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The hereditary chieftains of the Kinlough area were the MacClancys. Click on a link below to find out more.
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Eight hundred years ago Ireland was a very different place from today. There were no counties, townlands or cities. The country was divided into kingdoms. Under the kings, the land was ruled by powerful chiefs, chosen according to the Brehon Law from the members of the ruling family. The O'Connors were the hereditary chiefs of Sligo, the Maguires controlled Fermanagh and the O'Donnells were chieftains of Donegal. The ancient territory of Breifne, comprising the present counties of Leitrim and Cavan, with parts of Counties Meath and Sligo, extended from Kells to Drumcliffe, and was part of the kingdom of Connacht. In the tenth century Breifne was divided in two - West Breifne or Breifne O'Rourke and East Breifne or Breifne O'Reilly. West Breifne consisted of County Leitrim, with parts of Counties Sligo and Cavan. The hereditary chieftains of West Breifne were the O'Rourkes.
The part of O'Rourke's territory adjoining Lough Melvin and extending to the sea between the rivers Duff and Drowes was called Dartry. That part of Dartry between the Duff and Drowes rivers, and adjoining the sea, was also called Edergowan ("Between Two Rivers"). Our knowledge of events in Dartry is mainly limited to the entries in the Annals of the Four Masters and the Annals of Connaught. The earliest mention of Dartry in the Annals of the Four Masters is in 959, when it is recorded that Ualgharg Lord of Dartry was killed.
Dartry was in a particularly vulnerable position, situated as it was on the periphery of Breifne. It adjoined the territories of a number of other powerful chiefs - the O'Donnells, the Maguires and the O'Connors. While mostly under the control of the O'Rourkes, it was often invaded and occupied by one or other of the neighbouring clans. Thus, the Annals record that, in 1240, Farrell, son of Cuconnaught O'Reilly, Lord of Dartry was killed, and in 1241, Teige O'Connor plundered Dartry. In 1243 Cathal O'Connor invaded Dartry and, in 1274, Art O'Rourke, Lord of Dartry died. The Annals also record the death of the chief of Dartry in 1242. He belonged to a family who were to be chiefs of the area for four hundred years. His name was Donnell MacClancy. MacClancy's Dartry, according to O'Donovan, "extended from Glack townland on the east to Bunduff townland on the west, a distance of about six miles, and from Mullinaleck townland on the north to Aghanlish townland on the south, a distance of around three miles".
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There is some uncertainty as to the origins of the MacClancys. They may have come from Munster or may have been an ancient Breifne tribe. One account says that a band of about a thousand men, MacClancys, O'Cuirnins and O'Travers, fled northwards from Munster because of a dispute over the building of the house of Cashel. They were welcomed by Ualgharg O'Rourke (chief of Breifne from 1200 to 1231) and given extensive lands. If this account is correct, then the Cairneach MacClancy whose death is recorded by the Annalists in 1220, may be the first MacClancy chief of Dartry.
There is also some evidence that the family were long-time residents of the area. O'Connell gives the pedigree of one of the last of the MacClancy chieftains, Cathal Dubh, as follows:
Cathal Dubh son of Cathal Og son of Cathal Dubh son of Feradach son of William son of Teige Bacach son of Teige Caoch son of Cathal son of Teige son of William son of Cathal of the Rock son of Cairneach also styled Hugh Cleireach son of Flannchadh son of Mag Fhlannchadha son of Eochy son of Deighre Dairt son of Cruinn Luacha son of Finn son of Connell son of Fiacha son of Conwell son of Looee son of Dunlong son of Eochy son of Annalgy son of Ailghil son of Flann son of Cahir son of Dunlong son of Cormac son of Vilioll son of Aengus son of Eochy son of Looee Cal the great ancestor of all the tribes called Cairbre.
If this pedigree is accurate, the MacClancys would seem to be descended from the Cairbre tribe who occupied the area in remote times and had a fort at Dun Cairbre (Duncarbery). All we know for sure is that the family became established as chieftains of Dartry towards the end of the thirteenth century and continued in that capacity until the mid-seventeenth century.
