Donogh was born in the 1560s.[b] He was the eldest son of Conor O'Brien, and his second wife, Una O'Brien-Arra.[5] His father was the 3rd Earl of Thomond. His father's first wife had died in 1560.[2] His father's family, the O'Briens, were a Gaelic Irish dynasty that descended from Brian Boru, medieval high king of Ireland.[6]
Donogh's mother was a daughter of Turlough O'Brien of Arra, County Tipperary.[7] This Arra is in the north of the Owney and Arra barony around the Arra Hills.[8] His mother's family was a cadet branch of his father's family. His parents married in or after 1560 as his father's first wife died in that year.[2]
O'Brien was brought up at Elizabeth's court[13] and therefore became a Protestant. He was already living there when he was mentioned as Baron Ibrickan in the patent granted to his father on 7 October 1577.[1][3]
On his father's death in 1581 he succeeded as 4th Earl of Thomond.[18] By 1582 Thomond, as he now was, had returned to Ireland.[19]
Thomond was assiduous in his attendance upon the lord-deputy in 1583 and 1584. In 1584 he was one of the commissioners who established the agreement that tanistry and the law of partible succession should be abolished in Connaught, and a tax of ten shillings a quarter be paid on land.[20]
Henry (1588–1639), succeeded his father as the 5th Earl of Thomond[22]
Barnabas (died 1657), succeeded his brother as the 6th Earl of Thomond[23]
His second wife died on 12 January 1617.
Tyrone's Rebellion
in 1595 Tyrone's rebellion, also called the Nine Years' War, broke out. Thomond played a major part in its suppression. In command of a large force, he passed the River Erne in July and invaded Hugh Roe O'Donnell's country, but retreated in August when a truce was signed. In September he was detached by Sir William Russell, Lord Deputy of Ireland since 16 May 1594, with five companies of foot and 145 horse, for the defence of Newry. Russel was succeeded in March 1597 as lord deputy by Thomas Burgh, 5th Baron Borough and Thomond served in 1597 in his campaign, but early next year went to England, arriving in London on 19 January 1598; where he stayed most of the year at Queen Elizabeth's court.[24][25]
Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin
He therefore was absent at the Battle of Yellow Ford in August 1698,[26] where Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone defeated and mortally wounded Sir Henry Bagenal, marshal of the Royal Irish Army. The defeat was followed by the spread of disaffection into Thomond's country. Teige O'Brien, Thomond's next brother, entered into communication with Tyrone's son, and joined the rebels. This left the defence of the land in the hands of the youngest brother Daniel. In 1599 O'Donnell invaded Clare, ravaging the country, capturing most of the castles, and taking Daniel prisoner.[27] Thomond's second brother, Teige, was long imprisoned in Limerick on account of his rebellion, but was released on protesting his loyalty; after another imprisonment he joined in Hugh Roe O'Donnell's second invasion of Clare in 1599, and was killed during Thomond's pursuit of the rebels.[28]
Thomond returned from England, and after spending three months with his kinsman, the Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond, in collecting forces, he invaded Clare to revenge his brother's imprisonment and recover his possessions. He procured ordnance from Limerick, and laid siege to the castles that resisted, capturing them after a few days' fighting; at Dunbeg, which surrendered immediately, he hanged the garrison in couples on trees. The invaders were completely driven out of Clare and the neighbouring country, and the loyalists had their strongholds restored to them. During the rest of 1599 Thomond accompanied Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex on his progress through Munster, but left him at Dungarvan and returned to Limerick, being appointed governor of Clare on 15 August, and made a member of the privy council on 22 September.[29]
During 1600 Thomond was constantly occupied in the war.[30] In April he, Sir George Carew, and Ormond attended a parly with Owen McRory O'More, the son of Rory O'More. A quarrel broke out. He and Carew narrowly escaped capture while Ormond was taken captive.[31] Thomond saved Carew's life and cut a way for both of them through their enemies, though he was wounded.[32]
He was present at an encounter with Florence MacCarthy Reagh and assisted at his submission in May. In June he was commanding in Clare and opposing O'Donnell's raids. He entertained the lord-deputy at Bunratty and marched out to oppose Tyrone's progress southwards, but no battle was fought, and Tyrone returned without having even seen an enemy. Next year, after holding an assize at Limerick in February, at which sixteen men were hanged, Thomond again went to England, probably with the object of obtaining the governorship of Connaught and of securing the union of Clare with Munster. He delayed there, then set out by Bristol, and, landing at Castlehaven on 11 November 1601, proceeded to Kinsale, where he took a prominent part in the siege. After the surrender of Kinsale he proceeded through Munster, and established himself in Bere Island. He was in command at the siege of Dunboy and hanged fifty-eight of the survivors.[33]
Until June 1602 Thomond was constantly with the army. He then again visited England, and, as a recompense for his services, his request for the transfer of Clare was granted, though the lord-deputy and privy council of Ireland were opposed to the measure. He returned in October. In 1603 he became a member of the Irish Privy Council.[34] On 30 July 1604 he was appointed constable of Carlow, and on 6 May 1605 he became President of Munster.[35]
On 17 May 1619 he was reappointed governor of Clare. He became one of the sureties for Florence MacCarthy Reagh, who had been imprisoned since his surrender in 1600, and who dedicated to Thomond his work on the antiquity and history of Ireland.[36]
He died on 5 September 1624, at Clonmel, and was buried in Limerick Cathedral, where a monument with an inscription was erected to his memory.[37]
Pollard (1895b) concludes that he was one of the most influential and vigorous of the Irish loyalists; and, though his devotion and motives were sometimes suspected, Carew wrote that "his services hath proceeded out of a true nobleness of mind and from no great encouragement received" from the court.[38]
Timeline
As his birth date is uncertain, so are all his ages.
