CORK AND KERRY
The Ancient Desmond
THE IRISH CHIEFS AND CLANS
CORK (in Latin "Corcagia,"
and also "Coracium") got its name from Corc
(No. 89, p. 69), a prince of the Eugenian race, who was
King of Munster, in the fifth century; Kerry (in Latin
"Kerrigia") got its name from Ciar, son of
Fergus Mac Roy, by Meava or Maud, the celebrated Queen of
Connaught, a short time before the Christian era. This
Ciar, in the first century, got a large territory in
Munster, called from him Ciar Rioghact, signifying
"Ciar's Kingdom"; hence, the word
"ciaraidhe," anglicised "Kerry."
The Eugenians, we saw,
ruled as kings over Desmond or South Munster, which
comprised the whole of the present county Cork, and the
greater part of Kerry, together with a portion of
Waterford, and a small part of the south of Tipperary,
bordering on Cork; while the Dalcassian kings ruled over
Thomond. From each race was alternately elected a king of
all Munster; and, in that kingdom, this mode of
government continued from the third to the tenth century,
when Brian Boru, of the Dalcassian race, became king of
Munster. After that period the O'Briens alone were kings
of Munster and kings of Thomond; and the MacCarthys, who
were the head of the Engenian race, were kings and
princes of Desmond.
When, on the English
invasion, King Henry the Second landed at Waterford, in
October A.D. 1171, Dermot MacCarthy, king of Desmond,
waited on him the day after his arrival, delivered to him
the keys of the city of Cork, and did him homage.* A.D.
1177, Henry II granted to Robert Fitzstephen and Milo de
Cogan, for the service of sixty knights to himself and
his son John and their heirs, the whole kingdom of
Desmond, with the exception of the city of Cork and the
adjoining cantreds, which belonged to the Ostmen or Danes
of that city, and which Henry reserved to hold in his own
hands. The MacCarthys maintained long contests for their
independence, with the Fitzgeralds, earls of Desmond, the
Butlers, earls of Ormond, and other Anglo-Norman and
English settlers; and held their titles, as princes of
Desmond, with considerable possessions, down to the reign
of Elizabeth. They were divided into two great branches,
the head of which was MacCarthy Mór: of whom Donal
MacCarthy was, A.D. 1565, created earl of Glencare or
Clancare, by Queen Elizabeth; the other branch, called
MacCarthy Reagh, were styled princes of Carbery. Besides
the earls of Clancare, the MacCarthys were also created
at various periods barons of Valentia, earls of
Clancarty, earls of Muskerry, and earls of Mount Cashel;
and, had several strong castles in various parts of Cork
and Kerry.
There are still in the counties of Cork
and Kerry many highly respectable families of the
MacCarthys; and several of the name have been
distinguished commanders in the Irish Brigades in the
service of France and Spain.
IN Cork, the following have been the
Irish chiefs and clans:
O'Sullivan had the ancient
territory of Beara, now the baronies of Beare and
Bantry in the county Cork; and were called
O'Sullivan Beara, and styled princes of Beara.
Another branch of the family, called O'Sullivan
Mór, were lords of Dunkerron, and possessed the
barony of Dunkerron, in the county Kerry; and
their chief seat was the castle of Dunkerron,
near the river Kenmare. A third branch of the
O'Sullivans were chiefs of Knockraffan, in
Tipperary. The O'Sullivans are of the Eugenian
race, of the same descent as the MacCarthys,
princes of Desmond; and took their name from
Suileabhan, one of their chiefs in the tenth
century. In the reign of James the First, their
extensive possessions were confiscated, in
consequence of their adherence to the earls of
Desmond and Tyrone in the Elizabethan wars; and
the heads of the family retired to Spain, where
many of them were distinguished officers in the
Spanish service, and had the title of Counts of
Bearhaven.
O'Driscoll, head of the Ithian
race, chief or prince of Corcaluighe, called
Cairbreacha, comprising the ancient extensive
territory of Carbery, in the southwest of Cork.
The O'Driscolls were lords of Beara, before the
O'Sullivans in after times became possessors of
that territory.
O'Keeffe, chief of Glen Avon and
of Urluachra. Glen Avon is now called Glanworth,
a place in the barony of Fermoy, county Cork.
This family had afterwards a large territory in
the barony of Duhallow, known as "Pobal
O'Keeffe." In ancient times the O'Keeffes,
the O'Dugans, and O'Cosgraves, were chiefs in
Fearmuighe Feiné‚ now the barony of Fermoy;
which was afterwards possessed by the family of
Roche, viscounts of Fermoy, and called
"Roche's Country." The O'Keeffes at one
time were marshals and military leaders in
Desmond, and were styled princes of Fermoy.
