this battle, as recorded in the Ammals of Cloonmacnoise, prove that it was the most sanguinary encounter since the first invasion of the English, and that the whole strength of both parties was put forward on this occasion.” The success of the English was mainly attributable to the superiority of their arms, which in every way excelled those of the Irish. The English archers swept everything before them; and the enormous number of the slain bore testimony to the valour and determination with which the Irish fought. After the battle the Berminghams ravaged the whole territory of the O'Conors; and the King of England, on hearing of the victory, bestowed the title of Baron of Athenry on Bermingham and his descendants.” Thus ended the enterprising and daring career of one of the youngest and most promising chieftains who had ruled over Connaught since the English invasion. * Annals of Cloonmacnoise, A.D. 1316. Amongst the chieftains stated in these Annals to have been slain were the following : Tiege O'Kelly and twenty-eight other chieftains of this name, O'Hara, O'Dowd, O'Boyle, MºDermot, O'Ferall, O'Madden, O'Mulloy, M“Mahon, M“Donough, MºEgan, and many others. * For an account of this battle and of the events which preceded it, see Dr. Leland's History of Ireland, Vol. I., p. 268. A.D. I316–1318.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 137 About this time the territory formerly under the rule of the Kings of Connaught was “by fiction of English law, divided into two counties, namely, Connaught and Roscommon; or rather, it was for legal purposes supposed to be so divided, and even nominal sheriffs were appointed. These counties were distinguished by an imaginary line running westwards from the Shannon to the sea; northwards lay the county of Roscommon," and Southwards lay the county of Connaught.” * The limits of these counties were undefined,” and so they remained till the sixteenth century, when the whole province was divided into the existing shires. RORY, SON OF DONOUGH, SOW OF OWEV, 1316–1318. After the fall of Felim and the disastrous defeat of the Irish at Athenry, his first cousin, Rory, son of Donough, son of Owen, was inaugurated king; but he retained power only for a few months. Immediately after his accession, William Burke marched a large army into Roscommon, and Rory, finding resistance useless, submitted to him; but M’Dermot of Moylurg refused to join in this submission; and having baffled William Burke, he deposed Rory, and set up in his place Turlough, the brother of Felim, who was regularly installed as King in 1317. Turlough's first tenure of the sovereignty which thus began was, however, of short duration. The year after he became king, he was defeated and deposed by the representative of another branch of the O'Conor family, and had to give place to Cathal, son of Donnell O'Conor. CATHAL, SON OF DONNELL O'CONOR, 1318-1325. Cathal O'Conor, who had successfully warred against and deposed Turlough, was the son of Donnell, the descendant of Andreas, son of Brian Luignach, who was son of Turlough Mor, and brother of Roderic O'Conor and Cathal Crovedearg, and was ancestor of the sept afterwards known as O'Conor Sligo. Cathal was the first and the last of this branch of the O'Conors, who attained the sovereignty, and he obtained it at this particular moment, probably in consequence of the destruction at Athenry of nearly all the adult males of the other branches of the family. According to * So called from St. Comon, who died about 746.—Annals of the Four Masters. * Hardiman's West Connaught. According to the Pipe Rolls, above referred to, this division took place about the year 1292 or 1299. *Record Plea Roll, 17 Edward II., A.D. 1323–Harris's Hibernica, Part II, p. 69. 138 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XI. Dr. O'Conor, the race of Cathal Crovedearg was nearly extinguished at that battle; and Turlough, the brother of Felim, being subdued, Cathal had few to Contend against. In the year in which he came to the throne, a most remarkable remon- strance," already alluded to, was sent on behalf of the Irish to the then pope, John XXII. This remonstrance was sent to the pope by O'Neill, King of Ulster, on behalf of and as representative of the other chieftains of Ireland. It sets forth the calumnies uttered against the Irish nation, and the grievances they have long suffered at the hands of the English. How the latter have robbed them of everything they possessed, and treated them more cruelly than if they were wild beasts. That they have been reduced to the deepest abyss of miserable bondage ; deprived of their inheritance, and driven from their spacious habitations and fertile plains to mountainous, woody, and Swampy spots, and then treated as rebels and traitors for resisting this ; that even all the power of the Church has been used against them, and in favour of men who never respected the rights of the Church or the dues of St. Peter; that the ecclesiastics of England have preached the doctrine publicly that it was no sin to kill an Irishman; and that treachery of the deepest dye has been inculcated and practised as a noble art. They set forth numberless instances of this treachery, in which Irish kings and princes lost their lives. They therefore declare their intention of supporting Edward Bruce, whom they have recognised as a deliverer, and as their king; and they pray the pope, “out of a regard for justice and the public peace, mercifully to sanction our proceedings relative to our said lord king, prohibiting the King of England and our adversaries from further molestation of us, or at least be pleased graciously to enforce from them due requirements of justice.” To this remonstrance Pope John sent in the same year a reply to Edward II., in which he counsels moderation, and expresses his pain at the sad and truthful story told him by the Irish, and exhorts the king to remove all just ground of complaint; but at the same time he confirms to the King of England all rights over the country. Neither the remonstrance nor the reply of the pope had the slightest effect on the fortunes or the treatment of the Irish. The latter, notwithstanding the defeat of their partisans in Connaught, were determined to uphold Bruce as far as lay in their power, looking to the expulsion of the English, and the *A copy of this remonstrance was printed in Fordun's Scotochronicon, and an abstract of it is given 1n Dr. O'Conor's Life of Charles O'Conor. O’Donovan states that a very ancient copy of it has been recently discovered at Rome, which proves that it was not, as stated by some writers, an invention of Scottish politicians. A.D. 1318–I32O.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. g 139 establishment of any other rule, as the only practicable relief from their sufferings. Meanwhile the war carried on by Bruce against the English settlers in the north of Ireland continued to rage with undiminished fury. A general famine now set in, which reduced the wretched people to such extremity, that chroniclers of the time represent them as eating each other. Still this did not stop the conflicts; and in 1318 Bruce marched with about 3,000 men to attack the English near Dundalk. The hostile forces which had been marched from Dublin to encounter him were commanded by Lord John Bermingham, and they were accompanied by the Primate of Armagh, to encourage them, by his presence, to deeds of valour, and to perform the last offices for the dying. The conflict was short; victory declared for the English, and Bruce himself was slain. It is stated that it was to the desperate valour of one English knight, John Maupas, that the victory was chiefly due. This knight, persuaded that the death of Bruce would ensure victory to the English, rushed devotedly into the enemy's ranks, and after the battle, when the body of Bruce was identified, that of John Maupas was found stretched across it. Bruce's dead body was treated with the greatest indignity by the victors. It was divided into quarters, which were exhibited in various parts of the country, whilst the head was sent as a trophy to the King of England by Bermingham, who was thereupon created Earl of Louth, and given the manor of Ardee, as a reward for his Services. Whatever may have been the merits of Edward Bruce, or whatever might have resulted if he had been successful over the English in Ireland, his career in that country has not been looked upon with much favour by the Irish annalists, and his death is recorded by them in the following severe terms — “A.D. 1318.—Edward Bruce, a destroyer of Ireland in general, both Eng- lish and Irish, was slain by the English near Dundalk, and no achievement had been performed in Ireland for a long time before from which greater benefit accrued to the country than from this; for during the three and a-half years Edward had spent in it, a universal famine prevailed, so that men were wont to devour one another.” * It does not appear that Cathal, the Irish ruler of Connaught, took any part in the war which terminated by the death of Edward Bruce. Probably his attention was fully occupied in upholding his doubtful authority in his own province. He had seized the government by the deposition of a rival who had a more legitimate right to it than he had, and he had never been acknowledged by some of the most powerful subordinate chieftains. Amongst others, 140 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XI. M“Dermot of Moylurg had held aloof or openly opposed him. To gain M“Dermot's support, or to get him into his power, was of no small conse- quence to Cathal; and in the year 132O, a meeting was arranged between them, when a reconciliation took place, and MºDermot submitted and returned to his own country. This peace was shortly after broken by Cathal, who, finding an opportunity for doing so, treacherously took M'Dermot prisoner, and also made a prisoner of his wife. Whether MºDermot ever recovered his liberty is not stated, but his spirit was broken by this arrest and treachery, and two years after, in 1322, he died. tº During all this time, the deposed chieftain, Turlough, who naturally regarded Cathal as a usurper, was waiting for an opportunity to be revenged for his wrongs, and of regaining what he considered his rightful inheritance The opportunity at length arrived; and in 1325, Cathal, described as “the most energetic, the most successful, and best man of his time,” was slain by Turlough, who immediately reassumed the sovereignty. C H A P T E R X II. TURLOUGH, SON OF HUGH, SON OF OWEN O'CONOR. A.D. I.324–I 345. ºSURLOUGH, the brother of Felim, had been proclaimed King of 22 w" Connaught in 1317; but, as related above, was deposed in the following year. After his restoration in 1324, little is recorded regarding him for some years, from which we may safely conclude that those years were years of peace. One cause for this may be found in the fact, that William de Burgh, or Burke, as he now called himself, formerly “a great disturber of Connaught,” died in the same year in which Turlough O'Conor was reinstated ; and two years later, the great Earl of Ulster also died, followed shortly after by Bermingham, Earl of Louth, the conqueror of Felim and of Bruce. In the year 1327 took place the deposition of Edward II, King of England, which is thus recorded in the Annals:— “A war broke out between the King of England and his queen, who was daughter of the King of France, and she dethroned the king, and her son assumed the sovereignty against his father, in his seventeenth year, at his mother's instigation, and was crowned by the council of England.” The change in the government in England produced little or no effect, and was scarcely noticed in Connaught, where the authority of the English king had now almost entirely disappeared. At this time, the Irish chieftains and rulers had assumed, in the greater part of Ireland, all their ancient rights and privileges, and paid little attention to what was passing in England. With the resumption of these rights, all the old feuds and family quarrels appear to have revived, intensified by the additional sources of discord afforded by the animosities between the English settlers and the native chiefs. These settlers, * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1327. • 142 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XII. and especially the De Burghs, were now firmly established in the country, and had become more Irish than the Irish themselves, copying the latter even in their family feuds; and between different members of the De Burgh family disastrous conflicts were carried on. In the year 1328 the tranquillity which prevailed throughout Connaught was disturbed by an attack made on Turlough O'Conor by Walter, the son of the above-named William Burke. On this occasion, the head of that family, the Earl of Ulster, who was styled the “Brown Earl,” supported Turlough, who was also assisted by Murtough O'Brien, the provincial ruler of the Irish in Munster. For some years, in consequence of this, a most destructive conflict raged in Connaught. Walter Burke, one of the most daring of the Anglo-Irish chiefs, continued to harass and attack the Irish ruler, O'Conor ; and in 1330, aided by the M'Donoughs, he defeated him, and obliged him to fly. Burke then determined to assume the Sovereignty himself, and for this purpose collected all the English and Irish forces over which he had any control; but this attempt to constitute himself the ruler of the native Irish was too much for the older chieftains to put up with ; and MºDermot and others having joined with O'Conor, Burke was defeated, and obliged to accept terms of peace. Meanwhile, the hostility between the two branches of the family of De Burgh continued. We have seen that the Earl of Ulster assisted O'Conor against his kinsman ; and when M'Dermot and O'Conor had succeeded in defeating Walter, he took him prisoner, and conveyed him to the Castle of Innishowen, in Donegal, where he allowed him to perish by starvation. In the following year the Brown Earl himself was slain by the English of Ulster; and the English who perpetrated this deed were, in the words of the annalists, “put to death in an extraordinary manner by the people of the King of England. Some were hanged, others were shot, and others were torn asunder to avenge his death.” How little authority the King of England possessed in Connaught at this time appears not only from these wars, which were carried on without his sanction, but also from the returns made to the English Exchequer of the receipts of tribute from that country. John Morin, styled the “Escheator of Ireland,” reports, in the accounts for the years I 330 to 1334, as follows:— From “the possessions of the king, Richard de Ex., junior, answers ‘Nihil, for that Tyrdalagh O'Conghyer, prince of the Irish of Connaught, and A.D. I.328–1342.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 143 Cathal his brother, and other Irish who are in rebellion against the king, occupy and hold the said lands, so that the king's officials can get no profit out of them.” After the defeat and death of Walter Burke, his cause was taken up by his brother and successor, Edmund, between whom and the reigning ruler, Turlough, conflicts continued to arise until 1338, when O'Conor expelled him from Connaught. This Edmund Burke, shortly before his discomfiture, had taken prisoner the son of the Earl of Ulster, and having tied a stone round his neck, had him thrown into Lough Mask, and drowned like a dog, to which “foul deed” the chroniclers of the day attributed all his subsequent misfor- tunes; for “having been expelled from his estates, he remained leading a roving life in ships and boats off the west coast of Ireland.” Previously to this, in 1330, the Clann Costello, who inhabited that portion of the country now included in the eastern part of the county of Mayo, rebelled against O'Conor, and disputed his authority; upon which Hugh, the son of Felim, and nephew of Turlough, assisted by M’Dermot of Moylurg, destroyed their castle of Castlemore Costello, and brought them under subjection. In the year 1336 the King of England endeavoured to reassert his authority; and for this purpose sent over John de Wogan, with orders “to proceed to Connaught and to hold converse with O'Conor.” Nothing appears to have resulted from this conference, and Turlough most probably was at the time too much engaged in his conflicts with Burke to give any other question much attention. In the year 1339 he became divorced from his first wife, Derbalia, the daughter of Hugh O'Donnell, prince of Tyrconnell,” and he subsequently married the daughter of O’Brien and widow of the son of the Earl of Ulster. Shortly after this, he took his nephew Hugh, the son of Felim, prisoner, and confined him in the castle of Roscommon, which had at this time passed into the possession of the Irish. This attack upon the liberty of Hugh, the son of Felim, who was considered by many as the next rightful heir to Connaught, led to new disturbances, in the course of which Turlough himself was deposed, and Hugh, the son of Hugh Breifnach O'Conor, one of the “Clann Murtough,” was set up in his place, the right of succession to him being guaranteed to Hugh, the son of Felim. ' Pipe Rolls, Bermingham Tower, Dublin Castle, Vol. II., 1330–1334. * Pipe Rolls, Bermingham Tower, Dublin Castle, Vol. II., 1336. * Irish Synchronisms, Ashburnham collection. 144 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XII. This arrangement, it is scarcely necessary to say, was soon disputed. A few months after it had been entered into, Turlough O'Conor, having obtained the aid of O’Rourke and M'Rannell, overcame his opponents, expelled the “Clann Murtough" from Connaught, and no more was heard of the sovereignty of the son of Hugh Breifnach. t Two years later, Turlough O'Conor was killed in an expedition against the same “Clann Murtough,” having been struck by a javelin. Thus ended the stirring reign of this prince, who had been twice deposed, and twice reinstated. He had been married twice. He left two daughters— one named Finola, married to O'Kelly, whose monument is in the Abbey of Knockmoy ; and one named Una, married to O'Reilly. He also left two sons, Hugh and Rory, both of whom were subsequently rulers of the Irish in Connaught, C H A P T E R X. I I I. O-ºſ º-e- A.D. I.345–1384. HUGH, SON OF TURLOUGH O'CONOR. (I345–1356.) ºSURLOUGH O'CONOR having been killed as above related, his son Hugh was inaugurated in his place. As might naturally be expected, his authority was questioned from the commencement. His father had met his death in an expedition against the “Clann Murtough ;” and the head of that clan, Hugh, the son of Hugh Breifnach O'Conor, had been proclaimed king a few years before, by several of the Connaught chieftains; and to him, as the lawful king, many still looked up. Complications also arose through the insubordinate conduct of the O'Conor Sligo sept. Roderic O'Conor, the leading man of that sept, who was the son of Cathal, and grandson of Donnell O'Conor, had various contentions with O'Rourke and O’Donnell. In 1346 O'Donnell pursued and defeated him near Colooney, and shortly after MºDermot destroyed his castle of Ballymote. In 1350 Hugh, the son of Hugh Breifnach, and head of the “Clann Murtough,” was killed by O'Rourke; and thus the chief competitor, against Hugh, the son of Turlough, was removed ; but no sooner was he freed from this adversary than another more formidable one appeared in the person of his first cousin, Hugh, the son of Felim. This Hugh, as we have before seen, had previously been nominated as Tanist, or successor to Hugh Breifnach ; and on the death of the latter, his claim to the Sovereignty was renewed, and supported by MºWilliam Burke, and several of the chieftains and the people of the Tuathas." * The Tuathas, see note, p, IOO 146 TIIE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XIII. In 135 I Hugh, the son of Turlough, gained the Superiority, and defeated his cousin, Hugh, and banished him from the country, after which he assumed the government, “despite of all the English and Irish opposed to him.” Meanwhile the Clann Murtough were not inactive. In 1352 Cathal, the brother of their late chief, Hugh, attacked O'Rourke in revenge for the murder of his brother, and slew him, and numbers of the gallowglasses of M'Sweeny, who supported him; and in 1353 Hugh O'Conor himself was again deposed, and kept prisoner by M*Brennan. He shortly after regained his liberty and authority, which he retained until 1356, when he was slain by O'Kelly, for carrying off his wife. In the previous year the great enemy of his family, Edward MºWilliam Burke, was slain by the people of Galway. According to the Irish Synchronisms, this Hugh was married to Margaret, daughter of Walter de Burgh ; she died in 1365.” Aſ UGH, SON OF FELIM, 1356–1368. The condition of Ireland at this time was most deplorable. According to Leland, “a perpetual state of war oppressed and wasted the country. A want of concert and union among the Irish prevented them from demolish- ing the whole fabric of English power, by one general and decisive assault. On the other hand, the divisions and jealousies of the English race, and the neglect of those who, despising the country whence they drew their revenues, absented themselves in England, left the enemy to harass those whom they could not subdue, and obliged the subject to maintain a number of idle guards, no less vexatious and oppressive than their invaders.” The death of Hugh, the son of Turlough, resulted in new divisions and dissensions in Connaught. His first cousin, Hugh, the son of Felim, imme- diately claimed the Sovereignty, and was duly inaugurated ; but two other leaders of the O'Conors appèar to have exercised equal, if not superior, power to the nominal ruler, namely, the two Cathals, one the head of the Clann Murtough, and the other the head of the O'Conor Sligo branch. In 1357 these two leaders, who had previously been at war with each other, entered into a treaty of peace ; and in I 359, Cathal Oge (or the younger), the head of the Sligo sept, levied war on his own account ; marched against O’Donnell ; and, according to the Ammals of Ulster, subjugated Tirconnell. In the same * /rish Synchronisms, Ashburnham MS. collection, p. 97. * Leland, Vol. I., Ch. v., p. 31.5, A.D. 1356. A.D. 1351–1367.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 147 year he erected a stone bridge across the river at Ballisodare, and subsequently marched his forces into Tyrawley, and attacked the Welshmen who were Settled there; thus exercising independent and sovereign authority in Con- naught. f The year 1360 was memorable for the arrival in Ireland of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, son of Edward III., who came in the capacity of governor, accom- panied by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of William de Burgh, Earl of Ulster. In right of his wife this royal duke became Earl of Ulster—a title subsequently held by the royal family of England. His advent to Ireland was the occa- sion of a determined effort to crush out the native Irish. This naturally led to reprisals; and in 1362 the two rival O'Conors, Hugh and Cathal Oge, joined together, marched an army into Meath, attacked the English, and then proceeded as far as Kilkenny, which they partially burned, with its fourteen churches, and having inflicted great damage on the English, returned safely home. Shortly after their return Cathal Oge O'Conor died of the plague in Sligo, and a few years later the other Cathal was killed in Fermanagh, leaving Hugh, after another conflict with the Clann Murtough O'Conors, the undisputed head of the Irish in Connaught. Meanwhile the Duke of Clarence was not neglectful of the mission which he had undertaken. In 1367 he summoned a Parliament, which met in: Kilkenny, when the famous statutes, known as the Statutes of Kilkenny, were passed. The primary object of these statutes was to prevent the English settlers in Ireland from adopting any of the Irish customs or habits, or inter- marrying, or holding any communications of business with the natives. The preamble of this statute recites, not without reason, but yet in too general and indiscriminate a way, that the English of the realm of Ireland, before the arrival of the Duke of Clarence, had become “mere Irish in their language, names, apparel, and manner of living ”—had rejected the English laws and submitted to those of the Irish, with whom they had united by marriage alliances, to the ruin of the general weal. It was therefore enacted, that marriage, nurture of infants, and gossipred with the Irish, should be considered and punished as high treason. Again, it was provided by the Act, “If any man of English race shall use an Irish name, the Irish language, or the Irish apparel, or any mode or custom of the Irish,” he shall forfeit his lands and tenements until he hath given security in the Court of Chancery to conform in every particular to the English manners; or if he have no lands, that he shall be imprisoned until the like security be given. The Brehon law was pronounced to be “a pernicious custom and innovation” lately introduced among the English 148 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XIII. subjects. It was therefore ordained that in all their controversies they should be governed by the common law of England, and that whoever should submit to the Irish jurisdiction was to be adjudged guilty of high treason. As the English had been accustomed to make war and peace with the bordering enemy at their pleasure, they were now expressly prohibited from levying war upon the Irish without special license from the State. It was also made highly penal to the English to “permit their Irish neighbours to graze their lands, to present them to ecclesiastical benefices, or to receive them into monasteries or religious houses, to entertain their bards, who perverted their imaginations by romantic tales, or their news-tellers, who seduced them by false reports.” It was made felony to impose or cess any forces upon the English subject against his will; and as the royal liberties and franchises were become sanctuaries for malefactors, express power was given to the king's sheriffs to enter into all franchises, and there to apprehend traitors and felons. Lastly, because the great lords, when they levied forces for the public service, acted with partiality, and laid unequal burdens on the people, it was ordained that four wardens of the peace in every county should adjudge what men and armour every lord or tenant should provide. This statute was promulgated with great solemnity. The Parliament at which it was passed was attended by the prelates of Dublin, Cashel, Tuam, Lismore, Waterford, Killaloe, Ossory, Leighlin, and Cloyne; and the spiritual lords, the better to enforce obedience, denounced an excommunication on those who should presume to violate it in any instance." It will be seen that these enactments mainly, if not exclusively, referred to the government of the English in Ireland, and that the native Irish were referred to only as creatures to be avoided and shunned ; but this was not the light in which they regarded this legislation. The Irish, apprehending that the real object of a law, enacted and promulgated with so much pomp and appear- ance of authority, was to root them out of the land, naturally combined to- gether for safety; and some of the more powerful chieftains resolved on immediate hostilities. O'Conor of Connaught, and O’Brien of Thomond, for the moment laying aside their private feuds, united against the common foe ; and the Earl of Desmond, who marched against them with a consider- able army, was defeated and slain near Limerick.” No notice is taken of this engagement in the Irish Annals, and any advantage arising out of it was lost by the old curse of the country—family feuds and dissensions. * Leland, A.D. 1367. * Leland states that this engagement took place near the monastery of Mayo, Leland, Vol. I., p. 324. A.D. 1367–1384.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 149 Hugh O'Conor died shortly after, his death being thus recorded in the Annals:—“Hugh, the son of Felim, King of Connaught, the foremost among the Irish for valour and prowess against the English and his other enemies, died, after penance, in Roscommon, having reigned twelve years.” RODERIC, SOW OF TURLOUGH, I 368–1384. Upon the death of Hugh, the sovereignty again reverted to the descend- ants of his uncle, Turlough ; and his first cousin, Roderic, who was brother to his predecessor, Hugh, was selected as ruler. Instead of carrying on the war against the English, and following up the advantages gained by the defeat of the Earl of Desmond, the Connaught chieftains appear to have been again engaged in attacking each other. One of Roderic's first acts was to seize, by treachery, his kinsman, Teige O'Conor, the son of Manus, and to deliver him to his enemy, Donnell O'Conor, who slew him in his castle at Sligo. In 1375 the castle of Roscommon was surrendered to Roderic by his cousin, Turlough Roe, the son of his predecessor, Hugh, in exchange for the castle of Ballintober ; and in 1381 Roderic took possession of Ballintober, driving out Turlough Roe and his adherents. In 1375 he defeated the O'Kellys, who, with the assistance of the English, had attacked him ; and again, in 1377, he was successful against the allied forces of O'Kelly and Burke, in an engagement near Roscommon, in which the principal chiefs of the O'Kellys and Burkes were killed. Subsequently, O'Conor and M“Dermot, who had been united on this occasion, fell out, and another war ensued, which resulted in the spoliation of Moylurg, and the destruction of its crops and dwellings, after which peace was made with M*Dermot, who received com- pensation from Roderic O'Conor for the damage that had been done to his territory. In 1381 Roderic's wife died ; she was named Sabia, and was daughter of Ulick Burke. In the following year a conspiracy was entered into by some of the chieftains of Connaught to depose him, and to set up in his place one of the grandsons of Felim. Roderic, becoming aware of this conspiracy in time, had the chief conspirators, O’Hanly, O’Beirne, and M“Kearney, arrested, and threw them into prison. In 1383 a great plague broke out in Ireland, and multitudes died of it; and in 1384 it seized Roderic O'Conor, who died of it on the eve of St. Catherine's festival, having been King of Connaught for sixteen years and three months.” * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1368. * The Irish bard, O'Mulconry, in his catalogue of kings, thus refers to Roderic:- “For three months and sixteen years the royal Roderic held the rule At Croghan free from contest, the son of Turlough, fierce in conflicts.” C H A P T E R X I V. —-O-º-C A.D. 1384–146 I. TURLOUGH OGE, “O'CONOR DON,” SON OF HUGH. A.D. I 384–14O6. ŽITH the death of Roderic it may be said that the sovereignty of the 3, O'Conors over the Irish of Connaught ceased, not because their power ended, or that subsequently none of them were inaugurated or recognised as kings, but because, after his death, the territory was divided between two lords or kings, whose independent jurisdiction caused new calamities to the country. Heretofore, the disputes which had arisen between the rival chieftains were disputes as to the rights of succession to what was called the kingship or chieftaincy over the Irish of the whole province; but these were subsequently multiplied and intensified by further disputes as to the headship of particular branches of the family. Upon the death of Roderic, two chieftains, both named Turlough, second cousins to each other, equally claimed the Sovereignty. One of these was the son of Hugh, and grandson of Turlough, who, as men- tioned before, was king from 1325 to 1345. The other was son of another Hugh, and grandson of Felim, the brother and predecessor of the above-named Turlough. The former, called “Turlough Oge,” or Turlough the younger, was the nephew of the late king, and if the succession were to pass in that branch of the family, was the next legitimate heir. He was supported by the O'Kellys, the Clanricarde Burkes, O'Conor Sligo, and all the septs of the M’Donoughs. His rival, called “Turlough Roe,” or Turlough the Red, claimed the succession in right of his grandfather, the young and distinguished Felim, who fell in the battle of Athenry. He was supported by MºDermot of Moylurg, the Clann Murtough, and many others of the principal chieftains of A.D. 1384–1385.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 151 Sil Murray. A desultory war was the result of this difference ; and as neither party could conquer the other, the territory, according to the annalists, was, in 1385, divided between them. This division of authority struck a great blow at the power of the O'Conors; and although some of them were afterwards called Kings of Con- naught, and went through the form of an inauguration, yet their title was generally disputed by the head of the opposing clan, and instead of chief- taincy over the whole of the Irish of Connaught, each became head of distinct septs, subsequently known under the titles of the sept of O'Conor Don, and the sept of O'Conor Roe. How the title “O'Conor Don" arose, and what was its meaning, it is not very easy authoritatively to determine. Its first use in the Irish Annals appears in connection with Turlough Oge O'Conor. That the title, “O'Conor Roe,” arose from the colour of the hair of Turlough, grandson of Felim, is pretty clear. Long before the death of Roderic, this Turlough went by the name of Turlough Roe, and he is uniformly called, from the beginning of his reign as “half King of Connaught,” Turlough Roe, or O'Conor Roe. From this fact, that O'Conor Roe was certainly named the Red O'Conor, from the colour of his hair, it has been assumed, not without plausibility, that his rival, who was subsequently designated “O’Conor Don,” was so desig- nated for a similar reason, and that the word “Don,” as here used, signified “brown,” and “O'Conor Don,” the Brown O'Conor. That “Don’’ or “Donn” in the Irish language signifies under certain circumstances “brown,” is generally admitted, and one cousin being distinguished as Turlough Roe, or the Red, the conclusion by analogy was easily arrived at that the other when referred to as O'Conor Don, meant “O'Conor the Brown.” This explanation of the name and origin of the title “O’Conor Don,” has been adopted by Dr. O'Conor, Dr. O'Donovan, and other learned Irish scholars; and it may appear very presumptuous for anyone to dispute it ; yet an investigation into the circumstances connected with the first use of the title, and the way in which it is mentioned in the earliest records, leads to the conclusion that another explanation of its meaning may at least be worthy of consideration. The word “Donn,” as well as being an adjective signifying “brown,” is also a noun signifying a king, a lord, a chief Indeed, this is the primary meaning given to it in some of the most reliable Irish dictionaries ; and therefore it may not be unreasonable to suppose that the adherents of Turlough Oge called him by this title, O'Conor Don, as marking their * See O'Reilly's Irish-English Dictionary, with Supplement by O'Donovan. 152 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XIV. appreciation of his right to the supreme chieftainship. The argument in favour of this interpretation of the word does not, however, rest merely on this abstract reasoning." There are many curious contemporaneous references to O'Conor Don and O'Conor Roe, which all point in the same direction. As a mere distinctive mark to distinguish the one Turlough O'Conor from the other, no necessity existed for the use of the word “don.” Turlough O'Conor, to whom this appellation was given, was already sufficiently distin- guished as Turlough Oge, and as Turlough Oge he is designated until his death. Moreover, if the word “donn” was applied in his case to signify “brown,” we should naturally expect to find him called “Turlough Donn,” as his cousin was called “Turlough Roe ;” but this was not the form in which the appellation was used. For the first time, in 1385, we meet with the -title “Donn,” in the Annals, and there the chieftain designated by it is not called “Turlough Donn ;” he is referred to as “O’Conor Donn.” The same distinction will be found not only in the Irish Annals, but in almost all the old Irish MSS., pedigrees, and genealogies of the O'Conors, many of which of very ancient date are still in preservation; some in the Ashburnham collec- tion at the Royal Irish Academy, and others amongst the MSS. at Trinity College, Dublin.” Again, in the records of the submissions of the Irish chief- tains to King Richard II., which will be alluded to more particularly later on, we find Turlough O'Conor Don writing to King Richard, and calling his rival “Teotricus Rufus,” or Turlough the Red ; whilst he himself, in the same records, is styled “Terrelagh O'Concor Don of Connaught,” the word “don’ being written exactly as it is at the present day, and not translated into the Latin of brown. It may not, therefore, be impossible that the title “O'Conor Don of Connaught " originally meant O'Conor, King or Lord of Connaught ; but whatever may have been its origin or signification, it is pretty clear that it was not bestowed on “Turlough Oge " to distinguish him by the colour of his hair from his cousin ; and if its true signification is to be found in this latter sense, it is more than probable that Turlough Oge inherited it from his grand- father, although the general use of the distinctive title did not take place until 1385. Since that date the head of the family, or the principal chieftain * This explanation of the meaning and origin of the title “Don’’ is also borne out by the authority of Professor O'Looney, one of the best living Irish scholars, whose remarks and reasoning on the subject will be found in Appendix C. * A remarkable instance of this will be found in an ancient pedigree of the O'Conors, preserved in the Ashburnham collection, c. I. I. 871. This pedigree ends in 1461, and we may presume was compiled at that date, that is to say, in the lifetime of the son of Turlough Oge O'Conor. In this pedigree he is styled “Turlough Oge,” side by side with “Turlough Roe.” A.D. 1385–1394.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 153 amongst the descendants of this Turlough Oge O'Conor, has uniformly been styled “O'Conor Don.” The division of the territory of Sil Murray, or that part of Connaught which acknowledged the supremacy of the O'Conors, between the two cousins, does not appear to have been ever cordially acquiesced in by either, and constant disputes arose between the rival chieftains, which continued almost without intermission, until the arrival of the English monarch in Ireland. In the month of October, 1394, King Richard II. of England landed in Waterford with a very large army, composed, it is said, of 4,000 men- at-arms, and 30,000 archers. Leinster was at this time in rebellion, and the authority of England little respected anywhere; but the force which accom- panied the king on this occasion was sufficient to bring the whole island into subjection, even if all the rival Irish princes combined against the common foe. Such combination, at any time difficult, was, just then, almost absolutely impossible. The Irish kings and chieftains, who had been for more than two centuries independent of each other, and who had more or less acknowledged the supremacy of the English sovereign, were little likely to combine against him when he came to the country with such an overwhelming force; and accordingly, Richard's march from Waterford to Dublin was but a triumphal procession. O’Brien, O'More, and O’Nolan, were amongst the first to submit. M“Murrough met the Earl Marshal near Carlow, and followed their example; whilst Richard himself proceeded quickly to Drogheda, where he received the submission of O’Neil, still recognised as chief amongst the Irish princes. He then returned to Dublin, and there, during the winter, held a Royal Court with great magnificence and pageantry. To him, whilst in Dublin, came many of the subordinate Irish kings ; and the celebrated chronicler, Froissart, has preserved in his chronicles a most graphic account of the reception, and manners, and customs of these Irish princes. According to that interesting and quaint historian, four of the principal Kings of Ireland, said to be O'Neil, O'Brien, M*Murrough, and O'Conor, were amongst those who did homage to and received the hospitality of Richard.” How these Irish kings conducted themselves—how difficult it was to get them to conform to English manners— and with what disdain they at first regarded the honour of knighthood which Richard proposed to confer on them, is all most quaintly told in the ancient * The names given in the chronicle are “Aneel, the great King of Mecte; Brun, King of Thomond and of Aire; Arthur Maquemaire, King of Leinster; and Contruo, King of Chenour and Erpe.” X 154 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XIV. chronicle." The account, there given has been adopted by Dr. O'Conor and others, as proving that Turlough O'Conor Don of Connaught was among the recipients of the king's hospitality and honours. This, however, was not the case. That an O'Conor from Connaught was amongst the provincial kings who attended Richard's Court in Dublin, is very improbable; but that such O'Conor, if there was one, was not Turlough Oge is clear from the following recorded facts. * On the 3rd April, 1395, very shortly before the king's return to England, Turlough O'Conor Don, influenced probably by the example of the other Irish princes, and fearful lest his rival, Turlough Roe, should receive the support and recognition of the English monarch, wrote to King Richard a letter, which is thus referred to in the public records — On the 21st April, 1395, King Richard II. being “in a certain chamber of the Convent of the Friars Preachers, outside the walls of Kilkenny,” exhibited “a certain letter, sealed with red wax, from Teotric O'Chonchowyr (Turlough O'Conor), Lord of Connaught, an Irishman, and of great renown,” and ordered a true copy of it to be made as a public instrument. This letter was to the following effect":— “TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE AND LORD, RICHARD, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, KING OF ENGLAND AND FRANCE, LORD OF IRELAND, HOMAGE AND GREETING, &C. º “Be it known to your Majesty that hitherto the Irish chieftains (Majores) of the whole of Connaught, now under the protection of your Royal Majesty, have been subject (Sub Swnt) to me, except only a few, as true and legitimate heir of my predecessors, to whom formerly your predecessors granted lands and lordships, and as yet I possess them according to the grants, for the greater part. Although a certain other man of my race, by name Teotricus Rufus, by the help of certain Irishmen, afterwards expelled by me, desiring the lordship of me and my predecessors, although he was base born and the son of base born, desired to get for himself the district from which I am called by name in the manner of the Irish, O'Concubyr (O'Conor), who being of little power possesses some portion of land'under my protection, near my lordship. If it please your Majesty, do not put faith in messages from them until I come ; as although against the wish of divers Irishmen of my lordship, I shall certainly come to see your Royal Majesty, if your Majesty shall wish therefor, in the company of James, Earl of Ormond, who commonly speaks both languages. Also I beseech your Royal Majesty, that by the bearer of these presents you cause to be written to me whatever may be your will in the premises. Farewell, and may your Majesty flourish with freedom from your enemies. “Written at Rosschomain, the 3rd day of April. “TEOTRIC O'ConCHowyR, - “Lord of the Irish Chieftains of Connaught.” 1 Froissart's Chronicles, Vol. II., p. 580. * These documents are given in full in Appendix D. They are written in the contracted Latin of the period. The originals are preserved in the Record Office, London. A.D. 1394–1395.] THE O'CONORS OF CONN AUGHT. 155 Subsequently, in accordance with the promise contained in this letter, Turlough O'Conor Don presented himself before the king in Waterford, and there, as “Captain of his Nation,” made his submission in the manner recorded in the following extracts:— “In the name of God, Amen. Let it appear evident by the present public instrument that in the year of our Lord, 1395, on the 29th day of April, in the conventual church of the Friars Minors, situate within the City of Waterford in Ireland, in the presence of our most excellent Lord, Richard, King of England and France, and Lord of Ireland, and also of a Notary public and the under-written witnesses, Terrelagh O’Conco Don of Connaught, appear- ing and removing his mantle, hood, girdle, and dagger, on bended knees, at the foot of the said king, pronounced these words in the Irish tongue, which were by the Lord James, Earl of Ormond, faithfully rendered into English: “I, Terrelagh O'Conco Don of Connaught, Captain of my Nation, become a liegeman of my Lord, Richard, King of England and France, and Lord of Ireland, and of his heirs,’ &c. “I will be faithful to the same in all things, and will come to the said lord and his heirs, Kings of England, to his and their Parliament and Council, and elsewhere whensoever he or they shall send for me, and well and faithfully I will come to consult, and I will do in all and singular what a good and faithful liegeman ought, and is bound to do to his natural liege lord.’ “So help me God and these Holy Gospels of God.” “The Holy Gospels having been touched and kissed, and the oath taken. The said Lord our King admitted the aforesaid Terrelagh O'Conco' Don as his liege. Which being finished, William de Borg, and Bernard, son of Tatheus O'Brien, and Dormicius, son of O'Brien of Thomond, and others made similar submissions. Then the Lords Patrick and Gregory, Bishops of Ferns and Dwacensis, threw themselves on bended knees before the lord the king, and said that Bernardus O’Brien, prince of Thomond (Princeps Thomonie), and Terrelagh O'Conco Don of Connaught (Dom de Conacia), had power of doing liege homage for their nations, and those under them, that is to say, O'Conco' Don' had power to do liege homage for- “Donald O'Conho", Tumoltagh M*Donagh, Roger O'Dowd, Shawn O'Hagh, Tadeus O'Hara, Tomaltagh O'Gara, Mulroony M*Dermoda, Malachy O'Galle, Eugene O'Madagan, Christanus O'Mulrennin, Odo O'Hanly, Tadeus O'Brien, Dormicius O'Flanagan, Shane MºDearmama, and Tiernan O'Rourke. “All which things were done as above written. There being then present the Venerable Lords, Fathers in Christ, Robert, by the Grace of God Archbishop of Dublin, Richard, Tideman, Robert, Robert, and William, Bishops of Chichester, Llandaff, Ossory, Lismore, and Waterford, and Clonfert ; also Edward, Earl of Rutland and Cork; John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon, and Thomas Mowbray, Marshal of England, and Earl of Nottingham, witnesses to the premises specially called and summoned, and Thomas Sparkeford, Clerk of the Diocese of Bath and Wells, by Apostolic authority Notary Public,” &c., &c. “In the name of God, Amen. Let it appear evident by the present public instrument that in the year of our Lord, 1395, on the 1st day of May, the Lord Richard, King of England, &c., being on board the ship called ‘The Trinity,' in the Port of Waterford, Terrelagh O'Conco Don of Connaught, William de Borg, and Walter Bermynian, who some- 1 In this instance the word “Don’’ in the original Latin is marked with an abbreviation mark, as if it were an abbreviation for “Dominus.” 156 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XIV. times, as it is said, were rebels against the said king, came on board the ship aforesaid, and saluted the said king, who ‘desiring that they should not leavé his sight without a reward or honour, created them knights, and signalized each knight,’ and admitted them to the kiss of peace, and gave to them swords to be honestly used; and immediately afterwards the Lord Henry Percy, and the Lord William Arundell, knights, as a sign of such order, put golden spurs on their heels; and the aforesaid Terrelagh O'Conco Don, William de Borg, and Walter Bermynian, so created knights, as well in bending the knee as also by stretching forth of hands, according to their powers bestowed the reverence due to so great a king. “All and singular these things were done, in the year, month, day, and place above written, there being then present John Booz, Dean of the Free Chapel of the household of the king, brother John Borghulle, the king's confessor for the time being, and Thomas Merk, Monk of Westminster—and I, Thomas Sparkeford, Clerk of the Diocese of Bath and Wells,” &c., &c." A few days afterwards Richard set sail for England, having during his stay in Ireland accomplished little beyond obtaining these formal submissions of the Irish chieftains. Turlough O'Conor Don's reception amongst his countrymen, after his sub- mission to King Richard, was not of the most cordial character. As stated by himself, he had waited on the king contrary to the wishes and advice of many of his chieftains; and on his return to Connaught, the old family disputes broke out with renewed vigour. The records of each year at this period are but records of the direful consequences of these animosities, which were perpe- tuated till the death of Turlough, which took place in 1406, under the following circumstances, as narrated in the Annals of the Four Masters?:— * “O'Conor Don, i.e., Turlough Oge, son of Hugh, son of Turlough, the protector and defending tower of Connaught in hospitality and nobleness, was slain by Cathal Duv, the son of O'Conor Roe, and by John, the son of Hubert, son of Edward, son of Hubert, son of David Burke, whose mother was Bean Mumhen, grand-daughter of Felim, at the house of Richard, son of John Burke, son of Edward, son of Hubert Burke, at Cregan, in Clan Conway, and John, the son of Hubert, fell by the hand of O'Conor at the same time.” From this it would appear that O'Conor was treacherously inveigled into the house of Burke, the kinsman of O'Conor Roe, and there attacked, and that he sold his life dearly, fighting to the last, and laying low one of his assailants. tº- CATHAL, SOW OF RODER/C O'CONOR, 1406-1439. On the murder of Turlough Oge, in 1406, his adherents formally pro- claimed and inaugurated Cathal, son of his predecessor Roderic, altogether * For copy of original, see Appendix D. * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1406. A.D. I.395–1408.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 157 ignoring the claims of Turlough Roe. That they should have done so was Scarcely a matter for surprise, for, as we have seen, his legitimacy was questioned, and as O'Conor Don had been foully murdered by his son, any compact or agreement entered into with him was hardly likely to be respected by the indignant friends of the murdered chief. Accordingly, Brien, son of Donnell O'Conor (O'Conor Sligo), and other chieftains, assembled at Carnfree after the death of O'Conor Don, and there solemnly inaugurated his first cousin, Cathal, as full King of Connaught. This proceeding, as might be expected, provoked the hostility of O'Conor Roe, and in the following year he, in conjunction with M“Dermot, attacked and defeated Cathal, who, on this occasion, was assisted by M*William Burke, whilst Brian O'Conor Sligo and the M'Donoughs attacked and destroyed O'Conor Roe's castle of Tulsk. The condition of the English settlers in Ireland at this period would have been very critical had the O'Conors and other chieftains combined against them, and not wasted their resources in domestic broils. “Notwithstanding,” says Leland, “the affected superiority of the English, the power of the ancient natives was every day extending and increasing, when a reign of turbulence in England, and the reckless factions of the English lords in Ireland, deprived the Government of its necessary support. The borderers were by degrees driven to secure themselves against the inroads of the neighbouring Irish by bribes and pensions.” “Had the whole Irish race arisen as one man against the subjects of the Crown of England, they must have instantly destroyed them. But the truth is, this little handful of men—for such they were, when compared to the body of the original natives—had the same ground of security with any of the particular Irish septs. They had enemies on all sides, but these were enemies to each other; nor were any concerned to espouse the quarrels of their neighbours, or mortified by their losses or defeats.” To secure and strengthen the English interest in Ireland, “the Duke of Lancaster, when Governor of Ireland in 1408, stipulated, amongst other par- ticulars, that men and money should be provided for his use ; that the Act against absentees should be strictly enforced; and, to strengthen the English plantation still further, that one or two families should be transported to Ireland, at the king's expense, from every parish in England ; that the Royal demesnes in Ireland should be removed from those to whom they had been precipitately granted, or who had fraudulently usurped them ; and that besides * Leland, Vol. II., p. 8. * Leland, Vol. II., p. 17. 158 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XIV. the pay of his forces, an annual pension of I,OOO marks should be secured to himself for seven years, that the support of his government might not entirely depend on the precarious issues of Irish revenue.” Meanwhile, the dissensions between the Connaught chieftains con- tinued. One of them now claimed to be full King of Connaught, and to regard all others as his subjects. In 1409 O'Conor Roe laid siege to the castle of Roscommon, the chief seat of his rival, destroyed a portion of the town, and burned the monks out of the monastery, lest they might convey intelligence to the castle. On the other hand, Brian O'Conor Sligo, the active defender of O'Conor Don, hearing of this siege, set out to bring succour to his chief, and on his arrival, succeeded in throwing provisions into the castle, and forced O'Conor Roe to retire. This was followed by attacks on O'Conor Roe's territory, which were subsequently followed by reprisals. In 14 Io a change took place in the sovereignty of England, Henry V. being proclaimed king ; but this does not appear to have had any effect in Ireland, where a viceroy, named Stanley, Sent Over in I4I4, appears to have been particularly obnoxious; and is stated to have shown no mercy to ecclesiastic, layman, or literary man, but to have plundered all with whom he came in contact. He died shortly after his arrival, his death being ascribed by the chroniclers of the times to the bitter poetic satires of O'Higgins of Westmeath, whom he had plundered. Stanley was succeeded as viceroy by Sir John Talbot, otherwise called Lord Furnival, who, during his administration, brought many of the Irish chieftains under subjection, although in Connaught his power does not appear to have been considerable. In that province no events worthy of note occurred until 1418, when O'Kelly erected the small castle of Roscommon opposite the large one, in the space of fifteen days, in spite of the opposition of the sons of O'Conor Don and their allies; and although the sons of O'Conor Sligo, with a great force, attempted to demolish it, they failed in doing so. O'Kelly erected this castle as a point of attack on the great castle, which was the stronghold of O'Conor Don; and O'Conor Sligo, not being able to destroy the small castle, provisioned the large one, and then retired. In 1422 Henry V., King of England, died in France, and his son, then an infant, was proclaimed king. This event is not even noticed in the Annals, but was followed in 1423 by an attack on the English by O'Neill and O'Donnell, in which the English were defeated; after which peace was made * Leland, Vol. II., p. 6. A.D. 1408–1446.] THE O'CONORS OF CONN AUGHT. 159 with the viceroy; Dundalk and all the surrounding country, with its English inhabitants, being put under tribute to the Irish. In 1426 Turlough Roe (O'Conor Roe) died. His death by no means terminated the disputes between the rival families of O'Conors. The sons of O'Conor Roe continued the contest. The castle of Tulsk, which had been erected by O'Conor Roe in 1407, was the first object of contention. It had been taken from O'Conor Roe by O'Conor Don ; and in 1430 it was retaken by Cathal Duv, the son of O'Conor Roe, who continued to annoy and harass O'Conor Don until 1433, when he died. Upon his death the family feud was continued by his brother Teige, who attacked and destroyed a great part of the castle of Ballintober. The ease with which the Irish could have regained possession of their native land at this time, if they had only for a short time been united, appears from a record of the year 1430, in which, to use the words of Leland," “we find the limits of the English pale as it stood in the ninth of Henry VI., defined in such a manner as gives a mortifying idea of the extent of the English power at this period. It informs us that the enemies and rebels had conquered and put under their tribute well-nigh all the counties of Limerick, Tipperary, Kilkenny, and Wexford; and in the nether parts, well-nigh all the counties of Carlow, Kildare, Meath, and Uriel; SO that there is left unconquered and out of tribute little more than the county of Dublin.” Yet no advantage was taken of this state of things by the native kings or chieftains to consolidate their power, and all their resources and strength were wasted in futile family feuds. After a long reign spent in such exploits, Cathal O'Conor, styled by the annalists “King of Connaught,” died in 1439. FIUGH, SON OF TURLOUGH OGE, AND TEIGE, SOAV OF TURLOUGH ROE, A.D. I.439–1461. The hostilities between the O'Conors were renewed and intensified after the death of Cathal; and two rival chiefs were again set up in the persons of Teige, the son of O'Conor Roe, and Hugh, the son of Turlough Oge, or O'Conor Don. The former was recognised by all the clan Felim, as they now called themselves; and the latter by O'Conor Sligo, and the M'Donoughs, whose territory of Tirrerill, in the county of Sligo, was, in 1446, divided between * Leland, Vol. II, p. 23. 160 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XIV. two chieftains of the M“Donough clan, much upon the same principle as the chieftaincy of Connaught had been already divided between the two O'Conors. About this time the Duke of York was selected by the king for the government of Ireland, and landed at Howth, in July, I449. In undertaking the office of viceroy, or chief governor of Ireland, he stipulated that he should be the king's lieutenant for ten years, and that to support the charge he should receive all the king's revenue without account, and that he should also be supplied with treasure out of England, namely, 4,OOO marks the first year, and 2,000 advanced beforehand, and for the other nine years, 1,000 a year; that he might let or farm any of the king's lands, and place or displace all officers at his pleasure; that he might levy what men he thought fit, and might be at liberty to appoint a deputy and return at his pleasure. He was received with every mark of respect by the Irish princes, and his administration, which lasted eight years, was conducted with Such moderation and equity, that he became popular with all parties in Ireland. The great authority with which he was invested did not, however, put an end to the quasi- regal privileges enjoyed by the Irish chieftains. O'Conor Don, in Con- naught, still exercised rights quite inconsistent with the position of a subject. In 1451, a dispute having arisen between some members of the clan O'Kelly, of Hy Many, he marched an army into the territory, settled the dispute, and took one of the O'Kelly's sons as a hostage. Similar acts of independent authority are constantly recorded at this period, and the Supreme powers of the viceroy appear to have been mainly confined to the district of the English pale. In 1460, the Duke of York returned to England to dispute the throne with King Henry VI., and a great number of the Anglo-Irish accompanied him, and fought on his side at the battle of Wakefield, in which he himself was slain, and his army defeated—a defeat which was, however, followed in the next year by the deposition of King Henry, and the succession of the Duke of York's son, Edward, to the throne. In the same year, 1461, to use the words of the annalists, “Hugh, Son of Turlough Oge O'Conor, half-king of Connaught, in opposition to Teige O'Conor, a worthy representative of a king, in form and personal figure, in valour and warfare, and in patronage of learned men, and of all others who were deserving of it, died in the town of Toberbride, commonly called Ballin- tober, on the ides of May, after unction and penance, in the sixty-third year of his age, and he was buried in Roscommon.” C H A P T E R X. V. C -ºº-Q FELIM (GEANCACH) “O'CONOR DON,” SON OF TURLOUGH OGE. A D. I.461–1474. in Connaught. Teige O'Conor Roe, who might have looked for chief control on the death of his rival, was prevented from so doing by dissensions amongst his own family. One of his sons, named Felim Finn, who subsequently became famous as a warrior and chief- tain, broke out into rebellion, and was taken prisoner by his own kinsmen, aided by Roderic, the son of O'Conor Don ; but having been liberated through the instrumentality of M*William Burke, immediately after his re- lease, summoned his adherents to Carnfree, and was there installed as King of Connaught by M“Dermot. O'Conor Roe, who also for a time was a prisoner in the hands of the sons of O'Conor Don, did not long Survive this. Having surrendered whatever power he possessed into the hands of his more daring son, he died in 1464 and was interred in Roscommon, his obsequies being attended by the repre- sentatives of all branches of the O'Conor sept." “In the Book of Kilroman, quoted in the account of the Irish MSS. at Stowe by Dr. O'Conor, p. 76, the following account of the death and burial of this Teige is given —“A.D. 1464. Teige O'Conor died, and was buried in Roscommon, the nobility of Connaught all witnessing the interment, so that not one of the Connaught kings, from the reign of Cathal of the Red Hand, was more honourably interred, and no wonder, since he was the best of the Kings of Connaught, considering the gentleness of his reign. There was no King of Connaught after him. They afterwards obtained the title of O'Conor; and because they were not themselves steady to each other, they were crushed by lawless power, and the usurpation of foreigners.” To this extract Charles O'Conor of Belanagare, who annotated these Annals, adds: “May God forgive them their sins. Domine, ne statuas nobis hoc peccatum. This extract is taken from the Book of Kilronan, which has the approbation of the Four Masters attached to it, by me Cathal O'Conor, of Belanagare, 2nd August, 1778.” Y 162 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XV. From the death of Hugh O'Conor in 1461, to the death of Felim in I474, there is not in the Irish Annals any statement which would show that Felim succeeded to the chieftaincy of the O'Conor Don Sept directly on the death of his brother. There is no account of his election or inaugu- ration ; and were we dependent on these Annals alone, it would be impos- sible to state positively that the O'Conor Don referred to frequently in the interval was this Felim or not. Dr. O'Donovan, in his MS., as also Dr. O'Conor and his grandfather, Charles O'Conor, enter Felim as the immediate successor of his brother. There is no reason for supposing any- thing to the contrary. Felim, who, from some physical defect, was called Geancach, or the crooked-backed, must have been, at the time of his brother's death, nearly sixty years old," as his father died in 1406; and it is scarcely likely that he would have been passed over then, and subsequently elected chief of the sept, which position he undoubtedly held before his death in 1474. Although the O'Conors could not any longer justly claim to be rulers even of the Irish in Connaught, and although most of Felim's time appears to have been spent peaceably in his castle of Ballintober, yet there is little doubt that as chieftain he still exercised extraordinary and almost semi-regal authority, and that a form of election or inauguration was still gone through. The nature of this authority will appear from the following records. In 1465° a dispute having arisen as to the succession to the chieftaincy of the MºDermots, a conference was arranged to be held at Carnfree, and the decision as to the disputed chieftaincy was left to O'Conor. To this con- ference O'Conor Don, O'Kelly, and the rival M*Dermots repaired; but instead of an amicable settlement, a conflict arose, one of the MºDermots was slain, and O'Conor Don was overthrown. In 1467 the island of Lough Cairgin” was taken by O'Conor Don ; and in the following year conflicts took place between Felim Finn (O'Conor Roe) and O'Conor Don." At this period Felim Finn was the leading warrior amongst the O'Conors, and his exploits in this and the succeeding years are the chief events recorded in the Annals. A portion of the O'Conor Roe sept, distin- guished as the “Clan Felim,” sided with O'Conor Don and against Felim Finn in these conflicts, which continued almost without interruption until 1470, when * In a MS. left by Charles O'Conor the elder, of Belanagare, one of the most accurate antiquarians of his day, it is stated that Felim was born in 1402, which would make him fifty-nine years of age when his brother died. *Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1465. *O’Donovan says this island, near Ardkillen, in the county of Roscommon, was taken from O'Conor Roe. * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1468. A.D. 1470–1474.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 163. tranquillity was restored, and peace made between Felim Finn and the rest of the O'Conors." This tranquillity was soon disturbed by O’Donnell, Prince of Tirconnell, who in 1470 made an incursion into Connaught, and took the castle of Sligo from Donnell O'Conor, head of the O'Conor Sligo sept, and father-in- law to O'Conor Don. This Donnell O'Conor had in his possession at this time a number of valuable and ancient Irish MSS., which O’Donnell also carried off. One of these, the “Leabhar na-h-Uidhri,” is still preserved, and has been frequently referred to in the course of this History. This MS., one of the oldest Irish MSS. still in existence, consists of I 38 folio pages, and was compiled before the year I IO6, as in that year its author died. It had been taken from the O'Donnells and carried into Connaught about the year 1342, and thus had been in possession of O'Conor Sligo for more than a century, when it was forcibly recovered by Hugh O'Donnell. Very little evidence is preserved of the exercise of English authority in Connaught at this period ; and scarcely any reference is made in the Irish Annals to the proceedings of the English, except in regard to the execution of Thomas Fitzgerald, Earl of Desmond, who was removed from the position of lord deputy by King Edward IV., and executed at Drogheda. His removal from the position of Governor of Ireland is ascribed by the annalists to the animosity of the Queen, Elizabeth Gray, of whom he was supposed to have spoken disrespectfully. His removal was lamented, as having “caused the ruin of Ireland.” His successor, Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, was evidently extremely unpopular, and he too fell into disgrace, and was executed in 1470 ; according to the Irish accounts, “through the curse of Ireland, for his treachery and wickedness in procuring the death of the Earl of Desmond.” Shortly after this, in 1471, O'Conor Don's nephew, Roderic, the son of his brother Hugh, styled “the heir presumptive of Connaught,” was killed by MºWilliam Burke; and three years later, in 1474, Felim O'Conor Don himself lost his life in endeavouring to settle a dispute with O'Kelly. Felim Geancach O'Conor had married Edwina, daughter of O'Conor Sligo, above referred to, and by her had two sons, Owen, who was taken prisoner in the same encounter in which his father lost his life, and Roderic, who predeceased him. After Felim's death two lords were set up in Connaught, Donough Dubhshuileach O'Conor, of the O'Conor Roe sept, and Teige O'Conor, probably the grandson of Roderic, who had been chieftain, and who died in I 384. * Annals of the Four Aſſasſers, A.D. 1470. * Annals of the Four J/asſers, A. D. 1470, 164 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. xv. THE CASTLE OF BALLINTOBER. The castle of Ballintober, the chief seat of the O'Conors, in which Felim spent most of his time, deserves more than a passing notice. This castle, to which allusion has been already frequently made, was one of the principal strongholds of the Irish, and does not appear to have ever been for any con- siderable length of time in the possession of the English. No record remains to show when it was first erected. According to tradition, it dates back to the time of Cathal Crovedearg, and to the reign of King John. It is first mentioned in the Irish Annals about a century later, and between that time and the period at which we have now arrived it underwent many vicissitudes. It was fre- quently besieged, often partially destroyed, sometimes burned, then restored, and was constantly an object of contention between the rival chiefs. The plan of the castle consisted of a quadrangular enclosure, varying from 277 to 264 feet in length, and from 256 to 247 feet in breadth. It was defended by strong towers at each angle, and by two others, one at each side of the grand entrance, which opened upon an esplanade at the end of the ridge towards the east. The whole was surrounded by a broad fosse. On the south and to the east the fosse was constructed to retain water; and even to the present day, on the former side, it accomplishes this purpose, and enough of water remains to show the object of its construction. On the two opposite sides, the ditches, deep, broad, and cut into the rock, are at present quite dry; but as they lie below the level of the water, these also could on any occasion be flooded. There appears to have been once a draw-bridge from the postern gate opening out on the crest of the ridge. The grand towers are all polygonal, but there is a want of symmetry in their construction, no two agreeing in the number and length of their sides. The south-west tower presents six faces on the exterior, the north-west five, the north-east seven, and the south-east six. The sides of the north-west tower are respectively in length, beginning at the west curtain, 22 ft. 6 in.; 9 ft. 9 in. ; I I ft. ; and II ft. 7 in. The south-east tower is about 30 feet in breadth, and it and all the towers are elongated towards the interior of the great court. The towers, especially the two to the west, had very substantial walls, through which, in the lower parts, there were loop-holes for defence; the upper stories being furnished with windows of habitable apartments. The interior of each has been for a long time in a ruinous state, the two to the east being completely gutted. In the north-west tower, some doorways, with lancets and flatly-pointed arches A.D. I.47O-I474.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 165 in very pleasing proportion, remain in tolerable preservation ; and a fire-place and chimney-piece, with arms bearing the date 1627, appear on the walls of the third story, but the floors of the upper stories have altogether disappeared. The grand portal to the east was protected by towers rounded at the outer side, but elongated within, like those of Beaumaris Castle, in Wales. The curtain walls between the towers were about 5 ft. 8 in. thick at the height of the great inner court of the castle, but much thicker at the foundation ; they were provided with loop-holes and flights of steps, which are still passable. The number of rooms in the four towers was about twelve, and some of them of very fair size.” The great court or area in the interior of the castle was, according to O'Donovan, at one time probably occupied by inhabited houses, in which the followers of O'Conor resided. Writing to Sir Thomas Larcom on Ist July, 1837, he says: — “To-day I examined the princely ruins of the castle of Ballintober. It was a little town in itself, enclosing an area of about one Irish acre. It was nearly a square bawne, defended at the four angles by four towers of respectable strength and size. I spent my whole day climbing its walls and towers, and must now make up for lost time by writing at this late hour (12 o'clock). I examined every hole and corner in it; but as you will have a description of it from the officer who surveyed the district, my unmilitary remarks would be worth nothing. But I can throw out conjectures, which might perhaps never occur to any military man, viz., that the area enclosed by those martial walls was not altogether a blank space for the reception of cattle, but that several houses stood on it. Of this conjecture, the following passage from the Ammals of the Four Masters will afford abundant evidence — “‘A.D. 1434.—O'Kelly, M*Dermot, and Teige, the son of O'Conor Roe, set out to attack Ballintober ; and a battle was fought between them and the people of that town, in which many were wounded, both within and without the town. One of the party who were without took a chip from the end of a wattle which he held in his hand, and having tied this chip to the end of the wattle, he set fire to it, and then cast the wattle into the bawne. It stuck in the side of a house which caught fire, and was burned, as was also the adjoining house, and finally the greater part of the town. The bawne was also burned, and a vast deal of property which was in the town was destroyed and consumed on this occasion.’ “Now I infer from this passage that the walls of the castle of Ballintober, which are very extensive indeed, contained several rows (streets) of houses.” *See Weld's Statistical Survey of Co. Roscommon, p. 383. * O'Donovan's letters on Ordnance Survey, preserved in Royal Irish Academy. 166 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP, XV. Other references in the Annals also bear out O'Donovan's conjecture. For instance, we learn that in 1487 the sons of Felim Finn “burned the bawne ;” and that subsequently O'Donnell and other chieftains committed like de- struction, which would hardly have been possible if the interior space had not been covered with combustible habitations. From the earliest date at which any reference is made to it in history until its destruction as a habitable residence towards the end of the seventeenth century, Ballintober castle appears to have been, with some slight interrup- tions, in the possession of the O'Conors, and their principal stronghold. When they divided into the two septs of O'Conor Don and O'Conor Roe, it became the residence of the former. In 1526 we read that Lord Kildare took the castles of Ballintober and Castlerea, and handed them over to O'Conor Roe, from whom they were retaken in the following year by O'Conor Don, aided by O’Donnell. In 1571 Sir Edward Fytton, Governor of Connaught, again took the castles of Ballintober and Castlerea, and razed the latter to the ground, and Ballintober apparently remained in possession of the English until the year 1581, when the Ammals of Loch Ce inform us that “Ballintober, which the Saxons had, was given to Dualtach, Son of Toole O'Conor.” This Dualtach was the nephew of O'Conor Don, and had set up in rivalry to him. Apparently the castle did not long remain in Dualtach's possession, as shortly after we find O'Conor Don again in occupation, and there he died in 1585. In this same year the castle and lands adjoining it were surrendered to Queen Elizabeth by his son and successor, Hugh O'Conor Don, who received them back under patent from the English sovereign. In 1598, as is hereafter related, the walls of the castle were battered down by O’Donnell, who, having defeated the English at the battle of the Curlieus, attacked O'Conor Don, and obliged him to surrender. Whether the castle was ever subsequently fully restored is doubtful ; but as it appears from an ancient MS. in the Ashburnham collection that a considerable portion of it was rebuilt by Sir Hugh O'Conor after O'Donnel's attack, it is more than probable that he completely restored it—a conclusion borne out by the fact that during the parliamentary wars in the seventeenth century, the castle was considered so strong that the English commanders abstained from attempting to take it. How the castle and an immense territory in the surrounding country were confirmed by patent to Sir Hugh O'Conor Don by King James I., in 1617, and how it became the chief meeting-place of A D. I.474.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 167 the Catholics of Roscommon, immediately preceding and during the disastrous civil war of 1641, is all fully narrated later on." Charles O'Conor, the grandson of this Sir Hugh, was the last of the O'Conors who resided in Ballintober. Probably when he left it, it ceased to be inhabited, and became the ruin into which pillagers for well-dressed stones speedily converted it. After Charles O'Conor's death it passed into the hands of the Burkes of Portumna. A foolish attempt, made by Alexander O'Conor, of Clonalis, to recover it by force in 1786 led to its sale by its then owners; and under the provisions of a private Act of Parliament, it was sold in the year 1790, and purchased by Mr. Maurice Mahon, of Strokestown House, to whose descendants it now belongs. *In a description of the county Roscommon, written in 1683, by Mr. Keogh, the MS. of which is in the Royal Irish Academy, he refers to Ballintober as “the royal seat of the Kings of Connaught, of O'Conor Don, whose family was the chief of the O'Conors.” C H A P T E R XV I. O-º-º-º-e A.D. I.476–I 503. OWEN (CAECH) “O'CONOR DON,” SON OF FELIM GEANCACH. A.D. I.474–1485. YETWEEN the death of Felim O'Conor in 1474, and the death of | his son Owen in 1485, little reference is made to the latter in any of the public records of the period, from which we may safely conclude that he was more peacefully inclined than some of his predecessors. He did not immediately succeed to the chieftaincy after his father's death, as he was in captivity at that time, and, as mentioned above, the O'Conor Don sept was for a short period represented by a certain Teige O'Conor. This Teige was killed in 1476, when Owen, surnamed Caech, or the short-sighted, assumed the chieftaincy. He married Dervorgilla," the daughter of Felim Finn, O'Conor Roe, and accordingly we find him and Felim Finn close allies in all the family conflicts which subsequently arose. These con- flicts were varied by attacks made by O’Donnell upon O'Conor Sligo and the English, and for several successive years little is recorded in the Irish chronicles save the exploits of O’Donnell. In 1478 the annalists record that disputes arose “between Felim Finn and O'Conor Don on the one side, and the young sons of Teige O'Conor, the descendants of Felim, and the sons of O'Conor Roe on the other,” and Turlough Roe, the son of Roderic, the son of Felim, “a choice son of a king, was slain.” At this period the English influence in Connaught was very * O'Donovan states that this lady was married to Owen's son, Carbry, but this cannot be correct, as she died in 1476, and Carbry was born about the year 1475. A.D. I.474–1489.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 169 slight. The wars between the houses of Lancaster and York deluged England with blood, and left very little time for attention to the affairs of Ireland. These civil dissensions ended in 1471 by the battle of Tewkesbury, and the death of King Henry VI. ; but new troubles shortly after arose in 1483, on the death of King Edward IV., when the newly proclaimed and youthful Edward V. was murdered by his uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, who himself fell two years later in the battle of Bosworth. In the same year, 1485, in which King Henry VII. came to the throne of England, Owen Caech O'Conor died after a long illness. He was, according to the annalists, a “successful and warlike prince,” and in these troublesome times maintained the position which had been handed down to him. HUGH, SON OF HUGH, SON OF TURLOUGH OGE, A.D. 1485. On the death of Owen Caech, his first cousin Hugh, the son of Hugh, who was the recognised chief of the O'Conors from 1439 to 1461, succeeded to the chieftaincy. The friendship and alliance which had subsisted between his predecessor and Felim Finn O'Conor ceased on Hugh's accession, and in 1481 Ballintober Castle, the chief seat of O'Conor Don, was plundered and burned by the sons of Felim Finn. Wiser counsels, however, soon prevailed, peace was made between the combatants, and a portion of territory was assigned to Felim Finn. In the year 1488, Roderic, the son of O'Conor Don, and Donough Dubhshuileach O'Conor Roe, both died, and on the death of the latter, Felim Finn was inaugurated in his place, all the ceremonies of inauguration being gone through, including the placing on his foot of the royal shoe or slipper by M“Dermot, which, as before explained, signified the subjection of the other chieftains to his authority. Felim Finn's assumption of the full authority of the chieftainship was soon followed by a fresh outbreak of hostilities. His son Turlough was slain in 1489, in an encounter near Castlerea, whilst he himself was attacked at Ardkillen, and his own gallowglasses proving unfaithful, he was obliged to fly for protection to O'Kelly in Hy Many. Here he succeeded in reorganizing * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. I489. O'Donovan, in a note to this (p. 1168), says: “Caislen Riabhach (Castlerea), i.e., “the grey castle,’ a small town in the old barony of Ballintober, county Roscommon. By a late Grand Jury arrangement the barony flas been called Castlerea, after the little town itself. The castle from which it was named stood on the west side of the town; but no ruins of it are now visible.” Z 170 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XVI. his forces, and marching to Ballintober, destroyed the bawn, and then pro- ceeded to Ballaghcullia, where he received the hostages of the people." Felim Finn did not long survive these exploits. He died on Easter Monday, in 1490, and was interred in the burial-place of his ancestors, in Roscommon. He is described in the Irish Annals as “a brave and warlike man, who had spread the fame of his name through every territory around him, and a man whom the Sil Murray expected to have united all Connaught.” After his death his son Rory was inaugurated as his successor. Described as a man “happy in peace and valiant in war,” and as “having lived a long and well-spent life,” he died in 1492, and was buried in Tulsk. In 1497, O'Donnell having attacked MºDermot of Moylurg, all the O'Conors appear to have united in the defence of the latter, and their allied forces defeated O’Donnell. These incessant conflicts and disturbances between the Irish chiefs produced their natural effect upon the country. The crops being each year destroyed, “an awful famine” arose, “so that people ate food such as was not fit to be mentioned, or was never served on dishes for human food.” Disease followed in the track of hunger, and the province of Con- naught seemed to be delivered over to the three plagues of war, famine, and pestilence. Yet the former of these plagues ceased not. Wars and civil strife flourished in the midst of the other terrible calamities. In 1499, Garret, Earl of Kildare and Lord Justice of Ireland, marched an army into Connaught, took Athleague from O'Kelly, and the castle of Tulsk from the tribe of Felim Cleragh O'Conor, and also the castles of Roscommon and Castlerea. And having delivered the hostages which he had taken to Hugh O'Conor Don, “the second Lord over Connaught,” he returned again to Leinster. This interposition on his behalf by the Lord Justice rendered Hugh O'Conor Don very unpopular with his own countrymen. He was shortly after expelled across the Shannon by MºDermot, with the general consent of the Sil Murray," but was subsequently reinstated through the instrumentality of M*William Burke, who gave him the castle of Tulsk, and made terms with M“Dermot. After this Hugh O'Conor appears to have withdrawn from public life. His name is not subsequently mentioned, and when he died or was removed from the chieftaincy is a matter of uncertainty; but as it is recorded that a Q. * Ammals of the Four Masters. Ballaghcullia, a townland close to present town of Belanagare, county Roscommon. * Annals of the Four Masters. * Annals of the Four Masters. “Annals of the Four Masters, | | | | | | | | | | A.D. I489—1503.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 171 certain Turlough Oge O'Conor was “O'Conor Don,” and died in Ballintober after a long illness, in 1503, it would appear that Hugh must have died at an earlier period." THE CASTLE OF ROSCOMMON. The castle of Roscommon, above alluded to as having been taken by the Earl of Kildare in 1499, although originally built by the English, had, long anterior to the period at which we have now arrived, passed into the posses- sion of the O'Conors. It had been the object of contention for many years; first between the English and the Irish, and subsequently between the two rival clans of O'Conor Don and O'Conor Roe. First erected by the English justiciary, Robert de Ufford, in 1269,” when Hugh O'Conor, the King of Connaught, was ill, it was destroyed by him, on his recovery, in 1272, and shortly after re-erected, to be destroyed again, in I276, by the same Hugh, the son of Felim. It was again rebuilt in 1276; and, from this date, until far into the next century, it remained in the hands of the English, and was one of their principal strongholds in Ireland. It appears from an entry in the English State Papers that the castle was originally built upon land belonging to the friary of Dominican monks at Roscommon; and in 1276 a fee of fifteen marks was paid “to brother Maurice, Bishop of Elphin, being his fee for the site of the castle of Roscommon.” - * This brother Maurice, son of Nial O'Conor, was one of the royal house of Connaught, and having first entered the Dominican monastery of Roscommon, was made Bishop of Elphin in the year 1265, and received the royal confirma- tion in 1266. He was a witness to the deed by which an exchange of land was effected between the king and the prior of the convent of St. Coman in the year 1282, as before related. - - The plan of the castle, like Ballintober, consisted of a quadrangle, * About this time the possession of the castle of Ballintober was in dispute between two members of the O'Conor family; and in 1505 it is recorded that the castle was given to that O'Conor who was the descendant of Grace O’Kelly. Who this was is not clearly defined, nor is it easy to determine whose son was Turlough Oge O'Conor above referred to. The family descent is not, however, in any way affected by this. - - *Some Irish writers assert that a castle had been built at Roscommon long anterior to this date, and that De Ufford merely restored it. *Account of Stephen, Bishop of Waterford, the King's Treasurer in Ireland, of receipts and ex- penditure between Michaelmas, 1275, and Michaelmas 1276.—Irish Exchequer Papers. * Ware's Works, by Harris, Vol. I., p. 630. 