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The principal seat of the MacClancys was a castle on a crannóg in Lough Melvin. Local tradition has it that the castle in the lake was built by a MacClancy chief to shelter his daughter from an epidemic of smallpox which was sweeping the land at the time. His efforts were in vain, however, as the daughter petted a bird which flew into the castle, caught the disease as a result, and died. Romantic as the story is, it has little basis in fact. The siting of the castle was for defensive purposes, being bordered on the southern side by marshy land and on the northern side by Lough Melvin. A settlement grew up on the mainland near the castle, and was often referred to as "MacClancy's Town". There was also an ancient church on the mainland near the castle.
The effectiveness of the situation of the castle can be seen from the fact that, in 1588, a handful of Spanish held it against an English army of over 1,700 men. The MacClancys had a second line of defence - retreat to the mountains. When faced with superior forces they would gather their flocks and possessions and take shelter in the nearby Dartry Mountains, a position from which it would have been extremely difficult to dislodge them. The only record of the castle itself having been captured is in 1421, when the O'Rourkes made a night attack on Inis Caoin, captured the MacClancy boats and proceeded by water to capture the castle itself. The MacClancys were forced to flee to Carbury (Co. Sligo) for protection.
MacClancy's second stronghold at Duncarbery is mentioned in the Annals in 1537. This castle stood on a hill behind the present Duncarbery Lodge. The date of construction is unknown, but a survey of Leitrim of 1802 records Duncarbery Castle as being "within a quarter of a mile of the sea; there is only one arch, over which is a gable remaining; it seems to have been of some extent and was built by Lady Isobel Clancy in the reign of Elizabeth". Elizabeth I succeeded to the throne in 1558, but the castle must have been built before this date, for the Annals record the death of Cahir MacClancy in Duncarbery in 1537. The mound on which the castle was built was the site of the ancient fort of Carbury (Dún Cairbre), from which the castle took its name.
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The MacClancys always had a very tentative hold on Edergowan, the area between the Duff and Drowes (now Tullaghan area). The O'Donnells of Donegal had ambitions to extend their territory into Connaught, and Edergowan was between them and their objective. The O'Connors of Sligo wanted to push the boundaries of O'Donnell territory back to the Erne and beyond. The result was that, for much of the time, Edergowan was a no-man's-land between the feuding chieftains, and was constantly being invaded by one side or the other. Brian O'Connor, despite the efforts of the O'Donnells, extended his territory to include Edergowan in 1420 and erected a castle at Bundrowes, digging a channel to divert the Drowes around it. The Duff, the Drowes and the Erne were, at different times, the southern boundaries of the O'Donnell territory. Edergowan had more than its share of O'Donnell and O'Connor armies marching across it until the 17th century, and the MacClancy writ seldom ran there. It wasn't until the sixteenth century that MacClancys were sure enough of their hold on the area to erect Duncarbery Castle.
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The MacClancys were a little more secure in their hold on the rest of Dartry, but had always to be on their guard against enemies from without and within. The period from the twelfth to the seventeenth centuries was a most unsettled period in Irish history. The great chiefs were envious of each other's territories and never missed an opportunity to invade, raid or occupy a neighbour's lands. Families too were divided among themselves and thought little of killing each other in their quest for power. The system of Brehon Law whereby chiefs were succeeded by a member of the extended family (sons, brothers, uncles etc.) rather than by the eldest son, encouraged kinsmen to assassinate the current chief in pursuit of power and influence. This unfortunate habit was well developed in the MacClancys. Donogh MacClancy (1341), Cathal MacClancy (1420) and Turlough MacClancy (1532) were all victims of family assassinations. In 1589 Malachy MacClancy assisted Bingham in the defeat of his kinsman Tadhg MacClancy and was rewarded with the chiefdom. If there was so little family loyalty among the chiefs, it is little wonder that the MacClancys had even less loyalty to their overlords. They changed sides many times during the period, no doubt hoping that they had chosen the winning side. Thus we find them at various times allied to the Maguires, O'Donnells and O'Rourkes.
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The first external threat to the area came from the Normans in the thirteenth century. Maurice Fitzgerald, grandson of the Maurice Fitzgerald who came to Ireland in 1169 to help Dermot McMurrough regain his kingdom, built a castle in Sligo in 1245, hoping to use this as a base to extend his control over the north-west of the country. Fitzgerald crossed Edergowan and built a castle at Caol Uisce (Belleek) where the Battery stands today. There followed a period of fierce fighting between the Normans and the O'Donnells during which the Belleek castle was destroyed by the Irish and rebuilt by the Normans. The threat of Norman domination faded when, in 1257, Godfrey O'Donnell and his men defeated them at the Battle of Credran (Drumcliffe) and wounded Fitzgerald so severely that he died within a short time.
