Notes

1. The author would like to acknowledge the detailed and insightful advice during the preparation of the article by Prof. Pádraig Ó Riain, Dr Michelle O Riordan, Dr Eoghan Ó Raghallaigh, Brian Ó Dálaigh, Donel De Barra, Katharine Simms, Martin Breen and Risteárd Ua Cróinín. The author also thanks Prof. Damian McManus for supplying the edited version of the poem.

2. The database can be accessed at http://bardic.celt.dias.ie and is the work of Dr Katharine Simms, Department of History, Trinity College Dublin.

3. On a discussion of shared characteristics of Gaelic and Anglo-Irish lordships see Kenneth W. Nicholls, “Worlds apart? The Ellis two-nation theory on late medieval Ireland”, History Ireland, Vol. 7 No.2, 1999, pp.22-26. On Anglo-Norman patronage of poets see Katharine Simms, “Bards and Barons: The Anglo-Irish Aristocracy and the Native Culture”, Medieval Frontier Societies, Robert Bartlett and Angus MacKay (eds), Claradon Press, Oxford, 1989, pp.177-197.

4. R.W. Twigge, “Edward White’s Description of Thomond in 1574”, North Munster Antiquarian Journal, Vol.1. No.2. 1910, pp.75-85, p.79. Seán Mac Conmara also held Knappogue castle. On the territory and political-economy of the West Clann Chuiléin lordship that was contemporaneous with the poem see Luke McInerney, “The West Clann Chuiléin Lordship in 1586: Evidence from a Forgotten Inquisition”, North Munster Antiquarian Journal, Vol. 48, 2008, pp.33-62.

5. According to S.J. Connolly, the pragmatic adoption of Irish customs by Anglo-Irish lords such as the employment of Gaelic poets, and genealogists, and the adoption of Irish local traditions of hospitality and feasting were means of acquiring status. S.J. Connolly, Contested Island: Ireland 1460-1630, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2007, p.35.

6. On elements of feudalism in the lordships of Thomond see Patrick Nugent, “The dynamics of parish formation in high medieval and late medieval Clare”, in The Parish in Medieval and Early Modern Ireland, Elizabeth Fitzpatrick & Raymond Gillespie (eds), Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2005, pp.186-208. The term ‘hybrid-feudalism’ refers to feudal practices in Gaelic lordships and the existence of a system of regulated exchange, alongside traditional concepts of kinship. These trends were in place in the high middle ages in Gaelic lordships and manifested themselves in the patronage of churches and religious houses, the increased use of primogeniture inheritance and the sub-infeudation of tenant-septs. On the use of the charter in Irish landholding and its feudalist implications see Marie Therese Flanagan, Irish Royal Charters: Texts and Contexts, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005.

7. The fiction of a shared pedigree between dominant clans and subordinate vassal-septs was invoked to support patron-client dependency and a hierarchical social structure. Despite the ideology of kinship which defined the patrimonial inheritance of septs, there was a constant emplacement of weaker vassal-septs by the proliferate branches of the chiefly lineage who expanded beyond the limit of the ruling lineage’s mensal lands.

8. S.J. Connolly, Contested Island: Ireland 1460-1630, p.11.

9. On the professional bardic poet’s extensive training and dexterity of language see Brian Ó Cuív, “The Linguistic Training of the Medieval Irish Poet”, Celtica, Vol.10, 1973, pp.114-140. For further information on poets and lawyers see David Green, “The Professional Poets”, in Brian Ó Cuív, Seven Centuries of Irish Learning 1000-1700, Stationery Office, Dublin, 1961, pp.45-57. On lawyers and chroniclers see D.A. Binchy “Lawyers and Chroniclers” in Brian Ó Cuív (ed.), Seven Centuries of Irish Learning 1000-1700, Mercier Press, Cork, 1971, pp.58-86 and Katharine Simms, ‘The Poetic Brehon Lawyers of the early sixteenth century Ireland’, Eriu, Vol.57, 2007, pp.121-132.

10. The infamous lampooning poetry of Aenghus Ó Dálaigh was repaid by a servant of the Gaelic lord, Ó Meachair, who stabbed the poet to death at a banquet in Tipperary in revenge for a satire on his master’s hospitality. Poet Tadhg Dall Ó hUigínn reputedly had his tongue cut out after he offended members of the Ó hEadhra lineage. See John O’Donovan (ed) The Tribes of Ireland: A Satire by Aenghus O’Daly, (1852), re-print Cork, 1976 p.23 & p.85. Bernadette Cunningham & Raymond Gillespie, Stories from Gaelic Ireland: Microhistories from the sixteenth-century Irish annals, Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2003, p.56.