^ abDonogh's birth date is bracketed by the death of his father's first wife in 1560[2] and his first mention in 1577.[3] His birth should be in or shortly after 1560 as his daughter Margaret married about 1590.[4]
^This family tree is based on genealogies of the earls of Thomond.[9][10] and the earls of Clancarty.[11][12]
References
Citations
^ abCunningham 2009, 2nd paragraph, 2nd sentence. "Donough was created baron of Ibrackan, a move perhaps designed to signal his right of succession to the earldom."
^ abcDunlop 1895, p. 310, final para. "Conor O'Brien married first Ellen or Eveleen, daughter of Donald MacCormac MacCarthy Mór and widow of James fitzjohn FitzGerald, fourteenth earl of Desmond. She died in 1560 and was buried in Muckross Abbey;"
^ abcPollard 1895b, p. 313, left column, line 2. "There (London) he was residing in 1577, when he was mentioned as Baron of Ibrickan in the new patent granted on 7 October to his father."
^ abCokayne 1893, p. 425, line 29. "He [Charles MacCarty] m. [married] firstly, about 1590, Margaret, da. [daughter] of Donough (O'Brien), 4th Earl of Thomond ..."
^Cokayne 1896, p. 391, Note b. "They [the O'Briens] were descended from the celebrated Brien Boroihme, principal king of Ireland (1002–1004) through his grandson Turlogh ..."
^Cokayne 1896, p. 391, line 42. "He [Conor] m. secondly Una, or Ownye, da. of Turlogh O'Brien, of Arragh, co. Tipperary."
^O'Hart 1892, p. 171, footnote. "'Ara' is a small mountain tract, south of Lough Dearg and north of the Keeper Hills."
^McGurk 2004, p. 360, right column, line 32. "He was educated at Elizabeth's court and described as 'as truly English as if he had been born in Middlesex.'. "
^Cokayne 1896, p. 392, line 5. "He [Donogh] m. [married] firstly Helen or Any, da. [daughter] of Maurice (Roche) Viscount Roche of Fermoy [I. [Ireland] ] (who d. [died] 1600) but by which of his two wives is uncertain. She d. s.p.m. [without male issue]."
^Burke 1866, p. 406, left column, line 61. "[Donough] m. [married] 1st Ellen dau. [daughter] of Maurice, Lord Viscount Roche, of Fermoy, and had a dau., Margaret, m. to Charles MacCarthy, 1st Lord Viscount Muskerry."
^Cunningham 2009, 2nd paragraph, 6th sentence. "He was a member of parliament convened in 1585 in Dublin, where he became involved in a dispute over precedence with Ulick Burke, third earl of Clanrickarde."
^O'Donoghue 1860, p. 258. "Henry, earl of Thomond, the fifth of that title, dying without male issue, was succeeded by Sir Barnabas, his brother."
^ abHayes-McCoy 1976, p. 124. "The earl, O'Donnell, and Maguire attacked Bagenal on the march at the Yellow Ford, between Armagh and the Blackwater, on 14 August [1598], and defeated him ... "
^Pollard 1895b, p. 313, left column, line 46. "In 1599 O'Donnell invaded Clare, ravaging the country, capturing most of the castles, and making a prisoner of Thomond's youngest brother, Daniel O'Brien, afterwards first Viscount Clare, who had been left to defend it."
^Edwards 2009, last paragraph, 2nd sentence. "... in April 1600, seeking to parley with O'More rebels on the Kilkenny/Laois frontier, he [Ormond] was tricked and taken hostage."
^McGurk 2004, p. 361, left column. "In April while in a parley with Owen McRory O'More, which ended in a mêlée, he and Carew narrowly escaped capture ..."
^McGurk 2004, p. 361, right column, line 24. "In September 1603 his governorship of co. Clare was confirmed and he was appointed to the Irish privy council."
