Carbery West

Last updated

Carbery West (Irish : Cairbrigh Thiar [l 1] ) is a barony in County Cork in Ireland. [l 1] It has been split since the nineteenth century into East and West Divisions (an Roinn Thoir/Thiar). [l 1] [l 2]

Contents

Baronies were created after the Norman invasion of Ireland as divisions of counties and were used the administration of justice and the raising of revenue. While baronies continue to be officially defined units, they have been administratively obsolete since 1898. However, they continue to be used in land registration and in specification, such as in planning permissions. In many cases, a barony corresponds to an earlier Gaelic túath which had submitted to the Crown.

History

Originally Carbery West formed a single Barony of Carbery with Carbery East. [1] This was essentially a small, semi-independent kingdom, ruled over by the MacCarthy Reagh dynasty from the 13th through 16th centuries, that broke away from the larger Kingdom of Desmond. Patrick Weston Joyce said the name Carbery comes from Uí Chairpre Áebda, of which a sept, the O'Donovans under Cathal Ua Donnubáin, migrated to the area c.1300 after being driven from County Limerick by the Fitzgeralds. [2] The antiquarian Canon John O'Mahony disagreed, and offered three alternatives: Cairpre founder of Dál Riata; or Cairbre of Uibh Laoghaire; or the Ui Carbre of Corcu Loígde, from whom Rosscarbery in the barony of Carbery East is named. [3] However, supporting the first theory is that the O'Donovans, such as Crom Ua Donnabáin, are closely associated with earliest MacCarthys in the area, and soon became their chief vassals, holding approximately 100,000 acres (400 km2) right in the middle of the medieval barony. [4]

In the early 17th century, Leamcon (near Schull [5] :41,68) was a pirate stronghold, while Baltimore's economy depended heavily on piracy. [5] :54–57

Location and settlements

Carbery West is bordered by the baronies of Carbery East to the east and Bantry to the north. [6] To the south and west is a long indented coastline; the Celtic Sea as far west as Mizen Head, and thence around Dunmanus Bay to Bantry Bay. [6]

East Division settlements

Settlements in the division include Baltimore, [l 3] Bredagh Cross, [l 4] Castletownshend, [l 3] Drimoleague, [l 3] Drinagh, [l 4] Leap, [l 3] Skibbereen, [l 5] and Union Hall. [l 3]

Other features include Clear Island [l 4] [l 6] and Sherkin Island. [l 6]

West Division settlements

Settlements in the division include Ballydehob, [l 7] Goleen, [l 8] Schull, [l 7] and Templemartin. [l 8]

Other features include Sheep's Head. [l 9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of Desmond</span> Kingdom in southwest Ireland (1118–1596)

The Kingdom of Desmond was a historic kingdom in southwestern Ireland. It was founded in 1118 by Tadhg Mac Cárthaigh, King of Munster when the Treaty of Glanmire formally divided the Kingdom of Munster into Desmond and Thomond. It comprised all of what is now County Cork and most of County Kerry. Desmond was ruled by the Mac Cárthaigh (MacCarthy) dynasty. Other clans within the kingdom included the O'Sullivans and O'Donovans. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland in the late 12th century, the eastern half of Desmond was conquered by the Anglo-Normans and became the Earldom of Desmond, ruled by the Fitzmaurices and FitzGeralds—the famous Irish family known as the Geraldines. The king of Desmond, Diarmaid Mac Cárthaigh submitted to Henry II of England, but the western half of Desmond lived on as a semi-independent Gaelic kingdom. It was often at war with the Anglo-Normans. Fínghin Mac Carthaigh's victory over the Anglo-Normans at the Battle of Callann (1261) helped preserve Desmond's independence. The kings of Desmond founded sites such as Blarney Castle, Ballycarbery Castle, Muckross Abbey and Kilcrea Friary. Following the Nine Years' War of the 1590s, Desmond became part of the Kingdom of Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Cork</span> Region of County Cork, Ireland

West Cork is a tourist region and municipal district in County Cork, Ireland. As a municipal district, West Cork falls within the administrative area of Cork County Council, and includes the towns of Bantry, Castletownbere, Clonakilty, Dunmanway, Schull and Skibbereen, and the 'key villages' of Baltimore, Ballydehob, Courtmacsherry, Drimoleague, Durrus, Glengarriff, Leap, Rosscarbery, Timoleague and Union Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eóganachta</span> Historic Irish dynasty

The Eóganachta or Eoghanachta were an Irish dynasty centred on Cashel which dominated southern Ireland from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of Desmond, and its offshoot Carbery, to the late 16th century. By tradition the dynasty was founded by Conall Corc but named after his ancestor Éogan, the firstborn son of the semi-mythological 3rd-century king Ailill Aulom. This dynastic clan-name, for it was never in any sense a 'surname,' should more accurately be restricted to those branches of the royal house which descended from Conall Corc, who established Cashel as his royal seat in the late 5th century.