11. In a treaty dated 1547 between Manus O’Donnell and his vassal O’Connor of Sligo, the satire of the poets was treated as a sanction equivalent to excommunication. Poetical satire and the dignity of the bardic class were regarded as a serious matter, on terms equal to the grades of dignity associated with the church. James Carney, The Irish Bardic Poet, Dublin, 1967, (re-print 1985), p.12.

12. Annals of the Four Masters sub anno 1599. Maoilín Óg Mac Bruaideadha was subsequently recorded in the same source as dying in 1602 and his patrimony can be identified at Ballyogan in Kilraghtis parish. Maoilín Óg Mac Bruaideadha is identified by the antiquarian R.W. Twigge as the author of RIA Ms 23.H.22 which was copied in 1803 from the genealogical roll written in c.1588 by Maoilín Óg. This roll recounts the genealogy of lineages that comprised the Uí Chaisín. See R.W Twigge, Materials for a History of Clann Cuilein, Add Ms 39266, British Library, Twigge Collection, p.315 & p.317.

13. Kenneth W. Nicholls, Gaelic and Gaelicised Ireland in the Middle Ages, Lilliput Press, Dublin, 2003, pp.93-94.

14. James Carney, The Irish Bardic Poet, p.24.

15. Bernadette Cuningham & Raymond Gillespie, Stories from Gaelic Ireland: Microhistories from the sixteenth-century Irish annals, p.51. I have borrowed the term ‘cultural capital’ from this work.

16. Kenneth W. Nicholls, Gaelic and Gaelicised Ireland in the Middle Ages, p.92.

17. See Seán Duffy (ed) et. al., Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia, Routledge, New York, 2005, p.35.

18. Ibid., p.100.

19. The fifteenth century ‘Gaelic revival’ saw monastic houses of the continental orders produce various manuscripts that drew on European learning and ideas. This manuscript, compiled at a Franciscan house in Clare (MS TCD F.5.3), is representative of this outpouring of religious scholarship and, in this particular instance, developed under the patronage of the Uí Bhriain kings of Thomond. Robin Flower, The Irish Tradition, pp.122-123.

20. Aoife Nic Ghiollamhaith, “Kings and Vassals in Later Medieval Ireland: The Uí Bhriain and the MicConmara in the Fourteenth Century”, Colony and Frontier in Medieval Ireland, Essays Presented to J. F. Lydon, eds., Terry Barry, Robin Frame & Katharine Simms, Hambledon Press, London, 1995, pp.201-216, p.203. The coarb and erenagh lineages also served as literati families and enjoyed quasi-clerical status. Many church lands in West Clann Chuiléin were monastic lands attached to religious houses and the termon lands distributed amongst parishes and vested under the bishopric of Killaloe. On some of the termon lands of these parishes see Luke McInerney, “Clerics and Clansmen: The Vicarages and Rectories of Tradraighe in the Fifteenth Century”, North Munster Antiquarian Journal, Vol, 48, 2008, pp.1-21, footnote 53.

21. The shared cultural and linguistic characteristics of Ireland and western Scotland facilitated cross-fertilisation of ideas and travel not just for ecclesiasts, but also the professional families. In the early thirteenth century we find members of the Uí Dhálaigh plying their talents in western Scotland. Muireadhach Ó Dálaigh, who travelled through Scotland on his way to Levant as part of the Fifth Crusade, and who is credited with founding the Scottish bardic lineage, the MacVurichs, is a case in point. Robin Flower, The Irish Tradition, pp.86-87.

22. On cattle raiding and generosity to the learned classes see Bernadette Cuningham & Raymond Gillespie, Stories from Gaelic Ireland: Microhistories from the sixteenth-century Irish annals, pp.32-33. It is suggested that the number of cattle seized in a raid was a specific quantity indicating a forced tribute, symbolic of extending the lordship of the ruling lineage. Poets and other learned men were often the beneficiaries of these seizures and incited their patrons to carry out raids to assert lineage rights and seek honour and status.

23. Michelle O Riordan, The Gaelic Mind and the Collapse of the Gaelic World, Cork University Press, Cork, 1990, p.10.

24. See, for example, the poem composed in c.1580 to Donough O’Brien, fourth Earl of Thomond, probably by Tadhg Mac Bruaideadha entitled Mór atá ar theagasc flatha (‘A major task to instruct a prince’).

25. On the contention see Lambert McKenna, (ed.) Iomarbhágh na bhfileadh: the contention of the bards. 2 pts. Irish Texts Society, Dublin, Vols 20 & 21, 1918.

26. David Edwards, “Two fools and a martial law commissioner: cultural conflict at the Limerick assize of 1606”, in Regions and Rulers in Ireland: 1100-1650: Essays for Kenneth Nicholls, David Edwards (ed.), Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2004, pp.237-265, p.250. It had become necessary from the 1580s for patrons to issue passports and signed passes to protect Gaelic poets from English officials who either killed or held poets for ransom under the pretence of anti-vagrancy and martial laws.

