Philip O'Sullivan Beare

Philip O'Sullivan Beare (Irish: Pilib Ó Súilleabháin Béirre, c. 1590 – Spain, 1660) was an Irish soldier who became more famous as a writer. He fled to Habsburg Spain during the time of Tyrone's Rebellion, when Gaelic Ireland was making its last stand against Tudor England. He subsequently authored the book, the Catholic History of Ireland, which offered a history from the perspective of the native Irish Catholics.

Biography[]

He was son of and nephew of Donal O'Sullivan Beare, Prince of Beare. The O'Sullivans, headed by the O'Sullivan Beare, owned much of Valentia Island in south-western Ireland.^[1]

He was sent to Spain in 1602, and was educated at Compostela by Vendamma, a Spaniard, and John Synnott, an Irish Jesuit.^{[citation needed]}

He served in the Spanish army. In 1621 he published his Catholic History of Ireland, a work not always reliable, but valuable for the Irish wars of the author's own day. He also wrote a Life of St. Patrick, a confutation of Gerald of Wales and a reply to James Usher's attack on his History.^{[citation needed]}

Philip O'Sullivan Beare died in 1660 in Spain, leaving a "daughter of twelve years to inherit his titles in Ireland and his goods".^[2]

Works[]

• O'Sullivan Beare, Philip, Historiae Catholicae Iberniae. Spain. 1621. Edited by Matthew Kelly 1850, Dublin: Printed by John O'Daly. Portion translated into English by Matthew J. Byrne 1903, titled Ireland under Elizabeth, and also Chapters towards a History of Ireland in the reign of Elizabeth. Dublin: Sealy, Bryers & Walker.

See also[]

• Ruaidhrí Ó Flaithbheartaigh
• Anthony Bruodin
• John Colgan

Further reading[]

• Magee, Thomas D'Arcy (1846). Irish Writers of the Seventeenth Century. Dublin.
• O'Sullivan Beare, Philip (1850). Kelly, Matthew (ed.). Catholic History of Ireland. Dublin.
• O'Sullivan Beare, Philip (1904). History of Ireland. Translated by Byrne, Matthew J. London.
• O'Sullivan Beare, Philip (2009). O'Sullivan, Denis C. (ed.). Natural History of Ireland. Cork University Press. ISBN 978-1-85918-439-4.

References[]

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Philip O'Sullivan Beare". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.