Murrough mac Toirdelbach Ó Briain
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Murrough mac Toirdelbach 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 ...
, the Clan Tiege of Aran, fl. 1575 – 1588.


Family background

Ó Briain was the senior member of the Mac Teige, or Clan Teige Ó Briain, of Inishmore, in Galway Bay. They were descended from Teige Ó Briain, great-grandson of Brian Boru, from whom they took their 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, and, in return for protection of their shipping to and from the town, The Tribes of Galway paid them an annual tribute of wine ''"in consideration of their protection and expenses in guarding the bay and harbour of Galway against pirates and coast plunderers."''


Mortgage dispute

On 14 July 1575, Ó Briain arrived in Galway to make a complaint to the town corporation. He had been appointed, the previous month, by a delegation of nine of the Clan Tiege to be ''" their
attorney Attorney may refer to: * Lawyer ** Attorney at law, in some jurisdictions * Attorney, one who has power of attorney * ''The Attorney'', a 2013 South Korean film See also * Attorney general, the principal legal officer of (or advisor to) a gove ...
for ransoming the isles of Aron from James Linche, and agreed that all such parts as he should so
ransom Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice. When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''red ...
should belong to him, and his heirs for ever."''
James Lynch (fitz Ambrose) James Lynch (fitz Ambrose) (''fl.''1574–1591) was Mayor of Galway from 1590 to 1591. Lynch was a member of The Tribes of Galway. He appears to have been the first merchant of Galway with an ownership claim to the Aran Islands, becoming involve ...
(Mayor of Galway, 1590–91) was a Galway
merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...
who, previously to July 1575, obtained a mortgage of all three islands from Ó Briain; and in case of the extinction of the entire Clan Tiege, ''"should be their sole heir and possess Aron and their whole islands."'' However, it was afterwards agreed that this
clause In language, a clause is a constituent that comprises a semantic predicand (expressed or not) and a semantic predicate. A typical clause consists of a subject and a syntactic predicate, the latter typically a verb phrase composed of a verb with ...
should be extended ''"to the whole commons and corporacion of Galway"'', provided that the Clan Tiege not
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any part of the lands elsewhere, without the corporation's approval.
''"Mem. the 14 of July, one Morchowe Mac Tirriligh Mac Donill, chief of his nacion, called Clanteige of Aron, appeared before the mayor, bailiffs and combrethern, claiminge to have the ancient custom of Connowe and Meales due to him and to his auncestors within the town, to say, for two days and two nights, and the mayor, &c., calling before them auncient old credibel persons, they declared upon their oaths that they never heard of their parence, or saw the said sept have no more within this town but only two meales. It was thereupon ordered that said sept shall have no more but that two, they being always bound to serve, attend and wait upon us and in our service, as their auncestors hath bene; also the said sept is bound to give the accustomed Meales and Connowe to all the comenc of Galway when they shall repaire to the isles of Aron; and the may, &c. did grant and promise to be aydors, helpers, mayntainers and assisters of said Clanteige against all persons that would lay siege, spoille or raise the said islands or castell of Aron, or otherwise wrong the said Morchowe or his sept.


Aftermath

The dispute, perhaps related to the severe unrest in Connacht in the 1570s, seems to have eventually settled amicably. Further documentation, dated 30 March 1588, outlines the terms, which Hardiman gives as follows:
''"It was signed on 30 March 1588, by John Blake, the mayor, and Walter Martin and Anthony Kirrivan, bailiffs, and countersiged by Anthony Dermot, notary, whereby the testify to Queen Elizabeth in favor of Murrogh Mac Turlogh O'Brien, then living, that the Mac Tieges of Arran his ancestors, were, under her Majesty and her predecessors, the temporal captains or lords of the islands of Arran, and their territories and hereditaments elsewhere, under the name of Mac Tiege O'Brien of Arran, time out of man's memory; and that they had seen the said Murrogh Mac Turlogh, authorised by all his sept, as chief of that name, and in possession of the premises as his own lawful inheritance, as more at large, say they, doth appear in our books of records, wherein he continued, until of late he was, by the usurping power of the O'Flaherties, expulsed, from whom it is taken by some inquest found in her Majesty's favor. 'We say moreover', add they, 'that the sept of Mac Tiege O'Brien of Arran, since the foundation of this city and town, were aiding and assisting to ourselves and our predecessors against her Majesty's and her predecessors enemies, in all times and places whereunto they were called, as true, faithful and liege people to the crown of England, to maintain, succour and assist the town."''
However, the petition seems to have been ignored, because by 1581 the family had been overthrown by
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 ...
, who had seizing control over the Aran since as early as 1569. This would have rendered the document of 1588 worthless.


Fate of the Ó Briains of Aran

By 1641 the islands had reverted to the ownership of Sir Roebuck Lynch of Galway, the heir of James. However, Murrough's descendants plotted with Boetius Clancy of County Clare to retake them. The Earl of Clanricarde was apprised of the scheme. In a letter to the
Earl of Thomond Earl of Thomond was an hereditary title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created twice for the O'Brien dynasty which is an ancient Irish sept native to north Munster. History and background First creation Under the Crown of Ireland Act 1542, Ki ...
he wrote:
''"Amongst all (places) I find none more necessary to be preserved than the Isles of Arran. These are now in the possession and inheritance of Sir Roebuck Lynch, son to Sir Henry. I am now informed that Boetius Clancy the younger and the Clan-Teige of Thomond under pretence of some antiquated claim intend to invade it, and request that you take steps to prevent it."''
This was the final recorded association of the clan with the islands. James Hardiman lastly states that a copy of Murrough's petition of 1588 was then (1820) held by John O'Brien of Clonthis, County Limerick, ''"who is now the direct chief of that princely family."''


See also

*
Diarmaid Mór Ó Briain Diarmaid () is a masculine given name in the Irish language, which has historically been anglicized as Jeremiah or Jeremy, names with which it is etymologically unrelated. Earlier forms of the name include Diarmit and Diarmuit. Variations of the ...
of Tromra, fl. 13th/14th century *
Mahon mac Turlough Mantach Ó Briain Mathgamain mac Toirdhealbhach Mantach Ó Briain, Chief of the Name 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, of Inishmore in Galway Bay. They ...
,
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 ...
, died 1545 *
Alonzo Bosco Don Alonzo Bosco was a 16th-century Barbary corsair or Spanish pirate who, according to folk tradition on Inishbofin, Galway, settled on the island in the 16th century and built a castle where a Cromwellian-era ruined castle now stands. From ...
of Omey Island, pirate, fl. mid-16th century *
Grace O'Malley Grace O'Malley ( – c. 1603), also known as Gráinne O'Malley ( ga, Gráinne Ní Mháille, ), was the head of the Ó Máille dynasty in the west of Ireland, and the daughter of Eóghan Dubhdara Ó Máille. In Irish folklore she is commonly k ...
, pirate, c. 1530–c.1603 * William Óge Martyn, High Sheriff and Mayor of Galway, fl. 1566–1592


References

* ''Iar-Connacht'', Ruaidhrí Ó Flaithbheartaigh, 1684 * ''History of Galway'', p. 207, James Hardiman, 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 {{DEFAULTSORT:O Briain, Murrough mac Toirdelbach People from County Galway Irish lords Murrough