27. The Irish Fiants of the Tudor Sovereigns: During the Reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Phillip & Mary, and Elizabeth I, Éamonn de Búrca Publisher, Dublin, 1994, Fiant No.1845.

28. Brian Ó Dálaigh, “The Uí Mhaoilchonaire of Thomond”, Studia Hibernica, No.35, 2008-09. Also cited in Paul Walsh, “A Pretty Pair of Ruffians”, in Irish Chiefs and Leaders, Sign of the Three Candles Publishing, Dublin, 1960, pp.285-6.

29. Kenneth W. Nicholls, “Genealogy”, The Heritage of Ireland, Neil Buttimer, Colin Rynne, Helen Guerin (eds), The Collin Press, Cork, 2000, pp.156-160, p.157.

30. Annals of the Four Masters, sub anno 1572.

31. Brian Ó Cuív, “An Elegy on Donnchadh Ó Briain, Fourth Earl of Thomond”, Celtica, Vol.XVI, pp.87-105, p.89.

32. Bernadette Cunningham, “Native Culture and Political Change in Ireland, 1580-1640”, in Ciaran Brady & Raymond Gillespie (eds) Natives and Newcomers: Essays on the Making of Irish Colonial Society 1534-1641, Irish Academic Press, Dublin, 1986, pp.148-170, p.154.

33. A glance at the 1624 will of Donough O’Brien, fourth Earl of Thomond, shows that his office holders had English surnames and Richard Boyle, Earl of Cork, acted as executor of the will. This is in contrast to the will of Murrough O’Brien in 1551 which does not mention any individuals from outside of Thomond. See Brian Ó Dálaigh, “From Gaelic Warlords to English County Gentlemen: The O’Briens of Thomond 1543-1741”, The Other Clare, Vol.25, 2001, pp.40-42 and Brian Ó Dálaigh, “A comparative study of the wills of the first and fourth Earls of Thomond”, North Munster Antiquarian Journal, Vol.XXXIV, 1992, pp.48-63.

34. See the 1 April 1619 inquisition into the lands of the Earl of Thomond at Petworth House, Archives Chichester, West Sussex, Bundle B.26.T16. In 1622 nineteen freeholders of the Mac Conmara Fionn clan filed claims against the Earl of Thomond, including ‘McNamara Fionn of Dangan-i-viggin’ who claimed 50 land denominations. James Frost, A History and Topography of the County of Clare, reprint, Dublin, 1973, p.295.

35. On genealogies and their usefulness and limitations see Kenneth W. Nicholls, “The Irish Genealogies: Their Value and Defects”, The Irish Genealogist, Vol.5, No.2, 1975, pp.256-261. Nicholls discusses the Mac Conmara genealogies and refers to RIA Ms 23.L.37 which records the Mac Conmara lineage from c.1380 down to the eighteenth century and which was preserved by a succession of scribes who were copying from a literary exemplar. On the revival of the Uí Bhriain in the later middles ages see Seán Duffy (ed) et. al., Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia, p.459. Duffy dates the ‘Uí Bhriain revival’ from 1370 when Brian Sreamhach Ó Briain, King of Thomond, won a victory over the Earl of Desmond south of the Shannon and sacked Limerick. This left the Uí Bhriain one of the most powerful Gaelic dynasties in Ireland.

36. The Irish Fiants contain useful references to members of the learned families. For example, in 1602 “Donell oge O Hicky of BallymcDonell chirurgeon” [ie surgeon ] received a pardoned. Donell, as a surgeon, was following the hereditary occupation of the Uí Íceadha lineage in Killuran parish of Tulla barony. The Irish Fiants of the Tudor Sovereigns: During the Reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Phillip & Mary, and Elizabeth I, Fiant 6615, p.547.

37. R.W Twigge, Materials for a History of Clann Cuilein, Add Ms 39260, Twigge Collection, British Library, pp.180-6.

38. On a discussion of the West Clann Chuiléin lordship see Luke McInerney, “The West Clann Chuiléin Lordship in 1586: Evidence from a Forgotten Inquisition”, p.43 p.47 p.49, p.55.

39. See George U. Macnamara, “The O’Davorens of Cahermacnaughten, Burren, Co. Clare”, Journal of the North Munster Archaeological Society, Vol 2, Nos. 2 & 3, 1912, pp.63-93 and William O’Sullivan, “The Book of Ó Dhuibhdábhoireann, Provenance and Codicology”, Celtica, 23, 1999, pp.276-299.