172 - THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. xvt. defended at each angle by a tower. Two others, on the east side, protected the principal entrance. Unlike Ballintober, the towers at Roscommon were rounded on the outer side, whilst the inner parts terminated in different styles. The lower parts of the castle were undoubtedly devoted to defence and the accommodation of the garrison; whilst the upper parts contained the principal habitable apartments. In the lower parts, the walls were doubled ; and inner bulwarks, and narrow passages, afforded a safe retreat from any projectiles which might have passed in through the loop-holes. The roof of these parts consisted of thick vaults of stone. In the upper stories the windows were airy and even spacious, and the remains of fire-places are still visible in the walls. The largest windows were not in the highest story, but in the one below, which marks it as having contained the principal apartments. The windows were all rectangular, divided, for the most part, by a Latin cross; but in some cases there were two, three, and even four uprights, dividing the window into small squares, in the style of the age of Queen Elizabeth." The grand entrance was not placed in the centre of the eastern side, but nearer to the northern end than to the southern. On the western side there was another gate of lesser dimensions, which stood higher above the foundations in a rectangular tower or bastion 28 feet in width. This entrance was not placed directly opposite the grand one, but was still nearer to the northern end. If there had ever been a fosse round the castle, it has long since been filled up. That there was such a fosse is almost certain, as, in the ancient records, constant reference is made to the water round the castle, and to a lake in close proximity to it. This lake has also altogether disappeared.” Between 1276, when the castle was rebuilt, and 1340, when it had certainly passed into the possession of the O'Conors, numer- ous entries will be found in the English State Papers of payments made on account of its expenses.” In 1282, W. Brun and Nicholas Dod were paid A 17 IIs. 9d. for “fortifications for castle of Roscommon,” and in I283, John Pasavent, 4, 18 2s. Od. for same purpose. In 1285, Gregory de Coquille received * See account of this castle in Weld's Suzzley of Co. Roscommon, p. 438. * O’Donovan, in his letters to Sir Thos. Larcom on the Ordnance Survey, which are preserved in the library of the Royal Irish Academy, says, in reference to this castle and lake:— “The castle is a very extensive ruin, in tolerable preservation; but in some places modernised by the insertion of large windows. To the west of this castle extended, not many years ago, a lake of con- siderable extent, called Loch-na-nean, or the Lake of the Birds, from the remarkable number of water birds which used to frequent it. This lake is now entirely dried up, and might be called the turlach of Roscommon.” * See Calendar of State Papers (Sweetman) under the different years A.D. 1503.] THE O'ConoRS OF CONNAUGHT. - 173 A 129 6s. 2d. for “works at the castle of Roscommon ;” and in I290, £300 was granted to Geoffrey Brun for fortifying the castle. During the same period half-yearly payments were made, varying from fifty marks to 650, for the custody of the castle ; and numerous entries for wines and victuals, supplied to its keepers, appear in each year's accounts. What was the value of these payments may be estimated when we re- member that, at that time, a cow was worth from 5s. to 13s. 4d. ; a heifer from 3s. 4d. to 5s. ; a sheep from 8d. to Is...; ordinary horses from I 3s. 4d. to 40s, and a pig from Is. 6d. to 2s." In connection with the supply of wines and victuals to this castle, the following amusing complaint, made in 1284, against Stephen, Bishop of Water- ford, Justiciary of Ireland, will be found amongst the documents of the Irish Exchequer. It is headed — “How THE BISHOP of WATERFORD, JUSTICIARY OF IRELAND, BECAME RICH. “The justiciary is buyer and receiver of nearly all wines coming into Ireland. He buys them for the K.'s use, and places them in cellars. He sends to the K. and sells such as he pleases: dearer to the K. and of the worst. He did likewise to Robert de Ufford. His wines being for sale, by his own vendors, he will not permit other merchants to sell their wines: and so of corn. “By reason of the Welsh war he now buys granges of rectors, abbots, and others at low prices. “He sent to the K. at his own price his bad corn from the farms of Swords, Santry, and elsewhere. “He sends his wines at his own price for supplies of castles; other victuals in like manner to Roscommon, Randown, Roscrea, and elsewhere. “Credible persons say that the account of Clemenzan, his merchant, who undertook to sell the justiciary's wines as if they were the K.’s, was so settled, that he demised his manor of Rath near Maynooth. “There can be no contention in regard to land in Ireland, but the justiciary must have a share in it. By grievous amercements and charges, he imposes the necessity of selling on those who will and those who will not to sell. “He is enriched by the mint and the customs thereof. “No person can be in any office whether as sheriff or constable except by his gift. “He is enriched by taking fines from imprisoned mariners, charging them with having badly preserved corn in ships carrying it to the K. in Wales. And it was his own unused corn coming from Swords and Santry. “He is also enriched by carrying out works in castles, houses, walls round the Exchequer, and mills, which he causes to be erected without view: he makes one work under another, so that the cost of one or the other cannot be known. “Credible persons say that he thus becomes enriched beyond measure.” * Gilbert's History of the Viceroys of Ireland, p. 121. 174 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. xvi. That the justiciary was not the only person accused of taking the king's money and goods, in connection with this castle, will appear from the following. On 30th August, I284, William de Prene was appointed the king's carpenter in Ireland, under patent to the following effect:- “Having learnt by testimony of the K.’s council in Ireland, that William de Prene, carpenter, is useful and necessary to the K. for carpentry works at his houses and castles in Ireland, the K. appoints him to do these works by counsel of the Justiciary of Ireland, for the time being, and grants him 12d. a day for his maintenance, and 40s. a year for his robes, payable at the Exchequer of Dublin, so long as he shall, of the K.’s will, well and faithfully discharge that office.” This William de Prene was subsequently charged before brother William FitzRoger, Prior of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in Ireland, and his associates, the justices itinerant of the county of Dublin, as follows:– “William de Prene, carpenter, was attached and charged, that whereas he was keeper of the K.’s work at Roscommon, he stole of the K.’s iron, where with he bound a cart; after- wards he loaded the cart with iron nails, to wit, “ spikeinges,’ caused them to be furtively carried to Dublin, and sold them to his own use ; that whereas he was keeper and master- carpenter throughout Ireland, he frequently rendered account of more workmen than he employed, so embezzling the money of the K. and Queen, to the damage of £300. That whereas he ought to have been at Glincry and Newcastle, looking after the Queen's workmen, he attended to his own works, and hired other workmen at the K’s. expense, at 8d. a day, so cheating the K. to the amount of £10. William denied all these charges, and put himself on 12 men.” William was accordingly tried, and found guilty of some of the charges and acquitted of others, whereon he “made a fine to the K. of £200 to have peace,” &c. Subsequently he made an appeal to the king to the following effect, which appeal was referred to the justiciary, William De Vescy:— ‘‘William de Prene had complained that whereas no one in the K.’s realm, or in Ireland, ought to be arrested or imprisoned for felony, without presentment of twelve men, upon articles to be presented in the justice's eyes; and no inquisition of such felonies ought to be taken, save by men of the county where they were committed. Nevertheless, the justices itinerant in the county of Dublin had caused William to be arrested and imprisoned in Dublin, because certain persons had presented to them a bill accusing William of having feloniously taken 60s. worth of nails bought by the K.’s money for works at the castle of Roscommon, in the county of Connaught, and £20 wages of the K.’s carpenters at that castle ; and of having maintained a common servant there, who did little or no work, in lieu of a carpenter, and of having committed other transgressions, &c. The justices by an inquisition * Pat. I2 Ed. I., m. 6. A.D. I 503.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 175 taken by men of the county of Dublin, upon which William did not put himself, would have adjudged William to be hanged if he did not make with them a fine of £200.” The King having received this appeal, commanded the justiciary, with the other members of the King's Council, to inquire diligently into the complaint, and if the proceedings were irregular, to cause them to be amended, and due justice done to William. Subsequently, the record having been inspected, and no one appearing to prosecute on behalf of the king, the justiciary and council found that there was an error in the proceedings, and security was taken from William to stand his trial in the county where the offence was committed. What was the result of this trial does not appear. Some time before the year I.341, the castle of Roscommon must have been taken by the O'Conors, as in the latter year we read that Hugh, the son of Felim, was taken prisoner by the King of Connaught (Turlough O'Conor, who was Felim's uncle), and confined in the castle of Roscommon, from which he was released on ransom in the following year. In 1375, Roderic, or Rory O'Conor, who was chief of the O'Conors, and son of the above-named Turlough, was in possession of the castle ; and in 1409, we are informed that O'Conor Sligo and Tiernan O'Rourke took the castle, and placed provisions and stores in it, “in spite of the men of Connaught.” From this date until 1453, no mention is made of this castle in the Irish Annals; but it was evidently all this time in the hands of the Irish, and in the latter year we learn that Rory O'Conor died in it. In 1499, as above related, it was taken by the Earl of Kildare from O'Conor Roe, and apparently given to O'Conor Don. With him it did not long remain ; and it was again taken by the Earl of Kildare in 1512, who then placed warders in it. Shortly after it reverted to the O'Conors, in whose hands it remained until Sir Henry Sydney, in I569, as narrated later on, took it, in the name of Queen Elizabeth, from Dermot O'Conor Don, and placed it in charge of Sir Thomas L'Estrange. It had not been long in his possession when it was attacked and burned by O'Conor Roe; and L’Estrange, in various petitions to the queen and to Lord Burghley, in the years 1573 and I 575, estimated his losses by the burning at from £1,000 to £1,800, and claimed compensation for them. Writ- ing to the Treasurer of England in 1573, he says:— “My duty most humbly remembered to your honour. Whereas I understand it hath been reported to your honour, that I did give up the castle of Roscommon, although I have lost there of late, almost to my utter undoing, above a thousand pounds stg., besides the 176 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. xvi. stuff and plate which I lost there, when the castle was burned, which was done on blake Monday, at night in Easter week, by O'Conor Ro, who dwelleth within six miles thereof, not- withstanding that such losses would move a poor man as I am, to give over so great a charge ; and especially it being so far from succour, and the L* President being discharged, yet I would not show myself so undutiful to Her Majesty as to forsake the charge, if I be main- tained with victuals, as other forts are ; for this four years come Michaelmas, I have not charged Her Majesty with any kind of victuals, but have victualled it from mine own house, being distant from thence as good as thirty miles, which I am not now able to do, by reason of my great losses, and that the s” O’Conor Ro being of much more force than the warde, hath banished all those that did inhabit under me. Were it not my great charges in England, the burning of my town at the same time, and now last my great losses since my coming over, I would have asked licence of my Lº Deputy, to have repaired to Her Majesty to have craved some recompence at Her Highness’ hand; but wayinge my disability, most humbly I beseech your honour to be a means to Her Highness in my behalf, for some recompence in consideration of my great hindrances; and I shall duly pray for your Honours prosperity. “From Dublin the xv June, 1573. “Your Honours most humble to command, “THOMAS LE STRANGE. “To the right honorable and my singular good Lord, the Lord High Treasurer of England.” In 1577 a lease was made to Sir N. Malby, Knt., of “the castle or manor of Roscommon ; seven cottages and five quarters or carues of land, demesne of the castle, and a great lough or standing water, containing eighty acres, belonging to the castle ; the site of the house of the canons of Ros- common, nine quarters of land, and the tithes of eight towns, now waste, belonging to the monastery; also the site of the house of the friars of Ros- common, one quarter of land and its tithes; the churches of Emlaghmore and Cloynin, with land and tithes. To hold for twenty-one years. Rent £31 5s. Iod. Maintaining three English horsemen.” I We next hear of the castle in 1582, when a meeting of all the chieftains of Connaught was called there by Captain Brabazon, then governor of the province. At this meeting, which is referred to later on, a rather serious accident occurred. It was held in the tower called the “Tower of the narrow passages;” and the joistings in this tower not being very strong, gave way under the weight of the assembled company, and all were precipitated to the bottom, amongst them Captain Brabazon himself. One of the Irish chieftains, O'Flanagan, died from the effects of this fall.” * Fiants, Elizabeth, A.D. 1577, No, 3,134. * Annals of Zoch Ce, A.D. 1582. A.D. 1503.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 177 During the civil war which began in the year 1641, the castle of Ros- common was again taken by the Irish, and was retained by them until 1652, when it was delivered up to Commissary-Genl. Reynolds of the parliamentary army, under the following terms:— ARTICLEs of SURRENDER OF GARRISON OF ROSCOMMON. “Articles of Agreement between L'.-Col. Francis Gore and Major John Disbrow, on be- half of the R* Hon. Commissary-Genl. Reynolds on the one part, and Capt." Edmond Daly on the other part, concluded April 3", 1652:- “1. That the castle of Roscommon, now under the command of Capt" Edmond Daly, shall be surrendered to Com”-Genl. Reynolds, or to any other whom he shall appoint, by five of the clock in the afternoon. “2. That all stores of ammunition and provision shall be delivered unto Com”-Genl. Reynolds, or unto any other whom he shall appoint without embezzlement. “3. That Capt." Daly, Capt." Meed, and their officers, shall have their horses, pistols, and swords, the soldiers their swords and skeenes; and two servants belonging to the sº captain, their horses and arms. “4. That they are to have liberty, for the space of twenty-eight days, to carry such goods as are properly their own unto such places as they shall think convenient, and enjoy their crops now in ground: Provided they come under protection and pay their proportions of con- tributions: their chaplain and chirurgion have liberty to go with them. “5. That such goods as do belong unto Col. Richard Burke, except store of ammunition and provisions, shall be disposed of by the said Captain, and conveyed to such places as they shall think fit ; and such corn as belong unto the aforesaid Colonel shall be preserved for his use to make sale thereof to the Parliament's party; Provided he come under protection within twenty-eight days after the date hereof. “6. That the said Capt." Daly have liberty to make use of the barn within the bawne, to lay in his goods for the time above mentioned, and his wife Ellis Nirine, alias Daly, is to be freed from any debts until there be a settlement. “7. That Ensign John M*Cooge, now in restraint with O'Connor Roe, shall have his enlargement, provided the Commissary-General consents thereto, and shall enjoy his crop now in ground: Provided he come under protection, and pay his proportion of contribution. “For the due performance of the above-mentioned articles, I have hereto set my hand the day and year above written. “EDMOND DALY.” It being the policy of Cromwell not to leave any strongholds in the country, of which the Irish might again possess themselves, the castle was probably dismantled by General Reynolds, and it has not since then been inhabited. * MS. Library, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, p. 20. Also Gilbert's History of Affairs in Ireland, Vol. VI., p. 3O4. A A C H A P T E R XV III. A.D. I5O3–I 550. CARBRY “O'CONOR DON, SON OF Owen (CAECH). (A.D. I 503–1546.) WT what particular date Carbry O'Conor, the son of Owen, was recognised as the chief of the O'Conor Don sept, is not recorded. death of his father; and it is evident that more than one O'Conor was recognised as chieftain, between the death of Owen and the succession of his son. The power of the English in Ireland had about this period so much decreased, that the old Irish system of government under the native chieftains was almost everywhere restored in full vigour, and as, under this system, the chieftain was required to be of mature years, and in full possession of manly vigour, we may assume that Carbry O'Conor was not selected until many years after the death of his father. Accounts of the disputes between the different clans and rival chieftains occupy at this time, as in preceding ages, the main portion of the Irish records; and as no reference is made in these accounts to O'Conor Don, from 1505 to 1522, it is more than probable that during this period he maintained a peace- able attitude. In 1522 a bitter contest arose between O'Neill and O’Donnell. Most of the Connaught chieftains, who had previously suffered from O’Donnell's interference in their affairs, joined O'Neill. Amongst others, O'Conor Don, O'Conor Roe, M*William Burke, and M*Dermot of Moylurg, declared in his favour, and arranged to meet him in Tirhugh. The M'Guinnesses of Down, the M'Mahons, O'Reillys, and Maguires united with all the forces of Tyrone and Derry to support him. Many also of the English of Meath, on account of O’Neill's alliance with the Earl of Kildare's daughter, joined his standard. A.D. I 503–1523.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 179 O'Donnell, on the other hand, collected a small but faithful band of followers in Donegal, and awaited the threatened attack. O'Neill first pro- ceeded to Ballyshannon, which he speedily succeeded in taking, having killed MacSweeny, who had been left in guard by O'Donnell. On hearing of this loss, O'Donnell at once determined to carry the war into the enemy's country, and despatched his son Manus with an army into Tyrone, whilst he himself, with the remainder of his forces, proceeded to Ballyshannon. O'Neill, startled by the depredations committed by Manus O'Donnell in Tyrone, immediately returned there, and encamped at a place called Knock-Buidhbh, near Strabane. Thither O'Donnell followed him; and having been joined by his son Manus, they took counsel together as to what had best be done. O'Neill's Connaught allies had not yet come up; but his army, including the forces of his friends, the English of Meath, far exceeded in number the troops commanded by O'Donnell ; nevertheless, the latter determined to give battle, and he and his followers decided rather to perish in the field at once, than to be reduced to the servitude which seemed to be their certain fate, if the expected reinforce- ments from Connaught succeeded in joining their adversaries. Accordingly, a nocturnal attack was decided on, and a hand-to-hand fight ensued, in which the combatants could scarcely distinguish each other's countenances, on account of the darkness of the night. For a time the result was doubtful; but in the end, O’Neill was completely defeated, and the camp, with all the horses, arms, armour, provisions, and stores of all sorts, fell into the posses- sion of O’Donnell. The latter lost no time in following up this victory; and before O'Neill could collect his scattered and defeated troops, O'Donnell proceeded to Sligo, which, at the time, was besieged by the allied Connaught forces. The news of the disastrous result of the battle of Knock-Buidhbh, and of the defeat of O’Neill, quickly reached the Connaught chieftains; but before they could recover from their surprise, O'Donnell appeared before them. A council was then held, attended by O'Conor Don, O'Conor Roe, and the other leading men, and it was decided to send envoys to O'Donnell, and to try and arrange terms of peace ; but before the return of the envoys, and without waiting to hear O'Donnell's terms, the chieftains broke up the siege of Sligo, and returned to their own country, giving to O'Donnell a bloodless triumph even greater than that which he had gained in the sanguinary battle with O'Neill. Whether Carbry O'Conor was the O'Conor Don with whom O'Donnell was in conflict is not quite clear; but none other is mentioned ; and as he was forty-eight years of age in 1523, there is every reason to suppose that he was then recognised as O'Conor Don, 180 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. xvi.I. O'Donnell, having thus conquered both sets of adversaries, proceeded to revenge himself, by ravaging the territory of Tyrone. Two years later he marched into Connaught, and forced the O'Conors to give him hostages; and in the following year he destroyed the castles of Banada, Ballyna-huamha, and Castlerea. In 1531, he marched again into Connaught, burned Ballintober, and compelled O'Conor Roe to pay him tribute ; and up to the time of his death, in 1537, in each successive year little is recorded but his attacks on the terri- tories of those who were opposed to him. In 1536 Teige Oge O'Conor, of the O'Conor Sligo branch, was nominated as the head of the clan, he being, as the annalists record, the first of the descendants of Brian Luighnach who was ever nominated chief of the O'Conors.” His supremacy was soon disputed, and even his right to the castle of Sligo, of which he had taken possession in 1537, was called in question. In 1537 the great O'Donnell Hugh died, and was succeeded by his son Manus. One of the first enterprises undertaken by Manus was against the Connaught chieftains. In 1538 he triumphantly took the castle of Sligo from Teige Oge O'Conor; and having left his guards in it, proceeded to Moylurg, and subsequently returned to his own territory. In the following year, he entered into an arrangement with another Teige O'Conor for the custody of the castle of Sligo. An interesting account of the terms of this arrangement is preserved in the State Paper Office, London. A tran- scription of it was made by the late Sir W. Betham, and is to the following effect:”— ** “These are the terms and conditions on which O’Donnell gives to Thady, son of Charles Oge O'Conor, the government of the town of Sligo, and on which he consents to take it, VIZ. ...— “The said Teige to be true and faithful to O’Donnell against all men, both English and Irish, at all times and in all places, and to follow O'Donnell's instructions on all matters great and small, both civil and ecclesiastical ; and particularly when O’Donnell demands of the said Teige, he shall deliver Sligo up to him ; and whenever he shall go to the lower parts of Con- naught, Teige shall give him the keys of Sligo, and the town itself to transact his affairs in. And if it shall happen that O’Donnell shall apprehend that either the English or other strangers would be likely to take the town by force, the said Teige shall join the marshall and officers of O'Donnell, and be kind and humble to them, and assist them in billeting and feeding the soldiers of O’Donnell everywhere, and not to have any soldiers but those sent him by O'Donnell, or such as he may consent to his having ; and Teige shall send to O'Donnell notice of every provincial king who wishes to come to Sligo, and to submit to O'Donnell's will * Ballyna-huamha, “The town of the cave,” Cavetown, near Boyle. * This is not strictly correct, as Cathal, son of Donnell O'Conor Sligo, was chieftain in 1318. * The transcription made by Sir W. Betham is preserved amongst the Records in Bermingham Tower, Dublin Castle. A.D. I 523–154I.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 181 in everything, and not to make peace or war, or enter into any engagement, civil or military, but by O'Donnell's consent ; but to make war with all at O'Donnell's bidding and command. That O'Donnell shall have the small tower of Sligo, that he place therein one of his own officers, and keep there his own documents, and all matters which he may have in the lower parts of Connaught. “Teige took a solemn oath on the blessed sacrament as security for the maintenance of this agreement ; and he gave God as his security, that he might cause an agitation in his body in this world, and have no mercy on him at the point of death, if he did not fulfil faithfully all these stipulations of this treaty to O'Donnell and his heirs after him. “These were the securities of the Church : The Archbishop of Tuam to grant neither mass, communion, confession, baptism, interment in a consecrated church, or promotion in a monastery or church to Teige, or to any person who may coincide with him, if he breaks this agreement, or any part thereof; and the Archbishop and his clergy shall extinguish the candles of the cross against Teige and all those who join him whenever O’Donnell requires it. “These are the securities respecting the . . . . of Ireland : O’Connor Roe, O'Clery, and Farrall M*Donnell Roe MºWard, who shall be obliged to be responsible for Teige and themselves, and the sept of . . . . . as O'Donnell may require. “These are the witnesses: The Guardian of Donegal, viz., Roderic M'Cormack and his colleagues, Terence O'Connor, John O'Donnell, Bernard M*Grath, Will. O'Dwyer, the Arch. of Tuam, the Bishop O'Gallagher, the Abbot of Derry, and the Dean of Derry. “This document was written in the Abbey of Donegal, on the 23rd June, 1539, on the vigil of Saint John the Baptist. “O'ConoR ROE, “O’CLERY, Securities.” “FARRELL M*WARD, O'Donnell's supremacy amongst the Irish chieftains in the west of Ireland being thus established, little is recorded in the Irish Annals of the proceedings of the O'Conors. In 1538 O'Conor Don appears, as the head of the clan, to have acted as a mediator in bringing about a reconciliation between two M“Dermots of Moylurg, who were disputing for supremacy.” Shortly after this, in 1541, a parliament was held in Dublin, under the presidency of Lord Deputy St. Leger, and the title of “ King of Ireland” was, by Act of Parliament, conferred upon Henry VIII. Heretofore, the title always assumed by the English monarch had been that of “Lord of Ireland;” and although on several previous occasions assemblies had been called together which claimed the name of “parliament,” it may safely be asserted that this parliament of 1541 was the first in which all the conditions of its being com- posed of the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland, were fulfilled.” * Annals of Loch Ce. * When the first parliament was held in Ireland is a matter of dispute. Parliaments are ascribed to as early a date as 1272 by Mr. Monck Mason, in his Essay on the Antiquity and Constitution of Par- liaments in Ireland. Indeed, he holds that King Henry II., on his first landing in Ireland, convened 182 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. xvi.I. From this period, until 1543, no mention is made of O'Conor Don ; but various contests are recorded amongst other branches of the O'Conor family. In 1543 another parliament, or council," was held in Erin, and to it went all the principal Irish and foreigners of Connaught. It was attended by the three O'Conors—O'Conor Don, O'Conor Roe, and O'Conor Sligo—and by the two M*Dermots. Its deliberations had the most beneficial effect. Amity was restored between the different contending parties in Connaught, and “O’Donnell and the foreigners were reconciled.” Shortly after this, in 1546, Carbry O'Conor Don died in Ballintober, leaving two sons: Dermot, who subsequently succeeded him, and Turlough, who died in 1582. HUGH, SON OF OWEN CAECH, 1546–1550. Upon the death of Carbry O'Conor, his brother, Hugh, appears at first to have been recognised as the head of the O'Conor Don Sept, although his title would seem to have been disputed, almost immediately by his nephew, Dermot, Son of the late chief. In 1548 this Dermot is men- tioned as O'Conor Don ; and together with MºDermot of Moylurg, went on an expedition into Clanmaurice, on which occasion Richard MºMaurice, the governor, was killed. Shortly before this, in January, 1547, Henry VIII., King of England, died, and was succeeded by his son, Edward VI. About this time, for a brief period, the English power in Ireland seemed to have become predominant. Previously, very little attention is given in the Annals to any of the affairs of England, and events of the greatest importance are passed over in silence; but in 1546 the annalists record that “the English power was very great at this time in Ireland, and it is doubtful if the people of Ireland were ever in such bondage before.” In 1550 Hugh, the son of Owen Caech, was deposed by the Earl of Clanricarde, and his nephew, Dermot, son of Carbry O'Conor, was appointed lord in his place. an assembly which might properly be called a parliament. This view is totally different from that taken by Sir John Davis, who wrote about the beginning of the seventeenth century. The first convention deserving of the name of parliament, according to Hardiman, was that held in 1295 at Kilkenny. The parliament held in the same city, in 1367, has been already alluded to ; but none of these conven- tions or councils represented the Irish people, and they were, at most, parliaments of the English pale, * Annals of Loch Ce, * Iºta. *Ibid., 1546. C H A P T E R X V I I I. DERMOT (O'CONOR DON), SON OF CARBRY. A.D. I 550–1585. SQ., ERMOT, the son of Carbry, or Carbery, O'Conor, was born about the beginning of the sixteenth century, and was probably more than forty years of age at the time of his father's death. Upon the deposition of his uncle in 1550, he assumed the chieftaincy. Ireland was then in a very distracted condition. No supreme power ex- isted in the island; English authority had again declined, and English rule had little real existence outside the pale, and those counties brought under sub- jection during the late king's reign. In Connaught the native chieftains were practically independent. The Reformation and the seizure of supreme ecclesi- astical as well as temporal power by the English sovereign, first attempted by King Henry VIII., and prosecuted with more vigour under his son and suc- cessor, Edward VI., affected the native Irish princes in no way. They and their clergy and people remained, as before, devoted adherents of the Church of Rome, and their conformity with the English doctrines was neither sought for nor obtained. The accession of Queen Mary to the throne in 1554 made no appreciable difference in the state of things in Connaught, and was considered of such little importance that it was not even noticed by the Irish chroniclers. The fact that Mary professed the same faith as the native Irish, and that she was solicitous to restore the old religion everywhere within her dominions, might lead us to expect that under her sway the condition of the Catholics of Ireland would have been ameliorated, and that efforts would have been made to attract them, by concessions and privileges, to serve under the queen's standard. No 184 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XVIII. such efforts, however, were made." On the contrary, in Leinster large tracts of territory were taken from the Irish chieftains, and Offaly and Leix, the prin- cipalities of the O'Conors of Leinster and the O'Mores, were confiscated to the Crown, planted with English settlers, and received the names of King's and Queen's Counties, whilst their chief towns were called Philipstown and Mary- borough, in honour of the queen and her consort, King Philip. Outside of this small area, little was done during Mary's short reign, either to subjugate or conciliate the Irish ; and the O'Conors, O’Rourkes, O'Kellys, M'Dermots, and DeBurghs maintained the position of independent and rival chieftains. Little reference is made to Dermot O'Conor Don until the year I 554,” when an attack having been made by O'Flanagan on the Sons of M*Maurice Fitzgerald, who were under Dermot's protection, a civil war broke out in the province. In 1556 the Annals of Loch Ce record that O'Conor Don (i.e., Dermot) and M*Dermot, of Moylurg, joined in an expedition into a district of the county of Galway called “Popal Caich,” most probably in O'Kelly's country. Subsequently they attacked O'Rourke in Breifny; and MºDermot having been taken prisoner by O'Kelly, was rescued by O'Conor Don.” In 1558 Queen Mary died, and Elizabeth was proclaimed as her suc- cessoº. Her advent to the throne was followed by a reversal of her prede- cessor's policy in regard to the Church. The Catholic religion was again proscribed, and the confiscation of Church property, which began under her father Henry, was continued. from this date until 1560 O'Conor Don and MºDermot appear to have been engaged in various expeditions of a character similar to those above noticed—expeditions which showed the independence which they still enjoyed, and the ideas they entertained as to their right to levy war and to make incursions into the territories of rival chieftains. Notwithstanding this, in 1562, the queen granted her royal “Pardon to Dermot O'Conchor, alias O'Conchor Don, Captain of his nation,” upon his promising to deliver up the Referring to this, in his History of Ireland, Sullivan says: “Quae tametsi Catholicam religionem tueri et amplificare conata est; ejus tamen praefecti et conciliarii injurias Ibernis inferre non destiterunt.” —Sullivan, p. 92. Artnals of Zoch Ce, 1554. Annals of Loch Ce, 1556. * Fiants, Elizabeth, 14th November, 1562. A.D. I 564–1569.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 185 castle of Roscommon to the Lord Deputy—a pardon which was subsequently ratified when the castle had been surrendered." * About this time, in the year 1563 or 1564, Connaught, according to Sir R. Cox,” was divided into six counties, Clare, Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon, and Leitrim. Other accounts, with more probability, place the division of Connaught into counties in Sir Henry Sydney's time, when an Act of Parlia- ment was passed for dividing the country into shires;” and in 1570 and 1576 entries appear in the State Papers, showing that in these years the province was divided into counties and baronies. In 1563 O'Conor Don's son, Con or Conor, was killed by O'Kelly; and in the following year, a general war having arisen between O'Conor Roe and M“Dermot, and the latter being supported by O'Conor Don, Roscommon Castle was taken by the sons of O'Conor Roe.* Shortly afterwards, in 1565, the castle was recovered by O'Conor Don, who held it until he delivered it up in 1569 to Sir Henry Sydney, then the Lord Deputy. This English commander played a very prominent part in the settle- ment of Connaught, and appears to have been really the first who brought the province under complete subjection to English rule. In 1567 he built a stone bridge over the Shannon at Athlone, and set about reducing the pro- vince. In 1569 he wrote to the Lords of the English Council : “There rested nothing to be done in that province (Connaught) but the unitinge of the captaines in her Majesties service and the winning of the ancient Castell of Roscoman, towards which we directed our journey; but before our comminge to the house, O'Connor Donne, who longe tyme hath usurped the possession thereof, offered to resign it, which indeed he did after some speache had with him, whereby he found there was no other means to save himself and his countrie from spoile and destruction.” Shortly after this, the “nomination of O'Conogher Donne to be captain of his country, the castle of Roscommon excepted,” and “to hold such during good behaviour,” was ratified by a fiant from the queen, dated 3rd March, I 569." Having taken over the castle of Roscommon from O'Conor Don, Sir Henry Sydney placed it in the guardianship of Thomas L'Estrange, who was created constable of the castle, and to whom certain lands were given for its support. 1 Fiants, Elizabeth, 2nd March, A.D. 1568. * Sir R. Cox, Hibernia Anglicana, p. 317. * Sir R. Cox, Hibernia Anglicana, p. 331. * Annals of Loch Ce, A.D. I563. * State Papers, A.D. 1569. * Fiants, Elizabeth, A.D. 1569. B B 186 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XVIII. According to the Annals of the Four Masters, Sir Henry Sydney brought under subjection to the English queen the whole of Connaught from Leitrim to Limerick; and in 1570 appointed Sir Edward Fytton as the first “President of Connaught.” Fytton, soon after his appointment,” caused books to be made of all the proprietors and other principal inhabitants of the province ; and in accordance with instructions he had received from England, opened an attack on the religion of the Irish, committed what he termed “many of their idols and images in their churches to the flames,” and “expelled many friars;” but the people, he reported, were “not willing to embrace justice, nor reform themselves to English government.” Sir Edward Fytton took up his residence in Athlone ; and thither, in 1571, Dermot O'Conor went to meet him. On his arrival he was taken prisoner, although his safety and freedom had been previously guaranteed.” This treachery on the part of the English was the cause of fresh troubles in Connaught. Hugh, the son of O'Conor Don, joined by the son of O'Conor Roe, rescued his father by stealth, and hostilities again broke out. Writing to Cecil on 14th February, 1571, Fytton announces: “O’Connor Donn, the ancient King of Connaught, lying pledge for his whole sept, escaped very presumptuously by night.” Next morning the president marched straight to Ballintober, of which he took possession before O'Conor was able to defend it ; and then, retiring to Roscommon, remained there for seven weeks, after which he returned to Athlone. Meanwhile O'Conor Don, joining with MºDermot, retained the services of from 800 to 1,2OO Scots, and attacked the English possessions in the province. A general civil war then ensued. In April the president succeeded in taking one of O'Conor's best castles, “Castle Reowgh,” which he razed to the ground ; after which he marched into the country of the lower Burkes, burning and spoiling all before him, and subsequently ravaged MºDermot's country. Sir Ed. Fytton, writing to Lord Burghley on 20th May, 1571, describes these proceedings as follows:— “MAY IT PLEASE YOUR L., “As I have always heretofore been bold to trouble you, specially in cases appertaining to Her Majesty's service, so I must continue. For, but by advertisement to you, and receiving both direction and relief from you, I can neither serve Her Majesty well, nor take *Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1569, * State Papers, A.D. 1570. * Annals of Loch Ce, A.D. 1571. “State Papers, A.D. 1571. A.D. 1569–1576.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 187 comfort myself ; therefore it may please you first to understand how we have occupied the beginning of this spring, viz., March and April ; for in February the soldiers came to me of purpose to guard us to Thomond, to hold sessions there upon the earl’s submission; but in the meantime, O'Connor Dun, being pledge for his country, escaped, whom I pursued with speed, and not finding himself, took his best castle called Ballintubber (as heretofore I have advertised your Honour); upon doing whereof we took journey towards Thomond, minding to hold sessions in Galway by the way, and did so ; in which time O'Connor Dune having assembled a number of Scotts and gallowglasses, to the number (as was then reported) of 1,300, came unto the countie of Galway, and burned and preyed a part thereof upon the sudden, whereby the whole country was in great fear, and seemed not unlike to have yielded themselves by putting in their pledges to him. For remedy whereof, myself with Justice Dillon and Robert Mostyn, having only the English soldiers, being not 200 footmen, neither 100 horse, went into his country, continued there five days burning his towns, and took his best castle that was left to him, called Castell Reowghe, and razed it. And he never daring to look upon us, we returned, whereby the country was comforted and quieted, and the rebels discouraged, in so much that since then they never did great hurt. “Your L. humbly and assuredly to command, “Ed. FYTON.” In January, 1572, both O'Conor Don and MºDermot were indicted of high treason, and their countries, called the Maghery and Moylurg, were laid waste. This naturally led to retaliation ; and in the following July the Irish, and the Scots in their service, burned Athlone wholly to the ground, and also destroyed the castle of Meelick, and attempted to burn Ballinasloe, whilst O'Conor Roe drove L’Estrange out of the castle of Roscommon, and burned it and the town. Referring to this, Sir Ed. Fytton, writing to Lord Burghley on the Ioth April, 1573, says: “Generally of Connaught, it mendeth not. Six hundred Scots appointed to come from the North thither on Monday in Easter week. The Castel of Roscommon burned (yet the walls not lost, thanks be to God) by O'Conor Roe, and Athlone evil neighboured even to the gates.” This state of civil war lasted until 1576, when the Irish chiefs submitted, and Sir Henry Sydney, proceeding into Connaught, divided it into counties, as before mentioned. From Sligo he states he received “nothing but letters, but these humbly written, from O'Conogher, affirming that he durst not come for fear of the wars between O'Donnell and Con his nephew. All but O'Conogher himself have offered service ; and he too, to be discharged from O'Donnell, will most willingly do it.” The O'Conor here referred to was O'Conor Sligo. His condition of subjection to O'Donnell has been already alluded to ; and very probably, to be 188 TIIE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XVIII. freed from this subjection, he would willingly have “offered service” to the English. With the exception of O'Donnell and O’Rourke, “all Connaught” had now Submitted, and tranquillity was generally restored ; so that the Lord Deputy was able to report that the condition of that province was satisfactory. O'Rourke, it is true, still held out ; and for many years afterwards continued to give great trouble, and to cause considerable inconvenience to the English. He is described, in 1576, as being the “proudest man in Ireland,” and Sir N. Malby, writing to Walsingham, in 1578, refers to him as “the proudest man this day living on the earth.” To his daughter, Hugh O'Conor, the eldest son of O'Conor Don, was married ; and, as will subsequently appear, young O'Conor was accused of instigating and assisting his father-in-law in opposition to the English Government. Writing from Dublin in 1576, and referring to his journey through Con- naught, Sir Henry Sydney states':- “I staid in Roscommon but a night, both that I had appointed provision at Athlone, which is in the same county, as also for that I found nothing there laid in, to furnish me withal, and therefore willed the assembly to be at Athlone. Yet during my abode in Ros- common, O'Chonnor Donne came unto me, whose ancestor they say was sometime called ‘King of Connaught.” The castle of Roscommon I took from him in my former government, whose ancestors possessed the same seven score years, and never came into Englishmen's hands. Under his call there are O'Birn and O'Flynn. O'Chonnor Roe came not unto me for fear I would compel him to make recompense for hurtes done in the rebellion time. Under him is O'Flanagan ; but I can have them when I will, and make them both, arm in arm, bear and draw with their fellows. M*Derſhot was with me, and one under him called MacManus. These people and some more petit lords inhabit the plains of Connaught, and are all destroyed by the Scots chiefly.” From this and abundance of other evidence it appears that the Scots and the Irish had now fallen out. Having settled their differences with the English, the Irish chieftains no longer needed the services of the Scottish mercenaries whom they had previously employed, and desired to dismiss them; but the latter were not to be got rid of so easily. Turning their arms against their former employers, they ravaged the country, and maintained themselves at the expense of its inhabitants. In 1577 they attacked the territory of O'Conor Don, who on this occasion was assisted in repelling them by the English sheriff. A few years later, in 1581, they took young Hugh * State Papers, A.D. 1576. A.D. I576–1583.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 189 O'Conor prisoner, marched through O'Conor Sligo's country, killed his son, and defeated the combined English and Irish forces." To put an end to these disorders, and to consolidate the government of the queen, what was termed “a council of Erin,” had been held without success in Dublin in 1578, which was attended by O'Conor Sligo and M“Dermot, who were away five weeks, and received great honours.” This was followed in 1582 by another council held in Roscommon, under the presidency of Captain Brabazon. This assembly, as already mentioned, held their meeting in the tower of the castle, known as “the tower of the narrow passages,” and a part of the flooring gave way, when all the occupants were precipitated to the ground, and some of them were killed.” About this time O'Conor Don's son Turlough died, and his son Hugh, who had married O’Rourke's daughter, rose in rebellion against the English. As before mentioned, O’Rourke had never fully submitted, although on several occasions he had made temporary arrangements with the English commanders. Sir Nicholas Malby, writing to the Earl of Leicester in 1581, reports:— “O’Rourke, the only man now in action, is craving for peace. O'Donnell hath entreated me to license him to deal with O'Rourke, and compel him to submit himself to my order, which if he shall refuse to do, he hath vowed to me to expulse him out of his country. O'Donnell and O'Connor were the two principal instigators of O’Rourke to the last rebellion, which now they are sorry for.” Again, on 15th September, 1583, he writes:— “Three or four times I wrote to O'Rourke for the continuancy of peace. His answer was that he meant and would keep the peace “usque ad festum omnium sanctorum.” His meaning thereby was to get in his harvest, and then to break out. As I did assure myself, O'Connor Don's son who married O'Rourke's daughter, would begin the matter, I required him to repair to me to answer complaints exhibited against him by his neighbours. He refused to come over, set fire on his father's castle, who is blind and 100 years old. Captain Brabazon made haste thither with thirty horsemen ; and had it not been for the favour of a bog, had despatched the rebels. I caused the house to be repaired, and put a ward in it. This young man went by night into O'Rourke's country; thereupon I proclaimed Hugh O'Connor, and * Annals of Loch Ce, A.D. 1581. *Annals of Loch Ce, A.D. 1578. * Annals of Loch Ce, A.D. 1582. This has been already referred to in the account of castle of Roscommon, p. 176, ante, *State Papers Calendar, A.D, 1581. 190 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XVIII. wrote to O'Rourke to apprehend him and send him to me. He returned me answer that Hugh O'Connor was his son-in-law, yet would he not keep him. Notwithstanding he prayed me to receive him to peace on certain conditions, or otherwise he had sent for Scots, and would do much hurt. I advertised the Lords Justices of these proceedings, and entertained 500 strangers out of the province. I sent out precepts to the lords and gentlemen to be ready with their rising out on the 15th of this month, with six weeks' victuals. “O’Rourke, understanding of my disposition to invade his country, sent to me for a perfect peace. The Earl of Thomond and the Baron of Leitrim being then by hap with me, I appointed them, jointly with Captain Brabazon to repair to the borders to have parlance with him. At which parlance, upon such a sudden, there were five or six hundred tall men, the sight of whom pleased O'Rourke nothing, and forced him to stoop to any reasonable conditions; and craving two years' peace, hath put in his pledge for performance of the same, and sent his son-in-law, Hugh O'Connor, unto me. Hugh made his submission, and delivered me his pl € dg e.” 3.31 - Dermot O'Conor was now very old and feeble ; and although not quite so aged as stated by Sir N. Malby, the management of the territory had practically passed into the hands of his son. With him, as repre- sentative of his father, the new Lord Deputy, Sir John Perrot, entered into communications, and in the year I 584-85, summoned him and most of the Irish chieftains of Connaught to a parliament to be held in Dublin. Sir Richard Bingham was about the same time appointed governor of Connaught; and the Irish Annals abound in accounts of his cruelty and injustice ; “it being impossible to reckon or count all the injuries and oppres- sions committed by the foreigners on the chief lords of the Irish in Con- naught.” Perrot's parliament and Sir Richard Bingham's government will be dealt with more in detail, when treating of the life and times of Hugh O'Conor; but the following, from the Annals of Loch Cé, gives an idea of the view taken of this parliament by the Irish annalists — “In I585 an Act of Parliament was held in Dublin, and several of the Irish who attended it were hanged, and the rest came away without profit, and a great tribute—viz, an ounce of gold for every quarter of land—was laid on Connaught, and the Sovereignty of each Gaelic lord was lowered.” In the same year, and shortly after the sitting of this parliament, Dermot O'Conor died. His death is thus recorded in the Ammals of Loch Ce:— “O’Conor Don, i.e., Dermot, son of Carbry, son of Owen Caech, the man who subdued and humbled his enemies the most, the best that came of the race of Turlough Mor for a long time, died, and was interred in Ballintober, 'State Papers, Elizabeth, A.D. 1583, p. 363. *Annals of Loch Ce, A.D. 1584. A.D. I 583–1585.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 191 under the protection of God and Bridget, the third day before the first festival of Mary, after he had been thirty-five years in the sovereignty.” Dermot O'Conor married Dorothy, daughter of Teige Buidhe O'Conor Roe, and had three sons: Con, who was killed in 1563, in a war with O'Kelly; Turlough, who died in 1583; and Hugh, who succeeded him. He was the last of the O'Conors who claimed and exercised independent jurisdiction over Connaught; and with his son Hugh, a new era and system opened. *According to the Annals of the Four Masters and O'Donovan, Dermot O'Conor was buried in Roscommon, and his death occurred on the 16th September. Probably the first festival of Mary, here referred to, was the festival of the nativity of the B. V. Mary, held on the 8th of September. C H A P T E R X. I X. 0s. Oſ ºrº-- SIR HUGH “O'CONOR DON,” SON OF DERMOT. A.D. I 585–1632. #FºEME death of Dermot O'Conor, which took place in 1585, made little §: appreciable change in the position of the O'Conor family. Long before his death, his son, Hugh, had taken on himself the chief guidance of affairs. The daring character of this young man has been already alluded to ; but the time was close at hand when the most bold and proudest amongst the Irish chieftains had to submit to the inexorable logic of accomplished facts, and to recognise to its fullest extent the superior power of England's monarch. Hitherto, even after the partition of authority over the Irish in Connaught, which took place, under the two Turloughs, in 1385, the head of the O'Conor Don family had retained the position of an Irish chieftain—recognising the English, authority only under certain limited conditions; and, within the terri- tory which acknowledged him as chief, claiming and exercising rights scarcely consistent with the position of a subject. This sort of semi-independence was now about to disappear; and the O'Conors, as well as nearly all the other Irish chieftains, were about to accept the position of subjects of the Crown of England, and to receive grants of their lands from the royal hands. It had long been the policy of the English monarchs to accomplish this result. Henry VIII. had endeavoured, and to a great extent successfully, to bring it about. Instead of exterminating the native Irish chieftains, they were to be conciliated ; the feudal system was to be established; the principal chieftains were to give up their rights of governing their subordinates ; these rights were to be compounded and paid for; and the lands belonging to the chieftains themselves, or over which they exercised directly the authority A.D. 1585.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 193 conferred on them by the tribal customs of Ireland, were to be delivered up to the king, and régranted by him to the respective chiefs, under the tenure known as knight's service. This system had been already largely carried out in Munster and Leinster, and the representatives of the native Irish chieftains, and of the original English lords of the pale, as well as the more modern settlers, all met in parliament in Dublin, in 1542, and accepted these terms under King Henry VIII. Although the Desmond rebellion, and subsequent wars, led to terrible reprisals, and resulted in the plantation of new English colonists in the greater part of the South and east of Ireland, Elizabeth was not insensible to the advantages which would arise to the English crown, if the native princes of the west and north could be induced to adopt the course which her father had inaugurated. Sir John Perrot, then Lord Deputy, in whom the Irish had every confi- dence, set about this project with earnest goodwill, and a determination to be absolutely just towards the natives, whom he hoped to gain by conciliation. Many of the Irish chieftains, weary of the desultory conflicts they had been so long carrying on, and seeing no hope of regaining their independence, preferred to place themselves under the English law. Conscious of the evils arising out of the disturbed and unsettled state of the country, which their own internecine feuds seemed likely to perpetuate, they thought it better openly to submit to the English sovereign, and laying down their pretensions to independent chieftaincy, to derive their title to their estates direct from the English Crown. This was what Perrot offered. Instead of the uncertain, but quasi- independent and sovereign rights, which they heretofore exercised—which rights were almost always in dispute between different members of the same family—he proposed to them to surrender to his mistress all the castles and lands which they considered as more properly their own, and to receive them back under an English grant. We have seen that, during the lifetime of his father, Hugh O'Conor attended what was called a parliament in Dublin ; and the main object of this council or parliament was to establish, with regard to Connaught, what had previously been attempted by King Henry, with regard to Munster and Leinster. To this parliament most of the ancient Irish chieftains and old Anglo-Irish lords of Connaught repaired; and one of its results was, that a commission was issued on the 15th July, 1585, directed to Sir Richard Bingham, Governor of Connaught, the Earls of Thomond and Clanricarde, the Baron of Athenry, Sir Turlough O'Brien, Sir Richard Bourke, M'William C C 194 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XIX. Eighter, Sir Donnell O'Conor Sligo, Sir Bryan O’Rourke, Sir Morough O'Flaherty, and others, reciting :- “Whereas our province of Connaught and Thomond, through the continual dissensions of the lords and chieftains, challenging authorities, cuttings and cessings, under pretext of defending the people under their several rules, have run to all errors ; and understanding the good inclination of these our subjects, through the good mynystrie of our trusty and well-beloved Sir John Perrot, our Deputy, &c., to embrace all good ways and means that may be devised, to conserve them in our obedience, and their rights and titles reduced from the uncertainty, wherein it stood, to continue certain for ever hereafter.” The commissioners were empowered to call before them “all the nobility, spiritual and temporal, and all the chieftains and lords of the said countries and barronies; and in lieu of the uncertain cess, cutting, and spendings aforesaid, to compound, after their best discretion, and to devise and lay down all things that shall tend to the real good and quiet of that country; which, after the passing of the same by indenture, is meant to be ratified by Act of Parliament.” The following proposals were made by the commissioners – “The chieftains of countries, gentlemen and freeholders of that province of Connaught, to pass unto the Queen's Majesty, her heirs and successors, a grant of ten shillings English, or a mark Irish, upon every quarter of land containing 120 acres manured, or to be manured ; as the phrase went, that bears either hoof or corn, that is with tillage or cattle ; and in lieu or consideration to be discharged from other cess, taxation, and tallage, excepting the rising out of horse and foot for the service of the prince and state, such as should be particularly agreed upon, and some certain days’ labour for building and fortification for the safety of the people and kingdom.” The narrative then continues as follows:— “According to which commission, and the directions therein contained, the commis- sioners did travel through the several counties of Connaught, first calling and conferring with the lords, chieftains, gentlemen, and freeholders in their several precincts and possessions, to find their dispositions, how far they were willing to condescend and yield to such a course, for the satisfaction of their prince, and freedom of themselves from further burdens, to make their charge certain, and that but small. These things well propounded, and discreetly prosecuted, most, and in a manner, all, the principal possessors of land in that province, as they were generally dealt withal, did assent to this contribution.” The commissioners began with the county of Clare. Then followed the districts within the newly-created county of Galway; and subsequently Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim, and Roscommon were dealt with. Amongst other indentures of composition entered into by them was one with Hugh O'Conor * Government of Ireland under Sir John Perrot, Knight. 4to, London, 1626, p. 80. In the original the spelling is the old English style; it has been modernized in the transcription. - A.D. I 585.1 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 195 Don. The original is preserved in the Record Office, Dublin, and a duplicate is to be found amongst the Ashburnham MSS.1 The parties to this indenture were the following:— The Right Hon. Sir John Perrot, Knight, Lord Deputy General of Ireland for, and on behalf of the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, on the one part, and the “lords, chieftains, &c., of Moylurg, alias M'Dermot's countrye; and O'Connor Dune's countrye; and O'Connor Roe's countrye; viz-William, Arch- bishop of Tuam; John, Bishop of Elphin; Hugh O’Konnor, of Ballintobber, otherwise called O’Konnor Dune, chief of his name; Fergonanym O'Flaherty, of Knockensheigh, chief of his name ; Sir Thomas Le Strange, knight, of Athleage; Carbrye O’Beirne, of Dangan, chief of his name; Teige Mac Towmultagh, of Croghan, gent.; Towmultagh Oge, of Ballinkillen, gent.; Townultagh M'Hugh, of Dromeharlagh, gent.; Oene Ermey, of ; Farrell M“Dermond Roe, chief of his name ; Connor Oge MºDermond, of Incheagho- char; Taniste ; Cahill Oge M*Mulrooney, of , gent.; Mulrooney MºDermod Gald, chief of his name; Duwaltagh M'Toolie O'Connor, of Brackloon, gent.; Cahill M*Toolie, of Castlereagh, gent.; Feagh O'Flynn, of Slievlyne, chief of his name ; Callac O'Flynn, of the Clydaghe, gent. ; Terrelagh Keaghe M'Sweeny, Cnocknetaghty, gent. ; Teige O'Connor Roe, chief of his name; Hugh M*Terrelagh Roe, of Cloonybeirne, gent. ; Breene O'Flanagan, of Balla- oghter, chief of his name ; John Crofton, of Canvoe, gent. ; and Edward Whyte, of Ballenderry, gent, of the other part.” The indenture then states that :— “Whereas the said territory comprising the baronies of Moylurg or Boyle, Ballintobber and Roscommon, contains by an ancient division or inquisition 905 quarters of land (and of which 375 quarters in Ballintobber), each containing 120 acres; a certain portion of these belong to Her Majesty, in right of the abbeys and bishopricks; and the said chieftains, lords, etc., acknowledging the manifold benefits and easements they find in possession of their lands and goods, since the peaceable government of the said Lord Deputy, and the just dealings of Sir Richard Bingham, do grant to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, her heirs and successors for ever, one yearly rent-charge of ten shillings, good and lawful money of England, out of every quarter ; and for lack of money, the treasurer to receive kyne to the same amount ; and further, they do answer and covenant to bear thirty good able horsemen and thirty footmen, well armed with carriage and victuals, to all hostings and journies within the said province of Connaught and Thomond; and ten good horsemen and forty footmen, well armed, to all general hostings proclaimed in the realm. * Appendix E. 196 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XIX. “The said Lord Deputie, for and on behalf of the Queen's Majesty, doth covenant, promise, grant, and agree that the above-named Hugh O'Connor Dune, for his, better main- tainance, and in recompense for such customary duties, exactions, and cuttings as he pretended to have of O’Beirne, O’Hanly, O'Flynn, and other freeholders of the said barony of Ballintobber, shall have, by letters patent to him and his heirs, not only the castle of Ballintobber and all other castles and lands as belong to the name and calling of O'Connor Dune, but also such lands and castles as he is now justly seized of, his inheritance to run in succession to him and his heirs by course and order of the laws of England ; and also shall have seven quarters of land free as a demayne to his said castle of Ballintobber.” The indenture then proceeds to grant similar rights to the other lords and chieftains, and concludes as follows:– “And forasmuch as the meaner sort of the freeholders of M*Dermot, O'Connor Roe, and O'Connor Don's countries shall be greatly burdened by this composition, if the petty lords and captains next above them be allowed to take such rents and duties, as they pretend to belong to the said petty captainships ; for remedy whereof it is condescended, concluded, and agreed, that the above-named O’Beirne, O’Hanlie, O'Flanagan, O'Flynne, M*Brennan, and MºDermod Roe, and all others of that calling, shall have by letters patent all such castles and lands as belongeth to the name and calling of O’Beirne, &c.; and after the decease of every one of them now living, the aforesaid rents shall from thenceforth be utterly determined and extin- guished for ever. In witness whereof, the aforesaid lords, chieftains, &c., have hereunto put their seals and subscribed their names, this 3rd day of October, 1585.” Then follow the signatures. Having by this indenture practically resigned his claim to independent chieftaincy, and having accepted the position of a subject of the Crown of England, Hugh O'Conor returned to Connaught. His conduct and that of the other Irish chieftains gave little satisfaction to his countrymen, who still hated and despised English rule ; nor did the representatives of the Queen in Connaught seem very desirous to keep faith with her Irish subjects. Sir John-Perrot, the Lord Deputy, the queen's direct representative, was, according to O'Donovan, “a good man, anxious to act fairly to the Irish, and determined to follow the course of conciliation rather than extermination ; but he was, like many of those who preceded him and who have come after him, thwarted by the English garrison in Ireland, who wished for no settlement with the Irish chiefs, but rather desired their destruction and the division of their lands amongst themselves.” His contests with the lords of the Council *Sir John Perrot's own opinion of Ireland was not very favourable. Writing in June, 1590, he said he reckoned Ireland the most unfortunate soil of the world. He never knew a good governor who sincerely served there, but he was stung, maligned, or bitten by some means. A.D. I 585.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 197 in Dublin were constant and most acrimonious, and at one time culminated in a most disgraceful broil, in which the Lord Marshal, Sir N. Bagenal, gave the lie direct to the Lord Deputy, who in return personally assaulted the Marshal." Perrot's contempt for the Anglo-Irish lords of the Council was unbounded. According to the testimony of the Chancellor, Archbishop Loftus, who was strongly opposed to the Lord Deputy, the latter overruled the Council whenever he thought fit, and treated them with the greatest disdain, using the most opprobrious terms when referring to them. One of the reasons why the archbishop and the Lord Deputy disagreed was that the former wished to enforce, as far as possible, the laws against liberty of conscience, and to compel all the Irish Catholic owners of property to con- form, at least outwardly, to the established religion ; whereas Perrot disap- proved of this, and discountenanced it in every way. Writing to Lord Burghley, in 1590, the archbishop makes the following complaint :— THE CHANCELLOR TO LORD BURGHLEY. “I have seen your letter lamenting the corruption of Ireland in the matter of religion, and urging a speedy remedy. Albeit there hath been in this people a general disposition to dopery, as to a thing wherein they are nursled even from their cradles, yet this general recu- sancy is but of six years' continuance at the most, and began in the second year of Sir John Perrot's government, in the beginning of the parliament holden by him, before which time there were not in the Pale the number of twelve recusant gentlemen of account ; but since then they have grown to such obstinacy and boldness that it is to be feared if some speedy remedy be not provided, upon pretence of religion, they will shake off all duty and obedience. Before that time, they were restrained by the Ecclesiastical Commission ; and howsoever they were affected in their consciences, yet outwardly they showed great duty and obedience in resorting to service, sermons, and in receiving the sacrament. “In the beginning of the parliament, Sir Nicholas White, in the name of his country- men, moved Sir John Perrot, before the most of this council, to permit this people to have the liberty of their conscience, and the free use of their religion, assuring Sir John, that granting that unto them, they would not only condescend to the repeal of Poynings' Act, but to any other reasonable motion which should be propounded in the parliament. “His good success with the Lord Deputy moved another of his country, one Ed. Nugent, a lawyer, to come to the lower house with a ‘premeditate 'speech in defence of the mass and the Romish religion. “When we, the Bishops of Dublin, Meath, and a few others well affected, covenanted before us the principal gentlemen and ringleaders in this cause, seeking to draw them to better conformity, we were forbidden by the Lord Deputy to deal with them, saying, that this people were not to be dealt with for matters of religion, and presently this was bruited through the Pale, and now they can hardly be reclaimed. The example of Sir Lucas Dillon * See Appendix F, for account of this quarrel. 198 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XIX. doth great hurt, who, although a most grave and wise councillor, and of great experience in this state, yet his notorious recusancy and wilful absenting himself from church, these three or four years past, is a means to draw the greatest numbers into that corruption in which they live. “The sword alone without the Word is not sufficient ; but unless they be forced, they will not once come to hear the Word preached. It is a bootless labour for any man to preach in the country out of Dublin for want of hearers. But things may be remedied without any danger and with great gain, if the Ecclesiastical Commission be restored, and put in use, and liberty be left to myself and such commissioners as are well affected in religion, to imprison and fine, and send over into England, such as are obstinate. There is no fear this severe course will breed any stirs ; as these people, if they once perceive a thorough resolution to deal roundly with them, they will conform themselves. “RATHFERNAM, 22nd September, 1590.”" Unfortunately for the native Irish, Connaught at this time was placed under the government of Sir Richard Bingham, whose course of conduct was the very opposite to that of the Lord Deputy. Bingham's method of governing was by the Sword, by martial law, by hangings, confiscations, and breach of faith. Such acts as these he gloried in. The more Irish he killed and the more estates he confiscated, the more he considered himself deserving of the favour of his sovereign. The feelings which actuated him and his followers are but too faithfully portrayed in the following account given by one of his captains, Thomas Wodehouse, of a battle, or rather of a massacre of almost defenceless Scots and Irish, at Ardnaree, in the county of Sligo, near the present town of Ballina, in the year I 586*:— “Having good news to send you of this day's service, how it hath pleased God that the governor this day met with James M*Donnell's sons, and all their forces, and he, with the number of about fourscore horsemen, like a brave gentleman, charged them. I was as near him as I could, and so cut off their wings, and they were presently like cowardly beggars, being in number, as we did judge, about 1,300 in that place, hard by their camp, William Burkes town, called Ardnaree. About one o'clock we did join battle, and they did set their backs to the great river called the Moy; and the governor and we that were but a small number, did, with him, who, I protest to God, like as brave a man, charge them before our battail came in, and kept a narrow strait in our charging of them, so as they could not pass our foot battle; and there, God be thanked, we did drown and kill, as we all did judge, about the number of one thousand, or eleven hundred ; for there did by swimming about one hundred escape ; and, as the country saith on the other side of the water, they have killed them, for we cannot this day get over the water into Tyrawly to them for want of boats; but truly I was never, since I was * Calendar of State Papers, 1588-1592 (Hamilton), p. 368, * Captain Wodehouse to Secretary Fenton. Calendar of State Papers, 1586-1588, p. 161. A.D. I 585-1587.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 199 a man of war, so weary with killing of men; for I protest to God, for as fast as I could, I did but hough them and paunch them, sometimes on horseback, because they did run as we did break them, and sometimes on foot, and so in less than an hour this whole and good field was done.” Sir Richard Bingham himself, writing of the same so-called battle, says:— “They (the Scots and Irish) fled before us to the river side, which was not far from us, when we slew and drowned them all, saving fourscore or thereabouts, which stripped them- selves and swam over the river into Tyrawly, leaving their weapons and apparel behind them. There were no more of the Scots that escaped but these, and a hundred or fourscore, which went the day before into Tyrawly for a prey with certain of the Burkes. Such as escaped into Tyrawly were slain on their return by my brother, George Bingham, Sheriff of the Co. of Sligo. The number of their fighting men slain and drowned that day was estimated and numbered to be fourteen or fifteen hundred, besides boys, women, churls, and children, which could not be so few, as so many more and upwards. On our side was not one man slain, but divers hurt and galled.” For this bloody and savage massacre of what were evidently almost unarmed, defenceless men, women, and children, Sir Richard Bingham claimed the greatest credit, and bitterly complained to the ministers in England that the Lord Deputy did not fully recognise his services. The governor of Con- naught, who had shown such zeal in the queen's service, who had increased her revenues there, and asserted her authority, was put off, he said, with the castles of Roscommon and Ballymote as residences instead of that of Athlone, which had previously been the head-quarters of his predecessors, and the revenue and emoluments he received were far less than had been represented by the Lord Deputy. In the name of establishing the queen's authority, and for Securing what he termed pledges for the tranquillity of the country, he seized upon all the chief men of the Irish, and without any crime being charged against them, cast them into prison. Amongst others, Hugh O'Conor was thus seized. Writing in July, 1587, Bingham sets forth the disorders which existed in the province when he went there, the difficulty of collecting Her Majesty's revenue, and the refusal of some of the native Irish to wait upon him, and then proceeds :— “But now, since I had charge there, I have taken in and left in durance sufficient pledges for the security of the whole country; not children or mean or weak persons, but men of action and quality, as the two sons of Morrogh O'Flaherty, Hugh O'Conor Don, O'Madden, M“Mahon, MºDermot, Richard Burke of Mayo, Robert M'Petre, and many others, for whose durance the whole country is better, and for the enlarging of whom 1 might have benefited * Calendar of State Papers, 1586-1588, p. 179. 200 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XIX. myself, if I would, £2,000 and upwards. Since my coming unto the land, O'Rourke, O'Flaherty, O'Brien, the bad Burkes, and all of them of account, have come in to me dutifully, which indeed they have done more for fear than for any other cause ; for the Irish assuredly obey not for love but for fear; and yet, I praise God, all the well-affected there love me, and the ill-affected fear me.” Shortly after this, and probably in consequence of the differences which existed between her servants in Ireland, the queen determined to withdraw Bingham from Connaught, and to send him on a mission to Flanders. Before he left Ireland, he drew up, in July, 1587, another “discourse,” setting out all he had done for the queen's service in Ireland, and reiterating his complaints against the Lord Deputy, especially for releasing from confinement some of the Irish chieftains. During his stay in the Low Countries he continued to write his complaints to Lord Burghley. In a letter dated from Utrecht, 3rd October, 1587, he says:– “I was removed from my place in Connaught, as your Honour knows, upon an intent to employ my services hither, and that the place I should here hold (as I was made believe) was the Colonel General's, which the Lord Willoughby now has; and besides, I was borne in hand that I should continue my place in Ireland by my substitute or deputy, as Mr. Norreys, Sir W. Stanley, and others, called from thence in like sort, had done. But I was no sooner embarked from Ireland, but the Lord Deputy had clean displaced me, both in title and in every particular entertainment else, and bestowed the same upon Sir Thomas L'Estrange in as large and ample a manner as myself every way had it first from Her Majesty, and so consequently they discharged all such officers, my friends and followers, as were left there by me to continue their service in my absence ; whereby not only I, but such of my friends as I left there are altogether disfurnished of means how to live, and myself clean disgraced for ever. . . . So do I beseech your Honour that I may not be left here behind the earl, when I shall be maligned at ; for otherwise if I be left here, and my place taken from me in Ireland, I might lawfully believe that the same was true which was told me in Ireland before my coming thence, which was, that I was not removed for any intent to do myself good, or for any necessity there was for my service in these countries, but only to content and satisfy the humour of the Deputy, who, maligning at me and at the course I held, had devised these means to remove me, and that the same would prove my great disgrace and utter undoing for ever; but in the accus- tomed goodness of your Honour's favours to me, I hope I shall not be so thrown off, having in no sort deserved otherwise than well, whatsoever may be secretly informed to your Honour by my adversaries to the contrary.” Whether this remonstrance had its effect or not, new counsels shortly after prevailed with the ministers of the queen, and it was resolved that Bingham should be restored to the government of Connaught, and further that his persistent demand, that Athlone should be assigned to him for a residence, A.D. 1587-1588.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 201 should be granted. The queen herself, in November, 1587, notified this to the Lord Deputy, and directed him to make such arrangements as would enable Sir Richard Bingham, or the governor of Connaught for the time being, to inhabit the castle of Athlone. In January, 1588, Sir John Perrot prayed Her Majesty to relieve him of the government of Ireland, and that his successor might be sent thither with speed. Sir William Fitzwilliam was accordingly nominated to succeed him. Meanwhile Bingham was on his return to Connaught, and hearing in London that O'Conor Sligo was dead, it immediately occurred to him that it would be for Her Majesty's profit and his own advantage that the castle of Sligo, as well as that of Athlone, should belong to the chief commissioner of Connaught, and in February, I 588, he wrote to Lord Burghley making this suggestion. Here a difficulty arose, which would have troubled a less unscrupulous mind. Sir Donnell O'Conor Sligo had been a most faithful subject of the queen, and royal letters patent had been passed to him, under which he held his castle of Sligo and all his ancestral lands, for the term of his own life, with remainder to the heirs male of his father, who were then represented by his nephew, Donough O'Conor. On the death of his uncle, young O'Conor claimed his inheritance. To dispute his right directly, and to set aside the queen's patent openly, might have led to disastrous consequences, and was more than even Bingham could venture to do; but he was equal to the emergency. Acting under his direction, his brother George, whom he left as his deputy in Sligo, seized upon the property, alleging as his excuse that Donough O'Conor and his father were both illegitimate. The Lord Deputy, who, during Bingham's absence, had released Hugh O'Conor Don, determined that O'Conor Sligo should receive at least a fair trial, and that an unprejudiced commission should inquire into his claim, and the reasons urged against its validity. This information Bingham re- ceived at Chester on his way to Ireland, and on the 24th February he wrote to Lord Burghley — “I understand that the Lord Deputy hath granted out warrants for the enlarging of Hugh O'Conor Don and others of the pledges in that province. Surely this is a most strange course, and a matter of no small importance to set at liberty such principal men as lie for the observation of Her Majesty's peace, myself having been so careful to get them in ; but it cannot be done without great corruption. Also I hear of a certain commission which the Deputy hath granted out for the finding of an office upon the lands of O'Connor Sligo and the illegiti- macy of Donnough O'Connor. The commissioners are so aptly chosen for his purpose as the queen shall not be advantaged by his death if they can choose. But I can assure your Honor the lands are the queen's ; for both Donnough and his father are base born, and he cannot D ID 202 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. xix. inherit by O'Connor's patent. And how fit it is that Sligo should be detained in Her Majesty's hands, being as the door and key to that part of the province, let any man report that knows the state of things there. And for my part, I wish it to be handled for the benefit of Her Majesty's service, and not for any particular gain to myself anyway, as I have delivered to your Lordship. The Lord Deputy with much ado hath delivered the possession of Athlone to my brother, but not without his wonted crossings to me. . . . . Now that I have Athlone, it is intended that I should lose Ballymote and Boyle, for which I hear no mean men will be suitors. They are places of great importance, and very commodious for Her Majesty's service; and though hitherto I have gained little or nothing by them, yet in time they may prove good things, and therefore I beseech your Honour prevent any such, as may go about, to get them ; for T respect more the disgrace I shall sustain if they be taken from me than any benefit that ever I think to reap by them, and chiefly I respect therein the benefit of Her Majesty's service.” Writing again to Lord Burghley, on the 6th March, he repeats his former statement that O'Conor Sligo is illegitimate, but adds:– “I do rather wish, if he be found to be O'Connor's heir, that Ballymote might be assigned to him instead of Sligo ; for though they be both of great importance to be detained in Her Majesty's hands, yet Sligo doth more front the ill-affected, and stands jump upon the entrance and passage into that province.” On the 18th March the Lord Deputy writes to Lord Walsingham — “I did, by the advice of the whole Council here, appoint the Bishop of Meath ; Sir Robert Dillon, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas; Sir Lucas Dillon; Mr. Beling and Mr. Elliott, learned in the laws; to travel to Sligo to inquire upon the death of O'Connor Sligo, who was his next heir ; and I understand that the Bishop of Meath, Sir Robert Dillon, Mr. Beling, and Mr. Elliott have sat upon that Commission, but what they have done thereon I do not yet know. The young gentleman claiming to be heir was here, and craved but indifference and justice. He doth appertain to the Earl of Leicester, and his father was killed in Her Majesty's service, when the overthrow was given to the Scots in Sir N. Malbies time.” Bingham arrived in Dublin two days later, and found that the decision of the Commission was in favour of the legitimacy of the claimant. Writing to Lord Burghley, announcing this fact, he says:– “I take it a great piece of injury offered to Her Majesty that neither Her Highness Chief Commissioner, her justice or her attorney for that province, were either all or some of them on that Commission. Yet as it pleased Her Grace to hear my opinion touching the requisiteness and necessity for the house of Sligo to be kept to Her Highnes's use (which being but a small thing cannot be greatly prejudicial to the living of Donnough Mac Cahil Oge), to whom Her Highness may give a greater portion of land or castle as a recompense either in the A.D. 1588.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 203 Co. of Sligo or nigh adjoining. . . I therefore, my good lord, presumed to signify the same to the Lord Deputy and Council, in the presence of the said commissioners; and finding that the jury and verdict taken in Sligo did not answer either Her Majesty's service or the very truth of the legitimacy, I then made known to his lordship and the Council that, notwithstanding the same verdict of the mere followers of the said Donnough, I would hold the castle of Sligo to Her Highnes's use, as being so commanded by Her Highness, until her full pleasure might be further made known in that behalf.” Having thus, for the time being, set at defiance the decision arrived at by the tribunal appointed by Her Majesty's Deputy, Sir Richard Bingham proceeded to Athlone, and thence he again wrote, on 14th May, to Lord Burghley — “It is not unknown to your Honour how partially the commissioners sent down to Sligo for the inquiry of the lands of Sir Donnell O'Connor Sligo after his death, proceeded in favour of Donnough M'Cahil Oge against the title of Her Majesty to these lands. I assure your lordship the heir is base born and illegitimate, and the lands, especially Sligo itself, by descent and lawful inheritance, is now, by God’s providence, thrown into the lap of Her Majesty—a thing which heretofore Her Highnes's predecessors held as parcel of this crown; and there- fore, being so happily to be had, and the haven and castle of so great importance as it is for the defence of these borders, I hope your lordship will not suffer it to be conveyed from Her Majesty. It may be some will inform—that the taking of this from Donnough O'Connor may breed a suspicion in the Irishry that we seek all from them, and so not only make them unwilling to surrender any lands to Her Majesty, but also incite them to stirs and dis- quietness; but, God be thanked, the people of this province are so dejected, and made subject to the sword, as there is no doubt or fear to be conceived in the one or the other. And yet I could wish that the young man should be considered with part or all of his uncle's lands (the castle and town of Sligo, with the demesnes thereunto annexed only excepted), but yet to hold the same not as his rightful inheritance, but as a free gift from Her Majesty in respect of his uncle's loyalty.” Perrot, however, was not to be deterred by these protests from carrying out even-handed justice ; and in his capacity of representative of the queen, he commanded Bingham to surrender Sligo to its lawful owner. The would-be autocrat of Connaught most unwillingly obeyed; and, writing on the 28th May, gives the following account of his forced submission — “Since the writing of my last letter to you, bearing date this month, wherein I gave your Honour to understand in what sort certain commissioners had proceeded, to the prejudice of Her Majesty, in favour of Donnough O'Connor, I have, notwithstanding all the reasons and causes by me alleged to the contrary, received express commandment from this Lord Deputy to deliver possession of the castle, town, and lands of Sligo, together with all lands Sir Donnell O'Connor died seized of, to the said Cahil's supposed heir. I stand herein hardly bestead ; for in delivering the possession thereof, I shall do that which shall much prejudice Her Majesty's 204 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XIX. title, and not a little hinder the service of this province, if occasions shall be offered. If I deliver it not, I shall be touched with contempt, for so my Lord Deputy hath given it forth. Therefore the case standing as it doth, I give your Honour now to understand that, by com- pulsion, I do deliver up into the hands of an Irishman one of the best places of importance for Her Majesty's service that is now out of Her Majesty's hands in all this realm, both in respect of the house, as also of the strait whereupon the same standeth, and a thing whereunto, for aught I can yet see to the contrary, Her Highness hath great right, as well by ancient inherit- ance as late escheat, and because the importance and benefit of that castle for the behoof of the State hath been heretofore made known to your Honours there, by reason whereof it may be your lordship will hereafter think some remissness in me for the delivery thereof. I have therefore now written the cause why I delivered the same, and how unwillingly I have been urged thereto.” Having thus upheld the grant made under the royal patent, and done justice to the man whose father lost his life in Her Majesty's service, Perrot shortly after retired from the government of Ireland, and was succeeded by Fitzwilliam. This change was one full of evil for the Irish of Connaught, many of the principal men amongst whom had been induced by the fairness and leniency of Perrot to submit to the queen, and to accept English rule. Shortly after Fitzwilliam's arrival, in July, 1588, a “book of instructions,” compiled by Sir Richard Bingham, and purporting to be instructions for the chief commissioner of Connaught, was signed, and approved by the new Lord Deputy. These instructions, drawn out very much in the form of an Act of Parliament, revived, and directed to be enforced, some of the most galling and tyrannical provisions of the famous Statutes of Kilkenny, and gave to the chief commissioner full powers of martial law. He was authorized to levy soldiers, to prosecute rebellions, and to have under his command the nobility and council; the Brehon laws were prohibited ; the Kilkenny statutes against Irish manners and habit were directed to be enforced ; all persons were to wear English attire and apparel, and all such as appeared in mantles and rolls were punishable with fine and imprisonment. It was declared to be lawful for the commissioner, and one other member of the council, to put all witnesses, in cases of felony, to “such torture as they shall think convenient, to urge the said person or persons to a declaration of the truth.” In a word, the chief commissioner was, by this code, invested with that absolute dictatorship he had so long aimed at attaining. Armed with these almost irresponsible powers, Sir Richard was not slow in exercising them. He had no wish to keep the Irish from entering on rebellion; on the contrary, he desired to goad them into it, in order that he A.D. 1588.