Sir Donough MacCarty, 1st Earl of Clancarty (1594–1665), was an Irish
magnate, soldier, and politician. He succeeded as 2nd Viscount Muskerry in 1641. He rebelled against the government, demanding religious freedom as a Catholic and defending the rights of the
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
nobility in the
Irish Catholic Confederation
Confederate Ireland, also referred to as the Irish Catholic Confederation, was a period of Irish Catholic self-government between 1642 and 1649, during the Eleven Years' War. Formed by Catholic aristocrats, landed gentry, clergy and military ...
. Later, he supported the King against his Parliamentarian enemies during the
Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, a part of the
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of related conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, then separate entities united in a personal union under Charles I. They include the 1639 to 1640 B ...
, also known as the British Civil War.
He sat in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
of the
Irish parliaments of
1634–1635 and
1640–1649 where he opposed
Strafford, King
Charles I's authoritarian viceroy. In 1642 he sided with the
Irish Rebellion when it reached his estates in
Munster. He fought for the insurgents at the
Siege of Limerick and the
Battle of Liscarroll
The Battle of Liscarroll was fought on 3 September 1642 in northern County Cork, Munster, between Catholic Irish insurgents and government troops. The battle was part of the Irish Rebellion, which had started in the north in 1641 reac ...
. He joined the Irish Catholic Confederates and sat on their Supreme Council. Having fought in the
Irish Confederate Wars, he negotiated the Cessation of 1643, a cease-fire between the Confederates and the King. He tried to transform this cease-fire into a permanent peace and was the leader of the Confederates' peace party, which opposed the clerical faction led by
Rinuccini Rinuccini is a surname, and may refer to:
*Giovanni Battista Rinuccini (1592–1653), an Italian archbishop.
*Ottavio Rinuccini
Ottavio Rinuccini (20 January 1562 – 28 March 1621) was an Italian poet, courtier, and opera librettist at the end of ...
, the
papal nuncio
An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...
. Together with
President Mountgarret, he negotiated the Glamorgan Peace in 1645, which was diavowed by the King. In 1646 he captured
Bunratty Castle
Bunratty Castle (, meaning "castle at the mouth of the Ratty") is a large 15th-century tower house in County Clare, Ireland. It is located in the centre of Bunratty village ( ga, Bun Ráite), by the N18 road between Limerick and Ennis, near Sha ...
from the Parliamentarians and negotiated the First Ormond Peace, which was rejected by Rinuccini, who went so far as
excommunicating
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
him. During the Cromwellian conquest, he lost the
Battle of Knocknaclashy
The battle of Knocknaclashy (also known as Knockbrack), took place in County Cork in southern Ireland in 1651. In it, an Irish Confederate force led by Viscount Muskerry was defeated by an English Parliamentarian force under Lord Broghill. ...
in 1651 but held on until 1652, defending
Ross Castle
Ross Castle ( ga, Caisleán an Rois) is a 15th-century tower house and keep on the edge of Lough Leane, in Killarney National Park, County Kerry, Ireland. It is the ancestral home of the Chiefs of the Clan O'Donoghue, later associated wit ...
. He was one of the last to surrender.
In 1653 during the
Commonwealth he stood trial for war crimes but was acquitted. In exile on the continent,
Charles II created him
Earl of Clancarty
Earl of Clancarty is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland.
History
The title was created for the first time in 1658 in favour of Donough MacCarty, 2nd Viscount Muskerry, of the MacCarthy of Muskerry dynasty. He had ...
. He recovered his lands at the
restoration of the monarchy in 1660.
Birth and origins
Donough MacCarty was born in 1594 in
County Cork
County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...
, most likely at
Blarney Castle
Blarney Castle ( ga, Caisleán na Blarnan) is a medieval stronghold in Blarney, near Cork, Ireland. Though earlier fortifications were built on the same spot, the current keep was built by the MacCarthy of Muskerry dynasty, a cadet branch of th ...
or
Macroom Castle
Macroom Castle, in the centre of the town of Macroom, was once residence and fortress of the Lords of Muskerry. The castle has changed owners many times, has been besieged, burned, and rebuilt. The MacCarthys of Muskerry owned it with some inter ...
, residences of his parents. He was the second but eldest surviving son of
Charles (alias
Cormac
Cormac is a masculine given name in the Irish and English languages. The name is ancient in the Irish language and is also seen in the rendered Old Norse as ''Kormákr''.
Mac is Irish for "son", and can be used as either a prefix or a suffix. ...
Oge) MacCarthy and his first wife Margaret O'Brien. His father was at that time known as Sir Charles MacCarthy while his paternal grandfather,
Cormac MacDermot MacCarthy, held the title as 16th Lord of Muskerry and owned the ancestral land covering large parts of central County Cork. His father's family were the
MacCarthys of Muskerry
The MacCarthy dynasty of Muskerry is a tacksman branch of the MacCarthy Mor dynasty, the Kings of Desmond.
Origins and advancement
The MacCarthy of Muskerry are a cadet branch of the MacCarthy Mor ...
, a
Gaelic Irish
The Gaels ( ; ga, Na Gaeil ; gd, Na Gàidheil ; gv, Ny Gaeil ) are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the British Isles. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languag ...
dynasty that had branched from the
MacCarthy-Mor line in the 14th century when a younger son received
Muskerry
Muskerry ( ga, Múscraí) is a central region of County Cork, Ireland which incorporates the baronies of Muskerry Westappanage
An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...
.
Donough's mother was the eldest daughter of
Donogh O'Brien, 4th Earl of Thomond. Donough was named for this grandfather (there were no Donoughs in the line of the MacCarthy of Muskerry). The name is an anglicised, shortened form of the
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
first name
Donnchadh Donnchadh () is a masculine given name common to the Irish and Scottish Gaelic languages. It is composed of the elements ''donn'', meaning "brown" or "dark" from Donn a Gaelic God; and ''chadh'', meaning "chief" or "noble". The name is also written ...
. Her family, the
O'Briens
The O'Brien dynasty ( ga, label= Classical Irish, Ua Briain; ga, label=Modern Irish, Ó Briain ; genitive ''Uí Bhriain'' ) is a noble house of Munster, founded in the 10th century by Brian Boru of the Dál gCais (Dalcassians). After becomi ...
