Plantation and Settlement in Offaly

For as much as the O'Mores, O'Dempsies, O'Connors and others of the Irishry by their sundry manifest treasons after much pardons granted to them have yet often rebelled committing great hurts to the King's and Queen's most loyal servants. Be it therefore ordained, enacted and established that the said King's and Queen's majesties shall have, hold and possess for ever the said counties of Leix and Offaly. (From the Third and Fourth Philip and Mary Acts)

Despite the large number of monastic settlements in the county and even despite the presence of the Normans, the territory of Offaly was dominated in medieval times by the great clans of the O'Connors, the O'Carrolls, the O'Molloys, the O'Dunnes and the MacCoughlans. By 1500, these clans and the smaller sub-clans they controlled, were so powerful that the impact of English rule on the region was almost non-existent. Indeed, far from merely fighting for the survival of their lands and customs, local chieftains spent much of this period on the offensive, plundering and pillaging the English-controlled pale counties of Kildare and Meath. They even ventured as far as Dublin on occasion.

In 1500, their rule of the area, especially that of the O'Connors, seemed more secure than ever; yet within a century they would be stripped not only of their power and influence, but also of the bulk of their lands. It was to prove a century which saw Offaly undergo the most radical period of change in its history and it is in these years that the roots of the modern county of Offaly can be found.

In 1500, the county of Offaly did not exist. In fact, the territory of Hy Failghe (from which the name Offaly is derived) was confined to the north-eastern part of the modern-day area, stretching from Croghan Hill across into Laois and encompassing Daingean, Killeigh, Geashill and Portarlington. In total this area, which was ruled by the O'Connors, represents little more than a quarter of the eventual area of county Offaly.

It was only in 1557 with the passing of an Act of Parliament permitting the plantation of Leix-Offaly that the first steps were taken towards establishing what was first of all known as King's County and then in 1922, as Offaly. This Act of Parliament which sanctioned the shiring of Hy Failghe was followed in subsequent decades by the intermittent addition of surrounding areas.

Firstly, Fearcall which stretched from Durrow, down through Rahan, Ballyboy and Kilcormac, as far as Kinnitty and Birr and was home to the O'Molloy clan; then the territory of Ely O'Carroll which stretched from Birr and Kinnitty down to Shinrone and Moneygall was shired; and then, finally, Dealbhna Eathra which was ruled by the MacCoughlans and which encompassed Ferbane, Banagher, Cloghan and Clonmacnoise was added.

This process of shiring was largely completed by 1610 and in many senses it had little justification except expediency as contained within the eventual boundaries of the county were ad-hoc segments of three ancient Irish Kingdoms - the O'Connor lands being part of Leinster, Fearcall having fallen into the Kingdom of Meath, and the Ely O'Carroll region lying within the area of Munster. The county also traversed several dioceses including those of Meath, Kildare and Leighlin, Clonmacnoise and Ardagh.

The back-drop of events which allowed for the shiring of Offaly were extraordinary. It was a century of almost continuous warfare and the county was the focus of English attention for a long-number of years playing a central role in the affairs of the country as well as undergoing a fundamental change itself.

As already stated, the O'Connors and the other Gaelic clans in the area were hereditary enemies of those within the Pale. Such was the threat posed by the clans of Offaly that those who lived in the border areas along the English-controlled Pale lands were forced to pay them a form of protection money or "black rent". Despite this "black rent", the O'Connors seemed able to plunder almost at will. This was bourne out in the early years of the sixteenth century when their chieftain Brian O'Connor succeeded in capturing the King's vice-deputy in Ireland and went on to declare that he hoped that within a year "the king would have no further jurisdiction in Ireland".

The O'Connors were strengthened by connection to the Earls of Kildare who, although of Norman descent, had become gaelicised and the two dynasties were connected by marriage. In the long-term this connection proved to be one of the principle factors in their un-doing, yet on the advent of King Henry VIII to the throne of England in 1520, it only added further substance to the O'Connor claim to the dominant clan in the midlands, as the Earls of Kildare often acted as the King's representatives in Ireland.

