Annals of Four Masters


This an extract from Annals of Four Masters which was written by several monks in the early 1600's (took a few years -7 Vol, 81/2"X12" books) and was translated by several -including version by Rev John O'Donovan around 1851.

The following text represents pages 3-657 of the translation of volume 3, being the years A. D. 1172 to A. D. 1372, in the chronology of the compilers. That chronology deviates from the historical chronology, but it has not been corrected in this edition.

M4320
This was the first year of Lughaidh Iardonn, son of Enda Dearg, in the sovereignty of Ireland.
Annal M4328.
M4328.0
The Age of the World, 4328.

M4328
The ninth year of Lughaidh Iardonn in the sovereignty of Ireland, when he fell, by Sirlamh, at Rath Clochair.

M752.6
Donn, son of Cumasgach, lord of the southern Ui Briuin, died.

M765.12
A battle between the Leinstermen themselves, wherein Ceallach, son of Dunchadh, had the victory, and in which Cinaedh, son of Flann, and his brother, Ceallach, and Caithnia, son of Becc, and many others besides them, were slain.

M766.1
The first year of Donnchadh, son of Domhnall, in sovereignty over Ireland.

M766.2

M766.7
There arose a dissention between Ceallach, son of Donnchadh, King of Leinster, and the monarch Donnchadh, son of Domhnall. Donnchadh made a full muster of the Ui Neill and marched into Leinster. The Leinstermen moved before the monarch and his forces until they arrived at Sciath Neachtain. Donnchadh, with his forces, remained at Aillinn; his people continued to fire, burn, plunder, and devastate the province for the space of a week, when the Leinstermen at length submitted to his will.

M773.9
The same war continued between Donnchadh and Conghalach, during which fell Congalach, son of Conaing, chief of Breagh; Cuana, son of Eigneach; Dunchadh, son of Alene, lord of Mughdhorna Cremorne; and Diarmaid, son of Clothna, and many others along with them. The battle was gained by Donnchadh.

Of this battle was said:

p.379

1] Of the battle of Forcaladh came slaughter
2] on a melancholy and tearful Sunday;
3] Many a mother was distracted and sorrowful
4] on the Monday following.

The following quatrain is in Buile An Scail:

1] There will be increase of lamentation
2] in the morning at Forcaladh;
3] By Donnchadh of Meath the battle
4] shall be won in which Congalach shall perish.

M779.7
A royal meeting between Donnchadh, son of Domhnall, and Fiachna, son of Aedh Roin at Inis Na Righ, in the east of Breagh. Of it was said:

p.387

1] Of what effect
2] was the conference at Inis Na Righ?
3] Donnchadh would not come upon the sea,
4] Fiachna would not come upon the land.

M779.8
The battle of Carn Conaill, in Aidhne, by Tibraide, son of Tadhg, King of Connaught, and the Ui Fiachrach were defeated.

M779.9
Maelduin, son of Aenghus, lord of Cinel Laeghaire;

M792.1
Donnchadh, i.e. the son of Domhnall, son of Murchadh, reigned twenty seven years, when he died, after the victory of penance, in the sixty fourth year of his age; in lamentation of whom this quatrain was composed:

1] Donnchadh of Freamhainn, dreaded prince,
2] famed King of Ireland, of the hundred fair greens;
3] There is no more mournful loss,
4] as he did not quiet his fair.

M792.2
Innreachtach, son of Domhnall, brother of King Donnchadh, died.

M794.11
Domhnall, son of Donnchadh, was slain by his brothers.

M794.12
Dunfhlaith, daughter of Flaithbheartach, son of Loingseach, died.

M794.13
The battle of Dun Gainbhe between the Connaughtmen themselves, wherein fell Coscrach, son of Donn, and Gaisgeadhach, and many others along with them.

M796.8
Befhail, daughter of Cathal, queen of Donnchadh, son of Domhnall, died.

M818.1
The first year of Conchobhar, son of Donnchadh, son of Domhnall, in sovereignty over Ireland.

M844.6
Donnchadh, son of Amhalghadh, lord of Ui Eathach;

M606.7
Maelduin, son of Ailen, chief of Mughdorn Maighean, died.

ANNALS OF THE KINGDOM OF IRELAND. p 957

THE AGE OF CHRIST, 1448.

