War, and early in the seventeenth century they lost
large parts of their territory.
The valuable manuscript book, the Leabhar Cloinne
Aodh Buidhe(Royal Irish Academy, MS 24 p. 33), was
composed circa 1680 for the then head of the family,
Cormac Ua Néill. It contains some uniquely valuable
material of late-medieval provenance, most notably
the “Ceart Uí Néill,” a list of tributes claimed by
the O’Neills throughout Ulster, and a duanaire, or
bardic poem book, containing poems by members of the
Ó Gnímh, Mac An Bhaird, Ó Maolchonaire, and Mac
Mhuireadhaigh families.
DAVID EDWARDS
References and Further Reading
Chart, D. A., “The Break-up of the Estate of Conn O’Neill.”
PRIA48 C (1942–1943).
Frazer, William. “The Clandeboy O’Neills’ Stone Inauguration
Chair.” JRSAI, ser. 5, vol. 8 (1898).
McCall, Timothy. “The Gaelic Background to the Settlement of
Antrim and Down, 1580–1641.” Unpublished MA thesis,
Queen’s University, Belfast, 1983.
McNeill, T. E. “County Down in the Later Middle Ages.” In
Down: History & Society, edited by L. Proudfoot and W. Nolan.
Dublin, 1997.
Morgan, Hiram. Tyrone’s Rebellion: The Outbreak of the Nine
Years’ War in Tudor Ireland. Woodbridge, 1993.
Nicholls, Kenneth. Gaelic and Gaelicised Ireland in the Middle
Ages. 2nd ed. Dublin, 2003.
O Donnchadha, Tadhg, ed. Leabhar Cloinne Aodh Buidhe.
Dublin: Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1931.
Simms, Katharine. “‘The King’s Friend’: O’Neill, the Crown
and the Earldom of Ulster.” In England and Ireland in the
Later Middle Ages, edited by James Lydon, pp. 214–233.
Dublin, 1981.
UA RUAIRC (O’ROURKE)
The Ua Ruairc (O’Rourke) family were the rulers of
the Gaelic Irish lordship of West Bréifne, or Bréifne
O’Rourke (modern Co. Leitrim), throughout the late
medieval period. Descended from a leading segment
of the Uí Briúin Bréifne dynasty, who had provided a
number of kings of Connacht in the late tenth and early
twelfth centuries, the O’Rourkes came to national
prominence under an exceptional ruler—Tigernán Ua
Ruairc, rí Bréifne (sometimes called Tigernán
Mór)who ruled from approximately 1128 to 1172.
After Tigernán’s reign, the O’Rourkes remained lords
of Bréifne until the early seventeenth century.
Although remaining a prominent Gaelic family, and
more or less independent, the family did not produce
many notable leaders throughout the late medieval
period. However, the dynasty became a Gaelic power
again in Connacht in the latter half of the sixteenth
century under two very able rulers who played a prom-
inent role in the events of that time.
Fergal (d. 966 or 967), Art Uallach (d. 1046), Aodh
(d. 1087), and Domhnall (d. 1102) were all Ua Ruairc
kings of Connacht. However, the O’Rourkes lost the
kingship of that province to the related but more stra-
tegically located Ua Conchobhair dynasty of Uí Briúin
Aí. To compensate for the loss of the kingship of
Connacht, the O’Rourkes turned to the fertile plains
of Mide. The great leader of this encroachment was
Tigernán Mór Ó Ruairc. Tigernán was an exceptionally
powerful ruler during his time as king of Bréifne. He
is mentioned in the annals almost every year from 1124
to 1172. He both supported and opposed the powerful
Tairrdelbhach Ua Conchobair, king of Connacht from
1118 to 1156, and pursued the same policy with
O’Connor’s son, the high king of Ireland, Ruaidrí Ua
Conchobair. However, it is Tigernán’s actions in Mide
that warrant the most attention.
In 1130, Ua Ruairc defeated the men of Mide at the
battle of Sliabh Guaire, Co. Cavan. In 1138 he invaded
Mide again in the company of king Tairrdelbhach Ua
Conchobair. In 1144, Tigernán received a grant of half
of east Mide from king Tairrdelbhach. Tigernán was a
ruthless ruler. In 1137, he had Domhnall Ua Caindeal-
bhain, lord of Cinel Laeghaire in Mide, executed, and
in 1139 he inflicted the same punishment on Fearghal
Mac Raghnaill, lord of Muintir Eolais. However, it is
the abduction in 1852 of Tigernán’s wife, Dearbhfor-
gaill, daughter of Ua Maeleachlainn, king of Mide, by
the king of Leinster, Diarmait Mac Murchada, for
which Ua Ruairc is most famous. It led to deep and
lasting enmity between Ua Ruairc and Mac Murchada,
although Tairrdelbhach Ua Conchobair took Dearbh-
forgaill back for Ua Ruairc in 1153. Mac Murchada
added to the insult when he defeated Tigernán at the
battle of Cuasan, near Tara in Mide, in 1156. As a
result Tigernán insisted that the new high king, Ruaidrí
Ua Conchobair, banish Mac Murchada from Ireland
entirely, and in 1166 Ua Ruairc invaded Mac Murchada’s
kingdom of Uí Cheinnselaig and destroyed the Leinster
king’s castle at Ferns. In 1167, when Mac Murchada
returned with his first Anglo-Norman reinforcements, Ua
Ruairc took the lead in opposing him. Tigernán defeated
his rival and exacted 100 ounces of gold as eineach
(atonement) for the abduction of his wife in 1152.
As the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland gathered
pace, Tigernán was a staunch supporter of the high king,
Ruaidhrí Ua Conchobair. Ua Ruairc accompanied Ua
Conchobair against Strongbow, and to maintain his
authority over east Mide he executed their hostages in- Tigernán raided east Mide and Dublin in 1171,
and his son Aodh was killed. In 1172, he was lured to
a parley at Tlachtgha (the hill of Ward, Co. Meath) and
treacherously killed by Hugh de Lacy. Tigernán, who
apparently had only one eye, was called in his annalistic
obit “a man of great power for a long time.” Indeed, the
UA NÉILL OF CLANDEBOYE