The story of an Irish sept : their character & struggle to maintain their lands in Clare

Each story keeps the passage it was read from. Open one to read the passage as the book has it, and, where the companion has written its own telling, that too.

1. Macnamaras take possession of Bunratty after Anglo-Norman expulsion

   near Bunratty · parish · Clare · 1353

   The Macnamaras took possession of Bunratty after the Anglo-Normans were expelled from the castle. In 1353, two members of the Macnamara sept who denied the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and the authority of the Holy See were burnt to death at Bunratty by order of the bishop.

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   The Macnamaras had taken possession of Bunratty after the departure or rather expulsion of the Anglo-Normans from the castle, and in the year 1353 one of the few cases of " ecclesiastical discipline" recorded in the history of Clare overtook two members of the Macnamara sept. It seems these two men denied the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and of the Incarnation, and rejected the authority of the Holy See. Rather than renounce their error they were burnt to death at Bunratty, by order of the bishop.1l

   The opinion of the best informed Irishmen as to the social and political position of their countrymen during the early part of the fourteenth century is to be found in a document which they drew up and forwarded to King Edward the Third of England. In this document the leading Celtic chiefs of Ireland urged the king to adopt one of two courses : either to govern Ireland by English law, which to them appeared what should be done ; or else to leave the country to govern itself according to her own laws and customs. King Edward referred this petition to his advisers in Dublin, and they came to the conclusion that no action should be taken in the matter. Sir John Davies, Attorney-General for Ireland in the time of James the First, in his able work on the "True Cause why Ireland was never entirely subdued," refers to this appeal of the Irish chiefs. He observes : " I note a great defect in the policy of England ; in that for the space of many years after the so-called conquest of Ireland, the English laws were not communicated to the Irish, nor the benefit and protection thereof allowed unto them, though they earnestly desired and sought the same." Sir

   Internet Archive storyofirishsept00macn, Chapter 71

2. Quin Abbey reopened as a college under Confederate Government

   Quin · town · Clare · 1646

   After the Confederate Government granted freedom of religious worship, the clergy reopened their college at Quin Abbey. An eyewitness who studied there in 1646 reported it was soon crowded with scholars.

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   the second half of the sixteenth century, states : " Without eitheijl precepts or observation of congruity, they speak Latin like a vulgaiji language, learned in their common schools oiLeechcraft and Law, whereat I they begin as children, and hold on sixteen or twenty years, conning; Groate, the 'Aphorisms of Hypocrates,' and the Civil Institutions, and m few other parings of those two faculties."* Champion continues : " I have I seen, them where they kept schoole, ten in some one chamber, uponfl couches of straw, their books at their noses, themselves lying flattej prostrate, and so chaunte out their lessons by peecemeale, being for the! most part lustie young fellows." Such were the students of medicine and law in the West of Ireland in the year 1571. A system of| secular education had existed there from the earliest times ; beyond this up to the period of the Reformation the clergy had excellent schools all over the country, and we have noticed (p. 200) that no sooner had the Confederate Government granted them freedom of religious worship, than they reopened their college at Quin Abbey, which we are told by* one who studied there in a.d. 1646, was soon crowded with scholars.

   Internet Archive storyofirishsept00macn, Chapter 112

3. Two Macnamaras burnt at Bunratty for heresy

   near Bunratty · parish · Clare · 1353

   In 1353, two members of the Macnamara sept who denied the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation, and the authority of the Holy See were burnt to death at Bunratty by order of the bishop, one of the few cases of ecclesiastical discipline recorded in the history of Clare.

   Read the passage

   The Macnamaras had taken possession of Bunratty after the departure or rather expulsion of the Anglo-Normans from the castle, and in the year 1353 one of the few cases of " ecclesiastical discipline" recorded in the history of Clare overtook two members of the Macnamara sept. It seems these two men denied the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and of the Incarnation, and rejected the authority of the Holy See. Rather than renounce their error they were burnt to death at Bunratty, by order of the bishop.1l

   The opinion of the best informed Irishmen as to the social and political position of their countrymen during the early part of the fourteenth century is to be found in a document which they drew up and forwarded to King Edward the Third of England. In this document the leading Celtic chiefs of Ireland urged the king to adopt one of two courses : either to govern Ireland by English law, which to them appeared what should be done ; or else to leave the country to govern itself according to her own laws and customs. King Edward referred this petition to his advisers in Dublin, and they came to the conclusion that no action should be taken in the matter. Sir John Davies, Attorney-General for Ireland in the time of James the First, in his able work on the "True Cause why Ireland was never entirely subdued," refers to this appeal of the Irish chiefs. He observes : " I note a great defect in the policy of England ; in that for the space of many years after the so-called conquest of Ireland, the English laws were not communicated to the Irish, nor the benefit and protection thereof allowed unto them, though they earnestly desired and sought the same." Sir

   Internet Archive storyofirishsept00macn, Chapter 71

4. Mahon Macnamara's family possessed property in Tulla

   Tulla · town · Clare

   Mahon, son of Lochlain Mac-con Macnamara, was an ecclesiastic, and his family subsequently came to possess property in Tulla, County Clare.

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   § Was an ecclesiastic of some kind, and whose family we shall subsequently find possessed of property in Tulla. || " O'Brien Memoirs," p. 135.

