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Rory Caoch O'More

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Rory Caoch O'More
Ruaidhrí Caoch Ó Mórdha
Lord of Laois
Coat of arms
Tenure1542-1547
PredecessorKedagh O'More
SuccessorGiolla Pádraig O'More
Bornc. 1515
Ireland
Died1547
Ireland
Spouse(s)
  • O'Dunne
  • Margaret Butler
Issue

Rory Caoch O'More (Irish: Ruaidhrí Caoch Ó Mórdha; c. 1515 – 1547) was an Irish noble. He ruled as Lord of Laois until his death in 1547 at the hand of his brother Giolla Pádraig O'More.

Early life

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Born about 1515, O'More was the son of Connell O'More (d. 1537) and Gormflaith O'Carroll.[1][2] His brothers were Lysaght, Kedagh,[3] Giolla Pádraig[4] and Conall.[5]

According to historian William Arthur Jobson Archbold, O'More "early acquired the character of a violent and successful chieftain."[3] O'More's first wife was the daughter of Tadhg O'Dunne.[1]

In October 1537, O'More was subpoenaed to the king's court in Kilkenny to give evidence. He irreverently tossed the writ into mud and stepped on it, much to the dismay of the official who delivered it.[1]

Power struggle

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Upon Connell's death in 1537, a dispute broke out between Rory, Lysaght, Kedagh, and their uncle Peter, who was the Tanist in line to head the family.[3] Peter seized the title with the support of Piers Butler, 1st Earl of Ossory. The three brothers refused to accept Peter's lordship, and led by Lysaght (the eldest brother and Lord of Slemargy), they declared war in late 1537.[1]

Peter O'More was for the time a friend of the Butlers - consequently, Lord Deputy Leonard Grey supported Connell's sons.[3] Lysaght was killed by the gallowglass in 1537. Kedagh and Rory continued fighting against Peter.[1]

On 14 January 1538, Grey negotiated a peace between Rory, Kedagh and Peter. This was short-lived, and Grey later encouraged the brothers to attack Peter. In June 1538, in the presence of the local army commander, Rory attempted to kill Peter at Athy, County Kildare. The commander arrested Peter for his own safety.[1]

Once again, Grey assembled a meeting in Dublin between the brothers and their uncle.[1] This was all a ruse - Grey imprisoned Peter and led him about in chains for some time.[3][1] He allowed Kedagh and Rory to return to Laois and resume their attacks. Peter was eventually released in August 1538, still the Lord of Laois.[1]

Kedagh secured the chieftainship that year,[2] and the two brothers exiled Peter from Laois.[1]

O'More vs O'Connor

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In the early 1540s, Rory O'More's brother Giolla Pádraig set about his plan to seize the lordship of Laois. He entered an alliance with Rory's rival, Brian O'Connor Faly, by marrying O'Connor Faly's daughter.[1]

Giolla Pádraig and O'Connor Faly were favoured by the new Lord Deputy, Anthony St Leger. In September 1540, St Leger forced the submission of the O'More brothers. Kedagh and Rory attempted to garner goodwill from St Leger and they were pardoned on 27 June 1541.[1]

In 1542, Kedagh was killed in Carlow by Gaelic warlord Domhnall MacMurrough Kavanagh. Rory succeeded him via election.[3][1]

Lordship

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On 13 May 1542, he took part in the surrender and regrant process, under the anglicised name "Rory O'More of Lex".[6]

O'More responded to Giolla Pádraig's hostility by allying with James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond; he married Margaret Butler, the Earl's niece, between 1543 and 1544.[1]

St Leger forced O'More and his brother to submit to the authorities, bringing them to Dublin in hopes of stopping their bloodshed. In O'More's absence, O'Connor Faly devastated Laois, and St Leger detained O'More in his attempts to leave Dublin. O'More wrote to Henry VIII, accusing St Leger of favouritism.[1]

Death

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In 1547, O'More faced another revolt from his brother Giolla Pádraig. O'More was initially successful and forced Giolla Pádraig to retreat. However, Giolla Pádraig returned with O'Connor Faly's troops, and O'More was killed during the attack.[1][4][5]

