Callaghan MacCarty, 3rd Earl of Clancarty

Callaghan MacCarty
Earl of Clancarty
Tenure	1666–1676
Predecessor	Charles, 3rd Earl of Clancarty (an infant)
Successor	Donough, 4th Earl of Clancarty
Known for	Former seminarian
Died	21 November 1676
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth FitzGerald
Issue Detail	Donough & others
Father	Donough, 1st Earl of Clancarty
Mother	Eleanor Butler

Callaghan MacCarty, 3rd Earl of Clancarty (died 1676) was the second son of Donough MacCarty, 1st Earl of Clancarty. Callaghan was destined for a Catholic religious career and entered a seminary in France where his family was in exile during Cromwell's rule. When his elder brother died in the Battle of Lowestoft, and the 2nd Earl, his nephew, died in infancy, he unexpectedly left his religious institution, returned to Ireland, and assumed the title. He became a Protestant and married a Protestant wife. Late in life he converted back to Catholicism.

Birth and origins

Callaghan was born in the late 1630s^[1][a] in County Cork, most likely at Blarney Castle or Macroom Castle, residences of his parents.^[4] He was the second son of Donough MacCarty and his wife Eleanor Butler.^[5] At the time of his birth, Callaghan's father was the 2nd Viscount Muskerry, but he would be advanced to Earl of Clancarty in 1658. His father was a member of the MacCarthy of Muskerry dynasty, a Gaelic Irish family descended from the kings of Desmond.^[6]

Callaghan's mother was the eldest sister of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond.^[7] Her family, the Butler dynasty, was Old English and descended from Theobald Walter, who had been appointed Chief Butler of Ireland by King Henry II in 1177.^[8] Callaghan's parents were both Catholic; they had married before 1641.^[9] Callaghan had two brothers and two sisters,^[10] who are listed in his father's article.

Family tree

Callaghan MacCarty with wife, parents, and other selected relatives.[b] Charles 1st Viscount Muskerry d. 1641 Margaret O'Brien m. 1590 Thomas Viscount Thurles d. 1619 d.v.p.* Elizabeth Pointz Donough 1st Earl 1594–1665 Eleanor Butler 1612–1682 James 1st Duke Ormond 1610–1688 Charles Viscount Muskerry** c. 1633 – 1665 d.v.p.* Callaghan 3rd Earl d. 1676 Elizabeth Fitz- Gerald d. 1698 Justin Viscount Mount- cashel c. 1643 – 1694 Charles 2nd Earl 1663–1666 Donough 4th Earl 1668–1734 Elizabeth Spencer 1671–1704 Robert MacCarty 1698–1769 Elizabeth Farnelly Legend XXX Callaghan MacCarty XXX Viscounts Muskerry, & Earls of Clancarty XXX Dukes of Ormond *d.v.p. = predeceased his father (decessit vita patris). **courtesy title

Irish wars

While Callaghan was a child, his father, Lord Muskerry, in March 1642 joined the Confederates^[17] to defend the Catholic faith and, as he thought, the King.^[18] Muskerry commanded the Confederates' Munster army in the Irish Confederate Wars. In October 1645 Giovanni Battista Rinuccini, the papal nuncio arrived in Ireland and visited Macroom Castle where Callaghan and his family were living.^[19] Muskerry disagreed with Rinuccini's policies and resigned early in August 1647 from his command.^[20]

In May 1647 Muskerry sent Callaghan's elder brother, Cormac, with a regiment to France to serve Louis XIV.^[21] After Rinuccini had left Ireland on 23 February 1649,^[22] Muskerry took up arms again to resist the Cromwellian Conquest of Ireland. He fought to the bitter end and surrendered Ross Castle near Killarney to Edmund Ludlow on 27 June 1652, disbanding his 5000-strong army.^[23][24]

To guarantee his compliance with the terms, Muskerry gave one of his sons to Ludlow as hostage.^[25] This must have been Callaghan, aged about 14, as his eldest, Cormac, was away with his regiment in France^[21] and Justin, aged 9, was probably with his mother in exile, also in France.

