Connor O'Brien, 3rd Earl of Thomond

Connor O'Brien, 3rd Earl of Thomond also spelled Conor and called Groibleach, or the "long-nailed", (Irish: Conchobhar Groibleach Ó Briain; 1535–1581) 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 Fitzgerald in 1569 and fled to France. He returned and was pardoned in 1571, being restored to his lands in 1573.

Birth and origins[]

Connor was born in 1535, the eldest son of Donogh O'Brien and his wife Helen Butler. His father was the 2nd Earl of Thomond.^[1] He had obtained the earldom by an agreement by which he succeeded his uncle Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Thomond as 2nd earl. His father's family, the O'Briens, were a Gaelic Irish dynasty that descended from Brian Boru, medieval high king of Ireland.^[2] His mother was the youngest daughter of Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond. His mother's family, the Butlers, were an Old English dynasty that descended from Theobald Walter, who had been appointed Chief Butler of Ireland by King Henry II in 1177.^[3]

Early life[]

O'Brien should have normally succeeded his father on his death on 7 November 1551 as the third earl of Thomond according to English primogeniture. However, at that time O'Brien was only 16; he would have become a ward and the lands would have reverted to the crown until his coming off age. To avoid this, his father had nominated O'Brien's uncle Donnell as his tanist (successor) according to Brehon law. His uncle Donnell was formally inaugurated as the O'Brien (chief of the name) and chieftain of the Dal Cais (Dalcassians) and usurped the earldom.^[8]

Obliged to surrender Clonroad, the usual residence of the O'Briens, Connor retired to the castle of Doonmulvihill, on the borders of Galway, where he was besieged by Donnell, but relieved by his cousin Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond.^[9]

Subsequently, Donnell petitioned for official recognition as chief of Thomond, and St. Leger, though unable to grant his request, promised to write to Queen Mary in his favour. Matters continued in this uncertain state till the summer of 1558, when the Earl of Sussex, having marched to Limerick with a large army, caused Donnell, Teige and Donough, sons of Murrough, 1st Earl of Thomond, to be proclaimed traitors, and O'Brien to be reinstated in his possessions.^[10][11]

Donnell took refuge with Maguire in Fermanagh, and Teige and Donough found a powerful protector in Gerald FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond.

Peace prevailed for a brief season, and O'Brien won Sussex's approbation for his good execution of justice. But in 1559 Teige and Donough returned to Inchiquin, and not merely defied Connor's efforts to oust them, but, with the assistance of the Earl of Desmond, actually inflicted a sharp defeat on him and his ally, the Earl of Clanricarde, at the Battle of Spancel Hill. Teige was shortly afterwards arrested by Lord-justice William FitzWilliam, and confined in Dublin Castle; but early in 1562 he managed to escape, and, being joined by Donnell, they opposed a formidable army to the Earl of Thomond. With the help of some ordnance lent him by Sussex, Thomond succeeded in wresting and Ballycarhy from them; and eventually, in April 1565, after reducing the country to a wilderness, Donnell consented to surrender his claim to the lordship of Thomond on condition of receiving Corcomroe. War broke out again in the following year; but the resources of the combatants were exhausted, and Sidney, when he visited Limerick in April 1567, described it as utterly impoverished owing to the Earl of Thomond's "insufficiency to govern".^[12]

The suspicion with which he was regarded made him discontented, and on 8 July 1569 he entered into league with the "arch-rebel" James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald (d. 1579). In February 1570 he attacked the President of Connaught, Sir Edward Fitton, at Ennis, and compelled him to seek refuge in Galway. A strong force under the Earl of Ormond was immediately despatched against him, and a few weeks later he submitted unconditionally. But being "seized with sorrow and regret for having surrendered his towns and prisoners", and determined never to "submit himself to the law, or to the mercy of the council of Ireland", he fled in the beginning of June to France.^[13]

There he introduced himself on 18 July to Sir Henry Norris, 1st Baron Norreys, the English ambassador, and, after protesting his loyalty, begged him to intercede with the Queen Elizabeth for his pardon. Norris, who thought him a "barbarous man", wanting "neither vainglory or deceitfulness, and yet in his talk very simple", soon became aware that he was intriguing with the French court, and urged Elizabeth to coax him home at any price. Elizabeth, though she spoke of him as a "person of small value" and declined to pardon him beforehand, was sufficiently alive to his power to do mischief, and promised if he returned to give his grievances a favourable hearing. But Thomond showed no disposition to leave Paris, and Norris was forced to lend him a hundred crowns and make endless promises before he would consent to take his departure.^[14]

