Archived: 19 October 2026
Abstract
In 1508 Aodh Óg Ó Domhnaill transformed power in Fermanagh by travelling across Lough Erne, capturing Enniskillen castle from Ruaidhrí Mag Uidhir, installing a rival Maguire and taking hostages. His expeditions also reached Lower Connacht, illustrating negotiated, military lordship. Elsewhere, feuds produced killings, raids, castle destruction, exile and attacks around churches, including a St Patrick’s Day defence at Domhnach Mhaighe Dá Chlaoine. Eoghan Ó Ruairc and Margaret O’Brien began the Franciscan friary at Creevelea, demonstrating aristocratic patronage. Annals also record clerical deaths, hospitality and learning. In the Pale, parliament authorised taxation, revealing overlapping Gaelic and English political systems within Ireland.
Read Article
Archived: 19 October 2026
Abstract
In 1507, Ireland comprised overlapping systems of royal lordship, Gaelic dynasties, churches, learned families and corporate towns. The Annals of Ulster, strongest for the north, records Henry Ó Néill’s death, an Ó Domhnaill attack on Dungannon, and conflict at Carrickfergus, where Niall Ó Néill was captured, released after sixteen hostages were demanded, then seized the castle and mayor. Clogher monastery and Achadh Beithe church burned, while clerics, a brehon and several poets died. Kildare exercised limited deputy authority, and Galway maintained civic government. These events reveal power secured through kinship, pledges, warfare, learning, patronage and institutional resilience across the island.
Read Article
Archived: 19 October 2026
Abstract
In 1504, Gerald FitzGerald, eighth earl of Kildare and king’s deputy, led a broad Gaelic and settler-descended coalition against Uilleag Fionn Burke of Clanricard and Turlough Donn O’Brien. The conflict arose from Burke’s attacks on O’Kelly territory and seizure of Galway, but reflected wider struggles for Connacht. At Knockdoe near Galway on 19 August, Kildare’s army won a devastating battle, with annals reporting nine gallowglass battalions almost destroyed. Burke surrendered hostages, restoring Kildare’s influence without securing lasting royal control. The year’s annals also commemorate clerics, scholars, physicians and patrons, revealing religious, learned and hospitable networks alongside warfare across medieval Ireland.
Read Article
