27 November 2024
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Michael Hall’s new book, The Untold Story of the O’Sullivan Beare, will be launched by the author and documentary maker Christy Kenneally at the Sarah Walker Gallery, Castletown at 5pm, Saturday 7th December. All welcome.
The Untold Story of the O’Sullivan Beare is a comprehensive account of the best-known family dynasty on the Beara peninsula in West Cork in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The book is the culmination of nearly forty years research by Michael, a former lecturer in Engineering at Technological University Dublin. His interest was sparked by visits to Beara with his wife Jacqueline, whose family, the Murphys, hail from Castletownbere.
Many will be familiar with the story of Dónal Cam O’Sullivan Beare (c.1563-1618): his alliance with the northern chieftains and their defeat at the Battle of Kinsale in 1601; the subsequent destruction of his castle at Dunboy; the Long March to Leitrim with his followers in the winter of 1602/03; and his exile and death in Spain.
Michael book casts new light on Dónal Cam’s eventful life and times, and goes on to make the case for his successor, and cousin, Dónal Crón O’Sullivan Beare (c.1601-1674), being one of the most neglected Irish historical figures of the 17th century.
Picture: Anne Marie Cronin Photography
Dónal Crón was a Catholic who converted to Protestantism to marry Ann Browne, the niece of Robert Boyle, the Great Earl of Cork. After initially enjoying a degree of acceptance among the Anglo-Irish and New English aristocracy, he reverted to Catholicism and went into rebellion in 1642. He represented Co Cork at the General Assembly of the Confederation of Kilkenny (1642 – 49), and fought against Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army.
Dónal Crón forfeited his estates in 1653 and went into exile in France. He had no sons of his own, and the title of the O’Sullivan Beare passed to his nephew Daniel. By the end of the century, the once great Gaelic Clan was in irreversible decline, and Daniel would prove to be the last titular O’Sullivan Beare.
The Untold Story of the O’Sullivan Beare is published by Beara Historical Society and will be available at local retail outlets.