Cormac MacDermot MacCarthy, 16th Lord of Muskerry

Cormac MacDermot MacCarthy, 16th Lord of Muskerry (1552–1616) was an Irish magnate and soldier. He fought at the Siege of Kinsale during Tyrone's Rebellion.

Cormac MacDermot MacCarthy
Lord of Muskerry
Tenure	1584–1616
Predecessor	Callaghan, 15th Lord of Muskerry
Successor	Charles, 1st Viscount Muskerry
Born	1552
Died	23 February 1616
Buried	Kilcrea Friary
Spouse(s)	Mary Butler
Issue Detail	Charles & others
Father	Dermot, 13th Lord Muskerry
Mother	Ellen FitzGerald

Birth and origins

Cormac was born in 1552,^[1] the eldest son of Dermot MacCarthy and Ellen FitzGerald.^[2] His father was the 13th Lord of Muskerry. His father's full name, including his patronymic middle name, was Dermot MacTeige MacCarthy. His own full name was therefore Cormac MacDermot MacCarthy. His father's family were the MacCarthys of Muskerry,^[3] a Gaelic Irish dynasty that had branched from the MacCarthy-Mor line in the 14th century^[4][5][6] when a younger son received Muskerry as appanage.^[7]

His mother was a daughter of Sir Maurice FitzJohn FitzGerald of Totane, third son of John FitzGerald, de facto 12th Earl of Desmond and younger brother of James FitzJohn FitzGerald, 13th Earl of Desmond.^[8]

Cormac had a brother Teige, who was ancestor of the MacCarthys of Insirahell near Crookstown, County Cork, and two sisters Julia and Grainé.^[9]

Family tree

Cormac MacDermot MacCarthy with wife, parents, and other selected relatives.^[a] Cormac Oge Laidir 10th Lord 1447–1536 Catherine Barry Teige 11th Lord 1472–1565 Callaghan 12th Lord Dermot 13th Lord 1501–1570 Ellen FitzGerald Cormac 14th Lord d. 1583 tanist Callaghan 15th Lord tanist resigned 1584 Donogh O'Brien 4th Earl Thomond d. 1624 Cormac MacDermot 16th Lord 1552–1616 Mary Butler David Roche 7th Viscount Fermoy 1573–1635 Margaret O'Brien d. c. 1599 Charles 1st Viscount 1564–1641 Ellen Roche Donough 1st Earl 1594–1665 Eleanor Butler 1612–1682 Legend XXX Subject of the article XXX Lords & Viscounts Muskerry & Earls of Clancarty XXX Earls of Thomond XXX Viscounts Fermoy

Religion

Cormac MacDermot MacCarthy, conformed to the established religion by adhering to the Church of Ireland.^[18] His father had done the same.^[19] His son Charles studied at Oxford^[20] where Catholics were not accepted,^[21] but later became a Catholic.^[22]

Marriage and children

Cormac MacDermot married Mary Butler, a daughter of Theobald Butler, 1st Baron Cahir.^[23] His wife's family, the Butler Dynasty, was Old English and descended from Theobald Walter, who had been appointed Chief Butler of Ireland by King Henry II in 1177.^[24]

Dermot and Mary had three sons:

1. Charles (died 1641), his successor
2. Teige, ancestor of the MacCarthys of Aglish^[25]
3. Donal (or Daniel) who built the castle of Carrignavar^[26][27]

—and one daughter:

1. Julia, married first David de Barry, 5th Viscount Buttevant as his second wife, and secondly Dermod O'Shaugnessy of Gort^[28][29]

16th Lord

His father died in 1570 when Cormac MacDermot was about 18 years old.^[30] According to English Common Law he would have immediately succeeded as 14th Lord of Muskerry, but as a minor his estate would have been sequestered by the crown and he would have become a ward. However, Brehon law was applied^[31] and his uncle Sir Cormac MacTeige MacCarthy succeeded in his stead, according to tanistry.^[32] When this uncle died in 1583,^[33] another of his uncles, Callaghan, took his place as the 15th Lord, but resigned in 1584^[34] when Cormac MacDermot eventually succeeded as 16th Lord of Muskerry.

