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 prevent 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."

"1

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.

2 This proclamation, endorsed 30th September, 1648.

1

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 Clanricarde, 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 kinsman 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 myself1

“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. of my letter to D. O'C. This letter was received by them three days agone."

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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., t. such persons as Commiss. -Gen. Reynolds shall appoint.

1 Carte Papers, Vol. XXIV., p. 402; Gilbert, History of Affairs in Ireland, Vol. II., p. 211. Several Proceedings in Parliament. London: 1652-53, p. 2904, and History of Affairs in Ireland (Gilbert), Vol. III., p. 373.

"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 indemnified 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'CONNOR. "RO. 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. Meanwhile his father died, and his wife, Anne O'Conor, presented her claim before the Athlone and Loughrea Commissioners on the 18th July, 1656,1 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 load;" 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.

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 DON," 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,3 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, Taghnara, 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; Grange roade to Ed. Malone; and Rathcleragh to W. Spring.

'Colonel Luke Dowel was colonel of a regiment of foot under King James II.

M M

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,1 had passed into the hands of Burke of Portumna.

Andrew O'Conor Don died in 1718.

DANIEL "O'CONOR DON," SON OF ANDREW, born about 1694, 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 Ballintober 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 September, 1720,2 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.

DOMNICK" O'CONOR DON," SON OF DANIEL, born about 1723, died 1795.

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 DON," BROTHER OF DOMNICK, born about 1735, died 1820.

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