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 overthrows; 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."

CHAPTER X.

A D. 1274-1293.

OWEN, SON OF RORY, SON OF HUGH, SON OF CATHAL CROVEDEARG.

(A.D. 1274.)

PON the death of Hugh O'Conor, the son of Felim, son of Cathal 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, SON OF CATHAL DALL, SON OF HUGH, SON OF CATHAL CROVEDEARG, 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 fortnight 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 distinguishing 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.

TEIGE, SON OF TURLOUGH, SON OF HUGH, SON OF CATHAL CROVEDEARG, 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."2

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.

and Teige O'Conor, who, assisted by his brother Rory, collected his forces to oppose him.1

A desultory war was the result, which ended in 1278 in the death of Teige, who was killed by the sons of Cathal M'Dermot. 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:2

"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,3 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,

least of the well-affected prelates and magnates in Ireland, must, however, first regularly 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 K.'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, however, 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 aims.

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 1276.3

Hugh Muimneach's usurpation was not left long undisputed. New competitors 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.

1 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.