Year by Year
Explore Year by Year articles from the most modern historical year back to the oldest.
3,295 Articles Archived
O'Donnell Succession
Archived: 18 October 2026
Annals for 1515 depict a politically fragmented Ireland shaped by cattle raiding, dynastic rivalry, fortified lordships and ecclesiastical life. Aodh Dubh Ó Domhnaill raided MacDermot territory, suffered a wound, and attacked Maguire lands by fleet on Lough Erne; Art Óg Ó Néill exploited his weakness in Clandeboye and campaigned in Oriel. On 25 November, Domnall Ó Domhnaill, tánaiste of Tír Chonaill, was fatally wounded by a kinsman, intensifying succession tensions. Desmond relatives contested castles in Munster, while bishops and clerics died or faced violence. Kildare retained royal favour, whereas Ormond’s death without a male heir sharpened future political rivalry thereafter.
Cavan Castle
Archived: 19 October 2026
Ireland in 1514 remained a landscape of competing lordships and negotiated authority. Gerald FitzGerald, ninth earl of Kildare and the king’s deputy, sought to demonstrate that he had inherited his father’s influence. Campaigns recorded in Laois, Breifne, Munster and Ulster reveal the importance of castles, armed followings, hostages and compensation. Rival rulers could resist, bargain and rebuild their position despite destructive expeditions. A contemporary churchman described abundant food alongside insecurity on land and sea. Cavan Castle’s destruction belongs within this wider pattern of contested government, where royal office offered prestige but power still depended upon local alliances and military resources.
Kildare Succession
Archived: 19 October 2026
In 1513, Ireland experienced interconnected struggles over lordship, succession and regional power. Gearóid Mór FitzGerald’s death weakened his extensive political system, although his son Gerald succeeded as earl and deputy governor. In Tír Eógain, Art Óg O’Neill secured inauguration with local and Kildare support amid contested succession. Aodh Dubh O’Donnell besieged Sligo, influenced control of Dunluce and visited James IV of Scotland before Flodden ended Scottish royal intervention. Raiding, burning and maritime violence affected coastal and rural communities. Meanwhile, Franciscan scholarship, ecclesiastical deaths and aristocratic patronage demonstrated enduring religious, learned and charitable networks across a politically fragmented yet connected Ireland.
Omagh Castle
Archived: 19 October 2026
In 1512, Irish power rested on military mobility, castles, hostages, revenue and patronage amid overlapping crown, Gaelic and ecclesiastical jurisdictions. Returning from pilgrimage, Aodh Dubh O’Donnell raised hired troops, defeated Edmund Burke’s forces, destroyed Esker castle, secured hostages, and compelled Art O’Neill to terms before rebuilding Omagh castle, asserting authority in Tyrone. Meanwhile, Gerald FitzGerald, earl of Kildare and justiciar, campaigned through Connacht and Ulster, capturing and demolishing strongholds including Belfast. Annals also record church patronage, learned households, deaths and Dublin appointments, demonstrating that warfare, negotiation, religion and administration jointly reshaped Ireland’s unsettled political landscape during this exceptionally documented year.
Offaly Succession
Archived: 19 October 2026
In 1511, Cathair Ó Conchobair Fáilghe, lord of Offaly, was killed near Mainistir-Feorais by rival kinsmen, exposing the instability of Gaelic frontier lordship; his son Brian succeeded. Elsewhere, Manus Ó Domhnaill governed Tír Chonaill during his father’s pilgrimage, negotiated hostages, and resisted Ó Néill incursions marked by burning and plunder. Deaths of learned patrons and regional lords illustrated ties between authority, households and scholarship. Church affairs included Bishop Tomás Mac Brádaigh’s death, competing Bréifne episcopal claims, fire damage at Armagh, and Archbishop Walter FitzSimons’s death in Dublin. The year revealed Ireland as interconnected, contested lordships rather than a unified polity.
Monabraher Campaign
Archived: 19 October 2026
In 1510 Gerald FitzGerald, eighth earl of Kildare and justiciar of Ireland, led a expedition into Munster. His authority combined royal office with estates, personal connections and agreements among powerful lords. The campaign demonstrated that government from Dublin depended upon negotiated alliances as much as commands from Henry VIII. Resistance likewise emerged from a coalition of interests rather than a simple division between Gaelic and English communities. Annalistic evidence places the fighting within a wider landscape of overlapping lordships and shifting loyalties. Monabraher’s broken rearguard illustrates the military risks and political limits confronting the Great Earl’s ambitious exercise of power.
Omagh Campaign
Archived: 19 October 2026
Henry VIII’s accession in 1509 prompted Ireland’s council to retain Gerald FitzGerald, eighth earl of Kildare, as temporary governor, preserving authority in the Pale. Kildare intervened in a disputed O’Neill conflict in Tyrone, campaigning with regional allies, capturing Omagh castle, taking prisoners and demolishing the fortress. Domhnall O’Neill died, and Art O’Neill was inaugurated, illustrating contested Gaelic succession. Uilleag Fionn Burke of Clanricard also died, without ending Burke power. Obituaries for church officers, an erenagh and a learned poet reveal enduring ecclesiastical, hospitable and literary institutions. The year demonstrated that royal change affected Ireland through local alliances, lordships and rivalries.
Enniskillen Coup
Archived: 19 October 2026
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.
Carrickfergus Hostages
Archived: 19 October 2026
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.
Shannon Bridge
Archived: 19 October 2026
In 1506 Turlough O’Brien, his brother Donnell and the bishops of Killaloe and Kilfenora built a bridge at Port Croise across the Shannon, demonstrating Thomond’s resources, ecclesiastical partnerships and strategic influence near Limerick. Meanwhile, Gerald FitzGerald’s lord-deputyship remained powerful but limited, as Henry VII contemplated an unrealised expedition. Dublin civic authorities defended Dominican hay against Kilmainham’s prior. Northern Ireland saw cattle raids, succession struggles, killings and Scottish mercenary involvement, devastating communities. Annals also record church officials, merchants, nobles and scholar Páidín Ó Maol Chonaire alongside lightning damage at Trim. Together these events reveal medieval Ireland’s regional, interconnected and contested order.
Some records do not yet have a verified historical year and are awaiting chronological placement.