The Lord of Slemargy was a title held by Irish Gaelic nobility, specifically the O'More and McMurrough families.[1]
Origin
editSlievemargy (Irish: Sliabh Mairge[2]) is a barony in Laois,[3] named after mountains in the area.[4][5] The name has been anglicised "Slieuemargue", "Slewmergie", "Slieuemargue" and "Slieuemargy"[6] - The Dictionary of Irish Biography uses the spelling "Slemargy".[7]
Title history
editIn 1398, Maurice Boy O'More held the title.[8]
In March 1557, the Lord of Slemargy, Domhnall MacLysaght O'More, and his uncle Conall Og O'More, Lord of Laois, were respectively hanged and crucified by the English administration in Leighlinbridge.[7][9]
By the early 1560s, Domhnall's brother Murtagh O'More (Irish: Muircheartach Ó Mórdha) was using the title. Murtagh was killed around 1577 in the Massacre of Mullaghmast, a mass killing of Gaelic nobility. His cousin, infamous rebel and Lord of Laois Rory O'More,[7] avenged Murtagh's death by gathering an army and burning the town of Naas.[10][11]
References
edit- ^ Grace, James (1842). Annales Hiberniae. p. 148. "upon the M'Murghs and O'Morthes of Slemargy"
- ^ "Sliabh Mairge/Slievemargy". Logainm.ie.
- ^ General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns, Parishes, and Baronies of Ireland: Based on the Census of Ireland for the Year 1851. Genealogical Publishing Com. 12 July 1984. ISBN 9780806310527 – via Google Books.
- ^ Patrick, Saint; Press, Aeterna. "The Life and Writings of Saint Patrick". Aeterna Press – via Google Books.
- ^ Brewer, James Norris (1826). The Beauties of Ireland: Being Original Delineations, Topographical, Historical, and Biographical, of Each County. Sherwood, Jones, & Company. p. 112 – via Internet Archive.
Slievemargy.
- ^ "The Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland: Adapted to the New Poor-law, Franchise, Municipal and Ecclesiastical Arrangements, and Compiled with a Special Reference to the Lines of Railroad and Canal Communication as Existing in 1843-44; Illustrated by a Series of Maps, and Other Plates; and Presenting the Results, in Detail, of the Census of 1841, Compared with that of 1831". A. Fullarton. 12 July 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c O'Byrne, Emmett (October 2009). "O'More (Ó Mórdha), Rory (Ruaidhrí Óg)". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006909.v1.
- ^ Annals of the Four Masters: "1398...The son of Maurice Boy O'More, Lord of Slieve-Margy, fosterer of the Iearned and destitute of Ireland, died."
- ^ O'Byrne, Emmett (October 2012). "MacMurrough, Murchadh". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.005071.v1. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
- ^ Archbold, William Arthur Jobson (1895). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 42. pp. 175–176.
- ^ Journal of the County Kildare Archaeological Society, Vol 3 (1899), pp.377-378