Exile

Muskerry was allowed to embark to Spain.^[26] The family's estates were lost in the Act of Settlement of 1652,^[27] passed by the English Rump Parliament on 12 August.^[28]

Some time before the fall of Ross Castle, Muskerry had sent his wife, Callaghan's mother, to safety in France. She was probably accompanied by Callaghan's youngest brother, Justin, and his sisters. His mother lived with her sister Mary Butler, Lady Hamilton, in the convent of the Feuillantines in Paris.^[29] In the late 1650s Callaghan entered a seminary in France.^[30]

On 27 November 1658 his father was created Earl of Clancarty by Charles II in Brussels, where the King was then in exile.^[31] By this advancement the title of Viscount of Muskerry became a subsidiary title of the family, which was given as a courtesy title to the Earl's heir apparent. Callaghan's elder brother Charles (or Cormac) was from there on styled Lord Muskerry.^[32]

Restoration

At the Restoration, Callaghan, aged about 13, and his elder brother, Cormac, stayed behind in France, while his parents, his younger brother, Justin, and his sisters returned to the British Isles. Cormac stayed behind in Dunkirk with his regiment, whereas Callaghan continued to prepare for the priesthood in a French seminary,^[33][34][c] In 1662 his father, Earl Clancarty, recovered his estates in the Act of Settlement. By 1664 Callaghan was a student at the Irish College in Toulouse.^[30] This was a small school with historic links to Munster. It never had more than 12 students.^[36]

Earl of Clancarty

On 4 March 1665, the Second Anglo-Dutch War broke out. Three months into the war, on 3 June 1665 O.S., his brother Charles, Lord Muskerry, was killed on the flagship, the Royal Charles, in the Battle of Lowestoft, the first major naval engagement of the war and an English victory.^[37] His brother had an infant son, also named Charles, who succeeded him as heir apparent and Viscount of Muskerry. However, their father, the 1st Earl, died two months later, on 4 August 1665,^[38] and the younger Charles succeeded as the 2nd Earl of Clancarty. The 2nd Earl died about a year later, on 22 September 1666, still an infant.^[39][d]

At this point Justin, the third son, expected to succeed as 3rd Earl, as Callaghan, being in holy orders, would be passed over, but Callaghan hearing of the opening of the succession decided to claim the title. He left his college at Toulouse and returned to Ireland, where he conformed to the established religion, leaving the Catholic Church and joining the Protestant Church of Ireland. He therefore succeeded as the 3rd Earl of Clancarty.^[35]

Marriage and children

In 1667 Lord Clancarty, as he was now, married Elizabeth FitzGerald, sixth and youngest daughter of George FitzGerald, 16th Earl of Kildare and his wife Lady Joan Boyle.^[41][42] The FitzGeralds were an Old English family whose ancestor came to Ireland during the Norman invasion of that country. His wife has been described as "a fierce Protestant isolated in a Catholic family".^[43]

Callaghan and Elizabeth had one son:

1. Donough (1668–1734), became the 4th and last Earl of Clancarty^[44]

—and four daughters of whom three are known by name:^[45]

1. Catharine, married Paul Davys, 1st Viscount Mount Cashell^[46]
2. Margaret, died childless^[47]
3. Elizabeth, died childless^[48]

Death, succession, and timeline

Clancarty died of a stroke ("Apoplexy") on 21 November 1676 in Dublin, aged about 38.^[49][50] He died "out of the community of the Church of England" and seemed to have returned to his original Catholic religion some time after his marriage.^[51] He was buried in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.^[52] He was succeeded by his only son Donough, aged eight at the time. His widow remarried to Sir William Davys, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, and died in 1698.^[42]