Dartry was raided in 1241 by Tadhg O'Connor, and. two years later. Cathal O'Connor plundered the district. In 1275 the death of Cathal MacClancy, Chief of Dartry is recorded. His successor as chief was probably Gilchreest MacClancy who led a raid by the men of Dartry against the O'Connors on the borders of Drumcliffe in 1278, killing Rory, son of Turlough O'Connor and many of his followers. Gilchreest MacClancy was again in action at the battle of Diseart in 1281. The battle was between the Kinel-Connell under Hugh Boy and the Kinel-Owen under Donnell Óg O'Donnell of Donegal. O'Donnell was killed in the battle, as was his ally MacClancy.
The next Dartry chief to be killed was William MacClancy who died in a battle with the O'Rourkes, led by Ualgharg O'Rourke, in 1301. Murtough MacClancy, William's successor as chief, did not live very long for, two years later, in 1303, he was killed in another battle between the Kinel-Connell and the Kinel-Owen.
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Enmity still existed between the O'Connors and the MacClancys. In 1330 the O'Connors heavily defeated the Dartry men, killing many of them. The two clans clashed again in 1333 when Mac-na-hOiche Óg MacClancy was killed by the O'Connors, led by Turlough O'Connor (King of Connacht), assisted by Tiernan O'Rourke. At stake was the lordship of Breifne and, after the defeat of the Dartrymen, this was given to the O'Reillys. The MacClancys had consistently supported the O'Donnells as Lords of Dartry, and, this led the O'Connors to attack Dartry in 1337. During the attack Teige MacClancy, chief of Dartry was killed. The fleeing Dartrymen were pursued and the son of Maurice MacClancy was killed. Again the O'Connors laid waste to Dartry, hoping, no doubt, to subdue the troublesome MacClancys for ever.
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The old Gaelic system whereby the chieftainship of an area could go to any male member of the family caused many inter-family feuds among the MacClancys. In 1341 Hugh MacClancy, son of chieftain Teige MacClancy who had been killed in 1337, slew his kinsman Donogh MacClancy (a grandson of Mac-na-hOiche MacClancy) in a dispute over the chieftainship. Hugh became chief of Dartry and survived as such until 1349, when he was killed in a battle between Hugh O'Rourke and an alliance of Flaherty O'Rourke, Donogh O'Donnell and the men of Dartry. Gilchreest MacClancy was also killed in the engagement. The Annals of Connacht record the death of Cathal MacClancy, chief of Dartry, in 1366 at the hands of the Clan Murtagh. This killing seems to have been in revenge for an attack made by the O'Rourkes on the Maguires of Fermanagh. It is probable that MacClancy had helped the O'Rourkes in the attack.
The next recorded chieftain of Dartry was more fortunate than his predecessors, in that he managed to die a natural death. In 1418 Teige MacClancy, chief of Dartry and a grandson of Teige who had been killed in 1337, gave up the chieftainship and retired to a monastery. Two weeks later he died, and his son Cathal became chief.
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The year 1420 was a turbulent one in Dartry. In order to consolidate his position, Brian O'Connor began to build a castle at Bundrowes. This action was resisted by the O'Donnells, who assembled an army to stop the building work. O'Connor gathered an army of his own, and the scene was set for another clash between the two clans. The O'Donnells camped by the Bay of Assaroe at Ballyshannon. Some of the O'Donnell cavalry, led by O'Donnell's sons Niall Garbh, Donnell and Naughten, set out to reconnoitre The Moy. At the same time the sons of O'Connor led another troop of cavalry towards Ballyshannon. The two cavalry troops came face to face, the O'Donnells charged and routed the O'Connors, killing John, son of Brian O'Connor. Despite this terrible setback Brian O'Connor advanced with his troops to Magh-Ene (Bundoran parish) and, five nights later, a large force of O'Connors crossed the ford at Ballyshannon. They surprised the O'Donnells, who had been drinking wine, and routed the unprepared Donegalmen. Niall O'Donnell managed to escape by swimming to a ship in the harbour. Having safeguarded his castle at Bundrowes, Brian O'Connor returned home.
