Thomond

The enormous growth of these Munster Geraldines, and their not less insatiable greed, produced many strange complications in the politics of the South.

Not content with the moiety of Kerry, Cork, and Waterford, they had planted their landless cadets along the Sur and the Shannon, in Ormond and Thomond.

They narrowed the dominions of the O'Briens on the one hand and the McCarthys on the other.

Concluding peace or war with their neighbors, as suited their own convenience, they sometimes condescended to accept further feudal privileges from the kings of England.

To strengthen himself against the powerful adversary so deeply wounded, Cormac sought the protection of the lord lieutenant, and the earl of Surrey, and of Pierce Row, the eighth earl of Ormond, who had common wrongs to avenge.

In this way, McCarthy became identified with the English interest, which he steadily adhered to till his death in 1536.

Driven by the same necessity to adopt the same expedient, Murug O'Brien, Lord of Thomond, a few years later visited Henry at London, where he resigned his principality, received back his lands, under a royal patent conveying them to him as Earl of Thomond and Baron of Itchikin.

henry was but too happy to have raised up such a counterpoise to the power of desmond at his own door while o'brien was equally anxious to secure foreign aid against such intolerable encroachments the policy worked effectually it brought the succeeding earl of desmond to london a humble suitor for the king's mercy and favour which were after some demurrer granted the event however which most directly tended to the establishment of an english royalty in ireland was the depression of the family of kildare in the beginning of this reign and its all but extinction a few years later gerald the ninth earl of that title succeeded his father in the office of lord deputy in the first years of henry He had been a ward at the court of the preceding king, and by both his first and second marriages was closely connected with the royal family.

The new principle of primogeniture introduced at the commutation of chieftainries into earldoms was productive in this reign of much commotion and bloodshed.

The seniors of the O'Briens resisted its establishment in Thomond on the death of the first earl.

Calvagh O'Donnell took arms against his father to defeat its introduction into Tyrconnell.

John the Proud, as we have seen in the reign of Edward, had been one of its earliest opponents in Ulster.

About the time of O'Neill's death, Sidney made an official progress through the south and west, which he describes as woefully wasted by war, both town and country.

The earldom of the loyal Ormond was far from being well ordered, and the other great nobles were even less favorably reported.

The Earl of Desmond could neither rule nor be ruled, the Earl of Clancarty wanted force and credit, the Earl of Thomond had neither wit to govern nor grace to learn of others, the Earl of Clanricard was well-intentioned but controlled wholly by his wife.

Many districts had but one twentieth of their ancient population.

and their bards drew inspiration from the same high pretensions party spirit ran so high that tales and prophecies were invented to show how st patrick had laid his curse on terra and promised dominion to cashel and to dublin in its stead All Leinster, except the lordship of Ossory, identical with the present diocese of the same name, was held by the Brehens of Cashel to be tributary to their king, and this Borura, or tribute, abandoned by the monarchs at the intercession of St. Mulling, was claimed for the Munster rulers as an inseparable adjunct of their southern kingdom.

The first act of Flan Siona, on his secession, was to dash into Munster, demanding hostages at the point of the sword, and sweeping over both Thomond and Desmond with irresistible force, from Clare to Cork.

With equal promptitude he marched through every territory of Ulster, securing by the pledges of their heirs and tonnists the chiefs of the elder tribes of the High Nial.

So effectually did he consider his power established over the provinces, that he is said to have boasted to one of his hostages, that he would, with no other attendance than his own servants, play a game of chess on Thurles Green without fear of interruption.

Malachi, in the first year of his reign, having received the hostages of the Danes of Dublin, having liberated the Irish prisoners and secured the unity of his own territory, had his attention drawn, naturally enough, towards Brian's movements.

Whether Brian had refused him homage, or that his revival of the old claim to the half-kingdom was his offense, or from whatever immediate cause, Malachi marched southwards, enforcing homage as he went.

Entering Thomond he plundered the Delcassians, and marching to the Mounted Adair, where under an old oak the kings of Thomond had long been inaugurated, he caused it to be dug from the earth with its roots, and cut into pieces.

This act of Malachi's certainty bespeaks an embittered and aggressive spirit, and the provocation must, indeed, have been grievous to palliate so barbarous an action.

The principal objects of interest here are the ruined abbey and the Castle of the O'Donnells.

The monastery was founded for Franciscan friars in fourteen seventy-four by Hugh Roe O'Donnell and his wife, Fionnuala, daughter of Conor O'Brien of Thomond, and in it they were both buried.

His son, Hugh Og, finally took the habit of St. Francis and was buried here in fifteen thirty-seven.

Red Hugh O'Donnell, having taken up arms against the English, his brother-in-law, Niall Garve, sided with them and took possession of the monastery.

