Clan Land

In 1297, Tipperary County was required to send an elected representative to attend the Dublin parliament – towns within the county two years later and of both by 1300. This act had the effect of displacing the old order - the Gaelic Irish - the Gaelic nobility. The Normans took over imposing themselves marrying into the Irish leadership, developing the towns and cities for their own.

Enormous progress made to integrate all the population in the new community. Forests were cleared to form cultivated land, new methods of agriculture introduced to produce more food. Trades and commercial enterprises contained within the newly built walled towns - like Nenagh. It was a period of prosperity, which allowed monastic houses to flourish. This progress later reversed…

Fore Abbey, Collinstown, Westmeath, the largest Gothic Benedictine Monastery in Ireland which held 300 monks, dates back to AD 630 inside the anchorites hermitage cell of c1500. The river Boyne rises off this hill to the south, which offers a good view over the great central plain. Within sight - the ruins of a least four castles, all built by the De Berminghams. 

A few years later a Gaelic reconquest swept away many of the Anglo-Irish ruling bodies - their manorial systems and associated village settlements. The old forms of address, writing, and reference returned to and life reverted - to before English rule. This the pattern, the old order tried to reassert itself became crushed… these times introduced the start of the galloglasses who were the ‘bondsmen’ - mercenaries of the future. They came originally from north-west Scotland - afterwards used by the Irish - acknowledging their usefulness. Their recruitment, of any number, could be from a single clan, or a number of clans - especially disposed clan leaders without land, home or roots. The lord had to be able to keep them and their families, provide food and a dwelling. This was a very expensive undertaking so few taken on. Using huge axes like the Normans and protected by chain mail they acted very much like samurai who, experienced in war, gave protection and allegiance unto death. They joined forces with O’Connor who sought help from King Haakon of Norway to oust the Normans from Ireland and become King. The plea came to nothing for King Haakon died before a landing made. Another attempt made by inviting Edward Bruce of Scotland in 1316 but this too failed after causing mayhem for three years – after being killed at the battle of Faughart. The great plague struck the country in the winter of 1348 – it was the Black Death - which had already laid waste the population of Europe. Friar Clyn describes the result as depopulating Kilkenny to the extent that ‘there is hardly a house where there is only one dead’ – it believed the end of the world had arrived! Whether this believed or not, nothing was the same afterwards. Any disputed land or a family death, which made inheritance impossible... the land, went back into the holdings of the lord of the manor.

In 1354, Lord Ormond granted land to O’Meara near Toomevara. Four years later another parcel of land granted to O’Kennedy only this time the land sited in the manor of Nenagh. It appears these two clans been granted all of Lower, and part of Upper Ormond. The O’Carroll’s, Murrough of Uriel, chiefs of Ely, other prominent families connected to the O’Ciardha clan. These two clan families, the O’Carrolls and O’Kennedys, occupied land, which bordered and overlapped on ancient O’Ciardha territory. In legal parlance when a clan is without land, their legal claim to clanship revoked.     
      

The ‘Statutes of Kilkenny’ passed by the Irish Parliament in 1366, prohibited colonists from intermarrying with the native Irish or learning their language. This change unsettled the population and created in its wake absentee property owners who did not want to return to ‘a land of unrest’. By 1364, there were considerable financial problems caused by these absconders. Thirty years later King Richard II created the first of a succession of Irish kings of arms. He wanted to control all those areas that the native Irish had reasserted their office in - their way of life. Heralds needed to marshal the arms of the various knights, give military advice, and regularise the battles. This was the start of a continual battle. The Gaelic Irish, Anglo Irish and Normans began to unite to form a united front against England. The Irish question began to reassert itself…

In the towns and villages of Ormond, which included Kilkeary, the Anglo-Normans had to negotiate and deal with local cultivators or freemen and the serfs called betaghs. This was similar to the English manorial system only not so efficient. In Ireland, the people bought and sold with the land. Everything, their labour, animals and produce taxed. Eventually, they tried to oust them to take over their property for they did not understand them nor want to integrate with them. They had tried to emancipate them but they would not pay the fee. However, they still wanted their labour, which they needed. This created a lot of bad feeling and resentment. Niall MOR O’Neill king of Tir Eoghain was optimistic that he would be promoted, the English crown’s representative over all Ireland – to bring about stability. It was not to be. After a considerable number of expeditions, battles, and disputes, Niall Garbh O’Donnell died in 1439.