40. See Bernadette Cunningham, “The Historical Annals of Maoilín Óg Mac Bruaideadha, 1588-1603”, The Other Clare, Vol.13, March, 1989, pp.21-24 and also Diarmuid Ó Murchadha “The origins of Clann Bhruaideadha”, Éigse: Journal of Irish Studies, No.31, 1999, pp.121-130. The Mac Bhruaideadha were responsible for compiling local annals in Thomond and reference to these annal entries may be distilled from compilations of various local annals under the stewardship of Mícheál Ó Cléirigh into one set of annals known as the Annals of the Four Masters.

41. See Fr Paul Walsh, Irish Men of Learning, Fleet St Publishing, Dublin, 1947, pp.34-48 and Brian Ó Dálaigh, “The Uí Mhaoilchonaire of Thomond”, Studia Hibernica, No.35, 2008-09.

42. The Mac Cruitín poets were attached to their patrons the Uí Lochlainn of the Burren and the Uí Bhriain of Ennistymon, but like the Uí Mhaoilchonaire clan they composed for the Mac Conmara.

43. See Martin Breen, “A 1570 List of Castles in County Clare”, North Munster Antiquarian Journal, Vol. XXXVI, 1995, pp.130-138 [q.v. State Papers of Ireland: Elizabeth, Vol XXX no. 68/1].

44. Fergal McGrath, Education in Ancient and Medieval Ireland, Studies, Special Publication, Dublin, 1979, p.211. On the Uí Throighthigh in Corcomroe see Annals of the Four Masters, sub anno 1002 and consider the notice at the end of the Tripartite manuscript which states that it was written in 1477 at Bailé an Mhoinin in the house of Ó Troighthigh. Eugene O’Curry, Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History, James Duffy publishing, Dublin, 1861, p.346.

45. Dermot F. Gleeson, A History of the Diocese of Killaloe, H. Gill & Son, Dublin, 1962, p.453. Also see Michael MacMahon, “The Charter of Clare Abbey and the Augustinian ‘Province’ in Co. Clare”, The Other Clare, Vol.17, 1993, pp.21-27.

46. See Sean Mac Ruaidhri Mac Craith, Caithréim Thoirdhealbhaigh: The Triumphs of Turlough, Standish Hayes O’Grady (ed), Irish Texts Society, London, 1929, Vol I & II.

47. Patrick Nugent, The Gaelic clans of Co. Clare and their territories 1100-1700 A.D, Geography Publications, Dublin, 2007, pp.92-95. The fourteenth century ‘O’Brien rental’ (Suim Cíosa Ua Brain) the Mac Fhlannchadha privileges are mentioned in connection to Túath Ghlae: “the immunities of the race of Flanchy” [ie.‘sil Flanncada’]. The date of this document is disputed, with Patrick Nugent in agreement with a late fourteenth century date and Kenneth W. Nicholls with c.1500.

48. See the Papal Registers for the year 1405 which refers to “Donatus Mclanchega” (Donnchadh Mac Fhlannchadha) holding the vicarage of Kilnasoolagh. The Papal Registers later record Donatus holding the rectory of Glae in Killilagh parish, which formed part of the Mac Fhlannchadha bailiwick, alluding to an early fifteenth century Glae-Kilnasoolagh connection. See J.A. Twemlow, Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland Vol. VI AD.1404-1415, His Majesty’s Stationary Office, London, 1904, p.42 and J.A. Twemlow, Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland Vol. VII AD.1417-1431, His Majesty’s Stationary Office, London, 1906, p.108. On this early connection also see Luke McInerney, “Clerics and Clansmen: The Vicarages and Rectories of Tradraighe in the Fifteenth Century”, p.14.

49. The chief descendant of this branch is recorded as signing the 1585 Composition Agreement as “Donogh mc Glanchi of the Urlion chief of his name”, while the senior lineage of the family based in Killilagh parish in Corcomroe were recorded as “Glanihie of Knocklynne”. A. Martin Freeman (ed), The Compossicion Booke of Conought, Irish Manuscripts Commission, Dublin, 1936, p.8 & p.11.

50. Annals of the Four Masters, sub anno 1483, 1492, 1576.

51. Annals of Connacht, sub anno 1415.

52. Annals of the Four Masters, sub anno 1514.

53. Ibid., 1563.

54. Ibid., 1602.

55. Diarmuid Ó Murchadha, “The Origins of Clann Bhruaideadha”, p.121.

56. Annals of the Four Masters, sub anno 1404.

57. The reference to ‘intended’ may indicate that he was in training or had been expected to be appointed to the position. Given the hefty investment in training and time, the high status and relative scarcity of members of hereditary professional families, death before graduation was likely to attract attention from learned chroniclers. See Annals of the Four Masters, sub anno 1436.