, were another Gaelic Irish dynasty that descended from
Brian Boru
Brian Boru ( mga, Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig; modern ga, Brian Bóramha; 23 April 1014) was an Irish king who ended the domination of the High King of Ireland, High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill and probably ended Viking invasion/domi ...
, medieval
high king of Ireland.
His parents had married about 1590. He was one of seven siblings (two brothers and five sisters),
who are listed in his father's article.
Religion
Although most Irish remained Catholics under the Protestant monarchs
Henry VIII and
Queen Elizabeth, both of MacCarty's grandfathers were Protestants. His paternal grandfather, Cormac MacDermot MacCarthy, had conformed to the
established religion
A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a ...
. MacCarty's maternal grandfather, Donogh O'Brien, 4th Earl of Thomond, had been brought up as Protestant at the English court. MacCarty's father seems to have been a protestant in his youth but later became Catholic.
Early life, marriage, and children
When MacCarty's mother died, his father remarried to Ellen Roche, who therefore became his stepmother. She was the eldest daughter of
David Roche, 7th Viscount Fermoy
David Roche, 7th Viscount Fermoy (1573–1635) was an Irish magnate, soldier, and politician.
Birth and origins
David was born about 1573, probably in Castletownroche, County Cork, Ireland. He was the only surviving son of Maurice Roche and ...
and widow of Donnell MacCarthy Reagh. The date of the marriage is disputed. It seems that Ellen's first husband was
Donal MacCarthy Reagh of Kilbrittain
Donal MacCarthy Reagh of Kilbrittain (died 1636) was an Irish magnate who owned the extensive lands of Carbery (almost half a million acres) in south-western County Cork.
Birth and origins
Donal was born the son of Cormac MacCarthy Reagh an ...
, that she had a son Charles (also called Cormac) with Donal, and that Donal died in 1636. However,
Jane Ohlmeyer
Jane Ohlmeyer, , is a historian and academic, specialising in early modern Irish and British history. She is the Erasmus Smith's Professor of Modern History (1762) at Trinity College Dublin and Chair of the Irish Research Council, which funds f ...
gives 1599 as date of the marriage, more than 30 years earlier.
None of the cited works mention children from this marriage. His stepmother's father was a zealous Catholic but a loyal supporter of the government.
In 1616 MacCarty's father succeeded as the 17th Lord of Muskerry. In 1628
King Charles I created MacCarty's father Baron Blarney and Viscount Muskerry. The titles were probably purchased. They had a special
remainder
In mathematics, the remainder is the amount "left over" after performing some computation. In arithmetic, the remainder is the integer "left over" after dividing one integer by another to produce an integer quotient ( integer division). In algeb ...
that designated Donough as successor, excluding his elder brother, who was alive at the time but probably had an
intellectual disability
Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability in the United Kingdom and formerly mental retardation,Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010). is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by signifi ...
.
MacCarty married Eleanor Butler some time before 1633 as their eldest son was born in 1633 or 1634. She was a Catholic, the eldest daughter of
Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles
Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles (before 1596 – 1619) was the son and heir apparent of Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond (1559 – 1633), whom he predeceased. He lived at the Westgate Castle in Thurles, County Tipperary. He was the father of ...
. The Butlers were an
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
family descending from
Theobald Walter, who came to Ireland during the reign of
King Henry II. MacCarty was already in his late thirties while she was about twenty. He had been married before and had a son Donall from this wife, but this earlier marriage seems to have been ignored by his family. His marriage to Eleanor made him a brother-in-law of
James Butler, who succeeded as 12th
Earl of Ormond in 1633, just before or just after MacCarty's marriage. Ormond was a Protestant, as he had been brought up in England as a
ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
under the care of the
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
.
Donough and Eleanor had three sons:
#
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...
(1633 or 1634–1665), also called Cormac, predeceased his father, being slain at sea in the
Battle of Lowestoft
The Battle of Lowestoft took place on during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. A fleet of more than a hundred ships of the United Provinces commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer, Lord Obdam attacked an English fleet of equal size comm ...
#
Callaghan (died 1676), succeeded his elder brother's infant son, Charles James, as the 3rd Earl of Clancarty
#
Justin
Justin may refer to: People
* Justin (name), including a list of persons with the given name Justin
* Justin (historian), a Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire
* Justin I (c. 450–527), or ''Flavius Iustinius Augustus'', Eastern Rom ...
( – 1694), fought for the Jacobites and became Viscount Mountcashel
—and two daughters:
#
Helen
Helen may refer to:
People
* Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world
* Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress
* Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
Places
* Helen, ...
(died 1722), became Countess of
Clanricarde
Clanricarde (; ), also known as Mac William Uachtar (Upper Mac William) or the Galway Burkes, were a fully Gaelicised branch of the Hiberno-Norman House of Burgh who were important landowners in Ireland from the 13th to the 20th centuries.
T ...
. She married first
Sir John FitzGerald of Dromana
Sir John FitzGerald of Dromana ( – 1662 or 1664) was the last of the FitzGeralds of Dromana. He sat as MP for Dungarvan in the Irish Parliament of 1661–1666.
Birth and origins
John was born about 1635 proba ...
and secondly
William Burke, 7th Earl of Clanricarde
William Burke, 7th Earl of Clanricarde, PC (Ire) (; ; died 1687), was an Irish peer who fought in his youth together with his brother Richard, 6th Earl of Clanricarde under their cousin, Ulick Burke, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde against the P ...
.
#Margaret (died 1704), became Countess of
Fingall by marrying
Luke Plunket, 3rd Earl of Fingall
House of Commons
When Charles I summoned the
Irish Parliament of 1634–1635, MacCarty, already in his forties, stood for
Cork County
County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns ar ...
and was elected as one of its two "
knights of the shire
Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistribution ...
" as county MPs were then called. He had been
knighted in 1634. The Lord Deputy of Ireland,
Thomas Wentworth (the future Lord Strafford) asked to vote taxes: six subsidies of £50,000 (equivalent to about £ in ) were passed unanimously. The parliament also belatedly and incompletely ratified
the Graces of 1628, in which the King conceded rights for money.