MacDonogh, chief of Duhalla, now
the barony of Duhallow, in the county Cork. The
MacDonoghs of Munster were a branch of the
MacCarthys, and were styled princes of Duhallow;
their chief residence was the magnificent castle
of Kanturk.
O'Mahony, chief of Ivaugh, and
Kinalmeaky. The O'Mahonys also possessed the
territory of Cinal Aodha (now the barony of
"Kinalea"), and a territory in
Muskerry, south of the river Lee; both in the
county Cork; and another territory called
Tiobrad, in the county Kerry. They were sometimes
styled princes; and possessed several castles, as
those of Rosbrin, Ardintenant, Blackcastle,
Ballydesmond, Dunbeacan, Dunmanus, Ringmahon,
etc.- all along the sea-coast.
O'Callaghan, chief of Beara, and
of Kinalea, in the county Cork. The chief of this
family was transplanted into Clare by Cromwell,
who gave him at Killarney considerable property,
in lieu of his ancient estates. A branch of this
family (who are of the Eugenian race) are now
viscounts of Lismore.
O'Lehan (Lynis, or Lyons) was
lord of Hy-Lehan and Hy-Namcha, afterwards called
the barony of Barrymore, from the family of the
Barrys, who became its possessors. Castle Lehan,
now Castlelyons, was the chief seat of this
family.
O'Flynn, chief of Arda (a
territory in the barony of Carbery), and
Hy-Baghamna, now the barony of "Ibane"
and Barryroe, adjoining Carbery. The castle of
Macroom was built by the O'Flynns.
MacAullife, chief of Glean Omra,
in the barony of Duhallow, and a branch of the
MacCarthys. Their chief seat was Castle
MacAuliffe, near Newmarket. O'Tedgamna was
another ancient chief of this territory.
O'Donnegan (or Dongan), chief of
"Muscry of the three Plains," now the
half barony of Orrery, in the county Cork.
O'Cullenan was chief on the same territory, and
was hereditary physician of Munster.
O'Hinmanen, chief of Tua-Saxon.
O'Mulbhehan, chief of Muscry
Trehirne.
O'Breoghan (this name
"Breoghan" is considered the root of
Brown), O'Glaisin (Glashan, or Gleeson),
O'Mictyre # and O'Keely were chiefs of
Hy-Mac-Caille, now the barony of
"Imokilly," in the county Cork. ( #
O'Mictyre; This surname ("mactire:"
Irish, "a wolf") has been anglicised
Wolfe. )
O'Curry, chief of Ciarraidhe
Cuire, now the barony of
"Kerrycurrehy," in the county Cork.
O'Cowhey or O'Coffey, of Fuin
Cleena, chief of Triocha Meona, now the barony of
West Barryroe, in the county Cork. These once
powerful chiefs had seven castles along the
coast, in the barony of Ibawne and Barryroe.
O'Fihilly were also chiefs in
West Barryroe.
O'Baire, anglicised O'Barry,
chief of Muintir Baire, part of ancient Carbery
in the county Cork and also chief of Aron. This
family was of the Ithian or Lugadian race.
O'Leary, chief of Hy-Laoghaire or
"Iveleary," and Iveleary, or
"O'Leary's Country," lay in Muskerry,
in the county Cork, between Macroom and
Inchageela.
O'Hea and O'Dea are mentioned
among the families of Thomond; they were also
chiefs of Carbery, county Cork.
O'Donovan, also mentioned in
Thomond, settled in Cork, and were chiefs of Clan
Cathail, in West Carbery.
O'Beice or Beeky, chief of
Beanthraidhe, now the barony of Bantry.
O'Casey, chief of a territory
near Mitchelstown, in the county Cork.
O'Healy or Hely, chief of
Domhnach-Mór-O'Healy or Pobal O'Healy, a parish
in the barony of Muskerry, county Cork.
O'Herlihy or Hurley is mentioned
in the families of Ormond; they were also chiefs
in the barony of Muskerry.
O'Nunan or Noonan, chief of
Tullaleis and Castlelissen, now the parish of
Tullilease, in the barony of Duhallow, county
Cork.
O'Daly, bard to MacCarthy,
O'Mahony, Carews, and other great families. The
O'Dalys were emninent poets in Munster.
O'h-Aedhagan (anglicised
"Mac Egan") was hereditary Brehon or
judge in the counties of Cork and Kerry, under
the MacCarthys, kings of Desmond. The MacEgans
were also hereditary Brehons of Ormond.
