Ancient Irish Literature

[From the Dublin Penny Journal, Vol. 1, No. 10, September 1, 1832]

It is our intention henceforth to supply our readers occasionally with translated extracts from our ancient annals, poems, and other unpublished remains, and thus to open new and unexplored sources of entertainment and information; in which particular we hope to take the lead of all our penny cotemporaries who rarely, if ever, supply any but selected published matter. As an earnest of this determination we subjoin an extract from the second volume of the Annals of the Four Masters, translated from the original MS. in the library of the Royal Irish Academy. It is an account of the several chiefs or nobles of Ireland who attended the great parliament held in Dublin, in the year 1585. This document cannot fail of interesting our readers generally, for its historical importance, but to many of them it will have a deeper interest for the light it throws on the ancient rank of their ancestors. We shall append a few notes, to point out the present acknowledged representatives of those families, or their extinction as far as our information extends.

Thither came the chiefs and nobles of Tirconnell and Tirone; viz. O'NEILL,^a Turlogh Luineach, son of Niall Conallach, son of Art, son of Conn, son of Henry, son of Eogan (Owen or Eugene); and Aodh (Hugh) son of Feardorcha, son of Conn Bacagh, son of Henry, son of Eogan, i.e. the young Baron O'Neill, who at that Parliament got the title of Earl; and O'DONELL,^b Aodh Roe, son of, Magnus, (Manus) son of Aadh Duff, son of Aodh Roe, son of Niall Garbh; maguire,^c Cuconacht, son of Cuconacht, son of Brian, son of Philip, son of Thomas. O'DOGHERTY,^d Shane Oge, son of Shane, (John) son of Felim, son of Conor Carrach; O'BOYLE,^e Turlogh, son of Niall, son of Turlogh Oge, son of Turlogh Mor; and o'gallagher, ^f Owen son of Tuathal, (pronounced Thoohal, son of John, son of Rory, son of Aodh.

To this convention came also mac mahon,^g viz. Ross, son of Art, son of Brian na moch eirghe (of the early rising) son of Redmond, son of Glasney; O'CAHANE,^h Rory, son of Magnus, son of Donagh an einigh (the generous) son of John, son of Aibhne (Aivne); conn, son of Niall Oge, son of Niall, son of Conn, son of Aodh Buoy (yellow) of the O'Neills descended from Aodh Buoy (i. e. the O'Neills of Clanna-boy);ⁱ and mac aongusa, or magennis,^k Aodh, son of Donall Oge, son of Donall Gearr (the short.)

To this assembly also went the chiefs of the Garbh-trian (rough district) of Connaught, viz. O'RUAIRC,^l Brian son of Eogan;-O'REILLY,^m Shane Roe, son of Aodh Conallach, son of Maolmordha, son of John, son of Cathal; and his uncle Edmond, son of Maolmordha, both of whom were in contention with each other for the Lordship of their Country; and the o'ferrallsⁿ all together, viz. O'Ferrall Ban (the fair,) William, son of Donell, son of Cormac; O'Ferrall Buoy (the yellow) Fachtna, son of Brian, son of Rory, son of Cathal. The Siol Muireadhaigh (descendants of Muireadach) also with the chiefs of their different septs, viz. the son of O'CONOR Don,^o (the brown) Aodh, son of Dermod, son of Carbry, son of Eogan caech (blind) son of Felim geanneach (crooked-nosed); O'CONOR, Roe^p the red,) Teige Oge, son of Teighe Buoy, son of Cathal Roe. O'CONOR sligo^q (of Sligo) Donall, son of Teige, son of Cathal Oge, son of Donall, son of Eogan, son of Donall, son of Eogan, son of Donall, son of Murkertagh;-and a Deputy from Mc dermott^r of moy luirg, Brian, son of Rory, son of Teigh, son of Rory Oge, for Mc Dermott himself, viz. Teige, son of Eogan was then a very old man enfeebled with age; and o'beirne,^s Carbry, son of Teige, son of Carbry, son of Maolseaghlainn.

