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Gaelic nobility of Ireland

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For other uses, see Peerage of Ireland.
For other uses, see Hiberno-Normans.

This article concerns the Gaelic nobility of Ireland from ancient to modern times. It only partly overlaps with Chiefs of the Name because it excludes Scotland and other discussion. It is one of three groups of Irish nobility, the others being those nobles descended from the Hiberno-Normans and those granted titles of nobility in the Peerage of Ireland.

By the time of the Treaty of Limerick, almost all Gaelic nobles had lost any semblance of real power in their (former) domains. Today, such historical titles have no special legal status in the Republic of Ireland, unlike in Northern Ireland, which has remained a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Republic of Ireland does not confer titles of nobility under its constitution.[1]

From 1943 until 2003 some of the modern representatives of the Gaelic nobility obtained a courtesy recognition as Chiefs of the Name from the Irish government. The practice ended in 2003 following certain scandals (Terence Francis MacCarthy) and under concerns that it was unconstitutional. Disputed titles, as well as those for whom recognition is still pending, are not listed.

The Gaelic nobles

All below are flatha (princes) and also descendants in the male line, however distant in some cases, of at least one historical grade of Rí, a Rí túaithe (usually a local petty king), a Ruiri (overking or regional king), or a greater Rí ruirech (king of overkings, also called a provincial king or Rí cóicid). A number of rí ruirech also became Ard Rí and their surviving princely descendants remain claimants to the long vacant, so-called High Kingship.[2] A modern Gaelic noble may be styled a flaith (prince) or tiarna (lord, count/earl). See also White Rod.

The Gaelic families are divided by race and sept, and by geography.

Other Gaelic nobles

O'Neill claimants

Other O'Neills did not apply for recognition. The most notable of these is the Prince of the Fews, Don Carlos O'Neill, 12th Marquis of Granja. There is currently a dispute between him and the Prince of Clanaboy (above) over who is the "senior", with the matter appearing unresolvable.

The O'Neills of the Fews are a 15th century branch of the Tyrone or Ó Néill Mór line whereas the O'Neills of Clanaboy are a High Medieval line. Hence the matter is academic, both being somewhat distant from the last sovereigns of Ulster (to 1607), whose plentiful descendants eventually fell into comparative obscurity.

O'Donnell succession

The recognized heir apparent of the Prince of Tyrconnell, Fr. Hugh O'Donel, O.F.M., is Don Hugo O'Donnell, 7th Duke of Tetuan.

MacCarthys Mór

The most recent legitimate claimants to the royal title of MacCarthy Mór (Prince of Desmond) are two close relatives, Barry Trant MacCarthy (Mór), now elderly (b. 1931), and the younger Liam Trant MacCarthy (Mór) (b. 1957). They are descendants of Cormac of Dunguil, younger son of Tadhg na Mainistreach Mac Carthaigh Mór, King of Desmond (d. 1426), they belonging to the Srugrena sept, but after applying for recognition still await it following the immense scandal involving the impostor Terence MacCarthy.[9] Both MacCarthys Mór are descendants of a brother, William Patrick, of Samuel Trant MacCarthy (d. 1927), whose pedigree was registered in 1906 by Sir Arthur Vicars, the Ulster King of Arms,[10] after which he decided to revive the title of MacCarthy Mór.[11] According to the law of primogeniture (although not a Gaelic custom in origin) the younger Liam is the senior surviving male member of the family,[12] however the elder Barry believed he himself was this at the time he applied for recognition.[13] In any event, the family have a number of male heirs,[14] and relations among them are amiable.[15]

Remaining agnates

There remain other Gaelic nobles who are not of the "senior" lines, but whose descent is recognized in Europe and a number of whom also hold Continental titles.