Henry VIII's accession to the throne brought about a marked change in royal policy. While his predecessors pursued a policy of non-intervention for financial and other reasons and preferred to rely on the old Norman families to govern the country, Henry was destined to play a more active role in Irish affairs. By 1534 he felt sufficiently secure on his throne to turn a policy of defence of the Pale into one of aggression and he dispensed with using the Fitzgeralds of Kildare and the Desmonds of Munster as his power-brokers. Henry turned to the policy of governing through an English-born Lord Deputy based in Dublin with a standing army to implement his law. It was a change of policy which had a huge impact on the clans of the midlands.

Firstly, in 1534 the Fitzgeralds rebelled against this usurpation of their power and the scene was set for possibly the most extended period of violence in the history of Ireland. The O'Connors, seeing Henry's policy as not only designed to curb their long-time allies, but more seriously as one aimed at the extension of English power towards their own lands, immediately joined in the rebellion. They were quickly joined by the MacCoughlans, the O'Mores, the O'Dempsies and the O'Carrolls.

There followed month after month of attack and counter-attack until the only remaining undefeated rebels were the O'Connors, as the Fitzgeralds had been almost totally annihilated and their neighbouring clans had submitted. Eventually, in 1540, the O'Connors were also forced to make peace with Henry's representatives, Grey and St. Leger. On submitting, O'Connor agreed to behave as a royal subject, to renounce the pope in favour of Protestantism, to refrain from attacking the Pale, and finally to conduct himself and his lands in the manner of the English. In return he was created Baron of Offaly.

But as Lord St. Leger predicted Offaly was "much easier won than kept for, unless it be peopled by other than be there already and also certain fortresses builded and warded, if it be gotten the one day, it be lost the next".

By 1547 Brian O'Connor was up in arms again, supported by the O'Mores, and attacked the Pale claiming that the English had failed to live up to their side of the 1540 agreement and calling for the restoration from exile of the Fitzgeralds of Kildare. O'Connor and O'More were immediately proclaimed as traitors and their lands were declared forfeit to the crown.

Before long Brian O'Connor and Gilapatrick O'More were captured by the Lord Deputy, Captain Bellingham, who had a large, well-equipped army at his disposal and the two chieftains were imprisoned in the Tower of London. A ruthless military campaign was followed by the building of roads into Laois and Offaly and the building of fortresses at what became known as Philipstown and Maryborough. By the spring of 1549, garrisoned passage from the Pale to the midlands ensured that the O'Connor lands were ready for plantation. Stripped of their leader and weary of war the clan was in little position to resist.

Lord Bellingham, with the help of a new Lord Deputy Sir James Croft, began introducing new settlers into the land confiscated from the O'Connors. Following the build-up of troops in the country from 1547 on, there was a ready-made English presence prepared to take up residence in the area, and this presence was supplemented by others who migrated from the Pale. However, this initial influx of settlers coincided with the return from exile of Brian O'Connor who had been pardoned by Queen Mary (Henry VIII having died in 1547). Far from having quenched the spirit of the ageing Chieftain, the stay in prison seems only to have strengthened his desire to restore the O'Connors to their former position of power. No sooner was O'Connor back in his home territories than he was fomenting rebellion once more until he was again captured and imprisoned.

This further rebellion pushed the authorities to implement their long-planned plantation scheme and in 1546 it was finally decided to act. If the O'Connors had been willing to live in the area as loyal subjects, obeying English law and following English customs, the King's representative in Ireland would have been quite prepared to allow them retain their lands. Only when it became clear that conquest could be achieved by colonisation, and not by conciliation, did they embark upon the policy of plantation. The first step was the shiring of the O'Connor lands of Hy Failghe and an Act of Parliament was passed allowing for this. The O'Connors were subsequently allowed to retain some land around Croghan Hill, while the rest of their territories were granted to settlers.

In return for the lands that they received, the settlers were forced to comply with stringent regulations. Townships, baronies and manors were constructed through shiring and within these areas planters were required to build English-style residences, maintain a number of armed men, desist from employing any Irish on their lands and to maintain roadways to the Pale.

Initially reports suggest that the "quasi-military"settlement enjoyed a certain amount of prosperity, yet it was not long before the dispossessed clans of the O'Connors were again in rebellion. Not content to remain on the poorer lands accorded to them in the 1550's, they focused their attacks on the newly arrived settlers in an attempt to drive them out. With the aid of the Desmonds of Munster (who were also in rebellion) and the MacCoughlans, O'Carrolls and other smaller clans in the area, the O'Connors continued to attack both the settlers and the Pale throughout the 1560's and 1570's.

