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Mac oile do Fhraoch chéadhnaCárthann cuana chruith dhéadla Níor dhearmadach tar chach línnÓ d-tángadar, Clann Chruitín2

[Another son of the same FroachCárthann of the bold-looking bandWas not forgotten above all by usHe from whom derived Clann Chruitín]

Níor mhór dá mhianach sa tírDo lean riaghail Mhic Cruitín Níor cham an seanachas saor Am na bhfeanachas bhfíorchloan3

[There were few of his mettle in the countrywho followed Mac Cruitín’s ruleHe didn’t distort the noble historical lore (in) the time of truly perverse laws]

Elegy on the death of Aindrias Mac Cruitín,by Aodh Buí Mac Cruitín

Clann Chruitín were among the most notable learnedkindreds in Co. Clare in the late medieval period. Theyfeatured among the aos dána, the Gaelic learned class whospecialised in, as the annals assert, ‘senchas 7 le seinm’.4Holding hereditary lands in west Co. Clare on the marginsof the Atlantic coast, they attained the status of ollamh-nacht in history (seanchas) and music (seinm) from thefourteenth century. Remarkably, learned members of ClannChruitín continued to be associated with literary activity ofthe native tradition until the mid-nineteenth century whenSéamas Mac Cruitín, self-described as ‘the last relic of thehereditary bards of Thomond’,5 died.

The family’s claim as literati is probably best illustratedin the eighteenth century when two notable Gaelic poets,Aodh Buí Mac Cruitín (c.1680-1755)6 and Aindrias MacCruitín (c.1650-1738), produced a range of genealogical,poetical and historical works. Attached to their localUí Lochlainn and the Uí Bhriain patrons, the compositionsand writings of these poets have received attention bymodern scholars.7 In these two learned personages thevigour of the learned Gaelic tradition can best be identifiedat a time when that tradition was quickly fading as ananachronistic remnant of a former era.

Recent commentary on the learned class in medievaland early modern Gaelic lordships has sought to focus onthe lifeways of these hereditary literati such as their socialstatus and landholding. This paper continues that investi-gation and takes as its focus the origins of Clann Chruitínof Corcomroe.

Early OriginsThe learned class of medieval Ireland represented a

mandarin class of educated men skilled in verse, historyand law. These men were often learned in several lan-

guages such as Latin, Greek, and English8 and, in someinstances, Ogham learning.9 What made them distinct fromother scholastic groups in European culture was the factthat they were organised into professional kindreds whotransmitted this learning and skill by hereditary means.Another distinction to be drawn between the Gaelic learnedclass and their contemporary counterparts is the primacyof poetry and its intertwined connection to other branchesof learning such as history, law, tale recitation and place-name lore (dinnsheanchas). Together these formed acoherent body of learning or ‘native lore’ (seanchas) whichdominated the intellectual outlook of the Gaelic learnedclass in the medieval period. The assemblage of native loreand learning into a framework that provided the basis forthe study of poetry (filidheacht), and which was inter-preted by a learned caste of practitioners known as the filíor bardic poets, represented the master-form of learning inmedieval Gaelic society.10

The study of poetry in specialist ‘bardic’ schools (filidh-eacht na sgol) constituted the intellectual and pedagogicalframework upon which native learning was fused.11 It wasalso the preferred medium of public communication amongthose trained professionals who came to dominate intel-lectual activity in late medieval Ireland. A number ofhereditary professional kindreds such as Clann Chruitínwere settled in Co. Clare during the medieval period. Somedrew their origin from the ecclesiastical grades of themonastic Irish church such as the airchinnigh (erenaghs)and comharbaí (coarbs) who held termon lands.12 The UíGhráda of Tuamgraney serve as an example of this as theirancestor, Ceannfaladh Ó Gráda, was coarb of Tuamgraneyat the time of his death in 1184.13

Other learned families emerged as discarded branches of ruling lineages who adopted a professional role tosafeguard their status. This is confirmed by FranciscanAntonius Bruodinus who wrote that the professional classtended to share the same ancestry as their noble patrons.14The Meic Fhlannchadha brehons, for example, claimed acommon descent from the Meic Conmara.15 It has also beensuggested that Clann Bhruaideadha, a lineage of poet-chroniclers, shared links with the Uí Dheaghaidh and thattheir remote ancestors briefly held the kingship of Corcom-roe in the ninth century16 only developing their learnedstatus at a later period.17

The hereditary lands of Clann Chruitín were located inthe Uí Chonchobhair and Uí Lochlainn lordship of Corcom-roe. We read in a set of annals, possibly compiled at theAugustinian house of Kilshanny, the death notice of ‘EagdMac Crutyn’ (Aodh Mac Cruitín) in 1354.18 The annalsappear to represent a necrology of patrons of the abbey andlocal notables and this entry is the earliest recording of a

