In the previous post, we covered the period from Richard De Clares death in 1318 to the arrival of the Cromwellians. Here we go back to cover the period from the death of his father, Thomas De Clare to Richards death at the battle of Dysert O’Dea. It is also a short history of the Clan Cúilean sept, particularly the MacNamaras, and the complicated allegiances that were formed between them and the Anglo Normans.
Extract from George Unthank McNamara’s book ‘Who Built Bunratty Castle’.
1287
Death of Thomas De Clare
1301, July 6.
A mandate is issued by King Edward I. ordering John de Wogan, Justiciar, and Thomas Cantok, Chancellor of Ireland, to take proof of the age of Gilbert, son and heir of Thomas de Clare, deceased. The writ was delivered at le Naas on May 10th, 1302, and proof taken by inquisition at Cashel on September 22 following. The jurors found that Thomas de Clare died on August 29, 1287; that his son and heir, Gilbert, was born at Limerick, and baptised by the Bishop of that diocese on February 3, 1281, and that he was 21 years of age on morrow of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary (February 2) last past, i.e., the same day on which he was baptized. (Inq. 164, 29 Edw. I.)
1306
King Turlough mór dies on April to of this year, and his victorious lieutenant and chief support, Cúmedha mór Mac Conmara, follows him to the grave on the 15th of August following. They are buried side by side in the choir of the friary church of Ennis. (A.F.M., Cath. Toir., Ann Nenacht).
1307
Richard, younger son of Thomas De Clare, is found by inquisition to be heir to his brother Gilbert, and was then 22 years old (Inquisition 1307).
1308
Richard de Clare is at Stockton, England, on the Thursday before the feast of SS. Simon and Jude, i.e., October 28 (Cal. Rot. Claus. Ang.). His elder brother, Gilbert, died this year without issue male, and Richard became his heir, being then in or about 24 years old. By writ dated October 26, 1309, Richard de Clare was summoned to Parliament as a Baron.
1309, June 9th
Richard de Clare gets grant of protection for going to Ireland (Cal. of Pat. R.) He probably crossed without delay, making Bunratty his headquarters, for the following year (1310) the King issues an order commanding him and King Donough to make peace. (Rot. Pat. 4 Edw. II., 84.)
The lands of Gilbert de Clare were still in the King’s hands on September 15, 1309, for on that date he ordered the Escheator of Ireland to assign a reasonable dower to Isabel, Gilbert’s widow. Richard de Clare must have had seisin some time between this date and Michaelmas term, 13I0, when he was sued by Isabel for the detention of her third part of Bunratty. (Plea Roll.)
1311, May 20.
Sir William de Burgo, with the men of Connacht, and many of the “foreigners” of Meath, attack De Clare, who was posted on the great hill north of Bunratty castle to oppose them. A desperate encounter ensues, in which, according to the Irish accounts, De Clare was defeated; but De Burgo, following some of the fugitives, got separated from the main body of his troops, when he and thirteen nobles and twelve of his men were taken prisoners, and, of course, lodged in Bunratty.
Sir William’s standard-bearer, Sir John Cruach (Cruise or Croke ?) and many others were slain by Dermod (son of Donough, son of Brian Ruadh), now on the side of De Clare, in their retreat into Connacht, through Quin and Luchat. (Ann. Clon., A.F.M., Bodleian Ann. Inisf., Ann. Loch Ce, etc.)
Just before this battle Richard de Clare had raided Ui Fearmaic. (Inchiquin barony) and Ui Donghaile (O’Grady’s country with an army of English and Irish, and burned the vill of Tullyodea. (Ann, Inisf., Bod.)
1313
De Clare hangs at Bunratty three of the four hostages he received a short time before from the Namara, viz the eldest son of Maccon and the two sons of Lochlainn. The fourth, Mahone, son of Cumedha mór, is spared at the prayers of the clergy, on paying the sum of go marks. (Cath. Toir.)The castle was a safe hold for De Clare’s prisoners, and a sure refuge of strength for his Irish backers. He was, however, fast laying up for himself a store of hate which one day, and that not far distant, was to be his ruin.
1314
Richard de Clare journeys to England this year. (Ann. Inisf., Bod.)
1315
He is again returned to Ireland, and receives 10o marks in payment of his services against the “rebels of Leinster. (Excheq. Remem., 1315, No. 543.)
13Іб.
He this year gets a “pardon” because of the expenses incurred by him in assisting in the war against the Scots in Ireland. (Cal. Pat. R,. g Edw. II.)
He and Richard de Birmingham make a great slaughter of the Irish in Connacht. (Grace.)