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 205 might crush them, and gain their estates for himself and his followers. Pro- voked by his tyrannical government, the son of O’Rourke and O'Conor Roe, in 1588, rose in rebellion, and the then sheriff of Roscommon, Richard Mapother, was sent with a force against them. A conflict arose, in which the sheriff and the English were beaten. This gave to Bingham the pretext which he desired, and how he then acted is thus graphically described by the ancient chronicler in the Ammals of Loch Ce:— “The governor of the queen in Connaught at this time was Sir Richard Bingham, and all the Clann William" that he did not hang he set at war with the queen, and the Clan Donnell” in like manner; and he set the posterity of Turlough O'Conor,” and the posterity of Hugh, the son of Felim,” and O'Flanagan and O'Rourke, and M*Dermot, at war with himself and the queen ; and he made a bare polished garment of the province of Connaught.” “When the justiciary of Erin heard of the evils being inflicted in Connaught by the Binghams, he came with great anger and terrible fury, until he arrived at Galway, and the governor remained at Athlone, studying how he might ruin that portion of the province which he had not already ruined ; but the justiciary made peace with M*William and O'Rourke, and the other Irish chiefs. There never came into Connaught such wicked people as those that were in the army of the governor, commanded by his brother, John Bingham; for there was not a man in the world to whom they were faithful in church or territory.” Writing to Walsingham, in June, 1589, Bingham complains that he, the governor of the province, is restrained from opposing the rebels “who have preyed and burned the greater part of Connaught;” that the Lord Deputy and the commissioners have treated him “in a most unfair and disgraceful manner;” and he declares that the “rebels will never be drawn by fair means into a loyal peace.” “That arch-traitor, O’Rourke,” he says, “is the cause of all mischief, and the most arrantish beggar.” “Whilst this man is suffered to hold out, there will be no peace in Connaught.” On the other hand, the Lord Deputy, Fitzwilliam, who soon found out that Bingham's policy was disastrous to the tranquillity of the country, writing to Lord Burghley, in September of the same year, declares that “there never will be peace in Connaught under Sir Richard.” “The Burkes and the O'Flaherties,” he says, “are the most rudest, wildest, and barbarous sort of people. They are afraid of their lives, and never will trust themselves where Sir Richard and his ministers are. They are not likely to be brought to Dublin to make any proof against him, and Sir Richard knows this.” * Clann William—The Burkes. * Clann Donnell—O'Conor Sligo. * O'Conor Don sept. " O'Conor Roe sept. * Annals of Zoch Ce, 1588. The statements which follow are taken from the Calendar of State Papers, Ireland, 1588-1592. 206 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XIX. About this time, Hugh O'Conor Don was again made prisoner, and was confined in Galway. His clansmen in his absence determined to make his kinsman, Dualtagh O'Conor of Brackloon," their chief; and information of this was sent by Dillon to Bingham, with a request that Hugh O'Conor should be set at liberty. Similar information was given by the clerk of the council, Ed. Whyte, to the Master of the Rolls. Shortly after Hugh was released, as Dualtagh O'Conor was considered, in Bingham's eyes, even more objectionable than Hugh. Writing to Lord Burghley in 1590, he thus refers to him — “There was one Dualtagh O'Conor, a motorious traitor, that of all the rest continued longest to do mischief. He had fortified himself very strongly after their manner in an island or crannoge within Lough Lane,” standing within the county Roscommon, and on the borders of that countrye called Costelloghe. A few days ago I drew a force on a sudden one night, and laid siege to the island before day, and so continued seven days restraining them from sending forth or receiving any in. And in the meantime I had caused divers boats from Athlone, and a couple of great iron pieces, to be brought against the island, and on the seventh day we took the island ; some report that Dualtagh was drowned, but the truth is not known. The Irish held that place as invincible.” From Subsequent events, it would appear that Dualtagh O'Conor, by Some unknown means, escaped on this occasion. Shortly before this, Bingham wrote to Walsingham in the following terms :— “We spent sixteen days in Tyrawly spoiling the country, and putting the people to the sword. The blind abbot's leg was clean cut off with the blow of a sword, and buried. The Burkes reckon him now but as a dead man. We took 200 cows and 300 head of great cattle, and burned twelve ricks of corn, besides the havoc of all things else. O'Rourke is so impoverished every way, and his country so wasted, as he will not be able to rise again in haste. There is a report that he is fled to Scotland ; but some suppose that he is hid in some fortress or wood upon the borders of his own country. He is accompanied more like a beggar than a king; for above a king he esteemed himself, and assuredly he proved beggar. He held that opinion of his own greatness, as he thought all the force Her Majesty had durst not meddle with him.” The report here referred to, that Brian O’Rourke had fled to Scotland, turned out to be true; and an event soon occurred which sorely tried the fidelity of Hugh O'Conor Don, who, after his release from captivity, had remained faithful to the allegiance which he had pledged to the English Crown. He * Dualtagh O'Conor was the son of Toole O'Conor, son of Carbry; consequently, Hugh O'Conor and Dualtagh were first cousins. * “Lough Lane,” now called Lough Glynn, the seat of Lord Dillon. A.D. 1588–1589.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 207 was married, as before mentioned, to Mary, the daughter of O’Rourke; and his brother-in-law, O'Rourke's son, had risen against the Binghams, and even defeated the English. O'Rourke himself was particularly obnoxious on account of the protection which he had afforded to some Spaniards, wrecked from the Armada, as well as for the reasons stated in Bingham's despatches. After various successes and reverses, he and his ally, M'Sweeny of Donegal, were defeated. Unable to maintain his position in Ireland, O’Rourke fled for protection to King James of Scotland, who, more anxious to gain the favour of the English queen than to respect the rights of hospitality, ordered him to be seized, and delivered to Queen Elizabeth. He was taken to London, confined for some time in the Tower, tried in Westminster in 1591, convicted of high treason, and hanged and beheaded at Tyburn, displaying at his execution the most undaunted courage. The execution of O’Rourke was not the only act which at this time tried the patience of the Irish chiefs, and tended to undo all that had been accom- plished by Perrot. Young O'Conor Roe had been taken prisoner by Bingham, and was held as a captive, under the pretence that he was a hostage for the fidelity of his people. Having attempted to make his escape, his execution was immediately ordered by the governor, and he was hanged in Galway. Numerous other atrocities committed by Sir Richard Bingham will be found fully set out in a “Book of Complaint” sent to the Lord Deputy, from one of the Burkes, and dated May, I 589. Amongst these the following is mentioned :— “About three years ago, certain of the Burkes being upon their guard against John Browne, Sir Richard being at Ballinrobe, sent for Ulick Burke, son to the blind abbot ; Richard Burke, son to Shane Burke; and for William Burke, son to Meyler Oge Burke; then in- fants. The eldest of them being but of the age fourteen years or thereabouts, having learned the English tongue, and somewhat could read and write ; and the other two, the one of them being of the age of nine, and the other of seven, all of them scholars, and brought up according to their years in good manners and learning ; being come to the camp from the gaol of the Neal, where they continued pledges for their father's good demeanours, some of them that were present having moved the Chief Commissioner whether they ought to be executed without further consideration and trial, they being such young children. The Justice of the province being then present, told Sir Richard plainly that they ought not to be executed for the offence of their parents, for they were innocent; and also, for they were not of sufficient age to con- sent to pawn their lives for the good demeanour of their parents. Notwithstanding this advice given by the Chief Justice of the province, and other motion made to the like effect by divers of the company, the said three children, whilst Sir Richard, the said justice, and the Bishop of Kilmore, and the Earl of Clanricard were at supper, most devilishly and Turkishly were executed. One of them at his going to the place of execution, giving out these speeches, 208 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. xix. * saying—“I have heard that scholars and such men as could read ought to have the benefit of clergy,’ and saying, “I can read. Why doth not Sir Richard permit me to have the benefit thereof.” Another of them wept, and the third asked him that wept what was the reason why he did weep. “Because,’ sayeth he, “I perceive my death is at hand.’ ‘Never care for that,’ saith the little one, “for we shall shortly be in a better place than here, because we die guilt- less of offences; ' and those little ones were bereaved of their lives.” (Then follows a long list of those executed by Bingham.) Such acts of tyranny and oppression naturally produced the bitterest feelings amongst the Irish chiefs, and a general distrust of all English engagements. Out of this arose new wars and disturbances, to quell which taxed the whole powers of the English queen, and left Ireland in a more deplorable condition than she had ever been since the first English invasion. Young Hugh O'Donnell, who had been a prisoner with the English, and who, after most wonderful adventures, had escaped, and arrived in his father's territory, together with O’Neill, showed dispositions to dispute the English rule; and the queen's representative in Ireland endeavoured to enter into peaceable arrangements with them. But the Irish chieftains, so often deceived, feared to trust the English, and refused the terms of peace which were offered. This rejection of her overtures having been communicated to Queen Eliza- beth, a very large army was sent over, and placed under the command of Sir John Norris. This army, having been joined by the Earl of Clanricarde, and Earl of Thomond, assembled in Athlone, and subsequently proceeded to Roscommon, and thence to Boyle, and finding no enemy there, went westwards towards Ballinasloe. O'Donnell, who had taken on himself, in a particular manner, the vindi- cation of the Irish cause, then marched into Connaught, and battles were fought, without any decisive result, at Ballymoe and Castlerea, on the river Suck. On this occasion O’Donnell was joined by Con,' son of Dualtagh O'Conor, of Brackloon,” and also had the assistance of O’Rourke, O'Kelly, * In Sir Conyers Clifford's report on the province of Connaught, in 1597, the following reference to this Con O'Conor appears:—“Con Mac Dualtagh O’Connor, cousin-german to O’Connor Don, pre- tending to be chief of his name, received protection from Sir John Norreys, and revolted on the coming of O'Donnell. He was slain in an action by Feagh Burke.”—State Papers, Carew, A.D. 1597. * Dualtagh O'Conor, before referred to in Bingham's correspondence, had two sons: Con, who was slain, as above mentioned, in 1597, by David Burke, of Glinsk; and Dermot, who married the Lady Margaret Fitzgerald, daughter of Gerald, Earl of Desmond. He took a prominent part for some years as a leader in Munster; but his memory has been rendered infamous by an attempt which he made for a promised reward of £1,000, to deliver up to the English his brother-in-law James FitzThomas, commonly called the “Sugane’’ Earl. A.D. I 589–1597.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 209 M“Dermot, and O'Hara, who commanded different detachments of the Irish troops. The English, on the other hand, deserted by their allies, and finding their provisions running short, again retired to Athlone, having accomplished nothing by their expedition into Connaught. Shortly after this, in September, 1596, Sir Richard Bingham retired from the governorship, and Sir Conyers Clifford was appointed in his place. This change had a most pacific effect on the Irish. Many of the chieftains who had been driven into revolt by the tyranny and atrocities of Bingham, renewed their submission to Clifford. Amongst others, O'Conor Roe, O'Conor Sligo, and MºDermot, as well as the clan M'Donough, and the O’Harts, laid down their arms. When information of this reached O'Donnell, he was furious with his late allies, and wreaked his vengeance in a particular manner upon O'Conor Sligo and M*Dermot, whose territory he entered and laid waste. These depreda- tions were continued, until most of the minor chieftains and M*Dermot himself were compelled to agree to his terms, and to give him hostages. He then proceeded into O'Conor Roe's country, and burned and destroyed everything he could not carry off. Although it is not mentioned in the Annals, it appears from a letter from Clifford, that he took O'Conor Don and one of the M“Dermots as hostages. Clifford, writing to the Lord Deputy in April, I 597, says:— “May it please your lordship and the rest. At this present writing there came unto me a special messenger out of the north, from Hugh O'Conor Don, who hath advertised me that there hath lately arrived in O'Donnell's country two ships, one from Spain, which hath brought some powder and munition; and in that ship, are not above the number of fifty Spaniards; and the other ship of Spain is come from France, with wines brought thither by Crean of Sligo, and this messenger doth answer me to make proof of it, on peril of his life, that what report soever may arise of the coming of these Spaniards, that the number is not greater, neither any likelihood of other ships to come thither from Spain this year.” Writing again to Cecil, on November 19th, 1597, Clifford says:— “Yet, with God's assistance, I have broken all his (O'Donnell's) devices, only he is now in his last, which I trust will be costly to him. Amongst those he took for pledges, for there were two, the one called O'Conor Don, the other MºDermot.” Notwithstanding this boast of the governor of Connaught, that O'Donnell was reduced to the last extremity, the war which he raised continued to be carried on with the greatest bitterness, and lasted for several years, the unfortunate governor not living to see the end of it. E E 210 the o'conoRs ºf conNAUGHT. [CHAP. XIX. About a month after the letter above alluded to was written, in December, 1597, O'Conor Don was released, but not until he had complied with all O’Donnell's demands, and given as hostages his own two sons, the heir of O’Beirne, the eldest son of O’Hanly, and the heir of O'Flynn. Having thus crushed the Irish in Connaught who were opposed to his policy, O'Donnell proceeded to the north, and there joined O'Neill, who was threatened by a large force under the command of Sir Henry Bagenal. O'Neill had married Bagenal's sister, contrary to the wish of her brother ; and a bitter personal animosity existed between the two commanders, which made the conflict in which they were about to be engaged even more deadly than it would otherwise have been. The rival armies met at a ford on the river Blackwater, not far from Armagh, and a sanguinary battle took place. In this battle, known as “Beal an atha Buidhe,” or the Battle of the Yellow Ford, the English were completely defeated, and Bagenal was killed. According to English writers, the number of troops they lost was over 1,500, whilst the Irish lost only 200 killed and 600 wounded. Cox says: “By this victory the Irish got arms, ammunition, and victuals, and, which was more, so much reputation, that the English could act only on the defensive part, and not that itself without continual fear and danger;” and Fynes Morison says that “the English, from their first arrival in the kingdom, never had received so great an overthrow as this. O'Neill was regarded as Hannibal was after the battle of Cannae.” After this great victory, O’Neill and O’Donnell separated. O’Neill went to Munster, where he again defeated the English, and set up James Fitzgerald, commonly called the Sugane Earl, as Earl of Desmond, and left him and Dermot O'Conor, before referred to, as the chief Irish leaders in the south, whilst O’Donnell seized the castle of Ballymote, which he took from the M’Donoughs, and having entrenched himself therein, prepared to resist any attacks that might be made on him. These important successes of the Irish aroused and alarmed the re- presentatives of the queen. Instead of being in the last extremity, as represented by Clifford, O'Donnell was now more powerful than ever; and recognising O'Neill as monarch of Ireland, he cast off all allegiance to the English throne. It became, therefore, necessary to crush him ; and the Earl of Essex, the favourite of Queen Elizabeth, was sent over to Ireland with a large army to restore the queen's authority in that country. The greater part of Connaught had been already devastated by O’Donnell. O'Conor Sligo's territory had been laid waste; O'Conor Roe's delivered up to A.D. 1597–1599.] THE O'CONORS QF CONNAUGHT. 211 fire and pillage; O'Conor Don himself had been taken prisoner, and M*Der- mot's country had been plundered, and his lands devastated by the northern armies. No love, therefore, existed in the breasts of the Connaught chief- tains for their warlike countryman. The arrival of Essex gave them hopes that they could safely shake off the submission which they had made to O'Donnell. O'Conor Sligo, who had suffered most from his hands, was the first to declare in favour of the queen. He shut himself up in his castle of Collooney, which O'Donnell at once prepared to besiege. Thereupon the governor of Connaught, Sir Conyers Clifford, assembled his troops in Ros- common, and called to his aid all the chieftains who had previously entered into the composition with Sir John Perrot. Having been joined by O'Conor Don and several others, the united army proceeded first to Tulsk and then to Boyle. Meanwhile O'Donnell, having strengthened his entrenchments round the castle of Collooney, and having left sufficient force to maintain the siege, proceeded to the pass of the Curlieu mountains, and there awaited the attack of his enemies. The allied English and Irish forces advanced from Boyle on the morning of the I5th August, I 599 ; and about eleven o'clock the conflict began. A party of the English, under Sir Alexander Radcliff, made some advance up the hill towards a bog and wood in which the Irish were concealed. The latter rush- ing out, a desperate conflict ensued, which lasted for an hour and a half, when, it is said, Radcliff's men had expended their powder and shot, and the vanguard, pressed by the Irish, wavered, wheeled about, and fled. Radcliff received a wound in the face, and another in the leg, and was soon after slain. The vanguard being routed, Clifford himself endeavoured to animate his men, and laboured, but in vain, to rally them by his voice and example; and the brave veteran, rushing onward, was shot through the body, and killed ; whilst another English commander, Sir Griffin Markham, received a shot through the arm, and narrowly escaped. The battle was now practically over. The English, dispirited by the loss of their general, commenced a retreat, which was soon turned into a disastrous flight, as O'Rourke, who, in the beginning, had been detained at a distance guarding one of the passes, came up with a fresh body of Irish forces, and, animated with the recollection of old wrongs and revenge for the murder of his father, rushed impetuously down the hill with his kerns and gallowglasses, and drove the English as far as Boyle, where the remnant of their forces found refuge for the night. The next day they retreated hurriedly to Athlone, leaving immense booty, ammunition, arms, armour, and colours to the Irish. After the 212 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP XIX. battle, O'Donnell ordered O'Rourke to pursue O'Conor Don ; but O'Rourke refused, saying, “O'Conor Don is my brother-in-law, and I have no enemies but those foreigners and Saxons who murdered my father.” Upon this O'Donnell himself marched to Ballintober, where O'Conor Don had retired, and placing a large gun, which had been sent to him as a present from Spain, on the heights of Ballyfinegan, which commanded the castle, soon compelled O'Conor Don to surrender. Taking O'Conor Don with him, O'Donnell proceeded to Collooney, where O'Conor Sligo still remained besieged. Having arrived there, “he sent Clifford's head into the castle with a message, that if Collooney was not immediately surrendered, O'Conor Don's head should be sent in likewise. The castle was therefore surrendered to the victorious O'Donnell, who generously bestowed to the two O'Conors their lives and properties, on con- dition of their joining in the general cause.” The decisive check which the English received at the battle of the Curlieus told upon their fortunes in other parts of the country; and Essex thought it more prudent to try and come to terms with O’Neill. For this purpose a truce for two months was agreed upon between them. During this interval, O'Conor Don, who had been knighted” by the Earl of Essex, returned to his castle of Ballintober, where he remained quiet, endeavouring to preserve himself and his people from the evils which surrounded them. * O'Conor's Memoirs, p. 120. * “Knighted.” Many inferior persons had been knighted previously to this period; but Queen Elizabeth issued her Royal mandate, ordering that none should be knighted, for the future, except men of ancient blood and property, or who had performed some singular service for the Crown. The mandate is worded as follows:— * ELIZABETH R. “The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty having found of later times that many of her good and loving subjects, being gentlemen of ancient birth and long continuance in this country, have taken great grief to behold themselves cast behind in all assemblies and public meetings for her service, by means of the multitude of knights that have been lately made by virtue of her commissioner, her Highness did resolve thereupon to prevent that excess by giving straight instructions to the Earl of Essex, late Lieutenant and Governor-General of her kingdom of Ireland, to forbear to bestow that dignity upon any person that was not of ancient blood and good livelihood, or had done some especial service ; and yet for all Her Majesty said, straight charge and commandment, it appeared to her great mislike, that within two months or less after his arrival in Ireland, he had altogether swerved from these instructions under Her Majesty's hand, and had, beyond all moderation, given that dignity where there was no such extraor- dinary cause to make such numbers; whereupon Her Majesty did, by an express letter, all written with her own hand, give unto the said earl absolute commandment that he should not confer knighthood upon any one man more, but leave that reward to herself, who would be as ready to recompense such merits where they were due as any other person would be, though she never meant to suffer it that by A.D. I 599–1603. ] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 213 The truce between O'Neill and the English did not lead to any permanent result, and hostilities continued, more or less actively, until the arrival of the Spaniards at Kinsale, in 1601, under Don John De Aquila. O'Neill and O'Donnell determined at once to join them, and having succeeded in eluding the English forces, met together near Kinsale. On this occasion O'Donnell was accompanied by O'Conor Roe, O'Rourke, and MºDermot. Having con- centrated their forces, and partially surrounded the English, the latter began to feel pressed for provisions, and would probably have soon been starved out, had not the Spaniards, who were in a similar position, urged their Irish allies to lose no time in attacking their foes. To this course O'Neill was opposed; but, yielding to the more spirited counsels of O'Donnell, he consented to attack the English camp. The result was most disastrous. The Irish were completely defeated. The Spaniards capitulated on honourable terms, and were allowed to return in safety to Spain ; O'Neill retired to the north ; and O'Donnell, broken-hearted, went on board a vessel of the Spanish fleet, and accompanied the Spaniards to their own country. On arriving in Spain, he was treated with the greatest respect, and was promised by the king every assistance for undertaking a new invasion of Ireland; but before this new expedition could be arranged, he died at Simanchas, two leagues from Valla- dolid. In the Annals, his death is ascribed to natural causes," although some writers allege that he was poisoned at the instigation of the English. About the same time occurred the death of Queen Elizabeth. During the latter years of her reign, constant warfare was carried on in Ireland, and the expenditure both in men and money was something prodigious. The con- dition to which the country was reduced by this warfare was truly appalling, any man's disobedience dignities should be bestowed where she never intended, and to the disgrace of so many other ancient gentlemen whom she much esteemed. And therefore, seeing it hath now lately appeared, and that the said earl hath confessed that after this express countermand and prohibition received by him, he did offend in assuming and taking on himself authority to make a great number of knights in the months of August and September, whereof the names are under written. Her Most Excellent Majesty, to the end that none of her loving subjects be abused, or any such work of contempt drawn into precedent, hath and doth by these presents straightly charge and command that none of the said persons under-written do hereafter presume to take upon them the title of knighthood, nor to take any other place than they had before they went into Ireland with the said earl, and that no other person or persons do hereafter attribute or ascribe unto them, or any of them, the name or dignity of knighthood, upon pain of Her Majesty's heavy displeasure, and upon such punishment as by the laws of her realm may be inflicted upon so notorious offenders.” * Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 1602. See lines of Columkille, supposed to refer to O'Donnell, where the word “Don’’ is used to signify chief or leader. 214 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XIX. The destruction of the growing crops was the common practice of all the contending parties, and this resulted in a most fearful famine, which reduced the unfortunate inhabitants to a more deplorable condition than had been witnessed since the siege of Jerusalem. Morrisson, an eye-witness of the scenes which occurred, gives instances where young children were killed and devoured by the inhabitants, reduced to the last extremity of hunger. “No spectacle,” he says, “was more frequent in the ditches of the towns, and especially in wasted countries, than to see multitudes of these poor people dead, with their mouths all green by eating nettles, docks, and all things they could rend up above ground.” Mountjoy in a letter to the council in England says: “From O’Kane's country, northward of Tyrone, we have left none to give us opposition, nor of late have seen any but dead carcasses, newly starved to death for want of food. O'Hagan protested unto us that between Tullaoge and Toome there lay unburied I,000 dead, and there were above 3,000 starved in Tyrone.” Leland says the southern province seemed to be totally depopulated, and, except within the cities, exhibited a hideous scene of famine and deso- lation ; and Spenser's well-known description of the country leaves nothing to be added to it. He says — “Out of every corner of the woods and glens they came creeping forth upon their hands, for their legs could not bear them ; they looked like anatomies of death, they spake like ghosts crying out of their graves; they did eat the dead carrion, happy when they could find some, yea, and one another soon after, insomuch as the very carcasses they spared not to scrape out of their graves; and if they found a plot of water-cresses or shamrocks, there they flocked as to a feast for the time, yet not able long to continue therewithal; that in a short space there were none almost left, and a most populous and plentiful country suddenly left devoid of man and beasts.” Such was the melancholy condition to which the greater part of Ireland was reduced by the devastation of the English armies, and unfortunately also by retaliatory measures of her own sons. In the latter conflicts in his country, Sir Hugh O'Conor Don appears to have taken no part. He had, on the one hand, submitted to the queen, and had been called in council by order of her representative, the Earl of Essex;1 and on the other, he had subsequently been compelled to give hostages to O'Donnell; and seeing the frightful *Instructions from Lord Essex to Lord Dunkellin and Sir A. Savage:—"You shall call in council in all services, Sir Griffin Markham, Sir Gerard Harris, and Sir Tibbot Dillon, and in those things which are not of secrecy, O'Connor Dunn and MacSwyne, and such principal lords of the Irish as you may have with you.”-State Papers, 1599, August 1oth, Carew Series. A.D. 1603–1607.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 215 destruction of life and property which took place in all the territories where the civil war was carried on, he probably desired to keep his own people free from these misfortunes, and from being engaged in a struggle, the only certain results of which appeared to be famine and pestilence. The accession of James I. to the throne of England in 1603, seemed to open a new era for the Irish chieftains. They believed they had in him a man of their own Milesian origin, and they hailed his accession to the throne as an event likely to remove the disabilities under which they had been previously suffering, especially in regard to the exercise of their religion. These expectations were in a great measure doomed to disappointment. Nevertheless there can be no doubt that in the reign of James the country quickly recovered from the deplorable condition into which it had been plunged by the civil wars under Elizabeth. This was especially manifest in Connaught. Sir Robert Jacob, one of the judges of assize, writing to Lord Salisbury in 1609, gives the following account of the improvement which had taken place :- “Having this last vacation been employed as justice of assize into Connaught, on which journey he had occasion to visit all the parts of that province, he thought it appertaining to his duty to give his lordship an account in what state he found that part of this kingdom. In all that circuit there were not above two or three notable malefactors arraigned before them for any heinous or exorbitant crime ; the rest, and that but a small number, were for petty stealths and felonies. “O’Connor Roe and O'Connor Sligo (two of the greatest Irish lords in Connaught) both died whilst the sessions were being held in Sligo. O'Connor Roe hath left divers sons, who are all good swordsmen, and may prove honest or dishonest as occasion serves. O'Connor Sligo died without issue, and his land is descended to his brother, Donnell O'Connor, who is a widower of the age of five and thirty years. He is to marry with one of the Earl of Desmond's daughters; he speaks English well ; he was bred up in the wars in France ; the people have a great opinion of him ; he is like to prove an honest man, if his graffing on a crabbed stock do not alter his proper nature. “The only discontented persons in the province are Sir Thomas Bourke, and Mr. John Bourke, the Earl of Clanricarde's brothers, and Sir Tibbott Burke, called Tibboth-na-Longe, * who are malcontent about some private grudges betwixt them and the earl, but they are able to do little hurt to the State as things now stand. “There are at least 2,000 idle men in Connaught who have neither house, lands, trade, nor other means, but live idly, and feed upon the gentlemen of the country. And when the lords and gentlemen meet upon their parley hills, he is accounted the bravest man that comes attended with most of these followers. These sparks are raked up in the embers for a new rebellion. These are they who fill the heads of the gentlemen with treason, and when they see a fit opportunity, they thrust them out into open action. Many of these idle men are soldiers returned from the Low Countries.” Sir Robert Jacob to Lord Salisbury, 18th October, 1609.-Calendar of State Papers, by Russell and Prendergast. 216 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XIX. The chief complaint made at this time to the king, by his ministers, was that his revenue from Ireland was very small, and that several of the great Irish lords, notably Lords Ormonde and Clanricarde, Sir Hugh O'Conor Don, Donnel O'Conor Sligo, O’Rourke, and others, claimed exemption from payments on account of the compositions into which they had entered under the late queen." With the view of asserting the king's right to increased rents or tribute from his Irish kingdom, inquisitions were ordered to issue for the purpose of ascertaining the amount and annual value of the possessions held by the different lords and chieftains. Preparatory to this, an order was made for determining the boundaries of the newly formed county of Roscommon ; and in 1607 an inquisition was taken in Roscommon for this purpose. The result of the inquiry of the commissioners, as embodied in their decision, is recorded in an interesting document in the Record Office, Dublin, of which the follow- ing is a copy":— BOUNDARIES OF COUNTY ROSCOMMON. “An inquisition taken in Roscommon, 16th July, 1607, before Sir Anthony S. Leger, Master of the Rolls, and another. By the oathes of, &c., qui dicunt. That the countie of Roscomon extendeth in length from Athlone to Lahaghnelahareebane, near and on this side Beallanafadd 33 miles, and in breadth from Beallalige at y' river Sheanan to Owenmore, nere Coystellagh (being the broadest place in y” said countie), 16 miles. They find the true bonds and meares of the s” countie to begin eastward, at the middest of the bridge of Athlone, at the monument of Sir Henry Sydney, and so extendeth southwards, as the river runneth to Clownebarren or Clowne M*Knoyse, and so to Raghra, where the river of Sucke goeth into the river of Sheanon, and so along the s” river of Sucke to Carhyne, and from thence through the middle arch of the new bridge in the towne of Ballanesloy, including the howse or castell of Ballanesloy, and a small island between the howse and the middle streame wh: runneth under the s” bridge. And so to Bealagh, including the lands of Aghagad and Aghagowse, beyond the s” river of Sucke, bounding on the countie of Gallwaye, extending forward to the brooke or stream of Owynbegg, and so forward as the course of the river run- neth to Downoman, where the streame with meare falleth into the s” river of Sucke, agayn from thence along the s” river to the bridge of Beallamoe, so to Beallacarn, and forward to Ahalahanlare, from thence bounding to Pollnemoynge, where it includeth the s” river of Sucke, and then reteynninge the meare, extending westward to the wood of Dowfle Derry, bounding forward to Lahaghcoggry, betweene y” two woods of Bocalagh on the south in the Cº. of Gallway and Cloonfelliffe on the north, and so extendeth through Lahagh-Corboghell, betweene Slyve Iboyn and Twoymacroym, and forwarde through the middest of a great bogge, * Calendar of State Papers, 1611. Russell and Prendergast. Also Carew Series. *The original document is in some parts illegible, and blanks are left where the words could not be deciphered. A.D. 1607.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 217 Moanemore, and so along to the stream of Cloon-Irr on the north. From thence it runneth through the middest of Iskermore and forward to Leanieneshennagh, and to Claysassann, then continueth the mear to Leantaghmoynter, boundinge the next of my Lord Bermingham's countrie, and so forward to the edge of Clonmarrishe on the south side of Scarvenemore, from thence to the river of Owenmore on the north, and so to the edge of Coy- stellagh, and from thence through a brooke or stream called Owynbegg, extending forward to Aha Inellanlah, butting west and north-west to Grallagh Gurtyne-Ruyncoalla, and so forward along the meare running between Cnockbracke and Leighballinroe, from thence to Ahetowos- kert on the north north-west of the same, and soe directly to Lyegane Kiltullagh, from thenoe to the meare called Cleyahagerron and to Mannaghe Attyeffyegher, thence holding the meare to Cnockanbane and forward to Banshuckin, and so along the meare of Lahagh garranecnychen and to Lahagh Leameenyche and Pulliagh and Lahaghnetryegyery, and from thence to Cloy Tomaltagh, and still west north-west to Tullagh, from thence to Portmatrynaspoycke, which in English signifieth the meeting-place of the three bishops, for the bonds of the Arch- bishopric of Tuam, the bishopric of Elphin, and the bishopric of Achonry do meet in one. And from Portnatrynaspoycke along the river between Turlaghganyne and Urryre, and so to and from thence to the river of Beallament and Southward of Clo from thence through the Coyll and to the forde of Killmayne, and from thence as the stream runneth to Beallacrannon, and containing the s” On to Ilane Enahbrack, from thence to the pace of Ballohfearma, and so through the bogge to the meare betweene and Anackallamore, and through the mayne bogg called Crycregh-Ione, and so to Lissiane on the east, and bounding forward along to Beallamota, and through the bogg to Curraghmore, and from thence through the bogge westward of Rahatra, and so including the loghe of Rahatra to the mear of Sleiveroe, and from thence to Claysh Cloynogoynon, and so northward to Logh TGara, and coming out of y" said logh to yº meare that boundeth the fyne towns of y” Rann, being parte of y” countie of Sligoe, and holding the same meare still runneth to Munhiniewoghter, and so through the bogg to Loghanboy, from thence to Srowhom Clay-nepurtloycke, and so to Ardban and to Boher-Lyssertree, extending to Loghom Dun Cwella, and crossing over the river leadeth directly to Duffche and Owyn Roe=Carnbrislagh, and soe crossing the mountain of Corlewe goeth to Lahogh and from thence to the stream which divideth or boundeth the towne of Ballymullanny into two moities, whereof one is included in the county of Ros- comon, and the other part in the countie of Sligoe, and so to Srowhane Killnegleareth, in- cluding Killnectrany, butting to Bealla-Inreaske, alonge one meare to Aylte Cony, and to Tullaghbegg, and from thence to Begmaney in Duff Carrick on the Ballynegleara, and then into the middest of Logh Allen, and from thence unto the river of Sheanon boundeth the Cº. of Leytrim from the s” countie of Roscomon. And so along the s" river into Loghry, where it includeth of And Clay Inch, and from thence falleth into the river of Sheanon agayne, and so to the s” bridge of Athlone. “Item. They find also the s” countye consisteth of four baronies and a half bar". Bar. of Athlone consisteth of 290% quarters; whereof inhabited, 124 quarters; free by the composi- tions, quarters; waste, 124 quarters. The barony of Roscomon consisteth of 271 quarters; whereof inhabited, 115 quarters; free, 8 quarters; waste, 148 quarters and #. The Lordship of Roscomon consisteth of 50 quarters and # ; whereof inhabited, save the freedom Nihil ; free, 23 quarters; waste, 27 q" and #. F F 218 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XIX. “The bar. of Ballyntobber consisteth of 430 quarters; whereof inhabited, four score and 10 q"; free, 45 quarters; waste, 301 quarters. “The bar. of Boyle, alias Moylurg, consisteth of 341 quarters; whereof inhabited, 89 and # q"; free, 44 q"; waste, 210 q” #. “The half bar. of Beallamoe consisteth of 28 q"; whereof inhabited, 9% q".; free, 13 qrs.; Waste, The number of quarters in the s” countie inhabited free and waste are 1,400; whereof they find to be the of the inhabited, at this moment 427; qrs.; free in all, 145 qrs.; waste in all, 827# qrs.” The boundaries of the county having been settled, further inquisitions were ordered as to the lands claimed by the different chieftains and principal men. Before these inquiries extended to Sir Hugh O'Conor Don's posses- sions, he was reported as dying ; and, at one time, the Lord Deputy thought that the three great lordships of the O'Conors would be vacant at the same moment. The deaths of O'Conor Sligo and O'Conor Roe have been already alluded to, and Sir A. Chichester, the Lord Deputy, writing to Lord Salisbury on 17th August, I609, Says :— “Sir Donough O'Connor Sligo is lately dead. A letter from his brother, who is his heir, has just arrived. He is an unstaid man, and in the queen's days, long served the Spaniards. This happened since the Earl of Clanricarde came from Connaught, so did the death of O'Conor Roe, and the sickness of Sir Hugh O'Connor Dune, who (as the judges of assize write) is thought past recovery. The accident is the more remarkable, the deaths happening within two days one of another.” Sir Hugh O'Conor Don, however, recovered, and in 16IO executed a deed making over to his second son, Hugh, the town and lands of Castlereagh, and a number of other lands. This deed, which will be more particularly referred to when treating of the affairs of the younger Hugh, was made with- out the leave of the king, and consequently we find the lands subsequently treated as if they still belonged to Sir Hugh O'Conor Don himself. About this time, many of the Irish chieftains thought it better to relin- quish the patents of their lands which they held from the late queen, and to enter into new arrangements with the existing government. Amongst others, Sir Hugh O'Conor Don adopted this course, and received a fiant for letters patent dated the 9th July, in the fifteenth year of the reign of James I., and on Nov. 17th, 1617, an order was made that the surrender of the patent formerly made to Sir Hugh O'Conor Don be accepted, and a new grant made of his estates. * Calendar, State Papers, A.D. 1609, Russell and Prendergast. A.D. 1607–1617.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 219 This fiant," addressed to Oliver St. John, Lord Deputy, and to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, set forth that “Sir Hugh O'Connor Don, Knight,” desired to take advantage of a Commission to inquire into titles in Ireland, that he hath received a patent from “our late dear sister, Queen Elizabeth,” granting to him several manors, lands, rents, and hereditaments in the county of Roscommon, at one hundred pounds sterling per annum, and that he paid out of each quarter of land IOS. composition rent, whereby he was to be freed from the said one hundred pounds ; that he had ever since paid the com- position rent, and desired to be freed from the one or the other, as it was never intended that both should be levied, and that he had offered to surrender all his castles, manors, &c., to the Crown for the purposes of a re-grant. The Lord Deputy and Chancellor were directed to accept this surrender, and to make a new patent under the Great Seal of the realm to Sir Hugh O'Conor, his heirs and assigns, of all such manors, castles, lands, and hereditaments as he had surrendered, to be held by knight's service in capite ; and that his allegations as to the rent being found to be true, the Lord Deputy and Chan- cellor should determine whether he was to pay the one hundred pounds or the composition rent of IOS. for each quarter. It was further declared to be the king's pleasure that Sir Hugh O'Conor Don should have power to hold court leet and court baron, with fairs and markets to be granted as should seem fit; and lastly, that there should be inserted in said grant a pardon for all intru- sions, alienations, and liveries, and ousterlimains. The patent itself, which followed this decree, and which was signed on 30th December, 1617, granted and confirmed— “To our beloved subject, Hugh O'Connor Don, knight, his heirs and assigns, the manor and castle, or stone fortilice, of Ballintubber, with its appurtenances, in the county of Roscommon, and also one caracute of land called Rossmeen, upon a certain quarter of which land the said castle is situated and built ; also another quarter of land called Clooneykearney, and another called Behagh, and another called Cloonyvindin, and two quarters of land called Ardnamullagh, and two others called Ballymageiher; and also one quarter called Gortnamaddy, alias Ballyinagen, also one quarter called Ratheverinkeile, one called Moyne, and one called Ratheverinmore, also one quarter called Brackloon, and one called Rathymige, also one other quarter of land called Carrowreagh, also one other quarter of land with a castle called Knockalaghta and Firbregge ; also one quarter called Carrowbane, and three quarters called Castleteine ; also one quarter called Rathagarrow, one called * The fiant and the patent are both enrolled in the Rolls Office, Dublin; but a duplicate of each was given to Sir Hugh O'Conor Don, and the originals are in the possession of the present O'Conor Don. The Fiant is in English, and the Patent in the very verbose law Latin of the period. Copies of both are given in Appendix G. 220 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XIX. Lisgobbin, one called Knockanirrey, and one called Knockroe ; also one quarter of land called Cloonsellagh," one called Lisboy, and one called Carrowmore ; also one quarter called Carrowkeel, and two quarters of land called Larragh ; also half a quarter of land called Cleyboybegg, and also four quarters of land called Ballymaglimm, and one quarter called Carrowmtobber; also one other quarter called Rathnamaloge, and one called Carrowgarrow ; also one called Slevin, one called Lismorierty, and one called Carrowgarry; also one other, with a castle called Carrow- vealy;” all and singular the which are or were lately considered as parcels of the manor of Ballintobber aforesaid, and lying and being in the said county of Roscommon. “Also thirty quarters of land, with their appurtenances, lying and being in the territory of Cloonkearne,” in the said county, except the two quarters of Rathlagge, which were pos- sessed by one Gilleboy O'Flanagan, and also the patronage of the rectory and vicarage of Ballintobber, alias Templebredagh, in the same county. “Moreover, we do give, grant, and confirm to the said Hugh O'Connor Don, knight, his heirs, &c., the head-rents or services of whatsoever kind or nature by right due or payable to said Hugh O'Connor Don, out of the several territories following, viz., the territory of Clan- connor, in the said county ; the territory called O'Flynn's country and O’Hanly’s country ; also the territory called Laggan O’Hanly; and the territory called Tirbreineighter; and also all and singular the castles, messuages, lofts, mills, houses, edifices, structures, barns, stables, dove-houses, fields, orchards, gardens, lands, tenements, meadows, pastures, feedings, com- mons, wastes, plains, heaths, turbaries, marshes, as well woods, underwoods, waters, water- courses, fisheries, fishings, pools, lakes, fish-ponds, mines, &c., with the right to levy the customary rents, and fines, and services, and to hold all the perquisites and profits arising out of court-leet or frank-pledge, with the right to seize the cattle and goods and chattels of felons, fugitives, and suicides, so that he may be able to reduce to obedience all villains, with their followers.” All fairs, markets, tolls, and customs appertaining to the above-mentioned castles or townships were also secured by the patent, as well as such rever- sionary rights as would arise on the expiration of existing leases or agreements. All these lands and rights were granted in as full and complete a manner as the Crown could grant them, to Sir Hugh O'Conor Don, Knight, and his heirs in perpetuity, to be held in capite by knight's service, paying therefor yearly the sum of thirty-five pounds sterling, which was to cover all rents and compositions, and charges. All arrears, rents, or compositions previously due or payable were cancelled. There was also granted to Sir Hugh O'Conor Don and his heirs the right to hold a court leet or view of frankpledge every year within the manor of Ballintober, and to hold a court baron every three weeks in the * Cloonsellagh, now called Harristown. * This in a subsequent inquisition is called “Carrownvally, alias Ballinegarre.” * The territory of Cloonkearne or Clann Caitherney originally belonged to the M'Kearneys, who paid a head rent to O’Conor Don, their chief. It included the site of the present town of Castlerea, and the lands to the west of it. In 1585 Sir Hugh acquired full possession of the territory by purchasing all the rights of the M*Kearneys. This appears from a deed dated 18th September, 1585. A.D. 1617–1624.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 221 same manner as was required by the laws and customs of the kingdom of Ireland. A free market in Ballintober every Tuesday, and a fair once a year on the fifteenth day of August and the next following day, were also granted, with a court of “pie powder,” and all and singular the tolls, customs, issues, profits, and emoluments arising out of the said market, fair, and court. It was further provided that all the grants made in the patent should be free from all and every description of payment to the Crown, except what was provided by the patent itself; and that no fine should be paid to the Hanaper Office on the taking out of the patent for the use of the Crown. Under this patent Sir Hugh O'Conor Don received a direct recognition of ownership over an immense tract of country, comprising the richest land in the county of Roscommon, and corresponding very much to the barony of Ballintober, which, no doubt, was originally bounded and defined by the limits to which his authority as chief lord extended. From this date until the time of his death in 1632, Sir Hugh took very little part in public affairs, but remained at his ancestral castle, quietly assisting his co-religionists in all their difficulties by advice and protection. The Catholic religion, though not as fiercely persecuted as in the time of the late queen, was still under a ban. It being impossible to coerce the whole Catholic nation to abandon their faith, the clergy were singled out for special persecution, and the young sons of the nobility and chief men for special education. Whenever a Catholic chieftain died, if his sons were under age, they were claimed as wards of the king, were in many cases taken over to England and educated in the Protestant faith, and when grown up to manhood were sent back to govern their estates, and to spread the Reformed religion. The clergy, on the other hand, were denied all opportunity of education at home, and young men who desired to join the ministry were obliged to proceed to foreign countries for their studies, and on their return were treated as enemies of the Crown, to harbour whom was a crime. Notwithstanding this, the Irish people became, if possible, more devoted and attached to them, and considered them their spiritual fathers. Referring to one of these hunted priests who had landed in the south of Ireland from the Continent, the Lord Deputy, writing to Sir R. Wingood, in 1613, says: “Now every house is his sanctuary, such is the affection of this people for men of his profession.” In this willingness to shield and protect their clergy the O'Conors were conspicuous; and the castle of Ballintober became, in the time of Sir Hugh, a favourite and comparatively safe retreat for Catholic ecclesiastics; so much so, that the Government became uneasy; and exaggerated reports were circulated not alone of the number but of the menacing conduct of these individuals. 222 TIIE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XIX. Writing in 1624 to the Lord Deputy, the President of Connaught says:– “Upon Wednesday last there was an assembly of between three and four score fathers and other priests at Sir Hugh O'Connor's at Ballintobber, besides divers over gentlemen of the country, every one of those priests being armed with swords, daggers, and pistols, each of them having besides two serving-men, all armed like their masters. Some of these priests are divers times at that town. Surely there must needs be some bad intent in these great meetings. One Donnell M'Swyne is the head of them, who comes out of Ulster, a very dangerous man and a vicar-general over them. He sent to Galway for a barrel of wine, and drunk it out there amongst his company, and paid for all himself.” “P.S.—Since writing hereof has heard that at this assembly there was M*Davye, O’Beirne, and O'Connor Don, with their children. This advertiser requires his name to be kept secret for a while.” Notwithstanding this advertisement, no notice was taken of this meeting, and none of the evils predicted arose out of it, such meetings being really due to the persecution which followed the clergy, except when under the protection of some such chief man as O'Conor. Sir Hugh O'Conor Don died at an advanced age in 1632, having, on the marriage of his different sons, settled by deeds portions of his estates on each of them. He left by his wife Mary O'Rourke four sons':-I. Calvach, or Charles ; 2. Huge Oge, or Hugh the younger; 3. Cathal ; 4. Brian. Each of these sons married and left descendants, whose history we shall have now to trace, dealing with each son and his descendants separately. * According to all the recorded pedigrees of the O'Conor family, Sir Hugh O'Conor Don had but these four legitimate sons. It appears, however, from an inquisition and other documents in the Record Office that he had another son named Dermot, to whom he made over certain lands in 162O. These lands he retained until his death. He appears to have died without issue, as neither his name nor that of any of his children is mentioned in any document later than 1641. ºs e = = #. e E r e E = E e º Eé - - - = Eze. - = El = e - == El - E A . . ST0 INE CR 0SS 0F TUAM. C H A P T E R X. X. A.D. I6O7–1699. CAL VACH, or CHARLES, “O'CONOR DOW,” SON OF SIR HUGH. A.D. I632–1654. ALVACH, or Charles O'Conor, the eldest son of Sir Hugh O'Conor Don, was born about the year 1584.” He married, some time before the year 1616, Mary, daughter of Sir Theobald Bourke, commonly called Tibbot na Lung, or Theobald of the Ships.” Her mother was the daughter of O'Conor Sligo, and her grandparents were Sir Ricard Bourke, and the celebrated Grace O'Mally, or Graine-nu–ail, the daring queen of the western Ocean. In 1607, when he was about twenty-two years of age, a marriage was projected between him and a daughter of the Countess of Desmond. This projected marriage was considered of so much importance that it was brought under the notice of the English minister, Lord Salisbury, and directions asked regarding it. On the 21st June, 1607, Captain Power, writing to Lord Salisbury, in- forms him that “a marriage is projected between one of the daughters of the Countess of Desmond, and the son and heir of O'Connor Dunn, whose ancestors, before the coming of the English into this land, were Kings of Connaught. Has often been moved to bring the match to an end ; but lest there might some matter of state depend upon two so great families joining together (the one of English descent, the other of Irish), he would neither * According to an Inquisition taken in 1632, he was in that year forty years of age ; but an examination of other records shows that what was meant by this was, that he had at least attained forty years of age. His real age in 1632 must have been about forty-eight. * Lodge's Peerage, Vol. IV., p. 238. 224 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XX. reject nor accept the motion to conclude it, till he had acquainted his lordship herewith.” “Humbly prays directions how to carry himself in it.” This document is endorsed —“Captain Power to My Lord.” “He desires to be directed by your lordship how to carry himself in a business put upon him for effecting a match between a daughter of the Countess of Desmond, and the son and heir of O'Connor Dunn, a great lord in Connaught.” Whether the English minister put a stop to this proposed marriage or not, at all events, it did not take place ; and some few years later, young O'Conor was married, as stated above, to the daughter of Sir Theobald Bourke. During the lifetime of his father, and probably on the occasion of his marriage, certain lands were settled on him, and the castle of Knocka- laghta became his residence. In 1616, this castle and these lands were in his possession, as appears from an Inquisition taken in that year,” notwith- standing which, they were, with the other territorial possessions of Sir Hugh O'Conor, entered in the patent or re-grants made, as before stated, to that chieftain by King James I., in 1617. Subsequently, in 1621, in order to secure their legal and proper settlement on Charles O'Conor and his heirs, a deed was executed by Sir Hugh O'Conor Don and Charles O'Conor, by which the lands were conveyed in trust to Alexander Lynch of Galway, Peter Oge French of Galway, Donnogh O’Beirne of Dangan, and William O'Mulloy of Croghan, for the use of Charles O'Conor and Mary his wife, and their heirs, in the ordinary regular form of a family settlement.” The lands that were thus conveyed were the following:—The castle, town, and lands of Knock- alaghta, the lands of Rathiveryne, Bracklone, Moyne, Rahmeige, Carrowreagh, Carrowbane, Carrowfarbrigg, Castletehen, Carrowgaruffe, Gortgobbin, Carrow- kyle, Carrowmore, and Knockevarry. After his father's death, in 1632, Charles O'Conor succeeded to the castle and demesne of Ballintober, and the other lands held in his father's possession whilst he lived. During the lifetime of Sir Hugh, Charles O'Conor was selected by his fellow-countrymen as the Catholic candidate for the representation of the county of Roscommon in parliament. Since the parliament convened under Sir John Perrot in 1585, which, it will be remembered, Sir Hugh O'Conor attended as one of the representatives of the Irish of Connaught, no parliament * State Papers, Ireland, Vol. ccxxi., p. 83. * Inquisition taken at Tulsk in 1616. See Appendix H. * Inquisition taken at Roscommon in 1632. See Appendix I. A.D. 1607–1611.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 225 had been held in Ireland. After the confiscation of the territories of Tyrone and Tyrconnell, and the plantation of Ulster by English and Scotch settlers, it became a matter of the highest importance to the king to have these proceedings legally sanctioned, and his title to dispose of the forfeited estates recognised. To accomplish these objects, to strengthen his power in Ireland, and to prevent the growth of popery, James determined to con- vene an Irish parliament. Here a difficulty arose likely to defeat one of the main objects he had in view, namely, that of suppressing, or keeping under control, the Catholic religion. If the parliament were freely elected to represent the existing counties and boroughs, it would be overwhelmingly Catholic in its Constitution, and might impede, rather than assist, the English monarch in his designs. To overcome this difficulty, it was determined to create, by royal decree, a number of new boroughs, all of which, by the peculiar form of their creation, were to be mere pocket boroughs in the hands of the Crown, and certain to return Protestants. The first steps for carrying this design into execution were taken in I6 II. The belief that this system was to be extensively put into practice, and that the parliament summoned to meet in Dublin would be altogether under the influence of their Protestant fellow-countrymen, whose tyranny they dreaded more than that of the English, so terrified the Irish Catholics that they actually proposed, in a remonstrance to the king, that the new parliament should be held not in Ireland, but in England." This remonstrance had no effect. Preparations still continued for the creation of new boroughs, and most elaborate and careful investigations were made of the probabilities of Catholics being elected by the different constituencies. The new boroughs were multi- plied, until the governors of Munster and Connaught were able to assure the Lord Deputy that a majority of Protestants could be relied upon. Against this flagrant packing of parliament the Irish lords of the Pale, in November, I6II, protested. They said they appealed against— “The project of erecting so many corporations in places that can scantly pass the rank of the poorest villages in the poorest country in Christendom. This project, it is well under- stood, can tend to nought else at this time, but that, by the voices of a few, selected for the purpose, under the name of burgesses, extreme penal laws should be imposed upon His Majesty's subjects here, contrary to the notions, customs, and dispositions of them all in effect; and that so, the general scope and institution of parliaments will be frustrated, they being ordained for the assurance of the subjects, not to be processed with any new edicts or laws, but such as should pass with their general consent and approbation.” And they concluded *State Papers, Ireland, A.D. 16II. 226 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XX. by humbly urging the king “not to erect towns and corporations of some few poor and beggarly cottages, but to be content with the service of understanding men, to come as knights of the shire out of the chief countries to the parliament.” Notwithstanding this appeal, the creation of the new boroughs con- tinued. Athlone, Roscommon, Carrick-drumrisk (Carrick-on-Shannon), Sligo, Castlebar, Loughrea, Tuam, Boyle, Ballinasloe, Tulske, Ballinafad, and Burri- shoole were incorporated in Connaught. The fiant of incorporation was made Out usually to thirteen burgesses, and in every case the greatest care was taken that none but Protestants should be elected. When it was ascertained that a Protestant majority could be counted on, the writs were issued. Even then freedom of election was not to be given to the Catholics. In many of the constituencies, where it was known that one or more Catholics would be elected, steps were taken by force or fraud to misrepresent the result of the election. This was the case in the county of Roscommon, where Charles O'Conor, the son of Sir Hugh, became a candidate. To carry this county was considered of great importance by the ministerialists; and accordingly Sir Oliver St. John, the Vice-President of Connaught, and Sir John King, were started as representing the Protestant interest ; Charles O'Conor and Captain O'Kelly being the candidates on the Catholic side. To the election of the vice-president little opposition was offered, and the contest really lay between Sir John King and Charles O'Conor. Each party claimed the result of the election, as favourable to their candidate, but the vice-president, who acted as presiding officer, and kept absolute control over the polling booths, declared in favour of Sir John King. After the election, a petition was presented to the King by the Irish party. They objected to the returns made by the sheriffs in fourteen different consti- tuencies. In regard to Roscommon they stated – “Co. Roscommon.—Charles O'Connor was elected for one of the knights of the shire; but Sir Oliver St. John, vice-president of the province, being present, called (after most of the freeholders were departed) for those who would elect Sir John King, and took notice of them, but called not for the rest, though they were the greater number. And some of the freeholders who had departed the house, understanding of this second election, returned to give their voices, but were kept back by Sir Oliver St. John's soldiers, who kept the door; * The fiant of incorporation for the borough of Tulsk, Co. Roscommon, was made out to the fol- lowing :-‘‘ George Lane (called the Borough Mr.), John Pirrie, John Mixbury, Edmund Lynch, Thos. Benifield, Christ. Pirrie, Tho. Hethcate, Connill Farrell, Tho. Hoyden, Brian O'Conudie, Richard Fullard, William Malbie, and Ed. Boyle,” and enabled them to send burgesses to parliament, and to enjoy other privileges.—Chichester House, 8th December, 1612. A.D. 161 I-1613.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 227 only some few they permitted to enter, who gave them money. By this means Sir John Ring was returned.” The parliament elected in this way met in Dublin on the 18th of May, I613; and then in the House of Commons a most extraordinary scene was witnessed. The Protestant party proposed for Speaker Sir John Davys, and the Irish Catholics Sir John Everard ; and the former party having retired from the House for the purpose of taking a division, the Irish Catholic party placed Sir John Everard in the chair. On the return of their opponents, they claimed that they had the majority, and that Sir John. Davys was duly elected ; and Everard refusing to leave the chair, Sir John Davys was placed sitting in his lap, and subsequently Sir John Everard was forcibly ejected. On this the Catholic party retired from the House of Commons, the Catholic peers acted similarly in the House of Lords, and a complete suspension of parliamentary business ensued. Both parties sent representatives and petitions to the king, and delegates were appointed to wait upon him. Parlia- ment was prorogued until the 3rd of November, and the king by proclamation announced that he would himself “determine the grievances that were determi- nable at a distance from the spot,” and send commissioners to inquire into the remainder, and to report to him and to his council. In his letter communicating to the Lord Deputy his intention of appoint- ing this commission, he very clearly indicated that the inquiry was to be a farce, intended to delude the Irish Catholic party, and not to make any change either in the constitution of parliament or the appointment of Speaker. Having stated that he believed the clamours to arise— “Rather from the instigation of the priests and Jesuits than from any settled judgment or proofs to sustain them,” he stated his “motive for this course, by Commission, is to induce them (the Irish) by some formal satisfaction, on all occasions of grievance, rather to address them- selves to the Sovereign by way of humble petition, and to expect relief from him, than, after the old fashion of that country, to run, upon every occasion of discontent, to the bogs and woods, and seek their remedy that way. Has expressed this motive to the Commission, and in other ways. His Lordship, therefore, will be careful so to discharge the Commission to maintain the proceeding by such reasons, and to give such satisfaction to the particular grievances that the complainants and all else may see that the clamour is due rather to the incitement of malicious priests than to occasion given by his Lordship or the ministers of his Government. This just and equitable course of procedure will enable him (Chichester) to proceed with greater firmness against them for their contempt in parliament and for their slander of the Government.” The Commission thus appointed commenced their sittings almost imme- 228 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XX. diately, and in November, 1613, presented their report, which, as might naturally be expected, justified the king's ministers in almost all their pro- ceedings. Sir John Davys was reported to have been duly elected Speaker, and nearly all the returns of members from the old counties and boroughs which had been disputed were declared valid. The decision in the case of the county of Roscommon was the following:— “In the county of Roscommon Sir Oliver St. John was elected for one of the knights, and for the second were named Sir John King, Charles O'Connor, and Captain Kelly. Sir John King, whose election was disputed, was returned. The sheriff and four of the ancient justices of the peace of the county deposed before them that Sir John King had the majority over either O’Connor or O'Kelly, which O'Connor, then present, contradicted, but produced no witnesses to justify his election, although previously called upon by them to do so; but they having given him another day, he produced witnesses, seven of whom deposed that O'Connor had the majority; but one deposed that upon counting by poll in the house of election, there were more voices for Sir John King than the other. In this election there appeared to the Commissioners to be no fraud or force, only the vice-president and the sheriff having put out some horse-boys, and beginning to number the freeholders on either part by the polls, the door was kept till this was done.” The report having been presented to the king, he summoned over representatives of the appellants to hear his adjudication ; and having lectured them severely on their past disorderly conduct, he said to them : “What is it to you if I made many or few boroughs? What if I had made forty noblemen or 400 boroughs 2 The more the merrier; the fewer the better cheer.”” He then declared Sir John Davys elected their Speaker, and ordered them to assemble in parliament, and to sign an “instrument of submission.” Some prayed for time to consider, but this was refused, and they were all forced to sign. Parliament was then re-opened in October, 1614. The Acts which the king had most at heart were passed, and the importance attached to them appears from the following extracts from a letter from Sir John Davys to Lord Somerset:— “The service that has been already performed is of such importance that greater has not been effected in any parliament of Ireland these hundred years. “For first, the new created boroughs have taken place, which will be perpetual seminaries of Protestant burgesses, since it is provided in the charters that the provost and twelve chief burgesses, who are to elect all the rest, must always be such as will take the oath of supremacy. Next, all the states of the kingdom have attainted Tyrone, the most notorious and dangerous traitor that ever was in Ireland, whereof foreign nations will take notice, because it has been given out that Tyrone had left many friends behind him, and that only the Protestants wished his utter ruin. Besides, this attainder settles the plantation of Ulster.” * Calendar of State Papers (Carew), 1603-1624, p. 280. A.D. 1613-1614.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 229 “Speaks not of the ‘Act of Recognition,’ as it adds nothing to His Majesties’ undoubted rights; yet as such a universal acknowledgment of this nation (all circumstances considered) is well obtained at this time ; and now if they had the bill of subsidy here, hopes they should conclude with that oblation to His Majesty. (Dublin, 31st October, 1614.)” To this letter was added the following list of the lords and recusants who were stated to have been the principal disturbers of parliament — “Wiscount Gormanstown.—Forwardness in delivering petitions; contesting when he should attend the Deputy to church ; misbehaviour to the Deputy at the time of the powder treason ; contentions with Lord Barry in presence of the Deputy. “Wiscount Roche.—Forward in presenting petitions; present at all consultations. “Lord Delvin.—Assisting at all consultations; turbulent; unmindful of His Majesty's great favour to him. “Lord Trimleston.—Busy and violent. “Sir Walter Butler.—Chief in putting Sir John Everard in the chair. “Sir Daniel Bryen and Sir W. Bourke.—Holding Sir John Everard in the chair, and resisting them that were putting the Speaker in the chair. “Gerald Nugent.—Busy, and one of the preferrers of first slanderous petitions. “Sir John Everard.—Unlawfully usurping the Speaker's chair, &c. “Sir Chr. Plunkett.—A chief ringleader, and countenancer of the first disobedience in putting Sir John Everard in the chair. “Sir Thomas Bourke.—Busy in maintaining Sir John Everard in the chair. “Sir James Gogh.-Busy and forward in disturbing parliament by speech and writing. “John More.—Close and ill-disposed. “Mr. Talbot.—Their chief oracle for law. He termed the House “no House,” and the Speaker “no Speaker.’ “Richard Waddinge.—A known, malicious Papist ; undutiful speaker to Sir Richard Walsh ; busy in parliament ; a man excommunicated, and heretofore deprived of his mayoralty for refusing the oath of supremacy. “Boetius Clancy.—Busy, and forward in delivering two petitions. “Thomas Luttrel.—Turbulent and seditious in the House, &c.” About the same time, in the year 1614, Sir Oliver St. John furnished the following interesting account of the province of Connaught, and of the different families settled in it :— A DESCRIPTION OF CONNAUGHT, BY SIR OLIVER ST. JoHN, IN THE YEAR 1614.1 “Connaght, by the ancient divisions amongst the Irish, was accounted the fifth part (or guyge) of the Island of Ireland, and was then, and still is, called Guige Connaght, and continued the name and style of a kingdom in the posterity of Conkedaghe,” one of the three races descended from Mile-Spanaghe,” whom all the chronicles of Ireland agree to be the absolute conqueror of the whole island. * Carew State Papers (Ireland), 1603-1624, p. 292. * Conkedaghe—Con caed Catha, or Con of the Hundred Battles. * Mile-Spanaghe—Milesius from Spain. 230 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XX. “The ancient borders of Connaght were towards the east and south, the river of Shenan; towards the west the sea, and towards the north, the river of Ballyshenaghe and Logherne. “Of this Guige Connaght, a portion now called Thomond, lying towards the south to the river of Shenan (whether by gift or conquest), has been a long time possessed by the O'Briens, being descended of another race of Mile-Spanaghe, who at this day enjoy it, the Earl of Thomond being the chief of that name ; yet it was held within the government of Connaght until the beginning of His Majesty's reign. To gratify the Earl of Thomond, the Earl of Clanrickard was content it should be divided from the government of Connaght. The resi- due of Connaght continued in the possession of the forenamed posterity of Conkedaghe, the ancestor of O'Connor Dun, being king thereof, until the kingdom ceased by the conquest of the English. At the first conquest during the reigns of King Henry II, and King John, the English had but little footing in Connaght, leaving no other remarkable monument of their conquest but the castles of Athlone, at the east border of the province, and Roscomon, six miles from the Shenan, in the province. Afterwards, in the reign of King Henry III. (as it may be supposed), during the prosperity of Hubert de Burgo, Earl of Kent, and principal governor under the king, John de Burgo and Richard de Burgo, his sons, made an entry and conquest (by all likelihood), making the first attempt in the bay of Galway); conquered the O'Heynes and the O'Shafneses towards Thomond, the O'Kellies, O'Maddens, and O'Connors towards the east, and some places as far and beyond the river of Suck. From thence they carried their conquest onward upon the M*Dermonds and M'Connells, as far as the river of Moye (the border now between the counties of Mayo and Sligo), leaving on their left hand the O'Flaherties, the O’Mayles, and the Joyes, by reason of the strength and desertness of their countries. “All this conquested land Richard de Burgo held as a sovereign lordship, allotting great portions of land to those that assisted him in his conquest, which ever since have continued in their posterity, and some of them were reputed barons of the counties, as Birmingham, Baron of Athenry ; Prendergast, Baron of Crosboghin, now Clanmaurice; Nangle, Baron of Belleabarones, now Coystillo ; D’Exetre, Baron of Bellalaghen, now Gallen ; Staunton ; Barret; and sundry others. The residue he retained to himself, and his own name and sept, which are divided into many families of great countenance and surname. Of Richard de Burgo, the Earl of Ulster descended (whose heir married Lionel, Duke of Clarence), and the now Earl of Clanrickard, the ancient house and honourable mark of that conquest. “The residue of Connaght that preserved themselves from the English continued in the hands of the ancient Irish lords, the chief of whom were the races of the O'Connors, viz., O'Connor Dun, O'Connor Ro, who now possesseth the Magherye of Connaght, and O'Connor Sligo, who took upon him to make head against the English at the river of Moye, and has ever since retained the chief command over the Irish in those parts which are now called county of Sligo. “Until the beginning of the reign of Queen Elizabeth the ordinary justice of the kingdom had little passage in Connaght, the English races remaining under the rule of the Burghes, and other Irishry under the chief of every particular sept, the whole province bearing the name of the county of Connaght, whereof there was one sheriff, whom the people little regarded. . “Queen Elizabeth erected a presidential seat, and established in Connaght a Lord President and Council for the administration of justice within the province, and divided it into five shires, which ordinance continues to this day. The five shires are—Roscomon, Gallway, Mayo, Sligo, and Letrim. A.D. 1614.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 231 “County ROSCOMON. “The county of Roscomon borders on the east to the Shenan, on the south and west to the counties of Gallway and Mayo, on the north and north-west to the counties of Sligo and Letrim. The county of Roscomon hath none of the ancient English races, only a little portion, on the east of the river of Suck, belonging to McDavy, one of the Burkes. Of the new English there are Henry Malbye, who has the manor of Roscomon ; Sir John Kinge, who has the Abbey of Boyle; Anthony Brabazon's son, who has Ballinsloe ; Sir Thomas Lestrange's heirs, who have the lordships of Athleague ; and some others seated there since the wars. “Of the English transplanted out of the pale there are the Baron of Delvin and some of the Nugents, Sir Theobald Dillon, and divers others. Of the Irishry there is O'Connor Dun, O'Connor Ro, the Mac Dermonds, the O'Kellys; by the east of the Suck, the O'Hanlys, the O'Flannagans, the Fallons, and divers others. “County SLIGO. w “The county of Sligo has of ancient or new English none; of English transplanted out of the pale, Sir William Taffe, who has the town and abbey of Sligo and the lordship of Balli- mot; some of the Nugents, and others. Of the Irishry there is O'Connor Sligo, the M“Donnoghes, the O'Haras, and some of the MacSwynies. “County OF TETRIM. “Has neither ancient nor new English, nor any transplanted from the pale; of Irishry, O'Rorke, and those that live under him, as the Mac Ranells, the Clan Loghlins, the Clan Murries, the Clan Owens, and such others; and Mac Grannahie, who possesses the Dartrie, and is a lord himself. “The province of Connaght has only two corporations, the ancient monuments of the English conquerors, and is inhabited only by English families and surnames. The one is Gallway, a walled town and port of the sea lately made a county, and governed by a mayor and two sheriffs. . . . . The merchants are rich and great adventurers at sea. Their com- monalty is composed of the descendants of the ancient English founders of the town, and rarely admit any new English to have freedom or education amongst them, and never any of the Irish. The other is Athenry, eight miles from Gallway towards the land, and was, as it is said, older than it; a town, as it seems, built by the English conquerors, whilst they had their swords in their hands, and kept themselves there close in garrison against the attempts of the Irish. “Athlone has His Majesty's castle and a bridge which was rebuilt in the government o Sir Henry Sydney. There are two more at Meellicke and Portumna, both the Earl of Clan- rickard's, and commanded by his castles. The rest, though they be at some time passable, yet are less used, and nothing so hurtful to the province.” The political and social condition of Ireland, at the same time, attracted attention, and of it the following account is given by Carew":- * Carew State Papers, Ireland, 1603-1624, p. 305. 232 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XX. “A DISCOURSE of THE PRESENT STATE OF IRELAND, 1614. “In kingdoms conquered, nothing but time, and that also must be the flux of hundreds of years, has power to unite the conqueror's issue and the ancient inhabitants in perfect amity. Examples hereof are frequent in many kingdoms of Europe, and particularly in Ireland it is evident ; for, until of late, the old English race despised the mere Irish, accounting them to be a barbarous people, void of civility and religion, and either of them held the other as an hereditary enemy; and so it would have continued for many years to come had not these later times produced a change, the occasion whereof proceeds from these three heads ensuing :— “1. First, their frequent marriages one with the other, which in former ages were rarely See Il. “2. Secondly, the mere Irish, by their travel abroad, are civilized, grown to be disci- plined soldiers, scholars, politicians, and further instructed in points of religion, whereby the ancient dislike and contempt is laid aside. “3. Lastly, the late plantation of new English and Scotish in all parts of the kingdom, whom, with an unanime consent, the natives repute as a common enemy. But this last is the first and principal cause of their union, which, with all possible art, they endeavour to disguise, covering the same under the mask of religion, pretending that nothing but matter of conscience moves them to concur in opposition to the present Government. For this cause, “in odium tertii,” the slaughters and rivers of blood shed between them is forgotten, and the intrusion made by themselves and their ancestors on either part for title of land is remitted. “The next rebellion, whenever it shall happen, threatens more danger to the State than any that has preceded, and my reasons are these :— “1. They have the same bodies they ever had, and therein they had and have advantage OVer U.S. “2. From their infancies they have been and are exercised in the use of arms. “3. The realm, by reason of long peace, was never so full of youth as at present. “4. That they are better soldiers than heretofore, their continual employment in the wars abroad assures us; and they do conceive that their men are better than ours. “5. That they are more politic, and able to manage a rebellion with more judgment and dexterity than their elders, their experience and education are sufficient reasons. “6. They will give the first blow, which is very advantageous to them that give it. “7. The quarrel for which they rebel will be under the veil of liberty and religion, than which nothing is esteemed so precious in the hearts of men. “8. And lastly, their union is such as not only the old English dispersed abroad in all parts of the realm, but the inhabitants of the pale cities and towns, are as apt to take arms against us (which no precedent times has ever seen) as the ancient Irish.” The predictions contained in the foregoing discourse were destined to be more or less realized in the reign of James's successor. Whatever disabilities the Irish laboured under in the reign of James I., and in the early years of his son Charles, it cannot be doubted that, on the whole, the nation was prospering, and rapid strides towards wealth and A.D. 1614-1635.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 233 contentment were being made. The laws against the natives and their religion were in their terms very severe, but they were not often put into operation ; and had the monarch and his advisers only had the courage and the power to repeal them, Ireland would soon have been the most contented portion of the king's dominions. A contemporary writer, little disposed to exaggerate the benefits arising out of English rule, gives us the following account of the condition of affairs preceding the breaking out of the so-called great rebellion of 1641":— “The land, by the blessings of peace, which, since the coming of King James to the crown, did smile upon it, was so well inhabited, and so much improved, that farms in all parts of the kingdom were set at a marvellous increase of rent, and yet the tenants grew rich by holding them at those rates, especially in the Government of the Earl of Strafford, who had it in his care, by introducing manufactures and by increasing trade and commerce, to make the fertility of the soil, the rich fishing in the seas, and the site and excellency of their many ports and harbours useful to the people.” “Among many things which conspired to make them happy, there were two that princi- pally disquieted the nation ; the one was certain very rigorous Acts against the Catholic religion and the professors of it ; obtruded (as many say) by the combination and practice of the then Speaker upon the parliament in the reign of Queen Elizabeth ; and, although these laws, in the Government of King James and Charles I., were, as to the height of their severity, seldom executed—yet, because they still stood unrepealed, what the prince did was less noted than what the law might do. Plantations were the second of those grievances which they placed in the first rank, and albeit no proprietor came to be outed of his estate until he was by way of legal trial evicted, and that the king, reserving only the fourth part, was pleased to confer the rest on the native ; yet those effects of his bounty were less observed than the search which was made for a dormant right of two or three hundred years to entitle the Crown, and the menaces, fines, and imprisonments to which the sheriff and jury were subject, in case that such, His Majesty's title, was not found.” This latter statement of the writer evidently referred to the proposed plantation of Connaught, which Wentworth, Lord Strafford, Viceroy of Ireland, had undertaken to carry out. That Strafford had determined to plant Connaught with English, Scotch, and Protestant settlers, in the same way as Ulster had been planted under James I., is evident from his despatches at the time. No rebellion of the Irish chieftains in Connaught justifying this proceed- ing, it was resolved, first, to declare all the land of Connaught as belonging to the Crown of England, and then to impugn the titles and patents granted by Queen Elizabeth and James. This project having been approved of by the "Aistory of the Confederation and War in Ireland, edited by Gilbert, Vol. I., p. 2. H. H. 234 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XX. king, a commission was appointed to carry it out, and Wentworth with the Commissioners proceeded to Connaught. What they did on arriving there we learn from himself. Writing to Mr. Secretary Coke on the 24th August, 1635, he says:– “I the Deputy and others of the Commissioners trusted by His Majesty in his intended design for the Plantation of Connaught, having taken our journey from Dublin for that service, on the last of June, we have hitherto, with some labour and pain, travelled therein. We began at the county of Roscommon, where we caused a jury to be impannelled, of the principal gentlemen and inhabitants of the said county, before whom His Majesty's evidence being fully laid open by his learned counsel, it was so manifest and clear that there was no place left for any contradiction, which so wrought on the judgment of the jurors, as how- soever their own interests were most nearly concerned therein, yet they chose rather to embrace the truth and to find for His Majesty, than in relation to their own private interests to prejudice their consciences by not finding the king's title. Which act of theirs they performed with so much cheerfulness as we must do them the right to value it to His Majesty accordingly. His Majesty's title being agreed to be found, we there continued for a time to reduce it into a formal and legal inquisition, which being done, we departed thence to the county of Sligo, and so to the county of Mayo, in every of which counties His Majesty's title was found in such manner, and with like freedom and forwardness of affection, as in the county of Roscommon. “Our work in these three counties being ended, we came finally to this county of Gallway. When we came hither, we omitted nothing that we conceived might conduce to the clearing and manifestation of His Majesty's title. Yet the jury, two of them only excepted, remaining, as it seems, resolute in the averseness they had proposed to themselves, most obstinately and perversely refused to find for His Majesty, though we endeavoured to satisfy them several ways beyond any we had taken in any of the other counties. “We then bethought us of a course to vindicate His Majesty's honour and justice, not only against the persons of the jurors, but also against the sheriff for returning so insufficient, indeed, as we conceived, a packed jury, to pass upon a business of such weight and conse- quence ; and therefore, we fined the sheriff in a thousand pounds to His Majesty, and bound over the jury to appear in the Castle Chamber, where, we conceive, it is fit that their perti- nacious carriage be followed with all just severity. “The reasons which have been the occasion of the averseness which we have found here to His Majesty's designs are these— “1. That there is scarce a Protestant freeholder to be found to serve His Majesty on this or any other occasion in this county, being in a manner altogether compounded of Papists, with whom the priests and Jesuits (who abound here in far greater numbers than in other parts) have so much power as they do nothing of this nature without consulting them. “2. The counsellors at law being all recusants, showed themselves over busy, even to faction, in this service against the king. “3. Thirdly and lastly, the dependence which all this county in general have of the Earl of Clanricarde and St. Albans,” &c., &c." 