Donagh MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry
Encyclopedia
Donagh [Donough] MacCarthy, 1st Earl of Clancarty, 2nd Viscount Muskerry (died August 1665) was an Irish noble. He married Ellen (Eleanor) Butler (died April 1682), who was the sister of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde
). The Earl served as a Munster
general during the Irish Confederate Wars
. He was one of the ten named in Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652
as leaders of the Royalist forces in Ireland.
On the death of his father Charles MacCarty, Viscount Muskerry in 1640, Donagh inherited the title. In 1658 Charles II
granted him the title of Earl of Clancarty
. During most of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
, he was referred to as Viscount Muskerry.
dynasty based on the barony of Muskerry
in what is now western county Cork
.
Unlike many Catholic Gaelic Irish families, these MacCarthys prospered in the Protestant English state of Ireland in the early 17th century. However, Donagh MacCarthy was forced into rebellion against this state by the events of the Irish Rebellion of 1641
. The rebellion had been launched by Catholic Gaelic Irish gentry from the northern province of Ulster
in October 1641. Initially, Muskerry raised an armed force of his tenants and dependants to try to maintain law and order. However, he was prompted to join the rebellion by the atrocities committeed by English President of Munster, William St Leger
, against the Irish Catholic population in general.
In addition, many of Muskerry's relatives, who had lost lands to Protestant settlers in the Plantations of Ireland
had already joined the rebellion - a factor which doubtless influenced Muskerry's decision. In 1642, he put his armed men at the service of the Confederate Catholic Association of Ireland
, an alternative, Catholic government based in Kilkenny
which had been formed by the rebels.
and his representative in Ireland, James Butler, Earl of Ormonde
to secure an alliance between the Irish Confederates and English Royalists in the context of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
. Muskerry was sympathetic towards Royalism and disliked the more intranisgent Confederates as represented by Giovanni Battista Rinuccini
and Owen Roe O'Neill
. As general of the Munster Confederate Army, he has even been accused by one historian (Tadhg O Hanrachain in The Catholic Reformation in Ireland) of sabotaging the campaign of the Munster army before the battle of Knocknanauss in 1647 in order to pressure the Confederates into accepting the deal he and his allies had negotiated with Ormonde.
The Confederates did approve a treaty with Charles II
and the English Royalists in 1649, shortly after the execution of Charles I by the English Parliament and the declaration of the Commonwealth of England
. However, Ireland was soon invaded by the Parliamentarian New Model Army
in 1649 under Oliver Cromwell
, who had the twin aims of avenging the uprising of 1641, confiscating enough Irish Catholic owned land to pay off some of the Parliament's creditors and eliminating a dangerous outpost of Royalism. See Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
1649-53.
Muskerry fought the last three years of this campaign in his own lands in west Cork and Kerry, from where he raised troops from his tenants and guerrilla bands known as "tories". He was one of the last Irish commanders to surrender to the English. Following his defeat by General Roger Boyle
, later Earl of Orerry at the Battle of Knocknaclashy
1651 he fell back into the mountains of Kerry. In June 1652 he surrendered, relinquishing his remaining fortress Ross Castle
near Killarney
on June 27. Following the disbandment of his 5,000 man army, he fled Ireland and later traveled to Spain. He would later be awarded the title of Earl of Clancarty
by Charles II
, eventually restoring his estates with the Act of Settlement 1662
before his death in London in August 1665. His sons Charles and Justin MacCarthy, Viscount Mountcashel served in the English forces, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War
and Williamite war in Ireland
respectively.
James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde
James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde PC was an Irish statesman and soldier. He was the second of the Kilcash branch of the family to inherit the earldom. He was the friend of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, who appointeed him commander of the Cavalier forces in Ireland. From 1641 to 1647, he...
). The Earl served as a Munster
Munster
Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...
general during the Irish Confederate Wars
Irish Confederate Wars
This article is concerned with the military history of Ireland from 1641-53. For the political context of this conflict, see Confederate Ireland....
. He was one of the ten named in Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652
Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652
The Act for the Settlement of Ireland imposed penalties including death and land confiscation against participants and bystanders of the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and subsequent unrest.-Background:...
as leaders of the Royalist forces in Ireland.