MacCarty was re-elected for Cork County to the
Irish Parliament of 1640–1649. The parliamentary records list him as a knight,
[609](_blank)
/> but about 1638 his father had bought him a baronetcy of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
. The King sold these for 3,000 merk Scots
The merk is a long-obsolete Scottish silver coin. Originally the same word as a money mark of silver, the merk was in circulation at the end of the 16th century and in the 17th century. It was originally valued at 13 shillings 4 pence (exactly ...
each or £166 13s. 4d. sterling (equivalent to about £ in ). Under Strafford's guidance, the parliament unanimously voted four subsidies of £45,000 (equivalent to about £ in ) to raise an Irish army of 9,000 for use against the Scots in the Second Bishops' War
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...
.
In April Strafford left Ireland to advise the King during the Short Parliament at Westminster. The Irish Commons saw their chance to complain about Strafford's authoritarian regime. They formed a committee for grievances of which MacCarty was a member. The committee prepared a remonstrance
A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one.
Protests can be thought of as acts of cooper ...
, called the November Petition, which was signed by all its members. The petition was then voted and approved by the Commons. MacCarty also was part of the delegation of 13 MPs that went to London in November to submit the petition to the King. The Lords sent a separate delegation for their grievances. MacCarty's father was part of it.[244](_blank)
/>
Viscount Muskerry
In February 1641, MacCarty's father, aged about 70, died in London during his parliamentary mission. He was buried in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
. MacCarty succeeded as 2nd Viscount Muskerry. He lost his seat in the Commons where he was replaced by Redmond Roche
Redmond Roche ( – after 1654) was an Irish politician who sat for Cork County in the Parliament of 1640–1649. He was a Protestant during his earlier life but joined the Confederateses in 1642.
Birth and origins
...
, an uncle by his stepmother. As his ailing elder brother had died some time before, the title's special remainder did not need to be invoked. In March when Strafford was tried by the English House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
, Muskerry gave evidence that Strafford had prevented Irish people from seeing the King. When he came back to Dublin, Muskerry took his seat in the Irish House of Lords
The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from medieval times until 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland.
It was modelled on the House of Lords of England, with membe ...
.
Irish wars
Ireland suffered 11 years of war from 1641 to 1652, which can be divided into the Rebellion of 1641, the Confederate Wars, and the Cromwellian Conquest. This Eleven Year War in turn forms part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of related conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, then separate entities united in a personal union under Charles I. They include the 1639 to 1640 B ...
, also known as the British Civil Wars.
Rebellion
Seeing the King weak and trying to oppose plantations
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...
, Sir Phelim O'Neill launched the Rebellion from the northern province of Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
in October 1641. He pretended, in his Proclamation of Dungannon
The Proclamation of Dungannon was a document produced by Sir Phelim O'Neill on 24 October 1641 in the Irish town of Dungannon. O'Neill was one of the leaders of the Irish Rebellion which had been launched the previous day. O'Neill's Proclamat ...
, to have a royal commission sanctioning his actions. In Munster Muskerry socialised with Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork
Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork (13 October 1566 – 15 September 1643), also known as the Great Earl of Cork, was an English politician who served as Lord Treasurer of the Kingdom of Ireland.
Lord Cork was an important figure in the continuing ...
, an English Protestant established in Ireland, with whom he had opposed Strafford. News of the rebellion reached Lord Cork at a dinner at Castlelyons
Castlelyons () is a small village in the east of County Cork, Ireland. It is also a civil parish in the barony of Barrymore. where David Barry, 1st Earl of Barrymore
David Barry, 1st Earl of Barrymore, 19th Baron Barry, 6th Viscount Buttevant (1605–1642) was an Irish peer.
Birth and Origins
David was born on 10 March 1605 probably at Buttevant, County Cork, a posthumous child of David de Barry and h ...
entertained Muskerry and Cork's son Roger, Lord Broghill. Barrymore was an Irish Protestant and Cork's son-in-law. Muskerry would later oppose Barrymore and Broghill in battle, but in February 1642 Muskerry still sided with Sir William St Leger, Lord President of Munster
The post of Lord President of Munster was the most important office in the English government of the Irish province of Munster from its introduction in the Elizabethan era for a century, to 1672, a period including the Desmond Rebellions in Munste ...
, against the insurgents. Muskerry offered to raise an armed force of his tenants and dependants to maintain law and order. He and his wife tried to save Protestants fleeing from the insurgents. In January 1642 the Munster insurgents under Maurice Roche, 8th Viscount Fermoy
Maurice Roche, 8th Viscount Fermoy (1597–1670) was an magnate and soldier in southern Ireland, and a politician of the Irish Catholic Confederation. He joined the rebels in the Irish Rebellion of 1641 in January 1642, early for Munster, by be ...
besieged Lord Cork in Youghal
Youghal ( ; ) is a seaside resort town in County Cork, Ireland. Located on the estuary of the River Blackwater, the town is a former military and economic centre. Located on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a long and narrow layout. ...
.
However, the rebellion was gaining ground, and on 2 March, Muskerry changed sides, to defend the Catholic faith and the King as he explained on 17 March in a letter to Barrymore. Muskerry believed Phelim O'Neill acted under a royal warrant, but the King had already denounced the Irish insurgents as traitors in January. Hearing of his defection, the Irish Parliament declared Muskerry's estates forfeit
Forfeit or forfeiture may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Forfeit'', a 2007 thriller film starring Billy Burke
* "Forfeit", a song by Chevelle from ''Wonder What's Next''
* ''Forfeit/Fortune'', a 2008 album by Crooked Fingers
L ...
. He lost the Dublin townhouse that his father had built about 1640, but the government could not seize his Munster estates.
Like many Catholic royalists, Muskerry imagined Charles could be convinced to accept Catholicism in Ireland as he accepted Presbyterianism in Scotland. He was also prompted to take up arms by the atrocities committed by William St Leger
Sir William St Leger PC (Ire) (1586–1642) was an Anglo-Irish landowner, administrator and soldier, who began his military career in the Eighty Years' War against Habsburg Spain. He settled in Ireland in 1624, where he was MP for Cork County ...
against the Catholic population and by the approach of Richard Butler, 3rd Viscount Mountgarret
Richard Butler, 3rd Viscount Mountgarret (1578–1651) was the son of Edmund Butler, 2nd Viscount Mountgarret and Grany or Grizzel, daughter of Barnaby Fitzpatrick, 1st Baron Upper Ossory. He is best known for his participation in the Irish Confed ...
with his rebel army. Muskerry refused to serve under Mountgarret and competed for the leadership in Munster with Fermoy, an uncle by his stepmother. Fermoy had led the rebellion in Munster before Muskerry joined and outclassed him in terms of precedence, but Muskerry was richer. At a meeting of the leaders at Blarney, Garret Barry, a veteran of the Spanish Army of Flanders
The Army of Flanders ( es, Ejército de Flandes nl, Leger van Vlaanderen) was a multinational army in the service of the kings of Spain that was based in the Spanish Netherlands during the 16th to 18th centuries. It was notable for being the longe ...
