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This Indenture bears date the 17th August, 1585. For its contents, the reader is referred to the original record. The following letter of Queen Eliz. in favour of Connor earl of Thomond, A. D. 1577, taken from the original roll, may be found useful by the future topographer of this interesting district:

"Elizabeth R.

By the Queen.

"Right trusty and right well beloved Counsellor, we grete you well. And whereas, our right trusty and right welbeloved Cousin, Connoher, Earl of Thomond, hath here of late, made humble suit unto us, as well for our confirmation of all such letters patents, as he either passed from the king our father of famous memory, or from our dear brother king Edw. vi., or from us, that might concern his father's creation or state of his earldom, or himself and his succession, or for assurance of any lands to him in possession, reversion or remainder, in which part he hath also besought us, that his son Donnoghe, now Baron of Ibrackan, and brought up here in our Court might be nominated by us in the remainder of his Earldom, altho' the same be not needful if he be his lawful and eldest son. We have, in consideration of the dutiful mind the said earl pretends to bear to us and our said service, not only consented that, for his better contentation, such a confirmation shall pass under our great seall of this our Realm of England, including all the benefits of his other particularities concerning such petitions as he hath exhibitted here to us and our Council, wherein albeit we declare our opinion or disposition unto you upon every of his said suits, yet we refer to your consideration the manner of our grants, to pass under our seale there, and to be limitted as you shall think convenient for our service and his reasonable relief. Further, where our said Cousin hath desired, for the better maintenance of his estate, to have freedom from cesse on all his own lands within the county of Thomond, which he saies are comprised in eight baronies, besides the barony of Ibreckan, and pretending an ancient freedom in the said whole barony of Ibreckan, desires the like in the rest, or at the least in some of the other baronies, and hath shewed forth here an exemption or freedom for certain plowlands, granted unto him from Sir WTM Drury knt. now president in Munster, in certain of his said baronies. We have thought good, for the respect before named, to agree that he shou'd take, during his life, the freedom of the plowlands so set down by our president, with such commodities in the same grant made by our said President, and in like manner the freedom of Ibreckan with like conditions, if it shall be by you thought meet; and for the rest, do refer to you to be considered of as you shall think most convenient of, for the estate of the country and our services.

"Secondly, where the said earl pretends an ancient government, by way of commandment, over the freeholders within Thomonde, especially in making of surnames,

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and after the decease of the chief of every name, to allow the next captain or successor, which he saies hath been heretofore beneficial and profitable to him and to his ancestors, that were captains of that country; which custom he either prays may continue in him, or else for his relief, if the land be or shalbe brought to an ordinary succession of inheritance, as were to be wished both there and in the rest of the Irishrie, that the Wardships of their heirs may be at his disposition, as his heir, by his Tenure, ought to be Ward unto us; wherein as we cou'd be contented, if you think it so good, that he had some such preheminence and profit in the meaner freeholders within his Country, in nature of a relief, upon the death or charges of the tenants, forseying that certain choice persons be exempted, both because we find the discommodyties in other parts of Munster, where principal men do depend upon such Capital men as he is, and also because those principal freeholders in Thomond might not conceive discontentation by our grant of their tenures to the Earl, but rather that they might be induced to surrender their lands, ande have Estates of Inheritance again from us, so as they may hold, some of our Crown in Capite, and some by Knight's service; so for these respects, and some other inconveniencies that may perhaps appear unto you, to think such a large grant, unmete, we have thought fit to commit the whole to your consideration, letting you notwithstanding to know, that unless you see the inconveniency very great, we wou'd be content, in respect as well of the good opinion we have of his loyalty towards us, as of the meanesse of his estate and hability to maintain the countenance of the degree whereunto he is called, without such helps, having no great quantity of land or rent to maintain his estate withall, that he shou'd receive some such relief from the said freeholders, from whom his ancestors when they were captaines of that country, had, as we be informed, their whole maintenance from the said freeholders, as his poor estate might be thereby relieved, and yet our service not greatly hindered.

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Thirdly, He hath alleged, that great sums of money are due to him and to the inhabitants of Thomond by us, for Cesses reased there by the several Warrants of yourself, our late deputy Sir William Fitz-Williams, Sir Edward Fytton and Sir William Drurye, during the several Governments of you and them, which sums the inhabitants have substituted him to receive as he saies, and offers to prove that great sums thereby are due to him and to his country, by the lack whereof he allegeth them to be greatly impoverished; wherein, for that we cannot here allow any sufficient proof of the delivery of the Cesses assigned to be paid, or of warrants or commandments of Cesses to any great value, we have thought it convenient that you be informed by him hereof, and thereupon cause due Inquiry to be made concerning the said Cesses, how they have been levied, to whose hands they have come, and what defalcation

defalcation hath been made upon the wages of such as have received those beofes and other Cesses, to the end that the ordinary prices heretofore by prerogative answerable for the same, may be satisfied to the said Earl, and to the people in his country, by such as ought to allow it upon their entertainments; and in the mean time we have thought good to lend unto him the sum of £200, which sum, upon sufficient proofs to be produced by him, must be repaid unto us, either upon the entertainments of such as have received the said Cesses, or, for lack of due proof, to be repaid by himself, which he has promised to do; the manner whereof, and how it might most duly to be answered, we refer to your good opinion and order.

