Cormac na Haoine MacCarthy Reagh, 13th Prince of Carbery (1490–1567) was an Irish chieftain who owned almost half a million acres in south west Ireland.

Birth and origins

Cormac was born in Carbery about 1490, the eldest son of Donal MacCarthy Reagh and his second wife Eleanor FitzGerald. His father was the 12th

Prince of Carbery Carbery, or the Barony of Carbery, was once the largest barony in Ireland, and essentially a small, semi-independent kingdom on the southwestern coast of Munster, in what is now County Cork, from its founding in the 1230s by Donal Gott MacCarthy ...

. His father's family were the

MacCarthy Reagh The Mac Cárthaigh Riabhach (anglicised ''MacCarthy Reagh'') dynasty are a branch of the MacCarthy dynasty, Kings of Desmond, deriving from the Eóganacht Chaisil sept. History The Mac Cárthaigh Riabhach seated themselves as kings of Carbery in ...

, a Gaelic Irish dynasty that branched from the MacCarthy-Mor line with Donal Gott MacCarthy, a medieval

King of Desmond The following is a list of monarchs of the Kingdom of Desmond. Most were of the MacCarthy Mór ("great MacCarthy"), the senior branch of the MacCarthy dynasty. 12th century MacCarthy MacCarthy claimants O'Brien claimants MacCarthy 13th ce ...

, whose sixth son Donal Maol MacCarthy Reagh was the first independent ruler of Carbery. His mother was a daughter of

Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare KG (born – ), known variously as "Garret the Great" (Gearóid Mór) or "The Great Earl" (An tIarla Mór), was Ireland's premier peer. He served as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1477 to 1494, and from 1496 ...

. Her family, the

Geraldines The FitzGerald/FitzMaurice Dynasty is a noble and aristocratic dynasty of Cambro-Norman, Anglo-Norman and later Hiberno-Norman origin. They have been peers of Ireland since at least the 13th century, and are described in the Annals of the ...

, 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 settlers in the mid-5th c ...

Battle of Mourne

The Battle of Mourne or of

Mourne Abbey Mourneabbey () is a small civil and Roman Catholic parish in the barony of Barretts, northwest County Cork, Ireland. The parish is situated just south of Mallow, on the main Mallow-Cork Road and Rail Line. The population of the parish is about ...

, also called of Cluhar and Moor, was fought in 1520 or 1521. It was part of an internecine strife of the Geraldines of Desmond in which Thomas FitzThomas FitzGerald defeated his nephew

James FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Desmond James fitz Maurice FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Desmond (died 1529), also counted as the 11th, plotted against King Henry VIII with King Francis I of France in 1523 and with Emperor Charles V in 1528 and 1529. Birth and origins James was born ...

, and succeeded him as the 11th Earl. Carbery was drawn into this as Thomas Fitzthomas was allied with MacCarthy's father-in-law, Cormac Oge Laidir MacCarthy. MacCarthy therefore led his father's troops against the 11th Earl of Desmond, who was defeated.

Prince

MacCarty succeeded his father in 1530 as the 13th prince of Carbery.

Marriage and children

MacCarthy married Julia, daughter of Cormac Oge Laidir MacCarthy, 10th Lord of Muskerry. It was his first but her second marriage. She was the widow of Gerald Fitzmaurice, 15th Baron Kerry, who had died in 1550. Cormac and Julia had two sons: # Donal na Pipi, became the 17th Prince # Dermond na-Glac MacCarthy —and four daughters: # Catherine, married

John Butler of Kilcash John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, father of

Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond Sir Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond and 4th Earl of Ossory (1559–1633), succeeded his uncle the 10th earl, in 1614. He was called "Walter of the Beads" because he was a devout Catholic, whereas his uncle had been a Protestant. King James ...

# Honoria, married her distant cousin Owen MacDonogh MacCarthy, Prince of

Duhallow Duhallow () is a barony located in the north-western part of County Cork, Ireland. Legal context Baronies were created after the Norman invasion of Ireland as divisions of counties and were used in the administration of justice and the raisin ...

# Ellinor, married her cousin Dermod MacCarthy of Enniskean # Ellen, married first in 1572 Sir James FitzGerald, Lord of Decies (died 1581), and secondly James FitzRichard de Barry, Lord Ibane and 4th Viscount Buttevant, ancestor of the Earls of Barrymore. Ellen seems to have been an illegitimate child. After MacCarthy's death his wife would marry thirdly Edmund Butler, 1st/11th Baron Dunboyne (died 1566)

Death

Carbery, as he now was, died in 1567. He was succeeded according to Brehon law and tanistry by his brother Finghin as the 14th prince.

Ancestry

Notes and references

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * – Dacre to Dysart (for Dunboyne) * – to 1603 * * – Earls * – Irish stem {{DEFAULTSORT:MacCarthy Reagh, Cormac Na Haoine, 10th Prince Of Carbery 1490 births 1567 deaths 16th-century Irish people De Barry family Irish lords MacCarthy dynasty People of Elizabethan Ireland