'Strafford's Letters, Vol. I., p. 450, A.D. I635–164I.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 235 Strafford's proceedings' were approved of by the Crown, and Mr. Secretary Coke, writing to him in September, 1635, says:–“The advice you give to pursue the plantation with intention and severity is very well accepted, and His Majesty requireth you accordingly to proceed,” &c., &c. Strafford's subsequent recall from Ireland, and disgrace, put an end to this project, but the bitter feeling connected with it remained ; and although the Irish chieftains do not appear to have entertained any personal animosity against the king, yet it can scarcely be disputed that the penal laws against the Catholics, and the confiscations and plantations with which they were threat- ened, materially helped to bring about that rebellion, which, in its conse- quences, was nearly fatal to all the old Irish Catholic families. There can be little doubt that in having recourse to arms the Irish Catholics were also actuated by a desire to uphold the king's prerogative, which they saw endan- gered by the growing power and domination of the Puritan parliament of Eng- land. The existing laws, if strictly enforced, would accomplish their ruin, and , they really subsisted on the generosity and forbearance of the monarch. With his power destroyed, and the Puritan parliament substituted for the king, their absolute destruction was inevitable. In fighting for the king's prerogative and authority, they were fighting for their lives and liberties; and from the very beginning to the end of the contest, their constant, reiterated, and never- ceasing professions, were of loyalty to the Crown, and devotion to their sovereign. They repudiated in the most indignant way the charge of being “rebels;” and from communications made to them, ostensibly on behalf of the king, they had every reason to believe that, secretly at least, he favoured their enterprise. The flame which lighted in Ulster towards the close of the year 1641, spread with rapidity through the rest of Ireland, and meetings were held and organizations formed to defend the royal prerogative, and to obtain free- dom and recognition for the Catholic religion. Into this movement Charles O'Conor Don entered, with all the authority appertaining to the recog- nised head of the Irish chieftains of Connaught. His castle of Ballintober became the rendezvous at which the leading Catholic and Irish nobility of the province met to deliberate, and to arrange their plans ; and the conse- quence was that most exaggerated and unfounded reports were spread abroad as to his intentions and the objects which the Confederation had in view. It * Not satisfied with fining the sheriff 4, 1,000, Strafford also fined one of the jurors 4,500 for pulling another juror by the sleeve. 236 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. xx. was currently reported that he intended to make himself King of Connaught, that all the Protestants were to be massacred, that everyone except the Irish were to be driven out of the country, and that the Catholic religion was not only to be freed from the disabilities then resting on its profession, but that it was to be made the established religion of the land—everyone being forced to conform to it. In the depositions made at this time, and preserved in the Library of Trinity College, we find a record of these fears and rumours. One of the deponents says”: “It was an ordinary rumour and report amongst the rebels of the Co. Roscommon, that Charles O'Connor Dunne, of Ballyntober, was made King of Connaught;” and again, that deponent heard “that all the rebel souldiers were gone to Tulsk to make the said Charles O'Connor Dun King of Connaught.” Meetings were held in Ballintober, which resulted in the issuing of procla- mations, the raising of troops, and the formation and organization of a regular army. Open rebellion against the Parliamentary forces quickly followed, and the President, Lord Ranelagh, soon found himself blocked up in Athlone. A commission was granted to him to raise 500 Protestants, nearest adjoining, for the defence of the province. His son, Arthur Jones, was made constable of the castle of Roscommon, and allowed thirty-one Protestant warders to defend the same, and Sir Robert King was appointed to the like command for the castle of Abbey Boyle. “Yet the rebels burned the town of Roscommon,” and the bishop's town of Elphin, besides many other Englishmen’s habitations, sur- prising also several castles of the Earl of Clanricarde, in Galway.” In January, 1642, an attack upon the chief stronghold of the English in the county of Roscommon was determined on, and Con O’Rourke, at the head of 1,200 men, besieged Castle Coote, at that time defended by Sir Charles Coote, jun. In this attack the Irish were repulsed, the siege raised, and amongst others, Hugh O'Conor, the eldest son of Charles O’Conor Don, was * Deposition of Elizabeth Hollywell, MS., Trinity College Library. * One of the depositions preserved in Trinity College Library gives the following account of this:— “Deposition of John Ridge, of the Abbey of Roscommon.” Deponent sayeth, “that the chief strength of the rebel souldiers of the three counties of Leitrim, Roscommon, and Longford, were at the burning of deponent's said houseing, at the Abbey of Roscommon upon Christmas Eve, 1641; of which rebels, Con O’Rourke, of the County of Leitrim, was the reputed general; and there were associated in the same outrage, Col. Hugh O’Connor Dun, eldest son to Charles O’Connor Dun, reputed general of Roscommon, O’Beirne, Henry Dillon, Dowaltagh O'Hanly, and the eldest son of Hugh Oge O'Connor, of Castlereagh,” &c., &c. * Borlase's History of Irish Rebellion, p. 49. A.D. 1641–1642.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 237 taken prisoner." When in confinement, he was subjected to an examination taken before Sir Robert Meredith, Chancellor of the Court of Exchequer, a member of the Privy Council, and justice of the peace for several counties. In this examination Hugh O'Conor stated” that “about Christmas, 1641, at a meeting held in Ballyntobber, at which were present Sir Lucas Dillon, Sir Ulick Bourke, Ffeochra O'Flynn, William O’Mulloy, Alexander Nugent, Hugh Oge O'Connor, Charles O'Connor Roe, Teige O'Connor, and Thomas Dillon, the said Sir Lucas Dillon assured the gentrie then present, that he well knew it to be the king's pleasure that the said gentrie should take up arms; for the Puritan parliament of England would otherwise destroy them ; and further alleged, that they should, within one quarter of a year, see His Majesty himself and the said parliament in arms one against the other,” upon which they all “took an oath, part of the contents whereof was for the main- tenance of the king's prerogative, and for the establishment of the Romish religion throughout the kingdom of Ireland.” The prediction of Sir Lucas Dillon as to the open hostility between the king and the parliament was verified shortly after; but he himself, according to the statement of young O'Conor, was not acting in perfect good faith with his friends; for whilst, on the one hand, he persuaded the Irish Catholics to have recourse to arms, yet, on the other, he “repaired unto the Lord President of Connaught, and, professing his fidelity, obtained his lordship's protection, under colour whereof he the said Sir Lucas Dillon plaid on both hands.” The oath above referred to having been taken, Sir Lucas being the first to subscribe to it, an address was drawn up to Lord Clanricarde, offering him the command of the Irish forces; and Sir Lucas Dillon and Hugh Oge O'Conor, brother to Charles O'Conor Don, were selected to present it. At * The following account of the attack on Castle Coote is given in Borlase's History of Irish Rebellion, p. 49 :— “However, Sir Charles Coote, junr. (vigilant in all concerns), so manned and guarded Castle Coote, as that being in January, 1641-42 besieged by Con O’Rourk with 1,200 men, he so notably encountered him, as within a week he raised the siege ; as he did, Hugh O’Connor, son of O'Connor Dun, of Ballintober, titular prince of Connaught ; lineally (as he would have it) descended from Roderick O’Connor, King of Connaught, and monarch of Ireland, never afterwards durst make any formal approach against that castle; inasmuch as Sir Charles Coote fetched in corn and cattle at liberty. Yet the 2nd of March following, O'Rourk came with all his forces to fetch away the prey of Roscommon before day, hurrying them almost to Molenterim, before our forces could come up to him, endeavouring to make good a pass against our men, who soon break their stoutest ranks, and (killing most of the rebels) recovered the prey, took many prisoners, and amongst the rest Con O'Rourk.” *See Examination of Col. Hugh O'Conor, MS. Depositions, Trinity College Library. A copy of this deposition is given in Appendix K. 238 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XX. the same meeting, Charles O'Conor Roe, Brian O'Kelly, and young Hugh O'Conor were appointed colonels, and Thomas Dillon, Philip M'Dowel, O'Flynn, O'Molloy, O’Beirne, and several others were named as captains of the Irish forces. Lord Clanricarde having declined the command, a desultory warfare seems to have been carried on between the Irish and the forces under the command of Sir Charles Coote, who made many expeditions from his castle, laying waste the surrounding country. Eventually the Lord President himself appeared in the field, and in June, 1642, marched against O'Conor, who was entrenched in Ballintober. Borlase, in his History of the Rebellion, gives the following description of this march and the battle which followed — “The next exploit of my Lord President was (with the remnant of the two English regiments, and what could be spared out of our garrisons thereabouts) a march towards Ballin- tober, to which he was provoked by the enemy and stimulated on by his own party, impatient of further delays. O'Conner Dun, of Ballintober, ever since his son was taken, till now (that is the middle of July, 1642), had acted nothing, though the tacit votes of the province did seem to own him as their king, prince, Roytelel, or what name of supremacy in that province could be greatest ; who seeing that those forces which were sent from England, to the Lord President, to subdue that province, had done nothing of moment, through a supine negligence, if not worse, and were much less considerable than those forces which we had before, he began to awake and to call in subjects to help him out of all the parts of Connaught ; but above all that came to join with him, none were more forward, or came in greater numbers, than the County Mayo men, and the rather, because in all the conflicts of Connaught with the English, few of that great county came to fight with us. They drew together 1,800 or 2,000 foot and 160 horse, and more had joined with them if we had deferred to visit them. It was therefore adjudged necessary by the Lord President, Sir Chas. Coote, Sir Michael Earnly, Sir Abraham Shipman, Sir Ed. Povey, Sir Bernard Ashly, and others of the council of war, that we should draw out all our men, sick or sound, that were able to march, and march to Ballintober. It was a wonder to see with what alacrity and courage our new-come English put themselves on this service, even they that were ready to die (as divers of them did on the way) rejoicing that they might expire, doing their country the best service they could, as soldiers, and not as dogs on a dunghill. Our march that day was from Roscommon through Molenterim, and over the hill of Oran, near Clalby," which is little more than two miles from Ballintober; from thence we might see the enemy coming with all speed to meet us. The Lord President was of opinion that our forces should retreat, and commanded it ; but the rest were otherwise resolved; and without his order drew on towards the rebels, whilst he washed his hands from what evil might accrue. Our commanders, as they marched, agreed how to order their men, and on what piece of ground ; but the enemy came on so fast that they could not gain the ground desired, which made the work on our part more difficult ; for all the way on that hill, till we came near Ballimtober, is boggy, with great long heath on all places, very unfit for horse * Cleaboy. A.D. 1642.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 239 service. However, when the rebels came near us, Captn. Robt. King with his troop (well mounted and well armed with back and breast, and as well disciplined as any in Ireland), was commanded to pass by their front to their left flank, as Sir Chas. Coote and Sir Ed. Povey, with the rest of their troops being before, nearer to the top of that ridge of ground, were almost past, that they might make way for our forlorn hope of musketeers, to play in the front of their great body of pikes coming on. Captn. Robt. King (an old soldier) in exe- cuting of this, saw (by the badness of the ground he marched on, and by the rebels' haste to come up) that he should not, without disorder, get by the left point of this battalia, gave orders to his men to fire in flank all at once, when they should be close up with the point of the battalia, over one another's horses' manes, which was a thing seldom heard of or practised, yet was no new thing either to him or his, for he had taught them this, amongst other points of war he had long nurtured them in, which they exactly performed, when he was come within two pikes' length of the enemy, with their carbines. At which time our forlorn hope of foot being come up, fired with excellent success on that part of the front that lay to the right hand; so that by this unsuspected way of firing by the horse (timely assisted by the foot), the enemy was soon put into disorder, with the loss of many men ; which breach Captn. King soon apprehending, and finding the pikes of the fallen men to have entangled and galled others, he rushed in with his horse, and breaking the left corner of the battalia, so amazed the rebels, as they fell into disorder, who (quitting their pikes all at once) made a great noise, and began to run ; but before their running (that was almost as soon as Captn. King was got into to their front), Sir Chas. Coote and Sir Ed. Povey charged them in the flank, with their troops, with which they had kept the upper ground, on purpose to encounter with the 160 horse of the rebels; and to them was Captn. Robert King drawing to second them or to fall into the flank of this battalia (which he had new broken); but the rebel horse fled before they were able to come near, and therefore they had leisure to fall into the flank of the foot. This battalia of pikes was supposed to be 1,200. They had 1,000 musketeers which, either by bad way or staying longer than the others to receive ammunition, were not come up to begin the battle, but were within musket shot, who also ran for company. Our men pursued and killed most of them, but were commanded not to come too near Ballintober, where the credulous were to believe, some had seen beyond the castle another great body of men ; so as not pursuing this victory, we lost the benefit of it. In this battle there was a young gentleman on the Irish side, who very gallantly behaved himself, after that his party was fled, getting to the corner of the ditch, where with his pike he withstood the encounter of five horse, that had spent their shot, till a gigantic soldier of the English, getting within him, slew him. And amongst the dead, one pulling a Mountero from the head of one, there fell down long tresses of flaxen hair, who being further searched, was found a woman.” After this the President went into Co. Galway. The defeat of the Irish in this battle was followed by further disasters; but the parliamentary forces could not be kept in the field without large demands on the English treasury. To accomplish the double object of punishing the Irish for their rebellion, and to provide funds for carrying on * Borlase, History of Irish Rebellion, p. 81. 240 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XX. the war, in 1642 an Act of Parliament was passed confiscating 2,500,000 acres of Irish land, which were offered as security to those who would advance money towards raising and paying the army which was to be sent to Ireland to subdue the rebels. Those who thus contributed their money were termed “adventurers,” as having adventured or risked their money in a very doubt- ful speculation ; and they were to have the right, conjointly with the House of Commons, to nominate the officers conducting the expedition.” These adventurers were to have estates given to them in Ireland according to the following tariff. One thousand acres; in Leinster for £600, in Munster for £450, in Connaught for £300, and in Ulster for £200. Shortly after the money was subscribed, the disputes between King Charles I. and the parlia- ment culminated in open hostilities ; and the funds ostensibly raised to sup- press the Irish rebellion were devoted to other purposes in England, the adventurers being left to their own devices and uncompensated with the land, on the security of which they had advanced their money. Referring to this Act of confiscation in 1641, Mr. Gilbert says: — “The Irish protested against this Act as contrary to the fundamental laws of the king- dom, and to the rights of the monarchy. They asserted the independence of their own Legis- lature under the Crown, and declared that no authentic record or precedent could be adduced to prove that statutes made in England were accepted as binding in Ireland, unless with the assent of the parliament of Ireland. Unsummoned and unheard they were now declared rebels. The estates of the Irish, and a vast extent of Ireland, were offered to be granted in exchange for contributions of money even from the Dutch.” As might naturally be expected, continued hostilities followed the passing of this Act, and Ireland was soon divided into three hostile camps : those who obeyed the orders of the Council of the Confederate Catholics at Kilkenny ; those who followed Ormond and Clanricarde; and the parliamentary party. These hostilities continued until the execution of the king and the arrival of Cromwell in 1649, when, by the most inhuman and wholesale massacres, the Irish were reduced to subjection, and new forfeitures and confiscations immediately followed. The soldiers who had not received their pay, the adventurers, who had not received the promised equivalent for the money they had advanced, and the whole host of Cromwell's followers, had to be satisfied. To meet their claims, as well as wholly to extirpate the Irish Catholics and Royalists, * See Appendix L. Votes of Lords and Commons, 1641-1642. ar * History of the Confederation and War in Ireland, edited by Gilbert, Vol. I., p. xxxv. A.D. 1642–1654.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 241 parliament, in 1652, confiscated the whole of the land of Ireland, but “allotted” Connaught to the Irish, in order that the new English might plant and inhabit the other three provinces in security. All the Irish (according to the original scheme of the parliament), except those who had adopted the religion of the English nation, were to transplant thither, on the presumption that “they did not love England.” To make room for them, the native Irish in Connaught were despoiled of their property, the country having been previously reduced almost to the state of a desert. By this Act of 1652, certain leading chiefs and supporters of the late king were excepted from all pardon either for life or estates; and amongst others named in the list so excepted, were Charles O'Conor Don of Ballintober, and O'Conor Roe. All the Irish who held the rank of Colonel, or any higher rank in the army of the king, which had served against Cromwell, were declared outlaws, and their estates forfeited with a proviso that lands to the proportion and value of one-third of their former estate might be allotted to their wives and children. Those who held a lower rank than Colonel were classed under what was termed the seventh qualification, and forfeited two-thirds of their lands, and had to transplant to Connaught. Those proprietors who had taken no part in the war, but remained quiet, came under what was termed the eighth qualification, and as “not having manifested a constant good affection” for the parliament; they were to trans- plant, and, if Catholics, to forfeit one-third, and if Protestants, one-fifth, of their property. All within these qualifications were to receive their proportion of land in Connaught ; but by an ordinance of the Protector and council, Protestants were allowed to compound for a fine equal to one-fifth, and were dispensed from transplanting. As soon as this Act was passed, steps were taken to put its provisions into execution ; but the work of transplantation turned out to be much more difficult than had at first been anticipated. The inhabitants of the other pro- vinces of Ireland had little desire to transplant into Connaught ; and the pro- prietors there, as may well be imagined, had less desire to make room for them. Besides, the inquiries into the qualifications and claims of all those ordered to remove, were of the most difficult character; and the result was, that several years passed over before even the first certificates for transplantation were given. After the passing of the Act, commissioners were appointed, who, from the fact of their sitting at Loughrea, were called the Loughrea Commissioners, whose duty it was to allocate the lands in Connaught to the claimants from the other portions of Ireland. On the 6th January, 1654, these commissioners received their first instructions; but it soon became evident that the mere I I 242 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XX. apportionment of the lands of Connaught was more than sufficient to tax all their energies, and that another body should be appointed to determine, in the first instance, under what qualification each claimant came, and the amount and value of land to be given to him. Accordingly, other commissioners, who sat in Athlone, were appointed on 28th December in the same year. Their business was two-fold : First, to discriminate the guilt or innocence of every proprietor, and to determine his qualification ; and second, to ascertain the size and value of the lands he lately held, and the nature of his estate. The claimant having obtained his certificate from the Athlone commis- sioners, had then to appear before those sitting in Loughrea, whose duty it was to set out particular lands, in quantity and value according to the Athlone decree, and the assignments then made were called the “final settlements.” Few of these were made out before July, 1655. By a fiction of law, the Con- naught proprietors themselves were supposed to transplant ; and even where the transplantations consisted in the confiscation of two-thirds of their lands, and the receipt of a certificate for the remaining one-third, they were termed “transplanted persons,” and had to go through all the forms of presenting their claims before the two sets of commissioners. In the interval between the passing of the confiscating Act of 1652, and the hearing of the claims at Athlone, Charles O'Conor Don died, probably about the beginning of the year 1655, leaving two sons, Hugh, already alluded to, and Charles. Had he lived, he could have made no claim before the com- missioners, as he was exempted by name from all pardon in the Act above quoted. After his death, his widow, Mary O'Conor, presented her claim to be treated as a transplanted person, and obtained a decree at Athlone,” dated 8th June, 1656, and had by “final settlement,” dated 30th June, 1657, “assigned and sett out yº lands following —Rathnelolliagh, Moyne, Rath- meage, Brackloon, Keily, and Barrinagh,” in all 700 acres,” out of an estate which, from a subsequent claim, appears to have equalled 6,000 acres. HUGH “O'CONOR DOW,” SON OF CHARLES, born 1617; died 1669. Hugh O'Conor, son of Charles, was born about the year 1617. He also married into the Burke family, his wife being Isabella, daughter of Ulick Burke of Castlehackett.” At the time of the breaking out of the rebellion, he was * Reports and Schedules. See Appendix M. * Barrinagh, in O'Flynn's country, parish of Kiltullagh : the other lands part of the manor of Ballintober. * That Hugh O'Conor's wife was daughter of Burke of Castlehackett is not quite certain. This is stated in Burke's Landed Gentry, Vol. I., under “Burke of Ower.” A.D. I642–1654.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 243 the full vigour of youthful manhood, and was immediately appointed colonel in the Irish army in Connaught. As before mentioned, in this capacity he was engaged in the expedition against Castlecoote in 1642, and was there taken prisoner. Belling, in his History of the Irish Confederation, refers to this event in the following terms:– “While the warre in Munster proceeded after this manner, the multitude in Connaught having, as in other places of the kingdom, put an end to their harvest of ‘scabbadging,’ those of the gentry, whose name and family gave them a title to the dependance of many followers, imadgining that the times were become such, as the best plea for their safety must be derived from their force in arms, began to gather men, to cause pikes and skeines to be made, which were the onely weapons then to be had in such plenty as might arme a body of men, and (which was nowhere omitted) to despatch letters into forraigne parts, and to authorize some ecclesiasticall persons to implore assistance for the support of the Catholicke cause, whereof each of them would have it beleeved that himself was a very eminent protector. Some of them likewise, encouradged with the little or noe resistance the English Protestants who lived among them, were able to make, thought it noe difficult matter to drive them out of the strong-hoults to which they retyred, and therfore begann to distress their places of refuge, and espe- cially Castlecoote, which being well fortified and furnished with a considerable number of men, as well of the inhabitants as of the English Protestants that resorted thither for shelter, was therfore, and by means of the advantageous situation of it, looked upon as a place from whence the country might be much annoyed. But Hugh, son to O’Connor Dunn, having had fourscore of his men and some officers killed, and himself with some others being made prisoners in an attempt he made to fetch a prey from thence, by Sir Charles Coote, who pur- sued him with the men of his garrison, made the Irish thenceforth more warye in their enter- prises, and the English more venturous in their excursions.” Having been taken prisoner, Hugh O'Conor was first carried to Castle- coote, and was subsequently brought before Sir Robert Meredith in Dublin, where he was subjected to the examination already quoted.” As appears by subsequent depositions, he remained in confinement for eight or nine months. The conditions upon which he was liberated are not recorded, but they were evidently such as permitted him to rejoin his regiment, and to take the command again in the Irish Confederate forces. This command he held until the general break-up of the Confederacy, * Gilbert's History of the Irish Confederation, Vol. I., pp. 94, 95. * This examination is also referred to in the journal of Captain William Tucker, agent for the Adventurers in 1642-1643. “Also,” he says, “O’Connor Dun was presented, per Sir Charles Coote, a prisoner. This O'Connor was a colonel, and confessed his fault; but yet, said he, was one amongst the rest, and that in his conscience he knew no other than that he fought for the king, and for that purpose had taken an oath to fight for him and their religion. He was also committed a close prisoner.” 244 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP, XX. after Cromwell's arrival in Ireland, and the establishment of the Commonwealth in England. In 1652, worn out by constant reverses, their sovereign being in exile, and the parliamentary party in possession of all power, the Irish com- manders were everywhere forced to capitulate, but in most cases were able to dictate at least honourable terms of surrender. In July of that year, Colonel Hugh O'Conor, with Lord Mayo, General Taaffe, Col. Moore, and Col. O'Kelly, representing the Irish Catholic army in Connaught, entered into articles of surrender, with representatives appointed by Sir C. Coote, the Lord President of Connaught, and Commissary-General Reynolds. The principal provisions of these articles were the following:— “First.—That on the last day of July the royalist officers and soldiers under their com- mand shall deliver up into the hands of the Lord President, or anyone whom he shall appoint, all their ‘horses, arms, and ammunition,’ and “all the castles, islands, forts, artilleries, and stores belonging to them or in their power,’ with certain trifling excep- tions. “2. ‘That all persons comprised in these articles shall be secured and protected in their lives and personal estate,’ and that such as desire it ‘shall have passes to transport themselves and their goods beyond the seas to any place in amity with the Commonwealth of England, within three months after the date hereof,’ and ‘that all prisoners relating to the parties concerned shall be ‘mutually set at liberty.’ “3. That all officers and soldiers who so deliver up their horses and arms shall receive ‘full payment' for such—a valuation to be made by officers appointed from both parties. “4. That certain commanders mentioned by name shall have the right to transport 5,000 of the men included in the articles “for the service of any foreign state in amity with the Commonwealth,’ and that time shall be given to them for communicating with the King of Spain for this purpose. “5. That those comprehended in the articles shall have the full benefits ‘of all such concessions, conditions, and explanations as have been granted and passed to any, the forces of this nation, since the 10th day of May last, and that shall be granted hereafter to any forces of the Irish party,’ who shall submit to the government of the parliament of the Commonwealth of England,” provided that the benefit of the articles ‘shall not extend to any person guilty of the murders or robberies committed in the first year of the war,’ or that had “since committed any murder after quarter given.’ “Lastly, that five hostages, to be named by the Lord President or General Reynolds, one for each county, shall be given for the carrying out of the articles on the Irish side.” These articles having been duly signed by the Irish commanders, and apparently accepted by the Lord President, the principal Connaught regiments laid down their arms. The fulfilment of the conditions on the parliamentary * “Articles of agreement between royalists in Connaught and the Parliament of England.”— Gilbert's History of Affairs in Ireland, Vol. III., Part II., p. 337. A.D. 1652–1660.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 245 side was not, however, so easily obtained. Immediately charges were made against many of the Irish officers of having been concerned in what were termed the “murders and robberies” committed in the first year of the war; and, amongst others, Hugh O'Conor was charged with these offences. This charge was an old one, and had on a previous occasion nearly cost him his life. In the first year of the war, and shortly after the breaking out of hos- tilities, a certain Major Ormsby, who was stationed in Boyle, having sent his servant named Hugh Cunnoghan on a message to his wife, who was staying at Castlecoote, this man was arrested as a spy by the Irish forces, taken to Ballintober, and hanged. After Hugh O'Conor's capture in 1642, he was charged with this as a murder, and Major Ormsby's wife, who was still at Castle- coote, demanded that “O'Conor should be hanged for having hanged their servant.” At the time it did not suit Sir Charles Coote's purposes to treat his prisoner in this way. O'Conor was too important a personage to be summarily disposed of to whet the vengeance of an irritated lady; and, as before mentioned, he was removed to Dublin, and kept in close confinement for nearly a year. After the capitulation, this old charge was again revived, and an attempt was made to deprive O'Conor of the benefits of the articles of surrender, upon the ground that he was one of those excepted, having been guilty of the murder of Cunnoghan. An investigation took place into the accusation in 1653, and depositions were taken of Major Ormsby, Sir Lucas Dillon, and Hugh O'Conor himself. These depositions are preserved in the Library of Trinity College,” and from them it appears that Cunnoghan, on his way from Boyle to Castlecoote, fell in with the Irish forces; that he was made prisoner by a company under the command of Philip Dowel of Montagh;” that he was taken to Ballintober, and brought up before Charles O'Conor Don, tried by a jury, and sentenced to be hanged; and that young Hugh O'Conor had nothing to say either to his arrest or execution. Having been cleared from this charge, O'Conor determined to follow the fortunes of his exiled king, and he and his son, also called Hugh,” joined the Duke of Gloucester's regiment, the one as captain, the other as ensign, and served in the royal army beyond the seas. In this service he continued until the royal restoration in 1660. Those who had supported the royal cause in * See copy of depositions in Appendix N. * Now Mantua, the seat of Mr. Grace. * It is presumed that the Hugh O'Conor, entered as ensign in the Duke of Gloucester's regiment, was the son of Col. Hugh O'Conor of Ballintober. This is not quite certain, 246 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT, ... [CHAP. XX. times of adversity had a right to expect that when that cause was successful, their past fidelity would not be forgotten, and that if not further rewarded they would at least be restored to their former lawful possessions. The king himself had given a pledge to this effect; and the Irish Catholic officers and soldiers who had served him faithfully, when an exile, naturally expected that, upon his restoration, their services would not be forgotten, or the royal word disregarded. Like most of those who trusted to the gratitude or promises of a Stuart, they were destined to be disappointed, and found themselves with nothing to live upon but vague promises, the realization of which was every day put off. Their feelings and position and sufferings are very graphically and touch- ingly described, in a petition which the officers of the Duke of Gloucester's regiment presented to the king several years after his restoration. This peti- tion, the exact date of which is not given, but which was probably presented about four years after the restoration, or not earlier than 1664, is to the follow- ing effect:- “The humble petition of the officers who served under His Majesty's Royal Ensigns beyond the seas, in His Royal Highness Duke of Gloucester's regiment. “Most humbly showeth :— “That your petitioners do and shall always most thankfully acknowledge the singular great care and kindness which your Majesty hath been oftentimes pleased to express, not only to your petitioners at home and abroad, but even in your Royal speech to your House of Lords in England in 1660—in these words:—“I hope I need not say nothing of Ireland, and that they also shall not be without the benefit of my mercy. They have shown much affection to me abroad ; and you will have a care of my honour, and of what I have promised to them ;’ as also in your gratious declaration for settling of Ireland, p. 3:- “We did and must always remember the great affection a considerable part of that nation exprest to us during the time of our being beyond the seas, when with all cheerfulness and obedience they received and submitted to our orders, and betook themselves to that service which was directed as most convenient and behoofefull, at that time, to us, though attended with inconvenience enough to themselves, which demeanour of theirs cannot but be thought worthy of our protection and favor.’ By all which, and also by divers other clauses in the said Declaration, your Majesty hath so fully expressed your most gracious resolutions and intentions to restore your petitioners unto their former estates, that they have with all pos- sible patience expected an end of their miseries and sufferings, which are much increased these last four years, since your Majesty's happy restoration, beyond what they endured even during their banishment in foreign parts, in regard they are made incapable of serving any foreign prince because of their constant adhesion to and following of your Majesty's fortunes, as by their allegiance and duty they were bound ; for which the Irish standing regiments in France were re-formed because they were not thought fit to be trusted, seeing upon all occasions (as it is evident by former experience) they would be at your Majesty's command whensoever their services were required ; notwithstanding, your petitioners, even in their own country, A.D. 1660–1664.] THE O'CONORS OF CONN AUGHT. 247 are not intrusted with, nor admitted into, any employment, military or civil, whereby they might be able to subsist ; and yet their estates are continued in the possession of such as had y” same given unto them by y' usurpers for their service under them. Soe as your petitioners have been forced to run in debt for bread and cloaths; some of their fellow-officers being dead for want, and others now in prison for their debts, and the rest in a starving condition, and every day expecting the same misfortune, unless your Majestie will, at last, effectually restore your petitioners to their said estates which y” Earl of Orrery at y” council board in y” year 1660, Sir Audley Mervin, then joynt agent with him for ye" adventurers and soldiers, concurring with him, did in your Majesty's presence promise should be done in three months; whereas above three years are expired, and as well by the encroachments made upon your Majesty's Declaration first by y” Instructions, then by the provisions in y” Act of Settlement, and lastly by particular grants by all which the reprizals are continually lessened, and the tº e .* rendered impracticable : your petitioners are now more than ever out of hopes of being in any ordinary way restored unto their said estates, much less to expect any recom- pense or satisfaction for their services unto your Majesty in foreign parts. So as your peti- tioners are necessitated to make this their last address unto your Majestie, being no longer able to subsist here, where they not only spent the money they had, or could borrow of their friends, but also are in a continual danger to be imprisoned for the debts they contracted during the last four years. They have been constant petitioners to your Majestie without receiving any relief. “May it therefore please your Majesty, for y” considerations aforesaid, to be graciously pleased to order and direct that your petitioners may be absolutely restored to their former estates without previous reprizals. “And your petitioners shall ever pray. “Signed, “Wiscount Iveagh ... © & dº & tº º * * * ... 45,006 acres. Sir Ulick Bourke ... tº e º tº e º e & tº tº e e 20,000 Do. Captain Hugh O'Connor of Ballintobber & © tº © ºl 6,000 Do. Major Owen O'Connor (decreed innocent, but not re- stored to an estate entailed on him, being not then claimed, he being in His Majesty's service in Dunkirke when claims were entered in Ireland) 2,000 Do. Captain Brian Fitzpatrick, now Lord of Upper Ossory 8,000 Do. Thomas Hopes ... tº e º tº e C s tº º © tº º 2,000 Do. Captain Francis Berne of Roden ... tº g tº tº º º 1,000 Do. Captain Edward Dillon of Dromnacor tº º ſº. tº º º 800 DO. Ensign Alex. Berne tº º º tº º º tº º ſº tº º ſº 600 DO. Captain Con O'Neile of Ardgonell ... tº º ºs tº e e 3,000 Do. Nicholas Walshe of Tralee ... tº º º tº $ tº tº tº º 1,500 Do. Murty Clancy of Castlecoote tº gº e tº tº ºf ſº tº º 1,000 Do. Theobald Dillon of Brackloon tº e tº tº D tº tº º is 3,000 Do. Mathew Mooney ... tº e G gº tº º tº tº º tº tº º 600 Do. Francis Coghlan of Ballaghclare ... © º º tº º ſº 500 Do. John Casey of Rathcannon ſº ſº º tº ge tº & © 800 Do. Dominick Daly” ... * º º tº º º e - © © tº e 800 Do.” * The word here is illegible in the original. * For list of officers in Duke of Gloucester's regiment, see Appendix O. 248 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XX. This petition was not more successful than the appeals which preceded it. The king's Government alternately fluctuated between vain endeavours to uphold the royal promises to the Irish Roman Catholics, and to conciliate the Protestant settlers, to whom grants had been made by the late usurping Govern- ment. Successive Acts of Parliament for the settlement of Ireland were passed, one correcting and explaining the other; and years rolled on, heaping up debt and ruin on the Irish supporters of the king, who meanwhile saw their ancestral domains in the hands of Cromwell's followers. Colonel Hugh O'Conor's petition was referred to the commissioners appointed to carry out the Act of Settlement and Explanation. Before them he presented his claim, praying for the restoration of the lands which belonged to his fathers, amount- ing to close on IO,OOO acres of what was called profitable land. These lands had already been disposed of by the Athlone and Loughrea commissioners. The castle and town of Ballintober and some of the surrounding lands had been set out by final decree, dated 31st August, 1657, to Lord Kilmallock, and had passed from him to Lady Frances Butler, to whom large tracts of land in the barony of Ballintober had been granted as a transplanted person. By this lady, the lands connected with the ancient castle of the O'Conors were assigned to one James Donnellan, who assigned them back again to Colonel O'Conor. Other portions of the estate had been granted to a Captain Sandford, and 700 acres, as mentioned above, had been left in the possession of Mary, the wife of Charles O'Conor, and the mother of Colonel Hugh O'Conor. To all these lands the latter now laid claim, with the bitter result that, whilst the commis- sioners, in 1667 and 1669, ratified the grants made by Cromwell's Govern- ment to Captain Sandford and other Protestant grantees, they delayed making any decision during Colonel O'Conor's lifetime in regard to the lands held by his mother or to those assigned to him by Donnellan. Thus matters stood until his death, which took place about the year 1669. By his will, made in the year 1662, he bequeathed all his right and title in these or any other lands that might be adjudged to him to his son Hugh, with remainder to his children if he had any, and in failure of such issue, to his brother Charles and his issue, with several other successive remainders. He left one son Hugh and a brother Charles, both unmarried, and a sister Mary, married to E. O'Mulloy. HUGH “O'CONOR DOW,” SON OF HUGH, died about 1686. The remaining history of the descendants of Charles O'Conor Don, the eldest son of Sir Hugh O'Conor, requires but few words to narrate. Young Hugh O'Conor succeeded not to the possessions, but to the claims of his father. A.D. 1664-1699.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 249 On the 13th August, 1676, he “did exhibit his claim " to the commissioners appointed to investigate titles, and in the following year, by a certificate dated the 4th August, 1677, it was “considered adjudged and decreed that the said Hugh O'Conor shall hold and possess the lands following, that is to say, Rath- nolliollagh, I 36A.; Moyne and Ramige, 219A.; Brackloon, 209A.; Keily, 53A.; Barrinagh, 82A.; Castle, bawn, and lands of Ballintober, alias Rosmeen, 177A.; Ballymagheiher, 206A.; in Lara and Ross, 22A.; in Kerligen in the four qrs. of Ballymoylon, 24A.” This certificate was confirmed by a grant under the Act of Settlement and Explanation, dated 29th January, 1683, both the certificate and the grant being made to Hugh O'Conor as the representative of his father, and appa- rently subject to the provisions of the will of the latter, already alluded to. Thus, seventeen years after the Restoration of King Charles II., the rights of this young man, who had, from his earliest youth, been one of the faithful followers of His Majesty, and had served in the royal army in Flanders, were at length recognised, and a small portion of his ancestral property, about I, IOO acres, was restored to him. Young Hugh O'Conor did not long enjoy possession of his restored rights. He died unmarried shortly after the grant was made, having mortgaged the estates for £1,300 to one Terence Dermot, a Dublin merchant, and, subject to this mortgage, he bequeathed them to his uncle Charles, with remainders to his cousins, the O'Conors of Castlereagh and Belanagare. CHARLES “O'CONOR DOW,” SON OF CHARLES, died 1699. After the death of Hugh O'Conor, the lands passed to his uncle Charles, who lived in Ballintober upon a small plot of land, the rents of the estates being employed in paying the interest on the mortgage. This Charles O'Conor was a weak-minded man; having very little of his own to live upon, he, like many of the reduced gentry of the period, spent a great part of his time visiting his friends, and, amongst others, went to the house of Colonel Thomas Burke of Portumna, carrying with him papers and title-deeds. Here he took sick, and died in 1699, and after his death, Burke produced a deed, dated 29th October, 1699, by which Charles O'Conor, in consideration of the sum of £200, alleged to have been paid to him by Burke, assigned to Burke his equity of redemption of the lands of Ballintober. By the terms of the will of his nephew, under which he held the estates, he had no right to make this assignment; but * “Connaught Certificates,’ Rolls Office, Dublin. K K 250 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. xx. Burke, who was married to the widow of the late Lord Clanricarde, and daughter of Walter, Earl of Ormond, previously Butler of Kilcash, was all- powerful, and no one at the moment disputed his claim. Terence Dermot, who held the mortgage on the lands, became Lord Mayor of Dublin, in 1688. He was an ardent supporter of King James II., and was knighted by that monarch. After the Battle of the Boyne and the flight of King James, Sir Terence Dermot was attainted of treason, his property declared forfeited, and sold by the Trustees of Forfeited Estates in 17oi. Amongst other interests then sold was his mortgage on Ballintober, which was purchased by Colonel Burke, to whom a conveyance, dated 31st October, 1702, was made by the Trustees of Forfeited Estates. Burke thus be- came possessed not only of the reversion, but of the immediate ownership of the property. He died shortly after, leaving his interest in the estates to his widow, the Countess of Clanricarde, who went to live with her brother, Butler of Kilcash. It is recorded in the family papers that in her last illness she expressed a desire that O'Conor should get back his estates, and that she had no rightful title to them ; but the expression of such a wish, if ever made, was valueless, and the property continued in the possession of her trustees until sold by them to Burke of Ballydugan." * The successive changes which took place in the disposal of the estates of the O'Conors of Ballin- tober are set out in a paper given in the Appendix, which shows every change in ownership from the granting of the patent to Sir Hugh O'Conor Don until after the Revolution in 1688. See Appendix R. ！ ！！！！！！！ ：） ！！！！！！！ ſae MUN 0 H.A.N. S HR IN E OF ST., C H A P T E R X X I. —A. A. wr- ur A.D. 16IO—182O. HUGH OGE O'CONOR, OF CASTLEREA GH, SECOWD SON OF S/R H UGA. O’COMOR DOW. A.D. I6IO-I655. ºAVING traced the history of the descendants of the eldest son of ! Sir Hugh O'Conor Don until the extinction of their line by the death of Charles O'Conor in 1699, we now return to consider the fortunes of the second son Hugh." Hugh, called Hugh Oge, or Hugh the younger, was born probably a year later than his elder brother Charles, or about 1585. He married Jane, seventh daughter of Theobald, first Lord Dillon,' and had by her two sons, Donel, or Daniel (sometimes also called Donor or Donogh), and Hugh, and a daughter Mary, who married Teige O'Kelly.” There does not appear to be any positive record of the date of the marriage of Hugh Oge O'Conor; but that it took place in 16IO is most probable, as in that year the castle and lands of Castlereagh, and a number of other townlands, were settled on him by his father. This appears from an inquisition taken in Roscommon on the Ioth day of April, 1633.” In this document, which is given in full in the Appendix, it is stated that Sir Hugh O'Conor Don, being with his trustees, seized “in his demesne as of fee of and in all that territory called Cloonkerney, containing thirty quarters of land,” did, by deed “duly perfected on the 22nd * Lodge's Peerage, Vol. IV., p. 14. Gilbert's History of Affairs in Ireland, Vol. I., p. 281. * MS. Pedigree, Trinity College Library. * Inquisition, 1633. See Appendix P. 252 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. TCHAP. XXI. day of May, in the year of Our Lord 16IO, give, grant, and alienate, without having obtained the licence of the Lord the King, the said premises, with their appurtenances, to Hugh O'Connor Dun of Castlereogh, Esq., son of the afore- said Hugh O'Connor Dun, Knight,” with the exception of six quarters, namely, I qr. of Imlagh, 2 qrs. of Ballydromlagh, I qr. Clonmalis, I qr. Drumlough- loin, and I qr. Cloonsucke. This territory of Cloonkerney, called also Cloonkearn, or Cloonkeherney," containing thirty quarters, is identified from other inquisitions as consisting of the following townlands:–The castle and site of town of Castlereagh; I qr. Imlagh; 2 qrs. Ballindromlea; I q-Cloonmalush, alias Clonalis; I qr. Cloonagh; or Cloonaff or Cloonduff; I qr. Correglahan, or Creglahan; % qr. Cloonban- nogh; I qr, Derreenvannagh; % qr. Annaghclogha, or Annalough; I qr. Annagh- vaghera; I qr. Drumlough, or Drumloughloin ; 3 qrs. Cloonfower; 2 qrs. Clooncan; I qr. Cloonsucke; I qr. Cloonelta; I qr, Taghnara; I qr. Meelaghmore; I qr. Meelaghbeg; I qr. Rathbarnagh; 2 qrs. Carrowdowan; 2 qrs. Grangeroade; I qr. Rathclary; I qr. Cloonree; 2 qrs. Rathlegg ; all which, with the exception of I qr. of Drumlough and 2 qrs. of Rathlegg, belonged to Sir Hugh O'Conor Don, and were mentioned in the patents made to him in 1585 and 1617; for, although the greater part of these lands were settled on Hugh Oge in 16Io, yet all are included in the grant from the Crown to Sir Hugh in 1617.” Between the time of his marriage in 1610 and the breaking out of the rebellion in 1641, nothing is recorded relating to Hugh Oge O'Conor ; but in the latter year he took a very prominent part in organizing the Irish Catholics of Co. Roscommon, in opposition to the parliamentary Puritan party. At the meeting already noticed, held in Ballintober Castle towards the close of the year I64I, he was one of the most prominent men, and, with Sir Lucas Dillon, his brother-in-law, was selected to present the address from the freeholders and gentry of the county of Roscommon to the Earl of Clanricarde. The following account of this address or letter, and of the proceedings of * This district of Cloonkearn, or Clann Caitherney, has been already referred to at p. 220. In O’Donovan's letters to Sir T. Larcom on Ordnance Survey, he says: “Clan Caitherney extends from the bridge of Clonalis on the Suck west to Clooncan, adjoining the Co. Mayo. From Clooncan to Clooncrafield, adjoining Airteach, and thence in the other direction to Cloonaff, adjoining Mr. Sandford’s demesne.” This is not correct, as it appears from a deed made in 1585 and from the inquisitions of 1610 and I633, that the territory extended much further eastward, and included the town of Castlereagh or Castlerea, and all the lands so far as and including the present townland of Carrowdoan. “This territory of Cloon- keherney was first called Kerry Ai, and afterwards Kerry M*Keherney, as appears from the Annals of the years 791 and 1468.”—O’Donovan's Letters on Ordnance Survey. sº * The original of this grant from the Crown is in the possession of the present O'Conor Don. A.D. 16IO-I64I.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 253 Sir Lucas Dillon and Hugh O'Conor in regard to it, is given in the Clan- ricarde Memoirs, and has also been lately published by Mr. Gilbert in his History of Affairs in Ireland:— “EARL OF CLANRICARDE AND THE IRISH OF CONNACHT. “The same day (2nd Feb., 1641–2) I received letters from Sir Lucas Dillon and Mr. Hugh Oge O'Connor, desiring a safe conduct, to impart unto me some propositions from the county of Roscommon ; and upon my sending a safe conduct to them, they repaired the next day unto me, and delivered this following letter:— ‘‘ ‘A. LETTER FROM THE GENTLEMEN OF THE COUNTY OF ROSCOMMON, DIRECTED UNTO ME, DATED 23RD JANUARY, RECEIVED THE 3RD FEBRUARY. ‘‘‘ RIGHT HONOURABLE— “‘We, in behalf of ourselves, and the major part of the inhabitants and freeholders of this county of Roscommon, upon serious consultation and weighty motives, have made bold to employ Sir Lucas Dillon and Mr. Hugh Oge O'Connor, to acquaint your Lordship with some resolutions which we have taken concerning the state of the said county, and to offer to your Lordship's view and consideration the causes necessitating us at the present to rise in arms, and to unite some number of forces within the said county; as likewise to signify to your Lordship, that in the great confidence we have in your Lordship's zeal to His Majesty's service, and the good of this poor afflicted nation, we have made choice of your Lordship to govern and command those forces in chief, to regulate and order, with the assistance of council, the affairs of the country, to represent unto His Majesty the heavy pressures and grievances under which we groan, and to solicit redress and reformation from his sovereign goodness, whereunto is our only appeal, and to none other, under God. “‘May it please your Lordship, we conceive that such is the obligation you owe to the country from which you derive your birth,” and as you will give all the concurrent helps you can, tending to the conservation thereof, and consequently will correspond with us in all our just designs, being very hopeful that the rest of the province will make the same applica- tion to your Lordship, that so we may, with hearts and hands, join unanimously in one right way, faithfully and loyally to serve God, the King and country, wherein we beseech the Divine Omnipotence to guide your Lordship and us, who are ‘‘ ‘Your Lordship’s most humble servants, ‘‘‘HUGH O’CoMNOR. CHA. O'Connor DUN. “‘WM. DELAHOID. CHA. O’Connor RoK. “‘And many others.” jºr * Memoirs of Clanricarde, London, 1757, pp. 67-69. Gilbert's History of Affairs in Zreland, Vol. I., pp. 379, 380. * Lord Clanricarde notes that he was born in Great Queen St., London, but did not think it prudent to correct the gentleman. 254 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXI. “Upon discourse with these two gentlemen that brought the letter, they made great protestations of their loyal and dutiful intentions, that mere necessity enforced them to take arms, being left subject to the spoil and destruction of the forces in action in the counties of Leitrim and Sligoe, oppressed and mistrusted by the English garrisons in their own county; withal they were informed from other parts of the violent resolutions of the parliament of England and state of Dublin, to make a general destruction upon the nation and religion; that they could find no means to represent their grievances to His Majesty; neither had the Puritan faction left His Majesty any power to redress; and in conclusion, either through craft, or affection, or both, they did privately assure me, that it was the resolution of the united forces of the province to fall upon me, if I did not correspond with them in their request to Iſle. “Upon consideration thereof, finding my own small strength to resist such forces, that the passages to Dublin were all blocked up, and no assistance to be expected from thence, and indeed, by several observations, having cause to mistrust that the State did not much care if this Government were destroyed, or myself forced into action, I thought it best, by Some moderate expressions, to gain time, in hope of some relief by sea out of England ; and thereupon I wrote this letter following :- “My LETTER. To THE GENTLEMEN OF THE Co. of RoscoMMON, 4TH FEE., 1641-42. ‘‘ ‘SIRS– “‘Your letter sent to me by Sir Lucas Dillon and Mr. Hugh O'Connor I have received, which gives me good occasion by them to return you many thanks for the great respect and affection you have hereby showed unto me; and the confidence you repose in me doth easily invite me, together with His Majesty's service, to have a particular care and regard of you, and a fit consideration how my advice and assistance may be most useful to you in those times of distemper and distraction. For the first proposition, to take upon me the government of that county, and to command the forces raised there, I conceive at this present it can no ways stand with my duty to the king, nor will agree with what you have further proposed unto me, to take that command upon me (being in another's hand, established and settled by the king's authority), without order and direction from the king, or some other that derives a power from him, would put me into a condition that would render impossible all mediation, or inter- posing of mine either in your behalf, or the rest of the kingdom ; none since the beginning of those distempers having attempted to take a government upon them, though some have taken arms in opposition to the proceedings of the present Government ; and though your intentions and mine might both be very good for prevention of disorders and preservation of the country, yet it would meet with that construction, as would totally divert my careful endeavours for yours and the general good, wherein these noble gentlemen can in part inform you. And I truly protest unto you, there hath no pains nor industry been omitted by me, as His Majesty's favour, my interest in many noble and powerful friends, or my own judgement could guide and direct me ; and it is my desire that it should appear without ambition, or particular aims or ends of my own. I have been, and shall ever be, ready to serve God, my king, and my country with all true faith, duty, and affection. “‘By what I have expressed, I hope you will take in good part my not entertaining, at this present, that command you have with so much kindness and confidence offered me ; since A.D. 1641–1642.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 255 I assure you if I could dispense with my duty therein to His Majesty, as it hath merely relation to yourselves, according to those rules I have set down in my own apprehension for your future good and benefit, as affairs now stand, I should not think fit to take it upon me. For the present, in discharge of my duty to the king's commands, I am to offer to you the benefit of His Majesty's gracious letter directed unto me, the copy whereof I send you here enclosed; and your former taking arms may be well excused by the danger of your neighbours coming upon you, to suppress the unruliness of the common sort of people, greedy of booty and prey, and upon some mistakes and suspicions between you and those in garrisons ; and for the better representation thereof, and for mediation for obtaining the benefit of those graces or remedy of other grievances, I could wish that my Lord President and myself should be joined, and he, undertaking it with me, I am confident he will cordially perform it, I having, as I conceive, a very great and particular interest in him ; and upon knowledge of your reso- lution therein, I can employ to his Lordship a worthy and able friend of mine that is power- ful with him, and bears good affection to you, and the welfare and preservation of this province. “‘This will be a work of great and good example to the rest of Connaught; by that means the province may be again settled, and united by themselves, the trouble and compulsion of English and Scottish forces prevented, and the country fairly and securely preserved ; and be assured, whatever might be the intentions of those that took arms in other parts of the king- dom, it hath been, and could no otherwise be, than a great prejudice and disadvantage to this poor province, so near a happy settlement, which, by reasonable direction, may yet be brought to perfection. “‘Having thus discharged my duty to His Majesty, and expressed my present apprehen- sions unto you, I will add nothing more at this time, but to give you notice, that I am now going to Galway, where, upon further conference with persons of ability there, if I meet with anything of further use, or benefit to you, I shall send you their opinions, and my advices, with a constant regard to the king's honour and service, and your preservation. And if God, of His infinite mercy, send a blessing thereto, I hope you will very speedily have the good effects thereof, and that there shall be no failing in me to approve myself “‘Your assured loving friend, “‘CLANRICARDE AND ST. ALBAN3. “‘Loughreagh, the 4th February, 1641-2.’” Having failed in obtaining the concurrence and assistance of Clanricarde, the Catholics of county Roscommon still persevered in their designs. An Irish provincial army was formed. Hugh O'Conor of Ballintober was appointed colonel, and Hugh Oge of Castlereagh lieutenant-colonel, and, as such, took part in the battle of Ballintober in 1642.” * Depositions of Dudley O'Flynn; Commonwealth Series, Record Office, Dublin. 256 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXI. That battle, as before mentioned, resulted in the complete defeat of the Irish. Why the English did not follow up their victory appears from the following statement made by Sir M. Earnely, one of their commanders on the Occasion — RELATION OF PROCEEDINGS OF LORD RANELAGH AND SIR. M. EARNELY IN IRELAND, 1642. In this “relation” Sir Michael Earnely complains of the indifference of Lord Rannelagh, his bad treatment of the English troops, and his not taking advantage of opportunities which offered for destroying the Irish enemy. Having given a description of various small enterprises in which they had been engaged, he goes on :- “Thence we advanced to the Castle of Knockcroghery. The same night we came thither Sir Charles Coote had an advertisement that the enemy were drawn together to the number of about three thousand, and that they had a resolution to join with other great forces of the enemy, and to fall upon us as we lay before this castle, being a ground of great disadvantage; with which intelligence Sir Chas. Coote acquainted my Lord President, myself, and the rest of the officers withall, and advised that his Lordship would remove from the said castle to Roscommon to reinforce himself with Sir Charles Coote's companies of foot and horse, my Lord of Roscommon, his troop under the command of Captain King, and Captain Ormsby his company, and to fall upon the enemy, I drawing up towards Ballintobber : which course we pursued, and the next day after our coming to Roscommon, Sir Chas. Coote having adver- tisement that Charles O'Connor Roe, with one thousand or twelve hundred men, was advancing within four or five miles of Roscommon, to join with the forces at Ballintobber, he acquainted his Lordship and myself there with ; whereupon I prevailed with the Lord President to march up to Charles O'Connor Roe, when we fell upon him, and beating him out of his strong trenches, killed divers of his men, and fired his house and country. The Monday following we had an intelligence from Athlone that Sir James Dillon, having the command of all the men in Longford and Westmeath, with two thousand men, appeared before the town, and had an intention to fall upon it, whereupon I urged my Lord to draw all the forces he could together, and to go thither. His Lordship answered that he knew Sir James Dillon well enough, and that he was assured he would not meddle with the town. Whereupon I desired that his Lordship would give me leave; he answered I might go if I would, but he would have no hand in it. The next day I marched to Athlone, and coming there found that Sir James Dillon had that morning fallen on the town : my Lt.-Col. Gibbs beat him off with the loss of divers of his men. I lodged that night in the town, and next morning marched towards his quarters where he had entrenched. He drew out of his quarters and met me on the way, when he was beaten with the loss of 300 of his men or thereabouts, and we took two colours, his tents, and burnt his quarters. Within two days after I returned to Roscommon, when Sir Chas. Coote brought us intelligence that Col. Taaffe and Sir Luke Dillon, with other chief commanders, with 2,500 foot and 300 horse, were at Ballintobber, within seven miles of Roscommon, whereupon the Lord President gave orders unto Sir Chas. Coote, with some fifty horse, to march up to Ballintobber to discover the enemy, whom he found there according to the former intelligence. The next morning, being Sunday, upon the earnest motion of Sir Chas. Coote, myself, and the other officers, we marched up to the enemy at Ballintobber, when A.D. I642–1643.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 257 it pleased God we killed 600 of their men, and took nine foot colours and a cornett of horse. By these several defeats given the enemy within ten days, the whole force of the enemy was broken in that province, so that, had we then prosecuted these victories, as was earnestly pressed by Sir Chas. Coote, myself, and others, we had in all probability reduced that pro- vince. Immediately after this, my Lord President utterly renounced to have anything to do with my regiment, and affirmed that he neither could nor would give them bread any longer; upon which I pressed to be gone, to which his Lordship would not yield, neither permitting me to go away, and denying me any subsistence there. Sir Charles Coote, seeing this great distraction, through the necessities of my regiment, desired that the several companies thereof might be disposed into such garrisons as he had an interest in ; unto which I condescended ; and that he would, upon his reputation, undertake to provide for them, which, at his charge, and the hazard of his person, accordingly he performed to the preservation of that small number of men my regiment was reduced unto, through scarcity and want of food, which other- wise had perished, until our return to Dublin. Sir, whatsoever other relation may be made of these occurrences, this is the positive truth.” Lord Ranelagh, the President of Connaught, having retired, the Irish had time to rally; new troops were levied, and the strongholds put into a state of proper defence. It was also determined that the Catholic royalist party in Connaught should act with the general confederacy sitting at Kilkenny, which had then assumed all the forms of a regular government; and Hugh O'Conor was appointed as one of the representatives from the county of Roscommon with that body. Meanwhile Clanricarde, who had thrown in his fortunes with Lord Ormonde, and had been appointed commander-in-chief in Connaught under that nobleman, endeavoured to open separate negotiations for a truce or cessation of arms with the portion of the confederacy belonging to the province of Connaught. With this view, in the summer of 1643, he made overtures to Lieutenant-General John Burke, who held high command amongst the Irish ; and these overtures having been brought before the council of the confederacy in Connaught, the following reply was returned :— REPLY OF THE CouncIL OF THE CONFEDERATION IN CONNAUGHT TO THE over TUREs of THE EARL of CLANRICARDE FOR A CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES IN THAT PROVINCE. DATED, 28TH AUGUST, 1643. “RIGHT Honour ABLE,-Soon after the receipt of your Lordship's of the 26th of this present, so many of the prime gentry of these parts, as could conveniently, assembled, and having consulted of the contents of your Lordship's letter to the Lieutenant-General (John Bourke) about three days ago, concerning a truce or cessation of arms throughout this province, * This account is endorsed : Sir Michael Earnely's relation of the condition of his regiment in Connaught. MS., Trinity College Library, Dublin, F., 3, II. L L 258 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXI. until the general treaty for the whole kingdome, were concluded, to make this return to your Lordship, which we on behalf of them and ourselves represent, and humbly recommend to your favourable acceptance : That we and they are of His Majesty's most loyal and faithful subjects, and ready to expose our lives and fortunes in his service, and in the reducing of the distractions raging now in these parts, or in any other part of His Majesty's dominions, to such a settlement of peace and obedience, as may best conduce to His Majesty's most high advantage and the happy quiet of his people : for which purpose there is a general treaty in the behalf of the whole kingdom now on foot, or presently to commence, by virtue of His Majesty's commission ; to attend which certain commissioners are appointed by the grand assembly of the nobility and gentry of the Confederate Catholicks of this kingdom ; in which case, it is not conceived how this province, or any part of it, may with safety presume to enter- tain or conclude any other particular treaty of truce or cessation, without advising with the commissioners now attending, or presently to attend, the execution of His Majesty's Com- mission, to whom present address shall be made for advice. Upon return whereof, it is not to be doubted your Lordship shall receive such fair compliance, as may give your Lordship just satisfaction in those parts, which we, by the consent of the rest, make bold to give in assurance that we are “Your Lordship's most humble servants, “LUCAS TAAFFE. MALACHIAs TUAMENSIs. CHARLES O'Connor DUN. ‘‘ BOETIUS ELPHIN. WILLIAM MoLLOYE. ULICKE BURKE. “FEAGHRA FLINN. CHARLES O'Connor Rob. HUBERT BURKE. ??? “CORNELIUS KELLY. This reply not being satisfactory to Clanricarde, the struggle continued until 1648, when he appeared in open hostility to his Catholic fellow-country- men, and took the field against them. Leaving Athlone Castle in the hands of Lord Athenry,” he marched into the county Roscommon, and besieged the castle of Molinaheny near Ros- common, then in the possession of Hugh O'Conor's son, who, on a previous occasion, had carried away twenty horse from Taaffe's party in Munster. The ammunition of the Small garrison defending the castle having been destroyed by an accident, they offered to surrender on condition of their lives being spared. These terms were agreed to and duly signed by Clanricarde, upon which the garrison, sixteen in mumber, surrendered, and were taken to the camp, where, notwithstanding the terms of capitulation, they were, by Clan- ricarde's orders, all hanged, with the exception of one, who managed to escape from his captors. * Carte Papers, xcix., p. 549. Gilbert's History of the Confederation and War in Zreland, Vol. II., Preface, p. civ. * Aſistory of Affairs in Ireland, by Gilbert, A.D. 1648, Vol. I., p. 236. A.D. I643–1655.] TIIE O'CONORS OF CONN AUGHT. 259 Clanricarde then marched towards Castlereagh, Hugh O'Conor's residence, and O'Conor, unable to resist him, offered to submit upon honourable terms of surrender, which were accepted. Confident of his safety, Hugh O'Conor went at once to Clanricarde's camp to salute him, when he was seized, placed under personal restraint, and committed as a prisoner to ROScommon Castle, no other reason being assigned for this breach of faith than that he should pay for the twenty horse which his son had carried away from the Munster camp. About the same time, O'Conor Roe, who also had received letters of safe-conduct from Clanricarde, on presenting himself, was seized, and sent to join Hugh O'Conor as a prisoner in Roscommon Castle, where both were confined for upwards of half a year. Shortly after, the success of the parlia- mentary party became indisputable. Cromwell's veterans soon drove both Clanricarde's and Ormond’s party, as well as that of the Irish Catholics, out of the field ; and Hugh O'Conor, like his kinsman in Ballintober, saw all his property seized, and included in the decree for confiscation. Preparatory to the execution of this decree, a formal investigation was held at Athlone, nominally for the purpose of inquiring into the conduct of the different proprietors of land in the county of Roscommon during the rebel- lion. The -main object of this investigation was to furnish grounds for the forfeitures which it was the policy of the government to enforce. Depositions were taken, which are preserved amongst the “Commonwealth Series” of papers at the Record Office, Dublin, and amongst them will be found two, in almost similar terms, relating to Hugh O'Conor of Castlereagh. The first of them is to the following effect :— “HUGH O'CONNOR OF CASTLEREAGH. “Dudley O'Flynn of Ballintober, aged 34, being duly sworn and examined, deposeth that he knew the said Hugh, and further sayeth that the said Hugh lived in Ireland in the beginning of the said rebellion, at Castlereagh aforesaid, which was then, and since, the enemy's quarter during the rebellion, and furthur Sayeth that the said Hugh was in arms at the begin- ning of the said rebellion against the English, and had the command of a lieutenant-colonel, to Colonel Hugh O'Connor his nephew, and furthur Sayeth that the said lieutenant-colonel was at the battle of Ballintober in the said first year against the English. His range of knowledge being that he saw him in arms aforesaid. Dated July, 1655.” The second deposition, almost in identical words, was sworn to by one Dermot O'Connor of Kiltolmy, in the barony of Athlone; these two—O'Flynn of Ballintober, and Dermot O'Connor of Kiltolmy—being witnesses against a very large number of the Connaught proprietors. 230 THE O'CONORS OF CONN AUGHT. [CHAP. XXI. In consequence of the part he took in the rebellion, the estates of Hugh O'Conor were all declared forfeited, and very shortly after the taking of these depositions he died, leaving his son Donnell, or Daniel, the inheritor of his name and misfortunes. DOWNELL, or DANIEL, O'CONOR, SOW OF HUGH OGE O'CONOR, born 1612, died 1689. Shortly after the accession of James I., when the Irish chieftains submitted to the English Crown, and took grants of their lands under the English tenure, the use of English Christian names became general, and these were substituted for the old Irish names hitherto borne by the natives. Thus Eoghan, or Owen, became Eugene ; Cathal, Cahill, Calvagh, and Keadagh became Charles ; Donnell became Daniel ; Turlough was changed into Terence; Teige became Thadeus, or Thady, and so on with almost every one of the other Irish appel- lations. As the synonyms used in the English language for particular names were not always the same, the change often led to subsequent difficulty in identification. These perplexities have arisen in regard to more than one of Sir Hugh O'Conor's descendants. The son of Hugh O'Conor of Castlerea, for instance, is named in different documents and records, under no less than four different forms. He is called Donnell, Daniel, Donor, and Donogh ; and were it not for other evidence, doubts might arise whether it was the same individual who was referred to in each case. In the family pedigree drawn up by Charles O'Conor of Belanagare, more than IOO years ago, and at a time not very distant from the period at which Hugh O'Conor's son lived, he is styled Daniel, the recognised English form of Donnell, and under this name he certainly claimed, and had restored to him, after his father's death, a certain portion of his ancestral estates. Daniel O'Conor, the eldest son of Hugh Oge O'Conor of Castlerea, was born about the year 16II or 1612. He was married to Anne, second daughter of Edward Bermingham, seventeenth Lord Athenree, whose wife was Mary Burke, daughter of Sir Festus Burke of Glynsk." At the time of the breaking out of the rebellion he was a young man in possession of all the vigour and independence of character which distinguished most of the members of his family. Naturally he took the same side as his father, and joined the Irish cause. He very soon attained high command in the Irish army, and his name is constantly mentioned in the records of the history of this period. ' Lodge's Peerage, Vol. III., p. 46. A.D. I642.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 261 He was one of those who, in 1642, signed the Oath of Association of the Irish Confederation, which was as follows:– “OATH OF Association of IRISH ConFEDERATION." “I, A. B., doe promise, protest, and sweare, before God and His saints and His angells, that I will, during my life, bear true faith and allegiance to my Sovereign Lord, Charles, by the grace of God King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, and to his heirs and lawful successors. And that I will, to my power, during my life, defend, uphold, and maintaine all his and their just prerogatives, estates, and rights, the power and privileges of parliament of this realme, the fundamentall kaws of Ireland, and the free exercise of the Roman Catholic faith and religion throughout the land, and the lives, just liberties, possessions, estate, and right of all those that have taken or shall take this oath and perform the contents thereof. And that I will obey and ratifye all the orders and the decrees made and to be made by the Supreme Council of the Confederate Catholiques of this kingdom, concerning the said publick cause ; and that I will not seek or receive, directly or indirectly, any pardon or pro- tection for any act done, or to be done, touching this general cause without the consent of the major part of the said council : And that T will not, directly or indirectly, doe any act or acts that shall prejudice the said cause, but will, to the hazard of my life and estate, assist, prosecute, and maintain the same. Moreover, I doe further sweare that I will not accept of or submit unto any peace or accommodation to be made or concluded with the said Confederate Catholiques without the consent and approbation of the General Assembly of the said Con- federate Catholiques; and for the preservation and strengthening of the Association and union of the Kingdom, that, upon any peace or accommodation to be made or concluded with the said Confederate Catholiques as aforesaid, I will, to the uttermost of my power, insist upon and maintain the ensueing propositions until peace as aforesaid be made, and the matters to be agreed upon in the articles of peace be established and secured by parliament. “So help me God, and this Holy Gospel.” The propositions here referred to were the following:— “1. Free and public exercise of the Catholic religion ‘in as full lustre and splendour as in the reign of King Henry VII. or any other Catholic king, his predecessor.” “2. That the secular clergy of Ireland and their dignitaries should enjoy all juris- dictions, privileges, and immunities in as full and ample a manner as the same had been enjoyed in the said reign of Henry VII. “ 3. That all laws placing restrictions on the Roman Catholic laity or clergy in the exercise of their religion, passed since the twentieth year of Henry VIII., should be repealed. “4. That the Primates, Archbishops, and all other dignitaries and pastors of the Roman Catholic clergy should hold and occupy all the churches and church livings in as large and as ample a manner as the late Protestant clergy enjoyed the same on the 31st October, 1641, in all places now in possession of the Confederate Catholics, as also in all other places that shall be recovered by them, saving to the Catholic laity all their rights.” * Collection of Proceedings of Commissioners relating to the Settlement of Ireland. 1660. MS., Gilbert's History of the Confederation and War in Ireland, Vol. II., p. 2 Io. 262 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXI. This oath was signed by over three hundred of the Catholic laity and clergy, and amongst the signatories appear the names of “Daniel (O’)Connor of Castleragh,” “Hugh (O’)Connor of Ballintober,” “Teige (O’)Connor Roe of Ballinefad,” “Teige (O’)Connor Sligo,” &c., &c. In order further to place their intentions in the clearest light, and to disavow the charge made against them, that they were rebels and opposed to His Majesty's authority, the Supreme Council of Confederate Catholics issued a letter or proclamation, of which the following is a copy:— ExTRACTS FROM LETTER OF SUPREME CouncIL OF CONFEDERATES, 25TH FEBRUARY, 1642-43. “We, to do right to our own consciences, do declare the clearness of our intentions; and to the end that no act of ours may countenance the opinion of any such guilt in us, in the presence of the God of truth, do protest we have been necessitated to take arms to pre- vent the extirpation of our race and religion, threatened and contrived by our enemies; to maintain the rights and prerogatives of His Majesty's crown and dignity, the interests of his royal issue, the just liberties of our country, and to no other end, and that we are, always have been, and ever will continue, His Majesty's most humble and faithful subjects.”” Having joined the Confederacy, Daniel O'Conor in an especial manner attached himself to Owen O’Neil, and is mentioned as having served him with a regiment of foot and a troop of horse; and even when that general was cast off and denounced by the Council of Confederate Catholics, young O'Conor remained faithful to him. In 1648, when Clanricarde made the inroad before alluded to into the Co. Roscommon, O'Conor persuaded Shane O'Kennedy of Duneraile, a colonel under O'Neil, to proceed with 600 foot and 140 horse to Brackloon, the residence of his uncle, Thomas Dillon, believing that there a portion of the Irish forces under Dillon would meet him ; but in this he was disappointed ; Dillon did not bring up the promised support, and O'Kennedy, being attacked by Clanricarde, was obliged to retreat. In September of the same year the Council of Confederate Catholics at Kilkenny proclaimed” O’Neil a traitor, and called on his supporters to submit and deliver up their arms, promising pardon and forgiveness to all except Owen O’Neil ; Emor, Bishop of Clogher; Edmond Reilly, V.G. of Diocese of Dublin; Terrlaghduff M'Donough O'Brien; Shane O'Kennedy; Art Cavenagh, of Ballynloghan ; Captain Donnogh O'Connor Mac Hugh ; Captain Richard Burke, of Partry; and Alderman Dominick Fanning, of Limerick. * Gilbert's History of Confederation and War in Ireland, Vol. II., p. 166. * This proclamation, endorsed 30th September, 1648. A.D. 1642–1652.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 263 But O'Conor did not submit ; and he is mentioned in the list before alluded to of those who adhered to the nuncio and clergy in Connaught. Clanricarde subsequently endeavoured to compel him to disband his troop; and in 1649 Colonel Lucas Taaffe, who had joined with Clanricarde, wrote the following letter, which was addressed to him and his cousin, Captain Roger O'Conor — “SIRs— “I must let you know that I am commanded hither, by my Lord Marques of Clan- ricarde, to prosecute you, and all such as oppose His Majesty's authority, and understanding that your safe-conduct is renewed by the Commissioners of trust until the 7th of the next month, during which time I must desist from acts of hostility, I desire and advise, as a kins- man and well-wisher, that you make good use of your said safe-conduct, by your immediate repair to Portumna, and submission to my Lord Marques of Clanricarde, before the expiration of it ; else I assure you, that you, and all such as adhere unto you, will be proclaimed, with drum and trumpet, by the odious name of traitors to His Majesty, with which title, if you be once branded, no future act or merit of yours can recover your reputation, nor allow me the freedom of subscribing myself' “Your very assured cossen, ‘‘LUCAs TAAFFE. “29th April, 1649. For my better satisfaction, I shall desire a view of your safe-conduct as soon as can be at Roscoman. “For Captain Donogh O'Connor and Captain Roger O'Connor, or either of them. “A copy of my letter to D. O’C. This letter was received by them three days agone.” To this letter apparently neither of the O'Conors gave much heed, and it was not until the parliamentary forces had overrun the country, and Cromwell was victorious everywhere, that Donogh or Daniel O'Conor submitted. He was then a colonel, and entered into the following highly advantageous terms of surrender with Commissary-General Reynolds, the commander of the parliamentary forces:— ARTICLEs of AGREEMENT BETWEEN COMMISSARY-GENERAL REYNOLDS AND COLONEL DONOGH. O'Connor, CONCLUDED AT JAMESTown, MARCH 19TH, 1652.” “1. That the regiment under the command of Colonel O'Connor, and such parties as shall joyne with him, shall lay down arms at a rendezvouz at Roscomon or Tulsk, on the 25th March inst., to such persons as Commiss.-Gen. Reynolds shall appoint. * Carte Papers, Vol. XXIV., p. 402 ; Gilbert, History of Affairs in Ireland, Vol. II., p. 211. * Sezeral Proceedings in Parliament. London: I652-53, p. 2904, and History of Affairs Zaz Zºeland (Gilbert), Vol. III., p. 373. 264 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXI. “2. That Colonel Donogh O'Connor's regiment, and such party as shall lay down arms with him, shall have liberty to transport themselves into Spain or any other country in amity with the States of England, and likewise the benefit of any agreement which they can make with the foreign agents for that purpose. “3. That the regiments and parties shall have fourteen days’ free quarter upon their laying down arms; and in case that within the said time the agreement before mentioned cannot be perfected, such further time shall be allowed as the Commissioners of Parliament shall think fit, whereby they may be enabled to subsist until the time of transportation. “4. That in their way to the waterside, free quarter or thoroughfare shall be allowed unto them. “5. That if no agreement can be made with any foreign agent, that then Commis.