The area surrounding Durrus village and civil parish has been inhabited since Neolithic times. The current layout of Durrus village, in West Cork in the south of Ireland, has its basis in developments during the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O'Donovan family</span> Irish family

The O'Donovans are an Irish family. Their patronymic surname derives from Irish Ó Donnabháin, meaning the grandsons or descendants of Donnubán, referring to the 10th century ruler of the Uí Fidgenti, Donnubán mac Cathail. During the 12th and 13th century, O'Donovan relations relocated from the Bruree/Croom area south to the Kingdom of Desmond and to Carbery, where they were a ruling family for centuries and played a role in the establishment of a feudal society under the MacCarthys. Other septs retreated into the southeast corner of the Ui Fidgheinte territory, reaching from Broadford/Feenagh to the Doneraile area. The northern septs of the O'Donovans did not use a White Rod as the family's position in their original territory was vastly eroded, while several septs of O'Donovans in the southwest territories were semi-autonomous flatha under the MacCarthy Reagh dynasty in Carbery, with the most notable being local petty kings. The family were counted among the leading Gaelic nobility of Ireland.

Eóganacht Raithlind or Uí Echach Muman are a branch of the Eóganachta, the ruling dynasty of Munster in southwest Ireland during the 5th-10th centuries. They took their name from Raithlinn or Raithleann described around the area of Bandon, in the same area. Archaeologists believe that Garranes Ringfort in Templemartin parish, near Bandon, County Cork may have been Rath Raithleann, the royal seat of the Éoganacht Raithleann. They are descended from Mac Cass, the son of Conall Corc, the first King of Cashel, through Mac Cass' son Echu.

The Corcu Loígde, meaning Gens of the Calf Goddess, also called the Síl Lugdach meic Itha, were a kingdom centred in West County Cork who descended from the proto-historical rulers of Munster, the Dáirine, of whom they were the central royal sept. They took their name from Lugaid Loígde "Lugaid of the Calf Goddess", a King of Tara and High King of Ireland, son of the great Dáire Doimthech. A descendant of Lugaid Loígde, and their most famous ancestor, is the legendary Lugaid Mac Con, who is listed in the Old Irish Baile Chuinn Chétchathaig. Closest kin to the Corcu Loígde were the Dál Fiatach princes of the Ulaid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MacCarthy Reagh</span> Gaelic dynasty branch

The MacCarthy Reagh dynasty are a branch of the MacCarthy dynasty, Kings of Desmond, deriving from the Eóganacht Chaisil sept.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donal II O'Donovan</span> Irish chieftain

Donal II O'Donovan, The O'Donovan of Clann Cathail, Lord of Clancahill, was the son of Ellen O'Leary, daughter of O'Leary of Carrignacurra, and Donal of the Skins, The O'Donovan of Clann Cathail. He is most commonly referred to as Donnell O'Donevane of Castledonovan in contemporary references of his time.

Bantry is a barony in the west of County Cork in Ireland. Patrick Weston Joyce said the name Beanntraí means "descendants of Beann [Ban]", a son of Conchobar mac Nessa; similarly for the Wexford barony of Bantry. The barony borders the top end the southern shore of Bantry Bay. On the opposite shore is the barony of Bear. It is also bordered by Carbery West, and Muskerry West to the northeast. To the north is County Kerry.

Carbery East is a barony in County Cork in Ireland. It has been split since the nineteenth century into East and West Divisions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carbery (barony)</span>

Carbery, or the Barony of Carbery, was once the largest barony in Ireland, and essentially a small, semi-independent kingdom on the southwestern coast of Munster, in what is now County Cork, from its founding in the 1230s by Donal Gott MacCarthy to its gradual decline in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. His descendants, the MacCarthy Reagh dynasty, were its ruling family. The kingdom officially ended in 1606 when Donal of the Pipes, 17th Prince of Carbery chose to surrender his territories to the Crown of England; but his descendants maintained their position in Carbery until the Cromwellian confiscations, following their participation in the Irish Rebellion of 1641 after which some emigrated to the Chesapeake Colonies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Donovan</span> Historic site in County Cork, Ireland

Castle Donovan or Castledonovan or O'Donovan's Castle refer to the remains of an Irish tower house or túrtheach, in a valley near Drimoleague, of medium size which was the so-called "seat" of the Clann Cathail sept of the O'Donovans for a period during the 16th century. The original name of the castle, and when the O'Donovans were actually living in it, was Sowagh before the 17th century. The name of Castle Donovan, after the Manor of the Castle of O'Donovan, is associated with a regrant from James II of England in 1615. Approximately 60 feet in height, it sits on a large rock or outcropping, which forms the ground floor, close to the bank of the River Ilen. It is commonly believed to have been built, or at the very least augmented, by Donal of the Hides, Lord of Clancahill from about 1560 to his death 1584. His son Donal II O'Donovan then repaired or further altered the structure some decades later, but was not living in it by then. It is believed that his father had already relocated the family in the first decade of that century to the more profitable Rahine Manor on the seacoast to protect their maritime interests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ímar Ua Donnubáin</span> Legendary Irish king

