Assaroe’s Pestilential Ship
Archived: 19 October 2026
In 1478 Ireland experienced severe disruption from weather, disease and conflict. Annals describe a destructive Epiphany storm that damaged livestock, buildings, churches and Dublin windows, while Cormac MacCarthy was blinded during dynastic strife. A plague reportedly arrived by ship at Assaroe, spreading through north-western Ireland and causing deaths among nobles, clergy and learned families. Thomas FitzGerald’s death brought Gerald, later Gearóid Mór, to the Kildare earldom. In Connacht, contests for Sligo, Moylurg, Roscommon and Machaire Connacht involved sieges, devastation and changing lordships; Annaly saw partition after peace. Together, uneven records depict connected communities vulnerable to maritime disease, warfare and disaster.