-Gen. Reynolds shall afford his furtherance and assistance to procure such conditions as others of the Irish party have received at any time formerly. “6. That all officers and soldiers under the command of Colonel O'Connor, who shall lay down arms at the time and place aforesaid, and shall transport themselves, shall be indem- nified for all things done by him or them ; provided it extend not to exempt those from a tryal or pardon who were guilty of the massacres or robberies committed upon the English at the beginning, or any murder since. “7. That all the clergy belonging to the party shall have liberty to go away, provided they had not a hand in murder, and do not exercise their function within the quarters during their stay, and that a list of their names be delivered at their rendezvouz at Roscomon. “8. That the officers and soldiers that shall lay down arms at the rendezvouz aforesaid shall be protected in their goods, and enjoy their personal estates, if they desire to stay in the nation ; otherwise to have licence to make sale of their goods, and the benefit of the former articles, in order to their transportation. “In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals the day and year above written. “ DONOGH O’CoMNOR. ‘‘ R.O. MULLIT.” Having, in accordance with the terms of this arrangement, laid down his arms and disbanded his regiment, O'Conor retired to Spain, where he remained in the Spanish service until after the restoration of King Charles II. Mean- while his father died, and his wife, Anne O'Conor, presented her claim before the Athlone and Loughrea Commissioners on the 18th July, 1656, and by a final decree, dated 30th June, 1657, was awarded, as a person included in the eighth qualification, the following lands –“Cloonemallis (Clonalis), Croglehan, Cloondowse or Cloonaff, Cloonsuck, Cloonbannow, Annaghvaghera, and part of Kulmore ;” in all, 440 acres of what was termed “profitable land ;” the greater part of these townlands being unprofitable bog. The lands so restored to Anne O'Conor were all on the western side of the river Suck ; all the good lands, * Reports and Schedules, Record Office, Dublin. A.D. 1652–1699.] THE O'ConoRS OF CONNAUGHT. 265 including the town and castle of Castlereagh, on the east side of the river, were taken from the O'Conors, and awarded mainly to Captain Theophilus Sandford. Shortly after the Restoration in 1660, Daniel O'Conor returned to his native country, and, in the joint names of himself and his wife, presented a petition to the Commissioners appointed, under the Act of Settlement, for “hearing and determining the claims of transplanted persons in Connaught and the Co. of Clare.” This petition was duly filed, and a record of it appears in the schedules of the Court of Claims. Apparently it was not taken up in time; before it was investigated, the so-called Act of Explanation was passed; and Daniel O'Conor's claim, with the claims of hundreds of other Irish Catholic proprietors, was put aside, the Cromwellian grants being thereby practically confirmed. Subsequently, in 1676, he petitioned that the remnant of his ancestral estate, awarded to his wife by the Athlone and Loughrea Commissioners, should be confirmed to him and her by the king. This was granted by decree, dated 8th July, 1677; and these lands have ever since remained in the possession of the descendants of Sir Hugh O'Conor Don ; the first-named place, Cloonmalis or Clonalis, being now the principal residence of the head of the family.” Thirteen years later, in 1689–90, Daniel O'Conor died, leaving one son named Andrew. ANDREW “O'CONOR DOW,” SON OF DANIEL, born 1646, died 1718. Andrew O'Conor, of Clonalis, was born probably about the year 1646, and was a child when his father was obliged to leave Ireland, and to take service under the Spanish king. He married, on the 16th March, 1692, Honoria, daughter of Colonel Lucas Dowel,” of Mantua, in Co. Roscommon, and had seven sons. Of these only one left issue. Another son, Thomas, entered the army of the King of France, in which he attained the rank of Brigadier-General, and for his bravery and distinguished conduct at the battle of Fontenoy, was made a knight of St. Louis. * “Reports and Schedules,” Record Office, Dublin. * The other lands belonging to Hugh Oge O'Conor were disposed of as follows:–The castle, town, and lands of Castlereagh, Imlough, Ballindrumlea, Carrowdowan, Cloonree, and Rathbarnagh, were granted to Captain Sandford; Derreenvannagh to the Countess of Fingal, but subsequently transferred to Daniel O'Connor; Annalough to L. Fallon; Clooncan to W. Brabazon; Cloonfower, Cloonelt, Tagh- nara, and Kulmore to Duke of York, subsequently forfeited by him, sold by Commissioners of Forfeited Estates, and purchased by Caspar Wills and A. Montgomery; Meelaghmore and Meelaghbeg to G. Cruise and others; Grangeroade to Ed. Malone ; and Rathcleragh to W. Spring. * Colonel Luke Dowel was colonel of a regiment of foot under King James II. M M 266 TIIE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. xx) Upon the death of Charles O'Conor of Ballintober, in 1699, Andrew O'Conor became the head of the O'Conor Don family; but it does not appear that he made any claim to the Ballintober estates, which, as before mentioned," had passed into the hands of Burke of Portumna. Andrew O'Conor Don died in 1718. DANIEL “O’CONOR DOW,” SON OF ANDREW, born about I694, died 1769. } On his father's death, Daniel O'Conor succeeded to the Clonalis estates, and to the headship of the O'Conor family. In 1721 he filed a bill in chancery against the widow and trustees of Colonel Burke for the recovery of the Ballin- tober property. In this bill, which is preserved in the Record Office, Dublin, he stated that Colonel Burke had always alleged that he had purchased the mortgages on that estate for the O'Conors, and that he had no claim to the equity of redemption, but that after Burke's death, which took place in 1720, a “pretended deed ” had been set up, under which Burke's representatives claimed the entire property. To this bill an answer was filed by the trustees of Colonel Burke, who denied the truth of these allegations, and succeeded in retaining possession of the lands. Daniel O'Conor married on the 22nd Sep- -tember, 172O,” Margaret, eldest daughter of Captain Domnick Ryan, of the City of Dublin, and died on 17th March, 1769, leaving four sons, Domnick, Hugh, Thomas, and Alexander, and two daughters. Domnick, the eldest son, alone married. Hugh entered foreign Service, and died abroad ; and Thomas and Alexander both died unmarried. Of the daughters, Elizabeth died unmarried ; and Jane married William Eccles, and left issue, at present represented by the family of O'Conor Eccles. DOMAWICK “O'CONOR DON,” SOAV OF DANIEL, born about 1723, died I795. Domnick, the eldest son of Daniel, succeeded to the estates and title of O'Conor Don on the death of his father. He married Catharine, daughter of Robert Kelly, of Lisnaneane, who was descended in the female line from O'Conor Roe. He died without issue in 1795. ALEXANDER “O'CONOR DOW,” BROTHER OF DOMNICK, born about 1735, died I 820. During the lifetime of his brother, in 1786, Alexander O'Conor, or “Master Sandy,” as he was more familiarly called, made an attempt to recover pos- “4 ºute, p. 250, * Ex. Deeds, List I. X., 6-IIo, Rolls Office. A.D. 1699–182O.] THE O'CONORS OF CONN AUGHT. 267 session of Ballintober castle and estates by force. Believing that the property had been fraudulently acquired by the Burkes, he assembled a large number of the tenantry on his brother's estate, and marched with them to Ballintober, where he formally took possession of the castle and lands. The tenantry there at once recognised him as their landlord, and appeared ready to support his claims; and for a short time apprehensions existed that this was but the prelude to a general attempt amongst the descendants of the ancient Irish to recover their former estates. The matter was considered of so much importance, that it was brought under the notice of the Irish House of Commons, and questions were asked the ministers regarding it. The result was, that after a very tem- porary occupation, O'Conor was obliged to withdraw, and narrowly escaped imprisonment for his rash enterprise. Alexander survived his brother twenty-five years, living in a small cottage on the Clonalis estate, a life-use in the family residence having been left by the will of Domnick O'Conor to his widow, with power to lease for thirty-one years—a power which she speedily exercised. This will Alexander unsuccess- fully attempted to break; and the estates became involved in most expensive Chancery proceedings between him, his sisters, and the widow of his late brother. After protracted litigation, large portions of the estate were sold to pay costs and incumbrances, and were bought in by the next heir, Owen O'Conor of Belanagare. Alexander O'Conor died in 182O, unmarried, and with him ended the descent in the male line of Hugh Oge O'Conor of Castlerea. The headship of the family then passed to Owen O'Conor of Belanagare, the descendant of Cathal, the third son of Sir Hugh O'Conor Don, and with his line we have next to deal. C H A P T E R X X I I. A.D. I627–1692. CAHILL O'CONOR, OF BELANAGARE, THIRD SON OF SIR HUGH O'CONOR DON. (A.D. 1627–1634.) SHE obscurities arising out of the attempted translation of the old Irish names into what was supposed to correspond to them in English, have been already alluded to ; and a notable instance of these obscurities will be found in the case of Sir Hugh O'Conor's third son. His eldest son, as has been before mentioned, was named in his native language, Calogh or Calvach ; his third son was named Cathal or Cahill ; and as the English translation given, at the time, to both of these names was Charles, curious errors have arisen in consequence. Dr. O'Conor, in his memoir of the family prefixed to the Life of his grandfather, seems to have taken for granted that wherever Charles O'Conor, son of Sir Hugh, was mentioned in any public record, it was Cathal, the third son, who was referred to ; whereas on the other hand, a more modern writer" has denied the very existence of the third son, inasmuch as there could not, he says, be two brothers of the name of Charles, and it was clear from the public records that the eldest son was known as Charles, and used that signature himself. That Calvach and Cahill were, in the Irish language, two completely distinct and different names there can be no doubt ; that both were usually translated into English by the name * History of Ireland, by R. O'Conor, Esq. A.D. 1627–1632.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 269 Charles is equally capable of proof; and that Sir Hugh O'Conor had two sons bearing these names will be made clear from what follows. Cathal, or, as he was more usually called, Cahill Oge O'Conor, was born in the year 1597, and never took the name of Charles, which was assumed by his elder brother. He married in 1627 Anne, daughter of William O'Mulloy, of Croghan," and had two sons, Owen and Charles. Upon the occasion of his marriage his father settled upon him the castle and lands of Belanagare, and after his father's death a deed confirming this settlement was entered into between him and his elder brother ; and as this deed, which is still in existence amongst the family records, sets at rest for ever the allegation that no such person as Cathal or Cahill O'Conor ever existed, it may be well to give a full copy of it, especially as it also puts an end to another assertion coming from the same source,” viz., that no part of Sir Hugh O'Conor Don's vast estates remained with his descendants after the Revolution, and that none of them are in their possession at the present day. The deed executed in 1632 is to the following effect:- INDENTURE MADE BETWEEN CALOG.H. O'Connor AND CAHILL OGE O'ConnoR. “This indenture, made the eight and twentieth day of March, Anno Domini one thousand six hundred thirty and two, and in the eighth yeare of the raigne of our most gracious soveraigne Lord, Charles, by the Grace of God of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, Kinge, defender of the faith, &c., &c., Betweene Calogh, alias Charles, O'Connor of Ballyn- tobber, in the County of Roscomon, Esq.", sonn and heire to Sir Hugh O'Connor Dunn, of Ballyntobber aforesaid, Knight, deceased, on the one parte, and Cahill Oge O'Connor of Bealanagar, in the county aforesaid, gen, another of the sonns of the sº Sir Hugh ; Hugh Oge O'Connor of Castlereagh, in the s” county, another of the sonns of the sº Sir Hugh O'Connor Dunn ; William Malloy of Croghan ; Phillipp MacDowell of Monetagh (Mantua), in the sº county, Esq.”; Robert Maloy of Rusheen, and Oliver Plunkett of Leamgearr, in the Cº of Roscommon aforesaid, gentlemen, on the other parte. Whereas the s” Sir Hugh O'Connor Dunn hath, by his deed of feoffment duly executed, bearing date the 2" day of November, Anno Domini, one thousand six hundred twenty and seaven, for good and valuable consider- ations in the s” deed expressed, given, granted, bargained, sould, and confirmed unto the sa Hugh Oge O'Connor, William Malloy, Phillipp M*Dowell, Robert Maloy, and Oliver Plunkett all that and those the castle, town, and landes of Beallanagare aforesaid, together with his whole estate and interest in the fowre quarters of land of Bealanagare aforesaid, otherwise called Carrownvalley, and Killm'voylane, the quarter of land of Carrowntobber, the quarter of land of Rathnenalge, and the quarter of land of Rathardivyne, with their and every of their severall rights, members, and appurtenances, all scituat, lying, and being in the Barony of * William O’Mulloy was married to Margaret Clifford, and had two sons, one of whom was married to a daughter of Sir Hugh O'Conor.—Dalton's History of Boyle. * History of Ireland, by R. O'Conor, Esq., p. 264. 270 THE O'CONORS OF CONN AUGHT. [CHAP. XXII. Ballyntobber, within the County of Roscommon aforesaid, to the use and behooffe of the said Cahill Oge O'Connor, and to the use of Anne Malloy, alias Connor, wife unto the said Cahill Oge, and to the use and behooffe of the longer liver of them, and after their decease to the use and behooffe of the heires male of the boddy of the sº Cahill to be begotten upon the boddy of the said Ann Maloy, and for want of such issue male, he the said Cahill having issue female by her the said Ann, that then the said feoffees, Hugh Oge O'Connor, William Malloy, Phillipp MacDowell, Robert Maloy, and Oliver Plunkett, their heires and assigns, shall stand seised of all and singular the premises in the said feoffment comprised untill such time as either and every of the said issue female be payed and satisfied towards their severall relieffs, mayntenance, and preferments, such reasonable portions and preferments as shall be thought fitting by the foresaid feoffees or any two or three of them, or the survivor of them, their heires or assignes; and after such portions payed and satisfied as aforesaid, that then the said feoffees, their heires or assignes, shall stand and be seized of all and singular the premises in the said feoffment comprised, to the use and behooffe of the issue male of the boddy of the s" Cahill lawfully to be begotten upon the boddy of any other woman, and for want of such issue to the use and behooffe of the right heires of the said Sir Hugh O'Connor Dunn, they paying such reasonable portions unto the issue female of him, the sº Cahill, lawfully to be begotten upon the boddy of any other woman as shall be agreeable unto their standinge and qualitie, and to the substance, aid, or validitie of the s” estate. “WITNESSETH that the said Calogh, alias Charles, O'Connor, as well in accomplishment of his said father's will, as also for the naturall love and affection which he doth bear unto his said brother, Cahill Oge O'Connor, and for the considerations in the said deed of feofment expressed, and for many other good causes and valuable considerations, him thereunto moving, hath given, granted, released, and confirmed, and doth by these presents give, grant, release, and confirm unto the said feoffers, Hugh Oge O'Connor, William Malloy, Phillip MacDowell, Robert Maloy, and Oliver Plunkett, their heires and assignes, all this whole estate, right, title, intrest, and demands whatsoever of and unto the said castle, towne, and foure quarters of land of Bealanagare, Carrownvally, Killm"voylane, Carrowntobber, Rathnenalgue, and Rathar- divyne, and in all their and every of their rights, members, and appurtenances. To HAVE AND To Hold all and singular the said premises and before-named hereditaments unto the said Hugh Oge O'Connor, William Malloy, Phillip MacDowell, Robert Malloy, and Oliver Plunkett, their heires and assignes, to the uses aforesaid, and to the use and intent that the said feoffers, their heires and assigns, shall stand and be seized of the said premises, that the said Calogh, alias Charles, O'Connor, and the heires males of the boddy of the said Sir Hugh, shall have, receave, and perceave of the rents, issues, and proffits of the said Castle, towne, and land, and three quarters of land of Bealanagar, alias Carrownvally, Killm"voylane, Carrowntobber, and Rath- nemalgue, the yearly rent of seven shillings sterling, current money of and in England, to issue out of each of the said three quarters, and one shilling sterling like money out of the said quarter of land of Rathardivyne, payable yearely unto the said Calogh, alias Charles, O'Connor, and to the heires male of the boddy of the said Sir Hugh O'Connor, at the two usuall feasts of Michaelmas and Easter, by eaven portions. AND the further intent of these presents is, and it is covenanted and granted by and betweene all the parties hereunto, and their heires and assignes, that the said Calogh, alias Charles, O'Connor, and the heires males of the boddy of the said Sir Hugh O’Connor, may distrayne for the said yearly rent, and all the arrears thereof to com, the same being lawfully demanded as often as the same or any part thereof shall be A.D. 1632.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 271 behynd, and enter in and uppon the said premisses and every part and parcell thereof, and the said distress then taken, to take and carry away and use according to the lawes and statutes of this realm of Ireland betweene every lord and every tennant. “AND the said Calogh, alias Charles, O'Connor, doth for himselfe, his heires and assignes, for the considerations aforesaid, covenant, graunt, and aggree to and with the said Hugh Oge O’Connor, William Malloy, Phillipp MacDowell, Robert Maloy, and Oliver Plunkett, their heires and assignes, all and singular the said premises, with the appurtenances unto them, to save, warrant, defend, uphold, and for ever mayntayne against all manner of person and persons whatsoever clayminge or deriving any estate, right, title, or interest by, from, or under the said Calogh, alias Charles, O'Connor, his heires or assignes, or either of them. “AND the said Calogh, alias Charles, O'Connor, doth by these presents constitute, ordayne, authorisse, nominate, and appoint his well-beloved Iryell O'Higgin, Edmond M*Dermott, and Callocgh M'Swyne, and every of them, or any of them, his true and lawful attorney or X Attorneys, joyntly and severally, into all and singular the said premises, or into any parte or parcell thereof, in the name of the whole to enter and thereof to take quiet seizin and peace- able possession, and the same to give and deliver unto the said Hugh Oge O'Connor, William Malloy, Phillipp M*Dowell, Robert Maloy, and Oliver Plunkett, or to any one or more of them, in the name and the use of them all, or to any other, to their use and by their or either of their appoyntment, according to the purporte, tenor, and true meaning of this deed. IN wiTNESS whereof the said parties unto these presents have interchanged and put their hands and seales the day and yeare first above written. “CHA : O CONNOR.” ENDORSED. “Being present at the signeing and de and delivering these presents, these whose names ensue. ‘‘ PA ALSH. “ED. M*DERMoTT. “CA. MºSwynE, his ‘‘mark X. “DOMINIC LYNCH. “IRYELL O’HIGGIN. “Being present when Edmond M*Dermott, one of the attorneyes named in these presents, did give and deliver levery of seizin of the premises, with the appurtenances. “* * * * * * * * The feoffee, Olliver Plunkett, and to the use of Cahill Oge and the rest of his co-feoffees, according to the purporte, tenor, and true meaning of this deed. “CARBRY, x FFox, “TERENCE KELLY. “his mark. “EDMUND PLUNKETT. “DONOGH MAC < SKALLY, “his marke. “LOGHLIN × TEIGUE, his marke.” 272 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXII. This deed, the antiquity and genuine character of which have been vouched for by the late Dr. John O'Donovan, and an abstract of which is preserved in the Record Office, Dublin, does not stand alone as testimony of the transactions to which it refers. Amongst the public records preserved in this same office, at Four Courts, Dublin, will be found an inquisition taken in 1632, which bears out and confirms, in a most remarkable manner, the recitals in the deed referred to. The following are extracts taken from this inquisition! :- ExTRACT FROM INQUISITION DATED 26TH MARCH, 1632. “Furthermore, the jurors aforesaid, on their oath aforesaid, say that the aforesaid Hugh O'Connor Dun in his lifetime was also seized in his demesne as of fee of and in the castle, town, and a quarter of the lands of Ballinegarre, alias Carrowenvalle and Killmºvoylen, and a quarter of the land of Carrugyller, and a quarter of the land of Rathnenalge, with each of their appurtenances, in the C* of Roscommon aforesaid. And being so seized of those the premises, by his deed of feofment in due form of law executed, bearing date the 2" day of November, 1627, he gave, granted, and alienated the s” premises to William O'Mulloy, of Croghan, in the C* of Roscommon aforesaid, esquire ; Hugh Oge O'Connor, of Castle Reogh, in the said County of Roscommon, esquire ; Philip M*Dowell, of Moyntagh, in the s” county of Roscommon, gentleman ; Robert O'Mulloy, of Rossyns, in the same county of Roscommon, gentleman ; and Oliver Plunkett, of . . . . . . in the same county, gentleman, their heires and assigns for ever, to the uses and intentions following ; to the proper use, benefitt, and behoofe of Cahill Oge O'Connor, third sonne, unto the s” Sir Hugh O'Connor and Anne Mulloy, ali"Connor, his wife, and to the use and behoofe of the longer liver of them, and after their decease, to the heires males of their bodyes lawfully begotten, or to be begotten,” &c., &c. The inquisition then goes on to recite all the provisions as to remainders entered in the deed above quoted, and the reservation to Sir Hugh O'Conor of a yearly rent of 7s. Two years after the date of this inquisition, Cahill O'Conor died, leaving two sons, Owen and Charles. He was buried at Ballintober, being the first of the family of whose burial at that place there is any record. His initials, C. O’C., with the date of his death, 1634, are carved upon the oldest O'Conor tombstone there ; but although there is no record of it, it is most probable that his father, Sir Hugh O'Conor, was also buried in the same place. Cahill O'Conor's widow subsequently married Edward, brother of Lord Dillon. * Appendix I. Inquisition, 1632. A.D. 1632–1655.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 273 OWEN O'CONOR, SOM OF CAHILL OGE, born 1632, died 1692. Owen O'Conor was but a child at the time of his father's death, and was taken by his mother to reside with his grandfather, William O'Mulloy, who was his guardian, and whose ward he became. At the breaking out of the rebellion in 1641, he was too young to take any part in it ; but this did not Save his hereditary property. It was sufficient that he lived in what was called “the enemies' quarters.” Although a child, he was held responsible for the acts of his relatives ; and his estates shared the same fate as those of his cousins. Amongst the depositions, before referred to, taken in Athlone in 1655, and preserved in the “Commonwealth series” at the Record Office, Dublin, are two having reference to Owen O'Conor. They are to the following effect:- DEPosLTION OF DUDLEY O’FLYNN, OF BALLINTUBBER, TAKEN JULY, 1655. Owen O'ConnoR, OF RATHNAVALLY (RATHNENALLIG 7) “Dudley O'Flynn, of Ballintober, gent., aged thirty-four years, being duly sworn and examined, deposeth and sayeth—That he knew the said Owen, and knew him in the year 1641; and further sayeth, that the said Owen lived in Ireland in the beginning of the said rebellion at Rathnavally, and sometimes at Oughtereree, both in the enemy's quarters; and further sayeth, that the said Owen was a child in the beginning of the said rebellion, not above five or six years old, and was taken a ward by one William Mulloy, with whom for the most part he lived, who was in arms in the beginning of the s” rebellion against the English. His range of knowledge is that he was his neighbour and acquaintance.” “William Beirne, of Clonfad, aged forty years, being duly sworn, sayeth—That the said Owen lived in Ireland at the beginning of the late rebellion at Rathnavally aforesaid, and sometimes at Oughterherrey, both in the enemy's quarters; and further sayeth, that the said Owen was a child at the beginning of the said rebellion, and was taken as a ward by one William Mulloy, who was in arms in the said first year of the said rebellion. His range of knowledge is that he was neighbour and acquaintance.” WILLIAM O’MULLOY. “Cornelius Sweny deposeth that William O'Mulloy, of Croghan, now of Aughtererragh, was High Sheriff of the Co. Roscommon in the first year of the rebellion, and did “by his power summon the country together, and led them against Boyle, an English garrison.” * His father having married in 1627, and having died in 1634, Owen O'Conor could not have been more than six years old at the latter date. He was probably several years younger, and as there is no reference either to him or his brother in the indenture of I632, it is more than probable that he was not then born. This inference is borne out by the statement in the Deposition of Dudley O'Flynn, for although Owen O'Conor must have been more than five or six years old in 1641, it is evident from this Deposition that he was still but a boy. N N 274 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. xxi.I. In consequence of these declarations, and of the fact of his having lived in the enemy's quarters, Owen O'Conor's estates were confiscated, and he himself grew to manhood a proscribed outlaw. As soon as he was capable of bearing arms, he, like his relatives, joined the royal standard, and Charles II. being then an exile, he entered into his service in the Duke of Gloucester's regiment beyond the seas. His promotion in this regiment was most rapid. Before the restoration of the king he had attained the rank of major, and as such his name is appended to the petition already quoted from the officers of that body.” Major Owen O'Conor, having faithfully served the king when in exile, naturally expected that on the restoration of his sovereign, this fact would not be forgotten. Nor was it, so far as the royal declaration was concerned. On the 27th May, 1660, the restoration of King Charles II. took place; and on the following 30th November His Majesty published his “gracious declaration”:- HIS MAJESTIES GRACIOUS DECLARATION FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF HIS KINGDOM OF IRELAND AND SATISFACTION OF THE SEVERAL INTERESTS OF ADVENTURERS, SOLDIERS, AND OTHER SUBJECTS THEREIN. “Charles the Second, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. To all our loving subjects of our Kingdom of Ireland of what degree or quality soever, greeting : It having pleased Almighty God, out of His great mercy and compassion towards us and all our subjects, to restore us in so wonderful a manner to each other, and with so wonderful circumstances of affection and confidence in each other, as must for ever fill our hearts with an humble and grateful acknowledgement of the obligation we owe to His Divine Providence, that He would vouchsafe to work that miracle for us Him- self, which no endeavours of our own could bring to pass : We think it agreeable to the just sense we have, and ought to have, of the good affection of all our good subjects, who have contributed so much in bringing this unspeakable blessing upon us and themselves, that we acknowledge that our good subjects in our Kingdom of Ireland have borne a very good part in procuring this happiness, that they were early in their dutiful addresses to us, and made the same professions of resolution to return to their duty and obedience to us, during the time of our being beyond the seas, which they have since so eminently made good and put in practice ; however, it was not easy for us to make any public declaration with reference to that our kingdom, there being many difficulties in the providing for and complying with the several interests and pretences there, which we were bound in honour and justice in some degree to take care of, and which were different from the difficulties we were to contend within this kingdom : We well knew the Acts of Parliament which had formerly passed for the security of the adventurers in that kingdom, and had heard of the proceedings which had been * See petition from Duke of Gloucester's regiment, ante, p. 246. A.D. 1655–1660.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 275 thereupon, by which very many officers, soldiers, and others, as well of this, as that our king- dom, were in possession of a great part of the lands of that our kingdom, and of whose interests we resolve to be very careful. “We well remember the cessation and the peace which our Royal Father, of blessed memory, had been forced, during the late troubles, to make with his Irish subjects of that our kingdom, and by which he was compelled to give them a full pardon for what they had before done amiss upon their return to their duty : . . . . . . we could not forget the peace that ourself was afterwards necessitated to make with our said subjects . . . . we could not but hold ourself obliged to perform what we owe by that peace to those who honestly and faithfully performed what they had promised to us, . . . . . and in the last place we did and must always remember the great affection a considerable part of that nation exprest to us during the time of our being beyond the seas, when, with all cheerfulness and obedience, they received and submitted to our orders, and betook themselves to that service which we directed as most convenient and behoofeful at the time to us, though attended with inconvenience enough to themselves. “And therefore, in the first place, in order to a settlement of that interest claimed by the adventurers, . . . . . we do hereby declare that all the lands, tenements, and hereditaments of which all or any of the Adventurers were possessed the 7th day of May, 1659, having been allotted or set out to them, or enjoyed by them as Adventurers, in satisfaction of and for their adventures, shall be confirmed and made good to them, their heirs and assigns for ever.” . . . “That all officers and souldiers, their heirs and assigns, who have been and are of the army in Ireland, and to whom lands have been given out in satisfaction of their arrears, for their service in that our kingdome, and have, by the General Convention of Ireland, or by any other public Act, declared submission and obedience to us, according to our declaration of # April last, dated at Breda, shall enjoy their respective estates conferred on them for their arrears for service in the kingdom of Ireland according to their respective possessions on the said 7th day of May, 1659, in full satisfaction for all such arrears for which lands were set out to them respectively as aforesaid,” with certain exceptions for estates obtained by bribery, forgery, church lands, and some others. “That all commissioned officers, their heirs or assigns, who were in regiments, troops, or companies raised in Ireland or transported out of England, and served our Royal Father or our self in the wars of Ireland at any time before the 5th June, 1649, other than those who have received lands or money for their pay due unto them since the 5 June, 1649, shall be satisfied their respective personal arrears : out of the forfeited lands, tenements, and heredita- ments undisposed of to the Adventurers or souldiers in the counties of Longford, Wicklow, Leitrim, and Donegall : out of all the forfeited lands, &c., undisposed of, in the province of Connaught and County of Clare, lying within one mile of the river Shannon, or of the sea, commonly called the mile line ; out of all the houses and tenements forfeited in Ireland in the several walled towns and corporations and lands thereunto belonging not already set out to the Adventurers and souldiers, satisfaction being first made to such Protestants who, on leases or contracts for leases, have built or repaired houses or planted orchards or gardens, &c.,” with some exceptions : . . . . . “That all commissioned officers before 1649 who have had no satisfaction in lands or otherwise set out to them for services since 1649, shall be immediately, out of the whole security that is above assigned for the satisfaction of arrears before 1649, satisfied 12.6 in the £ of what is due to them,” &c. . . . . . . 276 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXII. “That such Protestants whose estates have been given out for satisfaction for Adven- turers or souldiers, or otherwise disposed of to any other persons, shall be forthwith restored to their former estates, and a reprizal of equal value, worth, and purchase forthwith assigned to such Adventurers or souldiers as shall be removed out of their s” estates.” . . . . . . “And whereas we understand that by the late usurped Powers during the distempers of these times, several Irish proprietors of the Popish religion have been dispossessed of their estates, merely for being Papists, and have sued out decrees, and are possessed of lands in the province of Connaught and Cº of Clare, in compensation of their former estates; which being an act of their own, we might, without any injustice, deny to relieve them in, yet so willing are we that any interest intituling itself to equitable mercy might not be disappointed, that we declare that all innocent Papists, being such as shall prove them- selves to have been faithful and loyal unto and never acted against our Royal Father or our self since the two and twentieth day of October, 1641, though they have sued out decrees, and are possessed of lands in the province of Connaught or County of Clare, in lieu of their former estates, shall, notwithstanding, be restored to their former estates by the 2° May, 1661; pro- vided that the s” lands in Connaught and Clare so allotted to the s” Papists be restored unto us to reprize others, &c., or for satisfaction of such Irish proprietors thereof so far as this declaration excludes them not ; or if the said lands in Connaught and Clare, or any part thereof, have been sold by any such Papist, that the s” Papist, out of his estate, to which he is to be restored, shall pay the purchase-money to the sº purchaser, his heirs,” &c. . . . . “That whatsoever Adventurer or souldier shall be removed from his present possession to make room for such Papist, shall forthwith have a reprize of equal value in other forfeited lands.” . . . . . . “And as to those who continued with us or served faithfully under our ensigns beyond the seas, we think fit, and accordingly declare, that they shall be restored to their former estates, if they by themselves, or agents authorised by them, have not prosecuted and obtained decrees and lands in the province of Connaught or County of Clare, in compensation for their former estates”—reprizes to be granted to “the Adventurers, soldiers, or other persons” who shall be removed, &c.—and “lest such restorations and reprizes, if not speedily effected, might be attended with many prejudices to all parties concerned therein, we declare that the farthest time for accomplishing thereof shall be the three and twentieth day of October, 1661.” “And whereas divers persons, for most of whom a general provision is made by this our declaration, have, for reasons known unto us, in an especial manner merited our grace and favour; particularly the Earl of Clanricarde, the Earl of Westmeath, the Earl of Fingal, the Earl of Clancartie, the Lord Wiscount Gormanstown, the Lord Wiscount Mount Garret, the Lords Wiscounts Dillon, Taffe, Ikerrin, Nettervil, Galmoy, Mayo ; the Lords Barons Dunboyne, Trimleston, Dunsany, Upper Ossory, Bermingham of Athunry, Strabane ; Col. Richard Butler, Sir Geo. Hamilton, Sir Richard Barnwel, Sir Redmund Evarard, Sir Valen- tine Browne, Knt., Sir Thos. Sherlock, Knt., Sir Dirmot O'Shaughnessy, Knt., Sir Dl. O’Bryan, Col. Chrst. O’Bryan ; Mr. Richard Belling, son to Sir Henry Belling, Knt. ; Richard Lane, of Tulske, Esq.; Mr. Ed. Fitzgerald, of Balymalo; Mr. Tho". Butler, of Kilconel; Mr. MacNamara, of Creevagh; Mr. David Powie, of Kilbolone; Mr. Donogh O'Calaghane, of Clonmeen ; Mr. James Copinger, of Cloghane, in Co. Cork; Mr. George Fitzgerald, of Ticro- chane ; Mr. Barnard Talbot, of Rathdown; and Conly Geoghegan, of Donore. We do hereby declare that they and every of them, without being put to further proof, shall be restored to A.D. 1660–1661.] THE O'CONORS OF CONN AUGHT. 277 their former estates, according to the rules and directions in the last foregoing clause of this our declaration, concerning such as continued with us or served faithfully under our ensigns beyond the seas, many of whose names hereafter follow, viz.: The Lord Wiscount Muskery, &c.” (Here follow a great number of names of officers who served the king beyond the seas, amongst the number being the following:—“Major Owen O'Connor, of Baylynagare, in Co. of Roscom- mon ; Capt. Hugh O'Conner Dun, of Balin Tober ; Ensign Hugh O'Conner, Lieutenant Roger O'Conner, Capt. Theobald Dillon, of Brackloon, in Co. of Roscommon.” . . . . . . ) “And because we are too credibly assured that in the decrees and judgements given for forfeited lands in the province of Connaught and County of Clare much injustice and fraud hath been used, we shall recommend the whole review of that business to our Chief Governor, Privy Council, and Commissioners, or some of them, to the end that irregularities be rectified and right confirmed,” &c., &c. Such were the main provisions of the king's Declaration. It will be perceived that Major O'Conor was specially named therein as one of those entitled for his services to a restoration of his former estates. Commissioners were shortly after appointed for putting the provisions of this Declaration into execution, and a Proclamation was published requiring all Adventurers, &c., to bring in particulars of their estates within forty days, and all persons to enter their claims before the Ist May, 1661. Very little was done under this Proclamation. The Judges of the King's Bench having given their opinion that the Deelaration, being only an act of State, was not legally binding in dealing with men's estates, very few or none of the Irish entered their claims. Measures were then taken to convene a Parliament, which met in Dublin on 8th May, 1661 ; and after considerable discussion, the “Act of Settlement,” with which the King's Declaration was embodied, was passed. This Act has been called the “Title Deed of Ireland.” It provided that all lands, &c., forfeited since October, I64I, and vested in His Majesty, should be so vested with the interest to be “settled, confirmed, restored, and disposed in such manner as set out in the king's Declaration and the Act itself.” Several additions to the Declaration were made by the Act, mainly in favour of the Church, charitable uses, provisions for planting lands, not restored, with Protestants, and empowering the erection and endowing of another College, to be called the King's College, in connection with the University of Dublin. Commissioners Henry Coventry, Sir Ed. Deering, Sir Richard Rainsford, Sir Thos. Beverly, Sir Ed. Smith, Ed. Cooke, and Winston Churchill, or any three of them, were appointed for carrying the Act into execution. This Act also failed to give satisfaction. The violent cabals and contentions it occa- sioned in Ireland embittered the only moments of peace until then enjoyed by 278 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXII. the king, and certainly swayed many of his subsequent measures in regard to Ireland. The Irish complained that the Adventurers, parliamentarians, and regicides were secured in the possession of estates of which the natives were unjustly deprived, and the “'forty-nine officers,” many of whom were ancient inhabitants of the kingdom, and had lost large possessions, although they had been distinguished for their adherence to the royal cause, complained that Several provisoes and grants had been obtained from the king and inserted in the Act, which rendered the payment of their arrears uncertain or insecure. In this state of things further legislation became necessary to explain, amend, and make various alterations in the Act of Settlement. A bill of “Explan- ation” was prepared, transmitted to England in 1663, and received the royal assent in 1665. By it the several lands and possessions vested in the king by the Act of Settlement were declared to be vested in him, freed from all estates tail and from all conveyances made before 23rd October, 1641, by any tenant in tail. Persons not previously adjudged innocent were for ever barred from any claim. The Adventurers and soldiers were to be confirmed in the possession of their lands within two months, and no Adventurer, soldier, “’forty-nine” officer, or Protestant purchaser in Connaught or Clare, before the 1st Sep- tember, 1663, then in possession of lands restorable, was to be removed until he should have as much other forfeited land set out to him. All Adventurers having a deficiency of land were to be satisfied in the same county and barony. Commissioners were appointed who were to cause books with the names of the proprietors to be made; and upon a certificate of the majority of these Com- missioners, the Lord Lieutenant was authorized and required to cause letters patent to be passed, without any further letters or warrants from His Majesty. Protestant officers serving before 1649 were confirmed in lands not already decreed away by the Commissioners. Protestant purchasers from transplanted persons were to hold two-thirds, and no person to be reprized beyond two- thirds. Decrees of Innocency were confirmed, with certain exceptions and restrictions, and such decrees, “quoad hoc,” not to entitle the claimants to any other lands. Innocent Papists were left to the course of law to recover their eStates. This Act was favourably received by the Adventurers, soldiers, and “'forty-nine” officers, but amongst the native Irish its reception was very different ; in most instances it was a death-blow to their hopes of restoration to their estates, and very few ever succeeded in making good their claims under it. Commissioners Sir Ed. Smith, Chief Justice of Common Pleas; Sir A.D. 1661–1663.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 279 Ed. Deering, Sir Allen Broderick, Sir Winston Churchill, and Ed. Cooke were appointed for carrying it out; but doubts having arisen on certain points in regard to it, the Lord Lieutenant, by an Order in Council of April, 1666, declared— “1st.—That all estates, &c., which, on the 23rd October, 1641, or at any time since, belonged to an Irish Papist, or which had been returned by the Civil Survey or Down Survey as belonging to any Irish Papist, and which at any time after the 23rd October, 1641, were seized, or sequestered, or vested in His Majesty upon account of the rebellion, should (with certain exceptions) be esteemed as forfeited to His Majesty, without any inquisition or office found.” “2nd.—That after the Commissioners for executing the said Acts have adjudged any of the said lands so vested or forfeited to His Majesty, to any person or persons who by said Acts are entitled thereunto, and shall have granted their certificates and letters patent, the rights, titles, and interests of all persons whatsoever who had not been adjudged innocent, as well such as were Protestants or Papists, should be thereby concluded and barred for ever, other than such rights and titles which should be reserved in the letters patent, &c. “3rd.—That all Adventurers and soldiers, their heirs and assigns, should have and enjoy an estate of inheritance in fee-simple in such lands as should be certified to belong to them, unless some lesser estate should be therein expressly limited ; and that in case such lesser estate should be so limited, the party should be reprized out of other lands, so as to make up his other two-third parts, by the said Acts intended for him, equal in worth and value to others who should have estates in fee-simple granted to them.” This Order in Council, having the force of law, put an end to all doubts respecting the titles of the grantees; and the termination of the labours of the Commission closed the settlement of Ireland. Owen O'Conor, who, as we have seen, was specially named in the king's Declaration as one of those meriting particular favour, on account of his services to the royal cause beyond the seas, was one of the few whose claim was pre- sented in time and favourably heard by the Commissioners before the passing of the Act of Explanation. There could be no doubt as to his being an “innocent Papist.” He could have had no complicity in the rebellion of 1641, inasmuch as he was not of age at the time, and his signal services to his royal master, by which he had reached almost the highest grade in the regiment to which he belonged, entitléd him to a favourable decision, iſ the Court were disposed to do justice to any Papist. Accordingly, in 1663, the Commissioners issued the following decree in his favour":— * A few months before the issuing of this decree, Major Owen O'Conor appears to have sought, through the Duke of Ormonde, what was called a “custodiam,” or temporary possession of some of the family estates. A petition to the following effect is preserved amongst the Ormonde Collection :- 280 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXII. DECREE OF INNOCENCE.—MAJOR O'Connor. “Whereas in pursuance of the said Act of Settlement, Major Owen O'Connor did ex- hibit his claim before us on 6th Nov., 14 Chas. II. (1662), setting forth that the claimant was, on the 22nd Oct., 1641, and for many years before, seised in his demesne as of fee of and in all and singular the lands, &c., in schedule annexed to and part of the said claim. That is to say, Carrowntober, 1 qr.; Beallanagar, 1 qr.; Rathninealog, 1 qr.; Rardyvin, 1 qr., in the barony of Ballintobber ; Clunioguinan, 2 qrs., in the barony of Boyle, and continued in possession of the same until dispossessed by the late usurped powers; and further setting forth that the said claimant is an innocent Papist, and therefore prayed to be restored to the premises in pursuance of the Act.” The Attorney-General for the Crown and counsel for claimant having appeared, and proper evidence having been produced—“It appeareth unto this Court that the s” claimant was and is an innocent Papist, and that upon the 22nd Oct., 1641, he was seised and possessed of all and singular the said premises (by descent from his ancestors) in his demesne as of fee, and continued so possessed until he was outlawed by the said late usurpers. It is therefore considered, adjudged, and decreed by the Court that the said claimant was and is an innocent Papist within and according to the intent and true mean- ing of the said Act of Settlement ; and that the said claimant, Owen O’Connor, be restored unto, and that his heirs and assigns shall and may hold and enjoy, such estates (and no other) as he was seised of upon 22nd Oct., 1641, and which of right ought to descend and come unto him from his ancestors.” (Subject to the rights of the king and all charges, &c.) “And it is further considered and adjudged by the Court that the said claimant, Owen O'Connor, shall not, in the present, be restored to the 2 qrs. of Cluniogundane aforesaid, the same being assigned and set out unto Patrick Ffrench, a transplanted person, until he, his heirs, or assigns, enjoying the same, shall be restored to his former estate, or have a reprisal of lands assigned or set out and given to him, his heirs, &c., of equal value, worth, and pur- “Owen O'Connor, Major. That several denominations and parcels of land of Balingare, Rathne- malg, Castlereagh, Knockroe, Ballindromly, Rathlegg, Gortgobbane, Knockmurreh, Rathbarnagh, Meeloghbegg, Meeloghmore, Gangeroade, are concealed from His Majesty, whereby His Majesty has no benefit as yet thereout. May it therefore please your Grace to give order to the Lord Chief Baron and the rest of the Barons of the Exchequer, that your petitioner may have a custodiam of the said lands at a reasonable rent, some of the said lands being part of your petitioner's inheritance: and the rather that your petitioner is not in possession of his own estate, nor any part thereof, and that the said lands, nor any of them, hath been given out as a custodiam to any other as may appear by the annexed certificate. Wherefore your petitioner humbly prayeth your Grace to consider his condition and te give order as aforesaid, and he will pray,” &c., &c. “DUBLIN CASTLE, 16th July, 1663. “If the lands above mentioned be in His Majesties dispose, and not already granted to any other person, we pray and require our very good Lord the Lord Chief Baron, and the rest of the Barons, of His Majesties Court of Exchequer, to issue a custodiam thereof unto the petitioner, during His Majesty's pleasure, at such rents as they shall think fit. ** ORMONDE.” A.D. 1663–1687.] TIIE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 281 chase, unto his interest of and in the said premises, and now enjoyed by him according to the true intent and meaning of the said Act of Settlement.” (Then follows a proviso that the decree shall apply only to the lands named, and shall not apply to any other lands, &c., of the said claimant, which shall remain in the same posi- tion as if the decree of Innocence had not been given.) (Then a saving to His Majesty of all his rights.) Then— “It is further ordered, adjudged, and decreed by this Court that all and singular the premises shall be immediately put out of charge in His Majesty's Court of Exchequer; and that the sheriffs of the county where the premises are situate, to which the said claimant is restored, as aforesaid, do respectively, and are hereby required forthwith, to give possession of all and singular the said premises to the said Owen O'Connor, his heirs, agent, attorney, or assigns, and to quit him and them in the same. ‘‘ Order certified to “Lord Chancellor, Lord Chief Baron, and the Barons of the Court of Exchequer, and "unto all others it may concern. “Signed, R. RYNFORD, THo. BEVERLY, ALLEN BRODERICK, ED. DEERING, E.D. SMYTH, ED. CookE, W. CHURCHILL.” Notwithstanding this decree, Major Owen O'Conor was not at once re- stored to his property. Slow as the Courts were in giving their decisions, they were still slower in enforcing their execution; and at the time the petition from the officers of the Duke of Gloucester's regiment was presented to the king, Owen O'Conor was, like his companions in arms, unrewarded by even the commonest justice. How Soon after this he obtained possession of his estates it is impossible now to determine ; but apparently he had regained possession before 1671, as in that year he mortgaged half of Carrownvally, part of Belanagare, to Richard Plunkett, father of his son-in-law, Alex. Plunkett, and in the following year, I672, mortgaged Knockroe, another sub-denomination, to the same Plunkett. After the accession of James, Duke of York, to the throne, a further decree was made, under what was known as the “Act of Grace.” Major Owen O'Conor had married Ellinor, or Mary," the widow of Sir Oliver Tuite of Sonna in Co. Westmeath, who held, as her dower, a life interest in certain * The name “Churchill” is not legible on the decree in this case. The date of decree appears, from a record in the Bermingham Tower, Dublin Castle, to have been the 18th August, 1663. * Lady Tuite, the wife of Major Owen O'Conor, was daughter of Roger O'Ferrall of Mornin, Co. Westmeath. This Roger O'Ferrall, the son of James O'Ferrall and Lady Mary Plunkett, daughter of the Earl of Fingal, married Lady Alson Dillon, daughter of James, Earl of Roscommon, and had two sons and three daughters, one of whom became the wife, as above mentioned, of Sir Oliver Tuite, and then of Owen O'Conor. In the decree under Act of Grace she is called Mary, but in every other docu- ment Ellinor. O O 282 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXII. lands in that county; and this life interest was granted and protected by the decree under the Act of Grace, which was to the following effect 3– “GRANT DATED 12TH JULY, 1687, UNDER ACT of GRACE, To MAJOR Owen O'Connor AND DAME MARY TUITE, HIs wife. Bellanagare, 1 qr. Acres. Acres. Rent. Carrow.netober, 1 qr. } 458 profitable. 1305 unprofitable. at £4 12 8 Rathnevalick, 1 q1. 175 do. at £1 15 5 Raherdiveen, 1 qr. 210 do. 10 do. at £2 2 6 be the same more or less, lying in barony of Ballintober, Co. Roscommon. Also to him and his said wife during her life, of the town and lands of Emper and Uryre, 685. 3. 27 acres profitable, and one fishing weir, and 194 acres unprofitable, at £13 17 7#. Ballnacarne, 114. 1. 17 ac. profitable ; 52. 2. 5. unprofitable, at £2 6 3 Castle Caddery, 174. 1. 24 do. 53. 0. 31. do. at £3 10 6 Rathcallett, 170. (). 0 do. at £3 8 10 in the baronies of Moygoin and Rathconrath, Co. Westmeath, to be held in free and common socage.” Major Owen O'Conor, as was to be expected, became a devoted adherent of King James II., and, at his own expense, raised three troops of horse to Support that monarch.” According to a Williamite diary in the Harleian collection, he was governor of Banagher for King James, and surrendered that fortress to King William's army in 1691, after the fatal Battle of the Boyne, “upon view of its condition, the wants of the Irish, and their impending ruin.” According to another account,” he was made governor of Athlone, and being taken prisoner, was confined in the castle of Chester, where he died in 1692." * See record of Grant in Bermingham Tower, Dublin Castle; also old family papers in possession of O'Conor Don. * O’Neil's Memoir of O'Conor family. * Zbia. * O'Conor's Memoirs, by Rev. C. O'Conor. * The expense of these expeditions caused Owen O'Conor to incumber his property very heavily. The two mortgages which he had executed to Richard Plunkett have been already noticed. These, after the death of Plunkett, came into the possession of his children, Alexander Plunkett (married to Major O'Conor's daughter), John Plunkett, and Frances Plunkett (married to a Mr. Doyle), who conveyed their interest to Edward Wingfield for the sum of 4,100 (although £200 named in deed) in trust for John French. Manus O'Cahane, who married another daughter of Major Owen O'Conor, and Alexander Plunkett, and their wives, in 1699, confirmed these mortgages, and conveyed the estates to same Wingfield in trust for John French. In March, 1685, Major Owen O'Conor also became bound to one Morgan Farrell in the sum of £1,000, for the payment of 4,500, and Farrell, by his will, left this charge to his son, Dl. Farrell, who, by deed in 1699, conveyed his right in such charge for the sum of £600 to Gilbert King, in trust for John French. Major O'Conor himself was also indebted to French in the sum of £55, under a penalty of its being doubled if he did not pay the debt before the 1st June, 1681, A.D. 1687–1692.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 283 He had married, as before mentioned, Lady Tuite, who survived him ; he had no son, but left two daughters, Mary, married to Alexander Plunkett, and Ellinor, married to Manus O'Cahane. By his will, dated 8th May, 1685, he left his estates in the Co. Roscommon to his wife for her life, with rever- sion to his brother Charles and his children; and he charged these estates with portions for his daughters. This will was not for some time forthcoming, and after his death his widow, and subsequently his daughters and their husbands, went into possession of the Belanagare estates. Steeped in debts, contracted mainly to support the royal cause, the property was of very little value. Most of the mortgages and charges on it had been bought up and assigned to Mr. French of Dungar,” to whom, in July, 1699, Major O'Conor's daughters, their mother being dead,” conveyed their entire estates for the sum of £300, paid to them in cash.” With Mr. French, or his representatives, the estates remained, until 1720, when they were recovered, as will be hereafter described, by Major O'Conor's nephew, Denis O'Conor. and having failed to pay it, judgment for £1 Io was obtained and enforced against Owen O'Conor's daughters, who were also sued by Terence M*Donough, Esq., for the sum of 4 IIo, and judgment being marked, he also, in 1699, assigned his interest to French. The original deeds, proving these trans- actions, are still preserved amongst the family papers. * See preceding note. Dungar, now Frenchpark. * Lady Tuite died in 1698. * The estates were conveyed to one Will Gore, in trust for John French. C H A P T E R XX I I I. C-sº ſº-O CHARLES O'CONOR, SON OF “CAHILL OGE.” A.D. I692–1696. HARLES O'CONOR, the brother of Major Owen, was born about the year 1633, and married Cecilia, daughter of Fiachra O'Flynn of Ballinlough. He had three sons, Felim, Denis, and Daniel, and two daughters, Anne, who married a Mr. Conry, and Bridget. Charles O'Conor did not long survive his brother. Like him he had linked his fortunes with the ill-fated Stuart dynasty. The flight of James II. after the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, the taking of Athlone in 1691, followed by the bloody and fatal Battle of Aughrim, and the capitulation of Limerick, put an end to all the hopes of the supporters of that dynasty. Attainted of trea- son for adhering to the cause which he believed to be that of his legitimate sovereign, Charles O'Conor, an outlaw in his native country, and incapable of ever recovering any portion of his ancestral estates, died in 1696, four years after the death of his brother. He left the following draft will, which was probably made before his brother's death, and before his attainder, and at a time when he expected to come into possession of his father's property:- ‘‘IN DEI NoMINE. AMEN. “I, Charles O'Conor of Belanagare, beeing att present feeble and weak in body, yett of perfect memory, sense, and understanding, doe heere make my last will and testament. “1. I bequeath my soul to God, and my body to be buried in the parish church of Ballintober. “2” I bequeath and leave by this my last will all my right, title, or intrest either derived or to be derived from my father or brother, Major O" O'Connor, or from any other person or persons whatsoever (in) the lands of Belanagare, or any other land or lands in the kingdom of Ireland, to my son and heir, Phelim O'Connor, and his issue male, and for want of issue male in him, to my second son, Denigh O'Connor, and to his issue male, and for want of issue male in him, to my third son, Daniel, and his issue male ; and for want of issue A.D. 1692–1696.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 285 male lawfully begotten of their body's or either of their body's, I doe order, appoint y” the said right, title, and interest, shall fall and decline to him who is next of blood of our famyly and House of Ballentobber, and his issue male lawfully begotten. “3* I bequeath to my son, Denigh O'Connor, and his issue male lawfully begotten as portion or maintenance the full sum of pounds s” And unto my son Daniel and his issue male lawfully begotten, pounds s” And unto my daughter, Nan Connor, and her issue as portion or maintenance the full sum of pounds s” And unto my daughter, Bridgett Connor, the sum of s" to be payd unto them by my son, Philim O'Connor, out of the land, or lands which he shall or may enjoy in right of me, my Father, or Brother, Major Owen O'Conor. “4” I do order and appoint by this my last will and testament, yº Cap" John Mahon of Stroakstown, Cap" Andrew O’Connor of Cloonalis, Cap" Bryan O'Beirn, Master Edmond of Portnacranha, and Mº Rob' Conry of Cloonfragh, shall be the Guardians appointed for my children during their minority, and y' the two or three of y” shall act for my children in any point y' y' relates to this my will, or in any other matter whatsoever w” may be to the advantage of my children or family.” Daniel, the youngest son of Charles, died a minor, and unmarried, before his father. Felim, the eldest son, who was joined with his uncle and father in support of King James, appears, from one of the subsequent decrees of the Trustees of Forfeited Estates, to have been attainted of high treason, and to have also died unmarried ; and Denis O'Conor, the second son, thus became the representative of his father's family. C H A P T E R X X I V. DENIS O'CONOR, SURNAMEE) “DONOUGH A LIA,” SON OF CHARLES. A.D. I696–1750. ENIS O'CONOR, born in the year 1674, was too young to have taken any part in the political struggles in which his father and brother were engaged, and thus escaped attainder ; but on his father's death he succeeded to little more than a series of vexatious and doubtful lawsuits. His ancestral property had passed into the hands of the Frenches; and although, under his uncle's will, his cousins, the daughters of Major Owen O'Conor, had no right to dispose of that property as they did, yet the attempt to counteract and undo what they had done seemed almost hopeless. Shortly after his father's death, in the year 1699, an Act was passed by which the estates of those who were attainted of treason, for participation in what was termed the late rebellion, were vested in trustees for the purpose of public sale. By this statute it was enacted that— “All manors, lands, possessions, and hereditaments within the realm of Ireland, whereof any person or persons who stood convicted or attainted of treason since the 13th day of February, 1688, or who should be convicted of treason before the last day of Trinity Term, 1701, or who stood convicted of treason by reason of having been found by inquisition to have died or been slain in actual rebellion since the said date, was or were possessed, &c., on the 13th February, 1688, or at any time since, or whereof the late King James II., or any one in trust for him, or to his use, was seized, possessed, or interested at the time of his acces- sion to the crown of England, should be invested” in certain trustees mentioned, to the end “that the same might be sold and disposed of to and for such uses as are expressed in the said Act; and when any of the said persons were seized of an estate tail only in the said manors, A.D. 1696–17OO.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 287 &c., the same are thereby vested in the s” trustees and their heirs in fee simple, to be sold and disposed of as aforesaid, with a saving for persons comprised within the articles of Limerick or Galway.” All grants, &c., since the 13th February, 1688, made under the Great Seal by Act of Parliament, or otherwise, of any of the s” forfeited estates, were declared null and void ; and power was given to the trustees to reward discoverers of such forfeited estates concealed, by giving them such proportion of the value, after sale thereof, as they should think fit. “And all persons whatsoever having any estate, right, title, interest, charge, or incum- brance whatsoever in or to the lands, &c., vested in the trustees before the 13th February, 1688, by reason of any settlement, judgement, &c., affecting the same?” were directed on or pefore the 10th August, 1700 (which time was subsequently enlarged to 25th March, 1702), to enter their claims and demands thereto before the trustees, or in default thereof, the pre- mises were to be discharged of and from the same. The trustees were to hear and determine such claims before the 25th March, 1701. The trustees to be a Court of Record, and the claims certified, and a copy good evidence. After the expiration of the time for making such claims, the trustees were directed to sell the estates and interests, vested in them and not claimed before March, 1702 (subsequently enlarged to June, 1703), such sales to be made to any persons, bodies politic or corporate, by cant or public auction. The will of Major Owen O'Conor, by which he bequeathed his estates, subject to a life interest for his wife, and charges for his daughters, to his brother Charles and his children, brought the property under this statute; and in consequence of the attainder of Charles O'Conor, the trustees laid claim to it. Before their Court, Mr. French, who had purchased from Major O'Conor's daughters, and who was also the owner of most of the mortgages and charges, presented his claim. Before the same Court, Denis O'Conor and his sisters also appeared, and put forward their claims in the following terms — “To the honourable the trustees nominated and appointed by the late Act of Parliament made in England for disposall of the Forfeited Estates and other IEstates and Interests in Ireland, and by a Land Tax in England for the severall uses therein mentioned. gº “The humble Petition and Clayme of Dennis o’Connor, Peter Conry, and Anne Conry, alias o’Connor, his wife, and Bridgett o’Connor. “Sheweth that Major Owen o’Connor, late of Ballenegare in the County of Roscommon, deceased, being seized in Fee of the towne and lands of Ballenegare and Carrowintober two quarters, containing by Estimation 458A. profitable, and 422A. unprofitable land; Rathnenaleg, one quarter, containing by like computation 178A. profitable land, and Raredivin, one quarter, containeing as aforesaid 260A. profitable, and tenn acres unprofitable land, whether the same be more or less : He did by his last will and testament under his hand and seal, bearing date the eight day of May, one thousand six hundred and eighty-five, Devise all and singular the premises by the name of all his lands of Inheritance to his wife and two daughters, Mary and -Elinor; as alsoe all his stock of cowes, bullocks, horses, and sheep for the preferment of his said 'Daughters, their portion not to exceed two hundred pounds a-piece to each of them, all 288 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXIV. to be in his wife dureing her life after paying the portions and such debts as he owed, and the reversion to fall to his brother Charles O'Connor and his children, as by the said will duly perfected and published by him may appeare. “The Claymants further sheweth that the said Major Owen O'Connor died in London in the year 1692, seized and possessed of the premises, and after his death Dame Elinor Tuite his widdow became seized and possest thereof as her Joynture (except Raredivin and Rath- nenalag, by the consent of y” sq. Dame Elinor Tuite, was in the hands of Creditours), and so continued till her death in the year 1698. That the said Mary o’Connor, y° eldest Daughter of the said Major Owen o’Connor, in the year 1687, in the lifetime of her said father, and by his consent, after making y” said Will, Intermarried with Alexander Plunkett, Gent., and recd. all or y” greatest part of her said portion of 2004, and y” said Elinor o’Connor, youngest Daughter of the said Major O'Connor, likewise married in the lifetime of her father, but without his consent, to Major Manus o’Cahan, who is adjudged in the Articles of Lymerick. “That the said Charles o’Connor, brother of y” said Major O'Connor, died in y” year 1696, the premises having been all along, since y” death of his said brother, in possession of his widdow, y” said Lady Tuite, and his Creditours. That the said Charles O’Connor left Issue at the time of his death, Phelim o’Connor, who is indited of high treason, and the Claymants, Dennis O'Connor, Ann Conry, alias o’Connor, and Bridgett o’Connor, which Claymants are Intitled by the said will of the said Major O'Connor to three parts of four of the said real Estate of the said Major O'Connor. Y hon" by y” forfeiture of the said Phelim, their brother, being Intituled to the other fourth part thereof by and to the uses of the said Act. That the creditors of the s” Major Owen O'Connor, since the death of his s” widdow, have continued, and still are possessed, of all and singular y” premises besides Raredevin, in order to the discharge of their debts. “The claymants, to prevent any prejudice that may happen to their said title, by any- thing in the said Act of Parliament contained, doe claim the benefitt of the said Will, and humbly pray that this their clayme may be heard and allowed, and that they may have your hon” certificate for the same, pursuant to the said Act. “Witnesses present, RICH. PLUNKETT. DENIS O'Connor. ‘‘ CHARLES BRENAN. PETER CONRY. “JA. TALBOT. ANNE CONRY, alias O'CONNOR. BRIDGETT O’ConnoR. “Aug. 10th, 1700. “Presented p. Mr. Delamar, for claimants.” After protracted investigations the trustees, or commissioners, apparently ignoring the reference to Felim O'Conor, who had retired to France, and who had died there, decided that the estates, under the will, vested in Charles O'Conor and his children jointly; that at the time of the death of Major Owen there were only three children surviving, and that Charles, and each of these children, had a right to one-fourth part of the estates. They further decreed that in consequence of the attainder of Charles O'Conor, his fourth part should A.D. 17OO–172O.] THE O'CONORS OF CONN AUGHT. 289 be forfeited and sold, and that the remaining three-fourths, subject to three- fourths of the mortgages and charges, which were held by Mr. French, should be restored to Denis O'Conor and his sisters. In conformity with this decree,” on the 24th January, 1703, the forfeited one-fourth part of the estate of Belanagare and Rathnenalag was put up for sale and purchased by William Gore, in trust for John French, and one-fourth of Rardiven was purchased at the same time by an English mercantile com- pany, designated, from their manufacturing swords of a particular design, the “Hollow Blade Company.” By this purchase Mr. French became the absolute owner of one-fourth of the entire estate, which he already held in possession, besides being the pos- sessor of the charges already alluded to. The troubles and difficulties which beset Denis O'Conor, first in obtaining this decree of the Court, and subsequently in his arrangements with Mr. French, are graphically described in the memoir of his son, by the late Dr. O'Conor— troubles and difficulties which prematurely turned his hair grey, whence he was usually known amongst the people as Donough-a-lia, or Denis of the Grey Head. The severity of the laws against the Catholic religion rendered it almost impossible that any property could be recovered by a person profess- ing that faith, and Denis O'Conor lived for many years in an humble cottage at Kilmactranny, in the Co. of Sligo, hopeless of ever recovering the estates decreed to him by the decision of the Court, but still in the hands of Strangers. - The decree of the Court was made in 17ol; but it was not until 1720 that O'Conor recovered possession, and when restored, there was very little left to enjoy. Partially confiscated and heavily incumbered, the estates dealt with by * Extract from the decree of the Trustees of Forfeited Estates on the claim of Mr. French :— “Now upon heareing the said claim, in open Court at Chichester House, Dublin, and in the year of our Lord I701, in presence of Councell as well on behalf of the claimant as of the s” trustees: It appearing to the Court, on perusal and proof of the said mortgages, stat. staple, bonds, judgements, assignments, will, and examination of witnesses, that the s” claimant had a good right to the s” several incumbrances and £400 legacies. But the Court being of opinion that by virtue of the s” will the s” Charles O'Connor and his children were well entitled to a joint estate in fee-simple in the premises, subject to the said debts and legacies, and it appearing to the Court that the s” Charles, at the death of the said Owen, had 3 children only, and that he himself was attainted of high treason on account of the late warr or rebellion in this kingdom, whereby his s” fourth part of his said lands is vested in the s" trustees. It is therefore, this said fourth day of March, 1701, adjudged, determined, and decreed by the Court that the 4* part of the lands of the s” Owen O'Connor is vested in the sº trustees,” subject to # of mortgages, &c. P P 290 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXIV. the Court represented a mere fraction of the princely territory which belonged to his great-grandfather; but looking back to the difficulties which then existed in the way of any Catholic holding property, the marvel is, not that the portion of his ancestral property which escaped confiscation was so small, but that any at all remained ; and considering the number of families that were totally despoiled of everything they possessed, Denis O'Conor may be considered fortunate in getting even the remnant that was left to him. To follow in detail all the intricate legal proceedings and deeds which succeeded the granting of the decree to Denis O'Conor and his sisters would be uninteresting, and foreign to the purpose of this memoir; and it will be sufficient to mention, that having bought up his sisters' share in the property, he eventually, it is said, through the friendly assistance of Counsellor Terence M‘Donough, then M.P. for Sligo, came to an arrangement with Robert French, the representative of John French, by which French became possessor of the whole of Rathnenalag, and Denis O'Conor of the whole of Belanagare, subject to an annual rentcharge of 679, payable in perpetuity. This rent- charge corresponded to the interest on the mortgages and charges which existed on the estate, which had previously, as already stated, become the property of French ; and the form of an irredeemable rentcharge was adopted, to save O'Conor's title from the operation of the Popery laws. Denis O'Conor, having been thus restored to the possession of a portion of his estates, went to reside at Belanagare. He had previously married Mary, daughter of Colonel Tiernan O’Rourke, and niece to the wife of Counsellor M‘Donough; and thus he became nearly allied to the man who had proved himself his truest friend. Mrs. O'Conor's father was grand-nephew to Brian “na Murtha” O’Rourke, who was hanged in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and whose daughter was married to Sir Hugh O'Conor Don. Colonel O'Rourke had withdrawn to France, like many of his countrymen ; and after signalizing himself on various occasions in the Service of the French king, was killed in the Battle of Luzara in 1702. His widow, called the Countess O’Rourke, was a lady of honour at the Court of James II. at St. Germains; and having been invited by her son-in-law, Denis O'Conor, she came to Belanagare, where she remained until her death on 22nd December, 1760.1 Denis O'Conor's house at Belanagare soon became the rendezvous for the * The Countess O'Rourke left, as an heirloom and a memorial of her visit to Belanagare, a hand- some portrait of herself, which had been executed in Italy, and which is still preserved amongst the family portraits. A.D. 1720–1750.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 291 numerous ill-fated Irish Catholic gentlemen of the province. His hospitable door was never shut against those in misfortune and distress, and both Catholic layman and cleric felt at home beneath his roof. Here it was that Carolan, styled the last of the Irish bards, composed his most impassioned melodies, and that Bishop O’Rourke, who had been chaplain to Prince Eugene, hid his persecuted head, and by stealth performed the sacred rites of religion. Denis O'Conor, who died in 1750, had five sons: Charles, who succeeded him ; Roger and Owen, who died young; Mathew, in holy orders; Daniel, who became an officer in the French service; and Hugh, who subsequently conformed to the established religion, and by so doing, nearly succeeded in supplanting his eldest brother in possession of his estate. C H A P T E R X. X. V. C -º-º-O-- A.D. 1750–1884. CHARLES O'CONOR OF BELANAGARE, SON OF “DONOUGH A LIA.” A.D. I750–1790. =(NYTHING like a detailed account of the life and labours of this § remarkable man would stretch this family memoir far beyond the limits assigned to it. A mere outline of his career is therefore all - that can be here attempted. His memoirs, occupying close on 4oo pages of an octavo volume, have been written and published by his grandson, Dr. O'Conor, and even these memoirs deal with but a portion of his life and correspondence, as the work was left unfinished by its author. Born in 17 Io, before his father had obtained possession of his family estates, Charles O'Conor's youth was spent in the Co. of Sligo. Shut out from the ordinary means of obtaining a liberal education by the cruel penal laws, which made it a crime to open a seminary for the education of Catholic youth, his earliest lessons were received from a poor friar, who occasionally visited his father's house, and who was the first to place a Latin grammar in his hands. For his further progress in learning he was indebted to the arrival of his uncle, Bishop O’Rourke, whom the pope had named Bishop of Killala ; and who, to escape the persecutions which awaited him on his arrival in his diocese, was obliged to seek an asylum amongst his relatives. From this learned and accomplished prelate young O'Conor imbibed the principles and learning which guided him in after life, and rendered him one of the most distinguished of Irish scholars. In 1727, when but seventeen years of age, he was sent to Dublin, where he entered on a course of mathematical and scientific studies under the guidance A.D. 1750–1753.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 293 of another clergyman, the Rev. Walter Skelton. In 1731 he married Catherine, daughter of John O'Fagan, or O'Hagan,” and by her, who died in 1750, he had four children—two sons, Denis and Charles, and two daughters, Bridget and Anne. In 1750 his father died; and in 1753 he published the first edition of his principal work, “The Dissertations on Irish History.” Shortly after this, with Dr. Curry and Mr. Wyse, he became one of the founders of the Catholic Association, which by its labours laid the foundation for the future emanci- pation of the Catholics of Ireland. In his History of the Catholic Association, Mr. Wyse thus refers to Mr. O'Conor — CHARACTER OF CHARLES O'CONor OF BELANAGARE.2 “With Dr. Curry was immediately associated another man not inferior to him in any of the moral and intellectual endowments which could qualify for the prosecution of a great cause, and occupying, by his hereditary station in his own body, that claim to the reverence of the people and the aristocracy which was essential to the success of a national appeal. Charles O'Conor of Belanagare, the immediate ancestor of the present O'Conor Don, boasted a descent scarcely equalled in historic lustre by any other in the island. He came down in right line from a younger brother of Roderic O'Conor, last King of Ireland. By the composition of . Hugh O'Conor, the chieftain of the sept, with the Deputy Perrot, in the time of Elizabeth, and the adoption of the party of the queen in the Tyrone war, the Ballintubber branch was suffi- ciently fortunate to preserve some relics of the ancient inheritance. “Their subsequent fortunes were various, but all indicative of the rapid decline of the family. The seventeenth century scattered them into a variety of branches. Of one of these Mr. Charles O'Conor was the chief. His grand-uncle had followed the fortunes of Charles II. into exile ; was restored to his family domains by the Act of Settlement ; was a major in the service of James at the Revolution, and ultimately died a prisoner at Chester Castle. His estate, on the point of being forfeited by the iniquitous character of rebellion ascribed to this contest, after a good deal of difficulty, was finally restored by the Commis- sioners of Claims. “But, as in most other cases of Catholic property, the scar of wrong and confiscation still remained behind. Eight or nine hundred acres of bad land was all that had been rescued from the wreck. It was encumbered with innumerable Chancery claims, arising from a variety of claimants during its alienation from the family, and was ultimately borne down by dilapi- dation and debt. “Dr. Curry had very considerable academical advantages over Mr. O'Conor: the latter was indebted for the first elements of his education to the scanty and piecemeal instruction of a few itinerant friars, who received shelter by the fireside of his hospitable father. But he had * Mrs. O'Conor's father styled himself Fagan, or O’Fagan; but Mr. O'Conor, in his writings, states that his true name was O'Hagan, and that he belonged to the family of Tullyoge. *Wyse's History of Catholic Association, Vol. I., p. 38. 294 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXV. been gifted with a naturally felicitous organization, which soon put to its utmost value the meagre assistance he had received. His application, favoured by the political necessities which excluded him from the sphere in which birth would have, under other circumstances, placed him, was uninterrupted, well regulated, and intense : his knowledge of languages and history extensive ; of the language, history, and antiquities of his own country profound; a clear reasoner ; a pleasing rather than a vigorous writer; calm, dispassionate, sometimes elo- quent ; seldom trespassing on the laws of good taste ; and in a political as well as a literary sense, under the guidance of a most correct judgment. No other man could with more propriety at the time be selected from the body to give an extensive impulse to the labours of Dr. Curry. His moral qualities, if possible, exceeded in their importance to the cause which he had solemnly and earnestly undertaken, those high intellectual endowments to which we have just referred. He was truly and sacredly devoted to his country. Like his friends, the entire object of his long life seems to have been to redeem it from the self-ignorance, the blind im- policy, the national degradation to which it had been reduced. In this lofty and noble vocation, no man ever put out, with more perfect abandonment of all unworthy motive, the valuable gifts which he had received. His entire correspondence breathes of the public only —self is almost forgotten. The gold was not alloyed by the base dross; there was no intrigue— there was no vanity. His modesty was equal to his merit. A man of more unassuming manners, of greater simplicity, or gentler deportment, never existed. He cherished religion as the best gift of Heaven, and benevolence and truth amongst the first moral virtues; he pur- sued industry and practised economy as the parents of hospitality and generosity. Though his income was at all times scanty and limited, his purse was never closed against the demands of public service, or the calls of individual distress. He lived to a great age, and every day of it was devoted to vindicating the honour, illustrating the antiquities, and promoting the redemption of his oppressed country.” In the latter sphere of illustrating the antiquities and preserving the ancient history of his country, Mr. O'Conor's labours were not less distinguished than in the political struggles in which his co-religionists were then engaged. His profound knowledge of the Irish language, which was with him truly his native tongue, and his capability of deciphering its oldest and most cramped MSS., gave him advantages possessed by few of his successors, and placed him in a position which a man of his untiring zeal and energy was sure to turn to good account. At a very early age he saw the importance of collecting all the valuable old Irish MSS. which he could secure; and to him posterity are indebted for the preservation of that collection lately purchased from Lord Ashburnham, and now lodged in the Royal Irish Academy. Scarcely any ancient historical MS. in the Irish language escaped him, and his hand- writing, well known to every Irish scholar, can be traced in the copious notes with which he illustrated most of the Irish documents preserved in our public libraries. A.D. 1753–1756.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 295 An enumeration and account of all his writings would occupy too much space, but amongst his principal works may be mentioned the following :- “Dissertations on the History of Ireland,” first published in 1753. “Principles of the Roman Catholics,” 1756. “Introduction to Dr. Curry's Civil Wars,” 1756. “The Protestant Interest of Ireland considered,” 1757. “Observations on the Affairs of Ireland,” published in the name of Lord Taaffe. “Remarks on the Essay of Colonel Vallancy on the Origin and Antiquity of the Irish Language.” “Origin and Antiquity of the Ancient Scots,” 1775. “On the Heathen State and Topography of Ancient Ireland,” 1783, &c., &c. As a letter-writer Mr. O'Conor excelled. His preserved correspondence with Dr. Curry, Dr. Johnson, Colonel Vallancy, Lord Taffe, Dr. Leland, and other learned men of the day, would fill a large volume. It may be truly said that nearly all his letters are models of chaste style and high sentiment. Although he lived to see his efforts in the political emancipation of his Catholic countrymen partially successful, yet his life was spent in times when the penal laws rendered it almost impossible for a Catholic to call any property his own. The bitterness of these laws, which held out bribes to the son to betray the father, and to the brother to prove false to his brother, was felt personally by himself. The small remnant of property restored to his father narrowly escaped a new confiscation, through the baseness of an unnatural brother, who, having conformed to the religion of the State, filed a bill of dis- covery against him, and, joined by other Protestant discoverers, attempted to wrest from him the small patrimony which the more open and furious perse- cutions of the past had still left in his family. Writing of this in 1756, he says:— “After the storm in '80, my poor father was finally cast on the shore on a broken plank. I have succeeded to him. This is the plank from which it is now hoped I may be driven by a penal law. I struggle to keep my hold ; and if I am left nothing to inherit but the religion and misfortunes of a family long on the decline, the victim is prepared for the sacrifice, resignedly indeed, though not willingly.” Writing again in the same year on the same subject, and referring to the decree of the Commissioners of Forfeited Estates in favour of his father, he says :— 296 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXV. “That this decree conferred or established a right of inheritance, Mr. French did not dispute ; but he considered this claim as small in itself, having apparently no matter to operate upon, since the incumbrances affecting Belanagare appeared at the time to equal the value of the whole at twenty years' purchase. “On this principle Mr. French held the possession he obtained; and the consequence shows demonstrably that he acted on no other principle. He wanted security only for the sums he expended. He doubted the claimant's ability for that security, till after a period of several years he was prevailed on, through the interposition of friends, and of his own lady in particular, to admit Denis O'Conor into the possession of Belanagare, paying thereout a yearly rentcharge equal in value to the yearly interest of the sum he had expended, and subject to the full operation of the afore-mentioned mortgages and other bars, in case of failure in the discharge of that rentcharge in any future time. “Mr. French has conferred his whole right and title in these lands of Belanagare on his second son, Robert French, lately one of the Judges of His Majesty's Court of Common Pleas in this kingdom. To that worthy person, who united the virtues which give lustre to public life with the most amiable manners in private life, Denis O'Conor and his eldest son, now living, have paid the aforesaid rentcharge through a course of more than thirty years. The same the latter has paid to the late John French, and the same he pays to the present pos- sessor, Arthur French; and thus was the late Denis O'Conor admitted into a part of his family inheritance under an irredeemable mortgage. He has obtained but a conditional inheritance; and the chances against it may annihilate its duration. The title of Mr. French includes an interest in the land that can never cease but by a volition of the holder that it should cease. On this ground the present occupant, Charles O'Conor, has succeeded as heir-at-law to his father. “To bring such a tenure under the operation of the laws against the growth of Popery is attempted in the present year. In January last, Charles O'Conor's youngest brother conformed to the religion established by law in this kingdom, and filed a bill in the Court of Chancery for obtaining possession of the lands of Belanagare as first Protestant discoverer, representing his eldest brother, a Papist, and consequently disqualified by law for holding any part thereof. Such is his prayer; and lest it should fail, he prefers another for obtaining a dividend of these lands by gavil. This account, which I give, in compliance with your wish rather than to gratify any wish of my own, short as it is, will appear long to you, as it is painful to me. It includes a long series of calamities and humiliations. My great-grandfather died young, a few years before a rebellion which was ruinous to his whole family. My grandfather, attainted of high treason, died in misery. My father ” (The rest of the letter is missing.) The bill of discovery here referred to, which was filed in 1756 by Charles O'Conor's youngest brother, Hugh, was followed in 1757 by another bill, filed by one Robert Cockaine. After many years of anxious and expensive litiga- tion, a compromise was arrived at by money payments, which piled up new incumbrances on the estate, and left but little for the maintenance of Charles O'Conor's family in respectability. Upon the marriage of his eldest son Denis in 1760, Charles O'Conor gave A.D. 1756–1791.