By 1430, the original Irish lords only occupied the less fertile parts of the country. Those that did were no match for the Anglo-Irish who operated intensive farming methods. They were doomed if they continued to try to maintain the old ways of living. They were not slow in adopting a more conciliatory tone, gradually assumed alliances both by marriage and sharing common goals. They began to drop the right to govern like lords. The White Earl of Ormond related to both Mac Murchada of Leinster and Ua Neill of Ulster; held Tipperary and the majority of Kilkenny. Ireland was a land divided between the Anglo-English lords, as the Butler earls of Ormond, and the Gaelic highly divided world of ancient custom, language and local chief. The affect this had on the English crown was great for it occupied the attention of Richard II to the extent that Henry of Lancaster landed in England and sized the throne. Richard’s sally into Ireland in 1399 failed to unite the land under one king. There was not another landing in Ireland by an English king during the middle-ages – the ‘War of the Roses’ had taken all the energy and finances - making England weak. In the mid-1400s, the County of Meath, central Ireland, split into two, English and Irish.

‘The Pale’ was a fortified earthen rampart built in the fifteenth century to enclose the royal administration lands of Louth, half Meath and Kildare including Dublin – became known as the Pale from palatinate – territory of feudal or sovereign lord. Thomas Fitz Maurice 1456–78 was one of three surviving Anglo-Irish magnates. Previously, the earl of Kildare had been the most powerful. However, the earls continued to assert their right to maintain their own land even when faced by intervention by Edward IV and Henry VII. The Gaelic Irish chiefs began to assert themselves for they were now experienced in better ways for making war – they had benefited from previous struggles. This was not the time to build but to claim back lost land. During these troubled times the chiefs were all in ferment. This was the Ireland of old – there were uprisings in the air and ‘all a tremble’. Repairing the keep, replacing the fences, and repointing the walls were for stay-at-homes… fighting was far more interesting. This inattention - ruination by neglect, was to happen to castles, churches, and monasteries. Local people able to carry the heavy loads away stripped them of their lead, stone and wood. The demolition and destruction mainly affected estates and properties of vacant absentee owners.

The Irish lords and military leaders still relied upon the ‘long, two-handed sword’ as their chief weapon of war – for close fighting. To discourage enemy horses ten-foot spears anchored into the ground, the lancers resorted to short swords for infighting whilst arrows kept their riders at bay. Chain mail, helmets, and heavy coats, protected their bodies, although still wearing sandals without stockings. How different this was to the mass of peasants who made up the army. Many were barefooted; none wore a headdress, wilding: axes, swords, and clubs, plain and unfinished. Their strength came from knowledge of the country, which they could exist on, and the practiced hardships they could bear.

It is important to understand that it was not always the case that an elder son or any son at all, inherited the chief’s position. Naturally the chief, before he died, tried to ensure his son did take over his position and to that end he trained his son in such a way that this would happen. That was not always the case. Quite often, when a clan chief died the elders asked for a vote - who they wanted to lead them - achieved by a show of hands. Normally it went to the strongest - the champion, one who could not be challenged. On the other hand, the old chief’s lands divided according to the antiquity of the person – to the clan elders, not necessarily to his family and his sons. In 1534, Thomas, Lord Offaly, the son of the ninth earl of Kildare and leader of the Anglo-Irish, declared, ‘to be the king’s enemy.’ He was after the governorship of Ireland. That stirred-up the pot of rebellion… again put down in no short measure by Skiffington - Henry VIII’s representative.

Ireland had been a ‘lordship’ of the Norman English crown now Hugh O’Neill 1540–1616, became second Earl of Tyrone in 1585 leading an uprising with Spanish help, which was defeated in 1601. After this set back Ui Neill, rather than submit to English influence, chose exile, as did O’Donnell and ninety of his followers. Amongst those to leave were O’Ciardha henchmen who chose the Netherlands. Dermot O’Ciardha of Offaly stayed to create an opposition movement and to oversee the scattered clan families. The establishment in 1570, of presidencies in Munster and Connacht, saw a push by the English to take a grip of the land north of the River Shannon. It had been a hard task to subdue the lords of Munster, who excommunicated Elizabeth. The lands of O’Carroll and O’Kennedy to the east of Lough Derg above Cashel – encompassing ancient O’Ciardha land, were not within the English marches until years later when The Connacht and Munster Councils of 1569-71 decreed so. There was rebellion in 1579, which ended in the defeat of Tyrone, who surrendered four years later. Ireland was now a conquered land. Queen Elizabeth had succeeded where others had failed.

The suppression of the monasteries during the reformation and the civil disturbances after, led to the destruction of many church treasures. The churches of Keary and Fethard in Co. Tipperary, and Askeaton in Co. Limerick were ravaged… important statues and other treasures were destroyed, although some rare wooden statues and bronze processional cross from Ballylongford, Co. Limerick and embroidered cope from Waterford survived. 
   

