Flan O’Clery – His Life and Times (circa 1600 – 1665)
Presentation by Madeleine Cleary- Micheál Ó’Cléirigh Summer School 2015
The oldest known gravestone in the grounds of Abbey Assaroe graveyard is that inscribed to Flan O’Clery. The stone was erected in his memory by his son Conor O’Clery and is inscribed :
“THIS TOMBE WAS (ERECTED/BY) CON(NO)R FOR HIS (F)A(THER) /FLAN 0 CLERY, WHOSE (BODY) LYES UNDERNEATH./ (DE)CEASED THE 31(st) OF 8BER, (ANNO) DOM. 1665.”
Here is the full transcript of the talk given by Madeleine Cleary May 2015
My name is Madeleine Cleary and I was born and reared in this part of Donegal, in the townland of Drumacrin in the Parish of Inishmacsaint in the barony of Tyrhugh – in the town of Bundoran!
The purpose of my talk today is to tell you about one of my probable ancestors, Flan O’Clery, who was born circa 1600 and died in 1665. This is in order to give you an idea of how the O’Clerys lived during this time, that is those O’Clerys who were not famous annalists and lay brothers. At the end of the talk, I will be very happy to take any questions you may have and to discuss any aspect of my presentation.
One of the defining moments of my life occurred when I was nine years old and Fr Paddy Gallagher, a local historian visited St Louis Convent Primary school in Bundoran. All the pupils in my class were introduced to him and when he met me he asked if I knew that I came from a famous family. He was, of course, referring to the annalists, the Four Masters. I knew, from my father, that we were the oldest family in Bundoran at that time, but I had not known that our family was famous.
Research Basis
Fr. Paddy’s remark set me on the beginnings of this journey and I subsequently learnt about Brother Michael O Clery, and the Four Masters, and Annala Riocta na hEireann -the Annals of the Four Masters. In later years I bought a copy of Fr Paul Walsh’s book entitled: The O Cleirigh Family of Tir Conaill and since I retired two years ago I have spent more time connecting with my family! To achieve this, I have done a great deal of research, and exploring my family’s origins in this area of Donegal has become my passion.
My research locations include Trinity College Dublin, the National Library of Ireland, National Archives and the Registry of Deeds. Documentation I research includes wills, manuscripts, leases, microfilms, books etc.
Family Background
As I said, I have been asked to tell you about Flan, but would first like to give you a brief background of his ancestors as I think this will be helpful to place him in context.
According to historical fact, dynasts of the name Ua Cleirigh ruled the district of Ui Fiachrach Aidne – roughly the territory of Cill Mac Duach around Gort in the south-west of Co Galway. They derived their origin from Guaire Aidhne who became king of Connacht in 622 AD. According to the Annals of the Four Masters, the O’Clerys were one of the old Gaelic families. Cleireach, the first clan member to use the surname O’ Cleirigh, was alive before 850 AD. The O’Clerys were able to hold their own against the Vikings but encountered a more formidable foe in William Fitz-Adelm de Burgo one of the ablest and most unscrupulous of the Anglo-Norman leaders.
They were not prepared to submit but as they did not have the capacity to resist, around 1183, the O’Clerys migrated further north in Connacht. Some settled in Breffny and others amongst their ancient kinfolk in Tirawley Co Mayo.
We next hear of the family when in the mid-14th century Cormac O’Clery, a Brehon lawyer, resolved to find a home elsewhere beyond the sphere of the Anglo-Norman influence. Journeying round the sea by boat past Sligo, he crossed the Erne and came into Tyrconnell or Donegal where he sought refuge at the great Cistercian Abbey of Assaroe near Ballyshannon. The monks recognised that he was an educated man, proficient both in canon and civil law, versed in playing the harp and story-telling.