Timeline
As his birth date is uncertain, so are all his ages.
Age	Date	Event
0	1638, estimate	Born in Ireland[e]
6–7	1645, Oct	Met Rinuccini, the papal nuncio, at Macroom Castle where he was living[19]
10–11	1649, 23 Feb	Rinuccini, the papal nuncio, left Ireland.[22]
10–11	1649, 15 Aug	Oliver Cromwell landed in Dublin.[53]
13–14	1652, 27 Jun	Father surrendered Ross Castle.[23]
19–20	1658, 27 Nov	Father created 1st Earl of Clancarty.[31]
21–22	1660	Parents and brother Justin returned to England and Ireland with the Restoration.
26–27	1665, 3 Jun O.S.	Brother Charles killed at the Battle of Lowestoft, a naval engagement with the Dutch.[37]
26–27	1665, 4 Aug	Father died in London.[54]
27–28	1666, 22 Sep	Succeeded his nephew as the 3rd Earl of Clancarty[40]
28–29	1667, about	Married Elizabeth FitzGerald[42]
37–38	1676, 21 Nov	Died[49]

Notes and references

Notes

1. Callaghan's year of birth is bracketed between 1633 or 1634, the birth of his older brother,^[2] and about 1643, the birth of his younger brother.^[3]
2. This family tree is based on a two graphic trees^{[11] [12]} and on written genealogies of the Earls of Clancarty,^[13][14] the MacCarthy of Muskerry family,^[15] and the Earls of Ormond.^[16] Also see the list of children in the text.
3. Cokayne 1913 maintains he was a monk but this seems to be wrong.^[35]
4. The 2nd Earl's date of death seems to be in dispute. This text follows the more recent publication, Cokayne (1913), which gives 22 September 1666,^[39] whereas Burke (1866) gives 1668.^[40]
5. For the needs of the timeline, Callaghan's birth year is assumed to be 1638, as his older brother was born in 1633 or 1634^[2] and his younger brother was born about 1643.^[3]

