The History of the O’Rourkes

The O’Rourke name came from King Ruarc of Bréifne, who died in 898. His grandson, Fergal, took the surname Úa Rúairc (Grandson of Rúairc) and rose to become King of Connacht in 956, heralding the official dawn of the Úa Rúairc, or O’Rourke, dynasty.

The O’Rourkes claimed royal descent from Brión, a 5th century King of Connacht, and styled themselves the Uí Briúin Bréifne. Through the 900s they expanded the borders of Bréifne, gaining the power and influence that allowed Fergal to become the first O’Rourke King of Connacht. Fergal reigned for ten years before being killed by the King of Brega (East Meath) in 966. In the centuries that followed, the O’Rourkes remained at the heart of Irish royal politics–and the bloodshed that so often accompanied it.

The O’Rourkes were extremely successful in growing their Kingdom through alliance and conquest. By the 12th century they had expanded their territories well into Meath, reaching the height of their power under the great Tigernán Mór Úa Rúairc (also known as Tiárnán or Tiernán O’Rourke).

Like many Irish Kings, the O’Rourkes could be ruthless in seeking to expand their powerbase. Their forces ranged far and wide, such as in 1084 when the O’Rourkes attacked the Norse Kingdom of Dublin, and in 1117 when Aed O’Rourke sacked the monastery of Kells, County Meath. Eventually, the O’Rourke claim to  saw them gain control of large tracts of that Kingdom, including Kells.

The influence of the O’Rourkes extended far beyond their own Kingdom and even Connacht. They were important political and military actors across the island, especially when it came to the struggle for High Kingship. No one was more influential in this than Tigernán Mór (Tiernan) O’Rourke, who ruled Bréifne for almost 50 years from 1124. Through his long life Tiernan threw his support behind a number of different claimants, but eventually became the trusted ally of Rúaidrí Úa Conchobair (Rory O’Connor), a man destined to become Ireland’s last High King.

Through their long history the O’Rourkes had many rivals for power. Some were neighbouring Kingdoms, some were even relatives, but the most dangerous of all came from across the seas.

The longest-standing rivals to O’Rourke power in Connacht came from the O’Connors. From their territory in mid-Roscommon the O’Connors rose to dominate the medieval Kingship of the province. The O’Rourkes sometimes allied with them and sometimes opposed them, but a trail of royal bodies marked their relationship, such as in 1015, when Fergal O‘Rourke’s son Aed was killed by an O’Connor, and in 1067, when Aed O’Rourke did away with his O’Connor rival for the Connacht kingship.

Another major O’Rourke rival were their cousins, the Ua Ragallaig, or O’Reillys. They were also part of the Uí Briúin Bréifne, and claimed common ancestry with the O’Rourkes dating back to the 9th century. For many generations they had served under O’Rourke Kings, but growing tensions ultimately led to the 1256 Battle of Magh Slécht, which saw the O’Reillys seize East Breifne (modern Cavan).

The most consequential–and damaging–of the O’Rourke rivals were the Anglo-Normans. One of Tiernan O’Rourke’s great enemys, the King of Leinster Diarmait Mac Murchadha, had invited the Norman’s to Ireland in 1169. The two men had a long history of animosity. Diarmait had abducted Tiernan’s wife Derbforgaill in 1152, holding her captive for a year. Tiernan had his revenge in 1166, when he and High King Rory O’Connor burned Diarmait’s capital of Ferns. It was that defeat that led Diarmait to flee and seek Norman support. Tiernan was assassinated at a parley with the Normans in 1172, and they soon wrenched East Meath from Bréifne control. The intervention of the English in Ireland would eventually sound the death knell for the Bréifne O’Rourkes, though it would take many centuries to achieve it.

After the Norman arrival the O’Rourkes power-base contracted, but they still ruled large tracts of land. Their Lordship over the Bréifne heartlands in Leitrim would continue all the way down to the 17th century.

Although the O’Rourkes lost Meath to the Normans and East Bréifne to the O’Reillys, they remained an important power in the Late Medieval Ireland. Local power struggles continued, with both Gaelic and Norman Lords. In the 14th and 15th centuries they fought a number of costly battles, especially with the Clan Muirceartach O’Connors, but the O’Rourkes survived. There were even periods in the 15th century when they regained control of East Bréifne from the O’Reillys. But from the 13th to 17th century their heartland remained West Bréifne–modern county Leitrim.

The 16th century saw the O’Rourkes come under increasing pressure from the Tudor English. They were forced to “surrender” their lands to the Crown, to be “regranted” to them under the English system of Lordship. As Tudor wars of conquest began to engulf Ireland, O’Rourke leaders began to oppose them. Brian na Múrtha helped Spanish Armada survivors escape the English in 1588 and was executed in London in 1591. His son Brian Óg fought at the Battle of Kinsale in 1601, but defeat there doomed Gaelic Ireland. The last O’Rourke of Bréifne, Brian Ruadh died in the Tower of London in 1641 after over 22 years of imprisonment. By 1620, the Plantation of Leitrim had begun, bringing to a close 700 years of O’Rourke power in Bréifne.