The Age of Christ, one thousand four hundred forty-eight.  A great plague raged in Meath, of which Conor, son of Hugh O'Farrell, Dermot Mac Conmaighe, and Henry Duv Mac Techedain, three friars of Longphort-Ui-Feargail, died.  Conor Mae Faolchadha, Bishop of Ros-alithir, died.  The abbot of [the monastery of the Holy] Trinity on Lough Key died.  James Oge, son of James Gallda, i. e. son of'the Earl of Ormond, died.    Cathal, son of O'Conor Faly, was slain by the English of Leinster.   Cuconnaught, son of Philip Maguire, died, after the victory of penance, and was interred in the church of Achadh-Urchair [Aghalurcher].  OÆHara Reagh was slain.O'Loughlin, Lord of Burren, died.  Niall O'Molloy was slain by the Hy-Regan [O'Dunnes]. (see f/n g -below)

f/n g                  Hy-Regan

Hy-Regan was the tribe name, of the O'Dunnes of Offaly. Their country, which was formed into the barony of Tinahinch, and made a part of the Queen's County in the reign of Philip and Mary, is still popularly called Dooregan, ( in Irish tuath Riagain). This appears, from the tradition in the country; from a fiant for letters patent of James 1. to Teige O'Doyne, preserved in Marsh's Library, Class v. tab. 2, No. 20, p. 331 ; and from a curious old map of' Leix and Ophaly, preserved in the British Museum, and in the manuscript Library of Trinity College, Dublin. The Liber Regalis Visitationis of 1615, also clearly points out the situation of this territory in the following words: (in Latin - speaks of two rectories in the OÆDunÆs territory in possession of ôDoctoris Dunö.

These two rectories are set down in the margin as Oregan and O'Rosnolis. O'Huidhrin, who died in 1420, writes of Hy-Regan thus:

Over the Hy-Regan, of the heavy onslaughts,
A vigorous band who rout in battle,
Rules O'Dunne, chief of demolition,
Hero of the golden battle-spears."

The tomb of the O'Dunne family, which exhibits their armorial bearings elaborately sculptured, is to be seen in the churchyarde of Killeigh, near Tullamore, in the King's County. The pedigree of Donough O'Dunne, who seems to have flourished in the fourteenth century, is given as follows by Duald Mac Firbis:

" Donough, son of Awley, son of Teige, son of Awley, son of Cooey, son of Donslevy, son of Cooey, son of Carroll, son of Cu-Blama" [i. e. dog of Slieve Bloom], " son of Connell, son of Fihilly, son of Donn, the progenitor from whom the surname O'Duinn, O'Doyne, or O'Dunne, is derived, son of Duvgilla, son of Maelfinn, son of Riagan, (from whom is derived the tribe name of Hy-Regan, or Iregan), son of Kenny, son of Flann-da-Congal, son of Dimasagh, son of Congalagh, son of Forannan, son of Maeluva, son of Cathal, son of Eoghan of Breen-da-choga, son of Nathi, son of Rossa Falgy, (the ancestor of the people of Offaly), son of Cathaoir More, monarch of Ireland in the second ceutury; the ancestor of O'Conor Faly, O'Dempsey, and of all the noble families of Leinster, (except Mac Gillapatrick, or Fitzpatrick, of Ossory).ö

The present recognised head of this family is Major Francis Dunne, son of the late General Dunne of Brittas, near the foot of Slieve Bloom, in Dooregan, in the Queen's County. The pedigree of this branch of the O'Dunne family can be very satisfactorily traced to the reign of Henry VIII., by the evidence of Anglo-Irish documents ; but it has not yet been connected with the ancient line above given. From a manuscript in the Lambeth Library (Carew Collection, No. 635), and another in the British Museum, Harleian Manuscripts, 1425, fol. 169, a, the Leinster Inquisitions, &c., the Editor has been able to trace it as follows:

I. Leyny O’Doyne, Chief of Iregan. He built the castle called Castlebrack, and to defray the expenses attending the erection of it he imposed unusual tribute on the territory, which his successors continued to extort down to the reign of James I. He had a son,

II. Teige O'Doyne, Chief of Iregan. He had two sons, Teige, No. III., and Turlough; and a daughter, who was married to Rory Oge O'More, Chief of Leix.

III Teige O'Doyne, Chief of Dowhie-Regan. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Piers
Fitzgerald of the county of Kildare, and had by her Teige, or Thady Oge O'Doyne, or O'Dunne, his son and heir; 2nd, Cormac; 3rd, Brian, or Barnaby, the ancestor of the Brittas family; 4th, Cahir, or Charles Dunne, LL. D., T. C. D., " a good scholar, and a zealous Protestant," who died without issue; 6th, Murtough; and an illegitimate son, Moriertagh, who was slain in 1600. He had also three daughters, one of whom was married to Brian, son of Florence, Baroy of Upper Ossory, the other to Calvagh O'Molloy, and the third to Mulrony O'Carroll. This Teige, No. III, was living, a very old man and blind, in 1593, when he signed, by his mark, a deed by which he settled Iregan on his five sons.