Citations

1. Creighton 2009, 1st paragraph. "... born in Ireland in the late 1630s ..."
2. Lainé 1836, p. 76, line 1. "... dans un combat naval livré aux Hollandais, le 13 juin 1665 [N.S.] à l'âge de trente-et-un ans."
3. Murphy 1959, p. 49. "I have been unable to determine the precise date of his [Justin's] birth: the year 1643 is an approximation arrived at ..."
4. Ohlmeyer 2004, p. 107, left column, line 26. "Blarney Castle, just north of Cork City and 'a place of great strength' was the family's principal residence."
5. Cokayne 1913, p. 216, line 7a. "[Callaghan] being 2nd s. of the 1st Earl."
6. O'Hart 1892, p. 122. "Cormac MacCarty Mor, Prince of Desmond (see the MacCarty Mór Stem, No. 115,) had a second son, Dermod Mór, of Muscry (now Muskerry) who was the ancestor of MacCarthy, lords of Muscry and earls of Clan Carthy."
7. Lodge 1789b, p. 39, line 33. "Daughter Ellen [Eleanor], married to Donogh, Earl of Clancarthy, and dying in April 1682, AEt. 70, was buried 24 in the Chancel of St. Michan's church."
8. Debrett 1828, p. 640. "Theobald le Boteler on whom that office [Chief Butler of Ireland] was conferred by King Henry II., 1177 ..."
9. Ohlmeyer 2004, p. 107, left column. "... Donough MacCarthy had married by 1641 Eleanor (or Ellen; 1612–1682), the eldest daughter of Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles, and sister of James, later Duke of Ormond."
10. Burke 1866, p. 344, right column. Burke lists children as Charles, Callaghan, Justin, Helen, and Margaret.
11. Moody, Martin & Byrne 1984, p. 156. "MacCarthys of Muskerry ..."
12. Butler 1925, p. 255, Note 8The following rough pedigree ...
13. Burke 1866, p. 344Genealogy of the earls of Clancarty
14. Cokayne 1913, pp. 214–217Genealogy of the earls of Clancarty
15. Lainé 1836, pp. 74–78Genealogy of the MacCarthy of Muskerry family
16. Burke & Burke 1915, p. 1548–1552Genealogy of the earls of Ormond
17. M'Enery 1904, p. 172. "Lord Muskerry joined the insurgents early in March [1642]."
18. Ohlmeyer 2004, p. 107, right column, line 2. "on the grounds that the rebellion was the only means of preserving Catholicism, the king's prerogative and the 'antient privileges of the poore Kingdom of Ireland ...'"
19. Meehan 1882, p. 136. "At the great gate of Macroom Castle he was received by the Lady Helena Butler, sister to Lord Ormond and wife of Lord Muskerry, who was then in Dublin."
20. Coffey 1914, p. 194. "Early in August 1647 Muskerry laid down his command."
21. Carte 1851, p. 305. "... [Donough] had sent over a regiment under his eldest son Cormac MacCarty, then a youth but thirteen years old, who continued to serve abroad until the restoration. M. du Talon set sail on May 15 [1647] from Waterford with that regiment on board five ships that he had brought from Rochelle."
22. O'Sullivan 1983, p. 278. "... the San Pietro, the vessel which had brought him to Ireland and on which he now proposed to depart ... on the morning of the 23rd February 1649, Rinuccini quitted 'the place of his refuge' and went on board."
23. Ohlmeyer 2004, p. 107, right column. "he fought on before finally surrendering at Ross Castle (27 June 1652) and fleeing to the continent."
24. Firth 1894, p. 320, line 10. "Ross in Kerry; where the Lord Muskerry made his principal rendezvous, and which was the only place of strength the Irish had left, except the woods, bogs and mountains ..."
25. Firth 1894, p. 322, line 4. "... his son together with Daniel Obryan were delivered to me as hostages ..."
26. Webb 1878, p. 303, right column, line 49. "He then passed into Spain."
27. D'Alton 1910, p. 345. "... a long list of distinguished men, more than a hundred in number, were proscribed by name, and excluded from all mercy, among whom were the Lords Ormond, Clanricarde, Castlehaven, Inchiquin, Muskerry ..."
