St Margaret's Church, Newtown
Medieval Ballybrown/Clarina
By Dr Matthew Potter
The Middle Ages or Medieval Period is the
period in European history which lasted from the fall of the Roman Empire to
the discovery of America
and covers an enormously long time span of approximately one thousand years (fifth
to the fifteenth centuries inclusive). Because of this, the period is often
divided into the Early Middle Ages (400-1000), High Middle Ages (1000-1300) and
Late Middle Ages (1300-1500). In this article, I will examine the history of Medieval
Ballybrown with the main focus being on the period after 1200. In addition, for
reasons which will become apparent later on, I will argue that the Middle Ages
in Ballybrown really lasted until the 1650s, long after the period had ended in
most of Ireland.
The Uí Fidgenti
(fourth-twelfth centuries)
Archaeological evidence suggests that the Ballybrown area has been
inhabited by man for some 6,000 years but organised political structures
emerged at a much more period. The Northern part of what is now the Parish of
Patrickswell and Ballybrown was known as Esclon (Aos Cluan) in the Middle Ages
and seems to have been inhabited by a tribe called the Caoille from the ninth
to the thirteenth centuries. The centre of Esclon was the large townland of Newtown and its principal
surviving feature is the now ruinous Saint Margaret’s Church. Another tribe
called the Ui Chonaing also settled in the area and gave their name to both
Carrigogunnell and Castleconnell. In 1419, Esclon was absorbed into the parish
of Kilkeedy (Cill Caoidhe in Irish), named after Saint Caoide about whom little
is known. The Patrickswell and Ballybrown parish continued to be known as
Kilkeedy until the mid-twentieth century, a name still preserved in the
graveyard near Carrigogunnell
Castle.
During the Early Middle Ages, what is now County Limerick
formed the central part of the Kingdom of the Uí
Fidgenti, whose modern descendants include the O’Connells, O’Donovans, Traceys,
Flannerys, Rings and the Collins family. The Uí Fidgenti generally had a good
relationship with their overlords, the Eóganachta, who were Kings of Munster
from the seventh to the tenth centuries, but less so with the Dál gCáis who
took the Munster
throne in 963. From 1118, Munster was divided
into the Kingdoms of Thomond (North Munster) ruled by the O’Briens, descended
from the Dál gCáis and Desmond (South Munster)
ruled by the McCarthys, descended from the Eóganachta. After surviving for 800
years, the power of the Uí Fidgenti was overthrown in 1178 by Donal Mór O’Brien, King of
Thomond from 1168 to 1194.
The Normans invaded Ireland in 1169
and contrary to traditional nationalist mythology, many of the Gaelic Irish
rulers co-operated and often intermarried with them. Though possessing a common
Gaelic culture, the pre-Norman Irish kings had no sense of nationalism and were
constantly at war with one another. To them, the Normans, like the Vikings before them, were
just another element in the constantly changing political landscape. With this
in mind, it is not surprising that the ruthless and pragmatic Donal Mór did
homage to King Henry II of England
in 1171, and thus established an alliance between the O’Briens and the English
Crown that lasted for a hundred years.
The de Burghs 1200-1333
After 1200, the Anglo-Norman settlement of Limerick
which had been kept in check by Donal Mór O’Brien began in earnest. The County of Munster
which comprised modern Limerick and Tipperary
was established in 1211-12 and divided into Counties Limerick and Tipperary between 1251
and 1254. Around 1200, Esclon (and also Castleconnell across the Shannon) were
granted by King John to William de Burgh (1160-1206), one of the most powerful
Norman lords, who married a daughter of Donal Mór O’Brien and founded one of
the greatest dynasties in Ireland (later known as the Burkes).
After William’s death in 1206, his estates were held by the Crown
until his infant son Richard Mór de Burgh, 1st Lord of Connacht (1194-1242) reached
adulthood. One of the most powerful men in Ireland,
Richard ruled both Esclon and Castleconnell, conquered the whole of Connacht in
1235 and founded the towns of Galway,
Ballinasloe and Loughrea. By his marriage to Egidia de Lacy, grand- daughter of
Hugh de Lacy Earl of Ulster,
he came into possession of the Earldom of Ulster which comprised the modern
Counties Antrim and Down.
After Richard’s death, he was
succeeded by his son Walter (1230-71) who was created first Earl of Ulster in
1263. By far the greatest of the family was Richard de Burgh (1259-1326), the
Red Earl who ruled the Earldom of Ulster, the Lordship of Connacht, Esclon,
Castleconnell and his other possessions for fifty-five years (1271-1326). His
significance is demonstrated by the marriage of one of his daughters Elizabeth to
King Robert the Bruce of Scotland and her reign as Queen-Consort of Scotland
from 1306 to 1327.