House of Lords

Being Lord of Muskerry did of course not include the right to sit in the House of Lords. It was therefore by a special favour that he sat in the House of Lords of the Parliament 1585–1586 as baron Blarney. The year is given as 1578 and is quite certainly wrong: no Irish parliament sat in 1578. The year 1578 is midway between 1571 and 1585. Elizabeth's second Irish parliament sat 1569–1571 and her third 1585–1586.^[35][36]

Tyrone's Rebellion

Further information: Tyrone's Rebellion

After the Spanish under Don Juan del Águila had landed at Kinsale on 2 October 1601, MacCarthy fought on the English side at the Siege of Kinsale during Tyrone's Rebellion. On 21 October 1601 he attacked the Spanish positions with his Irish forces^[37] fighting under George Carew, Lord President of Munster.^[38]

However, Carew suspected that MacCarthy was in contact with the enemy and about to surrender Blarney Castle to them.^[39] On 18 August 1602 he arrested MacCarthy and held him at Dublin Castle.^[40][41]

In 1614 Sir Lord Deputy Chichester granted him the Kilcrea Friary, which had been founded in 1645 by his ancestor Cormac Laidir MacCarthy, 9th Lord of Muskerry. Chichester specified that the friars should not be allowed to live in it and that the lands should only be let to Protestant tenants. MacCarthy was a Protestant at that time.^[42]

Death, succession, and timeline

Muskerry died on 23 February 1616^[43] at Blarney.^[44] He was buried in Kilcrea Friary,^[45] which probably implied that he became a Catholic late in his life. He was succeeded by his eldest son Charles as the 17th Lord of Muskerry, who would become Baron Blarney and Viscount Muskerry in 1628.^[46]

Timeline
As only the year, but not the month and day, of his birth is known, his age could be a year younger than given.
Age	Date	Event
0	1552	Born^[47]
0–1	1553, 6 Jul	Accession of Queen Mary I, succeeding Edward VI of England^[48]
5–6	1558, 17 Nov	Accession of Queen Elizabeth I, succeeding Queen Mary I^[49]
10–11	1563, about	Married Mary Butler^[47]
17–18	1570, about	Eldest son Cormac born^[b]
17–18	1570	Father died and was succeeded by his tanist, Cormac MacDermot's uncle Cormac MacCarthy^[30]
31–32	1584	Succeeded as the 16th Lord of Muskerry
37–38	1590	Son married Margaret O'Brien^[51]
41–42	1594	Grandson Donough born^[52]
46–47	1599	Son remarried to Ellen, widow of Donnell MacCarthy Reagh and daughter of the 7th Viscount Fermoy^[53]
48–49	1601, 22 Sep	The Spanish landed at Kinsale^[54]
46–47	1601, 21 Oct	Attacked the Spanish at the siege of Kinsale.^[37]
50–51	1603, 24 Mar	Accession of King James I, succeeding Queen Elizabeth I^[55]
63–64	1616, 23 Feb	Died^[43]

Notes and references

Notes

1. This family tree is based on a tree of the Lords of Muskerry,^[10] a tree focused on his grandson Donough^[11] and on genealogies of the Earls of Clancarty,^[12][13] the MacCarthy of Muskerry family,^[14] the Earls of Thomond,^[15][16] and the Earls of Ormond.^[17] Also see the list of his children and the mention about his siblings.
2. The major genealogical sources do not give a year of birth. One source gives 1564,^[50] but this is hard to believe as his father was born in 1552.

