Book of Ryans - Dynasty
Chapter Three:
The Northern Tipperary Dynasty Years
O'Mulrian Origin
One hundred years after the Conquest, the Norman lords brought feudal order to most of the Irish countryside; however, English authority was undermined because of the petty jealousies that existed among the Anglo leadership. New alliances were created and intermarriage between the races was not uncommon, and the Anglo lordships which reappeared after 1250 were more sympathetic to Gaelic custom. As many of the new lordships began intermixing with the local population, this harmony was complicated by introducing Brehon Law into the social mix. This assimilation of Gaelic and Norman practices made it easier for the original inhabitants to accept their new English lords, and subsequently by the middle of the 13th century the annals become filled with battles that reflected these strange new coalitions. One of these confederations was formed between the Butler and O'Maoilrian lordships in 1285 which interestingly was the earliest known record of the O'Maoilrians living in north Munster. The record entry showed they accompanied Theobald Butler with a large expeditionary force into Mac Coghlan territory, a kingdom situated north of O'Carroll's country.
The late 13th century represented a turbulent period for the Anglo lordships, and the overhaul of Norman aristocrats after 1270 contributed greatly to the disorder that was to follow. In order to better explain the events leading up to the invasion into Mac Coghlan territory, a chronological picture after the Norman invasion needs to be addressed to yield a clearer historical perspective. Prince John in 1285, also known as "lackland" because he had limited territorial claims, granted Theobald Fitz Walter, ancestor of the Butler's of Ormond, territories in north Tipperary, Offaly and Killaloe. This was the same Prince John that was forced to sign the Magna Carta at RunnyMeade in 1215. The historical significance of this document would forever shape the political destinies of all English speaking countries, and specifically it bestowed greater freedoms to the mediaeval barons and landowners of England. Prince John's father, Henry II, had earlier conferred upon Theobald the chief butlership to the Crown which made him the sole distributor of all wines entering the kingdom, hence the name le Botiller (the bottler) which later became anglicized as Butler. His descendents sold the lucrative wine-patent to England in 1811 for a huge profit, and this sale ended their centuries-old monopoly of assessing a tax on each bottle of imported wines sold in Ireland. King John's grant also required the Butlers to subject the Gaelic Irish to English law and maintain peace in the territory. The terms of the grant bound the Butlers and their English colonists to military service, and in turn they were required to tame the native Irish whose lands they had forcibly acquired.
A century later the more powerful and influential native Irish asked Edward I to modify Norman Law, so that all Irish citizens would be equal in the Courts. Edward saw the Gael as a conquered aristocracy whose complaints he left unanswered, and therefore, continued granting primeval Irish estates to English nobility despite Gaelic requests for equality. Edward I in 1276 granted all of Thomond to Thomas de Clare and his 12 knights. This pact defined de Clare's role to be the conqueror of Thomond, a region located west of the Shannon River in present day County Clare, which at this time was the tribal home of the O'Briens. This appointment won great admiration among the English, but it aroused great animosity from de Burgh, particularly towards Richard, Thomas de Clare's son. De Burgh saw the king's actions as a blatant attempt to steal lands originally assigned to Theobald, his progenitor, and this reassignment of the king's grant led to warfare between the houses of de Burgh and de Clare. This feud between the two Norman lordships allowed Turlough O'Brien, who seized upon the opportunity which this disunity created, to win one of the early great victories during a period described as the Gaelic Revival.
The Gaelic clans continued their struggle with de Burgh and in 1284 Turlough O'Brien crossed the Shannon River with a large army into the ancient lands of Owney, Coonagh, Eoghanacht, Kilnamanagh, Eiliogarty and Ormond, where he and his following burned and wasted Butler and other Anglo-Norman settlements. Theobald Butler held considerable power among the Gaelic tribes of northern Munster, and with the exception of de Burgo, earl of Ulster, ruled supreme in southern Ireland. While the annals make no mention that the O'Mulryans participated in the upheaval, their allegiance to the Butlers most likely forced them to defend their property against the Gaelic raiders. It would only be a matter of time before the Butlers would regroup and seek revenge for the destruction of their property.