The empire of the de Burghs collapsed when the Red Earl’s grandson
and successor, William the Brown Earl (1312-33) was assassinated in June 1333
and in the ensuing conflict between his kinsmen known as the Burke Civil War
his vast territories were partitioned between them. As a result, Esclon came
into the hands of Sir Edmond de Burgh of Castleconnell,
only surviving uncle of the Brown Earl and senior member of the de Burgh
dynasty.
Table of the de Burghs
|
Name
|
Titles
|
Lived
|
Ruled
|
|
William
|
|
1160-1206
|
1200-06
|
|
Richard Mór
|
First Lord of Connacht
|
1194-1242
|
1213-42
|
|
Walter
|
first Earl of Ulster
second Lord of Connacht
|
1230-71
|
1242-71
|
|
Richard
the Red Earl
|
second Earl of Ulster
third Lord of Connacht
|
1259-1326
|
1271-1326
|
|
William
the Brown Earl
|
third Earl of Ulster
fourth Lord of Connacht
|
1312-33
|
1326-33
|
The O’Briens, Lords of Pubblebrien (1449-1651).
Unfortunately, the paucity of the records means that it is not
possible for us to know when exactly the de Burghs (or Burkes as they were now
called) lost control of Esclon, although they held onto Castleconnell until the
1650s. However, it would appear that the Burke Civil Wars of the 1330s enabled the
O’Briens to move into Esclon, though when exactly is difficult to establish.
What is certain is that in the early fourteenth century the Fitzgeralds, Earls
of Desmond from 1329 to 1583 established themselves as overlords of all of County Limerick,
North Cork and North Kerry and continued to
rule this vast territory for 250 years. Although they generally acknowledged
the supremacy of the English Crown, the Earls of Desmond often behaved as if
they were independent princes and in the sixteenth century even attempted to
transfer their allegiance to the King of Spain.
Even in its present ruinous state, the most striking feature in
Ballybrown is Carrigogunnell
Castle but the details of
its early history are vague and contradictory. The earliest reference to it
dates to 1209, when King John granted it to Donal Cairbreach O’Brien, King of
Thomond, a son of the redoubtable Donal Mór O’Brien. As Esclon had recently
been granted to the de Burghs, the relationship between it and Carrigogunnell is ambiguous to say the least. However,
Esclon does not appear to have included Carrigogunnell. What is certain is that
the O’Briens briefly occupied Carrigogunnell in the 1330s and by the fifteenth
century had become Lords of a much enlarged Esclon and Kilkeedy, now renamed
Pubblebrien in their honour. In addition what is now Patrickswell-Ballybrown,
Pubblebrien also included the modern parish of Mungret-Crecora-Raheen, while
the villages of Clarina, Patrickswell and Mungret later developed within its
boundaries.
In 1414, Conor O’Brien, King of Thomond (a kingdom that by this time
was confined to what is now County Clare, having lost County Limerick to the
Earls of Desmond) abdicated and was succeeded by his nephew Tadhg.
Subsequently, Conor’s branch of the O’Briens was never again to wear the
Thomond Crown. As relations between the O’Briens of Thomond and the Earls of
Desmond were often strained, it would appear that James, the seventh Earl of
Desmond (who reigned from 1411 to 1463) took advantage of this family feud to
instal Conor’s son Brian Dubh in Carrigogunnell in 1449, thus marking the
beginning of the Lordship of Pubblebrien. At the same time, Brian Dubh’s
brother Mahon
was installed as Lord of Corcamore.
The Lordship of Pubblebrien was always subject to the overlordship
of the Earls of Desmond, who used it as a buffer against the O’Briens of
Thomond and their vassals, the McNamaras of Cratloe. However, Pubblebrien also
became a major opponent of the then semi-independent city of Limerick whose inhabitants were often
plundered and terrorised by the O’Briens and their followers. Under the O’Briens,
Pubblebrien retained its Gaelic political system and culture for two centuries and
thus it can be argued that the Middle Ages did not end there until the 1650s.
While Carrigogunnell
Castle dates back to the
late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, it was extensively rebuilt by the
O’Briens in the fifteenth century, with further editions in the sixteenth
century. However, even at its peak, it does not appear to have been either well
fortified or impressive in appearance, especially in comparison with King
John’s Castle in Limerick
City.
