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The Osraighe, a group of a Munster people known as the Érainn, establish a semi-independent state within the territory of Laigin (Leinster) in the present County Kilkenny c100. Some authors believe the Osraighe tribe(s) may have been pushed into the Kilkenny/Laois area by the rise of the Eoghanachta in Munster. The southeastern part of Ossory was sometimes referred to as Comor na tri uisge, "the district of the three waters." The territory of the Uí Duach comprised much of the north and the north-eastern sections of Ossory. The countries of Ely O'Carroll and Hy Carthin comprised some of the north-western portion of Ossory. The lands of the southeast were possibly the territories of the Uí Bairrche (Uí Bearchon, aka Ibercon), the Uí Dheaghaidh (O'Dea, aka Ida), and the Uí Crinn (Uí Grine, aka Igrin); the barony of Owneybeg, in Limerick, thus O'Dinan (Dinnahane).
About the yeare 571 the people of Osraighe were united with their neighbors to the northwest, the Eile, in a defeat at the battle of Tola, a battle which was apparently won by a chief of the Ulaid (northeast Ireland). Tola is the name of a plain situated between Cluain Fearta Molua (in the parish of Kyle in modern County Laois) and Saighir (Seir Kieran in modern Co. Offaly), in what was probably a key center for Osraighe at the time.
The Battle of Dysert O'Dea, 1318 When Richard de Clare heard of the devastating defeat of his allies at Corcomruadh, he decided to attack O'Dea at Dysert and so cut off the strong arm of the combined Gaelic opposition. His troops arrived at Ruan on the morning of May 10, 1318, and were divided into three columns. The first column, headed by his son, marched northwards to Tullach O'Dea to cut off help which might arrive from O'Connor of Ennistymon. The second division marched southwards towards Magowna to intercept any support from that side. The third division, under his own command, marched westwards towards Dysert O'Dea, the home of Conor O'Dea. Those of the race of Brian Rua who made it across the Shannon were banished forever from the Kingdom of Thomond.
Naas in County Kildare is about twenty miles from Dublin on the old road to Kildare. It was the policy of the restored Irish Province that re-established priories should resume contact with neighbouring localities where there had been a Dominican priory before the suppression and, if possible, to re-establish a Dominican community. A Dominican Priory had been founded there in 1356 under the patronage of the Eustace family and dedicated to St Eustace. Suppressed in 1540 during the reign of Henry VIII its revival in the 1630s was part of the reorganisation of the Irish Dominican Province during the period when Father Ross MacGeoghan was either Vicar or Provincial (1617 - 1627). In 1626 there were four priests, one lay brother, and three novices living in the Dominican house in Cook Street. It was fairly common practice to ordain candidates for the priesthood before completing their studies so that they could contribute towards their maintenance abroad. In 1622, the Irish Provincial, Father Ross MacGeoghan and eight Dominicans were living in a house in Cook Street, this being the successor to the Priory which once stood where the Four Courts stands today. In 1640 the Lord Deputy Wentworth became Earl of Strafford. Under the patronage of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, John Atherton (1598-1640) was appointed Lord Bishop of Waterford and Lismore in 1636. As the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Atherton successfully campaigned for the passage of an act that instituted the death penalty for the vice of buggery. In 1640, he became one of the first men accused under this statute.
Later the Irish arrived at Bunratty to find the castle ablaze and de Clare's wife and household fled to England. In County Clare is located the barony of Bunratty where today can be found Bunratty Castle, built by the MacNamara Clan in 1425 A.D. The MacMahons succeeded the above Chiefs, as Lords of Corca Baisgin; and possessed the greater part of the baronies of Moyarta and Clonderlaw, in the county Clare. O'Hannons were found in both the Upper & Lower Bunratty barony, according to the 1659 Census.
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Ennistymon derives its name from INIS DIAMAIN which is generally translated as Diamain’s river meadow. Westropp thought the name might signify the fruitful riverside meadow. Dinneen’s dictionary gives a choicer translation of the name which could signify the hidden or secret island and a more prosaic rendering of DIA-MHAOIN, as in reference to ecclesiastical property, may be more exact as a Saint Luchtighern is reputed to have had an abbey here.
Ennistymon is hidden in a recess among the hills. It lies on the southern edge of the Burren, two miles inland from the Atlantic. A little below the bridge, the river rushes over an extensive ridge of rocks and forms a beautiful cascade about 1˝ miles away from where it joins the river Derry. Brian Merriman the poet, and author of "The Midnight Court" was born in Ennistymon around 1749. Between 1847 and 1851 almost 5,000 people had died, many of cholera. Fortunes changed with the arrival of the Famine. The Ennistymon workhouse was built to accommodate 870 inmates. By 1850 there were over 2,500 people in the various workhouses of the Ennistymon Union. Though few traces of the workhouse now remain, there is a small stone-walled cemetery, no longer in use called the childrens graveyard and an unmarked famine graveyard adjacent to the workhouse site - a sad memorial to that grim period.