Nearby in Kilbarron Castle near Rossnowlagh lived Matthew O’Sgingin hereditary ollamh of Tyrconnell which was ruled by Niall Garbh O Domhnaill 1342-48. The Ollamhs were masters of various kinds of learning but particularly of chronicling and poetry. O’Sgingin wished to transmit his profession to his descendants but, as his son had died, he arranged the marriage of his daughter to Cormac with the proviso that their male children should be brought up as chroniclers. Through this crucial marital alliance, Cormac established the foundation of the O’Clery’s prosperity and status in Donegal in the old Gaelic world.
Land ownership in the parishes of Kilbarron and Inishmacsaint in (C) 1500)
As you can see from the above map that, over the ensuing years, The O’Donnells, as patrons of the O’ Clerys, bestowed estates on them including lands in various parts of south west Donegal at Kilbarron, Coolmore (Cul Reamar), Kildoney and Drumacrin.(the latter may have been much bigger than the current townland boundaries would suggest) This enabled the O’Clerys to build a power base through the acquisition of land and influence and to live in some splendour holding a three-fold office as historians of Tyrconnell, teachers and inspectors of its schools and keepers of a house of hospitality in which scholars and visitors were entertained. The O’Clerys were also erenaghs for Assaroe Abbey which meant that they helped with its administration. As a family, they were diverse in their occupations in order to survive and to thrive. At various times throughout its history in Donegal, the family included monks, soldiers, merchants, administrators, bookkeepers, farmers and indeed rumoured bootleggers, as well as being distinguished historians!
Genealogy of Muintir Chleirigh
You can see, from the above image, that Flan’s great great grandfather Tadhg Cam O’ Clery who died in 1492 had three sons – Diarmaid, Tuathal and Giollariabhach. Diarmaid’s family was called Sliocht Diarmada and was considered to be one o the senior branches of the clan. Flan, son of Dubhthach, was Diarmaid’s great grandson. He was a first cousin of Lughaidh O’ Clery who was the last hereditary Ollamh to the O’Donnell chieftains and who died around 1630. Flan was a third cousin of Brother Michael O‘ Clery and Cucoigcriche O’Clery who were two of the four scribes who compiled the Annals.
Flan was fortunate to be born into a highly respected and privileged branch of the O’Clery family. He benefitted from this prosperity and privilege during his lifetime. Crucially, he would also have benefitted from the access his family connections gave him to information about strategic thinking both nationally and abroad. This knowledge would have helped to inform his decisions since there was so much change and turbulence during his lifetime. I hope that my research shows that he proved himself to be pragmatic and politically savvy as he did not squander his inheritance, despite living through some very challenging times. On the contrary, he consolidated this prosperity to ensure the future of his family.
Flan’s Physical and Social Environment
As I said earlier, Flan was born around 1600 and he died in 1665. The fact he lived for roughly 65 years is very interesting in itself, considering that in those times people often did not have long lives, normally being cut down prematurely through illness or warfare. So he must have been a robustly healthy man. We do not know what Flan looked like but I like to think that he would have matched the general description of the Irish males that was given by Captain Francisco de Cuellar, shipwrecked from the Spanish Armada who lived for almost a year in the North West of Ireland. De Cuellar said that ‘the men are all large-bodied and of handsome features and limbs; and as active as the roe deer’ .
Today, most of you would have driven here by road. During Flan’s life time roads were mere tracks. Flan would have travelled by horse mainly but he would also have sailed by boat on rivers and the sea to get from place to place locally and to travel abroad. Currachs and small rowing boats would have been used for local coastal trips, and sailing ships plied their trade between the busy ports of Ballyshannon and Killybegs to Continental Europe and beyond. These ships brought luxuries such as silk, wine and brandy to Ireland, and provided a means of transport and communication to and from Europe.
Flan, as an educated member of the O’Clery clan, would have been literate and would have spoken Latin, Gaelic, some English and was well-travelled. I am sure he would have had many long and interesting conversations with his cousins Louis, Micheal and other kinsmen, about the changing situation in Ireland. He would have kept horses, cattle and hogs and used turf for fuel. He and his family would have eaten potatoes, oaten bread, meat, fish, butter, and bacon and drunk whiskey and beer. Their clothes would have been made of wool and linen.
