Ímar Ua Donnubáin
Encyclopedia
Necromancy
Necromancy is a claimed form of magic that involves communication with the deceased, either by summoning their spirit in the form of an apparition or raising them bodily, for the purpose of divination, imparting the ability to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge...
of 13th century Ireland belonging to the O'Donovan family. He may or may not have been the second son of Cathal, son of Crom Ua Donnubáin
Crom Ua Donnubáin
An Crom Ua Donnubáin or Crom O'Donovan is the dynast recognized in all sources as the ancestor of all O'Donovans later found in Carbery in County Cork, and later still in distant County Wexford in Leinster. Nothing is known for sure of his life but his progeny, and the circumstances of his slaying...
, from whom the modern Clancahill dynasty descend. In any case Ivor is the ancestor of the historical O'Donovan sept
Sept
A sept is an English word for a division of a family, especially a division of a clan. The word might have its origin from Latin saeptum "enclosure, fold", or it can be an alteration of sect.The term is found in both Ireland and Scotland...
known as the Sliocht Íomhair or "Seed of Ivor", who are generally considered to have been one of the four great septs of the family before being all but destroyed in the 1560s in a conflict with the Clancahill main line. Although mostly legendary, Ivor is possibly referred to in one or two near contemporary sources.
His name is the Gaelic for the Norse Ivar
Ivar
-Ancient:*Ivar Ragnarsson, Viking king** Uí Ímair , his probable descendants*** Ragnall ua Ímair*** Sihtric ua Ímair*** Gofraid ua Ímair*Ivar Vidfamne, legendary Danish king of at least Scania and Zealand...
, and his associations are principally maritime. The O'Donovan family of the 10th, 11th, 12th, and early 13th centuries were associated with the world of the Norse-Gaels
Norse-Gaels
The Norse–Gaels were a people who dominated much of the Irish Sea region, including the Isle of Man, and western Scotland for a part of the Middle Ages; they were of Gaelic and Scandinavian origin and as a whole exhibited a great deal of Gaelic and Norse cultural syncretism...
, although they lived in a region of Ireland distant from the great centers of that culture in the Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...
region. Ímar was a descendant and likely namesake
Namesake
Namesake is a term used to characterize a person, place, thing, quality, action, state, or idea that has the same, or a similar, name to another....
of Ivar of Limerick
Ivar of Limerick
Ivar of Limerick , died 977, was the last Norse king of the city-state of Limerick, and penultimate King of the Foreigners of Munster, reigning during the rise to power of the Dál gCais and the fall of the Eóganachta...
and/or Ivar of Waterford
Ivar of Waterford
Ivar of Waterford was the Norse king of Waterford from at least 969 until his death in the year 1000, and also reigned as King of Dublin, possibly from 989 to 993, and certainly again for less than a year between 994 and 995, returning after his expulsion from the city in 993 by Sigtrygg...
through Cathal
Cathal mac Donnubáin
Cathal mac Donnubáin is the second known son of Donnubán mac Cathail, king of Uí Fidgenti and an ancestor of the medieval and modern O'Donovan family. He may have succeeded his brother Uainide mac Donnubáin as King of Uí Chairpre Áebda at his death in 982, no ruler being known after that until 1014...
, son of Donnubán mac Cathail
Donnubán mac Cathail
Donnubán , Donndubán , or Donnabán mac Cathail, anglicised Donovan, son of Cahall , was a 10th century ruler of the Irish regional kingdom of Uí Fidgenti, and possibly also of the smaller overkingdom of Uí Chairpre Áebda within that...
, who established friendly relations with the Norse of Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
city and distant Waterford
Waterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...
for himself and his descendants. Between the late 12th and early 13th centuries the majority of the family were forced to relocate to distant Carbery on the southern shores of 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...
, and they early established themselves as absolute masters of the celebrated bay and harbour of Glandore
Glandore
Glandore |Cork]] city.The village has several pubs, with traditional music. It is a very popular holiday destination for Irish holiday makers in particular. Famous homeowners include Margaret Jay, former leader of the House of Lords, and Tony O'Reilly. The village yacht club's official headquarters...
, capturing it from the Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
. It is with this harbour and its environs that Ivor is exclusively associated.
Enchanted ship
The most well known description of Ivor and his enchanted ship comes from the poet John Collins of Myross:According to John O'Donovan
John O'Donovan (scholar)
John O'Donovan , from Atateemore, in the parish of Kilcolumb, County Kilkenny, and educated at Hunt's Academy, Waterford, was an Irish language scholar from Ireland.-Life:...
this occurred right after the death of Daniel V O'Donovan, Lord of Clancahill and descendant of Donal of the Hides
Donal of the Hides
Donal of the Skins or Hides , also called Peltry O'Donovan or simply Donal I O'Donovan , was The O'Donovan Mor, Lord of Clancahill from his inauguration with the White Wand circa 1560 by the MacCarthy Reagh, Prince of Carbery, to his death in 1584...
, who was to nearly annihilate the Sliocht Íomhair and dispossess the remainder from their lands probably in the 1560s. Lough Cluhir means Sheltered Lake.