That same year inter-family feuding again wracked the MacClancys. Cathal MacClancy, chief of Dartry and son of Teige, was killed in his own house (probably Rosclogher Castle) by his kinsmen Teige, Maurice and Henry. Hugh Boy MacClancy was also killed.
The next year, 1421, again brought conflict into Dartry. War broke out between the O'Donnells and the O'Connors. The O'Donnells were joined by the O'Rourkes, and the allies destroyed much of the O'Connor territory. The O'Donnells and O'Rourkes then camped at Ballyshannon. The O'Connors, taking advantage of the absence of the O'Rourke army, attacked and destroyed the O'Rourke stronghold at Dromahair, burning the town around it and destroying the countryside. The O'Connors advanced to the castle of Bundrowes and the O'Donnell /O'Rourke alliance camped at Ardfarna. Daily engagements between the two sides resulted in the deaths of many men and horses. Eventually a peace was concluded between the two sides.
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The O'Rourkes, led by Cathal O'Rourke, returned to Dartry later that year, making a night attack on the MacClancys. The guardians of the lake, the Mag Gollaighs, surrendered the boats to O'Rourke, and, with their aid, he captured Rosclogher Castle, taking the son of MacClancy prisoner. Five more MacClancys were killed in the fighting, as well as many of the Dartry men. After this disastrous defeat the remaining sons of MacClancy retreated to Carbury.
There is no record of when, or how, the MacClancys reclaimed their castle. Eight years later, in 1429, they were again in action at the battle of Odhra in Fermanagh, during which many of the Dartrymen were killed. Trouble with the Fermanagh tribes continued and, in 1438, Henry Ballagh MacClancy, son of the chief was killed in an encounter with a party of Fermamaghmen at Higginstown in Bundoran parish. In 1446 Teige MacClancy was killed by Cormac O'Flanagan.
In 1483 Conor Óg MacClancy was succeeded as chief of Dartry by Hugh MacClancy. Five years later, in 1488, more trouble flared with the O'Rourkes, and the son of the MacClancy chief, Melaghlin, was killed by Teige O'Rourke.
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In 1496 the Dartrymen were again at war. In an inter-family struggle the O'Donnell castle at Ballyshannon was taken by Hugh O'Donnell from Con O'Donnell and his followers. Con laid siege to the castle, but Hugh summoned help from the Maguires and broke the siege. The Maguires and Hugh pursued Con and his men to Donegal town and burned part of that town, but Con, with help from Donegal, Inishowen and Dartry, drove Hugh and his allies back towards Belleek. Magrath, the Coarb of Termon-Daveog warned Con and his followers not to violate the Termon by attacking Maguire, but Con ignored the warning and led an attack on the Maguires, forcing them to take to the bogs, and again attacking them and forcing them to abandon 110 horses. The Maguires were defeated, Maguire himself was taken prisoner and many of his men slain.
The Maguires did not forget the part that MacClancy and his Dartrymen had played in this defeat. When, in 1499, Melaghlin MacRanall of Leitrim was taken prisoner by two sons of Tiarnán O'Rourke with the help of MacClancy and the Dartrymen, and conveyed to Inis Ochta, an island on Lough MacNean, Rory Maguire and his men attacked the island, killed the O'Rourke sons and captured Mac-an-Chaoich MacClancy and his son. They took the MacClancys and MacRanall to their stronghold, where they kept them until the prisoners were ransomed by Hugh O'Donnell, to whom MacRanall surrendered the castle of Leitrim.
Inter-family feuding broke out again among the MacClancys in 1532. Three sons of the MacClancy chief were involved. Turlough, who was obviously favourite to succeed, was killed by his two brothers at Rosclogher castle. Turlough had had the support of the O'Rourkes, and Brian O'Rourke avenged his killing by destroying much of Dartry.
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1536 was a grim year in Dartry. Plagues and fevers ravaged through the chiefdom and through Ireland generally, carrying away many. That year saw the death of the Dartry chief, Feradach MacClancy from smallpox. The Annalists note that he was a charitable and humane man. That same year the land between the Drowes and the Duff was the scene of a military fiasco. A war had arisen between the O'Donnells and the chieftains of Lower Connacht. The O'Donnells got help from the O'Neills, the Maguires and the O'Reillys and advanced to camp between the two rivers, while the O'Connors assembled at Sligo. The O'Boyles were sent to guard a pass against the enemy, the O'Donnells sent another group, under Hugh Buí O'Donnell, to guard another pass. The two groups encountered each other in the dark and, each mistaking the other for the enemy, attacked. The result of this fiasco was the death of a great many of the allies in an early example of death by what is now known as "friendly fire".