Legacy

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O'More had three recorded sons, including Calvagh O'More and Rory Oge O'More.[3][1][5] Upon his death, his widow Margaret apparently left Ireland with his young sons.[5]

Giolla Pádraig seized the lordship of Laois.[1] He died around 1548 in the Marshalsea, and the lordship passed to his brother Conall Óg O'More, then finally Rory Oge O'More.[4][5]

Rory Caoch O'More's brother Kedagh left a son, who, in 1565, petitioned the privy council in Dublin to be restored to his father's inheritance. In a grant afterwards made to his eldest son, his services to King Edward VI are spoken of; but an order of 15 March 1550-1 forbade any of the name of O'More to hold land in Laois.[3]

Through his son Calvagh, O'More is a direct ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales and, by extension, her son William.[7] The prominent Moore family of Carolina in the United States supposedly claimed patrilineal descent from Rory Caoch O'More through his grandson of the same name,[8] though in actuality they were descended from an English family in Devonshire.[1]

Family tree

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Family tree of the Irish O'More clan
Murtagh O’More
Lord of Laois
Conn O’More
fl. 1520
Conall O'More
died 1537
Lord of Laois, 1523-1537
Gormflaith O'CarrollPeter O'More
Lord of Laois, 1537-1538
Lysaght O'More
died 1537
Lord of Slemargy
Kedagh Ruadh O'More
died 1542
Lord of Laois, 1538-1542
Margaret Butler
Daughter of Thomas Butler
Rory Caoch O'More
c. 1515 - 1547
Lord of Laois, 1542-1547
O'Dunne
Daughter of Tadhg O'Dunne
Giolla Pádraig O'More
died 1548
Lord of Laois, 1547-1548
Conall Oge O'More
died 1557
Lord of Laois, 1548-1557
James O'More
Lord of Laois, 1578
Domhnall MacLysaght O'More
died 1557
Lord of Slemargy, 1557
Murtagh O’More
died 1577
Lord of Slemargy, 1557-1577
Kedagh O'More
fl. 1565
Lysaght O'More
died 1570
Rory Oge O'More
c. 1544 - 1578
Lord of Laois, 1557-1578
Margaret O'Byrne
died 1577
Calvagh O'More
1540 - 1618
Richard Tyrrell
fl. 1565 - 1632
Doryne O'MoreOwny MacRory O'More
c. 1575 - 1600
Lord of Laois, 1594 - 1600
Fiach O’MoreRemainn O'More
fl. 1600-1601
Rory O'Moore
c. 1600 - 1655
Owen O'Shiel
1584-1650
Catherine Tyrrell
fl. 1648
Richard Tyrrell JrAnnabel TyrrellElish Tyrrell

Sources


References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s O'Byrne, Emmett (October 2009). "O'More (Ó Mórdha), Rory (Ruaidhrí Caoch)". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006908.v1. Retrieved 24 February 2024. Cite error: The named reference ":0" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Ó Raghallaigh, Eoghan (2010). "A poem to Rudhraighe Caoch Ó Mórdha, lord of Laois 1542-7" (PDF). Ossory, Laois and Leinster. 4.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Archbold 1895.
  4. ^ a b c O'Byrne, Emmett (October 2009). "O'Connor Faly (Ó Conchobhair Failghe), Brian". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006622.v1. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e O'Byrne, Emmett (October 2009). "O'More (Ó Mórdha), Rory (Ruaidhrí Óg)". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  6. ^ Lineage and the terms of his "surrender and regrant" settlement online
  7. ^ Doyle, Jim (16 February 2024). "Death of Rory O'Moore, Organizer of the Irish Rebellion of 1641". SEAMUS DUBHGHAILL. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  8. ^ Heitzler, Michael James (2005). Goose Creek, A Definitive History: Volume One, Planters, Politicians and Patriots. The History Press. p. 275. ISBN 978-1-59629-055-6. Retrieved 8 October 2011.

Attribution

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