IV. Teige Oge O'Doyne, the son and heir of Teige fitz Teige fitz Leyny, married first, about the year 1570, Margaret, the daughter of Shane O'Neale, prnce of Ulster, the son of' Con, first Earl of Tyrone, and had by her Teige Reagh O'Dunne, who was thirty-seven years of age in January 1608, but being af'terwards divorced from Margaret, (she married Sir Cuconnaught Maguire), and he a daughter of Redmond Fitzgerald, of the Barrow's side, in the county of Kildare, by whom he had several children, of whose descendants, if they left any, no account has been yet discovered. In the petition of Doctor Charles Dunne of Trinity College, Dublin, against the fiant for letters patent to his eldest brother Thady O'Doyne, he has the following remarks on Teige Reagh O'Doyne, the son of' the Lady Margaret O'Neill:

That the said Thady his eldest son, Teige Reaghe, sonn to Margarett, daughter to Shane O'Neyle, and mother to Cuconnaght Oge Mac Guyer, deade beyond the seas, is not a fitt ruler over so strong, a contrye, and so fitt for rebellion as Iregaine is, by reason that for his said alliance with the O'Neyles and Mac Guyers he furthered the drawinge of forces in the last rebellion oute of the Northe to Lenster, to the greate charge of the Crowne, and was then in companie with Brian Reoghe at the Burninge of his Majestie's fort of Phillippstowne, and the next day at the burninge of Kilcullen, in the countie of Kildare, and in companie with the said Brian when he was kild, and in Bonaglit with Owny Mac Rorie [O'More] riflinge the towne of Marybroughe, and having not since, being now about 37 yeares of age, much bettered or altered his course, will likelye returne to his wounted practice, if the like times doe happen, and therefore not secure for his Majestie that any of so suspiciousse a behaviour should continue alone, the said coutrye beinge so stronge and so fitt for rebellion.ö

That the said Margarett, mother to the said Teige Reoghe, and the gentlewoman now kept by the saide Thadye in his howse, and by whome he hath many sones, beinge both alive, the issue begotten by the venter of one of them is illegitimate, yet by vertue of the estate passed unto him, and his assignes, by the said Fiant, maie leave the said landes and chiefferie to his unlawful issue, and soe disinherit his owne heire, your supplicant, his brother, and nepbewes, whereas for these many hundred yeares no bastard attained to the chiefrie of Iregaine.ö

It appears from an Inquisition taken at Mayborough, on the 17th of May, 1638, that this Teige Oge O'Doyne died on the 38th of October, 1637, when it was found that Edward Doyne, aged eighteen yeares and two months, was his next relative and heir. From this it would apear that the issue of Teige Reagh, Teige Oge's son by Margaret O'Neill, and of his half brothers, were set aside by the government. But it has not been yet proved how this Edward Doyne stood related to Teige Oge O'Doyne.

Cormac, the second son of Teige O'Doyne, or O'Dunne, No. III., married Joane O'Carroll, widow of Thomas Burke, Baron of Leitrim, and had by her a son, Donnell, who had the remainder of the castle of Roskyne, and sixty acres of land belonging to his grandmother, Elizabeth Fitzgerald, but no account of his descendants has fallen in the Editor's way. Brian, the third son of Teige O'Doyne, No. Ill., married the daughter of Fergananim O'Molloy, and had by her a son, Barnaby, or Brian Oge, who obtained a patent from Charles I. for a considerable estate in the barony of Tinahinch, to hold in soccage to him and his heirs for ever, provided be should not take the name, style, or title of the Fox, or O'Doyne, &c. This Brian Oge, or Barnaby, who was compelled to reject the O and style himself Barnaby Dunne, died on the 17th of November, 1661, leaving a son, Charles Dunne of Brittas, the ancestor of the present family of Brittas. Charles Dunne, LL.D., of Trinity College, Dublin, the fourth son of the same Teige O'Doyne, does not appear to have left any issue. He made his last will and testament on the 2nd April, 1617, and after his death his property in Hy-Regan was claimued by his eldest brother, Teige Oge O'Doyne, who survived him by many years. Murtough, the fifth son of Teige, No. III., married the daughter of Turlough Fitzpatrick, brother of Florence, Baron of Upper Ossory, but no account of his descendants, if he left any, has yet been discovered.

From these evidences it is quite clear that the descendants of Teige Reagh O'Doyne, the son of the Lady Margaret O'Neill, would be the senior branch of this family, if they were extent; and that next after them should be placed the descendants of Cormac, the second son of Teige, No. III.; and that, if these are extinct, Major Francis Dunne of Brittas, is indisputably the present head of the O'Doynes, or O'Duinns, of Dooregan. According to the tradition in the country, the late Mr. Joseph Dunne of Killowen, near the Great Heath of Maryborough in the Queen's County, was the lineal descendant of Teige Reagh O'Doyne, the son of Margaret O'Neill. The Editor often saw him in the year 1833, when he was about 89 years old. He was one of the largest men in Europe, and had been an officer in the French service in his youth, but for the last fifty years of his life he lived on his farm at Killowen, from which he derived a considerable income. He had several sons remarkable for their great stature, strength, courage, and intelligence, but they all died
unmarried.

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