Citations

1. Cronnelly 1865, p. 169. "120. Cormac, lord Muskerry, born A.D. 1552."
2. Cronnelly 1865, p. 168. "119. Dermod, lord Muskerry, born A.D. 1501. This Dermod, who died A.D. 1570, was married to Helena, the daughter of Maurice Fitzgerald, and niece of James 15th Earl of Desmond ..."
3. Gibson 1861, p. 84, line 9. "There were at this time four distinct chieftainships of the Mac Carthys; the Mac Carthys Mor, or lords of Desmond, and their off-shoots, namely, the Mac Carthys Reagh of Carbery, the Donough Mac Carthys of Duhallow, and the Mac Carthys of Muskerry."
4. O'Hart 1892, p. 122, left column. "116. Dermod Mór: son of Cormac Mór, Prince of Desmond; b. 1310; created by the English in A.D. 1353, 'Lord of Muskerry' ..."
5. O'Hart 1892, p. 112, right column. "115. Cormac MacCarthy Mór, Prince of Desmond: his son; b. 1271; d. 1359."
6. O'Hart 1892, p. 122, top. "Cormac MacCarty Mor, Prince of Desmond (see the MacCarty Mór Stem, No. 115,) had a second son, Dermod Mór, of Muscry (now Muskerry) who was the ancestor of MacCarthy, lords of Muscry and earls of Clan Carthy."
7. Lainé 1836, p. 72. "Dermod-Môr, Mac-Carthy, fils puiné de Cormac-Môr, prince de Desmond et d'Honoria Fitz-Maurice, eut en apanage la baronnie de Muskery ..."
8. Dunlop & Cunningham 2004, p. 460, left column, line 40. "His mother was Eleanor, daughter of Maurice FitzJohn FitzGerald (brother of James FitzJohn FitzGerald, fourteenth earl of Desmond), and sister of James FitzMaurice FitzGerald, the 'archtraitor'."
9. O'Hart 1892, p. 123, right column, line 6. "Issue:—Cormac; Teige, ancestor of the MacCarthys of Insirahell (near Crookstow, co. Cork); Julia ... and Grainé ..."
10. Gillman 1892b, fold-out.
11. Butler 1925, p. 255, Note 8The following rough pedigree ...
12. Burke 1866, p. 344Genealogy of the earls of Clancarty
13. Cokayne 1913, pp. 214–217Genealogy of the earls of Clancarty
14. Lainé 1836, pp. 74–78Genealogy of the MacCarthy of Muskerry family
15. Burke 1866, p. 406Extract from the genealogy of the earls of Thomond
16. Cokayne 1896, p. 392Extract from the genealogy of the earls of Thomond
17. Burke & Burke 1909, p. 1400Extract from the genealogy of the earls of Ormond
18. McCarthy 1913, p. 66. "Cormac MacDermott, 16th Lord, born in 1552, attended Parliament in 1578 as "Baron of Blarney", and conformed to the Protestant church."
19. Meehan 1870, p. 54. "... Dermot MacCarthy who basely abjured the religion of his glorious progenitors had a grant of the place [Kilcrea Abbey] from sir Arthur Chichester, lord deputy ..."
20. O'Hart 1892, p. 124, left column, line 10. "This Cormac was educated at Oxford (England), ..."
21. Hunter-Blair 1913, p. 366, left column. "... imposed upon the university the royal Supremacy and the Thirty-nine Articles, subscription to which was required from every student ..."
22. Ohlmeyer 2004, p. 107, left column, line 21. "... [Donough] was the second son of the staunchly Catholic Charles MacCarthy ..."
23. Cokayne 1893, p. 425, line 26. "Sir Charles (alias Cormac Oge) MacCarty, of Blarney and Muskerry, co. Cork, s. [son] and h. [heir] of Sir Cormac MacCarty of the same, by his first wife, Mary, da. [daughter] of Theobald (Butler), 1st Baron Caher [I.] ..."
24. Debrett 1828, p. 640. "Theobald le Boteler on whom that office [Chief Butler of Ireland] was conferred by King Henry II., 1177 ..."
25. O'Hart 1892, p. 123, right column, line 19. "2. Teige, ancestor of the MacCarthys of Aglish;"
26. Burke 1835, pp. 606–611.
27. Burke 1866, p. 344, right column, line 13. "II. Daniel who built the castle of Carrignavar, co. Cork, and founded the family of Carrignavar."
28. O'Hart 1892, p. 123, right column, line 21. "Julia, who married twice: first, to David Barry of Buttevant; and secondly, Dermod O'Shaughnessy of Gort, in the county of Galway."
29. McGurk 2004, p. 122, left column. "With his second wife, Sheelagh, daughter of Cormac MacCarthy of Muskerry, Lord Barry had three more sons and four daughters."
30. O'Hart 1892, p. 123, right column, line 5"...[Dermot] died in 1570, buried at Kilcrea."