"Fourthly, He desires, that the Customes of Clare and Clanrode may continue in him, as in his ancestors, which because, as we are informed, they be but certain small privileges, whereof the like are due to many castles in Ireland, upon merchandizes of wine and ale brought from our porte townes to those castles, we think it not amiss that the same be granted unto him, if you shall find it a matter of no more importance than by his information it appears unto us, and so as thereby our customs and imposts due in these ports be not diminished.

"Fifthly, he desires, that the Bonnaght of the Galloglas that have been accustomably paid out of his own proper lands, may be reserved to himself, now that the Galloglas are discontinued as he informs us; and because that we conceive that the Bonnaght was a cesse of victuals reased universally upon the whole country of Thomond, for the wages of the Galloglas according to the number of the sparres, whereof part was reazed upon the possessions now in the earl's hands, and part upon the lands of the freeholders, we are contented that so much of that Bonnaght as hath been leviable upon the earl's particular and proper lands shall be remitted to him, as in suspence whilst the service of that Galloglas shall cease, if you our deputy shall know no cause to the contrary.

"Sixthly, whereas it appears, by the grant of the king, our father, of noble memory, King Henry viii., that he (the Earl) is possessed of the moiety of the abbey of Clare, he prays to have the other moiety also, yet in our hands, with the territories of Ince and Cohenny, the chantries of Termen-Shenin, Termin-Tolloughe, TermonMynough, and Termon-Skenoway, we are well pleased, that upon a survey to be made thereof by our surveyor of our said Realm, he shall have an estate of all the said Abbey lands, frieries & chantries to him and the heirs males of his body, reserving to us such a rent as by the survey shall be allotted, and that with as convenient speed as the said survey may be made, and certified to you under the hand of our said officer. Lastly, he desires the island of Innescartts upon pretence that he wou'd convert it to a Fyshe-Towne; nevertheless, because we suppose it to be within the river of IRISH ARCH. SOC. 15. 3 A

Shennyn

Shennyn, and of some importance to the city of Limerick, we have thought good to be advertised therein, and, therefore, require to be informed from you touching the situation and importance of the place, with the quantity of ground and value to be letten; upon which certificate we shall give him further answer. And for the rest of the articles do refer them to you, to make grants and estates to him under our great seal, either during his life or during pleasure, or to him and his heirs males of his body, in such sort as the former part of this our letter hath directed you, either absolutely or in discretion. For doing whereof this shalbe sufficient warrant, as well to you, as to our Chancellor or Keeper of the great seal for the time being, for the sealing and delivery hereof. Given under our signet at our Castle of Wyndesor, the 7th day of October, 1577, in the 19th year of our reign.

"To our right trusty and well beloved Counsellor, Si Henry Sidney, knight of our order, and deputy of our Realme of Ireland, and to our trusty and right well beloved William Gerrard, esq. our Chancellor there, and to every other our Officers and ministers there for the time being, to whom in this case it shall appertain."—(20° Eliz. d. r. 11.)— Orig. Roll.

II.

The annexed Pedigrees of the ancient tribe of Muintir Murchadha of Moy Seola, and O'Flaherties of Iar-Connaught, have been compiled by the ablest Irish genealogists of latter times; Cugocry O'Clery (one of the Annalists called the Four Masters), Duald Mac Firbis of Lecane, and Roger O'Ferrall, an Irish antiquary, whose "LINEA ANTIQUA" is now preserved in the Office of Arms, Dublin, where it is considered of high authority. It has been judged necessary to give these three genealogies entire, in order to enable the reader curious in such matters, to reconcile the chronology, and some few discrepancies which occur in the early generations, a task which the limits of these pages preclude us from attempting. It will be seen that O'Clery confines himself to the Western O'Flaherties, as the chief line. Mac Firbis, aided probably by his pupil, our author, Roderick O'Flaherty, gives the three great stocks of Ballinahinch, Aghnenure, and Moycullen, with some of the correlative branches. O'Ferrall omits the Moycullen family altogether. Mac Firbis, in his abstract of A. D. 1666, preserved in the library of the Royal Irish Academy, states, in accordance with the Book of Ballymote, fol. 54, that Morogh (Gen. table II. no. 17), from whom the tribe took its name, had a second son, Urrumhan, who had six sons, viz., 1. Donnell, from whom descended the O'Donnells of Ardrath; 2. Laighidh, from whom the O'Lees of Hy

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