On the death of his father Charles MacCarty, Viscount Muskerry in 1640, Donagh inherited the title. In 1658 Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
granted him the title of Earl of Clancarty
Earl of Clancarty
Earl of Clancarty, in the Irish counties of Cork and of Galway, is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland.-First creation: MacCarty family of Muskerry:...
. During most of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
The Wars of the Three Kingdoms formed an intertwined series of conflicts that took place in England, Ireland, and Scotland between 1639 and 1651 after these three countries had come under the "Personal Rule" of the same monarch...
, he was referred to as Viscount Muskerry.
Background
The son of Charles and grandson of Sir Cormac MacCarthy who received English title to his lands towards the end of the 16th century Tudor conquest of Ireland, Donough MacCarthy came from the line of the MacCarthy of MuskerryMacCarthy of Muskerry
The MacCarthy dynasty of Muskerry is a branch of the great MacCarthy Mor dynasty, the Kings of Desmond. Their branch descends from Dermod Mor MacCarthy, 1st Lord of Muscry , second son of Cormac MacCarthy Mor , King of Desmond....
dynasty based on the barony of Muskerry
Muskerry
Muskerry is a central region of County Cork, Ireland which incorporates the baronies of Muskerry West and Muskerry East. It is located along the vallley of the River Lee and is bounded by the Boggeragh Mountains to the north and the Shehy Mountains to the south. The region is named after the...
in what is now western county Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
.
Unlike many Catholic Gaelic Irish families, these MacCarthys prospered in the Protestant English state of Ireland in the early 17th century. However, Donagh MacCarthy was forced into rebellion against this state by the events of the Irish Rebellion of 1641
Irish Rebellion of 1641
The Irish Rebellion of 1641 began as an attempted coup d'état by Irish Catholic gentry, who tried to seize control of the English administration in Ireland to force concessions for the Catholics living under English rule...
. The rebellion had been launched by Catholic Gaelic Irish gentry from the northern province of Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
in October 1641. Initially, Muskerry raised an armed force of his tenants and dependants to try to maintain law and order. However, he was prompted to join the rebellion by the atrocities committeed by English President of Munster, William St Leger
William St Leger
-Life:He was a grandson of Anthony St Leger. He took part in the Flight of the Earls in 1607, when Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, together with more than ninety of their family and followers, the chief of the Gaelic and Catholic resistance in Ireland, fled...
, against the Irish Catholic population in general.
In addition, many of Muskerry's relatives, who had lost lands to Protestant settlers in the Plantations of Ireland
Plantations of Ireland
Plantations in 16th and 17th century Ireland were the confiscation of land by the English crown and the colonisation of this land with settlers from England and the Scottish Lowlands....
had already joined the rebellion - a factor which doubtless influenced Muskerry's decision. In 1642, he put his armed men at the service of the Confederate Catholic Association of Ireland
Confederate Ireland
Confederate Ireland refers to the period of Irish self-government between the Rebellion of 1641 and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in 1649. During this time, two-thirds of Ireland was governed by the Irish Catholic Confederation, also known as the "Confederation of Kilkenny"...
, an alternative, Catholic government based in Kilkenny
Kilkenny
Kilkenny is a city and is the county town of the eponymous County Kilkenny in Ireland. It is situated on both banks of the River Nore in the province of Leinster, in the south-east of Ireland...
which had been formed by the rebels.
Confederate War
Viscount Muskerry was appointed to the "Supreme Council" of the Confederation of Kilkenny (their effective government) and was part of the team that negotiated with Charles ICharles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
and his representative in Ireland, James Butler, Earl of Ormonde
James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde
James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde PC was an Irish statesman and soldier. He was the second of the Kilcash branch of the family to inherit the earldom. He was the friend of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, who appointeed him commander of the Cavalier forces in Ireland. From 1641 to 1647, he...
to secure an alliance between the Irish Confederates and English Royalists in the context of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
The Wars of the Three Kingdoms formed an intertwined series of conflicts that took place in England, Ireland, and Scotland between 1639 and 1651 after these three countries had come under the "Personal Rule" of the same monarch...
. Muskerry was sympathetic towards Royalism and disliked the more intranisgent Confederates as represented by Giovanni Battista Rinuccini
Giovanni Battista Rinuccini
Giovanni Battista Rinuccini was a Roman Catholic archbishop in the mid seventeenth century. He was a noted legal scholar who became chamberlain to Pope Gregory XV, who made him the Archbishop of Fermo in Italy...
and Owen Roe O'Neill
Owen Roe O'Neill
Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill , anglicised as Owen Roe O'Neill , was a seventeenth century soldier and one of the most famous of the O'Neill dynasty of Ulster.- In Spanish service :...