Some historians claim that Ennistymon’s name INIS DI MAIN refers to the island of the middle house. In 1564 the O’Briens of Thomond acquired a castle in a wooded estate by the cascading Cullenagh river. This castle was known as the "middle house", being central to the O’Brien castles at Dough and Glann. Immediately adjoining the town is Ennistymon Castle, formerly a seate of the O'Brien family, descendants of the Earls of Thomond.
ENNISTYMON, a market and post town, in the parish of Kilmanaheen, barony of Corcomroe, county of Clare, and province of Munster, 16 1/2 miles (W. by N.) from Ennis and 128 (W. by S.) from Dublin, on the river Inagh, and on the mail road from Ennis to Milton-Malbay. The town, though irregularly built, has a picturesque appearance. A little below the bridge the river, which has its source in the mountains to the sourth-east, rushes over an extensive ridge of rocks and forms a beautiful cascade, at a short distance from which it joins the river Derry; the latter forms a junction with the river Inagh, and the united streams fall into the Altantic at Liscanor bay, about 1 1/2 miles west of the town. Adjoining the town is Ennistymon Castle, formerly a seate of the O'Brien family, descendants of the Earls of Thomond.
KILMANAHEEN, a parish, in the barony of CORCOMROE, county of CLARE, and province of MUNSTER, on the road from Ennis to Miltown-Malbay; containing, with the post-town of Ennistymon and the village of Lahinch. St. Manchín, who was also the patron of the diocese of Limerick, was the saint to whom this parish was dedicated. He was contemporary with St. Ailbhe of Emly, St. Luchtigern of Tomfinloe, St. MacCreiche of Kilmacrehy, and St. Flannan of Killaloe. The church of Kilmanaheen was placed on the summit of a hill in the townland of Lissatunna, but scarcely any remains of it now exist; the burial-ground attached to it is in much use. Previously to the building of the church, the Dún, or residence of Baoth Bronach king of Corcomroe, had stood on the same spot, but he resigned the place to St. Manchín for the glory of God. A castle once stood at Ennistymon, but no trace of it remains to our time. It belonged in 1580 to O’Connor.
A parish, in the barony of Corcomroe, county of Clare, and province of Munster, on the road from Ennis to Miltown-Malbay. The church at Ennistymon- built in 1831. In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union or district of Ennistymon, which also comprises the parish of Clouney, and contains the chapels of Ennistymon, Lahinch, and Kilthomas.
Clare is included in the Munster circuit: the assizes are held at Ennis, and the quarter sessions at Ennis, Six-mile-Bridge, Kilrush, Ennistymon which has a bog side, and Miltown-Malbay. The county gaol is at Ennis, and there are bridewells at Kilrush, Tulla, Six-mile-Bridge, and Ennistymon. Corcomroe, the next maritime barony on the north, is of the same character as the last-mentioned lands, having a fertile clay soil on whinstone rock, here called cold stone, to distinguish it from limestone: the land about Kilfenora and Doolan is some of the richest in the county. DEER ISLAND, or INNISMORE, an island, in the parish of KILCHRlST, barony of CLONDERLAW, county of CLARE, and province of MUNSTER, 3 ˝ miles (N. E. ) from Kildysart; the population is returned with the parish.
The Inchinquin Manuscripts, which cover the period between 1500 and 1900, contain several references to the O'Deas, referring to land titles, inquisitions, and letters. During this period, land was often mortgaged and the mortgages traded between speculators. The confusion was aggravated by the problems of language and the slow change-over from Brehon to English Law. During the 1500's, the Dysert O'Dea castle and town changed hands many times. One of the most important manuscripts of the Inchiquin collections is an award of Dysert Castle and lands made by Connor O'Dea Bishop of Kilmacduagh to two of his kinsmen, Diarmaid Og O'Dea and Domhnall O'Dea. The deed was agreed to at Dysert in 1568.
In the reign of Hen. VIII., Murchard or Murrough O'Brien was created Earl of Thomond for life, with remainder to his nephew Donogh, whose rights he had usurped, and who was at the same time elevated to the dignity of Baron Ibrakin. Murrough was also created Baron Ichiquin, with remainder to the heirs of his body, and from him the present Marquess of Thomond traces his descent.
