The Battle of Clontarf
As commanders of the Cavalry of the Hy Maine, the O'Neachtains took part in the many battles against rivals for territory or control. The most important battle, by far, was the Battle of Clontarf, in which the High King of Ireland, Brian Boru, fought rival Irish forces whose Viking allies sought to overthrow Boru and complete their conquest of Ireland. The Vikings gathered a sizable invasion force and set sail for Dublin.
Clan Mar of Aberdeenshire took as its name that of one of the seven ancient kingdoms of Scotland: Mar. The ruler of these kingdoms were known by the title of mormaer, which eventually was changed to earl. The earliest reference to a mormaer / earl is dated to the year 1014 when Donald, Mormaer of Mar participated in the Battle of Clontarf under Brian Boru, the High King of Ireland.
Brian Boru, who gave his name to the O'Brien family, was famous in Irish history for becoming king of all Ireland--at least for a time--by defeating his main rival in the Ó Neill clan who controlled North Ireland and part of the south. An agreement between the two kings in 997 left Boru in charge of Connaught, southern Ireland and eastern Ireland, including Dublin. By 1011, after a series of battles, he was in effective control of all Ireland. But his opponents, joined by Viking forces, challenged Boru at Clontarf, on the coast just north of Dublin, on Good Friday, April 23, 1014.
Brian Boru gathered his own allied clans in Ireland, as well as friendly Viking settlers, to defend against the foreign force. Among those who responded were the Hy-Many forces gathered by the clan leader, O'Kelly. One of those who fought with Brian Boru's forces was Connor Catha Brian, the direct ancestor of the Naughton family. Connor Catha Brian was famous both for having supported Brian Boru in the defense against the Vikings and for being the first to take on the family surname. He named his line after his own great-great-great-grandfather, 'Neachtain." From then on, the family line was known by the Galeic surname O'Neachtain, later modified to O'Naghten and Naughton.
The battle was fierce, with many killed on both sides. Among those dead were Brian Boru himself, the O'Kelly chieftain of Hy-Many and his son, and many others of Hy-Many. But Connor survived, and the forces of Brian Boru forced the Vikings to flee, ending forever their effort to conquer Ireland. Some historians claim that this particular battle prevented the Vikings from continuing their expansion across northern Europe and changed the course of European history.
The Anglo-Norman Invasion It is not clear which of the O'Neachtains was ruling Maonmagh when the Anglo-Norman invasion occurred in 1169. But it was a disastrous event that changed the course of Irish history as well as that of the O'Neachtains. During the initial years of the Anglo-Norman invasion, we are told that most local chieftains were able to retain their Galway properties, since Connaught was not the initial area of focus of the Anglo-Normans. Also helping was the fact that the Connaught chieftains recognized England's King Henry II under the 1175 Treaty of Windsor and agreed to pay tithes to him. But King Henry had to reward English nobles who supported his invasion of Ireland, and he did this by bestowing Irish baronies on them. This resulted in pushing many Irish families off their traditional lands and forcing them into becoming tenants of English gentry. Maonmagh was no exception. We know that William de Burgh invaded Connaught, including Maonmagh, about 1200, and that his son, Richard de Burgh, with English forces, passed through Maonmagh again in 1235, committing "great plunder." The de Burgh (Burke) family came to be the leading English conqueror and landowner of Connaught. Edmond O'Naghten tells us that Loughrea, where the O'Neachtains lived
Subsequently, Meyler Bermingham, son of the English Baron of Dudley, who had served as third in command of the first expedition into Ireland led by Richard de Clare "Strongbow," was rewarded by being made Lord Baron of Athenry, north of Loughrea but which most likely included most if not all of Maonmagh. The Irish landowners were simply dispossessed of their properties, but some were given the choice of remaining as tenants of Lord Bermingham or leaving. We know, for example, that the O'Mullallys moved to the area of Tuam and remained as tenants of Lord Bermingham at the Castle of Tolendal. They stayed there until the late 1600s, when family members--also known by the name Lally--moved to France and distinguished themselves in the French Army, ultimately gaining the title of Count Lally de Tolendal. The O'Neachtains chose to leave Maonmagh and seek another part of Hy-Many where they could remain independent of the Anglo-Normans. They moved northeast to the region between Ballinsaloe and Athlone, in County Roscommon--an extensive woodland that had been traditionally under the control of Hy-Many.
The general corridor between Ballinasloe and Athlone, between the River Suck and the River Shannon, was known as Na Feadha (woods) or the Fews. The O'Neachtains became chief of the Fews. Their land reportedly centered on Moynure, Carrickynaghtan and Creggane (Drum), near Athlone.
The O'Naughtons were not strangers to that area. The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland (most commonly known as The Annals of the Four Masters) tell of an Uareirghe Ua Neachtain who was "one of the noble sages" and "head of the Culdees"--a religious order--at the monastery of Clonmacnoise, which was founded by St. Ciaran about 545 on the River Shannon south of Athlone. Clonmacnoise thrived as a center of learning from the 7th to the 12th century, and many Irish kings were buried there. That particular Ua Neachtain died in the yeare 1132. We also find references to his grandson, Uaireirghe, son of Mulmora, who died on the 10th of March, 1200, as well as to two William O'Nechtains in the Athlone area in 1237 and 1276.