, was made general of the Munster insurgents' army as a compromise. Muskerry was his second-in-command.
In March and April, Muskerry and Fermoy with 4,000 men unsuccessfully besieged St Leger in Cork City. On 13 April Murrough O'Brien, 6th Baron Inchiquin, an Irish Protestant, lifted the siege by driving the insurgents from their base at Rochfordstown. Muskerry lost his armour, tent, and trunks in this action. He and his lady stayed nearby at Blarney Castle at the time. On 16 May, Muskerry and Fermoy captured Barrymore Castle
Barrymore is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Barrymore family of American actors
*Earl of Barrymore, a title in the Kingdom of Ireland dating to 1622
People with the surname Barrymore
*Deborah Barrymore aka Deborah Moore (bor ...
at Castlelyons, Barrymore's seat. St Leger died on 2 July, and Inchiquin, the vice-president, took over the command of the government forces in Munster.
Siege of Limerick
In May and June 1642, Muskerry, Garret Barry, Patrick Purcell of Croagh
Lieutenant-General Patrick Purcell of Croagh (died 1651) was an Irish soldier. In his youth he fought in Germany during the Thirty Years' War. Back in Ireland he joined the Irish Rebellion of 1641 in 1642 when it reached Munster. He commanded ...
, and Fermoy attacked Limerick. The town opened its gates willingly, but the Protestants defended King John's Castle in the Siege of Limerick. They were led by George Courtenay, 1st Baronet, of Newcastle
Sir George Oughtred Courtenay, 1st Baronet, of Newcastle ( – 1644) was an Irish landowner and soldier. He defended Limerick at the siege of 1642 during the Irish Rebellion of 1641.
Birth and origins
George was born between 1580 and 1585 ...
, who was the constable of Limerick Castle.
Muskerry had a cannon placed on the tower of St Mary's Cathedral, which overlooked the castle. The besiegers attacked the castle's eastern wall and the bastion
A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...
on its south-east corner by digging mines. The castle surrendered on 21 June and Muskerry took possession. The insurgents had already attacked castles in the Connello area west of Limerick, which had been settled with English during the Plantation of Munster
Plantations in 16th- and 17th-century Ireland involved the confiscation of Irish-owned land by the English Crown and the colonisation of this land with settlers from Great Britain. The Crown saw the plantations as a means of controlling, an ...
. On 26 March Patrick Purcell had laid siege to Castletown, defended by Hardress Waller, the future Cromwellian general. The castle fell in May. In July, Muskerry and Patrick Purcell used artillery, captured at King John's Castle, to take Kilfinny Castle, Kilfinny, defended by Elizabeth Dowdall, Waller's mother-in-law.
Siege and Battle of Liscarroll
The Munster insurgents then attacked the castles of Sir Philip Perceval. In the summer of 1642 Muskerry took Annagh Castle, County Tipperary, and in August besieged Liscarroll Castle, County Cork. The castle surrendered on 2 September. The next day Inchiquin with his army appeared before the castle. Despite inferior numbers Inchiquin defeated the insurgents under General Garret Barry in the ensuing Battle of Liscarroll
The Battle of Liscarroll was fought on 3 September 1642 in northern County Cork, Munster, between Catholic Irish insurgents and government troops. The battle was part of the Irish Rebellion, which had started in the north in 1641 reac ...
. Muskerry allegedly panicked, fled, and caused others to flee. His Protestant acquaintance Barrymore died in September, supposedly of wounds received in the battle.
Confederation
In 1642 the insurgents organised themselves in the Irish Catholic Confederation
Confederate Ireland, also referred to as the Irish Catholic Confederation, was a period of Irish Catholic self-government between 1642 and 1649, during the Eleven Years' War. Formed by Catholic aristocrats, landed gentry, clergy and military ...
. In May the Catholic Church declared the war lawful. An Confederate Oath of Association, oath of association was dawn up. In October Muskerry attended the first Confederate General Assembly at Kilkenny where Mountgarret was elected president of the Confederation. Muskerry was not elected to the Supreme Council, but his rival Fermoy was. Garret Barry was made general of the Munster Army, despite his recent defeat and advanced age. Barry seems to have held the position until his death in March 1646 in Limerick, but others commanded in his stead. In 1643 Muskerry and Fermoy were both elected to the Supreme Council.
Muskerry commanded the infantry at the Battle of Cloughleagh on 4 June 1643 where the Irish cavalry under James Tuchet, 3rd Earl of Castlehaven, routed a detachment of Inchiquin's troops under Sir Charles Vavasour, 1st Baronet, of Killingthorpe, who had taken the Cloughleagh Tower House near Fermoy the day before. Muskerry with the infantry arrived only after the decisive cavalry charge. Castlehaven considered him slow and called him "the old general".
Later that year, Muskerry led the Munster Army in an offensive against Inchiquin in County Waterford. Lieutenant-Colonel, Patrick Purcell, unsuccessfully besieged Lismore Castle, the seat of the Earls of Cork. Muskerry was about to take Cappoquin but engaged in parleys and was outwitted by Inchiquin, who delayed the town's surrender until September when the cease-fire ended the war.
Cessation and Oxford conference
Muskerry, like most of the magnates among the Confederates, was afraid to lose title and land when the King regained control. He therefore adhered to a faction within the Confederates, called the peace party or the Ormondists, that sought an agreement that would protect against such a loss. The King, on the other hand, sought peace with the Confederates to be able to withdraw troops from Ireland for use in the First English Civil War, English Civil War. In 1643, the King asked Ormond to open talks with the Confederates. On 15 September 1643 at Jigginstown Castle, Sigginstown, Strafford's unfinished house, the Confederates signed a cease-fire with Ormond, called the "Cessation". Muskerry was one of the signatories. The Confederates agreed to pay the King £30,000 (equivalent to about £ in ) in several instalments. In return, the Confederates gained some degree of diplomatic recognition. The articles of the Cessation gave Lismore Castle and Cappoquin to Inchiquin.