58. See RIA Ms 710. This poem is registered on the Irish bardic database.

59. Annals of the Four Masters, sub anno 1573.

60. Brian Ó Dálaigh, “The Uí Mhaoilchonaire of Thomond” Studia Hibernica, No.35, 2008-09. See, for example, Iollann Ó Maoilchonaire appearing as a juror in the 1586 inquisition into the lands held by Seán Mac Conmara, Lord of West Clann Chuiléin. His name appears on the document as “Ilund O Molchonre of Ardkyll”. See R.W Twigge, Materials for a History of Clann Cuilein, Add Ms 39260, Twigge Collection, British Library, pp.180-6, p.180.

61. Pádraig Ó Fiannachta, Clár Lámhscríbhinní Gaeilge Choláiste Phádraig Má Nuad, Má Nuad, 1968, fasc. v, l ch.1. William O’Sullivan suggests that the texts Auraicept na nÉces and Acallam in Dá Shuad were produced by Uí Mhaoilchonaire scribes at Ardkyle. See William O’Sullivan, “The Book of Ó Dhuibhdábhoireann, Provenance and Codicology”, p.290.

62. Kenneth W. Nicholls, “The Irish Genealogies: Their Value and Defects”, p.258. R.W Twigge quotes the colophon of the RIA Ms 23 L.37 as stating, “This genealogy was copied by Daibith O’Bruadar in the year 1671, the 8th March, from the Historical Book of Clann Uí Mhaoilchonaire which they compiled 60 years before that period ie. in the year 1611 and was rewritten in Cork by John Stack [Seaghan Stac], in the year of Salvation 1708”. See R.W Twigge, Materials for a History of Clann Cuilein, Add Ms 39264, Twigge Collection, British Library, p.16.

63. See Brian Ó Dálaigh, “The Uí Mhaoilchonaire of Thomond”, Studia Hibernica, No.35, 2008-09 and Petworth House Archives, Chichester, West Sussex, ‘Humble petition of Daniel oge O Mulconnery, 1638’, Ms 5402.

64. Bernadette Cunningham, “Native Culture and Political Change in Ireland, 1580-1640”, p.152. The legal schools, once the domain of the hereditary legalist families such as the Mac Fhlannchadha and Mac Aodhagáin suffered a similar fate, as evidenced by the confiscation of the lands of the Uí Dhuibhdábhoireann in the 1650s which certainly heralded the closure, if not earlier, of their school of law and poetry at Cahermacnaughten in the Burren.

65. See Patrick Nugent, “The Dynamics of the Clan System in Fourteenth Century Clare”, County Clare Studies, Ciarán Ó Murchadha, Clare Archaeological and Historical Society, Ennis, 2000, pp.55-71 and entry for the year 1332 in Annalium Hiberniae Chronicon ad annum MCCCXLIX (The Annals of Ireland) by Friar John Clyn.

66. On the rise of Clann Mhic Chonmara see Aoife Nic Ghiollamhaith, “Kings and Vassals in Later Medieval Ireland: The Uí Bhriain and the MicConmara in the Fourteenth Century”.

67. By the 1400s Uí Chaisín was called Clann Chuiléin and was the territory of the McNamara Reagh and McNamara Fionn clans. The division of Uí Chaisín occurred after the death of Lochlain Mac Conmara in 1366. His two half sons, Teige and Aodh, agreed to the division of lands which Teige retained the lands of West Clann Chuiléin and Aodh in East Clann Chuiléin. N.C. MacNamara, The Story of an Irish Sept: Their Character and Struggle to Maintain their Lands in Clare, [1896] Re-published by Martin Breen, 1999, p.138. On genealogical references that cite the Fionn and Reagh septs of the Mac Conmara see the recording of “Meic Conmara Fhind” and “Meic Conmara Ríabaigh” and an interesting recording of another Mac Conmara sept-branch “Fer an Rosa Rúaidh” (‘the men of Rosroe’) in Séamus Pender (ed) O’Clery Book of Genealogies, Analecta Hibernica: No.18, Irish Manuscript Commission, Dublin, 1951 pp.152-153.

68. See the Mac Conmara genealogical table in R.W. Twigge, The Pedigree of John MacNamara, Esquire, with some Family Reminiscences, 1908, re-print Martin Breen, Ruan 2006.

69. On specific genealogies of Mac Conmara sept-branches settled at Rathlaheen and elsewhere see Seán Ó hÓgáin, Conntae an Cláir: a Triocha agus a Tuatha, Oifig an tSolátair, Baile Átha Cliath, 1938, pp.140-143.

70. These include Uí Ronghaile, Uí Chonghaile, Uí Chearnaigh and Uí Ainmire, Uí Fhloinn, Uí Dhonghaile, Uí Thoirdhealbhaigh, Gleann Omra and Tuath Echtghe, all of which later comprised the rural deanery of ‘Omulled’.