Another vast emigration to continental Europe followed. The English administration did everything in their power to Anglicize the customs of the few remaining native Irish. The few Gaelic adherents that survived the Tudor and Stuart Plantations eventually ruined by the anti-Catholic legislation enacted by the Dublin Parliament after the victory of William III. These laws stopped estates being handed down to the eldest son instead they had to divide them between all the children which resulted, over-time, to estates being whittled down to that of just small freeholders. The chiefs were unable to maintain patronage within their clans, which eroded the social systems - developed over many years. From that time, the clan system gradually wilted away even though the local peasantry continued to support the old ways. The process known as plantation began in the Tudor period, but mainly by James I, in Ulster and Munster, and led to the settlement of 40,000 Scottish and English immigrants by 1641. There was much more to come…both plantation and unrest!

In the Down Survey of 1646, the O’Kennedy, the O’Mera and the McGrath families, owned the land of Toomevara parish and Kilkeary. Many of the O’Ciardha clan integrated into the O’Kennedys’ for protection, assuming their name and customs. The ancient ecclesiastical foundation for women established by St Ciardha was still a recognisable site, although by then a ruin. The suppression of the monasteries finished off what plantation had done before.

Migration from Britain into Ireland continued apace throughout the pre-Protestant years mainly to areas, mainly eastern, which were fertile – had access to natural resources and the sea. This influx greatly improved social and material benefit from the skilled workers and farmers passing through. This movement had the additional effect of enlarging the knowledge and horizons of those who were involved. This caused a split in the society – both religious and social. The clans were always at odds with each other - trying to gain more power and space. It was an age-old way of life, which not only sapped the strength of family groupings but also did nothing to advance society. Many families were being pushed out by the aggressive and vibrant newcomers – those given plantation lands. Many moved into Tipperary from neighbouring Leinster gradually easing out the inhabitants…

Colonel Owen Roe O’Neill, a nephew of the great Hugh O’Neill, spent his entire career in the Spanish army of the Netherlands – he was not the only one. At this time, there was an almost greater alliance between the Irish nobility and the Spanish, particularly in the Nethlands, than towards the English and Anglo-Irish. Certainly, this existed with ‘the old order’. Colonel O’Neill and Colonel Thomas Preston attempted to expel the Scottish Covenanters, who unbeknown to him at the time, had connections with Cromwell’s army…Needlesstosay, they failed.

The population of Ireland in the 1650s now divided into those who were actively disloyal – the original native Irish; the old English subjects who were now through intermarriage and assimilation Gaelic and Catholic and the newer loyal English who were Protestant landowners and titleholders who included the latest Scots settlers in Ulster. The Act of August 1652 declared that all the Irish and Anglo-Irish, who could not prove “Constant Good Affections”, to the Cromwellian cause should lose one-third of their estates, the remaining two-thirds made over as ‘new areas for transportation’. The settlements changed the character of Ireland forever and with that the landowning aristocracy as well.

In Ireland’s Natural History, published in 1652 and jointly dedicated to Cromwell and Fleetwood, debated the possibility that Protestants from Europe induced to settle the island. Cromwell’s concern was that there might be either an uprising in Ireland or incursions from abroad - by Catholics. In this, history proved him right. There needed to be a new start in colonising Ireland by settlement – with reliable people - educated Protestants.

September 1653 saw a new Act of Plantation. This time grants given to English towns - to entice skilled tradesmen to immigrate. Adventurers were apportioned estates and the Army paid for in gifts of land. Whole areas made over in this way to the English. Two thirds of all Ireland were distributed and within those areas was all of Leinster, Kilkenny, Kildare, Kerry and Carlow; Kilkeary was not included coming within the County of Tipperary (see County Map of Kylkeary). Other than a small strip made over to the English, Clare and Connaught were left to the Irish. Whereas this action may have been sensible as a way to control the population and prevent an uprising, it was undoubtedly immoral and caused great resentment. A quarter of Wicklow, Wexford, Kildare, Kilkenny, and Carlow were very English and had been for generations - since Henry. Everybody else being forcibly removed - from towns and villages, compatriots, and children included. Some people could stay but they had to declare themselves Protestants. People with prefixes O, M, or Mac, banned, and their land forfeited. However, these Gaelic prefixes: allowed in Irish areas. In this manner great estates were built up by the English moneyed classes who were in the main the ruling Protestant aristocrats and gentry. Many of these English lesser aristocrats continued to provide personnel for English armed services. Forty percent of all United Kingdom armed services, especially the army, had men with Irish connections fighting for them.

In Upper and Lower Ormond, and throughout much of Ireland, some of the old established Catholic, landowning families, the O’Ciardha amongst them, took refuge in the hills and other outlying places to escape domination and subjugation to the Protestant forces. This broke up many of the clan families after losing their land. Eventually their legal rights forgotten - thereby forfeited - by lack of use, neglect, and absence. The descendants of the old order took their dead to ancestral graveyards in Ballinaclogh and Kilkeary – perpetuating the age-old rights and customs!