In November 1643 the Supreme Council appointed seven delegates, with Muskerry as leader, to submit grievances to the King and negotiate a peace treaty. In January 1644 they obtained safe-conducts from the Lords Justices. It must have been their last days in office as Ormond was sworn-in as lord lieutenant of Ireland on 21 January. The delegates arrived on 24 March at Oxford where the King held his court. Muskerry demanded public exercise of the Catholic religion, independence from the English parliament, and full amnesty for their rebellion. The King offered Muskerry an earldom, which he refused. A competing Irish Protestant delegation arrived on 17 April. End of June the Confederate delegates returned to Ireland empty-handed.
The Cessation allowed the Confederates to focus on their war with the Covenanters in Ulster, who were aligned with the English Parliament. Owen Roe O'Neill led the Confederate Ulster army, deployed on that front, but the Supreme Council imposed Castlehaven as general-in-chief for the campaign of 1644. Castlehaven marched north to Charlemont Fort, Charlemont but did not bring the Covenanters to battle. In July Inchiquin declared for Parliament, reactivating the southern front around the city of Cork, where the Munster Army was deployed. The fourth general assembly, in July 1644, elected the fourth Supreme Council. Muskerry regained his seat, but Fermoy did not. The cessation had a duration of one year, expiring on 15 September 1644. It was extended twice:
by Muskerry and Ormond in August 1644 until 1 December; and by Muskerry and Lord Chancellor Sir Richard Bolton, Bolton in September until 31 January 1645.
In the campaign of 1645, Castlehaven commanded the Munster Army in its fight against Inchiquin. Under Castlehaven's command Patrick Purcell took Lismore Castle, but Inchiquin doggedly defended the rest. In the fifth general assembly in summer 1645, Muskerry was re-elected to the Supreme Council.
Glamorgan Treaty
In 1645 the King sent Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester, Edward Somerset, Earl of Glamorgan, to Ireland to speed up the peace negotiations with the Confederates. Glamorgan was an English Catholic and son of Henry Somerset, 1st Marquess of Worcester, an important royalist. Ormond sent Glamorgan to Kilkenny with a letter of introduction to Muskerry dated 11 August. He was received by Mountgarret and Muskerry. On 25 August Glamorgan signed the first Glamorgan Treaty with the Confederates. Muskerry was one of the signatories. The treaty was kept secret. It ceded to the Catholics the churches that the Confederates had seized since the beginning of the rebellion. Charles Coote, 1st Earl of Mountrath, Sir Charles Coote divulged it in October after he found a copy in the luggage of Malachy Ó Caollaidhe, Malachy Queally, bishop of Tuam, killed in action near Sligo. The King disavowed the treaty in January 1646.
Nuncio
In 1645 the pope sent Giovanni Battista Rinuccini as nuncio to the Irish Catholic Confederation. Rinuccini landed in October on Ireland's south-west coast with money and weapons. On his way to Kilkenny, the Confederate capital, Rinuccini visited Macroom Castle where Lady Muskerry and her 11-year-old eldest son, Charles, received him while her husband was negotiating with Ormond in Dublin. The nuncio stayed for four days and then continued to Kilkenny arriving on 12 November.
In town, the nuncio was attended to by Muskerry, who had just returned from Dublin, and by Thomas Preston, 1st Viscount Tara, General Preston. They accompanied him to Kilkenny Castle for his official reception by Mountgarret and escorted him back to his residence.
First Ormond Peace
The Confederate assembly on 6 March 1646 authorised its delegates to conclude a peace with Ormond. Muskerry signed the "First Ormond Peace" on 28 March 1646 for the Confederates. The treaty's 30 articles covered civil rights, but left the religious ones to be decided by a future Irish parliament. The parties agreed to defer the treaty's publication for now.
According to the treaty, the Confederates were expected to send an Irish army of 10,000 men, about half the Confederate army, to England before 1 May, but by then it was already too late. Siege of Bristol (1645), Bristol had fallen in September 1645 and Siege of Chester, Chester in February 1646, depriving the King of his main harbours on the Irish sea. Admiral Richard Swanley and Captain William Penn (Royal Navy officer), William Penn patrolled the sea with the Irish Squadron of the Parliamentarian Navy. Muskerry wrote to Ormond on 3 April that the Irish army's expedition to England had to be abandoned. The First English Civil War ended shortly after the First Ormond Peace was signed. The Scots took the King into custody on 5 May.
Siege of Bunratty
As the Confederates sent no troops to the King, their armies kept their full strength. The Munster Army, under Glamorgan, favoured by Rinuccini, was sent to besiege Bunratty Castle
Bunratty Castle (, meaning "castle at the mouth of the Ratty") is a large 15th-century tower house in County Clare, Ireland. It is located in the centre of Bunratty village ( ga, Bun Ráite), by the N18 road between Limerick and Ennis, near Sha ...
near Limerick, into which the Barnabas O'Brien, 6th Earl of Thomond, 6th Earl of Thomond, a Protestant, had admitted a Parliamentarian garrison in March 1646. The Confederates lacked money to pay their army. After a setback on 1 April, in which the garrison drove the besiegers from their camp at Sixmilebridge, the Supreme Council replaced Glamorgan with Muskerry at the end of May. Muskerry had Lieutenant-General Purcell, Major-General Stephenson, and Colonel Purcell under him with three Leinster regiments and all the Munster forces. The castle's defences had been modernised by surrounding the castle proper, essentially a big tower house, with modern earthworks and forts defended by cannons. These fortifications abutted on the sea and Bunratty was supported by a small squadron of the Parliamentarian Navy under now-Vice-Admiral Penn. On 9 May, Lord Thomond left Bunratty for England by sea. On 13 June arrived the news of Owen Roe O'Neill's victory over the Covenanters at Battle of Benburb, Benburb, won with the financial support from the nuncio. At the end of June Rinuccini came and paid the soldiers £600 (equivalent of about £ in ), exhausting the last of his funds. Muskerry brought two heavy cannons from Limerick for the siege. His rivals accused him of having spared the castle because Thomond was his uncle. When on 1 July a chance shot through a window killed McAdam, the Parliamentarian commander, Muskerry pressed on and the castle wikt:capitulate, capitulated on 14 July. The garrison was evacuated to Cork by the Parliamentarian Navy, but had to leave arms, ammunition, and provisions behind.