The origins of Clann Chruitín:chronicler-poets of the

learned Gaelic tradition1

Luke McInerney

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‘Mac Cruitín’. It may in fact suggest that Clann Chruitínhad a link to Kilshanny as either Augustinian canons oreven airchinnigh settled on church land. Subsequent ann-alistic recordings show that learned Meic Cruitín attainedthe prized position of ‘ollamh Tuadhmumhan’ and ‘ollamhUí Bhriain’ at an earlier period than members of the MeicBhruaideadha and Meic Fhlannchadha learned families.19

Clann Chruitín genealogies References to Clann Chruitín are absent in the main gen-

ealogical tracts dealing with Thomond. Their Corcomroeancestry generally excluded them from the more extensive(and later) genealogies detailing the cascading branches ofthe ruling Dál gCais.20 However, in the genealogies thatrefer to the lineages of Corcomroe, it is noted that the pro-genitor of Clann Chruitín was also the eponymous ancestorof the dynastic families of Corcomroe; the Uí Lochlainnand Uí Chonchobhair. Cruitín, the fifth in descent fromCarrthann mac Fraoch, is recorded in the genealogies as a‘file’ (poet) and his lineage is regarded as lineal ancestorsof the Uí Lochlainn and Uí Chonchobhair.21

As is usual in many genealogical tracts, the origin oflearned families is attested in a learned forebear whofounded a professional lineage. We read in the genealogiesthat the progenitor of the Uí Nialláin physicians was Maoil-shechlainn .i. an liaigh Léimeannach (Maolshechlainn thephysician of Leamaneh)22 who appears to have had a flor-uit of c.1300. The advantage of adopting learned status andremoving one’s lineage from the political competition of alordship is that professional lineages were often exemptedfrom rents and military services and were not restricted interms of movement between lordships, sharing many ofthe privileges granted to the church and clerical grades.23

It is perhaps significant that the progenitor of ClannChruitín, according to the genealogies, was ‘Cruitín file’(i.e. Cruitín ‘the poet’), the etymology of whose namederives from the word cruit, or harp.24 Judging from thegenealogies it seems likely that he had a floruit of the ninthcentury. This progenitor of Clann Chruitín appears to havebeen associated with two highly valued skills of the Gaeliclearned class; namely poetry and music. It was not un-known for learned kindreds to specialise in several learnedarts, and the hereditary professionals such as poets, histor-ian and musicians, as well as master craftsmen who attainedthe position of ollamh, were often skilled multi-function-aries.25 While it appears that Clann Chruitín cultivated thestudy of history and chronicling, they were also practition-ers of music, as an annalistic entry from 1404 attests.26

As we have noted, the origins of Clann Chruitín con-nect them to the two ruling lineages of Corcomroe. Onegenealogy links their early ancestry to that of the Uí Con-chubhar,27 while a poem composed by Aindrias Mac Cruitíneulogising the descent of the Uí Lochlainn, articulates theirshared ancestry with Clann Chruitín.28 It is possible that anearlier ancestor in the Clann Chruitín genealogy, Lonán,represents the seventh-century Dál gCais ancestral saint,Flannán, whose namesake is found in the parish of Killas-puglonane (Cill Easpaig Fhlannáin).29 In this parish theMeic Cruitín held hereditary lands at Carrowduff and, atthe adjoining parish of Kilmacrehy, at Laghvally. Anotherview regards Lonán as a hitherto unknown bishop whoseholy well and a burial ground in Killaspuglonane townlandrepresents a former ecclesiastical site associated with him.30It is significant that Clann Chruitín claimed a link to anecclesiastical ancestor. Such a link (either real or imagin-ed) may infer a connection to the native monastic church.This stands as a possibility given that many learnedlineages emerged from the monastic scriptoria in the after-

math of the twelfth-century reform of the monastic churchthat relegated native learning to the secular schools of thehereditary families.31

Judging from the annals and other sources such as thePapal Registers and the Registra Supplicationum32 membersof Clann Chruitín were not active in supplying clerics tolocal benefices unlike other learned lineages.33 Few if anyof the name may be found in lists of clergy in the post-Reformation period, and they do not appear to be settled ontermon (tearmann) lands either as comharbaí or airchin-nigh or, for that matter, as keepers of religious reliquariesor manuscripts such as the Meic Bhruaideadha of Tear-mann Chaimín in Moynoe.34

