In the year 1174 the command of the forces was once more given to Harvey of Mount Maurice, who recommended Strongbow to join him in an expedition against Donnell O'Brien, who, following the example of Macarthy in Cork, had wrested the city of Limerick from the English intruders. Strongbow called to his assistance the Danes of Dublin, and Roderick O'Connor advanced into Ormond to repel him, Donnell O'Brien led his brave Dalcassians towards Durlas O'Fogarty (Eliogarty), now Thurles, where they gained a complete and signal victory. According to the Norman accounts, the Dublin Danes were attacked while overcome by sleep, and slaughtered, almost unresistingly, to the number of 400. Ware ascribes the glory of this result to Donnell O'Brien, king of Limerick, but he calculates that the loss of the English was not so considerable as that here given. This diasastrous defeat had such an effect upon Strongbow that he shut himself up at Waterford,' whilst the Irish throughout the country rose up in arms. In this emergency Strongbow was obliged to have recourse to his old friend Raymond le Gros, whose anger he propitiated by offering him the hand of his sister Basilica, together with the offices which had been previously refused to him.2 The rapidity and efficiency of Raymond's arrangements were worthy of his promised reward; and having hastily collected a force of 30 knights, 100 men at arms, and 300 archers, he set out accompanied by his friend Meyler, and safely arrived at Waterford, just as the Danes were meditating a general massacre of the English garrison; which, when Strongbow left for Wexford with his new allies, actually took place, except such of the garrison as had been left in Reginald's Tower, which eventually took possession of the town.3 During the celebration of the nuptials of Raymond and Basilia de Clare, who brought her lord the dowry lands of Fethard, Glascarrig, and Idrone, besides the high offices before mentioned, and the territory called after him "Grace's County" in the present county of Kilkenny, news arrived of Roderick's advance to Dublin; and Raymond hastily marched to Meath, where he is said by some to have cut off a few of the retiring forces of Roderick; but the more credible account is, that the undisciplined forces of the Irish, who seem to have consisted of raw levies, appear to have been disbanded before Raymond arrived. Raymond now turned his attention to Limerick, where he had determined to revenge the disastrous defeat inflicted upon his father-in-law at Thurles by the brave king of Thomond, but where he was warmly received by the brave defenders of the walls which hung over the margin of the river, although they were obliged eventually to yield to the invaders, who, after committing the usual ravages, re-established the English garrison, and withdrew with the rest of their forces to Leinster. In the twenty-fourth year of Henry 11. (1177), Raymond le Gros alone. discharged the regal functions in Ireland, and committed the city of Limerick to the guardianship of Donald O'Brien, prince of Thomond, who shortly after having broken down the southern point of the bridge set fire to the city. This was actually witnessed by Raymond le Gros as he departed for Dublin. In 1178, the interminable feuds of the Eoganachts and Dalgais, desolated According to some authorities in the little Island near Waterford. Giraldus Cambrensis. 3 Hibernia Expug, 24. the whole province of Munster. Dr. O'Brien, one of the descendants of the house of Thomond, supplies us with an account of the part borne in them by the O'Briens.1 The annals of the Four Masters have a curious entry at the year 1180:"Lorcan O'Toole, i.e., Laurence, archbishop of Leinster and legate of Ireland, suffered martyrdom in England." His death really took place at the monastery of Eu, in Normandy. He was connected maternally with the house of Thomond. His mother, according to the authorities quoted by Ware,2 who gives the above anecdote, being Ingen O'Brien, that is, daughter of the prince. His father was the youngest son of Murchertach O'Toole, the head of the second most powerful house in Leinster, and at that time lord of HyMuiraadhaigh, comprising the southern half of Kildare, not of Imaile in Wicklow, as Lanigan and Moore state, though their family did at this time take possession of Imaile, which had been previously possessed by O'Teige. Ledwich has curiously and characteristically mistaken Hy-Muiraidhaigh (which is called O'Murethi by Giraldus) for O'Moore. We have been thus particular about this illustrious man, not merely on account of his connection with the kings of Limerick, but of the important part that he played in the history of these evil times. In the year 1182, the annals of the Four Masters record the treacherous murder of Brian, the son of Turlough O'Brien, by Randal Macnamara Beg. In the year 1185, "the son of the king of England, that is, John, the son of Henry, came to Ireland with a fleet of sixty ships to assume the government of the kingdom. He took possession of Dublin and Leinster, and erected castles at Tipraid-Fachtna and Ardfinan, out of which he plundered Munster, but his people were