MacCarthy, Daniel (Glas), of Gleann-A-Chroim.

The Life and Letters of Florence MacCarthy Reagh, Tanist of Carbery, MacCarthy Mor, with some portion of “The History of the Ancient Families of the South of Ireland” compiled solely from unpublished Documents in her Majesty’s State Paper Office.

Reprint of the original 1867-edition. Cork, Tower Books, 1975. 8°. XII, 515 pages with a thorough Index of Names. Original Hardcover. Excellent condition with only very minor signs of wear. Rare in any edition !

Full Index with names and places / lots of information on Carbery and Munster throughout: The Chieftain of Carbery, Kinsale, Old Head of Kinsale, Kilbrittain Castle (Kilbritain Castle), etc. etc.

Finnian or Fínghin mac Donnchadh Mac Cárthaigh (1560–1640), known to the English as Florence MacCarthy, was an Irish prince of the late 16th century and the last credible claimant to the MacCarthy Mór title before its suppression by English authority. MacCarthy’s involvement in the Nine Years War (1595-1603) led to his arrest by the crown government, and he spent the last 40 years of his life in custody in London. His lands were distributed among his relatives and English colonists.
MacCarthy was born in 1560 at Kilbrittain Castle near Kinsale in the province of Munster in Ireland, into the MacCarthy Reagh dynasty, rulers of Carbery, the son of Donogh MacCarthy Reagh, 11th Prince of Carbery. His grandfather was Donal MacCarthy Reagh, 9th Prince of Carbery.

MacCarthy had a troubled relationship with his wife, who grew jealous of his inheritance and who informed on him to the English authorities. She also seems to have disapproved of his political choices, reportedly saying that she, “would not go begging in Ulster or Spain”. In 1607 he reported that he had, “sent away that wicked woman that was my wife…whom I saw not nor could abide in almost a year before my commitment [imprisonment]”. Nevertheless, he did have four children by her who are known of: Teige (died as a boy in the Tower), Donal (who converted to Protestantism and married Sarah daughter of the MacDonnell Earl of Antrim), Florence (married Mary daughter of Donal III O’Donovan), and Cormac (Charles).

In time, the title of MacCarthy Mór was subdued and the personal lands of Florence MacCarthy were distributed to English settlers, among them Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork. The MacCarthy lords, including Donal na Pipi of Carberry, Donal MacCarthy (son of the earl) and Dermot MacCarthy of Muskerry were granted title to their lands, but had to surrender up to a third of their inheritance to the crown. Donagh MacCarthy, the son of Dermot MacCarthy, later created Viscount of Muskerry, would later be one of the leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and Confederate Ireland in the 1640s.

A rough portrait of MacCarthy was taken to France in 1776 by a collateral kinsman, Justin MacCarthy (1744–1811) of Springhouse, Bansha, County Tipperary, who was a direct descendant of Dónal na Pípí and was going into exile because of the harsh treatment in Ireland of Catholics under the Penal Laws. The portrait was kept in the mansion at 3, Rue Mage in the city of Toulouse where he resided as Count MacCarthy-Reagh of Toulouse. The Count was noted for his rich library which in importance was second only to the King’s in Paris.

An anonymous writer in 1686 wrote of Florence MacCarthy, drawing on a contemporary description in Pacata Hibernia, ‘Of all the MacCarthys, none was ever more famous than…Florence, who was a man of extraordinary stature (being like Saul higher by the head and shoulders than any of his followers) and as great policy with competent courage and as much zeal as anybody for what he falsely imagined to be the true religion, and the liberty of his country. However, his rival Donal “the bastard” MacCarthy described him as “a damned counterfeit Englishman whose study and practice was to deceive and betray all the Irishmen in Ireland”. (Wikipedia)

• Keywords: Carbery · Carbery (Ireland) · Catalogue Irish History Six – General Irish History · Catalogue Irish History Two – Origins of Irish Identity · Collection Tadhg Ó Murchú (This is a book from his personal reference library) · County Cork · Florence MacCarthy · From the library of Tadgh Ó Murchu · Irish History – Rare · Mac Carthy Family History · Mac Carthy Glas Family History · Mac Carthy Reagh Family History · West Cork
• Language: English
• Inventory Number: 101054AB

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