1538 saw the death of Cahir MacClancy, the son of Feradach and heir to the chieftainship. He died at Duncarbery, and his brother Cathal Dubh became chief. Their mother, Mary Magauran, died in 1542. Cathal would be chief until his death in 1578.
In 1542 the Maguires and the O'Donnells went upon a predatory excursion into Dartry, doing much damage. In an encounter with the Dartrymen Neaghtan O'Donnell was killed by a spear.
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From the last quarter of the 16th century onwards, the days of the MacClancys and the other Gaelic chiefs in Ireland were numbered. English rule, which thus far had failed to establish itself in the west of the country, was beginning to creep into Breifne. In 1561, having made war on Shane O'Neill, Queen Elizabeth's Lord Deputy, Sir Henry Sydney, crossed through Edergowan to lay siege to the castle in Sligo. The threat of foreign domination, which had been lifted in 1247 by the defeat of Fitzgerald and the Normans, had returned, this time in the form of the English. Donald O'Connor of Sligo made submission to Queen Elizabeth I and was granted a knighthood and the O'Donnell castle at Bundrowes. Eight years later Sydney appointed Sir Edward Fitton as President of Connacht with orders to subdue the province from the Drowes to Limerick. Less than a century remained to the MacClancys as chiefs of Dartry.
Cathal Óg MacClancy, son of Cathal Dubh and chief of Dartry from 1578, was assassinated by his kinsman Tadhg Óg in January 1582, leaving a son and heir, Cathal Dubh, then aged 28. This assassination brought Tadhg Óg the chiefdom, and he is recorded as being chief of Dartry in 1585. Inter-family feuds such as these played into the hands of the English, for they weakened and divided the Irish chiefs. Slowly, but insidiously, English rule and the English way of life, were spreading over the land. Under the old Gaelic system the land was held in common by the clan. The English system was based on individual ownership, so one of the first tasks to be accomplished on the introduction of English rule to an area was the establishment of the extent and ownership of the land. This was done by means of an inquisition, in which witnesses from an area would give evidence as to the ownership of land in that area. The consequences of these inquisitions were far-reaching. Following each inquisition land was granted by the crown to the chieftains. Thus the legal system of land tenure in each territory changed to that of individual ownership by the chief, under the patronage of the crown. This might have suited queen and chiefs, but effectively deprived ordinary freeholders of land rights.
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In 1585 an enquiry was held at Dromahair by Sir Richard Bingham, in which he established the ownership of lands in Breifne and agreed to the letting of these lands to the Irish. The inquisition established that an area of 2,400 acres was called Dartry and belonged to MacClancy. It also established that the 960 acres of Rossinver belonged to the bishop of Kilmore and that 960 acres of Ballaghameehan also belonged to the bishop. Tadhg Óg MacClancy was granted Dartry, any castles and lands belonging to the MacClancy name, and any other lands which they currently held, "the same to run in succession from each of them to his and their heirs by curse and order of the laws of England". What might have seemed a formality to MacClancy was in fact a profound and far-reaching change. From now on Darty belonged to the Crown under English law, and the MacClancys became grantees of the Queen, holding their lands at her pleasure.
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A year later Dartry suffered a damaging invasion. A party of Scots landed in North Donegal and made their way southwards through the county, robbing and plundering as they went, until they arrived at the Erne. The Burkes, who had risen against the English, hearing of their presence, sent messengers to tell these fierce fighters that they could have lots of booty in Connacht if they helped the Burkes defend the province against the English. The Scots crossed the Erne and proceed to the district between the Drowes and Duff. They were met by the Burkes, and proceeded to plunder Dartry. Hearing that Governor Sir Richard Bingham and his army were in Sligo, the Scotsmen and their Burke allies hastily left Dartry and headed towards Roscommon, no doubt to the great relief of Tadhg Óg MacClancy and the Dartrymen.
