Brian Oge O'Rourke ( Irish: ''Brian Óg na Samhthach Ó Ruairc''), c. 1568 - 28 January

1604 Events January–June * January 1 – '' The Masque of Indian and China Knights'' is performed by courtiers of James VI and I at Hampton Court. * January 14 – The Hampton Court Conference is held between James I of England ...

, was the penultimate king of West Breifne, from

1591 Events January–June * March 13 – Battle of Tondibi: In Mali, forces sent by the Saadi dynasty ruler of Morocco, Ahmad al-Mansur, and led by Judar Pasha, defeat the fractured Songhai Empire, despite being outnumbered by at l ...

until his overthrow in April

1603 Events January–June * February 25 – Dutch–Portuguese War: the Portuguese ship '' Santa Catarina'' is seized by Dutch East India Company ships off Singapore. The first permanent Dutch trading post in Indonesia is established ...

, at the end of the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

. Due to the successive deaths of both his older brother Eoghan in 1589 and his father

Brian O'Rourke Sir Brian O'Rourke ( ga, Sir Brian na Múrtha Ó Ruairc; c. 1540 – 1591) was first king and then lord of West Breifne in Ireland from 1566 until his execution in 1591. He reigned during the later stages of the Tudor conquest of Ireland and hi ...

, who was executed in London in 1591, Brian Oge was thrust into the leadership of his kingdom at just 23 years old. In 1599, O'Rourke's forces fought alongside those of Hugh Roe O'Donnell at the Battle of Curlew Pass, during the Nine Years' War. His forces, along with those of

Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone Hugh O'Neill (Irish: ''Aodh Mór Ó Néill''; literally ''Hugh The Great O'Neill''; – 20 July 1616), was an Irish Gaelic lord, Earl of Tyrone (known as the Great Earl) and was later created ''The Ó Néill Mór'', Chief of the Name. O'Neil ...

, were still sufficiently menacing to Queen Elizabeth I that she was persuaded to agree to a peace in Ireland - the Treaty of Mellifont. O'Rourke was the last Irish king to be defeated in the war, roughly a month after the others had surrendered. He never surrendered, but was ousted by his brother Teigue, who had defected to the English during the war and with their support invaded his kingdom in March 1603. He fled to Galway where he died of fever in January 1604. In accordance with his wishes, O'Rourke was buried in the cloister of the

Ross Errilly Friary The Ross Errilly Friary ( ga, Mainistir an Rois, often anglicised in 18th and 19th century sources as ''Rosserelly'') is a medieval Franciscan friary located about a mile to the northwest of Headford, County Galway, Ireland. It is a National Mo ...

. He was succeeded by his brother, Teigue.

References

* Annals of the Four Masters a
CELT
(University College Cork) *Burke, Oliver J. ''The Abbey of Ross, its History and Details'', Dublin, 1869. {{DEFAULTSORT:ORourke, Brian Oge 1560s births 1604 deaths 16th-century Irish monarchs 17th-century Irish monarchs Irish lords People of Elizabethan Ireland People from County Leitrim People from County Galway People of the Nine Years' War (Ireland)