On the division of Connaught into six counties by Sir Henry Sidney, the lord-deputy, in 1565, Thomond, sometimes called O'Brien’s country, was also made shire ground, and called Clare, after its chief town and its ancient Anglo-Norman possessors. In 1599 and 1600, Hugh O'Donell plundered and laid waste the whole county: Teg O'Brien entered into rebellion, but was shortly after slain. In accordance with its natural position, the county, on its first erection, was added to Connaught; but subsequently, in 1602, it was re-annexed to Munster, on petition of the Earl of Thomond. With the exception of three parishes in the diocese of Limerick, it is included in the dioceses of Killaloe and Kilfenora, the whole of the latter being comprised within its limits: it is wholly in the province of Cashel. For purposes of civil jurisdiction it is divided into the nine baronies of Bunratty, Burren, Clonderlaw, Corcomroe, Ibrickane, Inchiquin, Islands, Moyarta, and Tulla. It contains the borough and market-town of Ennis; the sea-port and market-town of Kilrush; the market and post-towns of Curofin and Ennistymon; the post-towns of Newmarket-on-Fergus, Six-mile-Bridge, Scariff, Killaloe, Kildysert, Miltown-Malbay, Burren, Knock, Broadford, and Bunratty; the town and port of Clare; and the smaller towns of Kilkee and Liscanor, the latter of which has a small harbour.
The name Monks is used as the anglicised form of two Irish names, Ó Manacháin (usually found as Monaghan) and Mac an Mhanaigh (usually found as MacEvanny). The root word in both of these names is "manach" meaning "monk", hence the adoption of Monks as an anglicisation. However, the Monks family of Dublin and Wicklow, would seem not to be derived from either of these Gaelic names, but rather from the Anglo-Norman family, originally known as Le Moyne. The name derives from the French word "moine" meaning "monk" and over the centuries became Monk, Monck and Monks.
The name Monahan or Monaghan (the latter is the more usual spelling in Ireland ) is chiefly to be found in the counties of Galway, Mayo and Fermanagh, all of which are not far from the original habitat of the O'Monaghans, viz. that part of the Co. Roscommon which les between Elphin and Jamestown. The Four Masters record O'Monahgan (O Manachain in Irish) as Lord of the Three Tuathas of Roscommon in 1287, about the time they were displaced from lordship by the O'Hanlys. The Manachan from whom the family takes its name was a famous Connacht warrior of the ninth century. Manachain denotes a monk, hence the synonym Monk used in some places as the anglicized from of the name.
The name is first recorded in England shortly after the Norman conquest of 1066. Ralph Moin is recorded in Sussex in 1158 and Henry le Moygne in Essex in 1255. Geoffrey le Moine was constable of the castle in Newcastle in 1219. The oldest known ancestor of the Dublin Monks family was William le Moyne of Potheridge in Devonshire who was known to be living in 1424. He had two sons, John le Moyne who inherited the estates in Devon and Robert le Moyne, from whom came Viscount Monck and the Monks families of Dublin and Wicklow. The Devonshire line includes the Dukes of Albemarle, a title that became extinct in 1687. George Monck, second son of Sir Thomas Monk of Potheridge, was, for his exertions in bringing about the restoration of Charles II to the throne of England, raised to peerage in 1670. However, the male line appears to have died with him. The Irish line seems to have fared better as regards survival.
Newcastle was an English Bourough by-name brought from Domesday and the Treaty of Montgomery. A place in Munster of the Uí Faelain; and O'Brien branch of the Wicklow mountains who unlike the Ua Faelain of the Déisi who had anglicanized lordships. Naas Chiefs of Hy-Maile [Imaile] and of Hy-Teigh comprised Cualan's Country or the mountain land baronies.
After the Cromwellian and Williamite wars in the latter half of the 17th century, thousands of Irishmen emigrated to France where they were guaranteed service in the army of King Louis. The O'Deas were no exception. Two sons of Michael O'Dea of Dysert, James and Donough, followed their uncle James into the Irish Brigade. It rose steadily in the parish of Dysert from about 2,000 people in 1690 to over 7,000 by 1840. The great Potato Famine resulted in over one million deaths in Ireland from starvation and disease, and the emigration of over one million people to Britain, the United States of America, and Australia.
After Boyne River 1690 Mass migration of 14,000 followed; this is known as the Flight of the Wild Geese. Irish to France or New France.
Ulster Scots followed by North Carolina. New Castle, Delaware was the major port of entry for Irish and Irish Scots in the colonial period. The 'Wedge' area of northeastern Cecil Co., Maryland, northern New Castle Co., Delaware, and southern Chester Co., Pennsylvania, made up the Presbytery of New Castle.
