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 1641 it is written in the records of the confiscations and restorations of property 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 portion 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 necessary 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 rebellion of 1641, 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

sons.

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

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 incidentally 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 headship 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 grandfather of the writer, became O'Conor Don.1 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 information 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 unassailable. 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.

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 Ashburnham, 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

1310.

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.

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.

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 predecessors. 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 Irishmen, 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

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