Theobald Butler in 1285 accompanied by the forces of O'Kelly, Eli O'Carroll, Ormond <O'Kennedy>, Arye <the septs of Lynch, Cathelain, and MacBrien>, Ohne O'Mulryan of Sileanmchye and Clan William of the Burkes went to Delvin Mac Coughlan "to take the spoils of that country and to destroy and subvert itself by their power".[1] This expedition was to prove disastrous because Carbrey O'Melaghlyn, High King of Meath, came to defend Delvin Mac Coughlan from the Butler army. Butler was unprepared for fighting such a large enemy force, and consequently casualties were high and the "chieftest of Theobald's army were slain and numerous captives taken."[2]
Henry II's plan to conquer the Gaelic dominated lands west of the Shannon never materialized, and with the death of Theobald in 1285 the earl of Ulster instituted a policy which tightened his control of Ormond and Limerick. The Gaels with their mercenary soldiers recruited from Scotland were never able to form a strong union to defeat the Norman lords, but the Normans also were divided which allowed the Gaelic petty kings to recover large parts of their former lordships. The Ulster earl recognized a serious problem which could reduce his authority in the Palatinate, so he instituted a more formal recognition of power in 1297 as this entry offers:
The O'Mulryans and O'Dwyers and their following Irish of de Burgo Earl of Ulster owed fifty marks for suit of the King's peace, pardoned to them by the security of the said Earl, by the records of the chancellor and Walter Lenfaunt for that purpose assigned.[3]
The practice of extracting an annual rent from freeholders originated in mediaeval England as a means to enrich the English lordships. This legal assignment of lands was granted through a process called knights service. The earl in 1305 obtained an additional grant "of free chase in all demesne lands in Tuirtri, Keenaght, Cinel-Owen, Inishowen, Moy Cova, and Mourne in the earldom of Ulster."[4] His acquisition of these demesne territories was added to his earlier appropriated lands of Owney and Estermoy <Clanwilliam> in eastern County Limerick. Although the septs were dominated by de Burgh and others of Norman descent, the population in most of these districts were exclusively of Gaelic origin.
While these grants created a feudal relationship for the Irish tenants, the Norman aristocracy had minimal control over the Gaelic chieftains. They enticed the local chiefs by offering bribes, and by the end of the late 13th century bribes, or 'black rents', became commonplace. The feudal rolls itemizing the expenses of several administrators was spent making provisions to guard the 'marches' surrounding the Norman settlements, particularly the Pale, and pressuring local chieftains to submit to English rule. These specially assigned English dignitaries sought out the most powerful and influential Gaelic chiefs to persuade subordinate chieftains, such as MacMurrough and his Leinster partisans like the O'Riains, to protect the English settlements within their kingdoms. Post-invasion records showed the Ryans still possessed their ancient lands in Idrone, although somewhat smaller than previously held before the attack. It also appeared that the posterity of Dermot MacMurrough retained the hereditary title as lawful head of south Leinster which included the noble families of the Kinsellas, MacDamores, and O'Murchadas of Wexford, the O'Nolans of Forth, the O'Ryans of Idrone, and the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles of Wicklow.
The face of Ireland had drastically changed the culture known before the invasion. As the mediaeval period matured, Ireland was faced with many pressing consequences: the church had been divided over a number of issues including celibacy and traditional doctrine, the freeholder was relegated to a role of servant or slave, and there existed a shattered unity within Gaelic Ireland. A century of conquest had pushed the border areas of Norman control into an area containing "landless, lordless, and kinless men, expelled by Norman and sometimes by Irish enemies, or broken men serving conquerors of either race."[5] The expulsion of the native Gaelic from their ancient patrimonies continued well into the next century, and the weaker kingdoms were conquered by more powerful neighbors seeking land to redistribute to their loyal subjects. In addition, the disruption caused by the invasion, and the confusion wrought by its aftermath, helped create poor agricultural performances in the newly conquered Norman lands. The countryside laid wasted and robbed of its resources, and Ivernia's devastation caused a tense situation as this poem described:
Young men of Waterford, learn now to play
For your mares and your plows have been all led away
So scour ye your weapons that have been long laid way
And defend you from the Poers that walk by the way.
For if they take you one by one
From them there scapeth never a one
I swear by Christ and St.. John
That off goes your head.[6]