A longer account was fortunately preserved by Edith Anna Somerville
Edith Anna Somerville
Edith Anna Œnone Somerville was an Irish novelist who habitually signed herself as "E. Œ. Somerville". She wrote in collaboration with her cousin "Martin Ross" under the pseudonym "Somerville and Ross"...
, a native of the area, in the late 19th or early 20th century, who visited a local storyteller or seanchaí living by the lake. According to him
Hounds
Ivor also keeps Irish wolfhoundIrish Wolfhound
The Irish wolfhound is a breed of domestic dog , specifically a sighthound. The name originates from its purpose rather than from its appearance...
s. According to the Storyteller
There is also a Black Hound in the lake. According to the Storyteller
The Serpent and the Burkes
The Seanchaí goes on to tell Somerville the story of the Serpent once inhabiting Lough Cluhir, when Ivor was still living. Apparently it caused considerable destruction and would jump out to grab anything or anyone who got within five feet of the water. One day, however...Burke's preparations are described: the carving of a spear of mountain ash
Sorbus aucuparia
Sorbus aucuparia , is a species of the genus Sorbus, native to most of Europe except for the far south, and northern Asia...
and forging of a grapple to fasten to it, then the picking of a spot for the battle, and finally the choosing of the finest of O'Donovan's three swords, the first two of which break when tested. "O'Donovan and his crowd, and all the Gentry
Gentry
Gentry denotes "well-born and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past....
" have arrived, and Burke has instructed his younger brother to hold the "spar" at the edge of the lake.
The Serpent has her head and neck cut off, and proceeds to swim madly about the now bloody lake, eventually sinking down to the bottom dead. The "Keeraun Spar" is found sticking out of the water from her body the next morning.
Ivor then holds a three day long feast for the Burkes "up at Liss Blaw on the hill above", and gives them lands or perhaps even a lordship in the area.
Clíodhna
Curiously, the ancient goddess of South Munster, ClíodhnaCliodhna
Clíodhna is a Queen of the Banshees of the Tuatha Dé Danann. In Irish literature, Cleena of Carrigcleena is the potent banshee that rules as queen over the sheoques of South Munster, or Desmond. She is the principal goddess of this country...
(Cleena), has beneath Lough Cluhir one of her several palaces in the country, according to the Storyteller. The story he tells involves the wife of a peasant working for Burke Far-Shoung and does not involve Ivor himself, but it is in fact the case that the O'Donovans are one of those noble families long associated with the Goddess. Whatever arrangements Cleena and Ivor might have are not discussed, but approaching four centuries later one of his collateral descendants, the formidable Donal III O'Donovan
Donal III O'Donovan
Donal III O'Donovan , The O'Donovan of Clancahill, born before 1584, was the son of Helena de Barry and Donal II O'Donovan, The O'Donovan of Clancahill...
, is called the Dragon of Clíodhna in a Gaelic praise poem celebrating his accession to the lordship of Clancahill in 1639. In Munster she is most famously associated with Glandore and its environs, the western half of which were controlled by Ivor and his descendants for nearly three centuries, and so some association was certainly inevitable.
Seed of Ivor
The Annals of Innisfallen report that in the year 1282 "The son of Gilla Riabach Ó Donnubáin was slain by Gilla Mo-Chudu, son of In Dubshúilech Ó Súilliubáin." However it is not certain that this actually refers to a son of Ivor, and it is possible Gilla Riabach was originally a separate member of the family, although an alternative is of course that Ivor was actually his son and may be the very person mentioned being slain by the O'SullivanO'Sullivan
O'Sullivan or simply Sullivan is an Irish surname, associated with the southwestern part of Ireland, originally found in County Tipperary before the Anglo-Norman invasion, then in County Cork and County Kerry, which due to emigration is also common in Australia, North America and Britain...
s, whom the O'Donovans engaged in minor warfare or back and forth raiding on occasion. In his Leabhar na nGenealach
Leabhar na nGenealach
Leabhar na nGenealach is a massive genealogical collection written mainly in the years 1649 to 1650, at the college-house of St. Nicholas's church, Galway, by Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh. He continued to add material until at least 1666, five years before he was murdered in 1671...
, Duald Mac Firbis is careful to mention that both Tadhg, Cathal's other son, and Gilla Riabach held the overlordship of the family, which included a decentralized (as a result of the Norman invasion of Ireland
Norman Invasion of Ireland
The Norman invasion of Ireland was a two-stage process, which began on 1 May 1169 when a force of loosely associated Norman knights landed near Bannow, County Wexford...
) but not inconsiderable petty kingdom
Petty kingdom
A petty kingdom is one of a number of small kingdoms, described as minor or "petty" by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it...
underneath the broad overlordship of the MacCarthy dynasty
MacCarthy dynasty
The MacCarthy dynasty was one of Ireland's greatest medieval dynasties. It was and continues to be divided into several great branches. The MacCarthy Reagh, MacCarthy of Muskerry, and MacCarthy of Duhallow dynasties were the three most important of these, after the central or MacCarthy Mór...
in that time, and so dependent on a positive association of Ivor with Gilla Riabach in some manner, this could be taken as evidence of the status the Sliocht Íomhair once held. Collins of Myross is the first now known to have identified them.
