Thomond (Ua Briain)

Who he is

Name

Conchobar Ruad Ua Briain (de facto), contested by his brothers Muirchertach Finn and Donnchad Cairprech

Title

King of Thomond (Tuadmumu)

Since

1198, when Conchobar Ruad drove his brother Muirchertach out of Thomond (Mac Carthaigh's Book)

Born

Not pinned

Family

Sons of Domnall Mor Ua Briain (d. 1194). Their sisters married Cathal Crobderg (Mor) and William de Burgh. Another son, also called Muirchertach, was seized and blinded by the English in 1194.

Confidence

low

Succession: Muirchertach succeeded in 1194; Conchobar Ruad captured Donnchad Cairprech in 1196, brought the English into Thomond against him in 1197, and banished Muirchertach in 1198. Conchobar Ruad is killed by Muirchertach's men in 1202; Muirchertach rules until about 1210, then Donnchad Cairprech until 1242. Some modern lists date Donnchad's reign from 1198, which we do not follow.

Overlord

None in fact; the English claim north Munster as the kingdom of Limerick

What it holds

• Thomond west of the Shannon: the Ui Briain demesne and the hostages of Mac Con Mara, Ua Lochlainn of the Burren, Ua Conchobair of Corcomroe and the other Dal Cais lords
• Killaloe and the Ua Briain churches (Ennis friary comes later)
• Claims over Ormond and the Limerick plain

How it was acquired

Dynastic right and force, 1194-98.

Allies and rivals

William de Burgh is the brothers' brother-in-law and arbiter; Cathal Crobderg their brother-in-law; Mac Carthaig of Desmond their old enemy.

How things stand that morning

Divided: Conchobar Ruad holds the kingship; Muirchertach is in exile or in arms; Donnchad Cairprech is a rival and once a prisoner. The country between the Shannon and Fermoy was wasted by the English war of 1199.

Wealth

Cattle of Clare; Lough Derg and the Shannon.

Military

The Dal Cais hostings and hired English.

Threats

• Fratricide
• The English of Limerick
• The revival of the de Braose claim (January 1201)

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 1201 (later course)Three sons of Domnall Mor join William de Burgh and the English of Cork in a great hosting into Desmond.Depends on: De Burgh's alliance Stopped by: A break with de Burgh
2. 1202 (later course)Conchobar Ruad is killed by Muirchertach's men.Depends on: The feud Stopped by: Reconciliation

Places of note

• Killaloe: Ua Briain church and seat (Kincora)

Where the sources disagree

• Lists disagree on who is king in 1198-1202 (Muirchertach Finn, Conchobar Ruad or Donnchad Cairprech). Mac Carthaigh's Book says Conchobar Ruad banished Muirchertach in 1198 and was killed in 1202; we make him king that morning, with low confidence.

Evidence: Mac Carthaigh's Book is explicit on the feud but ambiguous on who held the title in 1198.

On the map: Only the land west of the Shannon is drawn as held.

Primary sources for Thomond

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Annals of Inisfallen, Anonymous (monks of Inisfallen, Kerry, and earlier of Emly and Lismore) (the manuscript was written in 1092 and continued at Inisfallen in many contemporary hands to 1450). The Munster chronicle, written in Kerry in a hand close to the events. Read online
• Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters, Various; compiled by Micheal O Cleirigh and others (1632 to 1636, from medieval annals now partly lost). A seventeenth century compilation but it draws on lost medieval annals, so its 1200 entries add names and incidents missing elsewhere: the Connacht war and the English of Meath and Munster, the deaths of Irish kings and churchmen across the island, and raids in Thomond and Desmond. Read online
• Mac Carthaigh's Book (Miscellaneous Irish Annals), Anonymous (a Munster compilation) (compiled in the later Middle Ages from Munster annals; manuscript of the 17th century). A Munster annal with a Mac Carthaig and Desmond slant, giving for the years around 1200 the kings of Desmond and Thomond, their wars with each other and with the English of Cork and Limerick, and the castles the settlers were building. Read online
• The Topography of Ireland; The Conquest of Ireland, Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis) (Topographia 1187 to 1188; Expugnatio 1189, revised later). The Conquest ends in 1185 and the Topography describes the island as Gerald saw it in 1183 to 1185, so neither covers 1200, but they explain the lordship of Ireland as John found it: the grants of Leinster and Meath, the de Courcy conquest of Ulster, the Irish kings and their customs, and Gerald's advice on governing the country. Read online