Thither, also, went Teige, son of William, son of Teige, Duff, o'kelly;^t and o'madigan^u (O'Madden) Donall, son of John, son of Breasal. Thither, likewise went the earl of clanrickard,^v Ulick, son of Ulick, na gceann (of the heads); and the two sons of Giolladuff, o'shaugh-nessey,^w viz. John and Dermod. None worth mentioning from the Western side of Conaght went there except Murcha (or Morogh) na Tuaith, (of the Districts) son of Teige, son of Morogh, son of Rory o'flaherty.^x

Thither, in like manner, went the earl of thomond,^y Donagh, son of Conor, son of Donagh, son of Conor, son of Turlogh, son of Teige O'Brian, being one of the members elected to serve in parliament for the County of Clare. Thither went Turlogh, son of Teige, son of Conor, o'brian; and the chief of the western part of Clann Cuilean, viz. macnamara,z John son of Teige; and Baothghallach, (Boetius) son of Aodh, son of Boathgal-lach mac clanghy,¹ who was the second member of parliament chosen to represent Clare; and also the son of O'LOGHLIN of BURRIN,² Ross, son of Uaithne (Anthony) son of Maolseaghlainn, son of Rory, son of Ana; the son of o'brien of ara,³ who was then Bishop of Killaloe, i. e. Murtogh, son of Turlogh, son of Murtogh, son of Donall, son of Teighe. O'CARROLL,⁴ Calvach, son of William, uidhir (the pale) son of Fearganainim, son of Maolruana. son of John; mac coghlan,⁵ viz.: John, son of Art, son of Cormac; and O'DWYRE⁶ of Coill-na Manach, Philip, son of Anthony.

Thither went the son of o'brien of cuanach,⁷ Murtogh, son of Turlogh, son of Murtogh, The Lord of Carrig-o-coinill and Governor of Limerick,⁸ Brian duff (the black) son of Donagh, son of Mahon, son of Donagh, son of Brian Duff O'Brian; and Conor na moinge (of the long hair) son of William caech (blind) son of Dermod o'maoilrian (O'RYAN) Lord of Uaithne-I-Maoilrian.⁹

A considerable number of the chiefs of the Eoganachs i. e. the descendants of Eogan Mor, (the great) King of Munster, and of their different septs in like manner repaired to that parliament, viz.: Mc carthy mor,¹⁰ (the great) Donall, son of Donall, son of Cormac Ladhrach the hasty.) Mc carthy cairbreach¹⁰ (of Carbry,) Eogan, son of Donall, son of Finghin, son of Donall, son of Diarmod (Dermod) an Duna (of the Fort;) and the sons of his two brothers, viz.: Donall, son of Cormac na Haine, and Finghin, son of Donagh.

Thither also came the two chiefs who were in contention with each other for the Lordship of Duthaigh Ealla (Duhallow)¹¹ viz: Dermod, son of Eogan, son of Donagh, an Bothair (of the road,) son of Eogan, son of Donagh; and Donagh, son of Cormac Oge, son of Cormac, son of Donagh. Thither also went o'sullivan bearra,¹² Eogan, son of Dermod, son of Donall, son of Donagh, son of Dermod balbh (the stammerer,) O'SULLIVAN MOR,¹³ (the great,) Donall, son of Donall, son of Donall, na Sgreadaighe (the screecher.) o'mahony,¹⁴ of the western district of Fuine, Conor, son of Conor Fionn oge, son of ¹⁴Conor Fionn, (the white or fair,) son of Conor O'Mahony; and o'heidirsgoil Mor,¹⁵ (the great O'Driscall) Finghin, son of Conor, son of Finghin, son of Conor.

Thither went also, fitzpatrick of ossory,¹⁶ Finghin, son of Brian, son of Brian, son of Finghin. mac geoghegan,¹⁷ Conla, son of Conor, son of Laghna; and O'MULLOY,¹⁸ Conall, son of Cathoir.

