Earl of Thomond was an hereditary title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created twice for the O'Brien dynasty which is an ancient Irish sept native to north Munster.
Under the Crown of Ireland Act 1542, King Henry VIII of England was created King of Ireland by the Parliament of Ireland. In consequence, all reigning monarchs and clan chiefs in Ireland were ordered to surrender their native titles in return for peerages. This surrender and regrant offer was conditional upon the adoption of Tudor customs and laws, including pledging allegiance to the Irish Crown and apostatising from the Catholic faith by accepting the articles of the state established Church of Ireland.
Through surrender and regrant, the earldom of Thomond was created in 1543 for Murrough O'Brien. He had previously been styled King of Thomond and was descended from the Ard Rí or High King of Ireland, Brian Boru. [1] O'Brien was also created Baron Inchiquin, on 1 July 1543. On the same day his nephew and heir, Donough O'Brien, was created Baron Ibrickane. The titles of Ibrickane and Thomond merged on the first Earl's death in 1551, and the barony of Inchiquin went to his eldest son. [2]
The 8th Earl was created Viscount Tadcaster, in the Peerage of Great Britain, on 19 October 1714. However, when he died in 1741, the next heir would have been a descendant of Daniel O'Brien, 3rd Viscount Clare who was attainded in 1691, so the three titles became forfeit. However, Charles O'Brien, 6th Viscount Clare, a Jacobite exile used the title Earl of Thomond, as did his son, who died childless in 1774. [2]
The second creation was on 11 December 1756 when Percy Wyndham-O'Brien was created Earl of Thomond and Baron Ibracken. On his death in 1774, both titles became extinct. [2]
Baron Inchiquin is one of the older titles in the Peerage of Ireland. It was one of two titles created on 1 July 1543 for Murrough O'Brien, Prince of Thomond, who was descended from the great high king Brian Boru. The grant of the English titles was conditional upon the abandonment of any Irish titles, the adoption of English customs and laws, pledging of allegiance to the Crown, apostasy from the Catholic Church, and conversion to the Church of England. Murrough was made both Earl of Thomond in the Peerage of Ireland, with remainder to his nephew Donough O'Brien and Baron Inchiquin, with remainder to his male heirs.
Sir Murrough O'Brien, 10th Baron of Inchiquin, 5th Baron O'Brien of Burren, 1st Baron Thomond of Taplow, 5th Earl of Inchiquin, 1st Marquess of Thomond KP, PC (Ire), known from 1777 to 1800 as the 5th Earl of Inchiquin, was an Irish peer, soldier and politician.
During the Tudor conquest of Ireland (c.1540–1603), "surrender and regrant" was the legal mechanism by which Irish clans were to be converted from a power structure rooted in clan and kin loyalties, to a late-feudal system under the English legal system. The policy was an attempt to incorporate the clan chiefs into the English-controlled Kingdom of Ireland, and to guarantee their property under English common law, as distinct from the traditional Irish Brehon law system. This strategy was the primary non-violent method for Crown officials in the Dublin Castle administration to subjugate Irish clan leaders during the conquest. It was an unanticipated consequence to be required to pay fealty in currency instead of trade labor or commodities. The process of "surrender and regrant" thus created new, unfamiliar debt structures among the Irish, and these debts had social and political consequences.
Leamaneh Castle is a ruined castle located in the townland of Leamaneh North, parish of Kilnaboy, between the villages of Corofin and Kilfenora at the border of the region known as the Burren in County Clare, Ireland. It consists of a 15th-century tower house and a 17th-century mansion.
Viscount Clare was a title in the Peerage of Ireland, created twice.
Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Thomond was the last King of Thomond, and a descendant of the High King of Ireland, Brian Boru.
William McWilliam O'Brien, 4th Earl of Inchiquin, 9th Baron Inchiquin, KB, PC(I) was an Irish peer and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1722 and 1754.
William O'Brien, 2nd Marquess of Thomond, 6th Earl of Inchiquin, 1st Baron Tadcaster KP PC (I) was an Irish peer. He succeeded by special remainder as Marquess of Thomond in 1808 on the death of his uncle Murrough O'Brien, 1st Marquess of Thomond and was appointed a Privy Councillor and Knight of the Order of St Patrick on 11 November 1809. He was created Baron Tadcaster in the British Peerage in 1826.
Connor O'Brien, 3rd Earl of Thomond also spelt Conor and called Groibleach, or the "long-nailed", fought his uncle Donnell over his father's succession during thirty years from 1535 to 1565. He was confirmed as 3rd Earl of Thomond in 1558 by the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex. O'Brien intrigued with fitz Maurice in 1569 during the 1st Desmond Rebellion and fled to France. He returned and was pardoned in 1571, being restored to his lands at the end of the rebellion in 1573.
Sir Daniel O'Brien, 1st Viscount Clare also called Donal was an Irish politician and soldier. He was born a younger son of Connor O'Brien, 3rd Earl of Thomond. He fought against the insurgents at Tyrone's Rebellion, but for the insurgents in the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and the Irish Confederate Wars. He resisted the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. He joined Charles II of England in exile and was in his eighties made a viscount at the Restoration.
Dermod McMurrough O'Brien was the 2nd Baron Inchiquin. He was the son of Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Thomond and Eleanor FitzGerald. O'Brien married Margaret O'Brien, daughter of Donough O'Brien, 2nd Earl of Thomond.
Henry O'Brien, 5th Earl of ThomondPC (Ire) (1588–1639), styled Lord Ibrickane until 1624, was summoned to the House of Lords of the Irish Parliament of 1613–1615.
Sir Edward O'Brien, 2nd Baronet was an Irish politician and baronet.
There were six early Barons Inchiquin in Ireland between 1543 and 1654. The title was granted to Murrough O'Brien, the brother of Conor O'Brien, King of Thomond, when he surrendered his Irish royalty to King Henry VIII in 1543. His descendants held the title until 1654, when Murrough O'Brien, 6th Baron Inchiquin was created Earl of Inchiquin.
Charles O'Brien,, titular 6th Viscount Clare and later titular 8th Earl of Thomond, was an Irish military officer in French service, known to posterity as the Maréchal de Thomond.
Connor O'Brien, King of Thomond was the second to last King of Thomond.
Events from the year 1543 in Ireland.
The O'Brien dynasty is a noble house of Munster, founded in the 10th century by Brian Boru of the Dál gCais (Dalcassians). After becoming King of Munster, through conquest he established himself as Ard Rí na hÉireann. Brian's descendants thus carried the name Ó Briain, continuing to rule the Kingdom of Munster until the 12th century where their territory had shrunk to the Kingdom of Thomond which they would hold for just under five centuries.
Murrough may refer to:
Henry O'Brien, 8th Earl of Thomond was an Irish peer and Member of Parliament.