defeated with great slaughter by Donnell O'Brien. The son of the king of England then returned to England to complain to his father of Hugo de Lacy, who was the king of England's deputy in Ireland on his (John's) arrival, and who had prevented the Irish kings from sending him (John) either tribute or hostages."3 1 "A.D. 1178. Donald O'Brien, at the head of the entire Dalcassian tribes, greatly distressed and reduced all the Eugenians, laid waste their country with fire and sword, and obliged the dispersed Eugenians to seok for shelter in the woods and fastnesses of Eve-Eachach, on the south of the river Lee. In this expedition they routed the O'Donovans of Ive-Figeinte, or Cairbre Aedhbha, in the county of Limerick, and the O'Collins of Ive-Conail Gabhra, or Lower Connello, in said county, beyond the mountain of Mangerton, to the western parts of the county of Cork: here these two exiled Eugenian families, being powerfully assisted by the O'Mahonys, made new settlements for themselves in the antient properties of the O'Donoghues, O'Learys, and O'Driscolls, to which three families the O'Mahonys were always declared enemies to the borders of Loughlene, where Auliff Mor O'Donoghue, surnamed Cumsinach, had made some settlements before this epoch. 2 Ware's Bishops. 3 The ruins of the castle, built at Ardfinan, are still to be seen on a rock overhanging the river Suir, in the barony of Iffa and Offa, and county of Tipperary, where Cox, Leland and Moore have also placed the castle of Tipraid Tachtus. The followers of prince John are described by Giraldus, Hanmer and Campion, in the most uncomplimentary language. Giraldus describes them as talkative, boastful, enormous swearers, insolent; and Campion as "great quaffers, lourdens, proud-bellied swaines, fed with extortion and bribery."-History of Ireland. In the year 1188 we find the following entries in the Annals of the Four Masters:-" Edwina, the daughter of O'Quin and Queen of Munster, died on her pilgrimage at Derry, victorious over the world and the devil." This lady was daughter of O'Quin, chief of Munster-Iffernan, in Thomond, now represented by the Earl of Dunraven. "John de Courcy and the English of Ireland made an incursion into Connaught, accompanied by Connor O'Dermot ; upon which Connor Moinmoy, King of Connaught, assembled all the chieftains of Connaught, who were joined by Donnell O'Brien, at the head of some of the men of Munster."—Annals of the Four Masters. * The O'Quins and O'Deas were the chief families in the district called from the latter, Dysert O'Dea. See Bishop O'Dea's Life in the Ecclesiastical part. In 1192, the English settlers in Leinster, taking advantage of the quarrels between the sons of Roderick O'Connor, wasted the territory of Thomond, but they suffered severely for their temerity. In the year 1193, say the annals of the Four Masters, "the English of Leinster committed great depredations against Donnell O'Brien. They pursued over the plains of Killaloe, and directed their course westwards, until they had reached a plain near the Shannon, in the parish of Killaloe, in the east of the county Clare, where they were opposed by the Dalcassians, who slew a great number of them. this expedition the English erected the castles of Kilfeacle (about four and a-half miles to the east of the town of Tipperary), and Knockgraffon (about two miles to the north of the town of Cahir). Donnell O'Brien defeated the English of Ossory and made a great slaughter of them." In The neighbourhood of Thurles was the scene of two defeats of the English by the brave king of Thomond.2 At this period, no doubt by English influence, the see of Killaloe was united to Roscrea, or Eile, and to the celebrated see of Inniscattery, or Scattery Island. The death of Aedh or Hugh O'Beaghan, last bishop of Inniscattery, is set down in the annals of the Four Masters at 1188, and that of the last bishop of Eile and Roscrea, namely, of Isaac O'Cuainan, at 1161. The see of Inniscattery extended to both sides of the estuary.* 1 A memorial of these defeats of the English still remains in "THE GRAVES OF THE LEINSTER MEN," which are situated in the barony of Owney and Arra, not far distant from the Corbally Slate Quarries, about two miles N.E. of Derry Castle House, and in the valley that lies between Thoum-Thinna (the Wave of Fire) mountain and the high lands behind Derry, Ryninch, Castletown, &c., &c. These graves are marked on the Ordnance Survey Map of Ireland, so remarkable and historic are they. The view from the graves is grand and beautiful, embracing the Shannon for several miles, the Holy Islands (Inniscailthra), Scariff Bay, and a great part of Tipperary and Connaught. The people look upon these ancient depositaries of the remains of the invaders with unaccountable veneration or rather superstition. It is only lately that the bones of the occupant of one of the graves were disturbed during some drainage operations, when the peasantry declared they discovered a number of supernatural footprints near the resting places of these venerable warriors, and on the margin of a certain reservoir which was formed on the side of the mountain to drive a wheel. The wanton destruction of one of the graves, some time before, had occasioned great indignation among the people. In the year 1194, the annals record the death of the illustrious Donaldmore, king of Thomond, in the following language::-"Donnell, son of Turlough O'Brien, king of Munster, a beaming lamp in peace and war, and the brilliant star of the hospitality and valour of the Momonians and of all Leth-Mogha, died, and Murtagh, his son, assumed his place."