In consequence of the swampy nature of the ground and the advanced season, William raised the siege.

A fit of apoplexy carried off Tyrconnell when the government, both civil and military, fell into the hands of Duzan and Sarsfield.

Ginkal, commander of the English army, endeavoured to take the town by an attack on the fort which overlooked and protected the Thomond Bridge.

This attack is described in graphic and spirited language by Lord Macaulay, and I cannot do better than give the account of it in his own words.

At Waterford he also received the friendly overtures of the lords of Desease and Ossory, and probably some form of feudal submission was undergone by those chiefs.

Cormac, Prince of Desmond, followed their example, and soon afterwards Donald O'Brien of Thomond met him on the banks of the Suir, not far from Cashel, made his peace and agreed to receive a Norman garrison in his Hiberno-Danish city of Limerick.

Having appointed commanders over these and other southern garrisons, Henry proceeded to Dublin, where a spacious cagework palace on the lawn without the city was prepared for winter quarters.

Here he continued those negotiations with the Irish chiefs, which we are told were so generally successful.

The following year we read in the Anglo-Irish annals of Leinster that King Donald's men, being moved against the Earl's men, made a great slaughter of the English.

Nor was this the worst defeat he suffered in the same year, 1174.

Marching into Munster, he was encountered in a pitched battle at Turles by the troops of the monarch Roderick, under command of his son Connor, surnamed Moymoy, and by the troops of Thomond, under Donald Moore O'Brien.

With Strongbow were all who could be spared of the garrison of Dublin, including a strong detachment of Danish origin.

But the Gaelic kings never fully united behind a single campaign.

Donald Moore O'Brien, the King of Thomond, and the victorious Gaelic commander at Turlis didn't join Rory's great host.

Then the following year, 1175, Rory O'Connor launched an attack against Homond at the same time the Normans under Raymond Le Gros captured Limerick.

It is a perfect example of one of the central themes of this period.

Castles and settlements were beginning to make that presence permanent.

But in 1176, Connacht remained a powerful kingdom under Rory O'Connor.

Thomond remained as formidable as ever under Donal Moore O'Brien.

And that's not even including the Nort.

At Waterford he also received the friendly overtures of the lords of Dessies and Ossory, and probably some form of feudal submission was undergone by those chiefs.

Cormac, Prince of Desmond, followed their example, and soon afterwards Donald O'Brien of Thomond met him on the banks of the Sueur, not far from Cashel, made his peace, and agreed to receive a Norman garrison in his Hiberno-Danish city of Limerick.

Having appointed commanders over these and other southern garrisons, Henry proceeded to Dublin, where a spacious cage-work palace, on a lawn without the city, was prepared for winter quarters.

here he continued those negotiations with the irish chiefs which we are told were so generally successful amongst others whose adhesion he received mention is made of the lord of breffni the most faithful follower the monarch roderick could count the chiefs of the northern hy-niel remain deaf to all his overtures and though fitz aldelm and de lacy the commissioners despatched to treat with roderick are said to have procured from the deserted ard re an act of submission it is incredible that a document of such consequence should have been allowed to perish indeed most of the confident assertions about submissions to henry are to be taken with great caution it is quite certain he himself though he lived nearly twenty years after his irish expedition never assumed any irish title whatever it is equally true that his successor richard i never assumed any such title as an incident of the english crown and although henry in the year eleven eighty five created his youngest son john lackland lord of ireland it was precisely in the same spirit and with as much ground of title as he had for creating hugh de lacy lord of meath or john de courcy earl of holster Of this question of title we shall speak more fully hereafter, for we do not recognise any English sovereign as King of Ireland previous to the year 1541, but it ought surely to be conclusive evidence that neither had Henry claimed the crown, nor had the Irish chiefs acknowledged him as their ard re, that in the two authentic documents from his hand which we possess, he neither signs himself Rex, nor Dominus Hibernii.

Such conflicting interests could only be settled by a resort to force, and the bloody feud began by the earl executing at Ferns one of Donald's sons, held by him as a hostage.

In an expedition against O'Dempsey, who also refused to acknowledge his title, the earl lost, in the campaign of 1173, his son-in-law, de Quincey, several other knights, and the banner of Leinster.

the following year we read in the anglo-irish annals of leinster that king donald's men being moved against the earl's men made a great slaughter of the english nor was this the worst defeat he suffered in the same year eleven seventy four Marching into Munster he was encountered in a pitched battle at Turrells by the troops of the monarch Roderick, under command of his son Connor, surnamed Moinmoin, and by the troops of Thomond, under Donald Moore O'Brien.

With Strongbow were all who could be spared of the garrison of Dublin, including a strong detachment of Danish origin.