Laughlin Ó Cellaigh,

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

- Irish

Lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...

, died 29 June 1646.

Background

Ó Cellaigh was a descendant of the

Kings of Uí Maine Uí Maine was the name of an Irish kingdom situated in south Connacht, consisting of all of County Galway east of Athenry, all of southern and central County Roscommon. In prehistory it was believed to have spanned the River Shannon, and in the 8t ...

, and cousin of the last attested king,

Feardorcha Ó Cellaigh Feardorcha Ó Cellaigh, 79th and last king of Uí Maine, 43rd Chief of the Name, fl. 1584-after 1611. Family background Ó Cellaigh was a native of Aughrim, County Galway. His father, Cellach Ó Cellaigh married Julia Ní Cellaigh, daughter of Ta ...

, (1593 – after 1611). He was the chief of his branch of the

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

, owning the castles of Mullaghmore, Garbally,

Moylough Moylough ( ; ) is a rural village located in County Galway, Ireland. As of the 2016 census, it had a population of 518. The village is in a civil parish of the same name. Moylough is northwest of Mountbellew and from Galway. It is located on ...

and Castleblakeney in north

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

. Laughlin is said to have been the last Ó Cellaigh inhabitant and owner of Moylough Castle. He was regarded as "a

chivalrous Chivalry, or the chivalric language, is an informal and varying code of conduct that developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It is associated with the medieval Christian institution of knighthood, with knights being members of various chival ...

man", and was kindly remembered in local folklore into the 20th century.

The Battle of Laught

Laughlin's brother, Tadhg Mór, resided a few miles away at Mullaghmore Castle, and was in dispute with Laughlin over possession of their lands and castles. Tadhg and his followers fought Laughlin and his army at Laught townland on 29 June 1646, during the

Irish Confederate Wars The Irish Confederate Wars, took place from 1641 to 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, all then ...

, Laughlin been defeated and killed. He was buried in Leacht, with the following

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

inscribed on his tomb:

"Oh people, who has seen so great a cause of pity since the Three Marys were watching the grave? Full of a castle of noble women. Trusting to one man and he was taken from them."

A second version of the conflict states that:

"Tradition says that at one time a great battle as fought at Leachtand many of the inhabitants lost their lives. At one time two chiefs, one from Williamstown and the other from Barnadeag owned all the land from Williamstown and barnadearg as far as Laught. However, they agreed to divide their land and that they should arise early on a certain morning and meet the other and where ever they should meet that would be the boundary." "The former was very greedy and haughty arose early, gathered an army and set out to meet his enemy. The latter was lazy and did not get up in time. He then set out with his army. Not agreeing with his brother and having the stronger army, he began to drive them back and the Williamstown army fled before the Barnadearg army. They continued their flight until they came to Laught and there they fought a pitched battle. The Williamstown chieftain was killed and was buried behind Boyle's shop. A memorial of stones and morter was erected to mark the place where he was buried.

Aftermath

Laughlin and his brother were first cousins of Tadhg Mór Ó Cellaigh of Aughrim and Tadhg Mór Ó Cellaigh of Castleblakeney. Together with Tadhg Mór Mullaghmore, "They were said to be the three best Tadhgs in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

." Several of their descendants were killed during the

Battle of Aughrim The Battle of Aughrim () was the decisive battle of the Williamite War in Ireland. It was fought between the largely Irish Army (Kingdom of Ireland), Irish Jacobitism, Jacobite army loyal to James II of England, James II and the forces of Will ...

Ballinasloe Ballinasloe ( ; ) is a town in the easternmost part of County Galway, Ireland. Located at an ancient crossing point on the River Suck, evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of Bronze Age sites. Built around a 12th-centur ...

, on 12 July 1691. The battle of Laught is notable in being one of the last pitched battles to have occurred in

prior to the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...

(1919–1922) and the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War (; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Emp ...

(1922–1923).

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20110711084422/http://genforum.com/kirwin/messages/29.html

References

* ''Until Gooseberries Grown on a Tongs: St. Joseph's National School, Ballinruane and the Surrounding Community'', pp. 317–18, pp. 324–325, ed. Ballinruane Committee Members, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:O Cellaigh, Laughlin Nobility from County Galway 1646 deaths Year of birth unknown People from Moylough