Ímar Ua Donnubáin or Ivor O'Donovan, and possibly nicknamed Gilla Riabach, was a legendary and celebrated petty king, navigator, trader, and reputed necromancer of 13th century Ireland belonging to the O'Donovan family. He may or may not have been the second son of Cathal, son of Crom Ua Donnubáin, from whom the modern Clancahill dynasty descend. In any case Ivor is the ancestor of the historical O'Donovan sept known as the Sliocht Íomhair or "Seed of Ivor", who are generally considered to have been one of the four great septs of the family before being all but destroyed in the 1560s in a conflict with the Clancahill main line. Although mostly legendary, Ivor is possibly referred to in one or two near contemporary sources.

An Crom Ua Donnubáin or Crom O'Donovan is the individual characterized as the ancestor of O'Donovans later found in Carbery in County Cork, and later still in distant County Wexford in Leinster. Nothing is known for sure of his life but his progeny, and the circumstances of his slaying and further events which followed. He was the son of Máel Ruanaid,, son of Aneislis, son of Murchad, son of Amlaíb, son of Cathal, son of Donnubán,, son of Cathal. An uncle or near relation was Amlaíb Ua Donnubáin, last known king of Uí Chairpre Áebda, slain in 1201.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Croom Castle</span> Historic Irish castle

Croom or Crom Castle, also called the Castle of Crom, is a historic castle in the town of Croom, County Limerick, that is notable for its occupation as one of the principal residences of the Kildare branch of the FitzGerald dynasty. Their ancient war cry and motto "Crom a Boo", or in Irish "Crom Abú" or Crom forever, comes from the strategic fortress. Before the FitzGeralds it was the site of an earlier fortress of the O'Donovans.

A list of lists of townlands in County Cork, Ireland by barony: there are approximately 5,580 townlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ó Coileáin</span> Irish family name

Ó Coileáin is a Modern Irish surname generally belonging to the descendants of the last leading family of the Uí Chonaill Gabra, a sept and small but notable overkingdom of medieval and ancient Ireland, based in western County Limerick. Throughout much of their history the Uí Chonaill Gabra were in turn the leading sept of the greater regional overkingdom of the Uí Fidgenti, considered among the highest ranked princes or flatha in all the Province of Munster. Ó Coileáin/Ua Cuiléin is most commonly anglicized O'Collins and O'Cullane. The surname has also long been found in County Cork, believed largely due to the migration there, probably in the late 12th or early 13th century, of a junior branch of the County Limerick dynasty.

Muskerry West is one of the baronies of Ireland, a historical geographical unit of land. Its chief town is Macroom. It is one of 24 baronies in the county of Cork. It may also be viewed as a half barony because sometime before the 1821 census, it was divided from its other half – Muskerry East. Other neighbouring baronies include Duhallow to the north and the Barony of Carbery East to the south.

Muskerry East is one of the baronies of Ireland, an historical geographical unit of land. Its chief town is Ballincollig. It is one of 24 baronies in the county of Cork. It may also be viewed as a half barony because some time before the 1821 census data, it was divided from its other half - Muskerry West. Other neighbouring baronies include Cork to the east, Duhallow to the north and the barony of Barretts to the north-east.

References

From "Irish placenames database". logainm.ie (in English and Ga). Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. Retrieved 19 April 2010.:

From other sources:

  1. "Carbery". The Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland adapted to the new Poor-Law, Franchise, Municipal and Ecclesiastical arrangements ... as existing in 1844–45. Vol. I: A–C. Dublin: A. Fullarton & Co. 1846. p. 306.
  2. Joyce, Patrick Weston (1875). The origin and history of Irish names of places. Vol. 1, First series (4th ed.). Dublin: McGlashan & Gill. p. 140.
  3. O'Mahony, John (July–September 1908). "A history of the O'Mahony septs of Kinelmeky and Ivagha". Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society. Cork: Guy & Co. xiv, 2nd ser. (3): 129.
  4. Butler, W.F.T., "The Barony of Carbery", in Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, Volume X, Second Series . 1904. pp. 1–10, 73–84
  5. 1 2 Senior, Clive M. (1976). A Nation of Pirates. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN   0 7153 7264 5.
  6. 1 2 Joyce, P.W. (c. 1880). "County Cork". Philips' Handy Atlas of the Counties of Ireland. London: George Philips & Son. p. 7. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 19 April 2010.