. As general of the Munster Confederate Army, he has even been accused by one historian (Tadhg O Hanrachain in The Catholic Reformation in Ireland) of sabotaging the campaign of the Munster army before the battle of Knocknanauss in 1647 in order to pressure the Confederates into accepting the deal he and his allies had negotiated with Ormonde.
The Confederates did approve a treaty with Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
and the English Royalists in 1649, shortly after the execution of Charles I by the English Parliament and the declaration of the Commonwealth of England
Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland...
. However, Ireland was soon invaded by the Parliamentarian New Model Army
New Model Army
The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration...
in 1649 under Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
, who had the twin aims of avenging the uprising of 1641, confiscating enough Irish Catholic owned land to pay off some of the Parliament's creditors and eliminating a dangerous outpost of Royalism. See Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland refers to the conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell landed in Ireland with his New Model Army on behalf of England's Rump Parliament in 1649...
1649-53.
Muskerry fought the last three years of this campaign in his own lands in west Cork and Kerry, from where he raised troops from his tenants and guerrilla bands known as "tories". He was one of the last Irish commanders to surrender to the English. Following his defeat by General Roger Boyle
Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery
Roger Boyle redirects here. For others of this name, see Roger Boyle Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery was a British soldier, statesman and dramatist. He was the third surviving son of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork and Richard's second wife, Catherine Fenton. He was created Baron of Broghill on...
, later Earl of Orerry at the Battle of Knocknaclashy
Battle of Knocknaclashy
The battle of Knocknaclashy, took place in county Cork in southern Ireland in 1651. In it, an Irish Confederate force led by Donagh MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry was defeated by an English Parliamentarian force under Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery...
1651 he fell back into the mountains of Kerry. In June 1652 he surrendered, relinquishing his remaining fortress Ross Castle
Ross Castle
Ross Castle is the ancestral home of the O'Donoghue clan though it is better known for its association with the Brownes of Killarney who owned it until recently...
near Killarney
Killarney
Killarney is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is located north of the MacGillicuddy Reeks, on the northeastern shore of the Lough Lein/Leane which are part of Killarney National Park. The town and its surrounding region are home to St...
on June 27. Following the disbandment of his 5,000 man army, he fled Ireland and later traveled to Spain. He would later be awarded the title of Earl of Clancarty
Earl of Clancarty
Earl of Clancarty, in the Irish counties of Cork and of Galway, is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland.-First creation: MacCarty family of Muskerry:...
by Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
, eventually restoring his estates with the Act of Settlement 1662
Act of Settlement 1662
The Act of Settlement 1662 passed by the Irish Parliament in Dublin. It was a partial reversal of the Cromwellian Act of Settlement 1652, which punished Irish Catholics and Royalists for fighting against the English Parliament in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms by the wholesale confiscation of their...
before his death in London in August 1665. His sons Charles and Justin MacCarthy, Viscount Mountcashel served in the English forces, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War
Second Anglo-Dutch War
The Second Anglo–Dutch War was part of a series of four Anglo–Dutch Wars fought between the English and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries for control over the seas and trade routes....
and Williamite war in Ireland
Williamite war in Ireland
The Williamite War in Ireland—also called the Jacobite War in Ireland, the Williamite-Jacobite War in Ireland and in Irish as Cogadh an Dá Rí —was a conflict between Catholic King James II and Protestant King William of Orange over who would be King of England, Scotland and Ireland...
respectively.
Issue
Children of Donough MacCarthy, 1st Earl of Clancarty and Eleanor Butler:- Helen MacCarthy, Countess of Clanricarde (d. c 29 Jun 1722)
- Margaret MacCarthy, Countess of Fingall (d. 4 Jan 1703)
- Charles MacCarthy (d. 3 Jun 1665)
- Callaghan MacCarty, 3rd Earl of Clancarty (d. 21 Nov 1676)
- Justin MacCarthy, Viscount Mountcashel (d. 1 Jul 1694)
- Dennis MacCarthy (d. 4 Apr 1694)
- Lady Honora MacCarthy