Brian Dubh was succeeded by his son Donough, whose territories
stretched from the Shannon at Newtown to
Manister and from Adare to Limerick
City. After his death in
1502, his lands were divided between ten of his eleven sons, with one of them Mahon (or Mago)
succeeding him as Lord of Pubblebrien. During his reign, the most dramatic
event in the history of Carrigigunnell occurred in 1536, when it was captured
by Lord Leonard Grey, chief governor of Ireland under King Henry VIII; came
back into Mahon’s hands by trickery and was then stormed and recaptured by
Grey, who hanged the entire garrison in Limerick City soon after.
Nevertheless, the O’Briens soon recovered Carrigigunnell and even
survived the destruction of the Earldom of Desmond in 1579-83 and subsequent
Plantation of Munster of 1585-98. However, their subsequent fortunes were
mixed, to put it mildly. Mahon
had two sons, Muirechetach and Donnchadh, whose respective branches of the
family reacted very differently to the collapse of the Desmond lordship. Muirechetach’s
sons Mahon,
Murtough and Turlough and grandson Turlough died during the Desmond Rebellion
of 1579-83, while another grandson Murtough was executed in 1577. Only one
grandson of this line, Tadhg survived.
By contrast, Mahon’s
other son Donncadh withdrew into judicious obscurity and managed to hang onto
Carrigogunnell, while dividing the lands of the Lordship among his sons. His
son and successor, another Brian Dubh went further and fought on the side of
the English Crown against his overlord, the
Earl of Desmond during the war of 1579-83. In 1584, he surrendered Pubblebrien
to Queen Elizabeth I who regranted it all back to him. He reigned for a further
thirty years until his death in 1615, and proved a ruthless and shrewd
politician, who remained loyal to the Crown, even though one of his brothers
joined the rebellion of O’Neill and O’Donnell in 1601.
Brian Dubh was succeeded by his only son Donough who died childless
in 1632, and whose widow married Edmund Burke, Lord of Castleconnell, whose
family had once ruled Esclon. Donough was succeeded by his cousin another
Donough of Dooneen who was in turn succeeded by his son, yet another Donough.
This last Donough O’Brien took part in the 1641 Rebellion, and in 1642 indulged
in the traditional Pubblebrien practice of plundering the inhabitants of Limerick city when he stole a large amount of property
from the wealthy merchant David Roche. However, the Rebellion was crushed by
Oliver Cromwell in his ferocious campaign of 1649-50 and as a result the
hapless Donough O’Brien lost all his possessions, thus bringing the Lordship of
Pubblebrien (and the confusing succession of Donoughs!) to an end in 1651. Their
lands were given to English settlers and the age of the Anglo-Irish landlords
in Ballybrown, the era of the Monsells, Barkers, Coopers, Tuthills and Masseys
was thus commenced.
Carrigogunnell Castle itself survived for another forty years, and surrendered without a
fight at the time of the second Siege of Limerick (1691). However, the
authorities were afraid that it might be of use to potential rebels in the
future, so in September 1691, eighty-four barrels of gunpowder were used to
blow it up. The last vestige of Medieval Ballybrown had disappeared.
Sources.
Gerard Beggan, In the Barony of Pubblebrien, Patrickswell and
Crecora. History of a Co. Limerick village and
its environs (Oranswell, Galway: Privately Published 1991).
Reverend John Begley, The Diocese of Limerick,
Ancient and Medieval (Dublin: Brown and Nolan, 1906, reprinted by O’Brien-
Toomey, Limerick, 1993).
Andrew Thomas Blacoe, ‘Carrigogunnell
Castle and the O’Briens
of Pubblebrien: The History and Archaeology’ (Unpublished MA thesis, Queen’s
University, Belfast, 1996).
T.W. Moody, F.X. Martin and F.J. Byrne (eds.), A New History of
Ireland, Vol. IX, Maps, Genealogies, Lists. A Companion to Irish History,
Part II (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984).
Emmet O’Byrne, ‘The Crown of England,
the Common Law and Conflict: The Communities of Limerick 1170-1270’ in Liam
Irwin, Gearóid O Tuathaigh and Matthew Potter (eds.), Limerick History and
Society, Interdisciplinary Essays on the History of an Irish County
(Dublin: Geography Publications, 2009), pp 41-69.
A.J. Otway-Ruthven, A History of Medieval Ireland
(London: Ernest Benn, 1968).
John Sheehan, A Corner of Limerick (Limerick: Privately
printed, 1989).
T.J. Westropp, ‘Carrigogunnell
Castle and the O’Briens of Pubblebrien
in the county of Limerick’ in Journal of the Royal
Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Vol. 17, fifth series (1907), pp 374-92
and Vol. 18, fifth series (1908), pp 141-59.
Iverus Research Foundation is indebted to the author, Dr Matthew Potter, for his kind permission to reproduce this article.
photos: IRF
St Margaret's Church, Newtown