Flan’s first cousin Lughaidh (Lewis) lived in Kilbarron Castle, a tower house which was a small fortified castle. While Flan lived on ancestral land it is unclear the type of dwelling he had. I would assume, given his status, that his dwelling would have been substantial to reflect his place in Gaelic society. Land was very important to the family and they lived off the land. There is no doubt that cattle-raising was the basis of the rural economy in Gaelic Ulster.
We do not know how many times Flan was married, nor do we know how many children he had, but we do know that he had at least one son Conor, and two daughters Anna and Catty, which probably stood for Catherine.
The Political Landscape 1607
Having been born circa 1600, Flan’s life straddled the end of the old Gaelic world and the successful colonisation of Ireland by the English. So, as I said earlier, he would have witnessed and lived through tumultuous changes and turbulent times politically. I think it is useful to give a brief overview of the political landscape and challenges that would have impacted on Flan going about the business of living and protecting his family in 17th century Ireland. When he was born circa 1600, the process of plantation by the English in Ireland was already taking shape under Elizabeth 1st of England. In 1601, a year after he was born, the Irish and Spanish were defeated at Kinsale. This was a catastrophic turning point for the O’Donnell and O’Neill chieftains and their supporters, including the O’Clerys. The Chieftains’ power bases were irreparably weakened and they fled to Spain. It was the end of the Gaelic order and paved the way for the Plantation of Ulster, the most ambitious programme of confiscation and colonisation ever planned in western Europe. Three years into Flan’s life, in 1603, came the death of Elizabeth 1st in England. During Flan’s lifetime, he would experience the consequences of the reigns of three other British monarchs, King James 1 (1603-25), King Charles 1 (1625-49), King Charles 11 (1660-85). He would also endure the impact of the British Commonwealth (1649-60) most cruelly administered by Oliver Cromwell in Ireland. In Spain in 1598, Philip 111 had taken over from his father who had left him with an immense debt from waging wars to protect his empire. The new king was extravagant and dismissed his father’s experienced and loyal advisers. Although a close ally of Catholic Ireland, the Low Countries, not Ireland, would always be Spain’s strategic priority.
We don’t know much about Flan’s early days but I would assume that he belonged to the Gaelic military class –a group who appear to have acted as farmers, but also as horsemen, expert swordsmen and light infantry for a Gaelic chieftain, in Flan’s case an O’Donnell, when the need arose. Most likely, as Flan belonged to a senior branch of the O’Clery family, he was a horseman and an elite swordsman. With the breakdown of the Gaelic system, the position of these elite swordsmen and professional retainers became redundant and they had little choice but to make their living in foreign armies in order to supplement their incomes. Flan is first mentioned in Wild Geese in Spanish Flanders 1582-1700 by Brendan Jennings as ‘Don Florencio Cleri’ in Brussels. During the period 1621-22, Flan was enlisted as part of a levy or recruitment drive in Ireland for the Spanish army of Flanders in the Spanish Netherlands. He received a special grant of two Crowns monthly by virtue of a letter from King Philip III of Spain to Archduke Albert the King’s Deputy in the Spanish Netherlands. The letter from the King stated “his ancestors having served in the Catholic cause”.
In 1622 he received a further special grant of 2 Crowns monthly for serving in the Irish Infantry so this service also gave him an opportunity to make some extra money. He would have spoken Latin initially as a means of communication but no doubt became proficient in Spanish. So we know that Flan fought for the Spanish. What we don’t know is if he brought his family abroad with him, if he really wanted to leave Ireland or if he had no choice and was enlisted into the Spanish fighting forces as payback for support the Spanish had given to the Ulster chieftains.
Given official hostility to soldiers returning from foreign armies it was extremely difficult for a soldier to return to Ireland. Official leave was almost impossible – in the army of Flanders it was granted only on three conditions – an incurable illness or wound, the taking up of an inheritance or the fulfilment of a religious vow.
