Mullaghmast (; modern English spelling: ''Mullamast'') is a hill in the south of

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

, Ireland, near the village of Ballitore and near the borders with counties

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; ) is the county town of County Wicklow in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the east of Ireland, south of Dublin. According to the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had ...

Laois County Laois ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medieval kingdom. Hist ...

and

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had a population of 27,351, the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland, ...

. It was an important site in prehistory, in early history and again in more recent times. It is classed as a

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.

Legend and prehistory

The '' Metrical Dindshenchas'', or Lore of Places, a

Middle Irish Middle Irish, also called Middle Gaelic (, , ), is the Goidelic language which was spoken in Ireland, most of Scotland and the Isle of Man from AD; it is therefore a contemporary of Late Old English and Early Middle English. The modern Goideli ...

collection of

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

purporting to explain the origins of Irish place names, claims that Mullaghmast is named for Maistiu, wife of Dáire Derg, who was killed by the sorcery of the malicious faery Gris, who was in turned killed by Dáire Derg. A

standing stone A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright rock (geology), stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the Eur ...

from Mullaghmast, decorated with a triskele, thought to belong to the very end of the prehistoric period, or perhaps to the early Christian period, is now in the National Museum of Ireland in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

.Mytum, plate XI and page 73; MacKillop, "Mullaghmast". Mullaghmast was the royal residence of the Uí Muiredaig kings (later to become the O'Toole family), a sept of the Uí Dúnlainge dynasty of the

Laigin The Laigin, modern spelling Laighin (), were a Gaelic population group of early Ireland. They gave their name to the Kingdom of Leinster, which in the medieval era was known in Irish as ''Cóiced Laigen'', meaning "Fifth/province of the Leinste ...

1578
Massacre of Mullaghmast The massacre of Mullaghmast () was the mass killing of between 100 and 400 members of the Gaelic nobility of Ireland by Kingdom of England, English forces under the command of Sir Henry Sidney in Mullaghmast, County Kildare in either late 1577 o ...

A rebellion had been launched by Rory O'More whose forces burnt

Naas Naas ( ; or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In 2022, it had a population of 26,180, making it the largest town in County Kildare (ahead of Newbridge, County Kildare, Newbridge) and the List of urban ar ...

in 1577. The 40 lords of

and Offaly and their families were invited to a peace conference by Sir Henry Sidney on or around New Year's Day 1578; Sidney rose and left the unarmed lords and their wives, children and followers, and all except one were killed by Sidney's men, leaving the castle strewn with body parts and drenched in blood. This killing reputedly of 400 people including 120 O'Mores, virtually the whole O'More family, emptied the country of authority, continuing the English plantations in Queen's County and King's County. From the

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' () or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' () are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Genesis flood narrative, Deluge, dated as 2,242 Anno Mundi, years after crea ...

: * ''M1577.14. A horrible and abominable act of treachery was committed by the English of

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

and Meath upon that part of the people of Offaly and Leix that remained in confederacy with them, and under their protection. It was effected thus: they were all summoned to shew themselves, with the greatest number they could be able to bring with them, at the great ráth of Mullach-Maistean; and on their arrival at that place they were surrounded on every side by four lines of soldiers and cavalry, who proceeded to shoot and slaughter them without mercy, so that not a single individual escaped, by flight or force.'' *''M1577.14. Feall urghranna adhuathmhar do dhénamh lá Gallaibh Laighean & Midhe ar an meid baoí ina rann fein, & ro an for a n-ionchaibh do Uíbh Failghe & do Laoighis. Bá h-amhlaidh do-rónadh ind sin. Ro toghairmeadh iad uile dia t-taisbénadh gusan líon as lia nó caomhsadaoís do thabairt leó go ráith mhóir Mhullaigh Mhaistean & iar rochtain dóibh gusan maighin-sin, ro h-iadadh ceithri sretha ina n-uirtimceall ima c-cuairt do shaighdiúiridhibh & do mharc-shluagh, & ro gabhadh occ á n-diubhraccadh gan dhicheall, occa mudhucchadh & occ á mór mharbhadh coná térna sceolanga, ná elaitheach ass a m-bethaidh díobh.''

Sport

* St Laurence's GAA is based in the parish of Narraghmore, encompassing Kilmeade, Booley, Narraghmore, Calverstown, Kilgowan, Brewel, Ballymount, Ballitore and Mullaghmast.

Notes

References

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External links