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 297 up to him the family residence in Belanagare, and retired to a small cottage which he built for himself on the extremity of the demesne, and which he styled his “Hermitage.” There, shut up with his books, and engaged in his all-engrossing literary pursuits, he passed the rest of his life, and died in 1790. He left issue two sons, Denis, who succeeded to the family estates, and Charles, who resided at Mount Allen, near the County of Leitrim, and two daughters, one of whom was married to M*Dermot of Coolavin. CHARLES O'CONOR, OF MOUAVT ALLEAV, born 1736; died 1808. Charles O'Conor, of Mount Allen, the second son of Charles of Belana- gare, was born in the year 1736. He married a Miss Dillon, of Dublin, and had two sons, Thomas and Denis, both of whom settled in America. For some time before his father’s death he took an active part in the political affairs of his country, and was the intimate and dear friend of John Keogh, at that time the leading spirit of the Catholic Committee. His relations with Keogh may be gathered from the following letter, written when the latter was about sailing for the South of Europe — “LONDON, 30 Nov., 1791. “My DEAR FRIEND, “You had reason to suppose that your favor of the 16th inst. would not have over- taken me in England. I did expect to have been in the south of France long since. The season has advanced very far, so as to make a long journey unpleasant, and even dangerous to the health of an invalid. In mine, about a month since, to Mr. O’Beirne, which you saw, I mentioned that I wrote to the Select Committee to appoint a person to pursue the measures I had taken here to obtain from Government an avowal of their sentiments, which we have in vain attempted for the last two years in Ireland. The Committee complied, and a very worthy, manly gentleman, Baron Hussey, accepted the trust ; but a cause of his, of great importance, was at hearing in the Courts, which delayed him; they therefore added another gentleman, a Mr. Rice—bred to the law—a man of good sense in a certain way, but, in my opinion, ill-suited for this business, so that all chance of relief would have been at an end if left to his address. However, that has not happened. The person that has hitherto been our Patron or Negociator here is young Couns" Burke, aided by all the influence of his father. I attacked them on their own principles—that if his father's powers and eloquence were called forth to reprobate the French for throwing their country, their Monarch, Church, Laws, Nobles, &c., into confusion—of consequence, subjects who suffered during a century, degraded beyond any other people on the whole globe, without proving a disposition to resist, were the very people to be protected by his abilities. Our oppression would justifie “Paine's prin- ciples of resistance” and overthrow of government. Our relief would prove, good subjects could be redressed without violence, &c. Such ideas, joined, however, to the invitations of the North, and their being well received by Connaught, and the dread of our encouraging French principles, has by degrees made them as warm friends as we could wish. Q Q 298 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. xxv. “I introduced Mr. Rice, and meant to set off for France, but Mr. Burke has obliged me to stay, and therefore I have postponed the care of my health until I endeavour to know our fate. º “The reason (of Mr. Burke) chiefly for detaining me is that I may see the Minister of the Irish Department, Mr. Dundas. He is Secretary of State ; he was out of town, and is again gone for a few days. On his return, Mr. Burke is to introduce me; he is pleased to think that good may arise from my stating to him personally our wrongs. “You will feel, as I do, our humiliation in our cause—deserted by our Nobles and our men whose hereditary property and education would add dignity to the application—reduced to the alternative of total neglect, or to be thus taken up by one of the humblest of Milesians. However, tho’ I do not presume, I will not despair. To get a denial, to know we must depend on ourselves for our emancipation, would be a better state than insulting hopes, such as Sec- retary O’B. gave you—‘when prejudices were done away with’—that is, after the Day of Judgement. My next letter will probably bring some interesting intelligence, whatever it may prove. I shall remain without aid, as Baron Hussey cannot come timely, and Mr. Rice I cannot make any use of. “I am entirely of your opinion, to give the tenants in Roscommon the same encourage- ment to improve as those of Co. Sligoe, and the same to those of Leitrim, if they will improve. “I wish you had explained to me what I ought to do respecting the Gilmors' rents. You know I do not demand the rent due to Nov., 1791, and therefore it's hard the under- tenants should pay it. If they do, it ought to be paid to me. You know, better than I, how to protect these poor people ; and as it is an act of justice and humanity, I am sure you will not omit it. “You have promoted a wise and politic conduct thro’ Connaught ; to mark their friends with gratitude. This beginning may appear trivial, but it will terminate in breaking asunder the chains that tye them down. Why is it that those in power are angry'. Let them relieve you, and they will be sure of more extensive and lasting gratitude, as the service done you will be so much greater. No. They choose you should be degraded, and are angry that you should even thank Belfast for wishing you relief ; and yet those thanks were scarce out of your mouths, when they rewarded it by the protection of our persecuted brethren at Armagh. Go on ; but call on them to show you that they extend their liberal principles thro’ the North as you extend yours thro’ Connaught. At same time, keep clear of deciding about Reform or other political questions; they must feel you can answer, only all Ulster, on such subjects. “In respect to your son Dennis, I do not disapprove the army for him as much as you seem to do. If he was very knowing and Smart in trade, it would be, in my opinion, far preferable; but as things are I do not view it as a very bad idea—tho’ there might be a better. I was lately, for some days, in company with some of the principal aristocrats at Mr. Edmund Burke's. Amongst others, a Coll. Dillon. They are now at Coblentz. Mr. Burke is their patron here at this Court. As I am not able myself to judge (if you even con- sented to Dennis thinking of the army) whether it is at all prudent to venture going into the French Prince's army, I will converse with Mr. Burke upon it, because he is in their full confidence, and perhaps he may offer me his service, which would be most powerful in that quarter. This I will do, and let you know, tho’ I am very far, in my own private wishes, from hoping that despotism will be restored in France. Mr. Burke is in the country, but will be in London this week, and I will go to him on the business, and advise you ; at any rate he will be time enough. A.D. 1791.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 299 “There is no division of any importance in Dublin. The thanks were given at a meeting of Cath”, not by the Committee, which is right. A few were timid at first, as might be ex- pected, but spirit is getting very high there in general. You will let Mr. Hu. O’Beirne and Mr. Keon know all the Cath” information this contains. When I write to one, I mean it to all. Remember me sincerely to them. Exert yourselves to make our people know their state, their rights, their wrongs; and when they once feel that strongly, freedom will not be distant. “Adieu, believe me sincerely yours, “ JOHN KEOG.H. “I, this moment, hear that the Government are dividing our people, if they can, in Dublin. They are wrong. 'Tis easy to make us good subjects, as much so as they could wish, by ceasing to degrade us. If they treat us well, we will be grateful.” Shortly before this, in October, 1791, the “Society of United Irishmen.” was founded in Belfast by Wolfe Tone, Russell, Neilson, Sinclair, and other Irish Protestants. In the beginning, there was nothing secret about its organization, and the ends aimed at by its members were publicly announced in the following resolutions — “First—That the weight of English influence in the government of this country is so great, as to require a cordial union among all the people of Ireland, to maintain that balance which is essential to the preservation of our liberties, and the extension of our commerce. “Second.—That the sole constitutional mode by which this influence can be opposed is by a complete and radical reform of the representation of the people in Parliament. “Third.—That no reform is practicable, efficacious, or just, which shall not include Irishmen of every religious persuasion.” These resolutions were embodied in a declaration from the Volunteers of Belfast, and in an address from members of the Society there, in which they called upon their countrymen in general to follow their example, and to “form similar societies in every quarter of the kingdom for the promotion of consti- tutional knowledge, the abolition of bigotry in religion and politics, and the equal distribution of the rights of men through all sections and denomi- nations of Irishmen.” Such a declaration, coming from the Protestants of the North, opened a new light to the hitherto downtrodden Catholics in every part of Ireland. The Belfast declaration was hailed with acclamation in many parts of the country. A branch of the Society was immediately formed in Dublin, with Hon. Simon Butler as Chairman, and Napper Tandy as Secretary; and the 300 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. xxv. organization spread with rapidity throughout the west. Charles O'Conor of Mount Allen was one of the first to join in Connaught; and in November, 1791, he and Myles Keon of Keonbrook travelled together through every county in Connaught “to procure addresses to the Belfast people, and to propagate the national spirit.” In December in the same year he wrote to Napper Tandy, asking him to second the nomination of his son as a candidate for admission to the Society, to which application he received the following reply:— “SIR,--I have to acknowledge the favour of your very polite letter. I do assure you that I had particular pleasure in seconding the motion for the admission of Mr. O'Conor into the Society of United Irishmen, and that no exertion of mine shall be wanting to complete the emancipation of my country, give her a free and general representation, and render to every man what I conceive to be his just and undoubted right—security for his liberty and property—and a participation of the blessings of that land where nature has placed him. ‘‘I have the honour to be, Sir, “Your most obedient servant, “JAMES NAPPER, TANDY. “DUBLIN, 8th Dec., 1791.” A few days later, writing to Dr. M'Kenna, Charles O'Conor expressed the following opinions on the Belfast “Declaration ”:— “BELANAGARE, 10th December, 1791. “SIR,-For the many obligations I am under to you, I return you my thanks. Your favour of the 26th ult., which I have received through my nephew, I look upon as only one among many others; your daily exertions amongst an oppressed people are daily favours. The offence taken at your declaration by our oppressors is honourable to you and to us, if we support it ; offence is taken at declaring truths, and if such be a cause of offence, may it increase. The not telling truth is the acquiescence in a lie, and may such acquiescence never more be the rule of conduct to Irishmen. “Every aristocratic engine is now at work in this country to deceive and to mislead us. Some effect this may have, but it will be only temporary. Among other artifices, it is given out that the declarations from Belfast are not generally adopted, nor are they the general sense of the northern dissenters. That only a few want to bring about designs of their own by making us their tools, and that their wish is to plunge us again into our old situation by increasing and confirming the suspicions and animosities of our masters. We are endeavour- ing to counteract this poison, and I am this day, in conjunction with your friend Owen, circulating copies of a very spirited and liberal letter I have received from Mr. Sinclair of Belfast. “I wish declarations, similar to those from Belfast, could be procured from some other towns in the north. A.D. 1791–1792.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 301 “I have sent the Roscommon address by the last post to our friend Mr. Tone. I would keep it, to be accompanied by some others, if I did not fear that our friends might think us either cold or wavering. The gentlemen of Belfast may publish that address if they think it prudent ; but we are informed that they mean not to publish these matters at present. “I have now before me your letter to Mr. O. O'Conor, for I write this from Belanagare. The conduct of the people you mention in deserting from us is of no consequence. Let those who are fit for the court of Caligula take their stations there. They are but few. The fate of Caligula was not long protracted by such sycophants. An affectation of wisdom and of superior foresight, of pretending to foresee what they could not understand, often determines the conduct of persons like those you mention. A pretence of intimacy with some great officer of state, and of having, in consequence, better intelligence than others, is a foible such men are often subject to. Let us persevere, and though this may not be the day for accom- plishing our great work, the critical moment will arrive when it will be accomplished. “I have sent my thanks to Mr. Tandy; he is in this province as great a favourite as in the city. His spirited and constant endeavours for the public should and will receive more convincing proofs of the affections of his countrymen than the poor thanks of an individual. “I am, with great respect, “Your affect. servant, “CHAs. O'ConoR. “To Dr. M*ECenna. The exertions of Keon and O'Conor resulted in addresses to Belfast from every part of Connaught; and when it was resolved that delegates should be sent from every county in Ireland to the Catholic Convention in Dublin, Keon was elected for Leitrim ; Charles O'Conor and his nephew, M*Dermot of Coolavin, for Sligo ; and another nephew, Owen O'Conor of Belanagare, for Co. Roscommon. What was the spirit of the organization when first formed, may be gathered from the following reply to one of these addresses from the Catholics of Elphin :- “REPLY FROM VoIUNTEERs of BELFAST TO THE ROMAN CATHOLICS ASSEMBLED AT ELPHIN. “GENTLEMEN,+It gives us the highest satisfaction to find by your letter of the 24th August last, that the sentiments contained in our declaration should so heartily meet your approbation, and we shall be exceedingly happy to cultivate a correspondence with you on every occasion when our joint efforts may tend to restore to Irishmen their long-lost rights. “You are, or ought to be, engaged in our cause; it is a National cause. We have spoken; we have said that the constitution of this country, if it desires or deserves to be free, must comprehend the people ; we have said that the first law is the general will, and the deter- mination of that will must be that every citizen, without distinction of birth, possessions, or talents, should enjoy the natural rights of personal security, personal freedom, and private 302 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. xxv. property: the right of serving God according to his conscience, and the power of defending these rights: We have said that no man can be free whose life, property, and opinions are at the discretion of others, in whose appointment he has no choice, and over whose conduct he has no controul. We have said, therefore, that our great object was to effectuate an adequate representation of the people in parliament, to destroy the despotism of discretionary dele- gation, and to conduct the community by the impulse of its own will—of this will you form a great part. If, to be free, a nation has only to will it—let w8 will it; let all our enmities rest with the bones of our ancestors: differing in our religion, as we differ in our faces, but re- sembling each other in the great features of humanity, let us unite to vindicate the rights of our common nature, let the decisive and unanimous voice of the society at large, of the body of the people, the mighty and irresistible whole, be heard : It will, it must be obeyed. WILLIAM SINCLAIRE, Chairman. Meanwhile M'Kenna and Tone continued to issue addresses and pamphlets, which produced the most marked effects. Charles O'Conor's nephew, MºDermot of Coolavin, writing to him in regard to these, says: “M“Kenna's publications and Tone's pamphlets have done wonders with us, and will do more when we have more copies to distribute. A better pamphlet than Tone's I have never read. It is from beginning to end a chain of close argument, linked together by strong facts and forcible deductions. It speaks to the heart as well as to the head. It may be called (as Russell says) the Manual of the North, but it certainly ought to become the manual of every person who is worthy of being called an Irishman.” Whilst Charles O'Conor and his friends thus joined heartily with the founders of the Society of United Irishmen, they never contemplated going outside the constitution, or having recourse to means inconsistent with their loyalty to the Crown. Indeed, their loyalty went further, as they desired to raise troops to serve, the Crown wherever they might be required. Writing in 1793 to the Catholic Committee, O'Conor says:— “If we could give the present combination against us a proper blow, the system would never revive, and all descriptions of Irishmen would become a united people. What I imagine would do this effectually would be a spirited and generous offer of raising ten regiments of Catholics for His Majesty's service, to be officered by Protestants and Catholics without distinction, and to serve during the war wherever His Majesty's service required them.” He then suggests that in the Co. Roscommon Lord Dillon should be asked to take the command of such a regiment, and goes on to say: “Perhaps I am visionary in this scheme; yet I know that all expressions of loyalty and gratitude are looked upon only as words of course, but facts would speak for A.D. 1792–1812.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 303 themselves. They would give the lye direct to those who now misrepresent us, and who endeavour to impress an idea that the late mob risings was a Roman Catholic insurrection, though our conduct for some time past ought to show that so much folly and madness could not proceed from the Catholic body.” Subsequently, when constitutional agitation was replaced by revolutionary conspiracy, Charles O'Conor withdrew from the Society and from politics, and returned to his former country pursuits at Mount Allen. Shortly before his death, he joined his sons, who had previously emigrated to America, and died there in I 808. THOMAS O'CONOR, SON OF CHARLES, born 1770, died 1855. Thomas O'Conor, the eldest son of Charles of Mount Allen, joined, as above-mentioned, the Society of United Irishmen in 1791. Disgusted, however, with the abortive rising in 1798, and in despair of accomplishing anything further for his country, he left Ireland for the United States, and arrived in New York in the year 1801. There he married a daughter of a Mr. Hugh O'Connor, a previous settler, but in no way related to his own family. Soon after his arrival, he purchased 4,000 acres of land in what was then known as the Genesee country in the State of New York. At first this specu- lation was considered a wonderful success. His father, writing of it in 1803, says: “I have received a late letter from Tom ; he seems intoxicated with the value of his purchase, but much depends on my sending him support to America, equivalent to what I intended for him at home. The support he means is a Supply to pay for the grounds. The cultivating he will take on himself. He is now upon them, and has collected some Irish cultivators about him. He has married, after the American fashion, without money. At home he would not hear of matrimony. He has brought his wife to his new pur- chase.” Again, writing in 1804, he says: “I have just got a letter from America, both from Tom and Denis. They seem to be more and more intoxicated with the advantages of Tom's purchase, but the payment of the purchase-money is heavy. Though a large part of it is already paid, there is of course a fund required for improvements, &c. However, I think I can pro- vide all this.” These bright prospects were all destined to be succeeded by gloom and disappointment. The speculation turned out most unsatisfactory; and Mr. O'Conor, having lost all his capital, and having got heavily into debt, returned to New York, where he devoted himself to newspaper literature. The war with Great Britain haying broken out in 1812, a weekly 304 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP, XXV. newspaper, called The War, was started by a well-known writer and novelist, Mr. Samuel Woodworth. Of this paper Mr. O'Conor became the editor. After two or three months, his connection with it ceased, and in September, 1812, he, in conjunction with another Irishman, a Mr. Stephen Wall, started another paper, called the Military Monitor. Subsequently, he edited for two or three years a weekly journal called The Shamrock, and in January, 1819, he started the publication of a monthly magazine, called The Globe. Its pro- prietors avowed no particular political views, but its contents indicated that it was The Shamrock in a new form. Ireland and Catholicity were its leading topics. It lasted about a year. In 1815 Mr. O'Conor wrote a single volume, entitled, A History of the War, which had a rapid circulation. He was, in the words of his eloquent son, “a devoted Catholic and an enthusiastically patriotic Irishman, and deeply attached to the republican institutions of his adopted country. These char- acteristics exhibit themselves in all his literary efforts. Whether employed in procuring bread for his family, or in the freely-chosen pursuits of easy liter- ature, his pen was always under the influence of these sentiments. It was ever directed in vindicating the fame of Ireland, the honour of our United American States, or the truths and purity of his cherished mother, the Apostolic Church.” Thomas O'Conor died in New York in 1865, leaving one son, Charles, and a daughter, Eliza, who married Mr. Sloane, and has issue two sons, now living in New York. CHARLES O'CONOR, SON OF THOMAS, born 1804, died 1884. Charles O'Conor, universally known throughout the United States under the simple title of “Charles O'Conor of New York,” was one of the most dis- tinguished lawyers that has ever adorned the American bar. Although by birth an American citizen, and, during his long life, never in Ireland for more than a few months, he took the greatest interest in everything connected with the family history or the country of his forefathers. To him, as stated in the Introduction, is mainly due the compilation of this work. He it was that saved the materials, put together by Dr. O'Donovan, from destruction, and, whatever be their value, preserved them for posterity. Born, as above-mentioned, in January, 1804, his youth was passed in adversity. His father's unsuccessful venture in the purchase of real estate, in what was then a very wild part of the country, led to the most distressing family embarrassments; and he himself relates that the first interview with his father, which he could remember, was when the latter was confined in a debtors’ prison in New York. º A.D. 1812–1875.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 305 His first recollections were those of a wilderness home and a pioneer life; the lurking Indians by day, the howling wolves at night, and the deep depths of the winter snows. Subsequently, when his father returned to New York, and entered on his literary career, young O'Conor was engaged in distributing his weekly issues to the different subscribers, and was with difficulty able to devote sufficient time to the prosecution of his own studies. Endowed with a natural indomitable will, he chose the legal profession as his career, and, having chosen it, was determined to succeed. No obstacle was too great to be overcome. Privation, want, even hunger, were nothing to him. “Often in those days,” as he said in after life, “I went all day without eating, and to bed without my supper ;” but he never left his allotted task undone, or his daily studies neglected. When subsequently asked to what he attributed his great success, his answer was summed up in one word, “study;” but study, to one placed in his circumstances, was difficult, and to a man with less determination of character, impossible. He had not the necessary books for study, nor the means to obtain them. In this difficulty, hearing of a very benevolent gentleman who had assisted different people in distress, he laid his case before him. Unknown, and without any introduction, he told his simple story: that he was determined to follow the profession of the law ; that he felt he had in him the elements of success, but that he had no means to purchase the neces- sary legal books, and he asked for a loan, to purchase a small legal library then for sale, promising repayment when success, of which he felt assured, had crowned his labours. At first his request was not granted, but in a few days the books, or the means of obtaining them, were placed at his disposal ; and, in after life, the kindness thus bestowed was repaid a hundredfold. In the year 1824 he was called to the American bar, and in an incredibly short time he made his way to the very first ranks of his profession. As it would be impossible in this memoir to give a detailed account of his pro- fessional and political triumphs; the high position which he attained, and the light in which he was regarded by his countrymen, cannot perhaps be better expressed than in the language of one of the leading journals of New York, when, in 1875, he was supposed to be on his deathbed. In an article headed, “The Glory of an Honest Life,” his supposed loss is thus mourned :— “In this land and age of bitter animosities, the union of all conditions of people in mourning for Charles O'Conor is a remarkable testimonial to the merits of a man who always was a combatant, never a neutral. Catholic and Protestant, Democrat and Republican, rich and poor, gentle and simple, join in the expressions of a common grief ; and we even behold the unexampled spectacle of old abolitionists, and scarred federal soldiers, shedding tears of R R 306 TIIE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXV heartfelt sorrow around the deathbed of the counsel in the Lemmon case, and the steadfast opponent of the Civil War. But the explanation is as easy as the fact is marvellous. The character of Charles O'Conor was genuine through and through. Not an atom of his great fame but was honestly earned. From the day, half a century ago, when, an almost friendless stripling, he tried his first cause in a petty municipal court, to the day when, crowned with laurels in the highest forums of the state and nation, he led the bar of the United States, none of his innumerable triumphs was won by any other means than integrity, intelligence, and industry. Up his long ascent in prosperity, from the obscure home of the poor boy who peddled newspapers from his father's press, to the unostentatious but ample ease of the scholar's villa at Fort Washington, his palm was never soiled with gold ignobly gained. Of what great lawyer of past or present days can more be said " Of how many of his living rivals can we say so much 3 “Pre-eminent industry, intelligence, and integrity, thus have distinguished Mr. O'Conor's life from the beginning; but we yet hazard nothing in asserting, that his purely professional reputation will not, after a brief interval, abide so vividly in the remembrance of his countrymen, as the public services of a mixed professional and political character which he has rendered during the short term of scarcely five years since his withdrawal from the active practice of the law. No fame is more fleeting in the public mind than the dead advo- cate's, unless it be that of the dead actor. The same sad lot of oblivion befalls every lawyer, however illustrious in his day, who does not mount the bench, or else combine other pursuits with his profession. Not twenty years have elapsed since the death of Rufus Choate, and his memory already is as vague as the memory of Talma. Filed away among the records of judicial tribunals here, and at Albany and Washington, never to be seen of mortal eye save by the legal Dryasdust, are proofs of intellectual exertions of Charles O'Conor, whose singular research, keen wit, and admirable logic would secure almost an immortality to his name, had they been expended upon philosophy or literature. “It is not for us now to discuss the causes and methods of this speedy obscuration of merely legal exploits, nor to inveigh against this usage of mankind. The mere professional renown of the great lawyer may dwindle into a shadow, but his name and memory as the saviour of this city from the disgrace which stained its government five years ago, is certain to endure through many ages. In the impending presence of his death, the people of New York, with only the exception of the criminals themselves, and of men bound by retainers to their cause, acknowledge an unstinted gratitude to him for his courage and perseverance in delivering them from the sway of official peculation. But it is only after he has gone for ever that we shall fully estimate the extent of the obligation, and measure the potent influence which he has exerted over the colder natures or duller intelligences of his associates. Behind his quiet, dignified manner there was a temper of fire and a will of steel. His flag was nailed to the mast, and he tolerated no faint hearts among his crew. Those alone who have been admitted to his confidence can understand all the obstacles which have beset his way since the flush of popular triumph over the Tammany Ring in 1871 faded into apathy in 1874, and appreciate the disinterested persistence with which he has waged the war, despite the dismay of the community at beholding the shining marks at which he struck. His nature was utterly fearless; and he denounced a judiciary which interposed its own ignorance or corruption to shield peculators, as instantly and vigorously as he pursued the criminals themselves. His last labour, before he yielded to his fatal illness, was an eloquent criticism of the opinion of A.D. 1875–1884.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 307 the Court of Appeals which liberated Tweed from prison by a writ of habeas corpus, and is quoted entire in Mr. Browne's review of the Ring decisions of that Court, which was printed in Harper's Weekly of November 13th ; and on his deathbed, up to the moment at which he ceased to busy himself with mortal interests, his thoughts have been full of the cause of political reform. “One secret of the general and utter devotion of Mr. O'Conor to this cause lay in the fact that he was a genuine democrat. Without citing any of the countless illustrations of this, which might be drawn from the ordinary incidents of his life, we cannot refrain from allusions to the remarkable article, published scarcely a year ago, in which he embodied his political creed, and which he first committed, under the title of “Democracy,” to the singular repository of Johnson's Cyclopædia, and afterward consented to print, with supplementary notes, in one of the public journals. If his fame should rest on no other foundation than this essay, it alone would admit him to the first rank of political philosophers; and we pre- dict for it as eminent a place in the literature of political science as is conceded to the writings of Locke, or Rousseau, or Jefferson. Men holding looser theories of the sphere of law will combat its conclusions, and will claim that it is impracticable to apply its theory to human society in this century; but none will deny the purity of its aims, the tenacity of its logic, or the tendency of the best minds of the present age to adopt its argument, with more or less qualification for the limitation of the functions of government. “But apart from any political theories that impelled Mr. O'Conor to the great services which he has rendered to his countrymen in these later years, a sufficient cause is manifest in the concurrence of opportunity with ability that summoned him to a combat from which he did not shrink, although he well knew the cost to himself of the undertaking. At an age and after labours which entitled him to pass declining years in calm and ease, he heard their call for succour, and hurried to the strife in the truest spirit of chivalry. He dies in armour, at the head of the array of all good men against the powers of political corruption; and the best honour we can pay to his memory—the only honour he would ask—is, that we shall close the ranks, and continue the fight to victory.” Charles O'Conor survived to read his own obituary, but he was never again the same strong man as before. In 1881 he retired to the island of Nantucket, in the State of Massachusetts, where he built a large house on the sand bluffs outside the old town. There he passed the remainder of his days, his visits to New York or the mainland being very rare. Just before his death, in 1884, he visited New York for a few days. A trifling cold, which was not regarded with apprehension, developed into a fatal illness, and he returned to Nantucket only to die, his death taking place on the 12th May, 1884. Charles O'Conor married the widow of Mr. L. H. M'Cracken, and daughter of Mr. Francis Livingstone, a descendant of one of the first English settlers in America. He had no issue, and his family are now represented by the sons of his sister, Mrs. Sloane. C H A P T E R X. X V I. A.D. I790–1845. DENIS O'CONOR, SON OF CHARLES OF BELANAGARE. A.D. 1790-18O4. §ENIS O'CONOR, the eldest son of Charles, unlike his father and his A younger brother, seldom took any very active part in the political 36 affairs of his country; but, nevertheless, his position as the head of one of the most respected Catholic families in Ireland forced him into a prominence from which his modesty and retiring disposition would naturally have shrunk. At the time of his father's death, in 1790, Catholic affairs had reached a crisis. The Catholic Association, founded by his father, Dr. Curry, and Mr. Wyse, had run its course. It had accomplished much, but more remained unaccomplished. The Catholics had been relieved from many of the disabilities under which they previously laboured ; but still, politically, they were degraded slaves, of whose very existence the State took no cogni- ZaſłC€. It is true that in 1777 many of the penal laws were repealed; Catholics were allowed to hold lands in their own names; to enter into long leases; to practise their religion without any hindrance; and the monstrous provisions under which Charles O'Conor nearly lost his estates were done away with; but still, nearly all their political disabilities continued. Irish Catholics were allowed no political power, and all the offices of the state, from the lowest magistracy to the Chancellorship, were closed against them. Forming the vast majority of the inhabitants of the country, they had not even the privilege of voting for a Protestant representative. The first Catholic Association was succeeded by others under different names; and for some time before 1790 a Catholic Committee had been formed, A.D. 1790.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 309 of which Lord Kenmare was the leading and ruling member. After the formation of the Irish Volunteer corps, and the stand which they took in demanding independence for the Irish parliament, the government became alarmed. The remonstrances and petitions for redress of grievances which a few years before seemed, at least, harmless, began to be regarded with Suspicion and distrust; and the Irish Protestants, having gained their own political independence, evinced no desire to relinquish the ascendency which they had hitherto maintained over their Catholic fellow-countrymen. Under these circumstances, Lord Kenmare, afraid of offending the government, and of bringing down on his party the hostility of parliament, and believing him- Self all-powerful in the Catholic Committee, gave expression to sentiments signifying that the Catholics, as a body, were satisfied to remain in a position of inferiority, and only wanted the removal of some of the most pressing wrongs which weighed them down. His action was at once called in question by other members of the com- mittee; and after a discussion and debate, Lord Kenmare, finding himself in a minority, retired from the Association. Some years later, the Society of United Irishmen was formed by the Protestants of Belfast. An address was also issued from the Protestant Volunteers of that city; and, as before mentioned, their declaration in favour of perfect religious and political equality was received with the highest marks of approbation throughout Catholic Ireland, and gave new strength and courage to the party opposed to Lord Kenmare. The leading men on this side of the question were John Keogh of Mount Jerome, and Edward Byrne, both belonging to the mercantile rather than to the aristocratic section of the Catholic body. After the issue of the Belfast declaration, Keogh and Wolfe Tone became the greatest friends and allies ; and the latter, although a Protestant, was, through Keogh's influence, appointed as Secretary to the Catholic Committee, taking also upon himself the functions of their political agent—functions which had previously been discharged by Richard, the son of the great Edmund Burke. Before, however, this event took place, the Catholic Committee underwent a complete transformation. Up to the year 1790, although composed of men sent from different parts of the country, as representatives of the Catholic feeling therein, it could not be said to represent the Catholic people. Its members were chosen in an informal way; they were selected, rather than elected, and represented the aristocracy, the monied, and the educated classes, rather than the people ; and although called delegates, strictly speaking, they had no well-defined constituents, 310 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXVI. At a meeting of this body, held in Dublin on 17th December, 1791, resolutions were adopted which, in the end, led to its complete reorganization. These resolutions were to the following effect — “MEETING OF THE GENERAL CoMMITTEE of THE CATHOLICS OF TRELAND, 17TH DECEMBER, 1791. EDWARD BELLEw, Esq., IN THE CHAIR. “Resolved.—That we approve of the past conduct of our Sub-Committee, and confide in their future diligence and zeal for making such applications to the legislature as may be deemed expedient for obtaining a further relaxation of the penal laws. * “Resolved.—That we refer to the petition to be presented to parliament in the last session as a criterion of our sentiments; and that we are ready to renew our declarations of loyalty to the king, attachment to the constitution, and obedience to the laws, whenever the legislature shall require it. 4. “Resolved.—That the resolutions unanimously agreed to on the 15th November, 1783, be now again confirmed and inserted as part of our determinations, at this meeting, which resolutions are as follows:— jº ‘That we feel ourselves particularly called upon to declare, that this committee con- sists of every Roman Catholic nobleman and gentleman of landed property, and of other gentlemen chosen by their fellow-subjects of that persuasion in Dublin, and other principal parts of the kingdom. ‘That thus constituted, we have for several years past, on all public occasions, been the medium through which the voice of the Roman Catholics of Ireland has been conveyed, and the only one competent thereto.’” The petition here referred to was to the following effect, and was inserted as part of these resolutions:— “To THE RT. Hon. AND Hon. THE KNIGHTS, CITIZENS, AND BURGESSES IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED. THE HUMBLE PETITION OF THE CATHOLICS OF IRELAND. “SHEWETH– “That a century has now nearly elapsed since several laws, highly penal in their effect, were passed by the legislature of this country, excluding the Catholic inhabitants thereof from numberless privileges and advantages enjoyed by the rest of their fellow-subjects. “That whilst the consequences of those laws were felt in their severest operation, the loyalty of the Catholics of Ireland was unshaken, and their conduct uniformly marked with that respect and submission due to legislative authority. . “That your petitioners beg leave to suggest to this honourable house, that the laws of which they complain were passed in a season of animosity, at the close of party contention, and as the penalty of political opinions which it is universally admitted do not at this day exist ; that they were continued as having been deemed necessary to secure the succession in the august house of Brunswick. That every danger to that succession is now removed, and that even if it were otherwise, they have lately bound themselves to their beloved sovereign and their country by the most awful and sacred obligation ; an obligation to which A.D. 1790–1792.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 311 your petitioners refer with greater confidence, as, if oaths were lightly estimated by Catholics, they might, long since, have entitled themselves to the full rights of citizens. “That some years since, the Parliament of this kingdom was, in its wisdom and humanity, pleased to remove part of the restrictions under which your petitioners lay ; and that this indulgence, far from producing any ill effects, has only served to strengthen the loyalty of your petitioners, and to contribute to the growing prosperity of the empire. “That by the laws still in force, the Catholics of Ireland, though entitled through the benevolence of Parliament to purchase lands, are precluded from almost every opportunity of improving the matural advantages of talents and connexions; and that where inclination, or any other circumstance, has disqualified them from commercial pursuits, they are under the cruel necessity of becoming exiles from their families and country, and seeking that situation in foreign states which is denied them in their native land. “That your petitioners feel a conscious pride in being able to offer their past, as a pledge of their future good conduct, and humbly beg leave to insist, that men sincerely and warmly attached to the constitution of their country, even when they were the objects of its censure and severity, are not likely to become less anxious for its preservation, from being admitted to a fuller participation of its blessings. “Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that this Honourable House will take the pre- mises into consideration, and grant to your petitioners such relief as to its wisdom, justice, and humanity shall seem meet. “And your petitioners will ever pray.” These resolutions were regarded in the Committee as a direct challenge to the adherents of the policy of Lord Kenmare; and they, on the motion of Mr. William Bellew, divided against them, but were left in a minority of 17 to 90. The resolutions having been thus endorsed by such an enormous majority, steps were at once taken to obtain the approval of the Catholics in the different parts of the country, and, amongst others, Denis O'Conor was communicated with in the following letter:— “January 7th, 1792. “SIR,--I have communicated your last most interesting letter to Mr. Keogh, Mr. Broughall, Mr. M'Donnell, and some other friends whom I judged best qualified to furnish you with the information and instructions you required; it convinced them fully of what they before feared, the fatal omission of which we of the Committee have been guilty in not making effectual provision for the regular and constant transmission of our proceedings and intentions to our constituents in every part of the kingdom. As the only thing we could do to remedy the mischief already done, a few of us took upon ourselves to order the immediate publication of resolutions and addresses that have come in to us from every part of the country, and that have been voted, and are every day being voted, in the different parishes of this city. Some of these you will see in this night's Eve. Post, the rest will follow as there shall be room for them. A circular letter is also preparing, giving a full detail of our proceedings, and, in particular, of our motives for rejecting Mr. Bellew's motion of the 17th December. This, I fear, cannot be issued till after the meeting of the Committee this night 312 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXVI. sennight. To prevent hereafter inconveniences similar to those we now feel, it has been resolved that a Committee of Correspondence shall be formed at our next meeting, for the purpose of conveying information of our proceedings at every meeting to every part of the country. This ought to have been done before. We hope it is not altogether too late to do it now. “It will be well to express, as strongly as you shall judge prudent, your disapprobation of any other than your General Committee assuming to speak or act in the name of the Roman Catholics of Ireland, or intruding themselves into the functions of that Committee. We see all reason to believe that everything depends upon showing government what the real sense of the great Roman Catholic body is. This day young Mr. Burke informed us, that he had hopes that things would have a favourable termination. “As administration on the other side of the water retracted their engagements of pro- curing for us the important advantages which (lest you should not have heard) I set down, viz., eligibility to magistracy in counties; right of serving on grand juries; the bar; and the bench ; and the elective franchise, but at a higher qualification than Protestants; as adminis- tration retracted all this, on the ground of our pretended disunion, and of our agent, Mr. Burke, not being authorized by the whole Catholic body, nothing remains for us but to convince administration that the people are with us, and that the few individuals who think differently are but as a drop in the bucket. “Yours, &c., “LEWIS Lyons, ** Member of Catholic Committee.” Immediately after the receipt of this letter, and probably in consequence of it, a meeting of the Catholics of Roscommon was called, and held at Tulsk, on 18th January, I792, Denis O'Conor of Belanagare in the chair, at which the following resolutions were passed:— RESOLUTIONS PASSED AT A MEETING OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC INHABITANTS OF County of ROSCOMMON, CONVENED BY PUBLIC NOTICE AT TULSK, JANUARY 18th, 1792, DENIS O'CoNOR OF BELANAGARE, Esq., IN THE CHAIR. “We, the Roman Catholics of the Co. of Roscommon, impressed with the same senti- ments of loyalty to His Majesty's person, and attachment to his government, of which we have ever and invariably made profession, think it at this time necessary to declare— “That loyalty to our king, affection to our country, obedience to the laws, and goodwill to all our fellow-subjects, have always been, and ever will be, the leading rules of our conduct. * “Resolved.—That we are not insensible of the degraded situation in which we at present exist in this our native country; that though debarred from many of the blessings of that free constitution enjoyed by our fellow-citizens, we view with pleasure their full enjoyment of it, but repudiate any declarations tending to profess our contented acquiescence in the privation of those blessings, which we imagine would appear to the legislature and to our countrymen the language of unmanly insincerity or languid indifference. “That in all which concerns our interests, we refer to the Catholic Committee in Dublin, A.D. I792.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 313 to which we have sent delegates to represent us. We conceive that it would argue presump- tion in us to interfere with the measures, or intrude into the functions of that Committee, the only just medium by which the sense of the Roman Catholic body can be known; and we cannot recognise any other set of men as authorized to speak or to act in the name of the Catholics of Ireland. “That the thanks of this meeting be given to the Roman Catholic Committee for their indefatigable exertions on all occasions to procure a redress of our grievances. “That the thanks of this meeting be given to Dr. Thos. Ryan and Mr. Geo. Drew, our delegates in the Committee, for their attention to our instructions, and zeal for our interests.” Somewhat similar resolutions were passed at meetings held in Ros- common on 16th April, and in Elphin on the 3rd May, with this addition, that, at the last-mentioned meeting, a further resolution was passed :- “That the thanks of this meeting be and are hereby given to William Todd Jones, Theobald M“Kenna, and Theobald Wolfe Tone, for the exertion of their splendid abilities in holding out the character of the Catholic in its true colours, and showing him entitled to emancipation on account of his nature as a man, and deserving of it on account of his con- duct as a citizen.” Supported by such resolutions from every part of the country, the Catholic Committee decided on presenting a petition to parliament, in its substance similar to the one above quoted. This petition was accordingly presented at the opening of the session of 1792, but was then treated with the utmost con- tempt. It was not allowed even to remain on the table of the house, but, on the motion of a Mr. LaTouche, was ignominiously rejected. One of the grounds put forward for treating it in this manner was, that the body from which it came was self-constituted, did not represent the Catholics of Ireland, and had no authority to speak in their name. Such an argument was, no doubt, partly true, but its use resulted in the creation of a body against whom it could no longer be urged. On the suggestion of a Mr. Keon from the Co. of Leitrim, the Committee decided to appeal directly to their Catholic fellow-countrymen, and to have delegates regularly and formally elected from every county in Ireland, who were subsequently to meet in a general convention in Dublin. Elaborate arrangements were then made for the election of these delegates. Electors were selected in each parish, who subsequently met together in some central place in each county; and these elected from one to four delegates to represent the county at the convention, and no one was eligible for election as a delegate S S 314 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. xxvi. who did not solemnly promise to attend his duty in Dublin, or at least to pledge himself to attend in his turn. To this convention, as before mentioned, Denis O'Conor's brother, Charles, and his nephew, M*Dermot of Coolavin, were sent as delegates from the Co. Sligo, whilst his eldest son, Owen, repre- sented the Co. of Roscommon. The body thus formed, from the delegates, met in 1792, and determined to present a statement of their grievances directly to the Crown. A petition to the king was accordingly drawn up, which set forth the disabilities under which His Majesty's Irish Catholic subjects then laboured, the principal of which were the following — (1.) Catholics debarred from serving the king in any office of trust or emolument, civil or military. (2.) Interdicted from all municipal offices and the franchise of all guilds and corporations. (3.) Prohibited from founding any university, college, or school for the education of their children. (4.) Interdicted from taking degrees at University of Dublin. (5.) Forbid to keep arms for defence. (6.) Excluded from all petty juries, in civil actions, where one of the parties was a Pro- testant. (7.) Excluded from all grand juries, unless sufficient Protestants could not be got to complete the panel. (8.) Deprived of the elective franchise. This petition having been prepared, five members of the Committee, Mr. Byrne, Mr. Keogh, Sir Thomas Ffrench, Mr. Devereux, and Mr. Bellew, were appointed to proceed to London and to present the petition (which had pre- viously been signed by Dr. Troy, Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Moylan, Bishop of Cork, and all the delegates) to the King. On their arrival in London, the five delegates waited on Mr. Dundas, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, who introduced them to the presence of the king, by whom they were graciously received. The result of this action on the part of the Catholic body soon became evident. In the following year, 1793, an Act was passed, by which many of the rights and privileges for which they contended were granted. By this Act the elective franchise was conferred, and Catholics were rendered eligible for the magistracy, for sitting on grand juries, and for several other minor positions ; but they were still left incapacitated for sitting or voting in Parlia- ment, or for holding high judicial office. Before this Act was passed, the Catholic Sub-Committee had issued the A.D. 1792–1793.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 315 following address, which placed their sentiments in the clearest light, and showed that they had no intention or desire to enter upon any treasonable or rebellious enterprise:– ADDRESS AGREED TO AT A MEETING OF THE SUB-CoMMITTEE OF THE CATHOLICs of IRELAND, ON 2ND JANUARY, 1793. DENIS THOMAS O'BRIEN, Esq., IN THE CHAIR. dºs “The Sub-Committee appointed by the General Committee of the Catholics of Ireland, to transact such business as may be necessary during the adjournment of the latter, feel it their indispensable Duty, to warn the Body at large against any attempts of pretended Friends or declared Enemies, to mislead them, to drive them into a Violence derogatory to their unspotted character of Loyalty and Obedience to the Laws, or subversive of the una- nimity which ought to subsist amongst every Description of Irishmen. “They beg leave to recommend to the serious consideration of their Catholic brethren, how unnecessary it is for them to attend Meetings convened for the purpose of expressing their allegiance, since that purpose is answered in a more dignified, solemn, and authorized manner, by their Delegates, who are sent to lay their grievances at the foot of the throne. Declarations therefore, however respectably brought forward by name, ability, or property, can add no weight to those expressions of attachment to the King and Constitution, which the Catholic Petition to our most gracious Sovereign contains, but must rather take from its efficacy and consequence, by useless repetitions, and by frittering down a great national act into partial and local exertion. “The Committee are grieved to hear of the success of designing men in agitating the minds of the lower order of their persuasion in a part of this country, and filling them with apprehensions of danger from their Protestant brethren ; a circumstance which has prompted these unhappy men to arm, and stand on their defence. They would wish to impress upon their mind, in indelible characters, that it is the most ardent desire, and the object nearest the heart of every individual in the General and Sub-Committees, that all animosity between Protestants and Catholics should cease, and lie buried in the graves of their ancestors; that inhabiting one common country, and adoring the same GOD, the united charities of religion and country may melt us down into one people, and for ever establish a reciprocity of interests and a community of rights. “The Committee trust that the Catholics of Ireland never will, nor ever can forget their obligations to their Protestant brethren, who have stood forward as their advocates and pro- tectors. Should any of their persuasion have well-grounded cause to fear for their lives or liberties, it is their duty to state it, and solicit the protection of Government. Should they request the Sub-Committee to state their situation, the Sub-Committee will not be wanting. But they earnestly recommend to the Catholics in general the continuation of that dutiful and exemplary conduct which, under circumstances of unprecedented hardship, has for a century made them the admiration of all who can do justice to and feel for the adversities and virtues of mankind. The world will now see their conduct, and unquestionably, their King and country will reward it ; for he is a just and a gracious King, and Protestants must at last see, that nothing but union at home, a union arising from equal law and equal liberty, can guard the 316 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXVI. island from domestic or foreign foes. In this sanguine and well-founded hope, the Committee conjure their Catholic brethren to rest upon their arms, the only arms the hostility of the law cannot take away—the arms of Reason and Justice—and patiently wait the decision of their fate, the fate of three millions of aggrieved and loyal subjects. “Signed by Order, “JOHN SweFTMAN, Sec.” After the passing of the Relief Bill, similar sentiments of loyalty to the Crown were reiterated in addresses to the Lord Lieutenant, from meetings of Catholics in different parts of the country; and in October, 1793, Denis O'Conor again presided at one of these meetings in the county of Roscommon, at which a loyal address to the Crown was adopted, and sent to Lord Dillon, with a request that he would transmit it to the Lord Lieutenant. In acknowledging this address, Lord Dillon addressed himself in the following terms in a letter to Denis O'Conor and the other Catholic gentlemen of the county of Roscommon :- “GENTLEMEN, ‘‘I feel myself highly honoured by the confidence you repose in me. I will immediately transmit your address to the Lord Lieutenant. I am happy to avail myself of this opportunity of bearing this further testimony to His Excellency of the sentiments of loyalty and affection to the King of His Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects of the Co. of Roscommon, the truth and sincerity of which I have long been convinced of by daily experience during my residence in this county. “I am very much flattered by your approbation of my conduct. I trust that your co- operation will prevent in future the unfortunate effects of a momentary delusion, and that the people will discover that, under the blessing of our free Constitution, their true interests can only be promoted by regularity, honest industry, and obedience to the laws, which afford protection to us all. “I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, with great respect, “Your most faithful and most obedient servant, ‘‘DILLON. “LOUGHGLIN House, “15th October, 1793. “To Denis O'Conor, Esq., and the Roman Catholic Gentlemen and Freeholders of County of Roscommon.” A subsequent letter from him to Denis O'Conor shows the extent to which the fanatical bigotry of the times was carried, when a nobleman in the position A.D. 1793–1795.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 317 of Lord Dillon was assailed merely for being the medium of conveying a loyal address from the Catholics to the Lord Lieutenant. “Lough GLIN House, 5th Nov., 1793. “DEAR SIR, “I have the honour to send you a copy of a letter which I received yesterday from Lord Hobart, which you will please to communicate to the R. Catholic gentlemen and freeholders of this county. “I find that the spirit of persecution, which seems to be systematically established by some characters in this county against those of your persuasion, has been lately directed with uncommon virulence against me ; and the friendly intercourse which has taken place between us, has drawn upon me the malice and inveterate rancour of our opponents. I shall not con- tent myself with a mere refutation of charges too absurd to gain credit ; but I am determined to drag forth from their lurking-places such slanderous villains; and if anything could bind me more firmly to your support, it would be a circumstance of this sort, because it convinces me at once of the malignant disposition and injustice of your opponents. “I have the honour to be, dear Sir, “Your most faithful and most obedient Servant, “DILLON.” In striking contrast to the bigotry here referred to was the conduct of Dr. Law, the Protestant Bishop of Elphin, than whom the Catholics had no greater friend or more earnest advocate. To him an address of thanks, and congratulation on his recovery from a dangerous illness, was presented in the beginning of the year 1795, from a meeting of the Catholics of the county of Roscommon, at which Denis O'Conor presided. In acknowledging this address, Dr. Law wrote: “Many joined the Catholics when they thought them likely to succeed, but I was a friend, when a friend only can be known, in their adversity. Shocked at the abominable severities to which I saw them subjected, I considered their cause the cause of justice and humanity, and as such have supported it, having ever acted, as I trust I shall act, in con- formity to the mild and benevolent precepts of the Christian religion, which equally discountenances a spirit of oppression and of ambition, and which neither designs men to be slaves nor allows them to be rebels.” In the same year, 1795, the hopes of the Irish Catholics were raised to the highest pitch by the appointment of Lord Fitzwilliam as Lord Lieutenant, and addresses poured in from every quarter in Ireland. Amongst others, an address was presented from the county of Roscommon, Denis O'Conor being 318 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXVI. again selected as the presiding chairman of the meeting at which it was adopted. This address was presented through Mr. Arthur French, of French- park, one of the representatives of the county in parliament, who in acknow- ledging it, wrote to Mr. O'Conor as follows:— “DEAR DENIs, “I this day received the Lord Lieutenant's answer to the address from the Catholics of our county. He desires me to make known to you his particular approbation of it, and he seemed more pleased with it than with any other that has been presented. He also desired I would inform the Roman Catholic gentlemen, that there is nothing he has more at heart than the completion of the Irish Catholic brigade, and he hopes it will receive their countenance. I send the answer. “Believe me, dear Denis, “Your most obedient servant, “5th February, 1795. $ “ARTHUR FRENCH.” The recall of Lord Fitzwilliam, just at the moment when the Catholics imagined their grievances were about to be redressed, and the deplorable events which followed, culminating in the abortive rebellion of 1798, drove out of the field of politics men like Mr. O'Conor, who trusted to constitutional means alone for the redress of their grievances. What view he took of the Act of Legislative Union, or of the proceedings which led up to it, no records remain to show ; and from the arrival of Lord Camden as Lord Lieutenant, his name appears no longer in connection with any political or public affair. Denis O'Conor married on Ist December, 1760, Catherine, daughter of Martin Browne of Cloonfad, and had eight Sons and nine daughters. Of the latter, Catherine married a Mr. Lyons of Lyonstown, Alicia married Dr. Sheil, Mary married O'Donnell of Larkfield, and Eliza married her first cousin, M“Dermot of Coolavin. On Denis O'Conor's marriage, his father made over to him the greater part of the estate of Belanagare; and in 1776 he entered into an arrangement with Mr. French, by which he purchased up the rentcharge of £79, which had been placed upon the estates of Belanagare in 172O, and thus became, as far as the laws then permitted it, their absolute owner. Denis O'Conor died in 1804, leaving four sons surviving—Owen, Charles (Dr. O'Conor), Martin, and Mathew. A.D. 1795–1828.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 319 VERY RE V. CHARLES O'CONOR, D.D., SON OF DEVIS, born 1764, died 1828. Charles, the second son of Denis O'Conor, who subsequently became so famous for his writings, was born in Belanagare on the 15th March, 1764. At a very early age he gave promise of high literary ability, and being destined for the Church, he was, in the year 1779, at the age of fifteen, sent to Rome to carry on his studies at the Ludovisi College in that city. Here he remained until the year 1791, when a vacancy having occurred in the Parish of Kilkeevin, or Castlerea, his name was submitted to the bishop, Dr. French, by O'Conor Don of Clonalis, for appointment as parish priest. The O'Conors had always exercised the right of presentation to this as well as to Ballintober Parish ; and after some demur, on account of Dr. O'Conor's youth, Dr. French sanctioned his appointment, and he took possession of his parish in the year I 792. Subsequently he was selected by the Marchioness of Buckingham, who was a Catholic, as her chaplain ; and in this capacity, in 1799, he went to Stowe, where he spent the greater part of his life, mainly engaged in literary labours. His Memoirs have yet to be written ; and, if fully dealt with, his life and cor- respondence would fill a not insignificant volume. As the first translator of the Irish Annals, his name is known to every Irish scholar. In this translation he chose the Latin language as the medium of preserving what he found recorded in the ancient Irish. For deep research and learning the work, which he entitled “Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores Veteres,” can bear com- parison with any other of the same class, and may be said to have cleared the ground for O'Donovan and others who followed him. Dr. O'Conor was also the author of an unfinished memoir of his grand- father, Charles O'Conor of Belanagare, and of several works of a polemical character, which he wrote under the assumed name of “Columbanus.” It is not intended here to attempt anything like a biography of this very distinguished and learned man. Such an attempt could not be successful within the limits assigned to this family history; and if ever attempted, should be dealt with in a distinct and separate work, for which much material is in existence. Suffice it here to say, that Dr. O'Conor, after having spent many years in Stowe, returned to his native country shortly before his death. His latter years were embittered by unfortunate disputes with his ecclesiastical superiors, by whom he considered he had been harshly and unjustly treated; and, broken down by premature infirmities, he died at his brother's residence in Belanagare in the year 1828, and was buried in the family burial-place at Ballintober. 320 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. xxvi. MA THE W O'CONOR, SON OF DEAVIS, born 1773, died 1845. Mathew O'Conor, the third son of Denis O'Conor of Belanagare, was born on the 18th September, 1773. He was, like his brother Charles, intended for the Church, but selected in preference the legal profession. He also was distinguished for his literary attainments. His “History of the Irish Catholics,” published in 1813, and of the “Irish Brigades in the service of Foreign States,” published after his death, entitle him to be mentioned amongst the distin- guished literary Irishmen of his day. * Mathew O'Conor died in 1845, leaving three sons—Denis, of Mount Druid ; Arthur, of the Palace, Elphin ; and Mathew, of Mount Allen. C H A P T E R XX V II. O-ºſ º-O A.D. I793–183 I. OWEN “O'CONOR DON,” M.P., SON OF DENIS O'CONOR. §Q}WEN, the eldest son of Denis O'Conor, of Belanagare, was born on the 6th March, I763. At a very early age he evinced a remark- able taste for public affairs; and almost from the time he came to manhood until his death, he was one of the most active members of the different Boards or Associations formed by the Catholics of Ireland for the promotion of civil and religious liberty. When only eighteen years of age, he joined the Irish Volunteers, who were then arming in defence of their country; and, as a cornet, he attended at their great review in Loughrea in 1782. Subsequently he became attached to the yeomanry of the Co. of Roscommon, and was second in command in that regiment. There is no record of his having joined the Society of United Irishmen, although it is most probable that he belonged to that body, as he was the intimate friend of many of its leading members, and was in communication with them regarding most of their earlier undertakings. As before mentioned, he was elected in 1793 as one of the delegates from the county of Roscommon to the Catholic National Convention, and in the proceedings of that body he took a prominent part. Wolfe Tone in his diary relates an anecdote which shows the fiery and ardent disposition of young O'Conor at this time. He relates that at one of the meetings of the com- mittee of the Convention," Keogh, whom he calls “Gog, damped them by * Fragments of Tone's Diary, Zife of Wolfe Zone, p. 241. 322 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXVII. puffing his readiness, for one, to face any danger which might ensue from a strong representation. Owen O'Conor asserted that he too was ready, upon which Gog asked him was he prepared to enter the tented field. He answered he was. Now, the fact is, the question was put to frighten Ned Byrne ; and another fact is, that O'Conor was ready, and Gog was not. He is a sad fellow after all. I see, if ever the business is done, it will be by the country gentlemen.” John Keogh, of Mount Jerome, here referred to, was at the time the leading man amongst the Catholic body. He was a particular friend of Wolfe Tone, who was mainly indebted to him for the position which he held as secretary to the Catholic Committee ; and although Tone, in a moment of vexation, thus referred to his friend, he no doubt really entertained regarding him the same high opinion as was held by the Catholic body. What that opinion was may be judged from the following letter from M'Kenna, another of the leaders, addressed to Owen O'Conor a few months before Wolfe Tone penned the lines above quoted :— “DEAR O'Conor, “I rec" yº. What prevented me from giving you information was that I am preparing more arguments for the press; the same circumstance renders me now concise. “Mr. Burke is over here ; most of the aristocrats are ashamed of their conduct, for they see gov" employ it to defeat our relief ; the chiefs of them were instigated by disappointment that Bellew had not the negociation in his hands. “In case you have a meeting, I would recommend to return thanks to J. Keogh ; he really deserves it, for he has sacrificed his health for our cause, and has essentially promoted it ; but a more urgent reason is, that he has now been admitted by ministers and men of high rank to speak for the Catholics, and he certainly is the most proper man to do so that we have in Dublin. Country gentlemen will not interfere, and the merchants want spirit and inform- ation, and it is therefore necessary to give him consequence, and returning him thanks from some country meetings would have the effect. I think your uncle seemed to intimate, by a letter I received from him a little time since, his intention of coming to town. I wish he would, and put an end to this affair. Mark my words, we are not long to be the enslaved the Irish Catholics have thought. “My best respects to your uncle. I have met your cousin here; he has the family spirit. Jones desires to be remembered to you ; his health is not so great a drawback on the intended pamphlet as his indolence ; he has brought your family into it both head and ears. “Aff" your friend, “December, 1792. THEO. M*KENNA. “P.S.—Keogh unites more good sense, activity, spirit, and information on our affairs than A.D. I793–1795.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 323 any man here, and I wish him thanked, that great men may be induced to confer with the mall who seems of all others best qualified to speak to them with spirit. Acknowledge the receipt of this, as I am told the rascals in the post-office open letters addressed to your name or mine, and that they know my hand.” In the Memoirs of Wolfe Tone it is stated that Keogh, Byrne, and other leaders of the Catholic Committee, were quite aware of Tone's ultimate designs, and were prepared to join him in carrying them out. Such is not substantiated by Owen O'Conor's correspondence. With all these men he was on the most intimate terms of private friendship; and no record remains which would indicate that he or they ever seriously contemplated rebellion or the setting up of a republican Government. All their efforts lay within the Constitution; and when the Society of United Irishmen became, after the recall of Lord Fitzwilliam, a secret society with a treasonable design, they left it. On the 4th January, 1795, Lord Fitzwilliam landed in Dublin as Lord Lieutenant. He came, as it was understood, practically pledged to carry emancipation for the Catholics. Immediately, addresses from them poured in on all sides. The day before his arrival John Keogh wrote as follows to Owen O'Conor :— “MY DEAR SIR, “The enclosed paper will explain the exertions now making here. Some of our bitterest enemies are declining in power, and gentlemen who in 1793 voted for total emanci- pation are to be in the counsels and confidence of Earl Fitzwilliam. “A deputation of Catholics waited upon Mr. Grattan on Sunday, 21st December. He agreed to present and support the enclosed petition. It is said that some of our old task * masters are now exerting all their influence to defeat us. It is earnestly recommended to us to act with perfect whicm, to speak one language in our petition, and that the signatures be numerous ; not to permit either the zeal of friends or the acts of enemies to mislead our brethren to deviate from this petition, which has been approved, and the prayer of which is for TOTAL EMANCIPATION. “If the importance of being supported by Mr. Grattan’s abilities, together with the influence he is expected to have in the new administration, should determine you and your friends to embrace his offer of support in this great crisis, you will, I presume, adopt the petition, approved by him, as your own, and enter into a resolution to request Mr. Grattan to present it to the House of Commons, and transmit your resolutions and the signatures to be delivered to Mr. Grattan. “The petition has been signed in Dublin at the several chapels, and you will see that the utmost expedition will be necessary in your neighbourhood. ‘‘I am, with sincerest esteem, “Yours very sincerely, ‘‘MT. J.EROME, 3rd Jan., 1795 ° “JOHN KEogh. 324 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXVII. On receipt of this, Owen O'Conor lost no time in getting signatures to the petition, and also consulted Keogh concerning the address to Lord Fitzwilliam, which has been before alluded to. In reply to this letter, on the 8th January Keogh wrote, highly approving of the address, which he said must be very acceptable, coming from such an important body as the Catholics of the Co. Roscommon, and informed O'Conor that the Dublin deputation had just been to the Castle, and had received “a more cordial and attentive consideration than they ever before experienced.” All the hopes raised by this reception and by the acts and promises of Lord Fitzwilliam were, however, shortly after dashed to the ground by his speedy recall. Complete emancipation, which appeared to be on the point of realization, vanished from the view of practical politicians; and the more daring spirits amongst the Irish Catholics were driven into the lines of revolution, which became developed in the rebellion of I798. That rebellion stopped, for a time, all constitutional agitation for religious liberty and political equality amongst the Catholic body. It was speedily followed by the Act of Legislative Union, to which Owen O'Conor was always a strenuous opponent. The opposition or support of the Catholics was, how- ever, just then of little consequence. Their political and constitutional organi- zations were broken up; their power was shaken ; and even amongst themselves opinions were greatly divided, in consequence of the hopes held out that com- plete emancipation would be one of the results of the Union. A few years later, when these hopes were disappointed, the Catholics again " organized and formed themselves into a committee. The calling together of a Convention had since 1793 been forbidden by law; and some of the younger and more ardent members of the body proposed that in place of this the feelings of the people should be made manifest by what were termed “aggre- gate meetings,” which subsequently, under O’Connell, were turned to such aCCOunt. Against this proposal one of the most vehement opponents was John Reogh, the former leader of the Catholics; and in the following letter, written by him to Owen O'Conor in 1805, very little of the supposed rebel of 1798 will be found :— “MT. JEROME, 3rd January, 1805. “DEAR SIR, “I have of late been frequently unwell, and Mrs. Keogh has been for several days con- fined to her bed; these will plead my apology for not sooner acknowledging the letter you favoured me with. A.D. 1795–181 I.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 325 “There are few who are so ill qualified to give you a reply to the subject of your inquiry —the present proceedings of those who are acting in the name of the Catholics. I did not attend any of their several meetings, except the third, at which I had the pleasure to see you, and a private one at Lord Fingal's. I then caused my name to be erased from the list of the committee. When the late revived committee conducted the claims of the Cath”, the least part of their labours was that of preparing a petition. A vast number of previous measures were adopted, to pave the way for the success of their petition. They consulted with their brethren, not only in Dublin, but in all the distant counties; they conciliated the liberal Pro- testants in and out of Parliament ; they applied to and convinced His Majesties ministers that Cath" Emancipation would be for the interest of the throne and the empire (and all these were previous to any aggregate meetings), and by such conduct they triumphed over a violent and formidable opposition from grand juries, corporations, and county meetings, and finally obtained the privileges which are now enjoyed. “When I heard of an aggregate meeting—and in all such meetings consultation or consideration is not possible; men may exhibit themselves by speeches, but cannot consider or reflect—and that no previous meeting of Cath" had been consulted in either city or country, or any men of understanding sanctioned the measure or approved the meeting—it was a new mode—I naturally wished the mover success; but I lamented that in a business wherein every Cath” and his posterity was deeply interested, that this meeting should be forced forward without any previous consultation, that I could hear of, with any one of the whole body. The two first meetings produced great divisions—the third was expected to break into hostilities. I was prevailed upon by Dr. Randal M*Donnell to attend the third, and to try and prevent such disgrace by reconciling the parties. This was accomplished. Men advanced in years are attached to methods which they knew to succeed, and so I feel myself influenced. I could not reconcile myself to take any share of the responsibility (however small my share) of measures so opposite to those pursued by the late Catholic Com- mittee, which had been sanctioned by the Cath" Convention, by the Parliaments of Ireland and England, by the ministers, and finally by His Majesty. * “I have thus opened myself and answered your letter, but in the private confidence of a friend and of a gentleman, and not to be made any public use of, for I sincerely hope that my apprehensions may be ill-founded and occasioned by the caution and timidity so usual to old age. • “I wish you and yours many happy years, “And remain, dear Sir, ‘‘Your assured and very hu” servant, “JoHN KEOG.H.” Subsequently Owen O'Conor joined O'Connell's party on the Com- mittee, but without losing, in any way, the respect or esteem of those holding somewhat different views. He was a strong opponent of the proposal of “The Veto,” under which the Government of the day would have had a voice in the appointment of the Catholic bishops in Ireland; and he was, on different 326 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXVII. occasions, in 18 II, in 1812, and in 1813, selected, by overwhelming majorities, to represent his fellow-Catholics on deputations to the Prince Regent and other high personages in England. By O'Connell he was regarded, not merely as a dear and valued friend, but as one of his most powerful coadjutors; powerful on account of his known integrity, straightforwardness, and indomitable perseverance, as well as his great experience, dating back to the days when the old Catholic Committee had forced their first concessions from the Irish Parliament. What a very high opinion O'Connell entertained regarding him appears from the following extracts from letters addressed to him by O’Connell himself. In November, 1814, when enclosing him a circular announcing a meeting of the Roman Catholic body, he wrote:– * “My DEAR FRIEND, “Will you be so good as to let us know whether we may expect you at this meeting 7 Much, very much, may be done if we resolve unanimously, to use a vulgar expression, to pull together. Everybody regards and respects you; and if you were here, I think you could contribute largely to bring together every honest Irishman, of whom there are in truth more than our friends think or our enemies suspect. “Believe me to be, with very great truth, “Yours most faithful and sincere, “DANIEL O'CONNELL. “Merrion Square, “14th November, 1814.” Again, in 1818 —- “MERRION SQUARE, 21st December, 1818. “MY DEAR FRIEND, “I am just the worst letter-writer in the world, and I cannot give a stronger proof of it than that I have left the letters of, believe me, one of the persons in the world for whom I entertain the most sincere esteem so long unanswered, and those letters, too, on a topic the most interesting. “I entirely agree with you in your present view of Catholic affairs. We must do without Lord Fingal; and, in truth, I am sincerely sorry for it, because he is an excellent gentleman, and personally as pure as gold, but unhappily subject to some influence from less clean quarters. No matter, we must do without him. I am decidedly for petitioning. If I petition alone, I will petition. The question seems to be how that can be done. Apparently the Board is defunct. Honest Ned Hay has outlawed us all. He makes no distinctions. There are many debts due. There is a great indisposition to organize. Yet there is not wanting amongst the people zeal and anxiety : but what is to be done? I am ready to concur with you in any plan A.D. 181 I-182O.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 327 you think best. I will join in anything you choose or set on foot, any system, as far as I can, that strikes you as likely to succeed. In the meantime I have thrown together hastily a letter to the Catholics of Ireland. After I have cooled on my first impressions, I will print it in the Weekly Register, and send you a paper. I mean to put my name to it. This should not, how- ever, suspend any plan you may form. Pray show your forgiveness by answering this. “I remain, faithfully yours, “DANL. O'CoMNELL.” In the following year, 1819, he wrote:– “15th June, 1819. “MY DEAR FRIEND, ‘‘I am the worst letter-writer in the world, or I should have written to you from circuit. Allow me now to ask whether you can without inconvenience come to town before Saturday next. We have wanted you for some time ; but I was unwilling in being instrumental in bringing you from home until the utility of your honesty, conciliatory temper, and respectability became obvious. If you can come up, you will, I think, be the means of a perfect union, &c. “Very faithfully and affectionately, “DANL. O'CoMNELL.” * “MERRION SQUARE, 21st October, 1819. “My DEAR FRIEND, “Whose fault will it be if we are not emancipated this session ? I think our own. One grand effort now ought to emancipate us, confined as it should be exclusively to our own question. I intend instantly to set the cause in motion. I would to God you would come up at once to help me. If we show out before the Regent's speech is prepared, perhaps we may be mentioned in it. I want you much, and the cause wants you more. “Believe me ever to be, “Your most faithfully and sincerely, ‘‘DANL. O'CoMMELL. Emancipation was not carried this year, and in the following year he again addressed his friend — “MERRION SQUARE, 5th May, 1820. “My DEAR FRIEND, “I wish it were your convenience to come to town. We are getting up another struggle, and we, of course, want you. There are so few who honestly and with a clear conscience labour for ‘the ancient faith,’ that I feel very lonely when you are not with us. Be so kind as to say whether we may expect you in town. “Believe me to be, with great truth, ‘‘ Your ever faithful, ‘‘DANIEL O'ConMELL.” 328 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXVII. About this time, in the year 1820, Alexander “O'Conor Don" of Clonalis died, leaving no issue. He, as already stated, was the last representative, in the male line, of Hugh Oge O'Conor, the second son of Sir Hugh “O'Conor Don;” and on his death, Owen O'Conor of Belanagare, the representative of Sir Hugh O'Conor's third son, became the head of the family, and accordingly in 182O was recognised as “O’Conor Don.” The Clonalis estates had already passed into his hands in the following manner. Domnick “O'Conor Don,” the elder brother of Alexander, had, some years before his death, made a will, by which he left a life interest in those estates to his wife, with reversions to his brothers and their issue male, and, in failure of such issue male, to Owen O'Conor of Belanagare, as next heir to the title. After Domnick's death this will, as mentioned before, was disputed between the widow and Alexander. Protracted and expensive litigation ensued, with the result that a considerable portion of the estates were ordered by the Court of Chancery to be sold for the payment of incumbrances and debts; and in February, 1805, they were put up for sale, and bought by Owen O'Conor, who thus became their owner, even before he succeeded to the title. In 1829 Catholic Emancipation was carried ; and immediately afterwards Owen O'Conor Don, who had worked so hard for its accomplishment, was elected by acclamation the first Catholic representative in Parliament for the Co. of Roscommon since the days of King James the First, the last Catholic representative for that county, before the evil days of persecution, having been his ancestor, Sir Hugh O'Conor Don. O'Conor Don did not long survive his first election. Advanced in years when he entered Parliament, the late hours of the House of Commons soon undermined a naturally strong constitution, and he died in June, 1831, imme- diately after his second unopposed return as representative for the Co. of Roscommon. His services on behalf of his Catholic fellow-countrymen were recognised in more ways than one ; and in 1813, Several years before it was in their power to elect him as their representative, the Catholics of the Co. of Roscommon presented him with a large and handsome silver cup “as a mark of grateful regard for his disinterested and valuable services in the cause of civil and religious liberty.” Owen O'Conor married on the 20th June, 1792, Jane, daughter of Edward Moore, Esq., of Dublin, and had two sons, Denis and Edward, and several daughters, one of whom married Mr. Mapother of Kilteevan, Co. Roscommon. A.D. I820–1831.] THE O'CONORS OF CONN AUGHT. 