DYSERT, or DYSART, a parish, in the barony of INCHIQUIN, county of CLARE, and province of MUNSTER, 4½ miles (N. w.) from Ennis, on the road to Corofin. This parish was formerly called Dysert O’Dea, from its having been the territory of the sept of that name. It comprehends the subdivisions of Inagh and Ruan, and contains 23,417 statute acres, as rated for the county cess, of which a large portion consists of coarse mountain pasture. There are about 300 plantation acres of common, 100 acres of wood, and 100 acres of bog. The waste land consists chiefly of crag and underwood, and several hundred acres are covered with water, there being a number of lakes that in winter overflow the adjoining land to a considerable extent. Limestone abounds, and is burnt for manure; and the state of agriculture is gradually improving. The river Fergus runs through the greater part of the parish, through Tedane and other lakes, to Clare town. Fairs are held at Ruan on June 17th and Sept. 26th , the latter being one of the principal sheep fairs in the county.
The Battle of Dysert O'Dea, took place at Dysert O'Dea near Corofin, Co. Clare, which drove the Anglo-Normans from the region for over 200 years, took place at this site on May 10, 1318. The Norman Richard de Clare attacked the Irish chieftain Conor O'Dea, but his forces were ultimately defeated. De Clare himself was killed and the Kingdom of Thomond remained beyond foreign control for over two hundred years, until 1570.
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Built in 1480, Dysert O'Dea Castle is at the former O'Dea clan stronghold at Dysert O'Dea near Corofin, County Clare, Ireland. The Bishop of Kildare, Daniel O'Neylan (1530-1603) acquired the lands surrounding the castle in 1594. His grandson, Daniel (1614-39) and his wife Máire "Rua" ní Mahon (c.1615-86), a daughter of Sir Turlough MacMahon, Lord of East Corcabaskin, occupied the castle during their lifetimes. In 1670 their son, William O'Neylan (1635-78), tried to regain the castle by force following its confiscation by the British via the Act of Settlement. The Inchiquin line of the powerful O'Brien family also claimed a right to it. Inchiquin found in William’s favour and a 1676 deed and William’s 1678 will describe him as “William Nelane of Disart” and “Captain William Neylon of Disert” respectively. His son, Francis Patrick O'Neylan (also written Ó Neillan) who was born in the castle in 1671, became a Major General in the Imperial Service of Austria and was created a Baron of the Holy Roman Empire by the Emperor Joseph I. |
Clan O'Dea or Ua Déaghaidh (in Irish) is the family descended from Deaghaidh, an Irish chieftain from from the tenth century AD. The clan mostly resided in County Clare, Ireland. Descendants of Ua Déaghaidh may go by Day, O'Day, Dee, O'Dee, O'Dea, or Dea.
DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY THE IRISH
St. Flannan first bishop of Killaloe Nothing is recorded of St. Molua who gave name to this parish, but of St. Flannán, his disciple and successor, it is stated that he was the first bishop of the place, being promoted to that office about the yeare 639 after his consecration at Rome. He was the son of that Toirdhealbhach from whom the territory was named; in other words, he was of the family from whom was descended Brian Boroimhe. As regards his successors, before the arrival of the English, Sir James Ware admits that he could only find the names of five—namely, Cormacan O’Muilcaishel, who died in 1019; O’Gernidider, who died in 1055; Teige O’Teige, Comarba of Killaloe, who died in 1083 (Four Masters); Teige O’Lonergain, a learned and charitable man who died in 1161; and Donogh O’Brien, fourth in descent from Brian Boroimhe, who died in 1164. —The Four Masters (A.D. 1039), record the death of Cosgrach, son of Aingcadh, successor of Flannan and Brennan, after a well-spent life. Constantine O’Brien was Bishop of Killaloe in the yeare 1179; he attended the Council of Lateran. His real name was Consadin, from which the family name of Considine is derived. He was fifth in descent from Brian Boroimhe. His death occurred in 1194.
Dermot O’Conaing succeeded, but in 1195 was deprived and banished from his diocese by Matthew O’Heney, Archbishop of Cashel, acting as Legate of the Pope. In the same yeare he died of grief in the house of O’Brien’s daughter at Cork, and was buried there. Charles O’Heney succeeded in 1195; in his time part of the see of Iniscathy, and the whole diocese of Roscrea were added to Killaloe. Godfrey March was bishop in 1213, but nothing further is known of him.
Conor O’Heney assisted at the Council of Lateran in 1215, but died the following yeare on his way home. After his death, King John appointed the bishop of Ferns bishop of Killaloe also. This man whose name was Robert Travers, was a native of Drogheda. His election was confirmed by the royal assent on the 14th of January, 1216, English style. In 1221, he was deprived by James, Penitentiary to Pope Honorius III. and legate of Ireland, but the reason could never be ascertained by Sir James Ware. No other prelate is mentioned by Ware until he relates the appointment of Donald O’Kennedy in 1231; but in the interval between the removal of Travers and the election of Kennedy, Father Gams states that two bishops occupied the see of Killaloe; one of these was Edmond, bishop of Limerick, who succeeded in 1221, and died in 1222, and another whose name is lost, and the date of whose death is unknown. Donald O’Kennedy, archdeacon of Killaloe, was elected bishop in 1231. He managed the diocese for twenty-one years, and died in the hot summer of 1253. He was buried in the Dominican convent at Limerick.
King Henry III. issued a congé d’élire on the 10th of November 1267, and Mahone O’Hogan who had been dean, was elected bishop of Killaloe. He died in August 1281, and was buried in the convent of the Dominicans at Limerick, as appears in an ancient calendar of that place. Muireadhach O’Hogan, called by Ware, Matthew O’Hogan, chantor of Killaloe, obtained the bishopric at the close of the yeare 1281, and had his writ of restitution to the temporalities on the 4th of February, 1282. He governed the diocese for upwards of sixteen years, and died in 1298. He was buried in his own church. David MacMahone, dean of Killaloe, being elected by the chapter, obtained the royal assent, and was restored to the temporalities on the 22nd of April, 1299. He was consecrated by Stephen O’Brogan Archbishop of Cashel. His death occurred in 1316. Thomas O’Cormacain, archdeacon of Killaloe, succeeded in 1316, by a lawful election of the dean and chapter. He died in July, 1321, and was buried at Killaloe. Benedict O’Coscry, dean of Killaloe, was elected and consecrated bishop in 1322. He sat only three years.