Fayagh 1630
This leads me to believe that Flan was invalided out of the army as he did return home to Donegal, because in 1630 he is listed as a tenant in Fayagh (Foyagh) in the barony of Tyrhugh and his cousin Morris was a tenant in Coolmar and Keeran. However, Flan returned to a very changed and dangerous political and social environment. Now, instead of being a landowner, he was forced to become a tenant as part of the Ulster plantation. Despite this, he and other relatives continued the old Gaelic system of living in family groups for protection and sustenance. Flan and his extended family group would have ensured that Brother Michael and the other scholars were fed, watered, accommodated and protected during their time in Donegal.
Map of Kilbarron, Inishmacsaint and Drumhome
In the same Tenant list of 1630, I noticed that John Richardson Bishop of Ardagh represented the children of an English planter Mr Francis Brassey who were awarded tenancies at Rosnonlagh-dorinish (Rossnowlagh), Ballymicward and Rabbalshanagh. These lands incorporated Kilbarron Castle, the ancient home of the O’Clery clan.
In 1634 a lease which had been granted to deceased father Mr Francis Brassey by the Bishop of Raphoe was extended to Francis Brassey junior on reaching his majority at 16, so I would hazard a guess that young Francis was born circa 1618.
It must have been a bitter pill for Flan to swallow, to see the castle of his first cousin Louis, usurped and gifted to an English planter Francis Brassey. But swallow it he did. My research seems to indicate that not only did he learn to accept this change but he built up a positive relationship with the young Francis Brassey in order to blend in with the new ruling class. It looks as though Flan took Francis Brassey under his wing and protected him in his youth. It must have been a respectful relationship and mutually beneficial as Francis in his will dated 1687 refers to Flan’s daughters Anna and Catty as his ‘foster’ sisters.
Harvest failures in the late 1630s together with rising imposition of harsh rules and regulations of central government and an economic downturn affected all groups in Ulster and Flan’s family would have suffered. Harvests in 1640 and 1641 were bad. There was also a shortage of labour since many Scottish settlers in Ulster had fled to Scotland to escape the Dublin Government’s penal legislation which wanted them to become Protestant and English speaking, whereas they were Presbyterian and spoke Gaelic. A large army raised by Dublin for service against the Covenanters in Scotland was also quartered in Ulster. The result was an economic crisis.
On 23rd October, 1641, the Ulster Irish rose in revolt. In the weeks that followed, thousands of British colonists had been driven out; thousands more had been murdered; and about two thirds of the nine-county province had fallen to the rebels. It is believed that Kilbarron Castle was finally destroyed at this time. The rising was ultimately unsuccessful for the Irish.
However, there was to be no respite from the violence of war. Cromwell arrived in Ireland on 15th August 1649. He made it clear that he intended to avenge the 1641 massacres in Ulster. He did so through military victories, and the Commonwealth’s draconian legislation that followed them ultimately ensured the recovery and reinvigoration of the British colonisation of Ulster.
We do not know what, if any part, Flan took during all these upheavals, but we do know that he survived!
Hearth Money Rolls Kilbarron Parish 1665
In the Hearth Tax Money Rolls in 1661 and 1665, Flan is listed as living in Parkhill (then known as Kilcarbery) in the parish of Kilbarron. He had one hearth ie one chimney! His second cousins Fearfasa, Myles and Morris are also mentioned. In those times, having one chimney was a sign of prosperity. Also listed in the 1665 hearth roll is Francis Brassey, Drumore townland, who had two hearths which meant two chimneys on the house.
Flan’s Death – Flan’s Gravestone
And so we come to the end of Flan’s life, lived during a tumultuous time in Irish history.