329 Denis O'Conor, his eldest son, succeeded him in the representation of the county, which he retained until his death in 1847; but as it is not the purpose of this Memoir to bring the family history beyond the date at which we have now arrived, no more fitting ending may perhaps be given to this sketch of Owen O'Conor's career, than by the insertion of the following touching letter written to his son by Daniel O'Connell, on hearing of the death of his dear friend and colleague :- “LoNDON, 29th June, 1831. “MY DEAR O'ConoR,-The death of my most respected and loved friend, your father, was to me a severe blow. It severed one of the kindliest links which bound me to society. How little does the world know of the value of the public services of men who, like him, held themselves always in readiness, without ostentation or parade, but with firmness and sincerity, to aid in the struggles which nations make for liberty. His part was zealous, persevering, fraught with the purest integrity, and most eminently useful. I really know no one individual to whom the Catholics of Ireland are so powerfully indebted for the successful result of the contest for emancipation. His respectability in private life, the many amiable qualities which even his political enemies were compelled to admire, gave an additional force and value to his public exertions. His was not holiday patriotism, nor did he wait for the favourable gale of popular applause and national exertion to become one of the crew of the ark that bore the destinies of Ireland. No. In the worst of times, and when the storms of calumny and persecution from our enemies, and apathy and treachery from our friends, raged at their height, he was always found at his post, struggling manfully against the evil, and continuing that struggle even when hope itself was almost extinct. His death has made a void—not to be filled up— in the ranks of the sincere friends of Ireland. May the great God of Heaven receive him in mercy, and may the affectionate and respectful sorrow of his friends serve as a consolation to those of his own family, who more nearly feel and deplore his loss. My beloved friend he was, and to my own grave shall I carry the soothing recollection of his public and private virtues. “Believe me to be, my dear O'Conor, “Your most faithful and sincere ‘‘DANIEL O'Conne LL.” C H A P T E R XX V I I I. 0-sº º'e A.D. I631–18OO. BRIAN O'CONOR, FOURTH SOAV OF SIR AIUGH O'CONOR DON. %AVING traced the fortunes of the descendants of the three elder Sons of Sir Hugh O'Conor Don, there now remains to be dealt with the family of his fourth and youngest son, Brian. Upon Brian O'Conor the estates of Beagh, Cloonykearney, and Cloony- vinden, were settled by an indenture bearing date 14th April, 1631, and made between Sir Hugh O'Conor Don and his eldest son, Charles, on the one part, and a certain trustee named Turlough O'Teige, for Brian O'Conor, on the other part. As no mention is made in this deed of Brian O'Conor's marriage, it may be presumed that he was not married until a later date. At the time of his father's death, he appears to have been possessed of the lands above mentioned, and to have retained them until after the general confiscation of the lands of Connaught in 1652. Although Brian O'Conor did not take such a prominent part as that taken by his brothers in the struggle in 1641, yet he appears to have been engaged in it, and is referred to in contemporary documents as Captain Brian O’Conor, and sometimes as Brian Ruadh, or Brian the Red. Amongst the depositions taken under the Lord Protector Cromwell, and preserved in the Commonwealth Series, already alluded to,” the following, referring to Brian O'Conor, will be found:— “Dudley O'Flynn of Ballintober, and Dermot O'Connor of Killtolmy, Athlone, having been sworn, deposed— “‘That Brian O'Connor lived at Beagh in the beginning of the rebellion; that he might have removed to the English garrison, but did not do so; that he supplied victuals to the enemy, and attended public meetings of the enemy at Ballintubber Castle and Castlereagh, two of the garrisons of the enemy.’” * Appendix I. * See pages 259 and 273. A.D. 1631–1766.] THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. 331 When the royal cause had failed, and the commissioners at Athlone and Loughrea held their meetings to determine the claims of transplanted persons, Brian O'Conor was either dead or ineligible. His wife, Mary O'Conor, pre- sented her claim in her own name, and in that of her son Roger, and obtained a decree at Athlone, dated September, I655, by which she was comprised in the eighth qualification ; and by final settlement, of 14th May, 1656, was decreed the lands of Beagh and Cloonykearney to hold during her life, with remainder to her son. Notwithstanding this decree, the lands appear for a time to have got into the hands of strangers, with whom they remained until after the restoration of King Charles II. ROGER O'CONOR, SON OF BRIAN. Like his cousins of Ballintober, Castlereagh, and Belanagare, Roger O'Conor joined the fortunes of King Charles II., and served in the Duke of Gloucester's regiment “beyond the seas.” In this regiment he obtained the position of lieutenant, and his name, as such, appears amongst the officers who signed the petition to the king in 1664. Under the Act of Settlement he was restored to his father's estates of Beagh and Cloonykearney, with the exception of a small portion which was left with the Cromwellian settler, named Mathew Simpson. Subsequently, Roger O'Conor adhered to the cause of King James II., and, after his defeat, was attainted of treason. His estates shared in the general forfeiture, and were sold by the Trustees of Forfeited Estates in 1703, and purchased by a Mr. James Walker. OWEV O'CONOR, SON OF ROGER. Owen O'Conor, the son of Roger, subsequently settled at Corrasduna in the Co. of Roscommon; and the following account of his immediate descend- ants is given in Burke's Landed Gentry, under the families of “O'Conor of Dundermott,” and “O’Conor of Milton”:— “Owen O'Connor of Corrasduna, Co. Roscommon, the common ancestor of the family immediately before us, was, as we have already stated, a descendant of the house of O’Connor. He married Catherine, daughter of Ed. MºDermot, Esq., of Emla, Co. Roscommon, and dying, in 1766, left four sons and three daughters:—(1) Roderic of Ballycahir ; (2) Thomas of Milton; (3) Denis of Willsbrook; (4) Bernard, in holy orders. (i) Catherine, married to Hugh O'Conor, brother of Charles O'Conor of Belanagare; and (ii) Mary, married to Joseph Plunkett, of Castle Plunkett ; (iii) Sabina.” * See Appendix M. 332 THE O'CONORS OF CONNAUGHT. [CHAP. XXVIII. RODER/C O'CONOR OF BALL YCA HIR, SON OF O WEN OF CORRA SD UAVA. “Roderic, the eldest son of Owen of Corrasduna, married Mary, daughter of John Fallon, of Coonagh, Co. Roscommon, one of the descendants of the O'Fallons, formerly chiefs of a territory called O'Fallon's country, and died in 1781, leaving three sons and two daughters:— (1) Bernard, d. unmarried ; (2) Patrick, d. unmarried ; (3) Thomas of Newgarden.” From this Thomas, who died in 1831, is descended the family of O'Conor of Dundermott, now worthily represented by Nicholas R. O'Conor, Her Majesty's representative at Sofia in Bulgaria. The descent, taken from Burke's Landed Gentry, is given in the genealogical tables in the Appendix." THOMAS O'CONOR OF MILTON, SECOWD SON OF O WEW OF CORRASD UAVA. Thomas O'Conor, who attained the rank of major in the French service, returned to Ireland, and married, 1747, Mary, daughter of Gerald Dillon of Dillon's Grove, Co. Ros- common, and had issue two sons, Roderic and Owen, and three daughters, Honora, Catherine, and Margaret. He married, secondly, Miss O'Flynn, of the ancient house of O'Flynns of Ballinlough. By her he had no issue, and died in 1800.’ \ The descent from his eldest son, Roderic, is also given in the Appendix, as taken from Burke's Landed Gentry. * See Appendix R. A P P E N D IX. ( 335 ) APPENDIX A.—PAGE Io9. © -º X > e LITTERA FEDLIMIDI O'Connor REGIS CONACTIAE AD REGEM ANGLIAE." § LLUSTRI Regi Angliae Henrico, Dei gratiá, Domino Hiberniae, Comiti } Andegaviae, suus Fedl. O'Konchonur Rex Conact' salutem, cum debità reverentiã et honore. Quoniam nobilissima merita et bona opera a suis subditis debent gratanter et humiliter callaudari, idcirco regiae vestrae majestati, pro variis honoribus nobis collatis, grates referimus infinitas; et maxime pro eo, quod pro nobis Willielmo de Dene, Justiciario vestro Hiberniæ, bonae memoriae, pro restitutione habendá de dampnis, nobis per Walterum de Burgo et suum sequelam, in terrá nostrá de Tyrmara, illatis, devote scripsistis. Unde, cum dictus Justiciarius, ante receptionem literarum vestrarum, diem clausit extremum, nos nullum effectum nec commodum, per dictum vestrum mandatum, licet per . . . . , recepimus adhuc : sed varia dampna & incommoda, per eundem Walterum & Suos complices, adhuc in terra fillii vestri recepimus et sustinemus. Dampnificavit enim cantredam ubi castra vestra sunt & domini Eduardi castra sita Sunt, ad aestimationem sex millium marcarum; exceptis dampnis illatis ecclesiae Elfinetim, tunc in manu nostrá existenti; quae quidem dampna aestimari possunt ad aestimationem trium millium marcarum, ecclesiarum combustione, et clericorum et monialium interfectione. Quare regiam vestram dignitatem humiliter exoramus, quatemus, sicuti terram filii vestri ab hostili incursu praedicti Walteri et aliorum adversariorum nostrorum, observare desideretis, Justiciario vestro, videlicet domino Ricardo de Rupella, nunc existenti, et consilio vestro salubri in Hibernia detis in mandatis ut, secundum prioris mandati formam, praefatum Walterum ad plenitudinem justitiae nobis, super dictis dampnis, nobis et ecclesiae Elfinen' illatis, exhibendam compellat & distringat. Pro certo enim sciatis, quod nunquam a fideli servitio vestro, nec filii vestri, pro aliquá Sollicitatione nobis ab Hiberniensibus factá, recessimus nec recedemus. Nos enim, et nostros, et omnia nostra bona, sub protectione vestra et domini Eduardi premogeniti vestri supponimus; cui omni bona nostra et jura, si qua nobis super totă terrá. Conact', competunt, usque ad adventum suum ad partes Hiberniae observamus & observabimus. Valeat regia vestra majestas in Domino. * See Rymer's Fadera, Vol. I., p. 240, under year 1240. Correct date, 1261. ( 336 ) APPENDIX B.—PAGE I26. ORDER OF KING EDWARD I. ON PETITION OF RICHARD DE BURG, AND RESULT of INQUIRY HELD AT CASTLEDERMOT, A.D. I.305. TRANSLATED FROM LATIN, As GIVEN IN O’FLAHERTy’s “WEST CONNAUGHT,” PP. 189-191. sº ENGLAND SS. CONNAUGHT.] Pleas at Castledermot before John § Wogan, Justiciary of the 33rd year of Edward I., A.D. 1305. Our beloved and faithful Richard de Burg, Earl of Ulster, has made supplication to us, whereas the Irishman, O'Conoghur [O'Conor] who has hitherto perpetrated many homicides, robberies, thefts, and Sundry other enormities, and ceases not to perpetrate them from day to day, in despite of our peace, holds certain of our land in Connaught that is called Scilmorthy [Siolmuiredhaigh], hard by the said land of the same Earl situated there, as a fee from us; that we would grant the said land of Scilmorthy to the same Earl, or to some other Englishman, to be held either in consideration of paying to us from thence annually as much as the said Irish- man has hitherto been wont to pay to us from thence, or in exchange for lands of equal extent and value in the settled country (“in terra pacis”), to be given and conceded to us by the same Earl: We, therefore, wishing to condescend in this matter to the peti- tion of the same Earl, in so far as we may without detriment to ourself, command you that you diligently enquire, by means of the oath of honest and lawful men of those parts, through whom the truth of the matter may the more easily be known, whether we can, without doing injury to ourselves or to any other, enfeof the said Earl, or other Englishman whom we may desire, of the said lands of Scilmorthy, to be held in the manner above mentioned, and how much a year the said land of Scilmorthy is worth in all its produce, according to the true value of the same : and you shall send to us the enquiry truly and openly made under your seal and the seals of those by whom it has been made without delay and that shortly. Witness myself at Wymlyngwelde, on the 13th day of July, in the 33rd year of our reign. By the authority of which mandate the Justiciary has here proceeded to make enquiry thereupon, by means of the undermentioned, in the following manner. Inquiry taken at Castledermot before John Wogan, Justiciary of Ireland, for fifteen days from St. Michael's Day in the 33rd year of King Edward by the undermentioned, APPENDIX. 337 viz.: Robert Gent; Matthew Drew; Stephen Tallry; John Flemming; Nicholas Foleramb, of the said land of Scilmorthy; Jordan of Exeter; John of Staunton ; Richard Dulyt; William Gaynard, Knight, of the county of Connaught ; Walter of Riddlesford ; Michael of Kerdiffe; Adam le Poer; Philip Fitz Ade; Stephen le Prond, of the same county; Walter le Brett; William St. Leger; Richard de Walleis, Knight, of the county of Tipperary; John Fitz Ryrteth ; William of Grafton; John of Lowth ; William Serle; Rodolph Serle; Peter Muriet; John le Ken, of the same county; Richard Gernoun ; Henry de Crus of the county of Meath ; Richard de Valle, Knight, of the county of Tipperary, and John Coterel, of the county of Meath: Who being sworn say upon their oath that, after the land of Scilmorthy, which contains five cantreds, came into the hands of the Lord King, after the conquest which William de Burg made of Connaught, a certain Irishman named Ffeylym O'Conoghur, who called himself King of Connaught, held the same five cantreds from the Lord King Henry, the father of the now Lord King, paying from thence every year five hundred marks to the Lord King. And Ffeylym himself all his life kept good peace and faithfully discharged his tribute. And after his death his son arose and became felon of the Lord King, and slew the Lord King's English lieges of his parts, and stirred up general war against the Lord King who now is, and destroyed his castles of Ros- common and Randon ; which castle of Roscommon Robert Dufford, the first time that he was Justiciary of the now Lord King, had established at almost inestimable costs; on account of which he was outlawed, and died a felon of the Lord King ; so that from the time of the death of Ffeylym O'Conoghur until the time when the aforesaid Robert Dufford came again as Justiciary, the Lord King took little or nothing from the afore- said land, except from one cantred which is called O'Many, which the Lord King had now given to Richard de la Rokele as a fee farm ; and the said Robert, in his second coming, by means of great armies and almost inestimable expenses, again established the castle of Roscommon in the aforesaid land, and himself granted to a certain O'Conoghur two cantreds and a half of the aforesaid land as a fee farm ; viz.: the cantred of May- lurg and Tyrelele, and the cantred of Tothes, excepting one villate of land which is called Cloinnagganenan, which belonged to Richard de Calne, which is now in the hands of the Lord King through the minority of the heir of the same, and half of the cantred of Moyhe, by the payment from thence of a hundred marks to the Lord King every year. And so afterwards divers Justiciaries granted to divers Irishmen of that kindred and name those two cantreds and a half, by a like fee, but these Irishmen rarely paid the whole fee from thence, and often [paid] in part, and more often nothing. And they say that the aforesaid two cantreds and a half are worth in the more common years, in time of peace and in all produce, one hundred marks. And they say that if the Irish had been driven from those parts, and the lands settled with faithful men, those two cantreds and a half would be worth two hundred and fifty marks a year, as the aforesaid Ffeylym paid for them : but they say that this cannot be done without a X X 338 APPENDIX. great power of the Lord King himself, and incalculable expenses exceeding the value of the said land, since the aforesaid O'Conoghur is one of the five Irish Captains of Ireland. And they say that the Lord King, without doing injury to himself or to another, can enfeof the said Earl, or some other whom he may wish, of the aforesaid two can- treds and a half, which O'Conoghur now holds, besides the aforesaid villates of land. And they say that it will be to the advantage of the said Lord King and his faithful men of those parts if the Lord King give that land to the aforesaid Earl in exchange for a hundred mercates of land, or their revenues, in the settled country, especially as the aforesaid Earl has his lands in Connaught and Ulster, and a large power of English and Irish close by that land, by means of which he shall be better able to chastise the Irish of that land than another. In testimony of which thing the aforesaid jurors have set their seals to this enquiry on the day and in the year above mentioned. ( 339 ) APPENDIX C.—PAGE 1.52. – sº- EXTRACTS FROM A LETTER OF PROFESSOR O'Looney ON THE TITLE “Don.” = \{HE primary meaning of the word ‘Don’ or ‘Dond' was Lord, King of Kings, or Chief King, e.g., “Pond nimhe neul,’ ‘King of the cloudy heavens.’ In this sense it may have been adopted by the ruling branch of the O'Conor family as a kingly distinction to denote the supremacy of that branch from which the ‘Don’ or King of Connaught should be chosen. “It is true that the words ‘Don’ and “Roe' (recte, Donn and Ruadh) mean also brown and red, and when used as adjectives the colours represented by those words are understood to be distinguishing characteristics of the persons referred to ; and in this way “Conchobur Don’ and ‘Conchubar Roe' would be correctly translated ‘Conor the Brown,” or brown-haired, and “Conor the Red,” or red-haired. It is not contended that this modern interpretation had been heard of until the history of the struggle between ‘Don’ and ‘ Roe' came to be written. “A few examples from our ancient laws and literature will give a fair idea of the sense in which the word ‘Don’ or “ Dond’ was used in earlier days : e.g., “A)ond na n-du/ dom uthaing'—‘The Lord of the Elements preserving me,” or ‘May the High-king of the Elements preserve me.” In this case it will not be contended that ‘A)on' or ‘Dond’ means brown hair, for in this invocation the term is applied to the ‘Sovereign Zord of the elements,’ the great God of heaven and earth. The word is used in the same sense in an ancient poem on the respective duties of kings and subjects regarding the possessions of this world :— ‘ Ooman out.A11) cAé n-ouinne ComAnnAo ‘oono niš mime.” * The command of the Sovereign Azng of heaven. The world is the inheritance of every man.” “Here also “Dond’ means ‘High-king,' ‘Sovereign Zord,' ‘Supreme King,' and most distinctly applied to the high King of heaven. “A)on' or “ Dond’ is also used 340 APPENDIX. in the academical sense as a title of honour, a degree, or dignity conferred on philoso- phers and poets of eminence, and in the same sense as 1115-b^no, a king-poet, being a title or degree intended to convey the highest honour. “The term ‘ Pon' or “JCond’ may, perhaps, find some further illustration from a thorough examination of the ancient ceremonials and customs which prevailed at the inauguration of the kings of Ireland under the guidance of the ancient Brehons, when the most important ceremony was the installation of the new king into his ‘Pond,' for, according to the Ancient Laws and Institutes of Ireland, “he was not a “ Dond’’ or king, until his residence is surrounded with a Dunn and a “Dreacht Gial/nai,” or Foss of Servitude.” “The term ‘ Pom’ or “ Dond’ is, in my opinion, closely allied with the Irish ZXunn, or fortified residence, such as those described in the Brehon Laws, where it is laid down that the residence of a Dond-Righ or high-king, who is constantly residing at the head of his people, that is, in the province or territory of which he is king, was as follows:– “‘Seven-score feet of properly measured feet is the measure of his ‘Dum’ each way; seven feet is the thickness of its mound at top, twelve feet is its thickness at its base. This is-the-‘ Pun,”—that is, the lawful or official-residence of a Dond, or king, and he is not a king only when his ‘Pun’ is surrounded by a ‘ Preacht Gia/nai,” or rampart of allegiance, that is, with a mur or foss, that is, a fortifying wall built up for him by the hostages of the kings and chieftains who are with him, and under his sway, and whose Gialnai, or hostages, he holds as pledges for their allegiance, support, and good faith during his reign.’” “Having said so much about the Irish Dun and its surroundings, and having endeavoured to point out the analogy between the words ‘Don’ and “Dunn,” and the bearing, in olden times, of one upon the other, I have no hesitation in submitting that the term ‘Don’ is a distinguishing title meaning Lord, King, Crown Prince, generally applied to members of the supreme or ruling family. “I am, my dear O'Conor Don, “Yours faithfully, “BRIAN O'LOONEY.” ( 341 ) APPENDIX D.—PAGES 154–156. ©-sºº ºf º-O SUBMISSION OF TURLOUGH OGE O'CONOR TO KING RICHARD II., A.D. 1395. Adhue de Instrumentis tangentib; tram Hibnie. In Dei ndie Amen Per §sens publicum instrumentum cunetis appeat evident ãd anno ab incarnačáe Dāi scdm cursum ‘t computa&em ecclie Anglicane ‘t hibnice miffmo tricentesimo nonogesimo quinto indicóe £cia Pontificatus sanctissimi in Xjo frist drii nri di Bonifacii divina pvidencia Pape noni anno sexto Mense Aprit die vicesimo primo in quadam cama ordinis fratrum Þdicato; extra muros in suburbiis Kilkennie Ossoriens dio6 in Hibnia situata. In mei notarii publicit testiu subscripto; Psencia psonalit constitutus illustrissimus Princeps Rićus Dei gra Rex Angt "t Franč 't Diis Hibn quâdam tram rubea sera sigillatam a Teotrico O Chonchowyr diio Chonachie viro hibnico 't famoso exibuit ‘t michi tradidit necnon requisivit me notariú subscriptu confide sibi publicum instrumentum continens veram copiam litte supius memorate cujus tenor in lineis sequentib; lucide declaratº Illistrissimo principi ac diio diio suo Ričo digna Dei gra Regi Angt "t Franč diio Hibnie humagili subjecööem ac salutem. In principio istius tre serie me ifim majestativre regie tanám verus subditus recomendo Sciateciam via majestas (id hue usq3 majores EIibnici tocius Conachie "t nunc sub subportače vre regie majestatis michi subsunt paucis dumtaxat exeptistanåm vero heredi Bdecesso; meo; ‘t legittimo quibs quondam vii Bdecessores Prast diiia concesserunt "t adhue juxta concessa p majori pte possidio licet quidam alius de gente mea Theotricus Ruffus nôie potencia quo;dam Hibnico; p me expostfacto expulso; cupiens dominili meli ‘t £decesso; licet spurius ‘t filius spurii fuit sibi appriare anelavit advocačóem qua vocatus sum appellatiè nôſe more Hibnico; O Chöcubuyr qui minus potens aliquaspecias tra; cum subporta&e mea possidet ppe diiium meum quib; munciis si majestati vre placet usq3 adventum meum fidem non adhibeatis tamen licet 342 APPENDIX. cont” voluntatem diºso; Hibnico; mei diiii ad vidend wram regiam majestatem si vie majestati inde placilit in comitia di Iacobi Comitis Hermonie infallibiliº declinabo qui bina idiomata vulgarit loquitº supplico eciam humili supplicače magestati vre regie si placet quatenus michi p latorem psencili quicquid in Émissis voluntatis vie sit quod faciam scribi faciatis; valeat "t vigeat via regia majestas cum hostill vindicta ad gubna&em vio; regno; "t dāiog. Script apud Rosschomain £cio die Aprit Wester semp humif't obediens subditus Teotricus O Chonchowyr majoš Hibnico; Chonachie dis Quam littam Ego notarius subscriptus widi palpavi plegi 't in hand veram copiam Sub instrumento redegi Act sunt hee omia "t singta put supius scribunt, t recitant sub anno indicò Pont Mens die ‘t loč Bdict Psent tune ibidem vehlabilib; viris diis Nicho Slake archidiacono Welleń 't Thoma Merk Monach Westmonastii Londoñ dioé testib; ad Bmissa vocat specialit ‘t rogatis. Et ego Thomas Sparkforde cticus Bathoñ ‘t Wellens diod publicus auctoritate aptica notarius Émissis oſhib; "t singlis dum sic ut Bmittit agent t fierent sub anno indicò Pont Mens die 't loco ſºldiet unacum inéiatis testib; Þsens inefui eag; sic fieri vidiºt audiwi scripsi "t in hanc publicam formam redegi signoq3 z nôſe meis solit “t consuetis signawi rogatus ºt requisitus in fidem 't testióm Öim Émisso;. Adhue Cofiña de emino séé Trinitatis Anno xviii” Regis Rići Sedi Adhuc Recorda' Hibn Ss. B instrumentis publicis indenturis t aliis munimentis tangent tram Hibfi ad seem p Efim Sa; Thes Angt libat irrotulat. Memorand qd vehlabilis pat Johes Effus Sa; Thes Ang! libavit Cui XXV tº die Junii hoc emino duo hanapia quo; unli continet triginta ‘t movem Instrumenta publica tangencia tram Hibn et aliud tras eidem Regi missas ac indenturas et alia munimenta ad numü triginta t sex qua; quidem fraž viginti "t tres script sunt in papir asserens idem vehabilis pat ºd Dñs Rex Angſ easibilibavitt floepit ac firmit injunxit ut ea in socio suo irrotulari facett postea in thria sua salvo custodiend poilet sup quo Barones hujus socii ea irrottari Beeperunt in hec S) vba. * Exchequer Q. R. Memoranda Roll Trinity. 18 Richard II. APPENDIX. 343 In Deindie Amen Per §sens publică instrumentú eunctis appeat evident qd anno ab incarnačáe Diii Secundu cursum ‘t computaćem ecctie Anglicane ‘t Hibnice millesimo tricentesimo nonogesimo quinto Indicòe beia Pontificatus sćissimi in Xjo patrist Diii ni Diii Bonifacii divina pvidencia Pape noni anno sexto mense Aprilis die vicesimo nono in ecclia conventuali ordinis fratrú minoru infra Ciuitatem Watford in Hibnia situata. In excellentissimi di ni Rići Regis Anglie et Francie z dāi Hibnie necnon mei notarii publici et testill subseripto; p\sencia psonalit constitutus Terrelagh O Conco Don de Conacia mantelli capiciú 3onam “t cultellū ifius a se amovens genib; flexis ad pedes déi diii Regis pcidit ambas manus suas palmis adinvicem junctiserigens ‘t intº manus déi Regis erectas tenens ptulit hee wba in lingua hibnica que p dim Jacobú comitem Hermonie in §sencia pluriu tam efico; q'm laico; linguā hibnicam bene intelli- gencià tune astancià in lingua anglicana fuerunt fidelit divulgata videſt. Ego Terrelagh O Conco" Don de Conacia mee načáis capitaneus devenio ligeus homo diimei Rići Regis Angliet Francie t dili Hibnie suppmidfii meit mee naôis necnon heredú suo; Anglie Regü ab isto die imposterú de vita membrist honore treno ita qd in me vite necisq3 heat 't heant potestatem eidemq3 °t heredib; suis fidet ero in Öib3 ipm ac heredes Suos cont” quoscumq; mundanos juxta meli ‘t Öim meo; posse defendere curabo obediensq3 ero legib; mandatist ordinačib; iño; t iño; cujuslibet veniam déð diionio Regiºt suis heredib; Anglie Regib; ad ifius "t iño; Pliamentú "t consiliū vel alias qācāq; p me miserit vel miserint seu expte ifius "t iſog iſ of ve locatenenciu cu fuero requisitus vocatus vel Bmuni? ad iñm diim Regem heredes ‘t locatenentes suost eo; quemlibet bene 't fideliº veniam consulend ºt faciam in omib; ‘t singuf id quod bonus ‘t fidelis ligeus homo fade debet ‘t tenet.* naturali ligeo diio suo sic Deus me adjuvet ‘t hec súa Dei evågelia Ad quam quidem ligeanciam "t fidelitatem dicto diio nio Regi tanām suppmo dào suo suis hedib; observand 't juvamen inpendend tactis p ijm sacroscis evngeliis t deosculatis juramentii Pstitit corporale 't ex habundanti simili juramento se astrinxit qd si qd absit défi juramentii suli in pte vel in toto violaverit quică p sevel alios faciendo vel fieri peurando in déi diinii Regis Vl heredú suo: Vl magestatis sue contemptii Vl offensam aut rei publice sue vel heredu suo; detrimentii solvet came apostolice viginti mille marcas sºlingo; bone ºt legalis monete anglicane quo facto děus diis nº Rex §fatüTerrelagh O'Conco Don p ligio suo admisit quib; pactis accessit Wiffs de Borgo "t fecit homagiù ligeti Bfato diio Regi sub forma consimili Blibata t ejus inepres fuit Jacobus Comes H'monie quo facto appiaWüt Bernardus filiº Tathei O Brien 't Dormicius filius O Brien de Tothomonia juraverunt se éé fideles lig PdCi di Regist quilibet eo; obligavit se solve camere Pape mille libras splingo; bone ‘t legal monete anglicane 344 APPENDIX. sinon Svavint juramenta sua illibata ut Edicit 't eo intpres fuit Jacobus Comes Hermonie quib; expletis accesserunt Odo. O. Kenedy Fen 't Thomas OKenedy Don de Momenia feeunt homag lig dicto dio Regi sub forma ut Édiciti" memorata excepto (id non obligant came aptiče et eo? intpres fuit Geraldus Tellowu quo facto venerunt Theobaldus filius Walteri rebellus ‘t Davy Galle de Borgo de Momenia fecerunt homag lig dieto diio Regi nulla obligač6e came aptice int'posita sub forma supius anotata in lingua anglicana 't eo; intpres fuit dis Wiffs Scroope Camarius dii Regis quib; fideliter pactis accesserunt vehlabiles in Xào patres dili ac di Patricius "t Gregorius Dei gra Fynaborense ‘t Dwacense Effi genib; flexis ad pedes Édicti di ni Regis peiderunt qui dixerunt qd Bernardus O Bryn princeps Tothomonie 't Terrelagh O Conco" Don de Conacia huerunt potestatem faciendi homag lig p naćib; eoždem et p néib; subscriptis quilibet eo; tactis p ifos seriatim sacrosćis evågeliis "t deosculatis juramentú （stitit corporale quo; néia p quib; Bernardus Obryn obtinuit potestate faciend homag lig dinoscunt" ee ista widett Laurencius Maconmara. Tatheus Macmahona. Mauricius filius Macmahona. Cornelius O Conho". Irel O Lachlayn. Cornelius O Deayge. Odo. O Hachir ‘t Donaldus O Hachir. Et nóia p quib; Terrelagh O Conco". Doñ huit potestate faciendi homag lig sunt ista scilicet Donaldus O Conho". Tomaldagh macdonchaegh. Rogerid O Dovda. Schane O Haghra. Tadeus O Haghra. Tomaldagh O Gaghra. Molrvanygh Macdernoda. Malachia O Galle. Eugeni” O Madagan. Cristanus O Molwrend. Odo O Hanle. Tatheus O Bryn. Dormici.” O Flannagan. Schane Macdearnama 't Teyernan O. Roerdegh. Sup quibs ofib; t singlis Edicti Terrelagh O Conco Don. Wiffs de Borgo. Bernard” filius Tathei O Brien. Dormici filius O Brien. Odo O Kenedy fen. Thomas O Kenedy Doñ. Theobaldus filius Walteri Davy Galle de Borgo 't vehlabiles in Xfo fires dili Patricius "t Gregorius Fynaborense "t Dwacense epi requisiverút me notariu subscripti confide eis publicii seu publica instrumentii seu instrumenta Acta Sunt hee omia "t singta put supius scribuntº ‘t recitant” sub anno Indicò Pont Mense diet loč £dicte §sentib; tune ibidem vehabilib; in Xjo patrib; dāis ac diis Robto Dei gia Dublionense Archiepo Ričo Tideman Robto Robto "t Wiff. Cicestrense Landav Ossoriense Lismorense 't Watford 't Clonfortense epis necnon Edwardo Comite de Ruttelond ‘t de Cork. Iohe Holand Comite de Hontyngdoñ 't Thoma Moubray Marescallo Anglie "t Comite de Notyngh" testib; ad Émissa vocatis specialit ‘t rogatis. Et ego Thomas Sparkeford chicus Bathofi ‘t Welleń diod publicus auctoritate aptica notarius Bmisse omib; t singtis dum sic ut fºrmittit agent t fierent sub anno Indiće Pont Mense die ‘t loč Šdicte unacú Enöiate testib; psens intfui eag; sic fieri vidiºt APPENDIX. 345 audiwi scripsi "t in hanc publicam formam redegi signoq3 °t nôie meis solitis 't e { } © tº º tº dº • = r_j tº SY © consuetis signavirogatus’t requisitus in fidem 't testimoniu Gim Émisso;. Constat michi notario de rasura hui” wbi “et” radati in vicesima li it Hand J vol. “ et radatl in vicesIma IInea a capite numan Et constat Et constat michi notario antedicto de rasura hujus ºbi “minor” radati in Secunda linea ab eodem capite dissendend. Adhue de Instrumentis tangentib; tram Hibnie. In Deindie Amen Per §sens publică instrumentii cunctis appeat evident qd Anno ab incarnaće Diii scdm cursum "t computačáem ecclie Anglicane "t hitnice millesimo tricentesimo nonogesimo quinto Indicòe peia Pontificatus Söissimi in Xjo fris "t dāi Bonifacii divina pwidencia Pape noni anno sexto mense Maii die primo in navi excellentisimi principis ‘t drii ni diii Rići Regis Angliet Francie "t dāi Hibnie le Trinite vulgarit nuncupato in portu Watford existenti in Hibnia. In mei notarii publicit testium subscriptof §sencia psonalit constitutus Illutrissimus Ricardus Rex Bdictus unacú vehlabilib; in Xjo patrib; ac diis diis Ričoºt Robto Dei gia Cicestreñ Lismorenst Watfordeñ epis accesserunt Terrelagh O Conco Don de Conacia Wiffs de Borgot Walterus Bermyniam qui quondam ut dicebat cont" Bfatü Regem fuerunt rebellest navem Edictii ascenderunt "t pni in eodem pstrati iñm Regem adoraverunt, idemq3 dis fir Rex iño; adventù respicienst affectans ne a conspectu suo sine munere vel honore recederent ifos in milites creauit ‘t singulo mili . . insignivit ac in signü ordinis hujusmodi eis p ijm Regem concessi ad Osculum pacis de Sua excellenti benignitate admisit ensesq3 eis ut eis honeste utent assignavit, ae statim post dis Henricus Percy "t dris Wifts Arondel milites calcaria deaurata in signü ordinis hujº sup talos eogdem posuerunt §fati Wo Terrelagh Conco Don Wihs de Borgo 't Walterus Bermyniam sic milites creati revencias tanto Regi debitas tam in genuflectando q‘ eciam manuū ereccoiby juxta eo; possibilitates ut michi notario apparuit impenderunt Sup quib; omib; t singtis Bdictus illustrissimº Ricardus Rex mandavit me notariú subscriptii confide sibi publicum instrumentii. Act sunt hee omia ºt singta put sup”scribunt,” “t recitant sub anno Indicò Pont Mense diet loč Šdicte Psentibg tune ibidem diis Iohe Boo; decano libe capelle familie dii Regis Édicti fratre Iohe Borghulle confessore Regis p tempore 't Thoma Merk monacho Westmonastii Londoñ dioé testib; ad Émissa vocatis specialit 't rogatis. Et ego Thomas Spkeford cticus Bathoñ "t Welleń dioé publicus auctoºte aptica notarius Émisse omib; t singfis dum sic ut Bmittit agent "t fierent sub anno Indicò Pont Mense die et loč Bdicte una cü Bnoiate testib; Esens inefui aqe 3 sicifieri vdi audiwi scripsi t in hand publică formam redegi signoq3 ‘t nóie meis solitis “t consuetis signavi rogatus ºt requisitus in fidê "t testimoniti Öim Bmissož. y y ( 346 ) APPENDIX E.—PAGE 1.95. © º – Lº C. INDENTURE BETweeN SIR John PERROT, KNT., HUGH O'ConoR DON, AND OTHERS, A. D. I 585. Lord Deputy-General of Ireland, for and on behalf of the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, on the one parte, and the Lords, Chieftains, &c., of Moylurge, alias M*Dermott's countrye, O'Connor Roe's countrye, and O'Connor Dune's countrye, viz., the rev. fathers in God, William, Archbishoppe of Tuam; John, Bishoppe of Elphin : Hugh O'Konnor of Ballintubber, otherwise called O’Konnor Dune, chief of his name ; Fergananym O’Hanly of Knockensheigh, chief of his name; Sir Thomas le Strange, Kng', of Athleage ; Carbrye O’Birne, of the Dyngan, chief of his name ; Bryan M*Dermott, of the Carrick, chief of his name ; Teige M*Towmultagh, of Croghan, gent. ; Townultagh Oge, of Balleniskillen, gent.; Townultagh M*Hughe, of Dromaherlagh, gen. ; Oene Grany, of Camgire ; Ferrall Mac Dermonde Roe, chief of his name ; Connor Oge M*Dermond, of the . . . Taniste ; Cahall Oge M*Mulrony, of the Eaden, gen. ; Mulrony M*Dermod Gald, chief of his name; Duwaltagh M*Toolie O'Connor, of Bracklone, gen. ; Cahall M*Toole, of Castle- reogh, gen. ; Feagh O’Floyne, of Sleevlyne, chief of his name ; Callac O'Floyne, of the Clydaghe, gen. ; Terreleagh Keagh M'Sweeny, of Knocknelaghty, gen. ; Teige O'Connor Roe, chief of his name; Hugh Mac Terrelagh Roe, of Cloonybirne, gen. ; Breene O'Flanagan, of Ballaghaghter, chief of his name ; John Crofton, of Canvoe, gen. ; Robert Nugent of Ballinegille, and Edward White, of Ballinderry, gen., of the other part. “Witnesseth that wheares the s” contries and territories be divided into three baronies, viz., Boyle, otherwise Moylurge, Ballentobber, and Roscommon, which contain as well by ancient division as by late inquisition and presentments hereunto annexed, Ioos quarters of land, each containing 120 acres. Firste, in the barronie of Ballintobber there is a quantitye of land called Tyrevrune-Eaghtragh 48 quarters; whereof belong to Her Majestie in right of the abbey of Kilmor, 4 quarters, and to the Bishoprick of APPENDIX. 347 Elphine, 4 quarters; Leaggan-I-Anlie, 35 quarters ; whereof belong to the Queen in right of the abbey of Sº Peter's, Athlone, 2 quarters, and to the Bishopricke of Elphine, 4 quarters; Knockneshie, 42 quarters: whereof belong to Her Majesty, in right of the abbey of Sº John’s, 2 quarters; in right of the abbey of Knockmoye, 2 quarters; and in right of the abbey of Clontoyskert, 8 quarters. In Moynter-Rea are these parcells fol- lowing, viz.: Ballyglasse, Io quarters ; Leytrim, 6% quarters ; Caggall, 3% quarters; Kilteig, 4 quarters; Ballinboyane, 4 ; Cashellenaghan, 2.; Dromaave, I ; the Kriagh, 4 quarters ; Mollemuckle, 4 quarters; Raconnogher, 4 quarters; Ballenrie, 4 quarters; Carran, I quarter; Lisnecrohie, I quarter; Ballenbogher, I quarter; Clonybirne, 2 quarters; Ardsallaghe, 2 quarters, whereof belongeth to the Bishoprick of Elphin, I quarter; Ballenovmerie, 4 quarters; the Cloyne, 2 quarters, whereof one quarter belongeth to Her Majesty, in right of the abbey of Derran ; also Carrowe Roe, I quarter, belongeth to Her Majesty, in right of the abbey of Roscommon ; Kilbride, 4 quarters, belonging to the Bishoprick of Elphin. Also there belongeth to Her Majesty, over and besides the lands aforesaid, in the said Moynter Raae's lands, in right of the said abbey of Roscommon, 18 quarters; also Shellerone, 44 quarters, whereof belongeth to the Archbishoprick of Tweame, 4 quarters; Clayne Kearne, 44 quarters; whereof belongeth to the Bishoprick of Elphin in Termon Killyne, 4 quarters; also Cowryne Clane Connor, 42 quarters, whereof belongeth to Her Majesty, in right of the abbey of Ros- common, 3 quarters, and belongeth to the Bishoprick of Elphin, 8 quarters; Ballen Rossemyn, 4 quarters; Cloonkerney, I quarter; Beaghe, I quarter; Sleight Grany ne Rellie's land in Clain-Connor and Maghery Shielle Tirrelaghe, 22 quarters, whereof belongeth to the Queen, in right of the abbey of Roscommon, I quarter, and to the Bishoprick of Elphin, I quarter—which, in the whole within that barronie of Ballin- tober, cometh to 372 quarters. In the barronie of Roscommon, there is a quantity of land called the Clonties of O’Connor Roe, otherwise called Cowrine M*Brenan, 72 quarters; whereof belong to the Queen, as of the abbey of Boyle, 4 quarters, as of the abbey of Conge, 4 quarters, and to the Bishoprick of Elphine, 2 quarters; also in Cowerine Tuilske there is a quantity of land called Sleight Phelyme Cleary, 26 quarters; whereof belongeth to the Queene, in right of the abbey of Tuilsk, 2 quarters, and to the Bishoprick of Elphin, 4 quarters; also Clanartie, 28 quarters; whereof belongeth to the Queen, in right of the abbey of Tuilsk, I quarter, in right of the abbey of Knockmoy, 4 quarters, and of Trinity Abbey, in Loughkee, I quarter; also there belongeth thereof to the deanery of Elphin, 2% quarters; also Cowrine Flanegan, 43 quarters, whereof belongeth to the archbishop of Tweeame [Tuam], 2 quarters, to the Bishoprick of Elphine, Io quarters, Sleight Phelim Ffinn, 6 quarters, Sleight Cahall duffe, 1% quarters—which, in the whole within that barronie, cometh to 216 quarters. In the Barony of Boyle, otherwise Moylurge, there is a quantity of land called Artagh, 68 quarters; whereof belongeth to the Queene, in right of the abbey of Clonshanville, 2 quarters; to the Bishoprick of Elphin, as is said, 6 quarters; and to 348 APPENDIX. Theobald Dillon, 28 quarters; also the abbey of Boyle, 27 quarters, which belongeth to Her Majesty, in right of the said abbey; also the Trinity [Trinytie] Abbey, 6 quar. ters belonging to Her Majestie, in right of the same ; also the abbey of Inshevick- renie [nerin], 3 quarters, belonging to Her Majestie, in right of the said Abbey; also Cowrine Bryan Mac Dyermod, 68 quarters; Claynecahill, 36 quarters; Tyrehouill and Kilty-Connogher, 32 quarters; also Kilrenan, 4 quarters, belonging to Her Majestie, in right of the Trynite abbey aforesaid ; Ballynekeale, 4 quarters, belonging to the Bishoprick of Elphine, Cowrine-ne-tas-ce, 44 quarters; whereof 4 quarters belongeth to the Bishoprick of Elphine; also Isertnawe, I quarter, belonging to the Queen, in right of the Trinitie Abbey; also Kilnemanagh, 2 quarters, belonging to the Bishoprick of Elphin ; Lisseogivoge, }, quarter; Creavollan, ; quarter—which, in the whole within that barronie, cometh to 296 quarters. Also in the same baronie there is a quantity of land called the Rannae, 15 quarters; also there is a quantity of land in the above-named barronie of Ballentobber, called Karrawreagh, Carrow-Entaloghan, Carrowentobber, Carrow-Beallagh-Kylly, and # quarter in Killester, consisting in the whole of 4% quarters; whereof belongeth to the deanery of Elphine, 3 quarter—all which, being drawne into one total, cometh to the aforesaid number of Ioos quarters. “The said lords, chieftains, &c., acknowledging the manifold benefits and ease- ments they finde in possessinge of their lands and goods since the peaceable govern- ment of the said Lord Deputie, and the just dealinges of Sir Richard Binghame, Knight, doe grant to the Queen's Most Excellent Majestie, her heirs and successors for ever, one yearlie rent-charge of tenn shillings, good and lawful money of England going out of every quarter, and for lacke of money the thresurer or General Receiver to receive kyne to the value of the said rente. And further, do covenant to aunswere and bear 3o good able horsemen and I2O footmen well-armed, with carriage and victualls, to all hostings, roods, and journies within the said province of Connaught and Thomond, an ten good hable horsemen and 40 footmen well-armed to all general hostings proclaimed in the realme. “The said Lord Deputie, for and in behalfe of the Queene's Majesty, dothe cove- nant, promise, grant, and agree that the above-named Hugh O'Connor Dune, for his better maintenance, and in recompence of such customary duties, exactions, and cuttings as he pretended to have of O'Birne, O’Hanlie, O’Fflynne, and other freeholders of the said barronie of Ballintobber, shall have, by letters patent, to him and his heirs, not only the castle of Ballintobber, and all other castles and lands as belonge to the name and calling of O'Connor dune, but also such lands and castles as he is now justlie seized of as his inheritance, to run in succession to him and his heirs, by course and order of the laws of England; and also shall have 7 quarters of land free, as a demayne to his said castle of Ballyntobber. “That Teige oge O'Connor, for his better maintenance of living, and also in recompense of such customarie duties, exaccons, and spendings as he pretended to have APPENDIX. 349 of O'Flanegan, M*Brenan, and other freeholders of said barronie of Roscommon, shall have by letters patent to him and his heires, not only the castle of Beallnemully, and all such other castles and lands as belong to the name and calling of O'Connor Roe, and as he is now seised of his inheritance; and also 4 quarters free, as a demayne to said castle of Beallnemully. “That Bryen M*Dermot, for his better maintinence of living, and also in recom- pence of such customarie duties, exaccons, and spendings as he pretended to have of M*Dermot roe, and other freeholders in the barronie of Boyle, shall have by letters patents, not only the castles of Carrick M*Dermot, and all such other castles and lands as belong to the name and calling of M*Dermot ; but also all such as he is now entitled to as his inheritance, to run in succession from him to his heirs, by course and order of the laws of England ; and also 4 quarters free, as a demayne to his castle of Carrick M°Dermot. “That Hu. M*Tirrelagh roe of Clonibirne shall have and take by letters patents, not only all such castles and lands as belong to the name and calling of Tanestship of O'Conor roe, but also all such as he is now seised of as his inheritance; and also 4 quarters free as a demayne to his castle of Clonibirne. “That Carbrie O'Birne of the Dingine shall have, by letters patents, all such lands as belong to the name of O'Birne, for life, with remainder to Donogh O'Birne of Dowen. “That Duwaltagh O’Connor of Bracklowne shall have 2 quarters free, adjoining his castle of Bracklowne in the baronie of Balintobber. “That Connor oge M*Dermod shall have 2 quarters free, as a demayne to his house or towne of Incheaghochur. “That the house or manor of Roscommon shall have 23 quarters free ; whereof 4 quarters of Greene O'Meloye's farme to be parcell. And that the house or manor of Boyle shall have 20 quarters free. “That Sir Tho" le Strange shall have 6 quarters free as a demayne to his house or town of Derran, in the baronie of Roscommon. “That John Crofton shall have 6 quarters free, as a demayne to his house and castle or Castlebragade, alias Canvoe, in the baronie of Boyle. “That Edward White shall have 4 quarters free, as a demayne to his castle or house of Ballenderry, in the barronie of Ballintobber. “That William Clifford shall have 4 quarters free, as a demayne to his house or town of the Calla, in the barronie of Boyle. “That Theobald Dillon shall have 6 quarters free, viz.: Carrowe-Ryogh, I quarter; Carrowtullaghane, I quarter, in the barronie of Ballintobber; and 4 quarters in Bally M“Morroghe and Bally-ne-Shie, in the barony of Boyle, as a demayne to his castle and mannor of Bynfaddee, in the Co. of Mayo. “That Myles Kavanagh shall have 2 quarters free as a demayne, to his castle of Newtowne, in the barronie of Roscommon. 350 APPENDIX. “That Patrick Morgan of Artaghe shall have 4 quarters free, as a demayne to his house or town of Ballymacaden, in the barronie of Boyle. “And forasmuch as the meaner sorte of the freeholders, viz., of M*Dermode O'Conor Roe, and O'Conor Done's countries, shall be greatlie burdened by this com- position, if the petty lords and captains next above them be allowed to take such rents and duties as they pretend to belong to the said petty captainships; for remedy whereof it is condescended, concluded, and agreed that the above-named O’Birne, O’Hanlie, O'Flanagan, O'Flinn, M*Breanan, and M*Dermod Roe, and all others of that callinge, shall have, by letters patents, all such castles and lands as belong to the name and call- inge of O’Birne, O’Hanlie, O'Flanagan, O'Flinn, M'Breanan, and M*Dermod Roe, and after the decease of every of them now living, the aforesaid rents shall from thenceforth be utterlie determined and extinguished for ever. In witness whereof the aforesaid lords, chieftains, &c., have hereunto put their seales and subscribed their names, this third day of October, Anno Domini, 1585. “W. TUAMEN. TEIGE M*DERMOD. WILLIAM CLIFFORD. CONNOR OGE. CAHILL OGE M*MULRONY. BRYAN O’FLANAGAN. O’CONNOR ROE. FERRALL M*DERMOD. JOHN BIRTSHALL. COLLO O’FLOYNE. Owen GRANE. TURLOGH M*SWINE. John CROFTON. MULRONY M*DERMOD. CAR. O'BIRN. ROBT. NUGENT. THO. DILLON. * BRYAN M*DEARMOD. HUGH O’ConnoR M*TURLOGH ROE.”! *In the duplicate of this indenture, preserved in the Royal Irish Academy, amongst the Ash- burnham Collection, the only signatories are “Teige M*Dermode, O’Connor Roe, Bryan O'Flanigan, Roberte Nugent, O’Hanley, and Farrell M*Dermode Roe.” ( 351 ) APPENDIX F.—PAGE 1.97. —Q-º-º- DISPUTES BETWEEN LORD DEPUTY PERROT AND PRIvy COUNCIL. CHBISHOP LOFTUS, writing to Lord Burghley in December, 1586, says that he wishes to lay down his office and return to England, as he could not hold subject to the insults heaped on him and the council by à the lord deputy. He says: “The lord deputy at his pleasure doeth and undoeth all things. All which I for my part in private would still bear if I saw not these dealings to be a chief hindrance of Her Majesty's service, for by these means we who by duty or office are chiefly bounden to advance Her Highness' service, are dis- abled from doing thereof, being in this wise disgraced by his lordship in the exercise of our several offices. And would to God that these disgraces rested only upon us who are in office, and did not also reach to all the councellors here who are of English birth, who, by the daily disgraces offered by his lordship, find themselves so discoun- tenanced, that they are utterly disabled to do Her Highness that service which they would. For in case any gentleman in private make petition unto my lord deputy to have his case considered before the council board, his lordship's common answer is this, with great fury: “What tellest thou me of the council P’ ‘What care I for the council P They are all of them but a sort of beggars and squibs, puppies, dogs, dung- hill churls, yea, even the proudest of them come hither with their hose patched at the heels;” also terming the Queen's Chief Justices at the law “ten shilling knaves,’ and using such reproachful and spiteful terms against us that we find ourselves both greatly discontented, discouraged, and disabled from doing of any good.” The disgraceful bickerings between the lord deputy and the council culminated in 1587, in a personal encounter in the council chamber between the lord deputy and the chief marshal, Sir N. Bagenall. Sir N. White gives the following account of this transaction:— “Sir N. Bagenall's son, having been incriminated by one Patrick Cullen of having forged a letter from O'Neill, and on examination of the said Cullen, being ordered before the council, the marshal protested in the following language against the lord deputy taking part in it, or being present at it. 352 APPENDIX. “‘I hear Patrick Cullen is to be examined,’ said the marshal, ‘and I have brought a bill to you and the council to require that your lordship be not present at the examination.”—Said the justice: ‘There is order taken for that matter.”—Said the deputy: “Will you direct me? I will do as I think good, and yet I will not be at it.”— ‘I mistrust,” said the marshal, “there will be false measure used.”—“Nay,” said the deputy, “you shall never have false measure where I shall be.”—“I do not think so,” said the marshal.—“And if you think the false measure,” said the deputy, “shall come by me, I defy you and any other that shall think so of me.”—“I defy you, too,” said the marshal.—“Do you defy me, the deputy P’ said the lord deputy; and with that he rose and went toward the marshal, and with his flat hand touched his cheek once or twice, laying his other hand on his right shoulder, saying, ‘Well, well, marshal (not striking him, as he could have done), if you defied a man in my place in any other country, he would hang you.’—Wherewithal, the marshal, having a staff in his hand, did threatening wise raise up the same, as though he would have stroken the deputy ; wherewith the justice, Sir N. White, and Mr. Fenton went between them; and the marshal, being in the justice's hand, fell down, and upon his rising, said: ‘It will be proved you have used yourself in this matter evil.” “In this matter,’ said the deputy, “you do lie, if you think I have dealt evil in anything.’ ‘You lie,” said the marshal; and to mend it, said: “If you were not deputy, I would say, you lie; for I care not for Sir John Perrot.”—“If I were but Sir John Perrot,” said the deputy, ‘I would teach him that came from a tailor's stall to use me thus.’—‘It makes no matter,’ said the marshal.— “Well,” said the deputy, “because you doate, I will bear with you; otherwise I would commit you to prison.”—“If you did,” said he, ‘I would come out whether you would or not.”—“Very well, Mr. Marshal,” said the deputy, “get you hence; for it is no reason to talk with you. A man would think you were drunk.”—“Nay, you are drunk,” said the marshal.”—(Sir N. White's account of the transaction.) ( 353 ) APPENDIX G.—PAGE 219. —O-ºs-O- FIANT FOR LETTERS PATENT FROM KING JAMEs I. To SIR HUGH O'ConoR DON, DATED 9TH JULY, IN 15TH YEAR OF HIS REIGN, or A.D. 1717.1 24 beene made unto us by our well beloved subject, Sir Hugh O'Connor Don, Knight, that where he hath taken the benefit of our gratious bountie of our commission of defective titles intended to all our subjects of that our realm; and that he proceeded so farre thereunto his great charges that he had a particular and a warrant from our late deputie to passe his lands, but was hindered thereof in regard that our said commission determined : and also the said Sir Hugh O'Connor hath bene an humble suitor unto us, that when our late dear sister, Queene Elizabeth, graunted unto him by letters patente, several manors, landes, rents, and hereditaments, in the countie of Roscomon, at one hundred pounds sterling per annum, and that he paid out of each quarter of those landes ten shillings composition rent, whereby he was to be freed of the s” hundred pounds, being the greater revenue to our crowne, and that he ever since paid the composition rent and noe other, and desired to be freed of the one or the other. At his humble suit we are graciously pleased, and doe require and authorize you to accept a surrender of all the castles, mannors, landes, rentes, reversions, and other hereditaments, that were found by office, or appearing in a particular as aforesaid to be his inheritance, and after such surrender to accept, then our will and pleasure is, and soe we doe hereby require and authorize you, with the advices of some of our learned counsell there, to make one or more effectual graunte or grauntes by our letters patente under the greate seale of that our realme unto the s” Sir Hugh O'Connor, his heirs and assigns, of all such mannors, castles, landes, and hereditaments that he shall soe surrender to be holden of us our heires and successors, by knight's service in capite. And forasmuch as the said Sir Hugh informeth us that he hath not paid the s” rent reserved in the s” patent, but only the composition rent, and that it was never intended he should be charged with both, our pleasure is that you lºgiſt trustie and well beloved, we greete you well. Humble suit hath J * The original of this document is in the possession of the present O'Conor Don. Z Z 354 APPENDIX. examine the truth thereof, and finding his allegations true, that you reserve in our said graunte, to us our heires and successors, the rent reserved by the said patente, or the said composition rent, as to you shall be thought most expedient and available for our crowne and service, and not to charge our said subject or his heires with both the rentes. And our further pleasure is, that you insert in our said graunte authoritie and power for the sº Sir Hugh, his heires and assigns, to hold court leete and court baron, with faire and market, upon partes of the landes soe to be graunted as to you shall seem fitt. And lastlie, our pleasure is, that you insert in our said graunt a pardon of all intrusions, alienations and liveries, and ouster lemains; and alsoe that you insert in our said graunte all clauses, words, and other things necessary to make our graunte effectuall and of validitie, and that you make no mention in our said graunte of the said surrender or of these our letters, lest by inserting of them any dout or question should be made, or happen to make our said graunte defective or void in lawe. Wherefore our pleasure is it should be prevented, and these our letters shall be issued to our deputie and chancellor there now being, as to any other deputie, chief governor or governors, or chancellor, or keeper of the greate seale of that our kingdom that hereafter for the tyme shall be, and to all other our officers and ministers there whom it may concerne, and to every of them, sufficient warrant and discharge in that behalfe. Given under our signet at Falkland the ninth day of July, in the fifteenth year of our reigne of England, France, and Ireland, and of Scotland the fiftieth. To our right trustie and well beloved, Sir Oliver St. John, our deputie of our realme of Ireland, and to our chancellor there now being, and to any our deputie, chief governor, or governors, chancellor or keeper of the greate seale there that hereafter for the tyme shall be, and to all other our officers and ministers there to whom it may appertaine, and to every of them. Exam. per me, Jocob Bellworth, clic, in officio magistri rotulorum. TRANSLATION OF LETTERS PATENT TO SIR HUGH O’ConnoR DON. JAMES, by the grace of God, of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. To all to whom these letters shall come, greeting. Know ye that we of our especial grace, certain knowledge, and meere motion by the consent of our well- beloved and faithful councellor, Oliver St. John, Knight, our Deputy-General of our said kingdom of Ireland, also according to the tenor of certain letters signed by our hand, and under our signet, bearing date, at Falkland, the ninth day of July, in the fifteenth year of our reign of England, France, and Ireland, and of Scotland the fiftieth, and now enrolled in the rolls of our Court of Chancery in our said kingdom of Ireland, have given and granted, and by these present, for us, our heirs and successors, do give, APPENDIX. & 355 grant, and confirm to our beloved subject, Hugh O'Connor Don, Knight, his heirs and assigns, the manor and castle, or stone fortilice of Ballintobber, with the appurtenances, in the county of Roscomon; and also one carucate of land, with its appurtenances called Rossmen, upon a certain quarter of land of which the said castle is situated and built; and also one other quarter of land called Clonykearny, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Behagh, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Clonyvindin, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also two other quarters of land called Ardnamul- lagh, with their appurtenances, in the said county; and also two other quarters of land called Ballinageigher, with their appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Gortnamaddy, alias Bally-Inagan, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Ratheverinkeile, with its appur- tenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Moyn, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Ratheverin- more, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Brecklon, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Rathymige, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Carrowreogh, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land with a castle called Knockalaghta and Firbregge, with the appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Carrow- bane, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also three quarters of land of Cassillteine, with their appurtenances, in the said county ; and also one other quarter of land called Rathagarrow, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Lissgobban, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Knockanirrey, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Knockroe, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Clonsellagh, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Lisboy, with its appur- tenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Carrowmore, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land, called Carrowkeile, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also two other quarters of land called Larragh, with their appurtenances, in the said county; and also half a quarter of land called Cloyboybegg, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also four quarters of land called Ballymaglinn, with the appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Carrowntobber, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Rathnenalge, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Carrowgarron, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Slevin, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land called Lismorierty, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of 356 APPENDIX. land called Carrowgarry, with its appurtenances, in the said county; and also one other quarter of land with a castle called Carrowvealy, with its appurtenances, in the said county; all and singular the which are or were lately considered as parcels of the manor of Ballintobber aforesaid, and lying and being in the said county of Roscomon. And also thirty quarters of land, with their appurtenances, lying and being in the territory of Clankearne, in the said county, except the two quarters of Rathlagge, which were pos- sessed by one Gilleboy O'Flannegan; and also the patronage of the rectory and vicarage of Ballintobber, alias Templebredeh, in the said county. AND MOREovER, of our more abundant special grace, and of our certain knowledge and mere motion, and by the con- sent aforesaid, and according to the intention of the letters aforesaid, we have given and granted, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do give, grant, and confirm unto the said Hugh O'Connor Don, Knight, his heirs and assigns, the head rents or services, of whatsoever kind or nature, by right due or payable unto the said Hugh O'Connor, and which were found by Inquisition lately in that behalf taken, to appertain to or be payable to the said Hugh of and out of the several territories fol- lowing, viz., the territory of Clanconnor, in the said county; the territory called O'Flinn's Country, in the said county; the territory called O'Hanlie's Country, in the said county; the territory called Laggan-O'Hanly, in the said county; and the territory called Tirbreineighter, in the said county. AND ALSO all and singular the castles, mes- Suages, tofts, mills, houses, edifices, structures, barns, stables, dove-houses, fields, Orchards, gardens, lands, tenements, meadows, pastures, feedings, commons, wastes, plains, heaths, turbaries, marshes, woods, underwoods, waters, watercourses, fisheries, fishings, pools, lakes, fish-ponds, mines, as well as rents, reversions, services, rents onerous, rents seck, and rents and services as well free as customary, tenements, farm works, farms, annuities, military feofs, wardships, marriages, escheats, reliefs, heriott fines, amercements, Court Leet or View of Frankpledge, and the perquisites, profits, and all things to a Court Leet or View of Frankpledge belonging or apper- taining; to seize the waifs, goods, and chattels of felons, fugitives, and suicides, that he may bind and be able to reduce to obedience the natives, male and female, and the villains, with their followers ; Estovers, common of estovers, fairs, markets, tolls, customs, and rights and jurisdictions, of what kind soever, and all franchises, privi- leges, profits, advantages, emoluments, and hereditaments whatsoever, with all their members and hereditaments of whatsoever kind, nature, or description, or by what- soever names they may be known, reputed, or recognised, situate, lying, and being, accruing, growing, or issuing from or within the village, township, hamlet, place, or county, or in or within any of them, or any part of the said castle, messuage, lands, tenements, or other hereditaments, belonging, appertaining, incident, or appendant to the premises above granted, or to any of them, or as member, part, or parcel of the same premises above by these presents, or any part of them ever, or at any time heretofore held, known, accepted, occupied, or reputed [to be so held]. AND the reversion and reversions, APPENDIX. 357 remainder and remainders whatsoever, all and singular of the premises above, by these presents granted, and of whatsoever parcel thereunto dependant or expectant, or, of, in, or upon any gift or gifts, concession or concessions, remission or remissions whatsoever or howsoever of the said manor, castle, messuage, village, quarter of land, and other the premises above by these presents granted, or of any parcel thereof heretofore for term of life, lives, or years, or in talliage fee or otherwise of the premises, or of any parcel thereof made or granted, as well of record as not of record existing, and all and singular the rents and annual profits whatsoever reserved upon whatsoever remission or grant of the premises afore granted, or of any parcel thereof made or granted. Likewise the rents and profits, as well casual as annual, of all and singular the premises above by these presents granted, and of whatsoever parcel thereof. AND FURTHER, of our more especial ample grace and certain knowledge and mere motion, with the consent afore- said, we HAVE GIVEN AND GRANTED, and by these presents for us, our heirs and suc- cessors, do give, grant, and confirm unto the said Hugh O'Connor Don, Knight, his heirs and assigns, the said manor, castle, messuage, lands, tenements, hereditaments, and all and singular the other premises above by these presents afore-granted, and every parcel whatsoever thereof, with the appurtenances, in as full, free, complete, and ample a manner and form as all have come to our hands, or into the hands of any of our progenitors or predecessors, Kings or Queens of England, by reason or pretext of any exchange or acquisition, or any gift or grant, or confirmation, or of any surrender, or by reason of Act of Parliament or Acts of Parliament, or by reason of a dissolution, abandonment (relectionem), or surrender of any abbey, priory, or religious house, or by reason of any attainder, forfeiture, or escheat, or in right of our crown, or by any other legal mode whatsoever, by right or title have passed or devolved, and are in our hands, lying and being, or should or ought to be. To have, to hold, and enjoy the said manor and castle of Ballintobber, and all and singular the other premises, henceforth granted with their appurtenances universally unto the said Hugh O'Connor Don, Knight, his heirs and assigns, to the sole and proper possession and use of the said Hugh O'Connor Don, Knight, his heirs and assigns for ever. To hold of us, our heirs and successors, in capite by knights’ service. Atendering yearly to us, our heirs and successors, at the Exchequer of us, our heirs and successors, or into the hands of the Vice-Treasurer, or General Receiver of us, our heirs and successors, in our said kingdom of Ireland for the time being, the sum of thirty-five pounds sterling, current money of England, as rent for the premises, payable at the feast of Easter and Saint Michael the Archangel by even portions, for all rents and compositions whatsoever, and also to render to us, our heirs and successors for ever, such supplies for war, in English, “such risinges out,” as the said Hugh O’Connor Don, Knight, was lately bound to render by indenture of royal composition in the said county of Roscomon, for the ratified portion of lands and territories, above granted. And further, of our more abundant especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, 358 APPENDIX. and by the consent aforesaid, we have forgiven, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do forgive, remit, and cancel to the said Hugh O'Connor Don, Knight, all and singular the arrears, rents, and compositions due or payable to us, at or before the date of these presents, of, or out of, the premises or any parcel thereof; and also all and singular the intrusions and entrances in and upon the premises, or in and upon any parcel thereof, and all and singular the alienations of the premises or of any parcel thereof, without the licence of us or of any of our predecessors, had, made, or committed at any time heretofore by the said Hugh O'Connor Don, Knight, or his predecessors. And further, of our more ample especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, and by the consent aforesaid, we will, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do grant and give licence to the said Hugh O'Connor Don, Knight, his heirs and assigns for ever, that they and every of them may have and hold, and may and shall have power to have and hold, a Court Leet or View of Frank Pledge, and all to a Court Leet or View of Frankpledge belonging or appertaining every year within the manor of Ballin- tobber aforesaid, and the limits and boundaries of the same, to be held before the seneschal or seneschals by the aforesaid Hugh O'Connor Don, Knight, his heirs and assigns, to be named and appointed, according to the form of the statute passed and provided, and that these seneschals, constituted and to be constituted as aforesaid, may have, and every of them may have, full power and authority to enquire, at the said Court Leet or View of Frankpledge concerning all and singular such things and matters whatsoever as in any Court Leet should or are wont to be enquired into, by the laws and customs of our said kingdom of Ireland. And also that the said Hugh O'Connor Don, Knight, his heirs and assigns, may likewise have and hold, and may and shall have power to have and to hold, one other court in the nature of a Court Baron every three weeks in and within the precincts and limits of the manor aforesaid to enquire, hear, terminate and settle all and singular such things and matters, and in the same manner and form as in any Court Baron within our said kingdom of England or in our said kingdom of Ireland, should, or are wont to be enquired, heard, terminated or settled, to be held before their seneschal or seneschals, and before the free followers of the said manor of Ballintobber respectively, and in the same court, to hold pleas of all and singular the actions, transgressions, covenants, accounts, detinues, debts, and demands, whatsoever (which debts or damages not exceeding the sum of forty shillings sterling, current money of England), in and within the precincts and limits of the manor afore- said happening or growing. And that they and every of them may have and perceive, and, from time to time, may and can be able to have and perceive, all and singular the profits, amercements, fines, commodities, advantages, and emoluments whatsoever to the aforesaid market, Court Baron, Court Leet and View of Frankpledge belonging or appertaining, or in the same courts or any of them to be levied, taxed, assessed, or , imposed, or thence in any manner to come, grow, or issue, to be rendered or paid to any of our heirs or successors. And further, of our more ample especial grace, certain APPENDIX. 359 knowledge, and mere motion, and by the consent aforesaid, we will, and by these pre- sents grant and give licence to the said Hugh O'Connor Don, Knight, his heirs and assigns, that they and every of them may have and hold, and may and shall have power to have and hold for ever, a free market in or at the town of Ballintobber on every Tuesday weekly, and a fair or nundines in or at the said town of Ballintobber on every fifteenth day of August and the day following, yearly, to be held for ever, unless the said fifteenth day of August should fall on Saturday or Sunday, in which case we will and grant that the same fair or nundine should begin and be held on the Monday thence next following and the day following, toties quoties, for ever; together with a court of piepowder therein to be held during the said market and fair, with all and singular the liberties, free customs, jurisdictions, priviledges, franchises, and emoluments to the said market, fair, and court belonging or appertaining, and with all and singular the tolls, customs, issues, profits, advantages, and emoluments from the said market and fair and court, coming, growing or arising, provided, however, that these markets and fairs, or any of them, be not of any injury to any market or fair in their neighbourhood. And further, of our more ample especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, and by the consent aforesaid, we will, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, give and grant to the aforesaid Hugh O'Connor Don, Knight, his heirs and assigns, that we, our heirs and successors for ever, yearly, and from time to time, exonerate, quit, and free as well the said Hugh O'Connor Don, Knight, his heirs and assigns, and every of them, as the said castle, messuage, lands, tenements, and all and singular the premises, henceforth by these presents before granted, and every parcel thereof, with the appurtenances, of and from all and every composition, corody, rent, annual fee, annuity, pension, portion, denar’ suum, and from all things whatsoever of or for the premises above by these presents granted, or of any parcel thereof to us, our heirs or successors, issuing or payable, are freed and to be freed from us, our heirs and successors, excepting the rents, services, and tenures, above for the premises in these present letters to us, our heirs and successors, reserved. We will therefore, and by these presents firmly enjoin and command, as well our Treasurer, Chancellor, and Baron of our Exchequer aforesaid, as to all and singular the receivers, auditors, and other officers, and ministers of us, our heirs and successors whatsoever of our said kingdom of Ireland for the time being, that they and every of them, upon the mere exhibition of these our letters, or the inrollement of the same, without any brief or warrant from us, our heirs and successors, to be obtained or procured, shall make and from time to time cause to be made full, entire, and due allocation, and clear exoneration of and from all and every corody, rent, fee, annuity, pension, portion, denar’ suum, and from other things whatsoever, excepting the said rents, services, tenures, and the other pre- mises above, by these presents as aforesaid reserved, and by the said Hugh O'Connor Don, Knight, his heirs or assigns, to be paid, done, or performed for the premises above granted, or of any parcel thereof, to us, our heirs or successors, issuing or payable, or 360 APPENDIX. thence unto us, our heirs and successors, to be levied on the aforesaid O'Connor Don, Knight, his heirs and assigns. And these our letters patent, or the inrollment of the same, shall be, as well to the said Treasurer, Chancellor, and Baron of our Exchequer aforesaid, as to all and singular the receivers, auditors, and other officers and ministers of us, our heirs and successors whatsoever, sufficient warrant in this parte. And these our letters patent, or the inrollment of the same, shall be, in all, and through all, firm, valid, good, sufficient, and effectual in law towards and against us, our heirs and succes. sors, as well in all our courts as elsewhere within our said kingdom of Ireland, or any where soever, without any confirmation or toleration from us, our heirs and successors for ever, by the aforesaid Hugh O'Connor Don, Knight, his heirs or assigns, to be pro- cured or obtained, notwithstanding any badly named or badly recited town or village, quarter, parish, hamlet, place, or county, in which the premises or any parcel thereof are or is. And notwithstanding the non-naming or incorrect naming, or non-reciting of the said manor, castle, messuage, town, village, lands, tenements, hereditaments, and others the premises, above, by these presents granted, or any parcel thereof. And notwithstanding the non-naming of the office or inquisition by which our title to the premises ought to have been found, before the perfection of these our letters patent. And notwithstanding the non-reciting or bad reciting of any remission or concession for term of life, lives, or years, or in talliage fee or otherwise of the premises, or any parcel thereof made, remaining of record, or not of record. And notwithstanding any defects of certainty, or computation, or declaration of the true yearly value of the premises or any parcel thereof, or annual rent reserved over any remission or concession of the premises, or any parcel thereof, in these our letters patent expressed or contained, or not expressed. And notwithstanding that of the names of the tenants, farmers, or occupiers of the premises or any part thereof no full, plain, or certain mention is made. And notwithstanding a statute in the parliament of the said Henry the Sixth, late King of England, our predecessor, in the eighteenth year of his reign, passed and published, and afterwards among other acts of parliament established, and confirmed in our said kingdom of Ireland. And notwithstanding any other defects in not properly naming the genera, species, quantity or quality, of the premises or any parcel thereof. And notwithstanding any other defects, or any other statute, or provision, or restriction, or any other thing, cause, or matter whatsoever which might render these our letters patent null and void in anything. We will also, and for us, our heirs and successors, by these presents grant to the same Hugh O’Connor Don, Knight, that he may and shall have these our letters patent under our great seal of Ireland, in due manner made and sealed without any fine, great or small, in our hanaper or elsewhere, to be rendered, paid, or imposed for our use. Provided, etc., although express mention of the true yearly value, or of the certainty of the premises, or of any gifts or grants, by us, or by any of our progenitors, to the said Hugh O’Connor Don, Knight, heretofore granted, is not made in these presents or any statute, act, ordinance, or provision, or any other thing, cause, APPENDIX. 361 or matter whatsoever to the contrary, whereof in anywise notwithstanding. In witness whereo, we have caused these our letters to be made patent Witness our aforesaid Lieutenant General and General Governor of our kingdom of Ireland, at Dublin, the ninth day of December, in the fifteenth year of our reign of England, France, and Ireland, and of Scotland the fiftieth. c F. EDGEWoRTHE. Inr" xi day of December, 1617. Anno R. R. Jacobi xv° Wm. Crofton, Auditor. Ext J. Fra. Edgeworthe. Conat. et Ulton. se Endorsed : In Rotulo Patent de annoxv° Jacobi Anglie, Francie, et Hibernie decimo quinto, et Scotie 1”, per me Jacob Bellworthe, cler” in officio magistri Rotulorum. A A A ( 362 ) APPENDIX H.—PAGE 224. A →-- A v-- wr CHANCERY INQUISITION, C* ROSCOMMON, N° 22, JAMES I. Inquisičon taken at Tulske, in the Com’ of Roscomon, the xxi” day of January, And in the fowerteen yeare of the reigne of o' sowaigne lord ºf King James of England, ffraunce, and Ireland, & of Scotland, the fiftieth Anno drii, 1616, Before Sº Charles Coote, Knight, & John Treslean, Esqr., by vertue of his Mai’s Comission under his highnes' great seale of Ireland, bearing date the last day of November, in the yeares aforesaid, to these presents annexed, By the oathes of good and lawfull men of the said Com’ of Roscomon, whose names ensue, viz.:- “Gilleboy o'fflanegan, of Raleg, gent’. Connor oge o’Hanly, of Corboe, gent’. Teig mºrory o’Hanly, of Carowcrun, gent'. Jur.’ Rory Boy o’Hanly, of Lecarow, gent’. Conor Grano o’Hanly, of Rohane, gent’. Hugh Mirgagh o’Connor, of Cassellrone, gent’. Hugh o’Hanly, of Toumever, gent’. Owen o’Connor, of Ballinegare, gent’. Jur.’ Carbery o’Birne, of Carowmore, gent’. Hubert o’Hanley, of Coulenegeragh, gent’. Rory o’Connor, of Ballyglasse, gent’. Gilleduff o'Birne, of Bellragh, gent’. William oge o’Birne, of Corye, gent’. Willm. oge M*Cantully, of Leaghmore, gent'. Jur.’ who being duly sworne by vertue of their oathes doe say that the Barony of Ballintobber, in the said County, consisteth of Quarters of Lande, And that Sº Hugh o'Connor, of Ballintobber, in the said County, Knight, is seized in his demeasne as of ffee of the Castle of Ballintobber, the quarter called Carowentobber, the quarter of APPENDIX. 863 Raghnenallege, the quarter of Beagh, the half quarter of Clewboybeg, the quarter of Rosmeene, the quarter of Clownekearny, the quarter of Clowneclabra, the twoe quarters of Ardnemollagh, the twoe quart's of Ballymageehar, the quarter of Ballyenegan, als Gortnemaddew, the fower quarters of Ballimaglyn, the quarter of Knockroe, the half- quarter of Lislaghna, the quarter of Lisboy, the quarter of Creeghneboddagh, the moity of the towne & lands of Ballyglass, twoe quarters or one moity of the fower quarters of Ballyglass, the quarter of Ballagh, & the quarter called Caroweskagh, w” their appurtennces, in the said Barony of Ballintobber ; And that Charles o’Connor dun, of Knockelaght, in the said Com’, Gent, is seized in his demeasne as of ffee of the quarter called Carowreagh, the quarter called Carrowbane, the quarter of Rameige, the quarter of Bracklowne, the quarter of ffarbreige, the quarter of Knockelaghta, the quarter of Carowgarow, the quarter of Lisgobbane, neare Ballintobber, the quarter called Carowkeile Ardsologh, the quart' called Carowmore, & the quarter of Knockevarra, w” thappurt’, in the said barony; and that Dermot O'Connor, of Carrowingary, in the said Com’, Gent’, is seized in his demeasne as of fee of the quarter called Carowengary, the quart’ of Slevyne, the quart' called Carowgarrow, & the quarter of Lismoriertagh, wº thapp", in the said Barony; And that Teig o'Teig, of Laragh, in the said Com’, gent’, is seized in his demeasne as of ffee by way of mortgage from the said Sº Hugh o’Connor of the twoe quarters of Laragh, wºº thappurt’, in the said barony; And that John o’Kelly, of Carrowendirry, in the said Com’, gent., is seized in his demeasne as of ffee by way of mortgage from the said Sº Hugh o’Connor, of the quart’ of Moyene, wº thappurt', in the said Barony; And that Christofer Kirvan, of Galway, m'chant, is seized in his demeasme as of ffee by way of mortgage from the said S. Hugh o’Connor & Charles o’Connor, of the twoe quarters of Raghiveren, the twoe quarters of Cashel- tehane, the quarter of Ardnermollagh, the quarter of Clownesallagh, & the quarter of Clownevindeene, wººthappurt’, in the said barony; And that Tirlagh mºphelim, Donogh m"Phelim, & Donnell m”Phelim o’Connor, of Raghnelileagh, in the said Com’, gent", are seized in their demeasne as of ffee of the quarter of Raghnelileagh, wºº thappurt’, in the said barony; And that Connor mºrèory oge Connor, of Mullingehye, in the said Com’, gent’, is seized in his demeasne as of ffee and in full possession of the quarter of Mullin- gehe, wºº thappurt’, in the said Barony; And that Edmond Dillon, of Rahowdagh, in the said Com’, gent’, is seized in his demeasme as of ffee by way of mortgage fré Shane o'Mally, of the quarter of Rahowdagh, wºº thappurt’, in the said barony; And that Christofer de lahide, of Durhan, in the said County, Gentlema', is seized in his demeasne as of ffee of the quarter of Shanquogh, the quarter of Ballyenegane, next Ardneskane, the quarter of Ardneskane, the quarter of Rathcarrane, the quarter of Gortinbennag [ ], als ffoynagh, the quarter of Rahardaghy, the quarter of Rosheene, the quarter of Knocke- leegane, the two quarters of Ballyloghbae, the twoe quarters of Ballybeg, the two quarters of Ballycorglesy, the fower quarters of Carnekettee, & the half-quarter of Lisnegreagh, w” thappurt’, in the said Barony; And that Hugh Mirgagh O'Connor, of Cashellrone, 364 :APPENDIX. in the said Com’, gent’, is seized in his demeasne as of ffee, and in full possession of the towne & lands of Cashelrone, the quarter of Cashellrone, the quarter of Carneboy, the quarter of Carrowkeele, neare Cashellrone, and the quarter of Mullaghgollane, wº thappurt’, in the said Barony; And that Rory Grana O'Mulrenin, Dowaltagh o'Mulrenin, and Brian o' Mulrenin, of Tully, in the said Com’, gent’, are seized in their demeasme as of ffee of the fower quarters of Tully & the twoe quarters of Ballinetloghane, wº thappurt', in the said barony; And that Willfi o'Molloy, of Croghan, in the said Com’, gent., is seized in his demeasme as of ffee & in full possession of the quarter of Longfordevaghery, the towne and lands of Cloonkeene, the parcels of land called Cloon- keene and Cloonconragh, cont’ twoe quarters of land, the towne & lands of Arme, the quarter of Arme, the parcells of land called Cashell & Armebeg, cont’ one quarter, the half-quarter of Clownetrask, the half-quarter of Dromdowl, the twoe quarters of Cloondacarra, the quarter called Carrownecarriggy & the quarter of Caltragh Isell, w” thappurt’, in the said barony; And that Gilleboy offlannegan, of Rathleig, in the said Com’, gent’, is seized in his demeasne as of ffee and in full possession of the towne & lands of Rathleig, the two quarters of Rathleig, the cartron of Clownefadda, the half quarter of Annaghgille, the cartron of Clownelative, the towne & lands of Rahardevine, the half-quarter of Rahardevine, the cartron of Gortnecappull & the cartron of Ballyspellan, wºº thappurt’, in the [sº]Barony; And that Hugh oge o’Connor, of Castlereogh, in the said Com’, gent’, is seized in his demeasne as of ffee of the Castle & scite of the towne of Castlereogh, the quart' of Imlagh, the twoe quarters of Ballin- dromlea, the quarter of Derrinevennagh, the quarter of Clownagh, the quarter of Clown- malush, the quarter of Correglaghen, the half-quarter of Clownbannogh, the half-quarter of Annaghelogha, the quarter of Annaghevaghery, the three quarters of Clownfower, the twoe quarters of Clownecan, the quarter of Clownesucka, the quarter of Clownelta, the quarter of Tagh [ ] nara, the quarter of Mewlaghmore, the quarter of Mewlaghbegg, the quarter of Raghbarnagh, the twoe quarters of Carrowdowane, the twoe quarters of Gangroade, the quarter of Raghclary, the quarter of Clowneree, wºº thappurt’, in the said barony; And that Sº Theobald Dillon, Knight, is seized in his demeasne as of ffee of the quarter of Raghkanela, the twoe quarters of Tologhane, one other fowerth pt of the towne & lands of Balliglass, one other quarter or fowerth part of the said fower quarters of Balliglass, the quarter of Tobberclew, the half-quarter of Kill[ ], the quarter of Kilmurry, & the fower quarters of Lishalvoy, wººthappurt’, in the said barony, wºº last recited fower quarters are mortgaged to Geralt Dillon, gent'; And that Jonin m”Kearny, of Clownesucka, in the said Com’, gent’, is seized in his demeasne as of ffee & in full possession of the towne & lands of Clownesucka & the quarter of Clownesucka, wººthap- purt", in the said barony; And that Tumultagh m”Keherny, of Drume, in the said Com’, gent', is seized in his demeasne as of ffee & in full possession of the towne lands & quarter of Drumelough, wºº thappurt’, in the said barony; And that Enin duff o' Mulrenin, of Bellatullagh, in the said Com’, gent', is seized in his demeasne as offee & in full possessić APPENDIX. 365 of the other fowerth part of the towne & lands of Ballyglasse, the quarter of Raghmoile being the other fowerth part of the said fower quarters of Balliglasse & the quarter of Bellatullagh, wºº thappurt’, in the said barony; And that Tirlaugh duff o’Connor, of Leitrim, in the said Com’, gent’, is seized in his demeasme as of ffee of one Cartron or eight pt of the twoe quarters of Leitrim, one moity of the quarter of Carowkeile, neare Letrim, one quarter, three cartrons & a half, or fifteen pts of the fower part's of Slekincorrow in 32 to be devided & one-third part of the cartron of Cordrehed, w” thappurt’, in the said barony; And that ffarginanim m”Teig o'Connor, of Letrim afore- said, gent’, is seized in his demeasne as of fee of one gnive or twelveth part of the said twoe quarters of Letrim, wºº thappurt’, in the said barony; And that Cahir m” Art o'Connor, of Leitrim aforesaid, gent’, is seized in his demeasme as of ffee & in full pos- session of one Cartron and a half, or three parts of the said twoe quarters of Letrim, in six- teen pts to be devided, the other moity of the said quarter of Carowkeile, neare Leitrim, the half quarter of Dowarderagh, one other quarter, three cartrons & a half, or fifteene other parts of the said fower quarters of Slewkincorra, in thirtie-twoe pts to be devided ; one cartron or fowerth part of the quarter of Lecarownegeragh, the moity of the quarter of Shihan & one other third part of the cartron of Cordrehed, wºº thappurt’, in the said barony; And that Donnogh m”Hugh o’Connor, of Letrim aforesaid, gent’, is seized in his demeasme as of ffee of one other cartron or eight part & one-half gnive or 24 pt of the said twoe quarters of Letrim, wºº thappurt’ in the said barony; And that Connor m°Rory duff, of Letrim aforesaid, gent’, is seized in his demeasme as of ffee of one cartron or moity of the half quarter of Lecarowantihane, wºº thappurt’, in the said Barony; And that Teig Carragh O'Connor, of Letrim aforesaid, gent’, is seized in his demeasne as of ffee of one other cartron or eight part of the said twoe quarters of Letrim, wºº thappurt’, in the said Barony; And that the said Chr. Delahyde, of Durhan, in the said Com’, gent’, is seized in his demeasne as of ffee and in full possession of three cartrons or three parts of the said twoe quarters of Letrim, in eight parts to be devided, the other twoe parts of the said quartron of Coredrehid & the other moity of the said quarter of Doward, wºº thappurt’, in the said Barony; And that Sº Oliver Lambert, Knight, is seized in his demeasme as of ffee of the quarter of Carowantehane, the quarter of Carowenstrohane, the quarter of Polknee, the quarter of Shennanagh, the quarter of Casheltana, one cartron of the half quarter of Corliss, one moity of the said quarter of Lecarownekeragh, the half quart’ of Lecarrownelebbe & the quarter of Carrowboy, & twoe gnives of the twoe quarters of Ballymoillin, wºº thappurt', in the said Barony. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .” APPENDIX I.