71. Gaelic lords also raised revenue from their lucht tighe, or mensal lands, that provided food-stuffs to their household and where subinfeuded tenant-septs were often settled. Kenneth W. Nicholls, Gaelic and Gaelicised Ireland in the Middle Ages p.37 & p.40.

72.The practice of cuid oidhche was universal in Gaelic lordships and was also extant in the Scottish Highlands. See Robert A. Dodgshon, “Modeling chiefdoms in the Scottish Highlands and Islands prior to the ’45”, Celtic Chiefdom, Celtic State: The Evolution of Complex Social Systems in Prehistoric Europe, Bettina Arnoldt (ed), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995, pp.99-109, p.104. Dodgshon points out the ruling ‘chiefly lineage’ was keen to secure tenants to improve agricultural output and boost food stores that could be used to entice small septs to ally with larger lineages. The chiefly lineage demonstrated their power through feats and control of food resources.

73. Michelle O Riordan, The Gaelic Mind and the Collapse of the Gaelic World, Cork University Press, Cork, 1990, p.3. The espousal of a king or lord to his territory and its fertility is an enduring theme in bardic poetry. On landscape features in poems also see Katharine Simms, “References to Landscape and Economy in Irish Bardic Poetry”, Surveying Ireland’s Past: Multidisciplinary Essays in Honour of Anngret Simms, Howard B. Clarke (ed) et al, Geography Publications, Dublin, 1994, pp.145-168.

74. On the descent of the Mac Fhlannchadha and Mac an Oirchinnigh from the Mac Conmara Fionn see RIA Ms 23. N12 pp.186-187 and RIA Ms 23 L.37. The latter text dates from c.1380. See Kenneth W. Nicholls, “The Irish Genealogies: Their Value and Defects”, p.258. On the Mac an Oirchinnigh lineage also see RIA Ms 23.H22, p.11 which, according to the antiquarian R.W. Twigge, was copied in 1803 from a genealogical roll written in c.1588 by Maoilín Óg Mac Bruaideadha, seanchaidhe of the O’Brien family of Thomond. See R.W Twigge, Materials for a History of Clann Cuilein, Add Ms 39266, British Library, Twigge Collection, p.315 & p.317.

75. On the Uí Mhaoilchaoine see RIA Ms 23. N12, pp.186-187.

76. On the Uí Chunnaigh see RIA Ms 23.H 25, p.84.

77. Rev. Patrick Woulfe, Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames, Dublin, H. Gill & Son, 1923, p.339.

78. Nollaig Ó Muraíle (ed)., Leabhar Mór na nGenealach [The Great Book of Irish Genealogies], Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh, Vol. III., De Búrca, Dublin, 2003, p.693.

79. On their respective position in the lordship and the lands held in 1586 see Luke McInerney, “The West Clann Chuiléin Lordship in 1586: Evidence from a Forgotten Inquisition”.

80. Clerics of both septs feature in the Papal Registers respectively from 1405 and 1411 in and around the parishes of Kilnasoolagh and Kilmaleery. See Luke McInerney, “Clerics and Clansmen: The Vicarages and Rectories of Tradraighe in the Fifteenth Century”, p.14.

81. Seán Mac Ruaidhri Mac Craith, Caithréim Thoirdhealbhaigh: The Triumphs of Turlough, Vol II p.38-41, 96, p.138.

82. For a list of McClancy castle occupiers in 1570 see Martin Breen, “A 1570 List of Castles in County Clare”, North Munster Antiquarian Journal, Vol. XXXVI, 1995, pp.130-138, pp.131-133 and for 1574 see R.W. Twigge, “Edward White’s Description of Thomond in 1574”, p.77.

83. See, for example, RIA Ms 23. N12 pp.186-187 which states that Néill was the brother of the Mac Conmara chief Meanmon. According to the Annals of the Four Masters, Meanmon, ancestor to the ruling Mac Conmara lineage, died in 1014 [q.v. “Meanma, son of the lord of Uí-Caisín, died”].

84. On the status of the sixteenth century Mac an Oirchinnigh see Luke McInerney, “Land and Lineage: The McEnerhinys of Ballysallagh in the Sixteenth Century”, North Munster Antiquarian Journal, 2009, pp.1-26.

85. This relationship is set down in several Mac Conmara pedigrees including RIA Ms 23 N.12, pp.187-189 which states: “Cúmara—dá dearbhráithir Donnchadh sinnsir Chloinne an Oirchinnigh, [agus] Maoileachluinn ó bhfuilid Clann Uí Mhaoilchaoine”. Also see RIA Ms 23. L37 pp.172-173 whose original exemplar dates from c.1380 and states: “Bhádar tri mic lais a nDomhnall sin .i. Cu Mara a quo Clann Mheigh Conmara. Donchadh Oirchinneach a quo Clann Mhic an Oirchinnicch. Maolseachluin Mainech a quo gabhul Mhaoilseachluinn Mhainicc”. Also see Luke McInerney, ‘Survey of the McInerney Sept of Thomond: Part I’, The Other Clare, vol. 31, 2007, pp. 67-72 .