He returned to Ireland in December, and, having made public confession of his treason to Sir Henry Sidney, he was pardoned. Subsequently, in April 1571, he made surrender of all his lands to the queen. He obtained permission to go to England to solicit their restoration, but, owing to the rebellion of the Earl of Clanricarde's sons, his presence was required in Ireland. He won the approval of the lord-deputy and council, and warrant was apparently given in June 1573 for the restoration of his lands. In December 1575 he went to Cork to show his respect to the lord-deputy, Sir Henry Sidney, whom he attended to Limerick and Galway, whither the principal men of Thomond repaired to him. "And finding that the mutuall Hurtes and Revenges donne betwixt the Earle and Teige MacMurrough Avas one great Cawse of the Ruyne of the Country", Sidney "bounde theim by Bondes, in great sommes", to surrender their lands, and to submit to the appointment of Donnell, created Sir Donnell O'Brien, as sheriff of the newly constituted county of Clare. This arrangement, though acquiesced in, was naturally displeasing to Thomond, and he was reputed to have said that he repented ever "condescending to the queen's mercy".^[15]

The arrangement did not put an end to the disputes between him and Teige, and in 1577 Sir William Drury was compelled to place the county under martial government. Thomond thereupon repaired to England, and on 7 October warrant was issued for a new patent containing the full effect of his former patent, with remainder to his son Donough, baron of Ibrickan. He returned to Ireland about Christmas; but before his arrival, according to the "Four Masters", "the marshal had imposed a severe burden on his people, so that they were obliged to become tributary to the sovereign, and pay a sum of ten pounds for every barony, and this was the first tribute ever paid by the Dal Cais." Thomond, however, seems to have lived on good terms with the new president of Connaught, Sir Nicholas Malby. He died, apparently, in January 1581, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Donough, baron of Ibrickan and 4th earl of Thomond.^[16]

First marriage[]

O'Brien's first marriage was childless. The name of his bride is disputed. She was either Joan, daughter of Thomas, 16th Baron of Kerry^[17] or Ellen, daughter of Donald MacCormac MacCarthy Mor and widow of James FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond; Ellen died in 1560, and was buried in Muckross Abbey.^[18]

Second marriage and children[]

O'Brien married secondly Una, daughter of Turlough O'Brien-Ara in County Tipperary.^[19]

Connor and Una had three sons:

1. Donogh (died 1624)
2. Teige, of Dromore Castle, married 1st Siana, daughter of Teige McMorough; and 2ndly Joan, daughter of Sir Dermot Shaughnessy and widow of Sir William Bourke^[20]
3. Daniel (died 1663) created 1st Viscount Clare]]

—and three daughters:

1. Honora, first wife of Thomas Fitzmaurice, 18th Lord Kerry
2. Margaret, second wife of , 2nd Lord Dunboyne
3. Mary, wife of Turlough Roe MacMahon of Corcovaskin.

Notes, citations, and sources[]

Notes[]

Citations[]

Sources[]

• Brewer, John Sherren; Bullen, William, eds. (1867). Calendar of the Carew Manuscripts Preserved in the Archiepiscopal Library at Lambeth 1515–1574. London: Longmans, Green, Reader, & Dyer. OCLC 906123913.
• Burke, Bernard (1866). A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire (New ed.). London: Harrison. OCLC 11501348.
• Cokayne, George Edward (1896). Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant. Vol. 7 (1st ed.). London: George Bell and Sons. OCLC 1180891114. – S to T (for Thomond)
• Cokayne, George Edward (1913). Gibbs, Vicary (ed.). The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant. Vol. 3 (2nd ed.). London: St Catherine Press. OCLC 228661424. – Canonteign to Cutts (for Clancarty)
• Cunningham, Bernadette (October 2009). "O'Brien, Conor". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 10 January 2022. – Online edition
• Debrett, John (1828). Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. 2 (17th ed.). London: F. C. and J. Rivington. OCLC 54499602. – Scotland and Ireland
• Dunlop, Robert (1895). "O'Brien, Conor, third Earl of Thomond (1534?–1581)". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 41. New York: MacMillan and Co. pp. 309–310. OCLC 8544105.
• Maginn, Christopher (2004). "O'Brien, Conor, third earl of Thomond (1635?–1581)". In Matthew, Colin; Harrison, Brian (eds.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 41. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 356–357. ISBN 0-19-861391-1.

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1895). "O'Brien, Conor (1534?–1581)". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 41. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 309, 310.

Further reading[]

• Lodge, John; Archdall, Mervyn (1789). The peerage of Ireland: or, A genealogical history of the present nobility of that kingdom. Vol. 2. Dubli: James Moore. pp. 27–32.