Early in 1646, while Muskerry was at the siege of Bunratty, Broghill with a Parliamentarian force from Cork captured Blarney Castle. It must have been a bold coup as Muskerry was accused of having betrayed the castle.
Rejection of the First Ormond Peace
Muskerry and Ormond confirmed and signed the First Ormond Peace again in July 1646. The peace was thus concluded twice: on 28 March and in July 1646. Muskerry got the treaty Ratification, ratified by a vote in the Supreme Council despite the nuncio's opposition. Ormond had it proclaimed in Dublin on 30 July and the Supreme Council did so in Kilkenny on 3 August.
Rinuccini held a meeting of the clergy at Waterford, which on 12 August 1646 condemned the treaty. Rinuccini then excommunication, excommunicated Muskerry and others who supported it. On 18 September, Rinuccini overturned the Confederate government in a coup d'état with help of the Ulster Army, which Owen Roe O'Neill had marched to Leinster. On 26 September Rinuccini made himself president and appointed a new, the seventh, Supreme Council in which sat Glamorgan, Fermoy, and Owen Roe O'Neill. Rinuccini arrested Muskerry, Richard Bellings, and other Ormondist members of the previous Supreme Council. Most were detained in Kilkenny Castle, but Muskerry was put under house arrest. Muskerry had to cede the command of the Munster Army to Glamorgan. Being under arrest in Kilkenny Muskerry missed out on the attempted siege of Dublin by Owen Roe O'Neill and Preston in November 1646.
Having failed to take Dublin, Rinuccini released Muskerry and other political prisoners as demanded by Nicholas Plunkett, and called a general assembly, which met on 10 January 1647 in Kilkenny. It lasted until the beginning of April. The assembly elected a new Supreme Council, the eighth, with the Randal MacDonnell, 1st Marquess of Antrim (1645 creation), Marquess of Antrim as president. It was dominated by the clerical faction but also included Muskerry and three other Ormondists.
Mutiny of the Munster Army
The Supreme Council had in 1647 confirmed Glamorgan, who had become the 2nd Marquess of Worcester in December 1646, as general of the Munster Army, but the Confederation lacked the funds to pay the army. Worcester was unpopular with the troops and the Munster gentry because he was English. Several regiments mutinied demanding that Muskerry should be appointed general. Three Dominican Order, Dominican chaplains of the army insinuated that killing Muskerry would not be a sin. One of them was Pádraigín Haicéad, Patrick Hackett, a Gaelic poet. Gaelic was still the predominant language among the rank and file.
Early in June 1647 the Supreme Council met at Clonmel near the Munster Army's camp. On 12 June Muskerry, together with Patrick Purcell, rode over from the council meeting to the army's camp where the troops acclaimed him as their leader and turned Worcester out of his command. The Supreme Council ignored Muskerry's de facto take-over, upheld Worcester as the de jure commander who then passed the command officially to Muskerry. Early in August Muskerry handed the command over to Theobald Taaffe, 1st Earl of Carlingford, Theobald Viscount Taaffe of Corren. Neither Worcester, nor Muskerry, nor Taaffe stopped Inchiquin, who took Cappoquin and Dungarvan in May and Sack of Cashel, sacked Cashel in September.
Decline of the Confederation
Meanwhile, on 6 June 1647, Ormond had accepted Colonel Michael Jones (soldier), Michael Jones with 2,000 Parliamentarian troops into Dublin. On 28 July, Ormond handed Dublin over to the Parliamentarians and left for England. In August Preston tried to march on Dublin with the Leinster army, but Jones defeated him at Battle of Dungan's Hill, Dungan's Hill. Muskerry called in Owen Roe O'Neill to defend Leinster. In November, Taaffe lost the Battle of Knocknanuss against Inchiquin.
Towards the end of 1647, the Supreme Council sent Muskerry, Geoffrey Browne (MP), Geoffrey Browne, and the Marquess of Antrim to negotiate with the exiled Queen Henrietta Maria, at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France. They wanted to invite the Prince of Wales, the future Charles II, then aged 17, to Ireland, and negotiate another peace to replace the one concluded with Ormond. In February 1648 Ormond left England and joined the Queen. Antrim departed before Muskerry and Browne and arrived early in March. Muskerry and Browne departed in February and had reached Saint-Germain by 23 March. On 24 March 1648, the Queen received the three envoys in an audience. However, 1648 was the year of the Second English Civil War and plans were made for the Prince of Wales to go to Scotland to support the Engagers rather than to go to Ireland, but eventually, he stayed in France. With regard to a new peace, Antrim, representing the clerical faction, insisted that no peace should be accepted in Ireland without the pope's approval and that a Catholic lord lieutenant should be appointed, an office he hoped to obtain for himself.
On 3 April 1648, Inchiquin changed sides, leaving the Parliamentarians and declaring for the king. Muskerry convinced the Queen to appoint Ormond as lord lieutenant and Inchiquin as an ally. Muskerry returned to Ireland in June to prepare for Ormond's arrival. Ormond landed at Cork in September. Muskerry was made Irish lord high admiral and president of the high Court of Admiralty. In November he signed letters of marque for the privateers ''Mary of Antrim'' and the ''St John of Waterford''.
In January 1649, the Second Ormond Peace was signed. The Irish Catholic Confederation was dissolved, and replaced with a provisional royalist government. Power was handed to 12 Commissioners of Trust. Muskerry was one of them.
Cromwellian conquest
On 15 August 1649, Oliver Cromwell landed in Dublin. He wanted to avenge the uprising of 1641, confiscate enough Irish Catholic-owned land to pay off the English Parliament's debts, and eliminate a dangerous outpost of royalism.