86. The Irish genealogies may be taken as relatively accurate, especially when their entries can be corroborated against an annalistic source. Given the political expediency underpinning the production of genealogies, it is no surprise that some were manufactured to suit political ambitions. The genealogies of the Mac Conmara are confused for the fourteenth century – a period of unrest and instability. Kenneth W. Nicholls, “The Irish Genealogies: Their Value and Defects”, The Irish Genealogist, p.258. Also see Kenneth W. Nicholls, “Genealogy”, pp.158-159.

87. The ability to ‘bind’ sept-lineages and client farmers to the ruling lineage was critical as economic exchange, to a large degree, rested on noble lineages extending their sway – through the supply of public goods like protection and food security – over clients and maintaining them as food and tribute renders.

88. This area fell under the colonisation of east Clare by the Mac Conmara Reagh in the fourteenth century, but the chief vassal lineage of the túath were the Uí Ghráda who held extensive ecclesiastical lands at Tearmann Uí Ghráda in nearby Tuamgraney parish. Patrick Nugent, The Gaelic clans of Co. Clare and their territories 1100-1700 A.D, p.148.

89. See the reference to Kilkeedy parish in John O’Donovan & Eugene Curry, The Antiquities of County Clare: Letters containing information relative to the Antiquities of the County of Clare collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1839, (republished), CLASP Press, Ennis Ireland, 1997. According to O’Donovan, “At the townland of Monreagh [Kilkeedy parish] is situated the bridge and ford of Lochid, mentioned by Cormac MacCullenan in a poem on the boundaries of Thomond, and by Keating in the reign of Diarmaid, son of Fergus Cairbheoil, as Bealach na Luchaide. It is referred to by the Four Masters under the year 1564.” On Luchaid bridge in Inchiquin barony see Diarmuid Ó Murchadha, “A review of some placename material in Foras Feasa ar Éirinn”, Éigse, Vol.XXXV, 2005, pp.81-98, p.84. On Uí Bhriain control of Kilkeedy see R. Simington, Books of Survey and Distribution, Vol. 4, Clare, The Stationery Office, Dublin, 1967, pp.497-507.

90. There are some 38 poems lodged at the Royal Irish Academy that are attributed to Aindrias Mac Cruitín. I am grateful for advice on the holdings of the RIA by Bernadette Cunningham.

91. Other known manuscripts include Maynooth Ms M107; RIA Ms 488 (23.N.12); RIA Ms 491(23.E.16); and Maynooth Ms M.2.M. With the exception of the latter source these manuscripts date from the eighteenth century.

92. Little is known about the technique of poetical composition. According to a 1722 account by Thomas O’Sullivan from Tipperary, hereditary poetic families tutored students in remote places where, in a bardic school, students worked in cubicles furnished with beds. Students would recline on the beds in darkness and perfect poetical compositions before committing them to manuscript form and criticism by learned masters. Typically, the training lasted for six to seven years, though classes ran from November to March. Robin Flower, The Irish Tradition, pp.95-96.

93. Kenneth W. Nicholls, Gaelic and Gaelicised Ireland in the Middle Ages, p.95.

94. On bardic poetry as a source for historical research see Katharine Simms, “Bardic poetry as a historical source”, in T. Dunne (ed.), The Writer as Witnesses, Historical Studies XVI, Cork, 1987, pp.58-75.

95. Brian Boru’s royal residence nearby Killaloe.

96. The septs that comprised the Clann Coiléin mentioned in the Caithréim Thoirdhealbhaigh included: McInerneys, O’Hartigans, O’Kinergans, O’Halys, McConduffs, O’Meehans, McBinys, O’Keatys, McGraths, O’Kelechars, O’Quinns O’Gerans, O’Molonys, O’Malleys, O’Hallorans, O’Currys, O’Slatterys, and O’Hessias. Notably absent are the O’Mulqueenys and McClancys (anglicised forms).

97. This could also read as ‘Ardchoill - that sanctuary of learning’, as róimh (Rome) in this context indicates a learned central place and is without capitalisation.

98. Probably an archaic reference to the mythical Lughaidh, son of Ith, the first (Milesian) discoverer of Ireland, and his original patrimony in mid Munster (ie. Waterford and Tipperary).

99. Lugaidh Meann, third century king of Munster of the Dál gCais tribe, took from Connaught the territory afterwards called the County of Clare, and added it to north Munster (Tuadhmhumha). Although the Dál gCais claimed kinship to the royal Eóghanacht, they belonged to the Munster Déisi tribe based between Waterford, south Tipperary and west Limerick. While legends point to their conquest of east Clare in the third century, their historical expansion can only be dated to the early eighth century.