1317
Lord Richard de Clare goes to attend Parliament in “Dublin’s walled and ditch-protected city.” (Cath. Toir.) King Murtough, son of Turlough mór, also attends this Parliament. (Grace). During their absence the important battle of Corcomroe is fought, in which Dermod O’Brien (brother of King Murtough) and Maccon Mac Conmara, give a crushing defeat to Donough (son of Donall, son of Brian ruadh), who had allied himself closely with De Clare, in which there was great slaughter. (Cath, Toir.) This defeat prepared the way for Richard de Clare’s downfall in the following year.
1318.
An unsuccessful attempt at a peaceful settlement between De Clare and King Murtough is made early in May of this year. By pre-arrangement the Thomond chiefs meet him, Mahone O’Brien and the other nobles, in the City of Limerick, under the securities of Sir Edmond Butler, Sir Maurice Fitz Thomas, and Sir William óg de Burgo, for they feared to trust De Clare: The latter, unfortunately for himself, refuses all terms of peace, and a struggle to the bitter end becomes inevitable. He returns that night to Bunratty by boat; the Irish chiefs pass over the Cratloe hills to Tulla-their hearts full of mutual hate.
1318, May 8.
De” Clare, ” Mahone O’Brien, and Brian bán O’Brien (grandson of Brian ruadh), with their forces, march to Quin, where they rest for the night. De Clare sleeps in the Church of St. Finghen (probably built by his father, Sir Thomas), the ruins of which still exist west of the stream.
May 9. They continue their march westwards towards Dysert O’Dea, where they hope to commit great depredations and secure a large prey, cross the Fergus at the ford of Coradh Neill and moving on to Ruan, again encamp.
THE BATTLE OF DYSERT O’ DEA, 1318.
May 1o. Feast of St. Epimachus and Gordianus (Grace).
“5 Idus Mail. die Jovis in mane” (Clyn).
” As morning broke he [De Clare] wondered, at the stillness of the country round about, just as if everyone had been at peace with him:” So says John, son of Rory, Mac Craith; with thinly-veiled sarcasm; but it is needless to say that the learned historian of the war knew well the reason of that peace, and so did De Clare. It was because the inhabitants were already aware of his arrival in their midst, and of his intention to kill their women and their silly [little] boys; to waste the land in all directions, and sweep away their cattle and effects to his own strong den at Bunratty. They consequently withdrew themselves and their belongings with all haste from his withering presence, and sent the hateful news of his coming to King Murtough and Maccon Mac Conmara, who were then in East Clare. They had also sent messengers to Feilimidh O’Connor, Chief of Corcomroe, and to O’Hehir, to come to their assistance.
But the grim and vengeful De Clare and his tough backers, Mahone O’Brien of Inchiquin (sl. 1320) and the aspiring Brian bán (sl. 1350), recked little of the landscape’s quiet beauty as they reconnoitred the country from the hill over Ruan, and looked westwards towards the homes of their intended victims. Nought cared they for God’s fair “lilies of the field”; their thoughts ran altogether in another groove-in one of battle and of spoil.
The roads in those days, with few exceptions, took practically the course of the present highways, and it is easy for anyone having an intimate knowledge of the district to understand De Clare’s strategy, and trace his movements on the occasion, from the description given by MacCraith, who is our sole reliable authority, and knew the country perfectly.
De Clare formed his plan of battle thus :—Starting from his encampment at Ruan, he divided his forces into three divisions.
His left he sent through Cineal Cualachta, that is to say, the district around Ballygriffy, and on by Magowna; his right wing he directed north by Tullyodea, whence it was to curve to the west by Cooga and Cragmoher, and thence, by the ancient road still existing, to Rath. His centre, which De Clare commanded in person, he led “due west” by the direct road, through Ballymacrogan, Kilkee and Drumcavan, “straight as might be,” to his objective, Dysert O’Dea, where at that time O’Dea’s residence was, to sack it, and where all three roads, and also that over Scool hill from Corcomroe, meet. The disposition of his forces might be likened to an ancient penannular brooch, the circular part thereof representing the wings-far spread out and extended so as to gather in all the booty possible-while he himself and his mail-clad men formed, as it were, the central pin-straight, sharp and irresistible. All were ta concentrate on Dysert, and meet there with their preys, with which they intended to return victorious to Bunratty. But fate decided otherwise, for they never met until it was too late, and few returned.
