MacCarthy. The MacCarthy kings of Desmond, were the greatest of the Gaelic lords in Munster throughout the medieval and Early Modern period. They descended from the kings of
Eóganacht Caisil in the 11th century.
The Desmond kingdom remained undiminished until the early 13th century, despite frequent succession disputes among the extended lineage. For example, the first MacCarthy king of Desmond, Tadhg (ruled 1118–23), was deposed by his brother Cormac, who remained in power until his death in 1138. He was succeeded by his brother Donnchadh, who was eventually deposed in 1143 by his nephew Diarmuid, son of Cormac. Diarmuid's long rule between 1143 and 1185 was temporarily disrupted when he was deposed by his son Cormac Liathanach (1175–6). Another son, Donal Mor, succeeded in 1185 as king of Desmond, until his death in 1206. The resultant succession dispute undermined the cohesion of the MacCarthy lordship, and facilitated the Anglo‐Norman advance into the south‐west.
It is from this common ancestor, Donal Mór MacCarthy (d. 1206) that the several branches of the MacCarthy are descended. These are, the MacCarthy Mór kings of Desmond, and later earls of Clancare (
fl. 1262–
c.1598); the MacCarthy Muskerry, lords of Muskerry, and later earls of
Clancarty (
fl. 1359–1734); the MacCarthy Reagh, lords of Carbery (
fl. 1366–
c.1600); and the lesser MacCarthy septs of Duhallow and Coshe Mang that emerged in the late 14th century. MacCarthy Mór claimed nominal lordship over these other MacCarthy lineages.
In 1232 Donal Got MacCarthy conquered the O'Mahony territory in south‐west Cork. His son Fineen (ruled 1252–61) consolidated these territorial gains, and also pushed back Anglo‐Norman settlement, recovering much of the frontier regions. By 1280 the senior MacCarthy lineage (MacCarthy Mór) conceded Carbery, the lands south of the Lee, to Fineen's successor. The grant provided the landed basis of the MacCarthy Reagh lineage. The marriage of the MacCarthy Reagh and Eleanor, daughter of the 9th earl of
Kildare, in 1513, brought the lineage into the Geraldine affinity. The lordship remained a political force in the region into the late 16th century.
From the mid‐13th century the MacCarthy Mór variously aligned with the colonists and the administration. Donal Roe (ruled 1262–1302) probably allied with the Anglo‐Normans against the MacCarthy Reagh, to retain his position as head of the lineage of the (Gaelic) Desmond kingdom. His grandson, Cormac (ruled 1325–59), campaigned with the
justiciar, Sir Thomas
Rokeby, against his MacCarthy (Duhallow) kinsmen and their allies the earls of
Desmond. In 1352/53 Cormac received a crown grant of Macroom, the basis of the lordship of Muskerry, and other lands which later provided the basis of the MacCarthy Cosh Mang, founded by the descendants of his younger sons, Dermot and Owen. MacCarthy Mór secured title to their lands under common law in 1365, by a grant of confirmation from the lord lieutenant.
The comparative stability of the MacCarthy Mór lineage in the Late Medieval period is evident in the uninterrupted father–son succession, from Cormac's accession in 1325 until the death of his great‐great‐great‐grandson Donal, son of Tadgh Liath, in 1508. Descent passed to the line of Donal's brother after a brief succession dispute between 1508 and 1516. In 1565 the crown created the MacCarthy Mór as earls of Clancarty, but the lineage foundered, as a dispute arose from the divergence of the brehon and common law concerning right of succession.
The MacCarthy Muskerry expanded east from Macroom throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, and consistently aligned with the administration. They survived the
Nine Years War, and were created earls of Clancarty in 1658.
Fiona Fitzsimons