None worth mentioning are said to have gone to that parliament of the descendants of Laiseach Leand Mor, son of Conall Cearnach (i. e. the people of Leix or family of O'MORE,¹⁹ &c.;) nor of the descendants of Rosa Failge, son of Cathaoir Mor from Ibh Failge (the o'connors faly;²⁰) nor of the o'cavanaghs,²¹ O'BYRNES,²² O'TOOLES,²³ O'DUNNES,²⁴ or O'DEMPSYS.²⁵ At the conclusion, thither came the senior chiefs of the Mac Rannalls,²⁶ (the chief of the Ranelagh tribe of the byrnes,) Fiachadh, son of Aodh, son of John, son of Donnall glas (pale, wan,) from Glinmalugra,²⁶ (now Glenmalure.)

All those Noblemen assembled in Dublin, and after they had remained there for a considerable time, (although the business of parliament was not finished that year) they departed to their several homes.

P.

NOTES

^a This elder or Dungannon branch of the O'Neils is now extinct.
^b Represented now by Hugh O'Donnel, Esq. of Gray-field, in the county of Leitrim.
^c This family, the ancient Lords of Fermanagh, is represented by Cuchonacht or Constantine Maguire, Esq. of Tempo.
^{d e f} Of the present representatives of these families we have no accurate information.
^g The worthy Sir William Mac Mahon is, we believe, the chief of this noble family.
^h Extinct or unknown.
ⁱ The Earl O'Neil.
^k Captain Magennis, nephew of Lord Enniskillen.
^l Reduced and unknown.
^m Myles (or Maolmordha) John O'Reilly, Esq. of the Heath-house, Queen,'s County, is the acknowledged chief of the name in Ireland-but an elder branch is said to exist in France.
ⁿ These branches of the ancient lords of the county of Longford, &c. are represented by Counsellor O'Ferrall, K.C. and the member for Kildare, who is also Chief of the O'Moore's ancient Lords of Leix in the Queen's County, &c.
^o The present member for Roscommon.
^p Uncertain.
^q Said to be extinct.
^r Charles M'Dermot, Esq. of Coolavin, county of Sligo.;
^s Not known.
^t Festus O'Kelly, Esq. of Ticooly, county of Roscommon.
^u Not known.
^v The present Earl.
^w Extinct.
^x Thomas P. O'Flaherty, Esq. of Lemonfield, county of Galway.
^y The chief representatives of the O'Brian race are the Earl of Tho-mond and Sir Edward O'Brian.
^z Major Macnamara, the present county member.

¹ Unknown.
² __ O'Loghlin, Esq. of Burrin, the father of Sergeant O'Loghlin.
³ Extinct in the male descendants of this Murtogh, but existing in the line of Donal Conachtach in Ara, where they still hold some property.
⁴ There are several respectable descendants, but the present chief is not ascertained. The grandfather of the Marchioness Wellesley, who died in America, was the acknowledged head.
⁵ The last Mac Coghlan, died some years since without issue, and his estates passed to the Daly family. We do not know who is chief of this name now.
⁶, ⁷, ⁸ Unknown.
⁹ Reduced and unknown-the territory in the county of Tipperary.
¹⁰ Extinct in the principal branches-present representatives unknown.
¹¹ The Mac Donaghs-a branch of the Mac Carthy's-present representative unknown.
12 The present O'Sullivan Bear.
¹³ Extinct.
¹⁴ -- O'Mahony, Esq. of Dunlo near Killarney.
¹⁵ Not ascertained.
¹⁶ Extinct.
¹⁷ Sir Richard Nagle, of Donore, county of Westmeath.
¹⁸ Unknown.
¹⁹ Moore O'Ferrall, Esq. M.P,
²⁰ --- O'Connor Faly, of Mount Pleasant, King's county.
²¹ Thomas Kavanagh, Esq. of Borris, county of Carlow.
²², ²³, ²⁴, ²⁵, ²⁶ Decayed and unknown.
It should be observed, that in the preceding Notes when we state that some of those ancient families are extinct, it must only be understood as applying to the immediate descendants of the chiefs of the period referred to by the annalist, as the families all exist in numerous descendants derived from the parent stock in earlier times, though now generally decayed and without hereditary property. If in any instance we may be in error, we shall be happy to correct it on satisfactory evidence.