Other

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Irish Constitution
  2. ^ Curley, pp. 26-7, and following profiles; see also Jaski, pp. 37-40, 89, 99-102; Byrne, pp. 41-2, for academic discussion on the types of rí
  3. ^ The current O'Conor Don has dropped the style The O'Conor Don, Prince of Connacht used by his father, considering O'Conor Don to be "historically grand enough by itself". Curley, p. 155
  4. ^ The Eóganachta currently remain without an official head, who would be the MacCarthy Mór (Prince of Desmond), of any of the princely lineages of the MacCarthy dynasty, a few of which in fact survive. The impostor Terence Francis MacCarthy claimed this title.
  5. ^ Cadet branch of O'Sullivan Mor. See Ellis, p. 157; Curley, p. 116
  6. ^ Considered by many to now be the O'Donoghue Mor and thus Prince of Locha Léin, but has not yet claimed the title. See Ellis, pp. 137-8, noting "the family has no such intention". But compare Curley, pp. 109-12, who styles O'Donoghue the Prince of Locha Léin anyway, because the senior dynasty have of course gone extinct.
  7. ^ For the complicated parentage of the O'Donovans see Donnubán mac Cathail.
  8. ^ The Clann Somhairle, although claiming Irish ancestry, are also considered a "cadet branch" (maternal line) of the Crovan dynasty, Kings of Mann and the Isles, likely a branch of the Norse-Irish Uí Ímair. See Alex Woolf, The origins and ancestry of Somerled: Gofraid mac Fergusa and 'The Annals of the Four Masters', Medieval Scandinavia 15 (2005)
  9. ^ Ellis, pp. 125-7
  10. ^ Ellis, pp. 124-6
  11. ^ Ellis, p. 125
  12. ^ Ellis, p. 126, and passim
  13. ^ Ellis, p. 127
  14. ^ Ellis, p. 126
  15. ^ Ellis, passim

References

  • Burke, Bernard and Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, Burke's Irish Family Records. London: Burke's Peerage Ltd. 5th edition, 1976.
    • and Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage. 107th edition, 2003. [1] (Burke's now includes Irish chiefs, but intentionally casts some doubt over them and is unsatisfactory as a resource. Only those recognized by MacLysaght are included.)
  • Chambers, Anne, At Arm's Length: Aristocrats in the Republic of Ireland. New Island Books. 2nd revised edition, 2005. (selected families, Gaelic, Hiberno-Norman, and later)
  • Curley, Walter J.P., Vanishing Kingdoms: The Irish Chiefs and their Families. Dublin: Lilliput Press. 2004. (includes several disputed and spurious "chiefs", and is also light on coverage of a few of the genuine aristocracy and other claimants)
  • Debrett's [2]
  • Ellis, Peter Berresford, Erin's Blood Royal: The Gaelic Noble Dynasties of Ireland. Palgrave. Revised edition, 2002.
  • MacLysaght, Edward, Irish Families: Their Names, Arms and Origins. Irish Academic Press. 4th edition, 1998.
  • Murphy, Sean J., Twilight of the Chiefs: The Mac Carthy Mór Hoax. Bethesda, Maryland: Academica Press. 2004.
  • Nash, Catherine, Of Irish Descent, chapter 4. New York: Syracuse University Press. 2008. ISBN 978-0-8156-3159-0

Genealogical and historical

Irish kingship and lordship

  • Bhreathnach, Edel (ed.), The Kingship and Landscape of Tara. Four Courts Press for The Discovery Programme. 2005.
  • Byrne, Francis J., Irish Kings and High-Kings. Four Courts Press. 2nd edition, 2001.
  • Charles-Edwards, T.M., Early Christian Ireland. Cambridge. 2000.
  • Dillon, Myles, "The consecration of Irish kings", in Celtica 10 (1973): 1–8.
  • Dillon, Myles, The Cycles of the Kings. Oxford. 1946.
  • FitzPatrick, Elizabeth, Royal Inauguration in Gaelic Ireland c. 1100-1600: A Cultural Landscape Study. Boydell Press. 2004.
  • Jaski, Bart, Early Irish Kingship and Succession. Four Courts Press. 2000.
  • Nicholls, K. W., Gaelic and Gaelicized Ireland in the Middle Ages. Dublin: Lilliput Press. 2nd edition, 2003.
  • O'Donovan, John (ed.), and Duald Mac Firbis, The Genealogies, Tribes, and Customs of Hy-Fiachrach. Dublin: Irish Archaeological Society. 1844. pp. 425–452

Other

  • Duffy, Seán (ed.), Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. 2005.
  • Mac Niocaill, Gearóid, Ireland before the Vikings. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. 1972.
  • Ó Corráin, Donnchadh, Ireland before the Normans. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. 1972.
  • O'Rahilly, Thomas F., Early Irish History and Mythology. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. 1946.
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