   1T Hon. R. O'Brien : note to " Dineley's Tour " ("Journal of the Archaeological Society, vol. vi. 1867, p. 88).

   Internet Archive storyofirishsept00macn, Chapter 71

5. O'Brien defeats Kildare's army at the Shannon

   Killaloe · town · Clare

   Kildare marched his army to a wooden bridge O'Brien had constructed over the Shannon and broke it down, aiming to attack the O'Carrolls of Ely before they could unite with O'Brien. Torlogh O'Brien forded the Shannon, encamped near Kildare's army, and on the morrow attacked and slew Barons Kent and Barnewall with many others, routing the English.

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   that is, the Lord Justice — marched with his army until he arrived at the wooden bridge which O'Brien had constructed over the Shannon, and he broke down the bridge." Kildare's object was to attack the O'Carrolls of Ely and other clans of East Thomond before they could unite their forces with those of O'Brien in Clare. Torlogh, however, with his followers forded the Shannon, and coming up to Kildare's army, encamped close to them, so that, as " The Four Masters " state : "the two forces could hear each other's voices and conversation during the night. On the morrow Kildare marshalled his army, placing the English and Irish of Munster in the van, and the English of Meath and Dublin in the rear. O'Brien's army attacked the English and slew the Barons Kent, and Barnewall, with many other men of distinction. The English only escaped by flight, and the army of O'Brien returned home in triumph with great spoil."

   Internet Archive storyofirishsept00macn, Chapter 79

6. Sioda Macnamara's surrender and regrant indenture sealed at Dublin

   Dublin · city · Dublin · 1542

   On 10 December 1542, Lord Deputy Anthony St. Leger sealed an indenture at Dublin whereby Sioda Macnamara and the gentlemen of Clancuilein surrendered their lands in Thomond to the Crown and received them back by letters patent, agreeing to pay a yearly rent of fifty marks and provide ten spearmen and forty kerne for the King's service.

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   aforesaid, in no parte, parcel, or number thereof shall from henceforth be charged cessed, or imposed, or be contributory with any other parte or partes of the Principalitie of Thomond in any manner, cesse, charge, exaction, rising out or1 otherwise by any manner or means, but shall be and remain severed from them in the charge aforesaid, any custom or use heretofore to the contrary notwithstanding ; and the saide Rt. Hon. the Lord Deputie for and in the behalf of the King's most excellent Majestie doth promise and grant to and with the said Sioda and the rest of the gentlemen and freeholders of the baronies and places aforesaid, that if it shall fortune at any time hereafter any part or parcell of the lands, tenements, and hereditaments chargeable with the said yearly rent of fiftye marks, to be seized, recovered, or taken out of the lands or possessions of the said Sioda or of any of the rest of the gentlemen and freeholders of the baronies and places aforesaid, by due order and ceremony of the King's Majestie's laws, that then and for soe much of the yearly rent charge of fiftye marks as the same lands, tenements, and hereditaments were charged with to be defaulted and allowed in the said yearly rent of charge of fiftye-two marks anything hereinafter contained to the contrary notwithstanding. In witness of this part of this indenture remaining in the custody of the said Sioda for him and the rest aforesaid, the said Rt. Hon. Lord Deputy, for and in the behalf of the King's most excellent Majestie, has hereunto put his seal at Dublin, the ioth day of December in anno 1542, and in the thirty-fourth year of the reign of our sovereign lord, Henry VIII., by the grace of God, King of England, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, and so forth.

   Anthony St. Leger.

   Internet Archive storyofirishsept00macn, Chapter 82

7. Teigie O'Brien killed by gunshot, 1522

   near Clare · population centre · Clare · 1522

   In 1522 Teigie O'Brien was killed by the shot of a ball while leading an attack in support of the O'Carrolls. This marks one of the early uses of firearms in Irish warfare.

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   Kildare made no further effort to conquer the Dalcasians west of the Shannon, but in 1513 he laid siege to Leap Castle, the residence of the O'Carroll's of Ely, and failing to take the place by escalade, "and being unprovided with heavy ordnance, he was obliged to raise the siege for the purpose of procuring artillery ; he was, however, taken ill, and died in September 15 13. Clare for some years enjoyed peace and hardly appears on the pages of Irish history. We are told that in 1528 one of the inhabitants of this province, O'Daly of Corcomroe, a poet, died ; he was famed, among other qualities, in that he " kept a house of general hospitality," p. 34. In the year 1522 Teigie O'Brien, while leading an attack in support of the O'Carrolls, was killed "by the shot of a ball."* We have already referred to the fact that Kildare had to raise the siege of Leap Castle for want of artillery, which at this time seems to have come into use in Ireland ; it was gunpowder and the cannon of the early part of the sixteenth century that sealed the fate of that country, for the native chiefs had no means of obtaining firearms, and as opposed to such weapons their swords and spears were useless. The last battle had been fought under the old style of warfare by the O'Briens and Macnamaras against the English, and, as on so many previous occasions, they had driven back their foes and so preserved their lands and homes in Clare.

   Torlough O'Brien died in the year 1538, and was succeeded by his son Conor, who was married first to a daughter of Clanricarde, and secondly to a Desmond. The condition of Ireland at this time is described in the State Papers of the reign of Henry VIII., where it is stated that the country was under the rule of some sixty chief captains or princes * " Annals of the Four Masters."

   Internet Archive storyofirishsept00macn, Chapter 79