In 1295 another more likely son of Ivor may have been Máol Íosa mac Íomhair, who apparently trespassed onto Norman held lands along with Cathal, his grandfather according to tradition, and with Cathal's brother Lochlann
Lochlann
Lochlann is a geographical region in Classical Gaelic literature and in the history of Early Medieval Ireland. In the modern Gaelic and Welsh languages it signifies Scandinavia, and more specifically Norway...
, according to Norman documents. For this the trio were in any case pardoned, but no more is heard of Máol Íosa.
1560
The activities of the O'Donovan family and its various septs are poorly documented in the 14th and 15th centuries. Coverage of Munster affairs in general in the Irish annals is to be found very limited today because of large gaps in the surviving manuscripts and the total loss of many others. Anglo-Norman documents and church records are all that remain to be turned to, and while these preserve the occasional mention of a member of the family, nothing of its structure, political or internal affairs is offered. That the family remained at least locally prominent is proven by their providing a Bishop of Ross in the mid-late 15th century, but it is not until the 16th century that much more information, from a variety of new sources, many of them English, becomes available, and this for the most part belongs to the second half of the century.The Sliocht Íomhair do in fact appear in late 16th to early 17th century English surveys of the "O'Donovan country", but only as a tiny remnant no longer in possession of their once thought to be considerable lands, with their castle(s) already in ruins. How it came to be that one of the most prominent septs of the family found themselves in this condition was preserved in local tradition and by storytellers, and at least some of this tradition was eventually recorded by Collins of Myross in the late 18th century, going as follows:
According to tradition, the O'Donovans of Clann Cathail (Clancahill), regarded to be the senior or leading sept of the greater family, had for some decades in the early-mid 16th century been involved in a violent succession dispute in which the rivaling branches had already assassinated a number of their kin on each side. The Sliocht Íomhair and their head [An] Íomhar Ó Donnabháin were the leading supporters of the branch which by 1560 appeared to have won, represented by one Diarmaid an Bhairc, whose epithet "of the Barque
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
" means "born at sea" and who presumably had some close association with Ivor's family. The rival and seemingly vanquished branch were now represented by Donal of the Skins
Donal of the Hides
Donal of the Skins or Hides , also called Peltry O'Donovan or simply Donal I O'Donovan , was The O'Donovan Mor, Lord of Clancahill from his inauguration with the White Wand circa 1560 by the MacCarthy Reagh, Prince of Carbery, to his death in 1584...
, whose father Teige may or may not have been assassinated by his rivals some years before, but who in any event had grown up far to the north among the O'Leary
O'Leary
O'Leary is an Irish name, an anglicized version of the original Gaelic patronym Ó Laoghaire or Ó Laoire.The Uí Laoghaire clan, today associated with the Uibh Laoghaire parish in County Cork, is considered by scholars to have originated on the south-west coast, in the area of Ros Ó gCairbre , of...
s in 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...
and whose existence was unknown to Diarmaid and his supporters down on the seacoast. Donal however had the support not only of his O'Leary in-laws, but also the Sliocht Aineislis [MacEnesles] O'Donovans, the family of his mother and one itself of the four main septs of the greater family. In addition to the Sliocht Íomhair Diarmaid had the support of the smaller sept of the Sliocht Tioboit [Theobald] O'Donovans.
When the day for Diarmaid's inauguration with the White Wand
White Wand
The White Rod, White Wand, Rod of Inauguration, or Wand of Sovereignty, in the Irish language variously called the slat na ríghe and slat tighearnais , was the primary symbol of a Gaelic king or lord's legitimate authority and the principal prop used in his inauguration ceremony...
in Rosscarbery
Rosscarbery
Rosscarbery or Roscarbery is a town in County Cork, Ireland. The town is on a shallow estuary, which opens onto Rosscarbery Bay.-History:...
by the MacCarthy Reagh
MacCarthy Reagh
The MacCarthy Reagh dynasty are a branch of the great MacCarthy dynasty, Kings of Desmond, deriving from the ancient Eóganachta, of the central Eóganacht Chaisil sept. The MacCarthys Reagh seated themselves as Princes of Carbery in what is now southwestern County Cork in the 13th century...
came, Donal, the Sliocht Aineislis and the O'Learys surprised the other party in the town and its environs, and according to tradition...
Of primary importance is the precise lineage of Diarmaid an Bhairc, whose associations, like the Sliocht Íomhair, are maritime. The surviving pedigrees do not preserve his lineage and Collins only reports him belonging to a "collateral branch" of Clancahill. The reasons for the Sliocht Íomhair's involvement and support of him are also not preserved, and so noting their ancestor Ímar's central importance in the beliefs of the greater family, a variety of explanations have been suggested. The one with the strongest support, entertained by John O'Donovan and his followers, is that what Collins found himself reporting was simply the garbled memory of a war between Clann Cathail and the Sliocht Íomhair, who importantly were regarded as a "collateral branch" themselves of the former.