Must Do's ...
- Castles - Dromoland
- Cliffs of Moher
- The Burren
- Paddy Burke's bar
What You Can Skip ...
- not a thing!
Quin Abbey
Just down the road, in Quin Ireland, I came across St. Mary's Church. Behind it is a roofless abbey, famously known as Quin Abbey despite it was actually a friary.
Quin Abbey, only 5 miles outside Ennis, is an Irish Franciscan Monastery that was built in 1402-1433 by Sioda Cam MacNamara. An earlier monastery was located on this site but burned down in 1278. The location on the main route from Limerick to Galway made it a target for Normans, the English, and many others. During the Reformation, England's King Henry VIII confiscated the abbey and passed it to Conor O'Brien, Earl of Thomond. In about 1590, the MacNamaras regained control and again repaired and restored the abbey. Later, Oliver Cromwell, lovely man that he was, murdered the monks and destroyed the abbey. It was again restored in 1671. No one has lived in the abbey since 1820.
Seeing a pattern of MacNamaras and O'Briens being directly involved in this area of Ireland?
Dromoland Castle
Next, I visited Dromoland Castle located in Newmarket-on-Fergus, Ireland (now Dromoland Castle Hotel & Country Estate, a 5-star facility). The current building was finished in 1835, however, the first building built here was a 15th or early 16th century tower house built by Thomas, son of Shane Mac Anerheny. Later it became the residence of eight generations of the O'Brien clan, but earlier it is thought to have been occupied by other local Gaelic families including the McInerneys.
The McInerney sept was based in eastern Thomond and was first recorded in the early 14th century document 'Triumphs of Torlough' (Caithréim Thoirdhealbhaigh). The 'Triumphs of Torlough' referred to this sept on several occasions as being followers of the McNamaras. They were an offshoot of the McNamara clan descending to the 12th century Donnough MacNamara. McInerney translates back to 'son of the Lord of church lands.'
Murrough O'Brien, the first Earl of Thomond (granted by Henry VIII), listed Dromoland in his will in 1551. Dromoland went to his third son, Donough MacMurrough O'Brien. In 1582 Donough was hanged in Limerick for charges of rebellion, and the government forfeited all of this property to the Queen. Sir George Cusack, sheriff, took possession of Dromoland and years later Turlough O'Brien killed Cusack while the O'Briens re-possessed Dromoland.
Sir John Bernard Burke, a British officer and a genealogist, wrote of Dromoland in his Visitation of seats and arms of the noblemen and gentlemen of Great Britain (1855):
"... Dromoland one of the most beautiful and desirable residences in Ireland."
(I don't know whether or not I'm related to Sir John BB, but I will admit that my great great grandfather's name was John Burke. I doubt that he was a British officer given he ran with Jesse and Frank James. But that's a family story for another time.)
The history of this castle is endless, so I won't go further into it except to bring in a modern day twist that first requires a quick introduction to the O'Brien clan (as promised in my last two posts):
The O'Brien clan was founded in the 10th century by Brian Boruma (b 941 - d 1014) of the Dal gCais sept (or Dalcassians) and they rose to political prominence. After becoming King of Munster, Brian established himself as the High King of Ireland through conquest. His descendants took the name O'Brien and continued to rule Munster until the 12th century when their territory shrunk to the Kingdom of Thomond and of which they would hold for just under five centuries. Four O'Briens ruled in Munster, and two held the High Kingship of Ireland position (with great opposition). Thomond remained the heartland of the Dál gCais and its septs and is mostly associated with the O'Briens.
Interestingly, here's the modern day twist to the story...
Family and descendents of Brian Boruma reigned as Thomond's kings from the 930s to 1543, and then as Baron Inchiquin from 1543 to today. That's 1,080 consecutive years of reign by one family! Currently reigning as the 18th Baron Inchiquin is Sir Conor O'Brien, a thirty-second generation descendant of Boruma. He is also known simply as The O'Brien. (Chief of the Name is the title for the recognized head of a clan and is still in use where Gaelic traditions continue, such as the western counties of Ireland.) I may be incorrect, but I haven't found another such lengthy clan reign in Irish history.
And the twist continues:
As Ireland's economic crisis has greatly worsened over the last 2 weeks, countrymen are calling for a general election in January 2011. And guess who is being nominated for the position of President of Ireland? Yep, you guessed it. Sir Conor O'Brien! You may follow his progress, and even email him, on the O'Brien clan's official website.
So the question begs, because we are, afterall, in the year 2010 when social media is king, does The ÓBriain, Prince of Thomond, Chief of the Name, The 18th Baron Inchiquin, 10th Baronet of Leamaneh have a Facebook or MySpace page? Does he Tweet? Sadly, with the exception of a few 'fan' created profiles/pages, The O'Brien is not interactively social:
Sir Conor O'Brien For President - Facebook
Interesting, isn't it?
Next up: County Clare (part 3) ...
Cliffs of Moher, The Burren, Paddy Burke's, and more. I promise we'll complete the journey through Ireland before Christmas!