31. Canny 2001, p. 155. "... the settlers now contended that these were striving to establish an 'Irish tanist in that country to take away all possibility of wardship and escheat'."
32. Gillman 1892a, p. 193. "He [Cormac] was the second son of Teige McCormac Oge MacCarthy, eleventh lord, who died in 1565 ..."
33. McCarthy 1913, p. 192. "His [Cormac MacTeige's] death in 1583 ..."
34. McCarthy 1913, p. 193. "... he was succeeded by his brother Callaghan as the 15th Lord of Muskerry; but the latter, after a short time, resigned the lordship to his nephew Cormac MacDermot ..."
35. McCarthy 1922, p. 193. "Cormac MacDermod, the 16th Lord, born in 1552, attended Parliament in 1578 as 'Baron of Blarney', and conformed to the Protestant Church."
36. O'Hart 1892, p. 123, right column, line 25. "This Cormac Môr attended parliament in 1578 as "Baron of Blarney;""
37. Smith 1893, p. 43. "On the 21st Cormac MacDermot Carty, chief of Muskery, with the Irish under his command, attacked the Spanish trenches ..."
38. Webb 1878, p. 303, left column, bottom. "He served under Sir George Carew at the siege of Kinsale and took an active part against the Spaniards and their allies O'Neill and O'Donnell."
39. Webb 1878, p. 303, right column, line 2. "Afterwards, Carew learned that he was carrying on a secret correspondence with the enemy, and was about to give up his stronghold of Blarney Castle to the Spanish commander for 800 ducats."
40. Clavin 2009, 8th paragraph. "... prompting an unsettled Carew to arrest him [Maccarthy] on 18 August."
41. Stafford 1896, p. 227. "The day and time therefore being appointed for his commitment, which was about the eighteenth of August [1602] ..."
42. Windele 1839, p. 228. "But in ten years after [1614], the Lord Deputy, Sir Arthur Chichester, committed the care of the convent to Cormac, Lord Muskerry, (a Protestant then,) upon condition, that he should not permit the friars to live in it, and that none but English Protestants should be admitted as tenants to the land."
43. Burke 1866, p. 344, right column, line 8. "Sir Cormac MacCarthy, of Blarney, called Cooch or Blind, Lord of Muskerry, who m. [married] 1st Mary, dau. [daughter] of Sir Theobald Butler, Knt., Lord of Cahir, and by her left at his decease, 23 February, 1616, two sons ..."
44. Keating 1723, p. 2, middle column. "Cormac, Lord Muskerry for 33 years, died in Blarny, A.D. 1616 ..."
45. Windele 1839, p. 223, line 9. "Besides this prince, the following lords of Muskerry, were buried here,—viz. Cormac Og Laidir, son of the founder, in 1536; Teig, son of Cormac Og, in 1565; Dermot, son of Teig, in 1570; and Cormac, who had been some time a Protestant, in 1616."
46. Cokayne 1893, p. 425, line 26. "... was cr. [created] 15 Nov. 1628, Baron Blarney and Viscount Muskerry, both of co. Cork [I. [Ireland]], for life, with rem. [remainder] to his son Donough and the heirs males of his body ..."
47. O'Hart 1892, p. 123, right column, line 16. "123. Cormac Mór, lord of Muscry ... born, A.D. 1552; married to Maria Butler."
48. Fryde et al. 1986, p. 43, line 27. "Mary I ... acc. 6 Jul. 1553;"
49. Fryde et al. 1986, p. 43, line 41. "Elizabeth I … acc. 17 Nov. 1558;"
50. McCarthy 1913, p. 70, line 4. "Cormac, the 17th Lord of Muskerry (born 1564, died 1640),"
51. Cokayne 1893, p. 425, line 29. "He [Charles MacCarty] m. [married] firstly, about 1590, Margaret, da. [daughter] of Donough (O'Brien), 4th Earl of Thomond ..."
52. Cokayne 1913, p. 214, line 21. "Donough MacCarty ... was b. 1594;"
53. Ohlmeyer 2004, p. 107, left column, line 31. "Donough's mother died in or before 1599 when his father married as his second wife Ellen (d. in or after 1610), widow of Donnell MacCarthy Reagh and daughter of David Roch, seventh Viscount Fermoy."
54. Joyce 1903, p. 172. "On the 23d of September, 1601, a Spanish fleet entered the harbour of Kinsale with 3,400 troops ... "
55. Fryde et al. 1986, p. 44, line 1. "James I ... acc. 24 Mar. 1603 ..."

Sources

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Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Callaghan MacTeighe MacCarthy	Lord of Muskerry 1584–1616	Succeeded by Charles, 1st Viscount Muskerry