So successful were the O'Connors in their attempts to disrupt life in the newly planted area of King's County that the Queen's Lord Deputy in Ireland, Lord Chichester, was moved to remark that the area "was never in a worse state than it then was". It was therefore decided that if the plantation was to survive at all, let alone prosper, it would be vital than the O'Connor clan be dispersed and the border lands of the O'Carrolls, MacCoughlans and O'Molloys be shired. This process was duly completed by 1610.

The shiring of King's County into an area which now holds the boundaries of present-day Offaly, brought a degree of peace to a region which had undergone 70 years of almost continuous warfare. It also effectively ensured that the power and overall influence of the great ruling clans of the midlands, which had been so overwhelming just a few decades before, was almost totally diminished. Furthermore, the plantation and shiring of the area marked not only a considerable step towards protecting the inhabitants of the Pale but more significantly it marked the first expansion of the Pale in over 200 years.

The influx of new settlers naturally had a huge impact on life in the newly-formed county. Apart from the displacement of native Irish clans and the introduction of English-style dwellings, the planters also brought with them modern farming methods leading to the cutting down of woods and the ploughing of fields. In the first few years 88 grants of land were made to settlers totalling two-thirds of the area of Hy Failghe.

The constant harassment from the dispossessed clans soon prove an enormous liability, however, and the plantation soon became a financial liability on the British authorities. Continuous attacks which the small garrisons at Philipstown and Maryborough were unable to repel ensured that by the 1580's half the planters were either absentees or were attempting to sell out their holdings. Only during the periods of sporadic peace did the planters enjoy any sort of prosperity.

The completion of the shiring of King's County brought a degree of progress to the area and the plantation began to stabilise. Over the next century further waves of planters arrived, altering once more the make-up of the county. The accession to the throne in 1603 brought a new approach as his more pro-Catholic policy led to the settling of Catholic planters in the area.

One notable feature of this period was the grant of 1,000 acres of land in Birr to Sir Richard Parsons, with the existing village becoming known as Parsonstown.

However, the Cromwellian Wars of 1649 reversed this policy and the Catholics were again dispossessed the Protestants re-established. The reign of William of Orange of 1689 ensured that any remaining clansmen finally lost their lands and only 14% of land in the county was retained in Catholic hands.

The most significant development of this period was the settlement at Portarlington which remains as a unique legacy. The settlement originated on the lands of the Earl of Arlington and was peopled by Huguenots fleeing from religious persecution in France. They began arriving in 1692 and developed a settlement in a disused area along the banks of the River Barrow.

The resultant town of Portarlington proved to be an area unique in the history of these islands. It was the only area where French immigrants were in a definite majority in the immediate surrounding land. The colony built a town using distinctive Huguenot architecture and of all the French centres established at the time, it was in Portarlington that the original community kept its distinct identity for the longest period. This is evidenced by the manner in which French remained the spoken language in the area well into the eighteenth century. Indeed, a French-speaking Minister was resident in the town until as recently as 1841.

The settlement at Portarlington (further information on the town is contained in the chapter on towns and villages) was the culmination of over a century of plantation and settlement. It was a period of enormous change which saw the great gaelic clans lose most of their power to immigrants from the pale and English soldiers. It also saw the creation of the shire of King's County form the assembled lands of the dispossessed clans in the area. In all, it is in this period that the roots of the modern day county of Offaly indisputably lie.

Guide To Further Reading

Despite the fact that the study of local history in Ireland remains at a relatively unadvanced stage, a great deal of progress has been made in recent years. In Offaly, recent publications by individuals, parishes and societies have made valuable contributions and greatly extended our understanding of the county's history.

These publications ensure that anyone seeking a more in-depth knowledge of the history of Offaly has a number of reference books from which to begin. Before consulting these books, however, it is important to first of all gain a general understanding of the history of Ireland as a whole.

General Irish History:

Although no comprehensive history of County Offaly has been published, a number of books written by historians in the last century have been reprinted by the Offaly Historical Society. In 1875, Thomas Lawlor Cooke wrote The Early History of The Town Of Birr which contains not just information on Birr, but also offers a valuable insight into most areas of the county. Of similar interest is John Wright's The King's County Directory (Birr 1890).

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