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Two years later, in 1588, international events intruded on life in Dartry in a major way. The Catholic King Philip II of Spain launched a massive attack on Protestant England. An armada of 130 ships, 8,000 sailors and 19,000 soldiers sailed for England, but a combination of bad luck, terrible weather and the tactical skill of Sir Francis Drake foiled the attack. Seventy Spanish ships were pursued up around Scotland and fifty two succeeded in rounding Ireland and getting back to Spain. The remainder were wrecked in storms off the Irish coast, with the loss of some ten thousand lives. Three ships were wrecked off Streedagh on the Sligo coast and over a thousand soldiers and sailors were drowned. Among the survivors was a Captain Francisco De Cuellar, who managed to get ashore at Grange. It was a scene of utter destruction which met the survivors, with bodies and wreckage strewn along the shore from Grange to Duncarbery. Their reception by the Irish and English was less than hospitable, and they were beaten, stripped and robbed. De Cuellar was robbed and his leg was injured. He managed to make his way to the castle of Brian O'Rourke, chief of Breifne, where he joined some seventy other Spanish survivors. Word came that a ship was waiting to rescue them and the party set off for the sea. De Cuellar fell behind the others because of his injured leg, and missed the ship. Luck was with him, however, for the ship foundered within sight of the shore and all aboard were drowned.
He met a priest with whom he managed to converse in Latin. This man directed him to Dartry, whose chief, Tadhg Óg MacClancy, would be sympathetic. On his way to MacClancy's castle, he was kidnapped by an old blacksmith in Glenade who offered to teach him the trade but instead forced him to blow his bellows. De Cuellar was frightened of the old blacksmith but even more frightened of his shrewish wife. MacClancy heard of his plight and sent riders to rescue him. De Cuellar then joined ten other Spanish at MacClancy's castle.
News of the landing of Spanish on the West coast caused consternation among the English. There were rumours that thousands of Spanish survivors were joining up with the Irish chiefs. All Spanish were ordered to be shot or hanged, and it was made treason to befriend or help them. Lord Deputy Fitzwilliam set out with an army for the West to take charge of the situation. When MacClancy heard that Fitzwilliam was approaching Dartry with a large army he decided to flee to the mountains with his people and flocks.
De Cuellar and the Spanish were less inclined to leave. They assessed their situation carefully. The castle was surrounded by water. It was virtually impregnable from the south because of marshy land, and was protected by the lake waters on the northern side. They decided it would be best to stay and defend the castle.
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Fitzwilliam arrived at the north shore of the lake with about 1,700 men. He signalled to the survivors to surrender, and hanged two Spanish as a warning. This event could not have inspired any confidence in the Spaniards about their fate should they fall into English hands and De Cuellar and the others refused to surrender. Fitzwilliam, who had a great interest in Spanish booty, may have over-estimated the force defending the castle. At any rate, he and his army stayed in Rossfriar for seventeen days until forced to withdraw because of heavy snow. MacClancy returned from the mountain, delighted at the departure of the English army, and duly impressed with the Spaniards defence of his castle. He decided to cement Gaelic-Spanish relationships by offering De Cuellar his sister's hand in marriage.
De Cuellar was disconcerted by MacClancy's offer. He was even more disconcerted by rumours that MacClancy intended preventing his return to Spain by force, if necessary. He slipped away from the castle ten days after Christmas 1588 and made his way back to Spain via Scotland. In the following October he wrote an account of his adventures in Ireland.
The sheltering of the Spanish by Irish chiefs was further proof to Elizabeth, if such proof was needed, that the professions of loyalty by the Irish were not to be trusted. The only sure method of ensuring a loyal realm would be the extension of the plantation system, which had already been introduced into many parts of Ireland, to the remainder of the country, including Breifne. While the plantation of Leitrim would not begin in earnest until the early part of the seventeenth century, the groundwork was begun one year after the Armada.