Before the other divisions had time to come up, De Clare with his advance guard of mail-clad knights and men-at-arms, who were well in front of his central division, arrived at Dysert by the ancient road, which until lately passed north of the church, between it and the castle, just when Conor O’Dea and his kerne were driving the last herd of cattle westwards across the stream? for safety to the mountains. Richard de Clare, like his father, had the reputation of being a cruel, crafty, and treacherous man, but, nursed as he was in war from his earliest years, it is only just to say that his courage and prowess as a soldier were undoubted. Indeed his impetuous bravery on this occasion was his undoing. He and his men “in furious temper” at once charged on O’Dea and his hand-ful; but the latter had a small reserve in ambush not far from the brook, who at once came to his assistance. The greater part of these turn on the main body of De Clare’s division, now fast ap-proaching, in order to hold the ford against them and prevent their crossing; while the rest joined O’Dea in his encounter at the ford with De Clare and his body guard. But he, weighted with heavy
armour and in such narrow space, “before the overwhelming strength of his reserves could succour him, the O’Deas killed both himself and every man that he had with him. Howbeit, those Gael, so many of them as lived, were forced to refuge in a neighbouring wood, and there their assailants make of themselves a battle-hedge to surround them.”
Though De Clare and his bodyguard were now disposed of, O’Dea and his small force were in a very parlous position, surrounded as they were by a numerous body of the enemy, when, in the nick of time, “over the hill of Scool, out of the West, here comes red-sworded Feilimidh O’Conor” and his merry men from Corcomroe, who without any delay join the remnant in the wood, and so once more the tide of battle flows in favour of the Irish.
But the wings of De Clare’s army, which had been sweeping bare the rich lands round Rath and Moygowna, now come up in great numbers, “abandoning their preys and enormous plunder,” and press the Irish so hard that they “form themselves into a fast impenetrable phalanx that their enemies should not break through them,” and hold their ground fighting obstinately hand to hand.
At this stage of the battle Mac Craith asserts that a son of Richard de Clare, who, after he saw his father slain, had quite lost his wits, “rushing at all and sundry,” was killed by Feidhlimidh O’Conor, who “wounds and re-wounds and triple-wounds the Englishman, and in all his gentlemen’s despite, converted him on the spot into a disfigured corpse.”
The battle was even now undecided, and the chances looked very, bad for the Irish, when Lochlainn O’Hehir and a few of his followers come upon the scene and bring welcome help to their friends so sorely pressed. But hold !—Who are those warriors coming out of the East, with banners gaily flying, and now moving fast towards the battle-centre? Are they friends or are they foes? The answer is not left long in doubt, for the sore-beset Gael soon recognise the standards of King Murtough leading on his troops and Maccon Mac Conmara at the head of Clann Cuilein.
These had that morning made a forced march from East Clare, yet weary, footsore, and dust-begrimed though they be, they fall with fury on the English rear, and quickly decide the fortunes of the day. De Clare’s forces at last finally give way, and the battle becomes a rout, each man thinking only of his own safety. All who were able to do so, both the English and their Irish auxiliaries, among whom were Mahone O’Brien and Brian bán, flee with all speed as best they could towards Bunratty. “So dour the hand to hand work was, that nor noble nor commander of them left the ground but the far greater part fell where they stood.”
The battle of Dysert O’Dea is now lost and won. It certainly “was a famous victory,” and had far-reaching results, for it gave the fair land of Thomond as an inheritance to the descendants of King Turlough mór and his allies for near 350 years, until an adverse fate—that mysterious and unseen force against which no son of Adam may successfully contend—by the ruthless hand of Cromwell, dispossessed them.
Lord Richard de Clare, with four of his knights, viz., Sir Henry de Capella, Sir Thomas de Naas, Sir James de Caunton, and Sir John de Caunton, one Adam Apelgard and 80 men, lay dead upon the field according to Pembridge; but this historian probably only enumerates the English slain, the Irishmen killed on both sides being to him of no account. This author also says that De Clare’s body was cut into fragments by the victors through hatred of him.
This statement, I think, is highly improbable, for his remains, and probably those of the other nobles slain, as well as those of his supposed son-were brought to Limerick, and there interred in the Friary of St. Francis. This could not possibly have been done without the consent of the victorious Irish, and proves that there was no lack of humanity on their part, much as they hated him.
Mac Craith is the sole authority for the statement that a son of Richard de Clare was killed in this battle by the hand of Feidlimidh O’Conor, but whose Christian name he does not give. He is not corroborated in this by a single reference in the English records, which nowhere allude directly or indirectly to such a son. Richard de Clare was 22 years old in the first year of Edward II., i.e., 1307-08, therefore he was only 33 or thereabouts when he fell at Dysert O’Dea.