—Annals of the Four Masters. 2 The Four Masters mention that in A.D. 1213, O'Donnell having, in pursuit of Muireagh O'Daly, plundered and laid waste Thomond, followed him to the gates of Limerick, and pitching his camp at Moin-ui Donnell (O'Donnell's marsh, so-called from that circumstance), laid siege to the city, upon which the inhabitants, at the command of O'Donnell, expelled Muireagh.—Annals of the Four Masters. We find the following entry in the Annals of Clonmacnoise for the year 1216:-" Geoffry Marche (De Marisco) founded a castle at Killaloe and forced the inhabitants to receive an English bishop." The name of this bishop was Robert Travers. He was afterwards deprived (in 122), and until the time of the Reformation the see continued to be filled almost exclusively by Irishmen, there having been but one Englishman, Robert de Mulfield, who succeeded in 1409.— Harris's Ware, vol. 1, pp. 521-593. 3 Usher's Primordia, 873. 4 Sir J. Ware, in his history of Irish bishops, gives the following account of the bishops and abbots of Inniscattery:-" Nor ought it to be forgotten, that the bishopricks of Limerick and InisCatay, or the Island of Gata (the Cat or Monster, which St. Senan is said to have banished), were united about the end of the twelfth or beginning of the thirteenth century. [But, according to Ussher, the possessions of it are divided between the sees of Limerick, Killaloe and Ardfert.] We shall here take occasion to mention what occurs in ancient monuments, concerning the see of Inis-Catay. It is said to have been founded by St. Patrick about the middle of the fifth century, and to be governed by him for some time, whom St. Senan succeeded; to which alludes the passage before cited, p. 34, where St. Patrick is introduced prophesying that Senan, not then born, should be his successor. The prelates of this Church are sometimes called bishops and sometimes abbots; and there are very few traces to be met with, concerning them, in antient writers; the following are all I can collect : The last days of Donogh Cairbreagh O'Brien, were chiefly occupied with conflicts with the chiefs of Connaught and their allies, the supporters of the sons of Roderick O'Connor, against their cousins, the sons of Cathal Crovderg or the Red-handed O'Connor, and nephews of O'Brien. The death of Cairbreagh took place in 1242. He was succeeded by his son, Connor na Suidane, the founder of the monastery of Corcomroe, in which his tomb and effigy are still preserved. Cairbreagh O'Brien was only the chief of the Dalcassians, not king of Munster. He was the first that took the title of The O'Brien. The next events of the history of the princes of Thomond, are well condensed by Professor O'Curry, from the valuable Irish tract called "The History of the Wars of Thomond." The natural feelings of the worthy professor are characteristically expressed in the following quotation: "The Anglo-Norman power which came into the country in the year 1172, had constantly gained ground; generation after generation, as you are of course aware, in consequence chiefly of the mutual jealousies and isolated opposition of the individual chiefs and clans among the Gaedhils. At last the two great sections of the country, the races of the north and the south, resolved to take counsel and select some brave man of either of the ancient royal houses to be elevated to the chief command of the whole nation, in order that its power and efficiency might be the more effectually concentrated and brought into action against the common enemy. To this end then, a convention was arranged to take place between Brian O'Neill, the greatest leader of the north at this time, and Tadhg, the son of Conor O'Brien, at Caeluisge [Narrow Water], on Loch Erne (near the present Castle Calwell). O'Neill came attended by all the chiefs of the north and a numerous force of armed men. O'Brien, though in his father's lifetime, went thither at the head of the Munster and Connaught chiefs and a large body of men in arms. The great chiefs came face to face at either bank of the Narrow Water, but their old destiny accompanied them, and each came to the convention fully Re "St. Senan, bishop and abbot of Inis-Cathay, was born in Carko-Baskind, a maritime territory in the county of Clare, and was descended by his father Ergindus, from Conair, the first king of Ireland. His mother's name was Comgella, of a Munster family also. He received his first rudiments and the monastic habit from the abbot Cassidanus, and was afterwards a disciple to Natalis, abbot of Kilmanach, in Ossory, and then to St. David, bishop of Menevia, in Wales. turning to Ireland, he founded many monasteries in several parts of Munster, and at last fixed his