In April 1650, Muskerry lost Macroom Castle, where his family had been living. An Irish force raised by Fermoy and Boetius MacEgan, Catholic Bishop of Ross (Ireland), Bishop of Ross, tried to relieve the Siege of Clonmel. Led by Colonel David Roche and the bishop, this force passed by Macroom and camped in the castle's park. Macroom's garrison burned the castle and joined Roche's force, Cromwell sent Broghill to intercept the Irish, which were routed in the Battle of Macroom on 10 April. Clonmel surrendered to Cromwell in May. Cromwell had to hurry away to counter a threat from Scotland and passed the Irish command to Henry Ireton on 19 May.
In April 1651 Ulick Burke, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde, appointed Muskerry supreme commander in Munster. Muskerry tried to relieve the Siege of Limerick (1650–51), Siege of Limerick, but Broghill intercepted and defeated him on 26 July 1651 at the Battle of Knocknaclashy
The battle of Knocknaclashy (also known as Knockbrack), took place in County Cork in southern Ireland in 1651. In it, an Irish Confederate force led by Viscount Muskerry was defeated by an English Parliamentarian force under Lord Broghill. ...
(also called Knockbrack), near Dromagh Castle, west of Kanturk, the war's last pitched battle. Limerick surrendered in October.
Muskerry fell back into the mountains of County Kerry, Kerry and based himself at Ross Castle
Ross Castle ( ga, Caisleán an Rois) is a 15th-century tower house and keep on the edge of Lough Leane, in Killarney National Park, County Kerry, Ireland. It is the ancestral home of the Chiefs of the Clan O'Donoghue, later associated wit ...
near Killarney, owned by Valentine Browne, 1st Viscount Kenmare, Sir Valentine Browne, his nephew by his sister Mary. Browne, born in 1638, was a minor and had become Muskerry's ward after his father's untimely death. In 1652 the government put a bounty of £500
(about £ in ) on Muskerry's head. Muskerry hoped that the Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine, Duke of Lorraine would intervene to save the Irish royalists.
Edmund Ludlow besieged Muskerry in Ross Castle, on the shore of Lough Leane. The defenders were supplied by boat over the lake. Ludlow brought boats of his own whereupon Muskerry surrendered on 27 June 1652 after a siege of three weeks. The terms took a possible prosecution into account. Muskerry gave two hostages to guarantee his compliance with the terms: one of his sons and Daniel O'Brien, 1st Viscount Clare, Daniel O'Brien. Muskerry disbanded his 5,000-strong army. He was excluded from pardon of life and estate in the Commonwealth's Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652, Act of Settlement on 12 August and therefore lost his estates. His surrender was one of the last, but Clanricarde, 28 June, and Philip O'Reilly (Cavan County MP), Philip O'Reilly, 27 April 1653, surrendered later.
Exile and prosecution
Muskerry was allowed to embark for Spain
where he was rejected as Ormondist.
He then sought employment with the Venetian Republic for himself and the Irish soldiers that he brought with him, but the project fell through. He returned to Ireland late in 1653 landing at Cork to recruit soldiers for service on the continent but was arrested for war crimes and detained until the opening of his trial on 1 December in Dublin. He was accused of having been an accessory (legal term), accessory to murders of English settlers on three occasions.
The first case was the murder of William Deane and others at Kilfinny, County Limerick, by soldiers of the Munster army on 29 July 1642. The victims died when Lady Dowdall surrendered Kilfinny Castle to Patrick Purcell, who commanded the besiegers. It had been agreed that the English would be allowed to leave escorted by a detachment sent by Inchiquin. The second case was the murder of Mrs Hussey and others near Blarney Castle, County Cork, by Irish soldiers on 1 August 1642. The victims were refugees that Muskerry had sheltered at Macroom and was sending to Cork in a guarded convoy so that they could leave the country. The third case was the murder of Roger Skinner and others at Inniskerry, County Cork, in August 1642. Muskerry was acquitted of these three charges.
In February 1654 he was tried for having participated in royalist conspiracies. Elizabeth Butler, Duchess of Ormond, Lady Ormond, who had been allowed to return to Ireland from her French exile, secretly visited Gerard Lowther (Irish justice), Gerard Lowther, president of the High Court of Justice at the time, who gave her legal advice for Muskerry. This helped him convince the court of his innocence and he was acquitted.
In May 1654 he had to defend himself against another murder charge concerning the killing of an unnamed man and woman. He was acquitted.
Muskerry was again allowed to embark for Spain but went to France. Henrietta Maria, now the Queen Mother, still lived there, but in July 1654 Charles II and his exile court were about to leave France and start their wanderings in the Netherlands and Germany. Lady Muskerry lived in Paris. Muskerry's daughter Helen
Helen may refer to:
People
* Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world
* Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress
* Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
Places
* Helen, ...
found shelter at the abbey of Port-Royal-des-Champs near Versailles. The abbess, Marie Angélique Arnauld, La Mère Angélique, tried to help Muskerry and his Irish soldiers in their need. In November 1654 she wrote to Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga of Poland proposing to employ Muskerry and his followers – 5,000 men – in Polish service. In 1655 Muskerry and Bellings led them to the Polish King, who fought the Swedes in the Second Northern War. Muskerry and Bellings returned with £20,000 for Charles II. In 1657 the King sent Muskerry to Madrid to ask the Spanish to let the Irish exiles now in Spain invade Ireland. They stayed seven months but achieved nothing. Muskerry's eldest son fought the French and Cromwell's English at the Battle of the Dunes (1658), Battle of the Dunes in June 1658 The King, in exile at Brussels, rewarded Muskerry in November 1658 with the title of Earl of Clancarty. His title of Viscount Muskerry, now Subsidiary title, subsidiary, passed to his eldest son Charles, his heir apparent, as courtesy title.
Restoration and death
At the Stuart Restoration, Restoration of the Stuarts, Clancarty, as he now was, returned to Ireland. He used Ormond's influence to recover his estates, which Charles II confirmed to him in his "Gracious Declaration" of 30 November 1660. The Cromwellian occupiers had to leave at once. Now-Admiral William Penn, to whom Macroom had been granted in 1654, was compensated with land at Shanagarry (east of Cork). Broghill had to return Blarney and Kilcrea Friary, Kilcrea. The Clancartys repaired and enlarged Macroom Castle. Clancarty also recovered his townhouse, which now became Clancarty House. Clancarty found wealthy Irish spouses for his eldest son and his two daughters. This son married Margaret Bourke in 1660 or 1661. She was a rich heiress, the only child of Ulick Burke, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde. Clancarty's elder daughter Helen married first after 1660 Sir John FitzGerald of Dromana
Sir John FitzGerald of Dromana ( – 1662 or 1664) was the last of the FitzGeralds of Dromana. He sat as MP for Dungarvan in the Irish Parliament of 1661–1666.
