Cormac na Haoine MacCarthy Reagh, 13th Prince of Carbery (c. 1490–1567) was an Irish chieftain who owned almost half a million acres in south west Ireland.

Birth and origins

Cormac was born in Carbery about 1490, the eldest son of Donal MacCarthy Reagh and his second wife Eleanor FitzGerald. His father was the 12th

Prince of Carbery A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The fema ...

. His father's family were the

MacCarthy Reagh The MacCarthy Reagh (Irish: ''Mac Cárthaigh Riabhach'') dynasty are a branch of the MacCarthy dynasty, Kings of Desmond, deriving from the Eóganacht Chaisil sept. History The Mac Cárthaigh Riabhach seated themselves as kings of Carbery in ...

, a Gaelic Irish dynasty that branched from the MacCarthy-Mor line with Donal Gott MacCarthy, a medieval King of Desmond, whose sixth son Donal Maol MacCarthy Reagh was the first independent ruler of Carbery. His mother was a daughter of

Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare (born – ), known variously as "Garret the Great" (Gearóid Mór) or "The Great Earl" (An tIarla Mór), was Ireland's premier peer. He served as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1477 to 1494, and from 1496 u ...

. Her family, the

Geraldines The FitzGerald dynasty is a Hiberno-Norman noble and aristocratic dynasty, originally of Cambro-Norman and Anglo-Norman origin. They have been peers of Ireland since at least the 13th century, and are described in the Annals of the Four M ...

, were

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

Battle of Mourne

The Battle of Mourne or of Mourne Abbey, also called of Cluhar and Moor, was fought in 1520 or 1521. It was part of an internecine strife of the Geraldines of Desmond in which Thomas FitzThomas FitzGerald defeated his nephew

James FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Desmond James fitz Maurice FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Desmond (died 1529), also counted as the 11th, plotted against King Henry VIII with King Francis I of France in 1523 and with Emperor Charles V in 1528 and 1529. Birth and origins James was born ...

, and succeeded him as the 11th Earl. Carbery was drawn into this as Thomas Fitzthomas was allied with MacCarthy's father-in-law, Cormac Oge Laidir MacCarthy. MacCarthy therefore led his father's troops against the 11th Earl of Desmond, who was defeated.

Prince

MacCarty succeeded his father in 1530 as the 13th prince of Carbery.

Marriage and children

MacCarthy married Julia, daughter of Cormac Oge Laidir MacCarthy, 10th Lord of Muskerry. It was his first but her second marriage. She was the widow of Gerald Fitzmaurice, 15th Baron Kerry, who had died in 1550. Cormac and Julia had two sons: # Donal na Pipi, became the 17th Prince # Dermond na-Glac MacCarthy —and four daughters: # Catherine, married

John Butler of Kilcash John Butler of Kilcash (died 1570) was an Irish landowner and soldier. A younger son of James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond and brother of Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond, he received Kilcash Castle as appanage. He fought in the Desmond–Ormo ...

, father of

Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond Sir Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond and 4th Earl of Ossory (1559–1633), succeeded his uncle Black Tom, the 10th earl, in 1614. He was called "Walter of the Beads" because he was a devout Catholic, whereas his uncle had been a Protestant. ...

# Honoria, married her distant cousin Owen MacDonogh MacCarthy, Prince of

Duhallow Duhallow () is a barony located in the north-western part of County Cork, Ireland. Legal context Baronies were created after the Norman invasion of Ireland as divisions of Irish counties and used in the administration of justice and the raisi ...

# Ellinor, married her cousin Dermod MacCarthy of Enniskean # Ellen, married first in 1572 Sir James FitzGerald, Lord of Decies (died 1581), and secondly James FitzRichard de Barry, Lord Ibane and 4th

Viscount Buttevant Earl of Barrymore was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created for David Barry, 6th Viscount Buttevant, in 1627/28. Lord Barrymore held the subsidiary titles of Baron Barry (created c. 1261) and Viscount Buttevant (created 1541) in the ...

, ancestor of the Earls of Barrymore. Ellen seems to have been an illegitimate child. After MacCarthy's death his wife would marry thirdly Edmund Butler, 1st/11th Baron Dunboyne (died 1566)

Death

Carbery, as he now was, died in 1567. He was succeeded according to Brehon law and tanistry by his brother Finghin as the 14th prince.

Ancestry

Notes and references

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * – Dacre to Dysart (for Dunboyne) * – to 1603 * * – Earls * – Irish stem {{DEFAULTSORT:MacCarthy Reagh, Cormac Na Haoine, 10th Prince Of Carbery 1490s births 1567 deaths 16th-century Irish landowners De Barry family Irish lords MacCarthy dynasty People of Elizabethan Ireland