seat at Iniss Cathay. He died on the first of March, 544, the same day and year with St. David beforementioned, and was buried in his own monastery at Inis-Cathay. Colgann hath published his life in Latin verse out of the antient book of Kilkenny; to which he hath added a supplement in prose from an Irish manuscript. To these I refer such readers who are desirous of knowing more of St. Senan." So far Ware who gives the following list : Odran, bishop of Inis-Cathay, was the disciple and immediate successor of St. Senan. He flourished about the year 580. Aidin, bishop of Inis-Cathay, as mentioned in the martyrology of Marian Gorman, and his festival observed on the 31st of August. Another Aidin, abbot of Inis-Cathey, died in 861. Flathbert, abbot of Inis-Cathay, and afterwards king of Munster after Cormac Mac Culenan, died in 940. He was the great fomentor and firebrand of that war in which Cormac lost his life. Colla, abbot and doctor or master of Inis-Cathay, died in 994. O-Burgus, Comorban of Inis-Cathay, died in 1081. Aid O-Beachain, bishop of Inis-Cathay, died in 1138, and soon after his death the see of InisCathay was united to that of Limerick. It was in the reign and by command of Cairbreach (so called because he had been fostered in Carbery), that the building of the beautiful Franciscan Abbey of Ennis was commenced. It was finished by his son and successor, Conor na Siudaine, and it is frequently referred to in the annals. A short time previously to the commencement of the work, Donogh Cairbreagh bad removed his residence to Clonbroad. determined that himself alone should be the chosen leader and king of Erinn. The convention was, as might be expected a failure; and the respective parties returned home more divided, more jealous, and less powerful than ever to advance the general interests of their country, and to crush, as united they might easily have done, that crafty, unscrupulous, and treacherous foe, which contrived then and for centuries after to rule over the clans of Erinn, by taking advantage of those dissensions among them, which the stranger always found means but too readily to foment and to perpetuate. "This convention or meeting of O'Brien and O'Neill took place in the year 1258, according to the annals of the Four Masters; and in the year 1259, Tadhg O'Brien died. In the year after that again, that is, 1260, Brian O'Neill himself was killed in the battle of Down Patrick, by John de Courcy and his followers. "The premature death of Tadhg O'Brien so preyed up on his father, that for a considerable time he forgot altogether the duties of his position and the general interests of his people. This state of supineness encouraged some of his subordinate chiefs to withhold from him his lawful tributes. "Among these insubordinates was the O'Lochlainn of Burren, whose contumacy at length roused the old chief to action; and in the year 1267 he marched into O'Lochlainn's country, as far as the wood of Siubhdaineach, in the north-west of Burren. Here the chief was met by the O'Lochlainns and their adherents, and a battle ensued in which O'Brien was killed and his army routed; and hence he has been ever since known in history as Conchubhar na Suibhdaine, or Conor of Suibhdaineach." CHAPTER VII. LIMERICK UNDER THE ENGLISH.-CHARTERS AND GRANTS. THE introduction of the English government into Limerick did not take place until the death of Donald O'Brien. John, Earl of Morton and Lord of Ireland showed great zeal and determination in establishing the English interest in the city. He granted a charter on the 19th of December, 1197, the 9th of Richard I.,' by which he extended to the city, the privileges 1 We translate from the Arthur MSS. the following. [Fitzgerald gives only the recitation of an abstract of John's second charter] : True Copy of the first Royal Charter granted to Limerick by John, Lord of Ireland, &c. John, Lord of Ireland, Earl of Morton, to the Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Earls, Barons, Justiciaries, Bailiffs, and to all his servants and faithful subjects of all Ireland, greeting; Know ye that we have given, and by this charter confirmed, for us and our heirs, unto the citizens of Limerick, that they and their heirs do have and hold the City of Limerick, with all the appurts. and burgages, internal and external, to the City appertaining, in fee firm, by the return which was appointed by Hamond de Valois, with pleas and aiguists, and that they have all the liberties and free customs through all Ireland which the citizens of Dublin have; Wherefore we will and firmly prescribe, that our citizens of Limerick and their heirs after them do have and hold all the liberties and free customs aforesaid and as presented. For the rest, know ye that [we hold as] ratified and well pleasing, and established for ever, the deliverances [liberationes] of burgages, with all the liberties and prescriptions which Hamond de Valois made in the city of Limerick as he let the aforesaid burgages to my citizens of the same city. [Whereof] These are Witnesses, HUGO DE VALOIS, Killaloe, 18th day of December, in the 9th year of the reign of King Richard [A.D. 1197-'8]. |