Birth and origins
John was born about 1635 proba ...
, a Protestant, as his second wife. The marriage was childless. After his death in 1664 Helen married secondly William Burke, 7th Earl of Clanricarde
William Burke, 7th Earl of Clanricarde, PC (Ire) (; ; died 1687), was an Irish peer who fought in his youth together with his brother Richard, 6th Earl of Clanricarde under their cousin, Ulick Burke, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde against the P ...
. Clancarty's younger daughter Margaret married Luke Plunket, 3rd Earl of Fingall, before 1666.
In the winter of 1661/2, Clancarty signed the Catholic Remonstrance drawn up by Bellings and promoted by Peter Valesius Walsh, Peter Walsh. in an attempt to improve the Catholics' condition in Ireland by demonstrating their loyalty to the King. However, the remonstrance proved inefficient, mainly because too few of the clergy signed.
In August 1660, Charles II made George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, lord lieutenant of Ireland. As Albemarle never went to Ireland, the King appointed three lords justices to govern in his stead. When the King summoned the Parliament of 1661–1666, it was opened by the lords justices on 8 May 1661. Clancarty joined the House of Lords on 20 May. On 11 June Clancarty became the proxy of Lord Inchiquin, therefore voting in his stead. The passing of the Act of Settlement 1662, Act of Settlement was one of the main purposes of the parliament. Clancarty was absent on 30 May 1662 when the Lords finally passed it. Clancarty sat on the committee that organised the gift of £30,000 (about £ in ) made to the Duke of Ormond. However, Clancarty's eldest son, Charles MacCarty, replaced him in that function on 19 August. On 11 December, the Lords passed the Irish version of the Tenures Abolition Act 1660. Clancarty attended parliament regularly until April 1663 when he moved to London. He visited his Irish estates in 1664 for a last time and returned to England.
On 3 June 1665, Charles, Viscount Muskerry, Clancarty's eldest son and heir apparent, was killed during the Second Anglo-Dutch War in the Battle of Lowestoft
The Battle of Lowestoft took place on during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. A fleet of more than a hundred ships of the United Provinces commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer, Lord Obdam attacked an English fleet of equal size comm ...
, a naval engagement with the Dutch and buried in Westminster Abbey as his grandfather, the 1st Viscount, had been.[77](_blank)
/> Charles left an infant son, called Charles James, who became the new heir apparent.
Only one and a half months later, on 4 or 5 August 1665, Clancarty died at Ormond's house at Moor Park, Hertfordshire. Ormond, despite being a Protestant, called in a Catholic priest for the last rites of his friend. The Catholic political pamphlet ''The Unkinde Deserter of Loyall Men and True Frinds'' claims that in his last hour Clancarty expressed regret at having trusted Ormond.
Charles's infant son Charles James succeeded his grandfather as the 2nd Earl of Clancarty but died a year later. The succession then reverted to the 1st Earl's second son, Callaghan, who succeeded as the 3rd Earl of Clancarty.
Notes and references
Notes
Citations
Sources
Subject matter monographs:
*#CITEREFMcGrath1997a, Click here. McGrath 1997a in ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Membership of the Irish House of Commons 1640 to 1641''
*#CITEREFOhlmeyer2004, Click here. Jane Ohlmeyer, Ohlmeyer 2004 in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
*#CITEREFÓ Siochrú2009b, Click here. Ó Siochrú in Dictionary of Irish Biography
*#CITEREFSeccombe1893, Click here. Thomas Seccombe, Seccombe 1893 in Dictionary of National Biography—This is about the 4th earl but the 1st earl is treated as a co-subject
*#CITEREFWebb1878, Click here. Alfred Webb, Webb 1878 in ''Compendium of Irish Biography''
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* – 1221 to 1690
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* – Volume title: Irish Women's Writing and Traditions (for Lady Dowdall's narration)
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* – Leinster (continued (Carlow, Kildare, Queen’s County, King’s County, Meath, Westmeath, Longford, Louth), & Munster
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* – (for Ormond)
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* – West Carbery
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* – 1641 to 1643
* – 1643 to 1660
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* – Marriages, baptisms and burials from about 1660 to 1875
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* – D to F (for Fermoy)
* – L to M (for Mountcashel & Muskerry)
* – S to T (for Strafford and Thomond)
* – 1611 to 1625 (for Browne)
* – 1625 to 1649 (for the subject)
* – Canonteign to Cutts (for Clancarty and Fermoy)
* – Eardley of Spalding to Goojerat (for Fermoy and Fingall)
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* – 1641 to 1645 (Preview)
* – 1645 to 1649 (Preview)
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* – Contains "The Unkinde Desertor of Loyall Men and True Frinds"
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* – 1642 to 1644
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* – 1645 to 1647
* – 1647 to 1649 & Index
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* – to 1603
* – 1603 to 1860
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* – Aphorismical Discovery, 1641 to 1648
* – History based on Richard Bellings’s memoirs
* – Letters, acts, and Lady Dowdall's narration
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* – 1649 to 1653
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* – (for Donough)
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* – Preface, Introduction, Depositions
* – Depositions (continued), Records of the High Court of Justice, and Appendix
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* – 1634 to 1699
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* – 1661 to 1665
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* – Earls
* – Viscounts
* – Viscounts, barons
* – Barons (for his sister Mary)
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* – 1655 to 1657
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* – Parliaments & Biographies (PDF downloadable from given URL)
* – Parliaments & Biographies (PDF downloadable from given URL)
* – Parliaments & Biographies (PDF downloadable from given URL)
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External links
Portrait
at the Hunt Museum, Limerick
Biography of Donough MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry
online at the British Civil War Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clancarty, Donough MacCarthy, 1st Earl of
1594 births
1665 deaths
Earls of Clancarty
Irish generals
Irish MPs 1639–1649, MacCarty, Donough
Irish Roman Catholic Confederates
MacCarthy dynasty
Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Cork constituencies
People of the Irish Confederate Wars, MacCarthy