MacSweeney, military commanders
under the MacCarthys, who, in the thirteenth
century, brought a body of them from Tirconnell
or Donegal, where they were celebrated as chiefs
under the O'Donnells; and hence the head of the
clan was styled MacSuibhnena-dTuadh or MacSweeney
of the Battle Axes. In Munster, the MacSweeneys
had the parish of Kilmurry, in the barony of
Muskerry, and had their chief castle at Clodagh,
near Macroom, and had also Castlemore in the
parish of Movidy.
MacSheehy: This family was a
warlike clan, brought from Connaught in the
fifteenth century by the Fitzgeralds, Earls of
Desmond, who appointed them their body-guards.
Some of them changed the name to "Joy;"
and of this family was the Irish judge, Baron
Joy. They are considered to be originally the
same as the Joyces of Connemara-- a race of men
of tall and manly stature. The MacSheehys and
O'Hallinans were chiefs of Ballyhallinan, in the
parish of Poblebrien, county Limerick; and the
O'Hallorans were chiefs of Faith-Ui Hallurain. a
district between Tulla and Clare, in the county
Clare.
O'Kearney were chiefs of
Hy-Floinn, near Kinsale, in the county Cork.
O'Riordan, a clan of note in
Muskerry; and distinguished military chiefs in
ancient times.
O'Crowley, chiefs of Kilshallow,
west of Bandon, and originally a clan from
Connaught.
O'Murphy (originally from
Wexford), a clan in Muskerry.
O'Ahern, O'Ronayne, and O'Heyne
(or Hynes), were old and respectable families in
the county Cork.
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CORK AND KERRY
( or Desmond ).
AS already
stated, King Henry the Second gave a grant of the kingdom
of Desmond to Robert Fitzstephen and Milo de Cogan. With
that Robert Fitzstephen came Maurice Fitzgerald and other
Anglo-Norman chiefs, A.D. 1169, who assisted Strongbow in
the invasion of Ireland. In 1173, Maurice Fitzgerald was
appointed by Henry the Second chief governor of Ireland;
and he and his descendants got large grants of land in
Leinster and Munster, chiefly in the counties of Kildare,
Wicklow, Wexford, Cork, and Kerry. He died, A.D. 1177,
and was buried in the abbey of the Grey Friars at
Wexford.
A branch of the Fitzgeralds were, down to
the reign of Elizabeth, earls of Desmond; and had immense
possessions in the counties of Cork and Kerry.
Another branch of them became barons of
Offaly,* earls of Kildare, and dukes of Leinster. (
*Offaly: The ancient territory of Offaly comprised a
great part of the King's County, with part of the Queen's
County and Kildare. )
The Fitzgeralds trace their descent from
the dukes of Tuscany: some of the family from Florence,
settled in Normandy, and thence came to England with
William the Conqueror. The Geraldines, having frequently
joined the Irish against the English, were charged by
English writers as having become Irish in language and
manners: hence, the origin of the expression; "Ipsis
Hibernis Hiberniores" or "More Irish than the
Irish themselves." The Fizgeralds, who were created
earls of Desmond, became one of the most powerful
families in Munster; and several of them were lords
deputies of Ireland in the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries. Gerald Fitzgerald, sixteenth earl of Desmond,
was one of the greatest subjects in Europe; he held the
rank of a "Prince Palatine," with all the
authority of a provincial king. Having resisted the
Reformation in the reign of Elizabeth, and waged war
againt the English government, the earl of Desmond's
forces after long contests were defeated, and he himself
was slain in a glen near Castle Island, in the county
Kerry, on the 11th of November, A.D. 1583; his head was
cut off and sent to England, by Thomas Butler, Earl of
Ormond, as a present to Queen Elizabeth, who caused it to
be fixed on London Bridge. James Fitzgerald (nephew of
Gerald, Earl of Desmond) attempting to recover the
estates and honours of his ancestors, took up arms and
joined the standard of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone. This
James Fitzgerald was styled Earl of Desmond; but his
title not being recognized, he was designated the sugan
earl, which signifies the "earl of straw." His
forces being at length defeated and himself taken
prisoner, he was sent to England along with Florence
MacCarthy, and imprisoned in the Tower of London, where
he died, A.D. 1608; and thus terminated the once
illustrious House of Desmond. The vast estates of Gerald,
Earl of Desmond, were confiscated in the reign of of
Elizabeth, and granted to various English settlers
(called planters or undertakers), on conditions that no
planter should convey any part of the lands to any of the
"mere Irish": and the English settlers were
also prohibited to intermarry with the Irish, and none of
the Irish were to be maintained in any family.