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In 1589 Tadhg Óg was disillusioned with the bargain he had made with the English. He joined in revolt with Brian O'Rourke, giving as pretext the severity of Bingham's rule in Connacht. In 1590 O'Rourke and MacClancy were camped with their armies in Dartry. Bingham led half his army into North Breifne. As usual, some of the Irish saw occasions like this as opportunities to further their own ambitions and Bingham was joined by two such men and their followers - Tadhg O'Rourke and Malachy MacClancy. Tadhg Óg was trapped by the lake. He attempted to swim to safety, but was shot in the arm by Tadhg O'Rourke and brought ashore by a Gallowglass. He was executed on the spot. The State papers for April 1590 record Tadhg Óg's death, noting that he was "the most barbarous creature in Ireland". Brian O'Rourke escaped and fled to Scotland, but was later arrested and hanged at Tyburn
Malachy MacClancy succeeded Tadhg Óg as chief of Dartry, profiting by the help he had given Bingham. He remained chief until his death in 1603. He bequeathed his property to his son Cahir, then aged three, with the exception of Duncarbery Castle and his chief town of Rosclogher which he bequeathed to his wife, Katherine (nee O'Rourke). In the same year James I granted the wardship of Malachy's son Cahir to William Windsor for the annual sum of £5, with the condition that Cahir be educated in the English habit and religion at Trinity College, Dublin, from ages 12 to 18.
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Under English law the lands of Ireland were in the king's gift. The policy of James I, who succeeded to the throne in 1603, was to grant the better lands to English and Scottish settlers, while granting smaller parcels of poorer land to the dispossessed Irish. During 1621/2 2,788 acres in Rosclogher barony were granted to English and Scottish settlers, while 2,469 acres went to native Irish. Some of the grants in Dartry were as follows:
Further grants of land in the area were made by Charles I, who succeeded to the throne in 1625. Elizabeth Clancy, daughter and heir of Cahir MacClancy was granted 4,000 acres from Tullaghan to Sragarve, running along the side of Lough Melvin. The grant was created into the Manor of Rosclogher, with a demesne of 2,000 acres and a Tuesday market. Two fairs were to be held at Duncarbery on Whit Monday and Tuesday and again on 25 and 26 July. Sir Walter Windsor was granted 800 acres in the Loughside, to be created into the Manor of Castlewindsor in Boyannagh. Sir William Windsor, who in 1603 had been given wardship of Cahir MacClancy, was granted 300 acres in the Loughside. The Book of Survey and Distribution records this Elizabeth Clancy as being the owner (under the English system) with her son Ross Gheogan of all of Dartry, except Boyannagh and Uragh.
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The rising of 1641 was to be the last major appearance of the MacClancys on the Dartry scene. By October of 1641 all of Ulster except Derry, Enniskillen and Coleraine was in the hands of the Irish. In November contingents from Sligo and Leitrim attacked Sligo. Their leaders included William MacClancy, (who was probably the current chief), Terence MacClancy and William Óg MacClancy, all from Dartry. The rebels also attacked Manorhamilton, capturing 500 cows and burning the winter supply of corn. Having taken Sligo, they were savagely attacked by Sir Frederick Hamilton, and Sligo was burned.
Hamilton, who had been granted lands around Manorhamilton by James I in the 1620s, proceeded to devastate the whole countryside of North Leitrim. The MacClancy castles were destroyed and murder and destruction were the order of the day. Such was the terrible legacy of Hamilton in North Leitrim in the period following the rising that his name is vilified to the present day. The O'Connors managed to maintain a shaky foothold in Sligo until 1645, when Sir Charles Coote with an army of around 5,000 English and Scottish marched from Tyrone through Dartry to Sligo and captured the town. The rising was effectively over.
Not only had the rising resulted in the destruction of the MacClancy fortresses but it also marked the beginning of the end for the chiefdom. The Down Survey map of 1654/5 records all the Loughside, formerly MacClancy lands, as belonging to Sir Frederick Hamilton. The last of the MacClancys, William, who was probably the William Óg who had taken part in the Rising of 1641, is recorded as still being in possession of Kinlough, Unshinnagh, Uragh, Tawly, Fertagh and Boyannagh in the census of 1659. The Book of Survey and Distribution of 1670 does not list the family as owning any lands in Dartry. The reign of the MacClancys as Gaelic chiefs of Dartry was finally over.
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Writing in 1836, John O'Donovan records a story about the last of the clan: "At the time the MacClancys were deprived of their property, the then heir fled to O'Reilly of Cavan with whom he remained as a stable boy, having changed his name to that of McAvistin, for his foster father was of that name. It happened that O'Reilly was going to a battle during his stay with him. McAvistin, on hearing this, changed his stable dress for that of the soldier, went to the field, led O'Reilly's men and came off victorious. O'Reilly enquired after him, seeing so great a display of valour on his part he found he was MacClancy, heir of Rosclogher. He gave him his daughter in marriage and supplied him with forces to expel the illegal possessor of his property. On what the result was, tradition is silent."