28. Firth & Rait 1911, p. 598. "An Act for the Setling of Ireland [12 August, 1652]"
29. Clark 1921, p. 8. "... his [Anthony Hamilton's] mother and his aunt, Lady Muskerry, had apartments at the couvent des Feuillantines in Paris ..."
30. Creighton 2009, 2nd paragraph. "He entered a seminary in the late 1650s ... and by 1664 he was a student at the Irish college at Toulouse."
31. Cokayne 1913, p. 215, line 2. "As reward for his services he was by patent dat. at Brussels 27 Nov., 1658, cr. [created] Earl of Clancarty, co. Cork [I. [Ireland]]"
32. Burke & Burke 1915, p. 6. "... such eldest sons of Peers ... as enjoy a plurality of titles, take and use the secondary one by courtesy."
33. Murphy 1959, p. 3. "... the second son Callaghan was probably studying for the priesthood in France."
34. O'Hart 1892, p. 124"This Ceallaghan, who died in 1676, was being educated in France, for Holy Orders, but when the news of his brother's death reached him, he quitted his monastery, became a Protestant, and married."
35. Cokayne 1913, p. 216, line 7b. "He was formerly monk in France, but, on his accession to the title, conformed to the established religion ..."
36. Boyle 1910, p. 161. "At Toulouse the number of students never exceeded ten or twelve and chiefly natives of the Province of Munster."
37. Cokayne 1913, p. 215, line 13. "He [Charles (Cormac)] d. v.p. [predeceased his father] being slain on board 'the Royal Charles' in a sea-fight against the Dutch, 3, and was bur. [buried] 22 June 1665 in Westm. [Westminster] Abbey."
38. Cokayne 1913, p. 215, line 6. "He [the 1st Earl] d. in London, 4 Aug. 1665."
39. Cokayne 1913, p. 216, line 4. "... d. [died] an infant, 22 Sep. 1666."
40. Burke 1866, p. 344, right column, line 42. "Charles, 2nd earl, who d. [died] a child, in 1668, and was s. [succeeded] by his uncle Callaghan, 3rd Earl."
41. Burke 1866, p. 344, right column, line 49. "[Callaghan] m. Lady Elizabeth FitzGerald, 6th and youngest daughter of George, Earl of Kildare ..."
42. Lodge 1789a, p. 104. "Lady Elizabeth, first married to Callaghan, Earl of Clancarthy, who died 21 November 1676; and secondly to Sir William Davis, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, and died in July, 1698, having no issue by him, who died 24 September, 1687."
43. Kenyon 1958, p. 102, line 8. "His [the 4th earl's mother] mother, a fierce Protestant isolated in a Catholic family ..."
44. Burke 1866, p. 344, right column, line 56"The son and heir Donogh McCarty, fourth earl of Clancarty, forfeited on account of his adhesion to James II, the immense estates of the family ..."
45. McCarthy 1922, p. 202. "and by her had issue one son Donogh and four daughters ..."
46. Cokayne 1893, p. 390, line 33. "... having m. [married] Catherine, da. [daughter] of Callaghan (MacCarty), 3rd Earl of Clancarty [I. [Ireland]], by Elizabeth, da. of George (FitzGerald), Earl of Kildare [I. [Ireland]] ..."
47. Burke 1866, p. 344, right column, line 55a"Margaret, d.s.p. [died without issue]"
48. Burke 1866, p. 344, right column, line 55b"Margaret, d.s.p. [died without issue]"
49. Cokayne 1913, p. 216, line 12. "He [Callaghan] d. [died] 21 Nov. 1676."
50. Creighton 2009, last paragraph. "When the earl died suddenly from apoplexy in Dublin in 1676 ..."
51. Cokayne 1913, p. 216, line 9. "... he d. 'out of the communion of the Church of England.'"
52. Creighton 2009, last paragraph, last sentence. "Despite this he was buried at Christ Church cathedral on the evening of 21 November 1676."
53. Coffey 1914, p. 213. "Cromwell landed in Dublin on August 15th [1649]."
54. Seccombe 1893, p. 437, left column, line 16. "He [Donough MacCarty] died in London on 5 Aug. 1665."