—PAGE 224. —Q-º-0– TRANSLATION OF “CHANCERY INQUISITION,” Co. Roscom Mon, No. 87, CHARLES I. N indented Inquisition taken at the town of Roscommon in the County of Roscommon aforesaid, on the twenty-sixth day of March in the year of A\(; our Lord 1632, and in the year of the reign of our most illustrious Prince à and Lord Charles, by the grace of God of England, Scotland [. 1, king, defender of the faith [ l, George Crofton and John Ridge [ |, esquire, escheator of [ | Lord the king | l, Robert Parke, feodary of the said Lord the king for the County aforesaid, by virtue of a commission of the same [ | king [. l bearing [. J at Dublin, the twenty-second day of February I and to this Inquisition annexed by the oath of good and lawful men of whom [. l William I | more, gentleman. Doualtagh ſ | Fallon of Ballmaghon [ l. Jurors. William mº Ella of Farremore, gentleman. Owen m” Laghlyn 6 Kelly of Caldraghmore, gentleman. Owen Ó Flynn of Killebarry, gentleman. Terlagh mºſ)owle of Cloonekeene. Dermot oge m”Brannan of Clownfinlagh, gent'. John Taylor of Killm"Compsy, gentleman. Edmond m”Keogh of Killeglane, gentleman. Conn m^Terlagh of Glanemor, gentleman. John 6 Kelly of Ballinecurra, gentleman. Hugh Ó Fallon of Lissnemadra, gentleman. Do I Tell Ó Kelly of Ardcarne, gentleman. Which Jurors aforesaid on their oath aforesaid say that Hugh Ó Connor dun, late of Ballin- tober in the County aforesaid, knight [ |, the time I l, was seised in his demesne as of fee of and in a Quarter of the land of Clownsallagh with the appurte- Jurors. Jurors. APPENDIX. 367 nances in the County [. J worth by the year beyond reprises” five shillings, and being so seised thereof by his deed of feoffment in due form of law perfected, bearing date the twentieth day of November in the year of our Lord 1619, the aforesaid Hugh Ó Connor dun, Charles o Connor, his son and heir apparent, and Walter Newgent of Portlomoone in the County of Westmeath, gentleman, gave, granted, and aliened the premises with the appurtenances to Christopher [Kir] wan, fitz Anthony, Andrew Browne, fitz Oliver, and Mark D [. | of Galway, in the County of the town of Galway, merchants, their heirs and assigns for ever, subject to the condition that whenever the aforesaid Hugh Ó Connor dun, Charles 6 Connor, and Walter Nugent, or either of them, their heirs or assigns, should pay or cause to be paid in one whole payment the sum of fifty pounds current money of and in England to the aforesaid Christopher Andrew and Mark, their heirs or assigns, at or in the mansion house of the said Christopher situate in the town of Galway | J, that then the feoffment aforesaid to be of none effect as by the aforesaid feoffment to the Commissioners and Jurors aforesaid on the taking of this Inquisition. Furthermore the aforesaid Jurors upon their oath aforesaid say that the aforesaid Hugh Ó Connor dun was similarly seised in his demesne as of fee of and in the Castle, Bawne, and town of Knocklaghta in the County of Roscommon aforesaid, of the clear yearly value of [five] shillings sterling, and of and in the sixteen quarters of land following, viz., two quarters of the land of Rahihowryne, a quarter of the land of Bracklone, a quarter of the land of Moyen, a quarter of the land of Rahmege, a quarter of the land of Carrowreogh, a quarter of the land of Carrowbane, a quarter of the land of Knockalaghta, a quarter of the land of Carrowfarbregy, two quarters of the land of Castle T [ene], a quarter of the land of Carrowgaruffe, a quarter of the land of Gort- gobbane, a quarter of the land of Karrowkyle, a quarter of the land of Carrowmore, and a quarter of the land of Knockavarry in the said County of Roscommon, each of those quarters of land being of the clear yearly value of five shillings sterling. And being so seised thereof by their deed of feoffment in due form of law perfected bearing date the thirteenth day of December, 1621, they granted and aliened the premises aforesaid with the appurtenances to Alexander Lynch of Galway in the County of the town of Galway, gentleman, Peter oge French fitz Peeter of the same, merchant, Donnogh Ó Birne of Dangan in the said County of Roscommon, esquire, and William Ó Mulloy of Croghan in the said County of Roscommon, esquire, their heirs and assigns for ever, to the uses and intentions hereafter mentioned, and in the said feoffrnent thus contained in these words following : “To the use and behoofe of Charles 6 Connor, the sonne and heire apparent of the said Sº Hugh and Mary ny Conno, als Burke, his wife, for and duringe their naturall lives, and the longer liver of them, and after their decease to the use of the heires males of their two bodies lawfully begotten or to bee begotten, and for want * Reprises are deductions of every kind : and the phrase “val’ p ann’ ultra repris” is best rendered py the “clear yearly value.” 368 APPENDIX. of such heires males to the use of the heires females of their bodies lawfully begotten or to bee begotten, for and untill such tyme [as the] said heire female, if there bee but one, shal bee satisfied and paied the issues and pfitts of the said lands and premises, the some of five hundered pownds ster'; and if there bee more heires females of their bodyes lawfullie begotten and then livinge, for and untill every of them bee satisfied and paied out of the issues and pfitts of the said land respectively the some of foure hundered pownds ster' apeece, and after the determinačon of these uses to the use and behoofe of the heires males of the body of the said Charles, and for want of such heires to the use of the heires males of the body of the said Sº Hugh, and for want of such issue to the use and behoofe of the rightfull heirs of the said Sº Hugh o Connor for ever, as by the same deed proved as aforesaid appeareth. Whereupon the aforesaid William 6 Mulloy came before the Commissioners and Jurors aforesaid, and disclaims having any right, title, or interest in the premises | l, feoffment aforesaid, but he claims all and singular the lands and tenements in the same feoffment mentioned and comprised to be his right and inheritance. And furthermore the Jurors aforesaid on their oath aforesaid say that the aforesaid Hugh Ó Connor was [seised] in his demesne as of fee of and in two quarters of the lands of Larragh and Rosse in the County of Roscommon aforesaid, worth by the year beyond reprises ten shillings sterling, and being so seised thereof the aforesaid Hugh Ó Connor and the aforesaid Charles 6 Connor by their deed of feoffment in due form of law perfected, bearing date the fourth day of July, 1628, gave, granted, and aliened the premises aforesaid with the appurtenances to Thady afs Teige Ó Teige of Larragh aforesaid, genteman, his heirs and assigns for ever, subject to the condition that whenever the aforesaid Hugh o Connor, his heirs or assigns, shall pay or satisfy in one wholes payment the aforesaid Thady afs Teige Ó Teige, his heirs or assigns, the sum of one hundred and twenty pounds current money of and in England, together with all sums of money expended, in defending the premises on any day or feast of Philip and James, Apostles, in any future year, or in fifteen days coming next after any of those days or feasts, and furthermore shall render the aforesaid Thady afs Teige Ó Teige, his heirs and assigns, full satisfaction concerning the building or structure [ | upon the premises [. l, that then and from that time this present feoffment to be of none effect as by the aforesaid feoffment to the Com- missioners and Jurors aforesaid, on the taking of this Inquisition shown, and in evidence given may more fully and clearly appear. And furthermore the Jurors afore- said on their oath aforesaid say that the aforesaid Hugh Ó Connor in his lifetime was seised in his demesne as of fee of and in a quarter of the land called Clownevindin, a quarter of the land of Clownekearney, a quarter of the land of Beagh, with the appur- tenances, in the County of Roscommon aforesaid, worth by the year beyond reprises fifteen shillings. And being so seised thereof, the aforesaid Hugh Ó Connor dun, and the aforementioned Charles 6 Connor, by their Indenture of Lease in due form of law APPENDIX. 369 perfected, bearing date the fourteenth day of April, 1631, demised and to farm let the premises aforesaid, with the appurtenances, to one Turlagh Ó Teige of M [ T in the County of Roscommon aforesaid, gentleman, his executors, administrators, and assigns, for and during the term of a thousand years from the date of the said Indenture, to be fully completed and ended under the yearly rent of twenty-one shillings current money of England, payable at the feasts of St. Michael the Archangel, and Saints Philip and James, Apostles, by equal portions, to hold the premises aforesaid to the aforesaid Turloghe o Teige, his executors, administrators, and assigns, for and during the whole term aforesaid, to the only proper use and behoof of Brian o Connor, younger son of the aforesaid Hugh O Connor dun, his executors, administrators, or assigns as by the Indenture aforesaid to the Commissioners and Jurors aforesaid, on the taking of this Inquisition shown, and in evidence given, may more fully and clearly appear. Furthermore, the Jurors aforesaid, on their oath aforesaid, say, that the aforesaid Hugh o Connor dun in his lifetime was also seised in his demesne as of fee of and in the Castle, town, and a quarter of the lands of Ballinegarre, ais Carrowenvalle and Kill- m’voylen, a quarter of the land of Carrugyller, and a quarter of the land of Rathnenalge, with each of their appurtenances, in the County of Roscommon aforesaid, worth by the year beyond reprises fifteen shillings sterling current money of England. And being so seised of those the premises by his deed of feoffment in due form of law executed, bearing date the second day of November, 1627, he gave, granted, and aliened the said premises to William o Mulloy of Croghan in the County of Roscommon aforesaid, esquire, Hugh oge o Connor of Castle Reogh, in the said County of Roscommon, esquire, Philip M'Dowell of Moyntagh in the said County of Roscommon, gentleman, Robert o Mulloy of Rossyns in the same County of Roscommon, gentleman, and Oliver Plunket of [ 1 in the same County, gentleman, their heirs and assigns for ever, to the uses and intentions following, viz.: “To the proper use, benefitt, and behoofe of Cahell oge o Connor, third sonne unto the said S. Hugh O Connor and Anne Mulloy, ats Connor, his wife, and to the use and behoofe of the longer liver of them, and after their decease [to the] heires males of their bodyes lawfully begotten or to bee begotten, and for want of such heires, to the use and behooſe of the heires female of their two bodies lawfully begotten or to bee begotten, for and untill such [ | other and every such issue female [ | paid and satisfied towards their severall releifes, maintenfice, and pferments, such poróon and pferm' as shall be thought fittinge by the aforesaid feoffees or [ | or two of them [. | survivº of them, their heirs or assignes, and after such porcons paid and satisfied as aforesaid, then the said feoffees, their heirs or assigns, shall stand and bee [ | of all and singular the said pmisses [ | comprised to the use and behooſe of the heires males of the body of the said Cahell lawfully to bee begotten upon the body of any other woman, and for want of such issue, to the use and behoofe of the right heires of the said S. Hugh, they payinge such reasonable porcons unto the B B B 370 APPENDIX. issue female of him the said Cahell, lawfully to bee begotten upon the body of any other woman as shall bee agreeable unto their breedinge and quallitie, and the sub- stance or valliditie of the said estates, reservinge the rent of seaven shillings ster' out of everie the said three quarters of land yearely to bee paid unto the said S. Hugh o Connor dun duringe his naturall life, at the feasts of Michaelmas and Easter by equall porčons, and pVided that the said yearely rent shall not enure to any the heires of hym the said S. Hugh, if hee or they shall any way oppose or gaines I | p'sent [ | as by the feoffment aforesaid to the Commissioners and Jurors afore- said, on the taking of this Inquisition shown, and in evidence given, may more fully and clearly appear. In testimony whereof as well the Com” and Jurors aforesaid, their seals and these presents alternately have affixed. (L.S.) (L.S.) (L.S.) (L.S.) (L.S.) Delivered into our Chancery of Ireland, the 8th day of February, 16ſ 1. ( 371 ) APPENDIX K.—PAGE 237. EXAMINATION OF HUGH O'CONOR, TAKEN IITH FEBRUARY, 1642, BEFORE SIR Robert MEREDITH, KNT., ONE OF HIS MAJESTY's JUSTICEs of THE PEACE FoR Co. ROSCOMMON, AND CHANCELLOR OF THE COURT of ExchEQUER, By DIREC- TION OF THE RT. HoN. THE LORDs JUSTICES AND Council.” #HO being sworn and examined, saith that about Xmas, 1641, he, the 2 examinent, with others, of the gentrie of the Cº of Roscommon, were §§ persuaded and prevailed with to join in the present rebellion by Hugh * Oge O'Connor and certain others, employed (as they said) by Sir Lucas Dillon for that purpose, affirming unto him, this examinent and the rest of the gentrie of the countie aforesaid, that Sir Lucas Dillon well knew it to be the king's pleasure that the said gentrie should take up arms, for that the Puritan parliament of England would otherwise destroy them ; and they all further alleged that they should within one quarter of a year see His Majestye himself and the s” parliament in arms the one against the other. Yet afterwards, the s” Sir Lucas Dillon repaired unto the L* President of Connaught, and professing his fidelity, obtained his Lordship's protection, under colour whereof he the sº Sir Lucas Dillon plaid on both hands. And the examinent further saith, that at a meeting of all the gentrie of the said countie of Roscommon, att Ballyn- tubber, there were present Sir Luke Dillon, Sir Ulick Bourke, ffeoghra O'Flynn, Will. O'Mulloy, Alex. Nugent, Lysagh [Hugh P] Oge O'Connor, Charles O'Connor Roe, Teige O'Connor, Thomas Dillon, and the sº Sir Luke Dillon, who all of them took an oath (which was first begun by him, the s” Sir Luke Dillon, as far as the examinent remembereth), part of the contents whereof was for the maintenance of the king's prerogative and for the establishment of the Romish religion throughout the kingdom of Ireland. At which meeting it was likewise agreed and concluded on, that the s” Sir Lucas Dillon and Hugh º: ſ º º º | T º º & - 2 d º º Ø ſ ę & * The original of this is preserved amongst the Depositions of 164I in Trinity College. 372 APPENDIX. Oge O'Connor should repair unto the Earl of Clanricarde with an offer from the countie to make his Lordship their General, which was accordingly done by the s” parties, who returned his Lordship's answer, as this examinent remembers, to this effect, to wit, that he could not accept of such a charge until he had understood His Majestie's pleasure. And this examinent also says that he understood from Sundry persons that the purpose and meaning of the principal actors in this present rebellion was to have the kingdom of Ireland freed from all persons except the Irish, and that the Ploott of the s” rebellion was contrived and set on foot at the late meeting of parliament in Dublin; and lastly, the s” examinent Sayeth, that at the said meeting held in Ballyn- tubber there were appointed for Colonels in the s” countie, Charles O'Connor Roe, Brian O'Kelly, and him the examinent, and for Captains, Thos. Dillon, brother to Sir Luke Dillon, Philip M*Dowel, ffeoghra O'Flynn, Will. O'Mulloy, Brian O’Beirne, John M'Brennan, and sundry others whom he the examinent doth not now remember. Signed, ROBERT MEREDITH. DEPOSITION OF ELIZABETH HOLYWELL, RELICT OF ROBERT Holywell, LATE of Town OF ROSCOMMON, TAKEN IITH AUGUST, 1643. Deponent sayeth, that it was an ordinary rumor and report amongst the rebels of the Cº of Roscommon, that Charles O'Connor Dunne of Ballyntubber was made King of Connaught, and one Christ. de la Hyde of (Dirham), near Roscommon, a Justice of the Peace and a Papist, told the deponent that she might safely go to Ballinafad, being three miles from her. For he assured her that all the rebel souldiers thereabouts were gone to Tulsk, in the Cº of Roscommon, to make the s” Charles O'Connor Dun King of Connaught, &c., &c. DEPOSITION OF JOHN RIDGE, OF THE ABBEY OF Roscom MON. Deponent Sayeth, that the chief strength of the rebel souldiers of the three counties of Leitrim, Roscommon, and Longford were at the burning of deponent's said houseing at the Abbey of Roscommon, upon Xmas Eve, 1641, of which rebels, O'Rourke of the Co of Leitrim was the reputed General, and there were associated in the same outrage Col. Hugh O'Connor Dun, eldest son of Charles O'Connor Dun, reputed Genl. of Roscom- mon, O’Beirne, Henry Dillon, O’Hanly, and the eldest son of Hugh Oge O'Connor, of Castlereogh, &c., &c. . . . . APPENDIX. 373 ExAMINATION TAKEN AT BOYLE OF JOHN O'ConnoR OF CASTLEREAGH, IN THE Countie of RoscoMMON, ENSIGN TO DONNER O'ConnoR, THIS 27TH DAY OF APRIL, 1653. This deponent sayeth, that being commanded by Col. Donnogh (Donnor in the original, corrected to Donnogh) O'Connor under the command of Col. Turlough M“Dermott, upon a party on ambush to spoyle Capt" Eyre's troop, the said troop going to an island called Lough Linn to fetch provisions, &c., one of the party killed a trooper, left in his charge as prisoner, near Cloonarrow, &c., &c. In a subsequent deposition it is stated that the trooper was taken into adjoining bog and killed. ( 374 ) APPENDIX L.—PAGE 240. VOTES OF THE LORDS AND COMMONS UPON THE PROPOSITIONS MADE BY DIVERS WORKING AND WELL-AFFECTED PERSONS FOR THE SPEEDY AND EFFECTUAL REDUCING OF THE KINGDOM OF IRELAND, 2.4TH FEBRUARY, 1641–42. the necessity of a speedy reducing of the rebels of Ireland to their due obedience, as also the great sum of money that the Commons of England have of late paid for the publick and necessary affairs of the kingdom, whereof the Lords and Commons are very sensible and desirous to imbrace all good and honourable ways tending to His Majestie's greatness and profit, the settling of that realm and the ease of His Majesty's subjects in England : And whereas divers worthy and well-affected persons perceiving that many millions of acres of the Rebels’ lands of that kingdom, which go under the name of profitable lands, will be confiscate and to be disposed of ; and that in case two millions and a half of these acres to be equally taken out of the four provinces of that kingdom, may be allotted for the satisfaction of such persons as shall disburse any sums of money for the reducing of the Rebels there, would effectually accomplish the same, have made these propositions following:— 1. That 2,500,ooo of these acres may be assigned, allotted, and divided amongst them after this proportion, viz.:- For each adventurer of 4,200 & tº I, ooo acres in Ulster; 9 3 9 3 2630.o e § 1,000 acres in Connaught; 5 y 9 3 2645o e e I, ooo acres in Munster; 5 5. 3 5 24,600 ſº g I, ooo acres in Leinster ; all according to English measure, and consisting of meadow, arable, and profitable pasture the bogs, woods, and barren mountains being cast in over and above those 2 millions and a half of acres, to be holden in free and common soccage of the King, or of his Castle at Dublin." "Aistorical Recollections. By John Rushworth. London : 1692; pp. I I I, 556. ( 375 ) APPENDIX M.—PAGE 242. To THE R* HoNobº HIS MAJ"º COM** APPoinTED FOR HEARING & DETER- MINING THE CLAYMES OF TRANSPLANTED PERSONS IN CONNOUGHT AND COM’ CLARE. MAy IT PLEASE yo” HoNo”, Pursuant to yo' hono” direction and Instruction, wee have Compared and Ex- amined y” Petičon and Clayme of Hugh o’Connor, And doe report y” state thereof to appeare to us as it is in y” subsequent Collumnes against each pticular pcell exprest. The Examinaćon of y” Schedule annexed to y” Clayme Conteining such lands as are Claymed by y” said Hugh o’Connor as y” Estate of his Ancest”. COM’ ROSCOMON. BALLINTOBBER BARR’. Propriet's anno * Acres Acres Acres Observacons on 1659 by yº Downe Denominacons. Clavmed. profittable unpro- yº Examinacon & Civill Survey. y by ye Survey. fittable. & title. ſ|| Bracloone, one quarter ... 2 IO o O || 2 IO O O *Eº Mort’ to Bryen o'flynn for 4ol. Carrowkeele, I q. ... 83 o O | 83 o o a pcell tº ſº º ... O5 O O 5 O O Carrowgarragh, one q" ... 72 o O | 72 O O *=-& Mort’ to John Ridge for 8ol. Gortgabane, one qu’ ... 84 o O | 84 O O 3. * . Knockmurray, one q ... Io9 o O | Io& O O cºlº o'Connor Carrowmore, one q: ... 81 o o 8I O O * Cloonsallagh, one quar 7o o o 7o o o | – || Mort’ to Christ' | Kerwan for 691. a pcell tº gº tº ... 37 O O | 37 O O a pcell tº tº gº ... 20 O O 20 O O Knockroe, one quart” ... 126 o o 126 o o V. —- - 896 o o 376 APPENDIX. COM’ RoscomoN. BALLINTOBBER BAR’. jºi."É. D º Acres #. l Acres 9. On IO EO e LPO - sº s §§." Çn OIIllina COnS claymed. |º. º. **** Idem Charles Carrowantemple, one q" Connor. Lecarrowe, one q" 148 o o I48 o o º Mort' to Tirlogh Mullaghdow, 2 quare o'Teige for 48l. Glanveala, 4 quart” a pcell e e o 544 O O a pcell tº ge Idem tº a º In Lisslaghna, § qu’ ...] 79 o O || 79 o O a pcell • & © ...] O5 O O 5 O O Carrowengarra, one quart | 17 I O O Laragh and Rosse, 2 Mort’ to Teige quart's 246 o O 246 o o : - } o’Teige for 2007. Idem Ragheverim, two quºs ... I29 O O | I29 O O e e > “T) a pcell • * > ...] O45 O O || 45 O O Carrowreagh, one qu' ...| 42 o O || 42 o o { *- } Mort’ to Gilleboy a pcell tº tº tº 50 o O 5o O O o'flamegan for - *- IOOl. Knocklaght d C 744 O O tlock1agnta an air- r rowbane, two quart” } 208 o o 208 O O Mort' for 450/. Moyne & Rathmeage two quart” ; 31 O O 3I o O a pcell © º º ...] 188 o o | 188 o O •+ \" Mort’ to Christºr i. # a quart' ...] 53 O O 53 O O *sº { Kerwan for 4ool. t arbreage, one quart" ...] 92 O O 92 O O Charles pdc ... " Leacarrow, a quart ...| 76 O O 76 o o Ballymagher, one quº ... 206 o O 206 o O In Ballyfinegame & Gort- nemaddy, one q" . . . . I I O O O | I IO O O Rakaran, 3 q+ ... ...] 36 o 36 O Rossmeane als Ballin- tobber, one q" ; 177 o o 177 o o I 177 o o Ardnemullagh, two q" ... 223 o O 223 o o Cloonclabin, one qua Idem Charles ... / | Carrowbriscogh halfe q 9I o O 91 O O a quarter a parcell } 3I4 O O APPENDIX, 377 The Claym" further sett forth that y” said Mary Conner [Dead. Cº to be son & heir] obtained a Decree att Athlone, dat. 8° June, 1656, And was Comprised w”in y” 7° Quallificaëon, And had by final Settlem', dat' 3o” June, 1657, assigned and sett out y" Lands foll’:— COM’ ROSCOMON’. BALLINTOBBER BARR’. Rathnelolliagh, one quartr | 136 o o |X Moyne and Rathmeague, in poss’. two quart” ... ...| 2I9 O O 355 O O Braclone, one qua" ...] 219 o o |x Keely, halfe a quº ...] §3 o O |>. in poss’, save 200l. mort’ to John Barenagh, one quº ...] 82 o O X Donellan. 345 O O 355 O O 7oo O O The Claymº further setts forth that y” said Lo" Kilmallock obteined a Decree att Athlone, dat. March 29, 1656, And was Comprized w'hin y” Seaventh Quallifi', And had by finall Settlement, dat. 31 August, 1657, assigned & sett out y” Lands foll’:— COM’ ROSCOMON. BALLINTOBBER BARR9 The Castle, Towne, & Conveyed by yesaid lands of Ballintobber, --> 177 o o Lod sº alias Rossmine. to ye Laº' Butl], *ś"";|\os o o 206 o oſmº jºi. In ye two Quarters of 22 O O Donella.[ ], who land of Laraha & Rosse 22 O O assigned ye pm- Cont' in all 405a. ... • *mmºns’ isses to y, Clay- 405 O O mt. Richd. Butler & ye Lady his wife deed pved to Wim Donnell &Ja. his son, 19th Ap', 1671. deed pved. 2136a old Estate. C C C ( 378 ) APPENDIX M.–PAGES 264, 265. To THE R* HoNo” HIS MAJ” CoM** APPOINTED FOR HEARING AND DETER- MINg THE CLAYMES OF TRANSPLANTED PSONS IN ConnAUGHT AND COUNTIE OF CLARE." MAy IT PLEASE yo” HONo”, Pursuant to yo' hono” direction and Instruction, wee have compared and examined y” Petičon and Clayme of Daniell Ó Connor & Anne, his Wife, And doe Report ye state thereof to appeare to us as it is in y” subsequent Collumnes against each pticular pcell exprest. The Claym" further sheweth y' yº said Anne Connoer [obtained a decree] Dat. y” 18 July, 1656, and was Comprized within y” 8 Quallifica [& was byl finall Settlem'. Dat. y” 30 June, 1657, Assigned and Sett out y [lands following] :— BALLIN TOBER B9. ROSCOMON. The qu' of Cloonedowse ...] I I6 o O |) in poss’. Cloonemallis and Croglehan, 5 two qu’ e G tº º, e - *** - 9 ° |) in poss. #3 Cloonsuck & Cloonbannow “| 104 ° 9 |! in poss' § $, In ye oth, half quº of Cloonsuck ... oA5 o o | *P* : $2 Annaghmaghery, I qu' ... ...] O4O O O |U ; 5 .: ; In Keilmore, one qu' ... ...] OI4 O O } in poss’. # 44O O O * * Reports and Schedules, Court of Claims, Vol. XXI. ( 379 ) APPENDIX M.—PAGE 331. To THE R* HONO” HIS MAJ” CoM* APPOINTED FOR HEARING AND DETER- MINING & DETERMING THE CLAYMES OF TRANSPLANTED PERSONS IN CONNOUGHT AND COUNTIE OF CLARE. MAy IT PLEASE yo” Hono”, Pursuant to yo' hono” direction and Instruction, wee have Compared and Examined y” Peticón and Clayme of Roger Ó Connor, of Beagh, in Com’ Roscofion, gent., And doe report y” state thereof to appeare to Us as it is in y” subsequent Col- lumnes against each pticular pcell exprest : The Examinačon of y” schedule annexed to y” Clayme Conteining such Lands as are Claymed by y” said Roger 6 Connor as y” Estate of his Ancest”:— COM’ ROSCOMON. ºr BALLINTOBBER BARR’. Proprietrº anno Acres 1640 by ye downe Denominacons of Land. and C#. Survey. Claymed. Capt Brien Beagh, one Quarter sº ºn tº imº 65 O O I25 ô Connor. Cloonyvindine, one quº ... * 97 O O *mºmºmº- *-ºsº Cloonykerine, one Qua" ... tºº 66 o o 62 5 === sºns I5 | 625 228 O o *-* tº gº -º 2O3 I25 625 2O2 500 25 3% 380 APPENDIX. The Claym" further setteth forth that y” said Mary Connor, in y” behalfe of her- selfe and her son, y” Claym', obteined a Decree att Athlone, dat’ Septemb", 1655, and was Comprized w”in y” eight Quallificaëon, and had by finall Settlement, dat. 14 May, 1656, assigned & Sett out y” Lands following:— COM’. ROSCOMON. BALLINTOBBER BARR*. Beagh, one Quarter ...] 65 o O |! : 2 by Decree, Mary Cloonekerny, one Quay ... 60 o o } In poss’. to have dureing *ºmºsº sºmmº- life ye revercon 125 o o to ye Clayt Roger & his heires ms. 228a old. 76# 152% whole fin. set- I25 tlemt. 27 plus. ( 381 ) APPENDIX N.—PAGE 245. —sº- SUBSTANCE OF DEPOSITIONS MADE IN 1653 BY MAJOR ROBERT ORMSBY, SIR LUKE DILLON, AND Col. HUGH O'ConnoR. 1st. Robert Ormsby deposes—He, Major Ormsby, sent his servant, Hugh Cunnoghan on a message to his wife at Castlecoote; that the s” Hugh was taken prisoner by Col. Hugh O’Connor, taken to Ballintobber, and hanged. That about two or three months afterwards, Hugh O'Connor was taken prisoner and brought to Castle- coote; that whilst there he was charged by Major Ormsby's wife with having hanged their servant, and that he said he did not hang the s” Cunnoghan as a servant, but to prevent communication between the English garrisons, and that Major Ormsby's wife demanded that O'Connor should be hanged for having hanged their servant. 2. Sir Luke Dillon deposes—That he knew Charles O'Connor Dun for many years; that Col. Hugh O'Connor was his son ; that he does not know “that Charles O’Connor Dun commanded any party of the rebels since y” rebellion broke out, or that he ever had any commission; but being an eminent man of that country, had seen him many times at divers meetings of the Irish and English of that party. And further sayeth, that he believes his son Hugh was a colonel of a foot reg' for five or six years, and as a souldier from the beginning of the war.” Knows nothing, except by hearsay, of the death of Hugh Cunnoghan. 3. Hugh O'Connor deposes—That he had been himself a colonel amongst the Irish for the last eight years ; sayeth that he did never know Hugh Cunnoghan, but “hath been told that he was commanded to be hanged by his father, a jury first passing upon him ;” believes he was taken prisoner by Philip M'Dowel of Mantagh ; states that he was eight or nine months a prisoner at Castlecoote, but denies having admitted to Major Ormsby's wife that he hanged the man. Cannot tell the names of the jury that tried Cunnoghan." * MS. Depositions, Trinity College Library. ( 382 ) APPENDIX O.—PAGE 247. —º- LIST of OFFICERS IN DUKE OF GLOCESTER’s REGIMENT." The Lord Viscount Eveagh. James FitzPatrick, L*-Colonel. Owen O'Connor, of Ballynegare, Major. Steven Butler, W. Taaffe, Gerald Farrell, Charles O. Mulloy, Edward Sarsfield, Brian FitzPatrick, Hugh O'Connor Dun, of Ballintobber, Walter Phillips, of Cloonmore, Dudley Costelloe, Gerald Dillon, of Portlick, Mat Mooney, Brian M*Donough, of C* Sligo, John Cassin, Walter Costelloe, of C* Mayo, Charles M*Donnell, Edmond O. Molloy, James Enis, Geoffrey FitzPatrick, Miles Bermingham, Robert Missett, Henry Tuite, Roger O’Conner, John Dillon, John Flannelly, / Alexander Berne, of C* Roscommon, Ed. Dillon, of C* Westmeath, Ed. Brennane, Daniel O'Connor, of C* Mayo, Richard Farrell, Alexander M*Donnell, Phelim Dempsey, Connor M*Guire, John Farrell, Phelim Curtane, Hugh O'Connor, Robert Dillon, Owen Sullivan, | Roger Brennane p John Dillon, 3. } Adjutants. Anthony French, Judge Advocate. * The Officers are placed here in the order of military rank. Captains. Lieutenants. Ensigns. APPENDIX. 388 LIST OF REFORMED OFFICERS IN SAME REGIMENT. Sir Ulick Bourke, Kn" & Baron of Glinsk, in the Cº of Galway, Francis Birne, of Roddin, in C* Roscommon, Hugh O'Neil, of Province of Ulster, reformed, Murtagh Clanchy, of s” province, & Hugh O'Maiguire, • Captains. Theobald Dillon, of Bracklone, in C* Roscommon, Murtagh Clanchy, of Castlekeale, in C" of Clare, Con O'Neill, of Ardgonnill, in the C* of Ardmagh, John Coney, William Bourke, of Tirlagh, in C" of Mayo, John M*Donough, of Caseini, in C" of Sligo, Brian M*Gennis, of the Province of Ulster, Michael M*Donough, of Coluny, in C* of Sligo, Lieutenants. Lowys M*Donnell, of C* Roscommon, Thomas Birne, of C* Roscommon, W. Talbot, of Reynlur, in the C" of Sligoe, Roger Mulrennan, of Tullymulrennan, in C" of Roscommon, Owen O'Kenny, of Clonboun, in the Cº of Galway, Brian M*Gennis, of Province of Ulster, Ensigns. Nicholas Walsh, of Tribe, in Cº of Kerry. Francy Coghlan, of Belclare, in King's Co. Henry Birne, of Dangan, in C" of Roscommon. Patrick M*Guire, of Ballykillcurny, in the Cº of Enniskillen. John Brady, of the Cº of Cavan. ( 384 ) APPENDIX P.—PAGE 251. —O-º-O-- TRANSLATION OF CHANCERY INQUISITION, CO. ROSCOMMON, No. 92, CHAs. I. =(N indented Inquisition taken at the town of Roscomon in the County afore- said, on the tenth day of April, in the year of our Lord, 1633, and in the ninth year of the reign of our most illustrious Prince and Lord Charles, by ;&#vº, the grace of God, of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the faith, &c., before John Ridge, Esquire, Henry Bringhurst, Esquire, Escheator of the County aforesaid, Robert Parke, Esquire, Feodary of the same County, by virtue of a Commission of the same Lord the King, under the great Seal of his kingdom of Ireland, bearing date the eleventh day of February, in the year of our Lord 1632, to them and others, or two or more of them, directed, of whom the afore- said Henry or Robert Parke, or his deputy, ought to be one to inquire (amongst other things) concerning all wardships, liveries, alienations, intrusions, lunatics, idiots, reliefs, hereots, and concerning all other profits, commodities, and emoluments whatsoever, by reason of any tenure to the said Lord the King, belonging, issuing, or emerging, as by the same Inquisition may more fully and clearly appear by the oath of good and lawful men of the County aforesaid, whose names follow underneath. Egnohan O’Kelly of Coolenegar, gentleman. Rory m”Keogh of Clonebigney, gentleman. Owen mºMelaughlin O’Kelly of Caldrimore, gentleman. Conn m”Hugh of Knockadangon. John O'Kelley of Ballynacarrow, gentleman. William O'Kelly of Corrimore, gentleman. John O'Baghley of Funshinagh, gentleman. Dermot O'Conor of Lisliddey, gentleman. William m”I)onnell O'Naghten of Knockenenowell, gent'. William m”Teige Ó Kelly of Downdermott, gentleman. Murtagh Moyle 6 Hanly of Carrowreogh, gentleman. William O'Kelly of Ballagh, gentleman. Tadei mºkeogh of Carrigge, gentleman. Donnell Ó Fallon of Ballyglass, gentleman. .3/ *—º APPENDIX. 385 Which Jurors say upon their oath aforesaid, that Hugh O'Connor Dun, late of Ballin tubber, in the County aforesaid, Knight, deceased, together with Edward Nugent, late of Portlomon in the County of Westmeath, esquire, likewise deceased, Christopher Linch, late of Croboy in the County of Meath, esquire, likewise deceased, Christopher Flattisbury, late of Johnstowne in the County of Kildare, gentleman, deceased, and Anthony Kirrowan, late of Gallway, merchant, likewise deceased, surviving feoffees to the use of the said Hugh O'Connor Dun, Knight, was seised in his life in his demesne as of fee of and in all that territory called Clonkerny, containing thirty quarters of [arable] land, worth by the year in all issues beyond reprises, 24.3 ; and being so seised thereof by their feoffment, duly perfected on the twenty-second day of May, in the year of our Lord 16Io, they gave, granted, and aliened without having obtained the licese of the said Lord the King, the said premises, with the appurtenances, to Hugh O'Connor Dun of Castlereogh, esquire, son of the aforesaid Hugh O'Connor Dun, Knight, and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, paying thereout to the same Hugh O'Connor Dun, Knight, and his heirs, for every quarter of land of the said pre- mises, the yearly rent of seven shillings for all demands (the following six quarters of land being excepted), viz., a quarter of Emlagh, two quarters of Ballydromlagh, a quarter of Clonmalis, a quarter of Dromloghloin, and a quarter of Clonsucke. And further, the Jurors aforesaid say, that the aforesaid Hugh O'Connor Dun, Knight, died on the day and year mentioned in a former Inquisition taken after his death. Further the Jurors aforesaid say, that the said Edward Nugent was his surviving feoffee, and died on the last day of September, in the year of our Lord 1617, and that Walter Nugent, Esquire, is his son and heir, and at the time of the death of the said Edward, his father was of full age, and married. And finally, the Jurors aforesaid say, that all and singul the premises at the time of making the alienation aforesaid were held of our Lord James, late King of England, &c.', and now are held of our said Lord the King that now is of England, &c.’, in “chief,” by knight's service (viz.), by the seventh part of a knight’s fee. In testimony whereof as well the aforesaid Commissioners as the Jurors aforesaid, have alternately affixed their seals on the day and year aforesaid. (L.S.) (L.S.) (L.S.) (L.S.) (L.S.) (L.S.) (L.S.) (L.S.) (L.S.) (L.S.) (L.S.) (L.S.) (L.S.) (L.S.) Delivered into the Chancery of Ireland on the 22nd day of June, 1633. APPENDIX LANDS RESERVED IN THE PATENT TO SIR HUGH O'ConoR DON IN 1617, DENOMINATION OF LANDS AS GIVEN IN PATENT TO SIR HUGH O'CONOR DON IN 1617. Ballintober Castle and Rosmeen Ballynageiher Moyne & e G Rameige and Brackloon tº º º © tº º Laragh and Ross ... In Ballymaglin ... ... .. Ardnamullagh, alias Clonleban and Cloonagh is ºn tº º tº G º Gortnamaddy, alias Ballyinegan Firbregge tº tº 3 * - e. Knockalaghta, with a Castle Lisboy tº e G tº º e Carrowbane and Knockmurray Cloonsellagh tº ſº º º Rnockroe tº C & º e e tº e Carrowreagh e is © - see tº gº Carrowmore and Carrowkeile tº º-e Lisgobbin e c º Rathlegg © º º Castleteine • * * Cleaboybeg G s & Beagh and Cloonykearney ... Cloonyvinden dº º e e e - Carrowntobber ... • * * Carrowvealy, with a Castle, alias Belanagare Rathnanalog Rathardiven Slevin or Carrowslevin Carrowgarrow Carrowgarry Castle and Site of Town of Castlereagh Imlagh and Ballendrumlea Carrowdowan e e Q º e 9 Derreenvannagh ... is s s. Cloonagh, Cloonaff, or Cloonduff Cloonmalush, alias Clonalis Croglehan and Cloonbannow Annaghmaghera ... tº º º - e. e. Cloonsuck and Keilmore, and a great Bog ... G. c → Cloonelta, Cloonfower, Ila Ya, Clooncan tº º º © e e Annaghclogha, or Annalough Meelaghmore 4 - > 3rangeroade, or Gangroade Rathclery tº e º Cloonree Lismorierty © tº e and Tagh. ...] Sir Hugh O'Conor Don. | Charles d'êonor Don, son and heir to ... Mortgaged to Teige O’Teige. . Sir Hugh O'Conor Don. ... Sir Hugh O'Conor Don. .| Sir Hugh O'Conor Don. ... Do., settled with other lands on his . Sir Hugh O'Conor Don. ... Charles O'Conor Don, settled as above. . Mortgaged to C. Kirwan and D. .| Sir Hugh O'Conor Don. .| Charles O'Conor Don, settled as above. ... Hugh Oge O'Connor. By settlement. ... Mortgd. to Ch. Kirwan. .| Sir Hugh O'Conor Don. . | owners IN 1632, AccorDING TO INQUISITION TAKEN IN THAT YEAR. Do. Do., mortgaged to J. O'Kelly Sir Hugh. Charles O'Conor Don. marriage, I3th Dec., I62I. O'Higgin. Do. Do. Brian O'Conor. Settled on him, with Cloonyvinden, by deed, in 1620. The four townlands, Carrowntobber, Carrowvealy, Rathnanalog, and Rardiven, with Kilm"voylan, set- tled on Cahill O'Conor on his mar- riage in 1627. Carrowslevin, Carrowgarrow, Carre- garry, with Caldra and Carrowne- garrow, settled on Dermot O'Conor in 1626. Cloonduffe, alias Clooncouse. Also called Clonemalis. | All these lands settled on Hugh Oge O'Conor in 16Io. - OWNERS IN 1641. BOOK OF SURVEY AND DISTRIBUTION. Charles O'Conor Don. Do. Do. Do. Do. Charles O'Conor Don, Mortgaged to Ch. Kirwan. (Called Ballyfinegan & Rakearn.) | Charles O'Conor Don. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do., mort. to J. Ridge. ID O. (Called also Gortgobbin.) Hugh Oge O'Conor. Charles O’Conor Don. John and Teige Tully. Captn. Brian O'Conor. Do. William Mulloy, for his grand- child, Owen O'Conor. Dermot O'Conor, son of Sir Hugh. Do., mort. to J. Ridge. Do. - Ed. Tuite. Hugh Oge O'Conor. Do. OWNERS BY DECREE OF LOUGHREA COMMISSIONERS. Lord Kilmallock. Lady F. Butler. Mary, Widow of Chas. O'Conor Don, by cer- tificate, 8 June, 1656. Lady F. Butler. Lady F. Butler. Lady F. Butler. Captn. Theo. Sandford. Captn. Theo. Sandford. Lady F. Butler. Mary O'Conor, wife of Brian, and her son Roger. Cloonduff, Cloonma- lush, Croglehen, Cloon- bannow, Annaghma- ghera, and Cloonsuck, under Connaught cer- tificates to Daniel O'Conor and Anne, his wife. Q.—PAGE 250. witH THE VARIOUS CONFISCATIONS AND CHANGES IN Own ERSHIP UP To YEAR 1701. OWNERS BY GRANTS UNDER ACT OF SETTLEMENT AND EXPLANATION. own ERS IN 1666. BOOK OF SURVEY AND DISTRIBUTION. SALES BY COMMISSIONERS OF FORFEITED ESTATEs, 1701. REMARKS, The lands of Ballintober, Rossmeen, Bally- nageiher, Moyne, Rameige, Brackloon, Laragh, and Ross, as well as Rathnele- lagh, granted by decree, 1683, to Hugh, grandson of Charles O'Conor Don. finegan, Ardnisken Ballyfinegan, and part of Knockalaghta, granted to Duke of York. Decree dated 3rd Feb., 1669. The lands of Knockalaghta, Lisboy, Carrow- bane, Knockmurray, Cloonsellagh, Knock- roe, and Corrowreagh, granted by decrees in 1667 and 1669 to Capt. Theo. Sandford. Carrowmore and Carrow.keile, Gortgobbin, and Rathlegg, granted, 28th Nov., 1678, to Walter Spring, son of Edmund, - The lands of Ardnamullagh, Firbregge, Bally- | Castletehan, alias Carrowtemple. To N. [Browne, 1677. To John Eyres, with Listhomasroe and Cloon- clabbin. - Granted under a decree of Innocence, dated 18th Aug., 1663, to Major Owen O'Conor Gerald Dillon. Decree, 24th Aug., I678. N. Browne, Decree, I677. - Do. Castlereagh included in Imlagh. - l Imlagh, Ballendrumlea, and Carrowdowan to | Theo. Sandford, 1667 and 1669. | Cloonelta, Cloonfower, and Taghnara, granted to Duke of York. Decree, 1669. Garrett Cruice. Decree, 1677. Portion to Ed. Malone; portion to Walter Walter Spring. [Spring, Hugh O'Conor. - Mortgaged to Sir Terence Dermot by Hugh O'Conor. Duke of York, Theophilus Sandford. Walter Spring. N. Browne and Roger Jones. Mark Tully. Roger O'Conor and M. Simpson. John Eyres. Major Owen O'Conor. Garrett Dillon. ‘. Roger Jones and N. Browne. George Talbot. Theo, Sandford. Countess of Fingall. * . Daniel O'Conor. Duke of York. W. Brabazon. L. Fallon, Garrett Cruice. The interest of Sir Terence Der- mot in these lands declared for- feited and sold to Col. Thos. Burke, Forfeited by Duke of York, and sold to Caspar Wills and A. Montgomery. # forfeited. Sold to John French. # do. sold to Hollow Blade Co. Caspar Wills and A. Montgomery. Ardnamullagh, now Wills. grove, Cloonsellagh, now Harris- to Wn. Now South- park. Included in lands of Southpark. Do. E–============ 7TFºrzº- - - - - -- APPENDIX R. GENEALOGICAL TABILES, TABLE I. DESCENT OF O'ConoRS FROM FEREDACH THE JUST, A.D. 75, - TO TURLouGH MoR O'CONOR, MONARCH OF IRELAND, A.D. 1156. Feredach, surnamed the Just. Rex Hiberniae about e tº e tº dº ſº © ſº º e & gº A.D. 75. Fiacha Finnola, son of Feredach. R.H. about .. © tº º tº º º e tº gº e tº e A.D. 95. Tuathal Techmar, or the Acceptable, son of Fiacha. R.H. about ... tº ſº º tº ſº e A. D. I.3O. Felim, the Lawgiver, son of Tuathal. R.H. about tº tº º e - © tº tº gº 3 º º A. D. I64. Conn Caed Catha, or Conn of the Hundred Battles, son of Felim. R. H. about e e ſº A. D. I 77. Art, the Solitary, son of Conn. R.H. about gº tº tº ſº e * tº tº tº º te gº tºº A. D. I95. Cormac, son of Art. R. H. about tº to tº tº © tº º & © e tº e - tº dº tº A.D. 227. Cairbre Liffechair, son of Cormac. R.H. tº e ſº gº tº gº tº tº ſº tº º º ... A.D. 268–284. Fiacha Sraiftene, son of Cairbre. R.H.I. tº e ºs e e ge tº tº º tº e g ... A.D. 286-322. Murchertagh Fireach, son of Fiacha. R.H. tº ſº tº gº tº º ty & © tº e e ... A.D. 327–356. Eochy Moymedon, son of Murchertagh Fireach. R.H. ... © tº © tº o ... A. D. 358-366. Brian, son of Eochy. Rex Connactiae. Died ... * tº º tº tº º tº tº tº tº tº º A.D. 397. Duagh Galach, son of Brian. R.C. , Died tº º ve & º º tº º º cº e ºs © tº e A.D. 438. Eoghan Shreve, son of Duagh Galach. Never King. Died tº ſº tº tº tº gº e e º A.D. 464. Muiredhach Mal, son of Eoghan. Never King. Died ... tº º º e - e. gº tº e A.D. 489. Fergus, son of Muiredhach, R.C. Died * G - * tº gº tº gº tº tº º ºs tº e e A.D. 517. Eochy Termacherna, son of Fergus. R.C. Died tº tº º tº ſº e tº ſº º e s e A.D. 543. Aedh, or Hugh, son of Eochy. R.C. Died tº º A.D. 577 Uada, son of Hugh. R.C. Died tº ſº º tº e ſº tº tº ſº. tº º e tº e e tº tº gº , A.D. 599. Roghallach, son of Uada, R.C. Died tº gº tº e ſº º tº º jº tº g tº tº ſº tº A.D. 645. Fergus, son of Roghallach. R.C. Died tº º ſº tº is e tº ſº e e tº º A.D. 649. Muiredhach Muilethan, son of Fergus. R.C. Died tº $ tº jº º º tº ſº º tº dº ſº A.D. 700. Innrechtach, or Enright, son of Muiredhach. R.C. Died dº º ſº º ºg * * * A.D. 723. Murgil, son of Innrechtach. Never King. Died tº ſº tº tº tº tº e Q s tº º A.D. 75 I. Tomaltach, son of Murgil. Never King. Died ... tº º º ge tº ſº tº ſº º tº e e A.D. 774. Muirgis, son of Tomaltach. R.C. Died tº ºn e © tº º •º º ve tº tº gº tº e º s A.D. 8 Io. Teige, son of Muirgis. Never King. Died & tº º e e is e tº e ºs & ſº ºf A.D. 84I. Concovar, or Conor, son of Teige. R.C. Died ... tº G tº { } ſº tº tº e ge tº ſº º A.D. 879. Cathal, son of Concovar. R.C. Died ... q_ _ _ © tº ſº tº e tº * tº § tº e A.D. 925. Teige, of the Three Towers, son of Cathal. R.C. Died © º º tº t e A.D. 954. Concovar, or Conor, son of Teige. R. C. Died ... tº tº ſº © º º tº gº tº tº º º A.D. 97 I. Cathal, son of Concovar. R.C. Died ... tº gº º tº º º tº º gº tº º º tº ſº º A.D. IOIO, Teige, of the White Steed, son of Cathal. R. C. Died ... tº a gº tº º º tº tº gº A.D. IO3O. Hugh, of the Broken Spear, son of Teige. R. C. Died ... ... © tº ºn tº e Q A.D. IO67. Roderic, or Rory of the Yellow Hound, son of Hugh. R.C. Died ge e ſº tº tº tº A.D. I IOS. Turlough Mor O’Conor, son of Roderic. Monarch of Ireland. Died e pe © o e A.D. II 56. APPENDIX. TABLE II. DESCENT FROM TURLOUGH MoR O'ConoR, MONARCH of IRELAND, A.D. II 56 TO PRESENT DATE. Turlough Mor O'Conor, Monarch of Ireland, married Dervorgil, d. of McLoughlin, Cathal Crovedearg, King of Connaught, son of Turlough Mor, m. Mor, d. of O’Brien, Hugh, son of Cathal Crovedearg, R.C., Roderick, or Rory, son of Hugh. Never King, Owen, son of Roderick, R.C., Hugh, son of Owen, R.C., Turlough, son of Hugh, R.C., Hugh, son of Turlough, R.C., tº e.e. Turlough Oge, son of Hugh, Felim Geancach, son of Turlough Oge, Owen Caech, son of Felim Geancach, Carbry, son of Owen Caech, Dermot, son of Carbry, Hugh (Sir Hugh), son of Dermot, Cahill Oge, son of Sir Hugh, Charles, son of Cahill Oge, Denis, son of Charles, & sº Charles, son of Denis, Denis, son of Charles, Owen, M.P., Son of Denis, ... Denis, M.P., Son of Owen, • O - 772. Died A.D. II56 I224 m. Reginalda, d. of O'Ferrall, I228 I244. tº & © I274 m. Finola, d. of O'Brien, I309 m. Dervorgil, d. of O’Donnell, ... I345 m. Margaret, d. of De Burgo, I356 m. Graine, d. of O'Kelly,” I406 Edwina, d. of O'Connor Sligo, I474 m. Dervorgil, d. of Felim Finn O'Conor Roe, 1485 m. Una, d. of O'Flannagan,' 1546 m. Dorothy, d. of Teige O'Conor Roe, I585 m. Mary, d. of Brian O’Rourke, 1632 m. Anne, d. of William O'Mulloy, 1634 m. Cecilia, d. of Fiachra O'Flynn, 1696 m. Mary, d. of Tiernan O’Rourke, I750 m. Catherine, d. of John O'Fagan, or O'Hagan, 1790 me. Catherine, d. of Martin Browne, 1804 m. Jane, d. of Edward Moore, 1831 m. Mary, d. of Maurice Blake, ... 1847 Rt. Hon. Charles Owen, M.P., son of Denis, now living, present O'Conor Don. * It is not quite certain that Graine, d. of O'Kelly, was the wife of Turlough Oge O'Conor, or of another Turlough. A similar remark applies to Una, d. of O'Flannagan, who was married to a Carbry O'Conor, of the O'Conor Don line, but whether the Carbry here mentioned is not quite certain. T A B L E I I I. GENERAL PEDIGREE OF O'ConoR DON LINE, FROM TURLOUGH MoR, MonARCH of IRELAND. | | Roderic, last Monarch of Ireland, died II98. Cathal Crovedearg, d. 1224—Mor, d. of O’Brien. | | | | | | | | | Conor Moinmoy, d. 1189. Dermot. Turlough. Murrough. Roderic. Conor. Hugh, d. 1228—Rainault, d. of O'Ferrall. | | e | | | | | | | | | | H Cathal Carrach, Donal. Murtagh. Cormack. Brian, I267. Conor. Conor. Cathal, 1257. Turlough, 1264. Roderic, d. 1244. Teige, 1244. Agnes—Richard de Burgo. d. I2OI. Melaghlin. Conor. Hugh, 1257. Rory, 1278. Owen, º I274. Cathal, 1265. * y i Hugh, d. 1309—Finola, d. of O’Brien. | | | Slaine, d. of O'Brien | Cathal. Turlough, d. I sº- Dervorgil, d. of O’Donnell. Felim, I316. | | | Rory, I 384. Hugh, d. 1356—Margaret, d. of De Burgo. Hugh, see O | | | | Cathal, I439. Owen, Felim. Turlough Oge, d. 1406—Graine, d. of O'Kelly. | I42O. | | | | - | Rºy I453. Turlough, Cathal, I448. Hugh, I461, aged 63. Felim Geancach,-Edwina, d. of O'Conor Sligo. Turlough I444. | d. I474. | | | | | | Turlough. Dermot. Murtough. Hugh. Rory, I473. Roderic. Owen Caech, d. 1485—Dervorgil, d. of Felim Finn O'Conor Roe. Owen, | - - | H Hugh, I.47 I. Dermot, I471. Rory. Cathal. Hugh, deposed 1550. Carbry, d. 1546. Donogl Turlough, or Terence, Dermot, d. 1585—Dorothy, d. of O'Conor Roe. | I583. | | | Cairbre, d. 1617. Con. Sir Hugh, d. 1632—Mary, d. of O’Rourke. Turlough, I583. | | | | (I) Calvach, d. 1654. (2) Hugh Oge, d. 1655. (3) Cathal, d. 1634—Anne, d. of O'Mulloy. (4) Brian Roe. | | | | | i | | | | Hugh, d. 1669. Charles, d. 1699. Mary, m. Ed. O’Mulloy, had issue. Daniel, d. 1689. Hugh. Owen, 1692. Charles, d. 1699–Cecilia, d. of O'Flynn. Rory. - | | | º - | | - Hugh, d. 1688, unmarried. Andrew, d. 1718. Brian, Felim, Denis, d. 1750–Mary, d. of O’Rourke. Daniel, Owen, see sepa | d. unm. d, unm. | d. unm. - | - * - | - |. |. pur, d. 1767. Thomas (Brigadier). Charles, d. 1790 – Catherine, d. of O'Hagan. Denis. Daniel. | e ge | - Domnick, d. 1785, no issue, Alexander, d. 1820, unm. Thomas, d. unm. Elizabeth. Jane, m. W. Eccles, had issue. Denis, d. 1804—Catherine, d. of Browne. Bridget, m. | Owen, M.P., d. 1831—Jane, d. of Moore. Very Rev. Charles, D.D. Martin | | | | | Denis, M.P., d. 1847—Mary, d. of Major Blake. Edward. bº | - | . º | | | Rt. Hon. Charles Owen, M. P. Denis, M.P., Charles. Owen. d. 1883. | | Felim, 1265. Hugh, I274. urlough Oge, I268. | Donough. Rory, I32 I. Conor Roe Pedigree. . Brian, ancestor of O'Conor Sligo. | Teige Carragh, I4Io. | Dall, I454. Dermot Roe, I419. | | I468. Donnell. Teige, I452. | Teige. Dermot, I487. l. | Teige. Tuathal, or Toole. Hugh. Dualtach. Hugh Mergagh. Dermot. rate Pedigree, No. 4. | Hugh. | e ‘Dermot. Charles. Denis. | | | Denis. Rory. Mathew. Thomas. | | Charles of New York, | Arthur. Mathew. | | | S. Arthur. Charles. Maurice. | Dermot Mor, I463. Denis, d. unm. No. 1. DEscendants of CALVACH, or CHARLEs, ELDEST SON OF SIR HUGH O'CONOR DON. SIR HUGH O'ConoR DON. | Calvach, or Charles, sº ary, d. of Sir Theobald Burke. | (1) Hugh, d. 1669–Isabel, d. of Burke. Hugh, d. 1688, unmarried. Extinct in male line. | (1) Owen—Elinor, d. of O’Fal d. 1692. - º | Mary—Alex. Plunkett. | | (1) Charles—Catherine, d. of John O'Fagan, or O'Hagan. (2) Roger, d. un d. 1790. | | () *Tºtems d. of Martin Browne of Clonfad. Bridget— . IöO4. • | | | | | (1) Owen, M.P., Jane, d. of Ed. Moore. (2) Very Rev. Charles, (3) Roderic, (4) Terence, (5) Daniel, d. 1831. D. D. d. unm. d. unm. d. unm. | | | (1) Denis, M.P.-Mary, d. of M. Blake (2) Edward–Honoria, d. of M. Blake Catherine—John Mapother Jar d. 1847. of Towerhill. of Towerhill. of Kiltevan. | (1) Charles Owen, --Georgina, d. of Perry. (2) Denis Maurice,—Ellen, d. of (I) cºhe (2) own. ſ Rt. Hon., M.P.-Ellen, d. of O'Ferrall. M.P. Kevill Davies. | (I) *T*. d. of Fallon. | (1) Thomas—Margaret, d. of | | | (1) Roderic—d. of Moises. (2) ruler of Frenc | | | (1) Patrick Hugh, (2) Roderic, (3) Nicholas R.—d. of Hop d. unm. d - , 111] IIl, T A B L E I V. DETAILED DESCENT FROM SIR HUGH. O'CONOR DON. No. 2. DESCENDANTS OF HUGH OGE, SECOND SON SIR HUGH O’ConoR Dt º Oge, q | (1) Daniel, d. 1689–Anne, d of Lord Athenry. (2) Hº-w | | | - (1) Andrew, d. 1718–Honoria, d. of Colonel Dowel. Brian, d, u | | * . Ed d O’Mulloy. | (2) º Mary, m #. ulloy (1) Daniel, d. 1767-Margaret, d. of Captain Ryan.Rwan 2. th 1699. —f- (I) bºne. d. 1785—Catherine, d. of Robert Kelly. (2) hº Extinct in mal No. 3, DESCENDANTS OF CAHILL OGE, THIRD SON OF SIR HUGH O'ConoR DON. SIR HUGH. O'CONOR DON. Cahill Oge, d. tº-Ame d. of William O'Mulloy, of Croghan. | * . | relict of Sir O. Tuite. (2) Charles—Cecilia, d. of Fiachra O'Flynn of Ballinlough. | d. 1699. | | | | | or-º-Manus O'Cahane. (1) Felim, (2) Denis-Mary, d. of Tiernan O'Rourke. (3) Daniel, Anne–Peter Con | d. unm. d. 1750. d. unm. (3) Owen, d. unm. (4) Mathew, d. unm. (5) Daniel, officer in French service, d. unm. | wº M“Dermot of Coolavin. (2) Charles of Mt. Al t | | | . | | } (6) Matthew—Priscilla, Catherine–Lyons. Mary—O'Donnell. Alicia–Shiel. Eliza—M“Dermot. | d. of Forbes, | | | | | | le. Honoria. Maria, (1) Charles, (2) Denis—Margaret, d. of (3) Arthur—Kate, d. of (4) Mathew. rºl. d. unm. | Power of Faithleg. | Blake of Ballinafad. - | | | | | - }) Denis. Gertrude—IIon. C. Nugent. Eva. (1) Arthur. (2) Charles. (3) * NO. 4. DESCENDANTs of BRIAN ROE, FOURTH SON OF SIR HUGH O'CONOR DON. TAKEN PROM BURKE’s “LANDED SIR HUGH O’CONOR DON. Brian—Mary, d. of O'Connor. Roger—Elizabeth, d. of O'Shaughnessy, ownicº d. of M*Dermott. | | (2) Thomas, of * d. of Dillon. (3) Denis, of Willsbrook—d, of Irwin, lanagan. (1) Roderic—Bridget, d. of Browne. (2) Owen. ! . | | | (1) ** of M’Donnell. (2) Dillon. (3) Richard. (4) Aylward. | | | (1) Roderic Joseph-Elinor, d. of J. Browne. (2) Alfred John. (3) Eugene. OF SIR HUGH O'Conor DON. 5-Jane, d. of Lord Dir | f O'Conor Roe. Mary, m. Teige O'Kelly. ldier, d. unmarried. - | rried. (3) Alexander, d. unmarried. (4) Thomas, d. unmarried. Elizabeth. Jane—W. Eccles. - 1820. Had issue O’C. Eccles. | (6) Hugh—Catherine, d. of O'Conor - | of Milton. | | g i.J. Dillon. Denis, d. unm. | Thomas—- d. of H. O'Conor. Denis, | d. unm. | J | | . | Iargaret—Murphy. Catherine. Anne. Charles, of New York—Cornelia, d. of Eliza—Sloane, of No issue. Livingstone. | New York. | w | (1) Thomas. (2) Charles. | —Hugh O'Conor of Belanagare. Mary—Plunkett of Castleplunkett, T A B L E V I. PEDIGREE OF O'ConoR SLIGO. TURLOUGH MoR, MonARCH OF IRELAND. Brian Luignach. Andreas. | Teige, 1313. Brian. | Teige. Donnell. | | | | - | Conor. bºrº I3O8. Murtough, 1329. cº, K.C., 1325. Donough, 1328. Rory, 1315. Manus, 1316. | --- --- Hugh, 1368. Murtough. | | | | Teige, I335. Rory, I 351. Cathal Oge, 1362. Manus. | | | | | | Donough, I419. Donnell, I395. Felim, I426. Teige, 1375. Teige, I403. Teige, I37.I. | | | | | | - | Teige, I430. Hugh, I4O7. ove I444. Murtough, 14O4. * Turlough Carragh. *-*. | J | | | Donnell, I464. | | | | Teige. Murtough, I453. Donnell, I494. Felim. Rory. Manus, I461. Rory, I495. Hugh. | | | Hugh, I471. | | | | | | | | - | - Brian. Murtough Oge, John, 1489. Calvagh Caech, 15O1. Cathal Oge, 1513. Owen, | | Felim, 1519. John, Brian. Teige, 1488. Brian, 1488. 1489. I5I3. Teige. Brian. Owen, | I 50I. t I489. | Teige, I552. Brian, 1527. Roderic. Teige Oge, 1545. Hugh, 1536. | Sir ºnal 1588. | cºlor I582, | Calvagh, 1581. | Teige, 1581. | | Donnell. Sir Donough, 1609. Sir Charles, made a baronet, 1622. | Cahir, I 583. Felim. Donnell, I527. | Murtough, I534. T A B L E V. PEDIGREE OF O’CONOR ROE. TURLOUGH MOR, MON ARCH OF IRF.LAN I). Cathal Crovedearg, I224. |--> , , Conor, I 191. Hugh, 1228. Felim, I 265. | | | | Turlough, 1264. Teige, I 272. Roderic, I244. Rory, 1278. Cathal, 1265. Owen. | | | | Turlough, 1291. Hugh, I 309. Donough. | – | e | | | Turlough (O'Conor Don line). Felim, 1316. Cathal, Rory, I 32 I. Hugh, I 368. | | | | own. Finn, 1362. Felim Cleireach, I4IO, * Roe, I426. Brian Ballagh, 1418. | | | g | | | | | Teige, I464. Donough Dubhshuileach, I488. Cathal pº I433. º I43O. * 1487. * Roe, I 452. pº 1478. º I485. | ------------------ .- ...--w-º-º-º-º-º-º-mºm. -ms--- | | | | | | | |. | | | | |.. | | | | Turlough, 1452. Dermot Roe, 1446. Conor, I 466. Felim Finn, 1490. Brian Duv, 1466. Rory. - Cathal Roe, I 45I. Brian. Rory, 1453. Teige, 1466. Hugh, 1484. Turlough, 1478. Felim, 1468. Teige, 1467. Hugh Duv, 1467. Cathal, 1488. Hugh, 1481. | - | —— |- | | | | * g e º - | , h, I 503. Turlough, 1489. ch 1493. Dermot, 1489. Owen, 1466. Hugh Duv, Teige Buidh, 1534. Teige, 1466. Brian Oge, I482. Rory, I492. Carbry, I474. | ----------- - 1466. | - | - | | | 2. | | | ige, I5O2. Brian, 1489. Hugh. Calvagh (Cloonakilly). Turlough (Ballinaſad). Roderic, 1552. Teige Oge, 1592 (Bealanamulta sept). Felim, 1560. Calvagh, 1497. Teige Roe, I497. | --- | & | Brian Ballagh, I 587. Teige. Turlough, º 1609. Tº Boy, 1588. Donough, 1631–Elizabeth Ferrall. | - Hugh, | | Cathal, or Charles. Calvagh, or Charles. Dermot. | . . Teige, 1693. Charles, 1692, d. in Germany. º Roger, gov. of Civita Vecchia, living, 1734. ( 387 ) I N D E X. Acaill, Book of, 15. Achy, brother of Fiacha, 18. Adrian IV., bull of, 50, 70, 73. Aedh, Hugh, King of Connaught, A.D. 534, 23, 24, 25. Alban, Bishop of Ferns, 86. Albert, Cardinal, 67. Alexander III., Pope, 70. Aquila, Don John de, Spanish general, 213. Ardfinan, castle of, 75. Ardnaree, massacre at, 198. Armagh, Synod of, 6o. Art, son of Conn, Io, I I, I2. Athenry, battle of, 136. Athleague, castle of, 97, 17o. Athlone, bridge of, 46. Athlone, castle of, 41, 199, 201, 258. Athlone Commissioners, 242, 248,264, 265, Attacots, war of, 4. Bagenal, Sir H., 210. Bagenal, Sir N., 197, 199, 352, 353, Appendix. Ballaghcullia, 17o. Ballinasloe, castle of, 187. Ballintober, castle of, I49, 159, 160, 162, 164-167, I69, 170, 171, 182, 186, 187,212, 219, 221, 224, 235, 236,238,239, 245, 248, 249, 250, 251, 256, 267, 272, 330. Ballintober, abbey of 92. Ballyleague, castle of, 89, 114. Ballymote, castle of, 126, 145, 199, 202, 210. Ballyna-huamha, castle of, 180. Banada, castle of, 18o. Basilia, daughter of Strongbow, 69. Becket, Thomas a, 67. Belanagare (alias Carrownevally), 220, 269, 270, 28o, 281, 287, 289, 290, 296. Bellew, Edward, 311. Bermingham, John, 139, 141. Bermingham, Richard, 136. Betham, Sir William, 25. Bingham, George, 199, 201. Bingham, Sir Richard ; made governor of Con- naught, I90; appointed commissioner, 193; his mode of government, 198, 199; sent to O-ºſ º-O Flanders, 200; letters to Lord Burghley, 20I, 202; returns to Ireland, 203; issues “Book of Instructions,” 204 ; Irish opinion of 205, 207, 208 ; spoils Tyrawly, 206; his retire- ment, 209. Bohun, Humphrey de, 65. Boroimhe Laighean (Boromean tribute), 7. Bourke, Sir Tibbott, 215, 223, 224. Boyle, monastery of, 8 I, II5. Brabazon, Captain, I76, 189, 190. Breifny, 64, IO/. Brian Boru, 8, 31, 32, 33. Brian, son of Eochy Moymedon, 20, 21, 22. Bruce, Edward, brother of Robert Bruce, invited to Ireland, I31 ; arrives, 132 ; his proceedings there, 133, 135, 136, 138; his death, I41. Bruce, Robert, King of Scotland, I31, 132. Brugh, royal burial-place, 17, n. Burgh, Richard de; offers a fine and rent for land of Connaught, 88; offer refused, 89; subse- quently accepted, 95; granted the land of Connaught by charter, 96; takes O'Conor’s wife prisoner, 97; appointed justiciary, 98; removed, and ordered to give up Connaught, 99 ; assists the sons of Roderic, IOO ; restored the land of Connaught, IO2, Io9; out of favour with King Henry, IO4, IOS ; again restored, Ioé ; reconciled with Felim O'Conor, Ioy; hostilities again break out, Io&; plunders Felim's territory, Io9, IIo, I II. Burgh, Richard de, Earl of Ulster, I21, 122 ; con- flicts with the O'Conors, 123, 125; claims all Connaught, I26, 127 ; opposes Edward Bruce, I31, I32, 133, 134, I 36. Burgh, William Fitz Adelm de; accompanies Henry II. to Ireland, 63 ; meets Roderic O'Conor, 67; publishes bull of Pope Adrian, 70; invades Connaught, 73, 81, 82, 337, Appendix. Burgh, William de; cousin of the Earl of Ulster, I28; claims over Connaught, 129 ; opposes Bruce, I.33, I34 ; battle of Athenry, 136, 137; his death, I4I. Burghley, Lord, 175, 186, 187. Burke, Earl of Ulster (the brown earl), 142. Burke, Edmond, I43. 388 APPENDIX. Burke, Edmund, M.P., 298, 309. Burke, Edward M*William, 146. Burke (Richard of the wood), 114. Burke, Sir Ricard, 223. Burke, Richard, son of Edmund Burke, M.P., 297, 3O9, 3I2, 322. Burke, Col. Thos., 249, 250, 266. Burke, Walter M*William, IIo, I 13, 122, 335, Appendix. Burke, Walter, son of William, 142, 143. Burke, William Oge M*William, I 13, 114. Burke, Ulick, of Castlehackett, 242. Butler, Hon. Simon, 299. Byrne, Edward, member of Catholic Committee, 309, 322, 323. Cairbry Cinn-cait, 4. Callach, Son of Cormac, I5. Calvach, descendant of Ir, 19. Cambrensis, Giraldus, 54, 56, 57, 58, 61, 64, 70. Carausius, 18. Carbery Liffechair, son of Cormac, 15, 16, 17, 18. Carnfree, 83, 85, I29, 134, 16I. Carolan, Turlough, the bard, 29I. Cashel, Synod of, 67. Castlecoote, 243, 245, 381, Appendix. Castlekirke, IO2. Castlemore Costello, castle of, I 14, 143. Castlenacally, IO2. Castlerea, castle of, 166, 169, 170, 180, 186, 187, 251, 252, 259, 265, 330. Cathal, son of Roghallach, 26. Cathal, son of Conor, King of Connaught, 28. Cathal Carrach O’Conor, 79-81. Cathal Crovedearg, 79-92. See O'Conor. Cather, King of Leinster, 8. Ceallagh, son of Eoghan Bel, 23. Ceallagh, son of Roghallach, 26. Celsus, Archbishop of Armagh, 41. Cennfaelid, 15. Charles I., King of England, 232, 233, 24O. Charles II., King of England, 246, 264, 274, 331. Chichester, Sir A., 218. Clanricarde, Earl of ; party of 240 ; negotiations with Catholics of Roscommon, 252, 253, 254, 372; opposes the Irish, 257, 258, 259, 262, 263 ; included in king's declaration, 276. Clarence, Lionel, Duke of, I47. Clifford, Sir Conyers, 209, 2 IO, 2II. Clonmacnoise, 31, 33, 35, 37, 43, 44, 77. Cogan, John de, IO2. Cogan, Milo de, 59, 61, 63, 64, 73, 74. Coke, Mr. Secretary, 234, 235. Collas (the three Collas), 18, 19. Collooney, castle of, 40, 44, 2II, 212. Colman, King of Connaught, 25. Columba, St., 16. Columbkill, St., 23, 24, 25. Conaire, II, 13. Concors, Abbot, 71. Concovar, or Conor, son of Teige, King of Con- naught, 28. Cong, cross of, 46, 76. Cong, abbey of, 76, 77. Conn of the Hundred Battles, 8, 9, Io, II. Connaught, county of, I26, 137. Connaught, description of, 229, 233. Connor McNessa, I7. Connor, son of Dermot M*Murrough, 55, 59, 60, 61. Conor, Son of Teige of the Three Towers, 29, 30. Conway, son of Muiredhach, 26. Coote, Sir Charles ; contests with the Irish, 237, 238, 239, 243, 244, 245, 256, 257. Corinne, wife of Eochy Moymedon, 20. Cormac, son of Art, birth of, 12 ; claims throne of Ireland, I3; description of 14 ; reign of, I 5 ; character of 16; his death, 17. Cormac, King of Munster, 28, 42. Counties, Irish, when formed, 87, 127, 137, 185, 187. Courcy, John de, 75, 78, 79, 81. Courtstown, district of, 70. Crimthan, King of Munster, 20. Cromwell, Oliver, 177, 240, 241, 244, 263, 330. Cruachan, Croghan, Co. Roscommon, or Rath Cruachan, 9, 22, 33, 85. Cunnoghan, Hugh, 245, 381, Appendix. Curlieu mountains, 79, 212. Curman, son of Hugh, King of Connaught, 23, 24. Curry, Dr. John, one of founders of Catholic Asso- ciation, 293, 295, 308. Dairine, daughter of Tuathal Techmar, 7. Daly, Captain, 177. Damclone, battle of, 21. Dathi, son of Fiacha, Monarch of Ireland, 21, 22, 23, 25, 85. Davys, Sir John, 227, 228. Dermot, Sir Terence, 249, 250. Dervorgil, wife of O’Rourke, 43, 49, 80. Dervorgilla, wife of Turlough Mor, 44. Desmond, Countess of 223, 224. Diarmid and Grainne, I'7. Diarmid, Monarch of Ireland, 23, 24, 25. Dillon, Sir James, 256. Dillon, Sir Lucas, 197, 202, 206, 237, 245, 252, 253, 254, 256, 371, 372, 381, Appendix. * Dillon, Sir Theobald, 231, 25I, 364, Appendix. Dillon, Lord Viscount, 316, 317. Donchad, Monarch of Ireland, 29. Donchad, son of Flann, 37. Donnellan, James, 248, 377, Appendix. Dowel, Lucas, 265. Dº Philip, 245, 269, 270, 27I, 272, 369, 372, 3öI. Drumderg, battle of, Io9. Duagh Galach, 22, 30. Duagh Teangumha, 23. Dunamon, castle of, Io2, I2 I. Dunloe, castle of, 40, 46, 79. Durrow, castle of 76. INDEX. 389 Eamania, palace of, 19. Earnley, Sir Michael, 256. Eccles, William (O'Conor Eccles), 266. Edward I., King of England, I I4, II 7, I23, 125, I27. Edward II, King of England, I27, 13 I, I 38, 139, I4 I, Eaw: III., King of England, I47. Edward IV., King of England, I63, 169. Edward V., King of England, I69. Edward VI., King of England, 182, 183. Elim, King of Ulster, 6. Elizabeth, Queen of England, 184, 207, 208, 212, 2I3, 2I5, 219, 23O, 233. Enright, son of Muiredhach Muilethan, 26, 27. Eochy Moymedon, 19, 20. Eochy Termacherna, 23. Eoghan, son of Brian, 22. Eoghan Bel, 23. Eoghan Mor (or Owen Mor), 9, 42. Eoghan Shreve, son of Duagh Galach, 22. Eric, law of, 8. Essex, Earl of, 2II, 212, 2I4. Eva, daughter of M*Murrough, 58, 61. Everard, Sir John, 227, 229. Exeter, Richard of, I2 I, I27, I42. Felim, the law-giver, 8. Feredach the Just, 3, 4, 5, 6. Fergus, King of Ulster, I2, I 3, 17, 19. Fergus, son of Muiredhach Mal, 23. Fergus, son of Roghallach, 26. Ferns, 50, 51, 54, 68. Fiacha Finnola, 6. Fiacha Sraiftene, 18. Fiacha, son of Eochy Moymedon, 2 I, 23. Fingal, Earl of, 326. Finian, St., 24. Finn McCool, 16, 17. Finola, daughter of Roderic O'Conor, 37. Firbolgs, 2. Fithir, daughter of Tuathal Technar, 7. Fitzgerald, Gerald, son of Maurice, I22, 126. Fitzgerald, James, Sugane Earl, 2IO. Fitzgerald, John Thomas, I23, 124, 125, 126. Fitzgerald, Maurice; promises aid to Dermot M“Murrough, 51 ; invested with Lordship of Wexford, 53 ; siege of Dublin, 56, 57; attack on Waterford, 58; sally from Dublin, 63, 64; appointed joint Governor of Waterford, 67. Fitzgerald, Maurice; Lord Deputy of Ireland, 99, Io2, IO4; goes to Wales, Ioë ; attacks Felim O'Conor, Io'7; conference with Felim, I Io; restores castle of Sligo, I I3. Fitzgerald, Thomas, Earl of Desmond, 163. FitzHenry, Meyler, 69, 71, 85, 86, 87. Fitzstephen, Robert, half-brother to Maurice Fitz- gerald, 51 ; lands in Ireland, 52 ; obtains lands in Wexford, 53; siege of Dublin, 56, 57; attack on Waterford, 58; sally from Dublin, 63; imprisoned by King Henry, 67; ap- pointed joint Governor of Waterford, 67. Fitzwilliam, Sir William, Lord Deputy of Ireland, 2OI, 2O4, 205. Fitzwilliam, Earl, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 317, 318, 323, 324: . Flann of Monasterboice, II. Forth, Barony of, and Borgy, 53, 70. French, Arthur, M.P., 318. French, John, of Dungar, now Frenchpark, 283, 287, 289, 290, 296. Froissart, Chronicles of, I 5.1, I54. Furnival, Lord, Viceroy of Ireland, 158. Fytton, Sir Edward, first President of Connaught, 166, 186, 187. Galway, castle of, 40, 41, 44, IO2. Gelasius, Archbishop of Armagh, 48. Gloucester, Duke of, regiment of, 245, 246, 274, 28.I. Grainne, daughter of King Cormac, I 7. Grace, William, 94, 96. Grattan, Henry, M.P., 323. Griffith, Rice Ap, King of Wales, 51, 52. Gros, Raymond le; lands in Ireland, 57; attacks Waterford, 58; assault on city of Dublin, 59; sent as envoy to King Henry II., 6o; sally from Dublin, 63; marries Strongbow's sister, 69 ; summoned to England, 7o ; defeats O'Brien near Cashel, 71. Hadrian, Emperor, 7. Hans Thewoode (John the Furious), 61, 62. Harold, King of England, 77. tiºn Danish Governor of Dublin, 58, 59, 62, 4. Hay, Geoffrey de la, 75. Heber, son of Milesius, 3, 9. Henry I., King of England, 51. Henry II., King of England; waited on by Dermot M“Murrough, 50, 51 ; designs upon Ireland, 52, 55 ; waited on by Strongbow, 57 ; orders return of Strongbow, 60, 62 ; arranges to go to Ireland, 64; lands in Ireland, 65; submission of Irish chiefs, 66; returns to England, 67 ; seeks aid from Strongbow, 68 ; complaints against Raymond le Gros, 70; receives em- bassy from Roderic, 7 I ; treaty of Windsor, 72, 73, 74; sends his son John to Ireland, 75; his death, 76. Henry III., King of England; proclaimed king, 88; negotiations with Cathal, King of Connaught, 89, 9o, 91; decrees forfeiture of Connaught,95; grant of Connaught to De Burgh, 96; negoti- ations with Felim, King of Connaught, 98, 99; restores Connaught to DeBurgh, Ioo ; orders castles to be erected in Connaught, Iog ; re- ceives Felim, IO4; orders banishment of De Burgh, Io; ; guarantees Felim's territory, Io; ; letter of Felim, Io9, and 333, Appendix; Henry's death, I 14. E E E 390 INDEX. Henry V., King of England, 158. Henry VI, King of England, 158, 159, 160, 169. Henry VII., King of England, 169. Henry VIII., King of England, 181, 182, 183, 192, We I93. Henry, Archbishop of Dublin, 88. Heremon, son of Milesius, 3, 9. Holywell, Elizabeth, deposition of 372, Appendix. Hugh of the Broken Spear, King of Connaught, 32, 33- * Hy-Kinsellagh, territory of, 52, 63. Ir, son of Milesius, 3, 19. Jacob, Sir Robert, 215. James I., King of England ; delivers O'Rourke to Queen Elizabeth, 207 ; accession to throne of England, 215 ; grants patent to Sir Hugh O’Conor Don, 218: calls a parliament, 225; orders relating thereto, 226, 227, 228 ; con- dition of Ireland in his reign, 232, 233, 353, Appendix. James II., King of England; knighthood of Sir Terence Dermot, 250 ; Act of Grace, 281, 282 ; flight after Battle of the Boyne, 284. John, King of England, 75, 85, 86, 87, 88. John XXII., Pope, 135, 138. Kavanagh, Donnell, 55, 61, 63, 69. Kenmare, Lord, 309, 3II. Keogh, John, of Mt. Jerome, 297, 309, 3II, 314, 32I, 322, 323, 324, 325. Keon, Myles, of Keonbrook, 299, 3OO, 3OI, 313. Keiran, St., of Clonmacnoise, 23, 37, 44. Rilcolmon, castle of, I2 I. Kildare, Garret, Earl of, I70, 171, 195. Yilkenny, Parliament at, 147. Kilmacduagh, battle of, 81. Kilmallock, Lord, 248, 377, Appendix. Kincora, palace of, O'Brien's, 33, 35, 39. King, Sir John, 226, 227, 228, 23.I. King, Capt. Robert, 236, 239, 256. Knock-alaghta, castle of, 224. Knock-Buidhbh, battle of, I 79. Knockmoy, abbey of 92. Lacy: the De Lacys, 87, 89, 91. Lacy, Hugh De; made Governor of Dublin, 67; conflicts with the Irish, 69 ; marries Roderic O'Conor's daughter, 74; said to aspire to sovereignty of Ireland, 75 ; Roderic appeals to him for assistance, 80: assists Cathal Crove- dearg, 81 ; in hostility against him, 90 ; joins in expedition to Connaught, IO2; his daughter marries De Burgh, I22. Lacy, William De, 91, 96. Law, Dr. John, Bishop of Elphin, 317. Leabhar na h-Uidhre, II, 17, n., I63. Leath Cuin, 9. Leath Mogha, 9, II. Leoghair, Io. L’Estrange, Sir Thomas, 175, 176, 185, 187, 195, 2OO, 23.I. Lismore, castle of, 75. Loch-na-nean, Roscommon, 172. Loftus, Archbishop, 197. Longespee, Stephen, Ioy. Loughrea Commissioners, 241, 242, 248, 264, 265. Luzignac, Godfrey de, Ioy. Lyons, Lewis, 312. M“Carthy, King of Desmond, 41, 42, 48, 66, 79. Mac Con, II, I2. M“Cumhail Finn (Finn M'Cool), 16, 17. M“Dermot, Hugh, of Coolavin, 3OI, 302, 314, 318. M“Dermot of Moylurg, 84, 93, IOO, II 7, II8, 125, I28, 129, 134, 135, 137, 140, 142, I43, 145, I49, I5O, I55, I66, 170, 178, 182, 184, 185, I86, 187, 188, 189, 195, 196, 199, 205, 209, 2I3, 23O, 23.I. M“Dunleavy, 99. M“Firbis Duald, 2, 26. M“Geraghty, 89. M“Gillapatrick of Ossory, 54, 66, 71. M‘Kenna, Theobald, 300, 302, 313, 322, Mackintosh, Sir James, 2. M'Loughlin, Donnell, Monarch of Ireland, 35, 38, 39, 40. M'Loughlin, Murtough, Monarch of Ireland, 43, 47, 48, 50. M'Loughlin, Neal, 49. M“Murrough, Dermot, King of Leinster, 39, 40, 42, 63, 69, 77; carries off the wife of O’Rourke, 43, 49 ; Submits to Roderic O'Conor, 47, 48; seeks aid in England, 50, 5 I ; again submits to Roderic, 52; joined by English adventurers, 52, 53; negotiations with Roderic, 54; gives his son as hostage, 55 ; war between him and Roderic, 56, 57; his daughter marries Strong- bow, 58; assault on Dublin, 59; his son executed, 60 ; his death, 61. M“Quillan, Jenkin, 128. Maelmuira, poet, 16. Magh-Leana, battle of, 9, Io. Magh-Mucruimhe, battle of, Io, I I, I2. Mal, King of Ulster, 8. Malby, Sir N., 175, 188, 189, 190, 231. Manchan, St., shrine of, 37. Mapother, Richard, 205. Marisco, Geoffrey de, justiciary of Ireland, 86, 88, 95, 96, 97, 98. Markham, Sir Griffin, 2II, 2I4. Mary, Queen of England, 183. Maupas, John, I39. Meredith, Sir Robert, 237, 243, 371, Appendix. Milesius, 3. Mogha-Nuadht, 9. Moin-Mor, battle of, 42. Mongfinn, 20. 3. 391 INDEX. Montemarisco, Harvey de, uncle of Strongbow, 52, 53, 57, 64. Moran, son of Cairbre Cinn-Cait, 5, 17, n. Morin, John, escheator, 142. Moy-Nish, battle of, I 13. Moyle Bride, 26. Meelick, castle of, 98, 99, 187. Muiredhach Mal, 23. Muiredhach Muilthan, 26, 27, 84. Muirgis, son of Tomaltagh, 27. Muirchertagh, or Muiredhach Fireach, 18, 19. Murgil, son of Enright, 27. Mygdonia in Macedon, 2. Nesta, mistress of Henry I., 51. Newcomen, Sir Beverly, I I I. Nial of the Nine Hostages, Monarch of Ireland, 3, 2O, 21, 47, 48. Nicholas, prior of Mºngºid, 70. Norris, Sir John,/208. A. / •. & J. Q?…. 3 / * * - 233. 366 O’Brien, Donnell, King of Thomond ; revolts against Roderic, 56; submits to Henry II., 66, 67; shows signs of disaffection, 68; defeats the English, 69 ; besieges Limerick, 70; de- feated by Raymond Le Gros, 71; joins Conor Moinmoy, 78, 79. O’Brien, Murtough, 48. O’Brien, Turlough, King of Munster; contests with Roderic O'Conor, King of Connaught, 34, 35, 36; contests with Turlough Mor O'Conor, 38, 39, 40, 42, 44. O’Brien, Turlough, King of Munster, 113, 114. O’Carroll, Donough, lord of Uriel, 48. O'Connell, Daniel, M.P., 324, 325, 326, 327, 329. O'Conor, or O’Conchobhair, name of, 30. O'Conor, Anne, wife of Daniel, 264, 378, Appendix. O'Conor, Brian Luighnach, son of Turlough Mor, ancestor of “O’Conor Sligo,” 44, 137. O'Conor, Brian, son of Turlough, IOO, Io9. O'Conor, Brian, son of Sir Hugh, Introduction, 330, 331, 369, Appendix. O'Conor, Cathal, son of Conor, King of Connaught, 3O. O'Conor, Cathal Carrach, grandson of Roderic, King of Connaught, 79, 81. O'Conor, Cathal Crovedeang, son of Turlough Mor, King of Connaught, 44; claims to be King of Connaught, 79, 80, 81 ; inaugurated, 83, 84; alleged resignation of two-thirds of Connaught, 85; recognised as king by King John, 86; gives hostages to John, 87 ; conflicts with the grandsons of Roderic, 88; letters to King Henry III., 89, 90, 91 ; his death, 91, 92. O'Conor, Cathal, son of Conor Roe (Clann Mur- tough branch), King of Connaught, I2O, I21, I22, I23, I24, I27. O'Conor, Cathal, son of Donnell (O'Conor Sligo), I37, 138, 139, 140. O'Conor, Cathal Oge, son of Cathal, son of Donnell (O'Conor Sligo), 146, 147. O'Conor, Cathal, son of Roderic, son of Turlough, I56, 157, 158, 159. O'Conor, Cathal, or Cahill Oge, third son of Sir Hugh,268,269,270,271,272,369,370, Appendix. O'Conor, Charles, son of Cahill Oge, and grandson of Sir Hugh, 282, 287, 288. O'Conor, Charles, of Ballintober, son of Calvach,- I67, 248, 249. O'Conor, Charles, of Belanagare, son of Donnough a lia; Introduction, 3, 292, 308, 331 ; his mar- riage, 293; his first work, 293; his character, as given by Mr. Wyse, 293, 294; writings, 295; bill of discovery filed against him, 296; his death, 297; his memoirs, 319. O'Conor, Charles, of Mount Allen, son of Charles of Belanagare, 297 ; his marriage, 297; cor- respondence with John Keogh, 298; joins Society of United Inishmen, 300 ; delegate to Catholic Convention from Co. of Sligo, 301,304; his loyalty, 302 ; his death, 303. O'Conor, Charles, of New York; Introduction; his early life, 3O4; called to American bar, 305; American opinion regarding him, 305, 306, 307; his death, 307. O'Conor, Charles, Very Rev. Dr. ; Introduction, 1, , 3 I9. ociº Con, son of Dualtagh, 208. O'Conor, Conor, son of Turlough Mor, 40, 41, 44, 56. O'Conor, Conor Moinmoy, son of Roderic, King of Connaught, 76, 78, 79. O'Conor, Conor Roe, son of Cathal (Clann Mur- tough), 125. O'Conor, Daniel, son of Hugh Oge, 260, 262, 263, 264, 265, 373, 378, Appendix. O'Conor, Denis, son of Charles, surnamed Don- nough a lia, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287. - O'Conor, Denis, son of Charles of Belanagare, 296, 297, 308, 3II, 312, 3I4, 316, 317, 318. O'Conor, Derbalia, wife of Turlough O'Conor, and daughter of O’Donnell, 143. O'Conor, Dermot, son of Dualtagh, 208, n., 210. O'Conor, Donnell, brother of Turlough Mor, 35, 38, 39. O'Conor, Dualtagh, son of Toole, 166, 167, 195, 206, 208. O'Conor, Dudley, of Kiltolmy, 259, 330. O'Conor, Felim, son of Cathal Crovedearg; pro- claimed king, 98 ; proposes to go to England, 99; defeats his rival, IOO ; his seal, IOI ; war with the English, IO2 ; peace restored, 103; he goes to see King Henry in England, IO4; joins in an expedition into Wales, IOS; attacked by De Burgh, Ioff ; Connaught ravaged by English, Ioy; he is reconciled with De Burgh, Io8; joins O’Neill, Io&; De Burgh again attacks him, Io9 ; meets the justiciary in Athlone, I ſo ; his death, III ; his tomb in abbey of Roscommon, III ; mentioned, 112, II 7, 126, 127, Appendix, 335, 337. O'Conor, Felim, son of Hugh, King of Connaught, 128; inaugurated by M*Dermot, 129; joins 392 INDEX, De Burgh against Bruce, 133; returns to Con- naught, I34; defeats his rival, Rory, 135; killed in battle of Athenry, 136. O'Conor, Hugh, of the Broken Spear, King of Con- naught, 32, 33. O'Conor, Hugh, Son of Turlough Mor, 42, 44. O'Conor, Hugh, son of Cathal Crovedearg, 88, 91 ; succeeds to sovereignty of Connaught, 92; sovereignty soon disputed, 93 ; defeats his rivals, 94 ; recognised as king by Henry III., 95; rupture with England, 96; his death, 97. O'Conor, Hugh, son of Roderic, 93, 94, 96; be- comes King of Connaught, 97 ; deposed by Felim, son of Cathal Crovedearg, 98; restored, Ioo; killed in battle, Ioo. O'Conor, Hugh, son of Felim, son of Cathal Crove- dearg ; interview with the justiciary, Io'7; com- mands his father's troops, 108, Io9, IIo; succeeds his father, III ; war with De Burgh, II2; castle of Roscommon erected against him, II 3, 171 ; he destroys the castle, I 14, 171, 337; his death, II 5. O'Conor, Hugh, son of Cathal Dall, King of Con- naught, II6, II 7. O'Conor, Hugh Muimneach, or Hugh the Munster- man, II 7, II8, II9, I2O. O'Conor, Hugh, son of Owen, King of Connaught, 124, 125, 127, 128. O'Conor, Hugh, Son of Felim, 143, 145, 146, 147, I49, I 75. O'Conor, Hugh Breifnach, son of Cathal (Clann Murtough), 127, 128, 129. O'Conor, Hugh, son of Hugh Breiſnach, 143,144,145. O'Conor, Hugh, Son of Turlough, 144, 145, 146. oº:: Hugh, son of Turlough Oge, 159, 160, 161, IO2. O'Conor, Hugh, grandson of Turlough Oge, 169, I70. O'Conor, Hugh, son of Owen Caech, 182. O'Conor, Hugh Oge, son of Sir IHugh; Introduction, 237, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 257, 259, 260, 269, 270, 271, 272,323, 369, 371, 372. O'Conor, Hugh, son of Donough a lia, 296, 331. O'Conor, Malisa, son of Turlough Mor, Abbot of Roscommon, 44. O'Conor, Manus, son of Turlough Mor, ancestor of Clann Manus, 44. O'Conor, Manus, son of Murtough Muimneach, IO4. O'Conor, Manus, son of Conor Roe, descendant of Murtough Muimneach, I22, 123, 124. O'Conor, Mary, wife of Iługh, son of Calvach, 242, 248, 377, Appendix. O'Conor, Mathew, of Mount Druid, 76, 320. O'Conor, Maurice, Bishop of Elphin, 171. O'Conor, Milo, claimed to be elected Bishop of Elphin, II2. O'Conor, Murrough, son of Roderic, 73, 74. O'Conor, Murtough Muimneach, son of Turlough Mor, ancestor of Clann Murtough, 44, I2O. O'Conor, Nicholas R., of Dundermott, 332. O'Conor, Owen, son of Rory, King of Connaught, IOI, II6, II/7. O'Conor, Owen, son of Cahill Oge, 272, 286, 287, 289; too young to take part in civil war in I64I, 273 ; joins Charles II., and becomes major in Duke of Gloucester's regiment, 274, 382; named in Act of Settlement, 277 ; de- clared an innocent papist, 279, 280; restored to portions of his estate, 281 ; decree under Act of Grace, 282; married, 283; his death, 283. O'Conor, Owen, of Corrasduna, 331, 332. O'Conor, Roderic, of the Yellow Hound, King of Connaught, Introduction, 34, 35, 36, 37. O'Conor, Roderic, last Monarch of Ireland, Intro- duction, 20, 44; imprisoned by his father, 42 ; succeeds as King of Connaught, 47; becomes Monarch of Ireland, 48; supports O’Rourke against M*Murrough, 49, 5o; prepares to attack M“Murrough, 51 ; receives his submission, 52; hears of the arrival of the English, 54; collects a force to oppose them and M*Murrough, 54; M“Murrough again submits, 55 ; O'Brien re- bels, 56; Strongbow lands in Ireland, 57; Roderic assembles a force near Dublin, 58; he retires to Meath, 59; executes the Leinster hostages, 60 ; besieges Dublin, 62; calls on the English to surrender,63; his army defeated, 64; Henry II. lands in Ireland, 65; Irish chieftains renounce allegiance to Roderic, and Submit to Henry, 66; submission of Roderic, 67, 86; joins O’Brien in an attack on the Eng- lish, 68; retires to Connaught, 69; holds con- ference with English, 71 ; signs treaty of Windsor, 72 ; rebellion of his son Murrough, 73; Roderic reconciled with the English, 74; gives his daughter in marriage to De Lacy, 74; his sons rebel against him, 76; his abdication, 76, 78, 85; his death, 77, 8o ; translation of his remains from Cong to Clonmacnois, 87. O'Conor, Roderic, or Rory, son of Hugh, son of Cathal Grovedearg, IoI. O'Conor, Rory, son of Turlough, 116, 117, 118, 175. O'Conor, Rory, son of Donough, 125, 137. O'Conor, Rory, Son of Cathal, 128, 171, 133, 134, I35. O'Conor, Rory, son of Donough, son of Owen, I37. O'Conor, Rory, son of Turlough, 144. O'Conor, Rory, son of Cathal, son of Donnell (O'Conor Sligo), 145. O'Conor, Roderic, son of Turlough, 149, 150. O'Conor, Roderic, son of Hugh, grandson of Tur- lough Oge, 169. O'Conor, Roger, son of Brian, son of Sir Hugh , 263, 331, 379, 380, 382, Appendix. O'Conor, Roderic, of Ballycahir, 332. O'Conor, Teige, son of Hugh, son of Cathal Crove- dearg, IO3. O'Conor, Teige, son of Turlough, son of Hugh, son of Cathal Grovedearg, I 16, 117, 118. O'Conor, Thomas, Archbishop of Armagh 80. INDEX. 393 O'Conor, Thomas, son of Charles of Mount Allen, 3O3, 3O4. O'Conor, Thomas, of Milton, 332. O'Conor, Tomaltagh, Archbishop of Tuam, IO3, I2O. O'Conor, Turlough Mor, Monarch of Ireland, Intro- duction, 20, 2 I, 36, 66; inaugurated King of Connaught, 38; makes war on O’Brien, 39 ; aspires to the monarchy, 40; makes his son Ring of Meath, 41; recognised as Monarch, 42; supports O'Rourke against M*Murrough, 43, 49, 50 ; his death, 44; his munificence, 45; public works executed in his reign, 46; buried at Clonmacnoise, 44, 77. O'Conor, Turlough, son of Roderic, 93, 94, 96. O'Conor, Turlough, son of Hugh, son of Cathal Crovedearg, IO6, IO7, 175. O'Conor, Turlough, Son of Owen, I22, 124. O'Conor, Turlough, son of Hugh, brother of Felim, King of Connaught, I37, 138, 140, I4 I, I42, I43, I44, I45. O'Conor Don, origin of name, I51, 152, 153, 339, Appendix. O'Conor Don, Alexander, of Clonalis, 266, 267, 328. O'Conor Don, Andrew, son of Daniel, 265, 266, 285, O'Conor Don, Calvach or Charles, son of Sir Hugh, Introduction, 222, 245, 253, 258, 269, 27O; mar- ried, 223; Knockalaghta castle settled on him, 224; candidate for representation of Co.Roscom- mon, 224 ; claimed to be elected, 226; decision against him, 228; joins the Irish in 1641, 235, 236, 237,238, 372, 381 ; excepted from pardon, in 1652, 24I ; his death, 242. O'Conor Don, Carbry, son of Owen Caech, 168, 178, I79, 181, 182. O'Conor Don, Charles, son of Calvach, 167, 248, 249. O'Conor Don, Daniel, son of Andrew, 266. O'Conor Don, Denis, M.P., 328, 329. O'Conor Don, Dermot, son of Carbry, 175, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, I92. O'Conor Don, Domnick (of Clonalis), 266, 267, 328. O'Conor Don, Felim Geamcach, 162, 163, 164, 168. O'Conor Don, Hugh (Sir Hugh), Son of Dermot, Introduction, 191, 192, 216, 223, 224, 226, 251, 252,269, 272,328, 346; rescues his father, I86 ; rebels against the English, I89 ; submits to Sir N. Malby, 190 ; attends Perrot's Parlia- ment, I93; compounds for his estate, 194, 195; returns to Connaught, I96; seized by Sir R. Bingham, 199; released by Perrot, 2OI ; again imprisoned and released, 206 ; imprisoned by O’Donnell, 209; gives hostages to him, 2Io; joins Sir C. Clifford, at battle of the Curlieus, 2 II; retreats to Ballintobber, 212 ; knighted by Perrot, 212; retires from public life, 214 ; patent from James the First, 218, 219, 220, 221 ; his death, 222, 353-370, Appendix. O'Conor Don, Hugh, son of Calvach, 236, 237, 238, 242, 243, 244, 245, 371, 372, 378, 38 I, 382, Appendix. O'Conor Don, Hugh, son of Hugh, son of Calvach, 242, 248, 382, Appendix. O'Conor Don, Owen, M.P., Introduction, 267, 301, 3I4, 32 I, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329. O'Conor Don, Owen Caech, 164, 168, 169. O’Conor Don, Turlough Oge, aspires to the chief- taincy, I5o ; called O'Conor Don, I 5 I ; origin of the name, I 52 ; writes to Richard II., I54, 342-345, Appendix; waits upon him in Water- ford, I 55 ; submits and is knighted, I56; killed in Clan Conway, 156. O'Conor Roe, origin of name. I51, 152, I53. O'Conor Roe, Introduction, 207. O'Conor Roe, Charles, 241, 256, 258. O’Conor Roe, Donough Dubhshuileach, 169. O'Conor Roe, Felim Finn, 161, 163, I66, 168, 169, I70. O’Conor Roe, Teige, son of Turlough Roe, I59, I60, 161. O'Conor Roe, Turlough Roe, I49, 150, 151, 152, I54, I56, I57, I58, I59. O'Conor Sligo, Introduction, 145, 158, 163, 187. O'Conor Sligo, Brian, son of Donnell, 157, I58. O'Conor Sligo, Cahil Oge, 203. O'Conor Sligo, Cathal, son of Donnell, King of Connaught, I 37. O'Conor Sligo, Donnell (Sir Donnell), 194, 201, 2O3, 2I5, 2I6. O'Conor Sligo, Donough, son of Cahil Oge, 20I 2O2, 203, 216, 218. O'Conor Sligo, Teige Oge, nominated head of the O'Conors, 180. O’Conor Sligo, Teige, submits to O'Donnell, 180. O’Curry, 2, II. O’Dermot, Connor, 78, 79. O’Donnell, Daniel, 25. O’Donnell, Hugh, 178, 179, 180. O'Donnell, Hugh, 208, 209, 2IO, 2II, 212, 213, 215. O’Donnell, Manus, 179, 180, 181, 187, 188, 189. O’Donnell, Sir Neal, 25. O’Donnell, Sir Richard, 25. O’Duffy, Catholicus, Archbishop of Tuam, 48, 71. O'Feenaghty, of Clann Conway, 32, 79. O'Ferrall, Auley, 97. O'Flaherty's History, 3, 22. O'Flaherty, of West Connaught, 33, 35, 40, 4 93, 94. O'Flanagan, Gillboy, 220, 356, 364, Appendix. O'Flynn, Dudley, deposition of, 258, 259, 273, 330. O'Hara, 87, 94. O’Hartigan, Kennith, 16. O'Heyne, of Hy Fiacrach, 40, 84. Oilil Molt, 22, 23. Oilil Olum, 12. O'Looney, Professor Brian, 152, 339, Appendix. O'Lorcan, 40. O'Loughlin, Cuin, 16. 394 INDEX, O'Malley, Grace (Graine-nu-ail), 223. O’Melaghlin, Donnell, King of Meath, 38, 39. O’Melaghlin, Murrough, King of Meath, 39, 40, 4I, 42, 49, 50, 79. oMº, William, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 364, 309. O'Neil, 178, 210, 213. O Neil, Brian, IO3, Io9. O'Neil, Hugh, 49. O'Phelan, of the Decies, 66. Oran, 74, 81. Ormsby, Major, 245, 256, 381, Appendix. O’Rourke, Brian Na Murtha, I88, 189, I90, I94, 2OO, 205, 206, 207, 29O. O'Rourke, Brian, son of Brian Na Murtha, 2II, 2I2, 2I.3. O'Rourke, Dr., Bishop of Killala, 292. O'Rourke, family of, 30, 31, 32, 39, 79. O’Rourke, Farrell, 32. O'Rourke, Firgil, 30. O'Rourke, Hugh, 33, 34. O'Rourke, Mary, daughter of Brian Na Murtha, 222. O'Rourke, Mary, daughter of Col. Tiernan, 29O. O'Rourke, Tiernan, chief of Breifny, 42; abduction of his wife, 43 ; attends meeting at Athboy, 48; conflicts with Dermot M*Murrough and the English, 49, 50, 52, 54, 59, 64; submits to Henry II., 66, 67 ; his death, 68. Ossory, territory of, 54. O'Toole, Laurence, Archbishop of Dublin, 48; mediates with the English, 59 ; waits on Roderic O'Conor, 62; party to treaty of Windsor, 7.1, 72 ; goes to Abingdon, 74; his death at Eu, 75. Papiron, Cardinal, 43. Parliaments, when first held in Ireland, 181 ; this a matter of dispute, 181, m. ; parliament at Kil- kenny, 147 ; parliament under Henry VIII., I81, 182, 193; under Elizabeth, 189, 190, I93; under James I., 225, 226, 227, 228, 229; under Cromwell, 24.I. Parthelon, settler in Ireland, 2. Patrick, St., Io, 22. Pembroke, Earl of, minister to Henry III., 88. Pembroke, Richard, Earl of (Strongbow), 51, 52, 55 ; lands in Ireland, 57; attacks Waterford, 58; marries daughter of M*Murrough, 58; pro- ceeds to Dublin, 59; recalled by Henry II., 6o ; claims succession to throne of Leinster, 61 ; siege of Dublin, 63; defeats Roderic O'Conor, 64; waits on Henry, 65; made Viceroy of Ireland, 68; sends for Raymond Le Gros, 69; #. him his sister in marriage, 70; victory at imerick, 71. Perrot, Sir John, Lord Deputy, 190, 194, 196, 2II, 224; composition with Sir Hugh O'Conor Don, 195, 346; disputes with Privy Council, I97, 351, 352 ; offers his resignation, 201 ; differences with Bingham, 202, 205, 207; his resignation, 204. Petrie, George, 17, m., 31. Philip of Worcester, 86. Pinkerton, historian, 2. Povey, Sir Edward, 239. Prendergast, Maurice de, 52. Prene, William de ; (Carpenter), 174, 175. Radcliff, Sir Alexander, 2II. Randown, or Rinn Duinn, castle of, 81, 97, Io9, II4, 126, 133. Ranelagh, Lord, governor of Athlone, 236, 238, 244, 256, 257. Reynolds, Commissary-General, 177, 244, 263. Richard II., King of England, 152; lands in Ireland, I53; receives submission of Irish chieftains, I54, 155, 342, 343, 344, 345, Appendix; re- turns to England, I 56. Riddlesford, Walter de, 62, 86, Io2. Robert of Shrewsbury, 74. Roghallach, King of Connaught, 25. Roscam, Co. Galway, 2I. Roscommon, abbey of, IoS, III. Roscommon, castle of, IIo, II.3, II4, 119, 121, 123, %. , 126, I33, I43, I49, I58, I7O, I7 I-179, 185, 186, 188, 189, 199,236, 259,337, Appendix. Roscommon, convent of, I21. Roscommon, county of, 126, 137,216, 226, 228, 231, 236. Rupella, Sir Richard de, IIo, 335, Appendix, 337, Appendix. St. John, Sir Oliver, lord deputy, 219, 226, 228, 229, 354, Appendix. St. Laurent in Normandy, 75. St. Leger, lord deputy, 181. Sandford, Captain Theo., 248,265. Sinclair, William, 299, 3C2. Siol Murray, the clan of, 26. . Sligo, castle of, II 3, 125, 163, 201, 202. Sloane, Elizabeth, sister of Charles O'Conor of New York, 307. Stephen, Bishop of Waterford, 121, 172. Stanley, Viceroy in 1410, 158. Strafford, Lord (Sir T. Wentworth), III, 233, 234, 235. Strongbow, see Earl of Pembroke. Sydney, Sir Henry, I 75, 185, 186, 187, 188, 216, 23.I. Taaffe, Lucas, 263. Taillard, Robert, I2O. Tailltin, daughter of O’Melaghlin, and wife of Tur- lough Mor, 44. Tailton, games of, 6, 28, 40, 52, 76. Tandy, Napper, 299, 300, 301. Tara, 5, 6, Io, 13, 18, 40, 54. Teige, son of Muirgis, 27, 28. Teige of the Three Towers, 28. Teige of the White Steed, 31. Templehouse, castle of, II4. Tibraghny, castle of, 75. Theodine, Cardinal, 67. INDEX. 395 Tomaltagh, son of Murgil, 27. Tone, Theobald Wolfe, 299, 301, 302, 309, 313, 321, 322, 323. Trim, castle of 69. Troy, Dr., Archbishop of Dublin, 314. Tuam, castle of, 29. Tuam, church of 44. Tuam, cross of, 44. Tuath Amrois, Io. Tuatha de Danans, 2, 5. Tuathal, or Toole (Techmar), 6, 7, 8. Tuite, Ellinor, relict of Sir Oliver Tuite, and wife of Owen O'Conor, 281, 282, 283, 288. Tullagh-Donnell in Galway, 21. Tulsk, borough of, 226. Tulsk, castle of, I57, I59, 170. Tumona monastery, IOS. Uada, son of Hugh, King of Connaught, 25. Ufford, Robert de, Lord Deputy, II 3, 118, 126, I7I, I72, 337, Appendix. Verdon, John de, IIo. Vesci, De, Lord Deputy, 125. Vivian, Cardinal, 73. Windsor, treaty of 72, 73, 74. Wingwood, Sir Richard, 221. Wodehouse, Thos., 198. wº John, Lord Deputy, I26, 143, 336, Appen- IX. Worcester, Earl of, 164. Wyse, Mr., 293, 308. C. W. Gibbs, Printer, Dublin. § £ § °′ §§ ●SN ŠS ∞ ∞ §§§ §§ §§§ « » « 3 ， ！ ț¢ § §§ }} ſae §§ §§ º łº §: § º sº º ∞ Ķ （） §§ §§ §§ §§ $$ $$ §§§§§ §§ § № § &ß § §§Ñ §§ §§ §§§ §§ §§ ∞∞∞≡ §§ Ř Ñ §È §§§$$$ §§ R، §§ ∞ §§ Ģ ſae，È §$ §§§§§§∞ ````` §§ §§ § ?RN§ È §§ （） §§ §§ Ķ- ≡ § ſ? Š§§§ §§§§§ �§§ №º ， ∞ §§§ §§§§§ &, &&.**）， §§ Nº §§º. ?§§} § §§§ § §§§§∞ §§ ÈÈÈ ````````` Ķº： Ñ& §ŅŅŇ $ Ș § §§ §§ §*& §§ } ºſº ſ！!! -§§ }}§§§§Ņ §§§ ſ.§§§§ § §§§ & §§ §§ § §§§§§§§