The dispossessed MacClancys are last encountered in Glenade on the borders of Dartry. In 1724 the lands of Dustrack were let by Alexander Johnston to Terlagh MacClancy of Shesknan for an annual rent of £5. In 1857 there were concentrations of Clancys (the Mac having been dropped) living in Carrownoona, Creevelea, Drumcashel, Drummans, Largydonnell, Loughmuirrin and Shesknan. These lands were granted to the MacClancys in 1621/2, and the Clancys of 1857 are probably the descendants of the recipients of these grants.
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Besides the MacClancys, a number of other family names are associated with Dartry. The O'Meehans, who gave their name to Ballaghameehan, migrated from South Munster to this area around the eleventh century. The Rooneys or O'Rooneens are an old Leitrim family who were augmented by later immigrants called Rooney from Co. Down. The McGowans came to the area from Co. Down via Donegal. McGowan is now one of the most plentiful names in Dartry. Both the Rooneys and McGowans were probably displaced from Co. Down by the plantation of Ulster. The McGloins came from Tyrone and Donegal, but there was also a family of that name native to Rossinver. The Feelys seem to have been long-time residents of Dartry. They are descended from Ficheallach who is no. 97 on the O'Connor pedigree. The family name is recorded in the barony of Rosclogher in 1659. The family probably settled in the area during one of the alliances between the O'Connors and the MacClancys before the seventeenth century. The Kellys are thought to have originated in Templeboy Co. Sligo.
Other ancient names associated with Dartry are the O'Fergusa (Ferguson/Fergus) and O'Cuirnin (Curneen) families. The O'Fergusas were Erenachs of Rossinver, being in charge of the church lands there for the bishop of Kilmore, while the O'Cuirnins were an ancient family of scribes in the area. All these names are still popular in Dartry, with the exception of Curneen which is now limited to the members of one family living in Aughamore, Muckrim and Kinlough.
Lifestyle
We know little of the lifestyle of the people of Dartry under the MacClancys. The area would have been mostly wooded, and very thinly populated, even by today's standards. The castle at Rosclogher was the focus of settlement. Land was held in commonage, and there were few fences. Roads as we know them today did not exist, and houses were clustered together in small hamlets. De Cuellar's writings provide an invaluable impression of Dartry in 1588. When writing, he invariably referred to the English as "The Enemy" and the Irish as "Savages". Here is his description of Dartry and its people in 1588:
The custom of these savages is to live as the brute
beasts among the mountains which are very rugged in that part of Ireland
where we lost ourselves. They live in huts made of straw. The men are all
large bodied and of handsome features and limbs; and as active as the roe
deer. They do not eat oftener than once a day, and this is at night; and
that which they usually eat is butter with oaten bread. They drink sour
milk, for they have no other drink; they don't drink water, although it
is the best in the world. On feast days they eat some flesh half-cooked,
without bread or salt, as that is their custom. They clothe themselves,
according to their habit, with tight trousers and short loose coats of
very coarse goat's hair. They cover themselves with blankets and wear their
hair down to their eyes. They are great walkers and inured to toil. They
carry on perpetual war with the English, who here keep garrison for the
Queen, from whom they defend themselves, and do not let them enter into
their territory, which is subject to inundation, and marshy. That district
extends for more than forty leagues in length and breadth. The chief inclination
of these people is to be robbers, and to plunder each other; so that no
day passes without a call to arms among them. For the people in one village,
becoming aware that in another there are cattle, or other effects, they
immediately come armed at night and attack and kill one another; and the
English from the garrisons, getting to know who had taken and robbed most
cattle, then come down upon them and carry away the plunder. They have
therefore no other remedy but to withdraw to the mountains with their women
and cattle; for they possess no other property, nor more moveables nor
clothing. They sleep upon the ground on rushes, newly cut and full of water
and ice. The most of the women are very beautiful, but badly dressed. They
do not wear more than a chemise and a blanket, with which they cover themselves,
and a linen cloth, much doubled, over the head and tied in front. They
are great workers and housekeepers, after their fashion. These people call
themselves Christians. Mass is said among them, and regulated according
to the orders of the Church of Rome.
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