Sources

Subject matter monographs:

• Click here. Creighton in Dictionary of Irish Biography

• Boyle, Patrick (1910). "Irish Colleges". In Herbermann, Charles George (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. VIII. New York: The Encyclopedia Press. p. 158–163. OCLC 1157968788.
• Burke, Bernard (1866). A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire (New ed.). London: Harrison. OCLC 11501348. (for MacCarty)
• Burke, Bernard; Burke, Ashworth Peter (1915). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage and Companionage (77th ed.). London: Harrison. OCLC 1155471554. – (for Ormond)
• Butler, William F. T. (1925). Gleanings from Irish History. London: Longmans, Green and Co. OCLC 557681240.
• Carte, Thomas (1851) [1st pub. 1736]. The Life of James Duke of Ormond. Vol. III (New ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. OCLC 1086656347. – 1643 to 1660
• Clark, Ruth (1921). Anthony Hamilton: his Life and Works and his Family. London: John Lane. OCLC 459281163.
• Coffey, Diarmid (1914). O'Neill and Ormond – A Chapter of Irish History. Dublin: Maunsel & Company. OCLC 906164979.
• Cokayne, George Edward (1893). Complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant. Vol. V (1st ed.). London: George Bell and Sons. OCLC 1180836840. – L to M (for Mountcashel)
• Cokayne, George Edward (1913). Gibbs, Vicary (ed.). The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant. Vol. III (2nd ed.). London: St Catherine Press. OCLC 228661424. – Canonteign to Cutts (for Clancarty)
• Creighton, Anne (October 2009). McGuire, James; Quinn, James (eds.). "MacCarthy, Callaghan". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
• D'Alton, Rev. Edward Alfred (1910). History of Ireland from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Vol. Half-volume IV. London: The Gresham Publishing Company. OCLC 749686820. – 1649 to 1782
• Debrett, John (1828). Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. II (17th ed.). London: F. C. and J. Rivington. OCLC 54499602. – Scotland and Ireland
• Firth, Charles Harding (1894) [1st pub. 1698]. The Memoirs of Edmund Ludlow Lieutenant-General of the Horse in the Army of the Commonwealth of England 1625–1672. Vol. I. Oxford: Clarendon Press. OCLC 1113948779. – 1625 to 1655
• Firth, Charles Harding; Rait, R. S. (1911). The Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum. Vol. II. London: His/Her Majesty's Stationery Office. OCLC 271021959.
• Kenyon, John Philipps (1958). Robert Spencer Earl of Sunderland (1641–1702). Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press Publishers. ISBN 0-8371-8150-X.
• Lainé, P. Louis (1836). "Mac-Carthy". Archives généalogiques et historiques de la noblesse de France [Genealogical and Historical Archives of the Nobility of France] (in French). Vol. Tome cinquième. Paris: Imprimerie de Bethune et Plon. pp. 1–102. OCLC 865941166.
• Lodge, John (1789a). Archdall, Mervyn (ed.). The Peerage of Ireland or, A Genealogical History of the Present Nobility of that Kingdom. Vol. I. Dublin: James Moore. OCLC 264906028. – Blood royal, dukes, earls (for Earl of Kildare)
• Lodge, John (1789b). Archdall, Mervyn (ed.). The Peerage of Ireland or, A Genealogical History of the Present Nobility of that Kingdom. Vol. IV. Dublin: James Moore. OCLC 264906028. – Viscounts (for Thurles)
• McCarthy, Samuel Trant (1922). The MacCarthys of Munster. Dundalk: The Dundalgan Press. OCLC 1157128759.
• Meehan, Rev. Charles Patrick (1882). The Confederation of Kilkenny (New revised and enlarged ed.). Dublin: James Duffy. OCLC 224157081.
• M'Enery, M. J. (1904). "A Diary of the Siege of Limerick Castle, 1642". The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. 5th. 34 (2): 163–187. JSTOR 25507363.
• Moody, Theodore William; Martin, F. X.; Byrne, Francis John, eds. (1984). A New History of Ireland. Vol. IX:Maps, Genealogies, Lists. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-821745-5.
• Murphy, John A. (1959). Justin MacCarthy, Lord Mountcashel, Commander of the First Irish brigade in France. Cork: Cork University Press. OCLC 6340176. – (Snippet view)
• O'Hart, John (1892). Irish Pedigrees: Or, the Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation. Vol. I (5th ed.). Dublin: James Duffy & Co. OCLC 7239210. – Irish stem
• Ohlmeyer, Jane H. (2004). "MacCarthy, Donough, first earl of Clancarty (1594–1665)". In Matthew, Colin; Harrison, Brian (eds.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 35. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 107–108. ISBN 0-19-861385-7.
• O'Sullivan, Mary Donovan (1983) [1st pub. 1942]. Old Galloway: the history of a Norman colony in Ireland. Galway: Kennys Bookshops and Art Galleries. ISBN 978-0-906312-21-6.
• Seccombe, Thomas (1893). "MacCarthy or MacCarty, Donough, fourth Earl of Clancarty". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. XXXIV. London: Smith, Elder, & Co. pp. 436–438. OCLC 8544105.
• Webb, Alfred (1878). "MacCarty, Donough, Viscount Muskerry, Earl of Clancarty". Compendium of Irish Biography. Dublin: M. H. Gill & Son. p. 303, right column. OCLC 122693688. – (for his father)

Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Charles MacCarty	Earl of Clancarty 1666–1676	Succeeded by Donough MacCarty