Flan died in 1665, we do not know how, and was buried in Assaroe Cemetery Ballyshannon – Grave no 353 Section C. His funeral service was probably conducted by his kinsman James O Clery who was Parish Priest of Kilbarron parish from 1655-1704
His headstone which was erected by his fifteen-year old son Conor is the oldest visible headstone in the cemetery. It is a huge flat stone of rectangular shape composed of two separate squares which, when pieced together, forms a complete headstone.
“THIS TOMBE WAS (ERECTED/BY) CON(NO)R FOR HIS (F)A(THER) /FLAN 0 CLERY, WHOSE (BODY) LYES UNDERNEATH./ (DE)CEASED THE 31(st) OF 8BER, (ANNO) DOM. 1665.”
The inscription is written around the edge of the stone. The inscription is in English and this may have been a requirement of burial at that time. Interestingly the centre is filled with an elaborate design of the old Celtic key-pattern motif. I like to think that this was Conor’s way of communicating Flan’s roots and status in Gaelic Ireland. The size of the tombstone would suggest that Flan managed to retain respect and standing in Donegal. The fact his son erected this also suggests that he was proud of his father and that they had a respectful, loving relationship.
There are many gaps in information about how Flan negotiated his way through the many challenges faced by him and his family. However, based on what I was able to find out about both Flan and the times he lived through, I have come to the conclusion that Flan was a survivor, a linguist, politically savvy, and courageous at a time in our history when survival was everything. He could have stayed on the Continent, like so many others, but he came back to Donegal. Obviously, he wanted to retain the family’s birth-right and presence on O’Clery land and he did so both as a landowner and a tenant. He also wanted to pass on the legacy of land to his family.
He succeeded in this as his son Conor was taken under the care of Francis Brassey and later became his agent and receiver. He must have been a comparatively well-off young man as he was also appointed one of the Commissioners for Supplies for Co Donegal (Tax Collector) by King James 11 who ruled from 1685-1688.
Due to the Williamite wars, Conor had to flee his lands for six months and take refuge with relatives near Castlebar, Co Mayo. Despite the fact that his Donegal holdings including Ramore (Rathmore) were taken over by new tenants, Conor is listed as a defendant in a hearing between landlords William Connolly/Thomas Poe/ Trinity College Dublin in 1695 which dragged on till 1702 as he was still liable for the rent for his period of absence.
William (Speaker) Conolly 1702
After the Court Hearing Conor came to a new arrangement with William Connolly. It did not state in the manuscript what the arrangement was. This is a grey area as early Connolly estate records list major tenants only. Conor died around 1720. We have to fast forward to 1771 onwards where it states in the rent rolls for the Connolly estate that a Daniel O’Clery and partners (including Con O Clery, according to family oral history) followed in 1783 by another Flan and Peter, renewed 10 year leases for Ardfarna and Drumacrin that dated back to 30/4/1702. The date 1702 leads me to believe that Conor agreed these leases as part of his new arrangement, as a tenant, with William Connolly.
Tithe aplottment book
The name Flan carried down through the generations. Yet another Flan was born in 1814. During his lifetime he and his extended family survived the famine of 1847 and prospered. They included a baker, a spirit, food and fish merchants, they invested in rental property, and with the demise of the Connolly estate, they gradually started buying back the family farmland.
In 1899, this Flan’s 17 year old grandson Peter inherited this very same land in Drumacrin, Ardfarna and Rathmore which amounted to 100 acres in total. Peter was my grandfather. In 1946, Peter’s son Joe, my father, inherited this land.
I think that my ancestor Flan, the subject of this presentation, would have derived great satisfaction from this. It would have vindicated his life’s struggle and achievement to preserve and pass on his family’s birthright into the 20th century. I like to think that Flan would have been proud that the land was still in the name of a Cleary and that it had gone from freehold (as an O’Donnell grant) to tenancy and reverted back to full ownership by our family.
(Show Slide 14 – Final slide)
I hope you have enjoyed my account of Flan’s life and times.
Thank you very much. If you have any questions, or comments, I would be very happy to discuss them.