Mathgamain mac Toirdhealbhach Mantach Ó Briain,

Chief of the Name The Chief of the Name, or in older English usage Captain of his Nation, is the recognised head of a family or clan (''fine'' in Irish and Scottish Gaelic). The term has sometimes been used as a title in Ireland and Scotland. In Ireland In Eliza ...

of the Clan Teige Ó Briain of Aran, died 1565.

Family background

Ó Briain was the senior member of the Mac Taidhg, or Clann Taidhg

Ó Briain 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 becoming ...

, of Inishmore in Galway Bay. They were descended from Tadhg Ó Briain, great-grandson of

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 ...

(c.937–1014), from whom they took their clan name. The Ó Briain Kings of Thomond had exercised rule of the three Aran Islands since before the

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

settled in

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

in the 1230s, and, in return for protection of their shipping to and from the town,

The Tribes of Galway The Tribes of Galway ( ga, Treibheanna na Gaillimhe) were 14 merchant families who dominated the political, commercial and social life of the city of Galway in western Ireland between the mid-13th and late 19th centuries. They were the families ...

paid them an annual tribute of twelve tuns of wine "in consideration of their protection and expenses in guarding the bay and harbour of Galway against pirates and coast plunderers." His full

pedigree Pedigree may refer to: Breeding * Pedigree chart, a document to record ancestry, used by genealogists in study of human family lines, and in selective breeding of other animals ** Pedigree, a human genealogy (ancestry chart) ** Pedigree (animal ...

named him as the son of Turlough Mantach (the toothless) son of Donough, son of Donell, son of Turlough Meith (the fat).

The Charter of 1545

Tim Robinson points out that

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...

of 1545 determined that ''"Exemption from tolls for all ships entering this way made Galway, now at the peak of its prosperity, virtually a free port. The Clann Thaidhg O'Briens of Aran were no longer such important allies."'' This seems to have been a root cause of the dispute that led to Mahon's death. The

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Deluge, dated as 2,24 ...

record that in the year 1565:

''"Mahon, the son of Turlough Mantach ... was treacherously slain in his own town of Aircín, in Aran, by his own associates and relations. When the chief men of Galway heard of this, they set out to revenge this misdeed upon the treacherous perpetrators, so that they compelled them to fly from their houses; and they the fugitives went into a boat, and put to sea; and where they landed was in the harbour of Ross, in West Corca-Bhaiscinn. Donnell, the son of Conor O'Brien, having heard of this, he hastened to meet them with all the speed that he could exert; and he made prisoners of the greater number of them, and carried them in close fetters to Magh Glae, in the upper part of Corcomroe, in order that their sorrow and anguish might be the greater for being in view of the place where they had perpetrated the crime; he hanged some of them, and burned others, according as their evil practices deserved."''

Aftermath

Mahon's death presaged the end of the clan's power on the island. Factional warfare broke out among the Clan Teige, and they are said to have slaughtered each other almost to a man in battle near Port Mhuirbhigh on the island, at a place later called Fearann na gCeann, ''"the (land) quarter of the heads"'', from the number of skulls still found in its soil. Within a few years,

Murrough na dTuadh Ó Flaithbheartaigh Murrough na dTuadh Ó Flaithbheartaigh, anglicised Sir Murrough O'Flaherty (died 1593) was Chief of Iar Connacht, . Ancestry Great-great-great-grandson of Brian na Noinseach, son of Donall na Comthach Ó Flaithbheartaigh (who was, in turn, a g ...

became Chief of Iar Connacht, and began to assert his rule over the islands.

Battle of Port Mhuirbhigh

In 1987, Tim Robinson wrote that:

''"Murchadh and the main body of his followers are said to have landed at Port Mhuirbhigh and driven the O'Briens eastwards, while a smaller party came ashore near Mainistir of Cill Rónáin and attacked them in the rear. The O'Briens were routed and fled to the rocks above Cill Éinne where all but one of them, who escaped by boat or hid in a cave, were slaughtered. Their corpses were buried by the shore half a mile east of Aircín; the place is called Poll na Marbh, the hole of the dead, and bones are still turned up there."''

References

* ''Iar-Connacht'',

Ruaidhrí Ó Flaithbheartaigh Roderick O'Flaherty ( ga, Ruaidhrí Ó Flaithbheartaigh; 1629–1718 or 1716) was an Irish historian. Biography He was born in County Galway and inherited Moycullen Castle and estate. O'Flaherty was the last ''de jure'' Lord of Iar Connacht, a ...

, 1684 * ''History of Galway'', p. 207,

James Hardiman James Hardiman (1782–1855), also known as Séamus Ó hArgadáin, was a librarian at Queen's College, Galway. Hardiman is best remembered for his '' History of the Town and County of Galway'' (1820) and '' Irish Minstrelsy'' (1831), one of the f ...

, 1820 * ''Stones of Aran:Pilgrimage'', pp. 241–48, 262, Tim Robinson, 1987 * ''An Account of the town of Galway'', Paul Walsh, ''Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society'', 1992 * ''Stones of Aran:Labyrinth'', p. 57, 187, 347, 363, Tim Robinson, 1995

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