The following are the denoted MAJOR LANDOWNERS who
obtained grants of the Desmond estates in Cork and
Waterford, thus confiscated:
- Sir Walter Raleigh, ( To Sir Walter Raleigh we
are indebted for the introduction into Great
Britain and Ireland (consequent upon his voyage
in A.D. 1585 to colonize Virginia, in North
America) of the potato plant, and the use of
tobacco; the former of which has since become an
almost universal article of diet, and the latter
a most productive source of revenue. Sir Walter
Raleigh it was who flrst planted potatoes in
Ireland, in a field near Youghal, about A.D.
1610. In his time, too, the publication of
newspapers in England is said to have originated.
Copies of the "English Mercurie,"
relating to the threatened descent of the Spanish
Armada, are still preserved in the British
Museum),
- Arthur Robins,
- Fane Beecher,
- Hugh Worth,
- Arthur Hyde,
- Sir Warham St. Leger,
- Hugh Cuffe (in Irish "Durneen"),
- Sir Thomas Norris,
- Sir Arthur Hyde,
- Thomas Say,
- Sir Richard Beacon (in Irish "Beagan"),
- and (the poet) Edmond Spencer.
Of the families who got the Desmond estates in
Limerick, an account has been given in the names of the
new settlers in "Thomond." (see Co. Limerick...
)
The other principal families of the county Cork,
were:
- Cogan, Carew (or Carey), Condon (or Canton), De
Courcy, Barry, Barnwall, Barrett, Roche,
MacGibbon and Fitzgibbon (a branch of the
Fitzgeralds); Fleming, Sarsfield, Nagle, Martell,
Percival, Russel, Pigott, Prendergast, Lombard,
Lavallan, Morgan, Cottor, Meagh (or May),
Murrogh, Supple, Stackpole, White, Warren,
Hodnet, Harding, Field, Beecher, Hyde, Jephson,
Garrett, Kent, Delahide (or Delahoyd), De
Spencer, Deane, Daunt, Vincent, Gardiner,
Beamish, Courtenay, Cuffe, Gore, Hore, Newenham
(or Newman), etc. Coppinger, Gould, Galway,
Skiddy, and Terry were, in former times, very
numerous and powerful families in Cork. Some of
the family "De Courcy" took the Irish
name MacPatrick; some of the
"DeBarrys," that of MacDavid; the
"De la Rupe," that of Roche, who became
viscounts of Fermoy; some of the family of
"Hodnet" took the name MacSherry, etc.
THE following have been denoted
as MAJOR LANDHOLDERS in CORK since the reign of King
John:
De Courcy, barons of Kinsale and
Ringrone;
Fitzgerald, earls of Desmond,
barons of Decies, and seneschals of Imokilly;
Fielding, earls of Denbigh in
England, has the title of earls of Desmond.
Of the Royal Family, the dukes of
Clarence were earls of Munster.
The Carews were marquises of
Cork;
MacCarthy, earls of Clancare,
earls of Clancarthy, earls of Muskerry, and earls
of Mountcashel;
Barry, barons of Olethann,
viscounts of Buttevant, and earls of Barrymore;
Roche, barons of Castlelough, and
viscounts of Fermoy;
Boyle, barons of Youghal, Bandon,
Broghill, and Castlemartyr, viscounts of
Dungarvan and Kinnalmeaky, earls of Cork, Orrery,
and Shannon, and earls of Burlington in England;
Percival, barons of Duhallow,
Kanturk and Ardee, and earls of Egmont;
St. Leger, viscounts of
Doneraile; Touchet, earls of Castlehaven;
Bernard, earls of Bandon;
White, viscounts of Berehaven,
and earls of Bantry;
Berkley and Chetwynd, viscounts
of Berehaven;
Broderick, viscounts Midleton;
Moore, earls of Charleville; and
Moore, earls of Mountcashel;
King, earls of Kingston;
O'Callaghan, viscounts of Lismore
in Waterford, are originally from Cork;
Evans, barons of Carbery; Deane,
barons of Muskerry;
Tonson, barons of Riversdale; and
the family of Cavendish, barons of Waterpark.
Down to the last
century, the mountains of Cork and Kerry were covered
with ancient forests of oak, ash, pine, alder, birch,
hazel, and yews of immense size; and afforded retreats to
wolves and numerous herds of red deer. It is needless to
speak of the majestic mountains and magnificent lakes of
Kerry, celebrated as they are for their surpassing beauty
and sublime scenery.
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