100. Mín Mumhan also read as ‘fine-pasture of Munster’.

101. Cláire fort situates in County Limerick. Cliú (Cliach) is a territory in eastern Limerick and south Tipperary and historically was associated with the overlord Eóghanacht dynasty and later the tribal group known as the Déisi Tuisceart, or Dál gCais. The barony of Owney in modern Limerick was historically called Uaithne Cliach.

102. Dún Eochair Maighe was a fort situated at Bruree in south-west Limerick and built by Brian Boru on a royal stronghold that dated from the time of Oilioll Ólum, second century king of Munster.

103. The Annals of the Four Masters records for 1369 that after Limerick capitulated to the forces of Brian Ó Briain, Síoda Cam Mac Conmara assumed wardenship of the town but was treacherously slain by the English of Limerick.

104. Rosroe is in Kilmurry-na-gall parish.

105. This could alternatively be read as “The four beautiful quarters of the yew-tree”.

106. Rathlaheen is in Tomfinlough parish.

107. Ballintlea is in Kilfintinan parish.

108. Aimhréidhe could be read as ‘dissension’.

109. Ballyogan is in Kilraghtis parish.

110. The clans that composed the Uí Bhloid included: O’Aherns, O’Shanahans, O’Gradys, O’Kennedys, O’Duracks , O’Connollys, O’Muldoons, O’Lonergans, O’Moloneys (anglicised forms).

111. This stanza appears to refer to the original patrimony of the Uí Bhloid in east Clare and the fourteenth century expansion of the Mac Conmara into their territories.

112. This may refer to the kinship between the Uí Bhloid and Clann Chaisín who both descended from Cas.

113. This line connects the Uí Bhriain, as the leading Dál gCais lineage, to the ancient territory of Cliú (Cliach) that is located in eastern Limerick and southern Tipperary and was where the Déisi Tuisceart tribe expanded from into Clare. An important branch of the Uí Bhriain settled at Pubblebrien during the middle ages which was contiguous with the ancient territory of Cliú.

114. Alternatively translated as ‘rather than the strict wage’.

115. An ghasradh ghreadach ghrádhach could also read as, ‘the beloved youths rich in horses [studs]’.

116. This appears to be Seán Mac Conmara, chieftain of West Clann Chuiléin. This stanza may refer to his inauguration as taoiseach in 1571.

117. This refers to another sept of the Mac Conmara fionn lineage. Teige was the grandson of Mac Con Mór who flourished in c.1329. Teige was related to the four sons of Mac Con Mór enumerated in stanza nine as his father was Lochlainn who, according to one genealogy, was another son of Mac Con Mór. See the pedigree in R.W. Twigge, The Pedigree of John MacNamara, Esquire, with some Family Reminiscences.

118. The recounting of the progenitor of the Mac Fhlannchadha lineage is in agreement with the Mac Conmara genealogies. See RIA Ms 23 N.12, pp.187-189 and RIA Ms E.iv.4. f.28.

119. Also read as ‘behold the line of great numbers’.

120. The recounting of Donnchadh, the son of Domhnall as the progenitor of the Mac an Oirchinnigh lineage is in agreement with the Mac Conmara genealogies. See RIA Ms 23 N.12, pp.187-189 and RIA Ms 23. L37, pp.172-173.

121. Síol lámhghlan – ‘progeny/seed of clean hands’ might be poetical metaphor for a now obscure meaning. While referring to the Mac an Oirchinnigh descent this reference might infer the historic airchinneach occupation of Clann an Oirchinnigh and their ‘unblemished’ lineage and ecclesiastical connection. Bardic poets were a mandarin class who sought to extract multi-layered meanings from words using complicated syntax, allowing them to communicate subtleties to a learned few who could appreciate their dexterity of verse.

122. Ádhbhor while easily confused with adhbhor meaning ‘heir/successor’, rhymes with the previous lámhghlan as both share a long first syllable. It is assumed that ádhbhor is a corrupt spelling of ághmhar meaning warlike.

123. Rineanna is in Kilconry parish and exposed to the Shannon river to the west and south.

124. This is Clonrush parish in northeast Clare next to Lough Derg.

125. This is Kilkeedy parish in Inchiquin barony where the Bridge of Lochaid situated and was mentioned by Geoffrey Keating as spanning the boundary of the Connaught and the territory of the Dál gCais.

126. Read ttarrang as tarraing meaning ‘drawing’. An alternative reading for ttarrang’ is dtárainn meaning confines/territory.

127. Slieve Feilim mountains in eastern Limerick and south-west Tipperary.