Clann Chruitín are absent from the great Meic Craithcompilation of the mid-fourteenth century, CaithréimThoirdhealbhaigh (‘The Triumphs of Turlough’), whereonly the chief propagandists of the Uí Bhriain, ClannChraith, feature as a learned family. Such a situation mayreflect professional rivalry as much as jealously-guardedprivilege. It also suggests that in the fourteenth century itwas Clann Chraith who were the leading poets and chron-iclers of Thomond, a role not surpassed until the sixteenthcentury by Clann Bhruaideadha.35

Status and patronageIn view of this, where exactly Clann Chruitín situated in

the hierarchy of learned lineages is rather uncertain. Fromwhat may be gleaned from the annals, Clann Chruitínachieved the appellation ‘ollamh Tuadhmumhan’ from1376.36 However, only one reference, which is contained in the Annals of Ulster, specifically enumerates them as‘ollamh Uí Bhriain re senchus’.37 While they attained prom-inence in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth-centuriesas holding the ollamhnacht in seanchas (history) and seinm(music), their status was generally limited to providingliterary services to Corcomroe families and, by the six-teenth-century, leading Corkavaskin families. The absenceof poems composed for the Uí Bhriain in the medievalperiod supports this view.

The flourish of annalistic references to learned membersof Clann Chruitín occurs only over an eighty year period.Their claim as ollamhain Tuadhmhumhan, a position thatplaced them in the front rank of learned families, datesfrom this period. Their entries in the annals include:

1354 Eagd Mac Crutyn38 (obit)

1376 Ceallach Mac Cruitín ollamh Tuadhmumhan le senchas39(Kellach Mac Curtin, chief historian of Thomond)

1404 Giolla Duibin Mac Cruitin ollamh Tuadhmhumhan lesenchas, & le seinm d’écc40(Gilla-Duivin Mac Curtin, ollav of Thomond in music, died)

1434 Mac Cruitín .i. Seancha Mac Cruitín ollamh Tuadhmum-han i senchus saoi choitcenn in gach ceird do écc41(Mac Curtin (i.e. Seancha Mac Curtin), ollav of Thomondin history, and a man generally skilled in each art, died)

1436 Geanann Mhac Cruitín adhbar ollamhan Tuadhmhum-han h-i senchus do bhathadh, ni bhaoí i Leith Moghaina ré adhbhar senchadha ro ba ferr inás42(Geanann Mac Curtin, intended ollav of Thomond inhistory, was drowned. There was not in Leth-Mogha inhis time a better materies of a historian than he)

Patronage received by Clann Chruitín was rather limitedwhen comparison is made to other members of the learn-ed class in Corcomroe and Ibrickan. For example, ClannBhruaideadha, who held substantial lands in the sixteenthcentury at Lettermoylan on Slieve Callan and at Knock-

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analban (Mountscott), are first recorded as composing apoem for Mathghamhain Ó Briain in c.1365-69.43 Membersof Clann Bhruaideadha were closely associated with theearls of Thomond, including Finola the sister of poet Tadhgmac Dáire Mhic Bhruaideadha whose husband, it is repu-ted, fostered Donough O’Brien, fourth earl of Thomond.44Likewise the Uí Dhuibhdábhoireann brehons of Corcomroefirst appear in the annals in 1364 and the Uí Chonnmhaigh,who were distinguished in music, appear in 1360.45

The position of Clann Chruitín vis-à-vis other learnedlineages is succinctly set down by Seathrún Céitinn in hiswork Foras Feasa ar Éirinn. He refers to Clann Chraith asholding the ‘ollamhain ré dán’ of Ó Briain but that ClannChruitín or Clann Bhruaideadha were his ‘ollamhain réseanchus’.46 The uncertainty that exists as to the respectiveprofessional standing of Clann Chruitín and Clann Bhruaid-eadha, may be explained by the fact that by the sixteenthcentury Clann Bhruaideadha had eclipsed Clann Chruitín insecuring patronage of the Uí Bhriain. A writing from 1722provides clues as to the reduced status of Clann Chruitín:

When Donough O Brian, Earl of Thomond [d. 1624], was LordPresident of the Province of Munster; to whom one of hisRhimers (to acquit himself of that Obligation) in a PanegyricalPoem compos’d by him, in Honour of a Gentleman of the MacCarthies, who had much signaliz’d himself in Martial Exploits,wish’d that some war(like) Lord, or Captain of the O Brians,then living, had by his Merit and Conduct acquir’d so excellenta Name … Hereupon the Poet, dreading the Consequences,disappear’d, and kept out of the way for some Years. Notwith-standing, it happen’d that one time, going a Journey alongwith his Wife, they saw at a Distance the said Earl with hisEquipage, and a great Company of Horse in his Attendance,coming towards them: There being no probability of escaping,the Poet told his Wife that he would feign himself dead as of asudden, which she should humour by crying over him; that ifthe Earl ask’d the Reason, she should not conceal his Name,but beg Forgiveness for the great Folly he had been guilty ofagainst his Lordship, and Family. The Woman acted her Part tothe Life; and the Earl, when he was come up, being told whosethe Corps was, he had the Curiosity to put questions himself to her, and ask’d whether the Poet had repented of his un-dutiful Expression, with relation to the O Brians? The Womananswer’d, he did heartily; and that being surpriz’d upon Sightof his Lordship’s Equipage, the Horrour of his own Guilt mostsensibly touching him, he fell down dead upon the Spot; but(in Addition) said farther, that since he was gone, and madesome Atonement by the long Affliction, he had suffer’d under,his Lordship would forgive him; which accordingly the Earldid, being mov’d with Compassion, and flung down the Womansome Gold to bury her Husband. This being over, the reputeddead Man springs up in an Instant, and taking hold of the Reinsof the Horse, on which the Earl was mounted, pronounc’d avery exquisite Poem in his Praise, which brought him into fullFavour again.47

According to Walker’s Historical memoirs of the Irish Bards(1818) the poet in question was ‘Mac Curtin’, and he citesSylvester O’Halloran as his source on the matter.48 Thestory, while largely implausible, may contain a kernel oftruth as an analogy of Clann Chruitín’s loss of patronage inthe early seventeenth-century.

Evidence gleaned from manuscript sources cast furtherlight on the literary activity of Clann Chruitín. In the mar-ginalia of a mid-fifteenth century Latin medical text, a noteby ‘Donnchadh mhac Matha alias Dionisius Cyriton’, des-cribed himself as ‘scolaris in phisica apud Sotone in comit’Kanc anno gratie, 1468’.49 At the end of the medical manu-script another note reads: ‘finit amen finit qui scripsit sitbenedictus. Quod Dionisius Cyriton’ (‘He who wrote this istruly blessed. That is Dionisius Cyriton’).50 It appears from

this that Dionisius Cyriton (Donnchadh Mac Cruitín) wasworking as a scribe on the medical text De MedicinisLibellus in Sutton Valence in Kent. A scribe of another partof the manuscript was Conchubhar Mór Mac Cruitín whoauthored the tract Tochomhladh Mac Míleadh (‘settingforth of the sons of Mil’) in the mid-sixteenth century.51According to the colophon of that manuscript he wrote:

Gonadh hé so cobhlach Chloinne Míleadh Easpáinedh ar teachta nÉirinn ó Chonchubhar Mhór Mac Cruitín co nuigi so saetharén-oidhthe ón righfhilidh so, más fir. Finit.52

[So far this is the fleet of the children of Míl Espáine coming toIreland by Conchubhar mhór Mac Cruitín. A single night’swork as is supposed by this princely poet. The end]53

The fact that Conchubhar Mór Mac Cruitín is attested inthe colophon of the manuscript adds weight to the viewthat the earlier scribe, Dionisius Cyriton, was also a mem-ber of Clann Chruitín. The presence of two Mac Cruitínscribes on this manuscript indicates that they were learnedin the seanchas tradition such as the pseudo-mythicalorigin story of the Irish. The purpose of Dionisius Cyriton’swork on medical texts in Kent in England remains unclear.

Dúthchas Chlann Chruitín: landholding & settlementLaghvally & Carrowduff

The hereditary lands of Clann Chruitín were located atLaghvally (Leathbhaile) in Kilmacrehy and at Carrowduff(Ceathrú Dhubh) in the adjoining parish of Killaspuglonane.Situated inland from the coastal settlements of Liscannorand Lahinch, and from the mouth of the Inagh River as itempties into the Atlantic, these lands afford coastal views.The aesthetic terrestrial environment between the InaghRiver and the coast and the marine district of west Clarewas not lost on the poetical composition of the family,serving as a useful motif on at least one occasion.54

Seventeenth century sources show that the landholdingof Clann Chruitín at Laghvally and Carrowduff townlandswas held collectively. Meic Cruitín kinsmen held pro-prietorial interests at both townlands, the lands of whichwere the heritable property of the lineage. The type of landdivision there suggests that proprietorship was collectiveand subject to partible division among descendants of apaternal great-grandfather, known as the deirbhfhine. Thisform of agnatic ‘corporate’ inheritance operated into thelate sixteenth century and goes some way in explaining thelandholding of Clann Chruitín.55

Generally, the re-allocation of the collective land of alineage in late medieval Gaelic lordships occurred on thedeath of a co-heir, but other factors such as annual divis-ions, genealogical propinquity of junior family branches tothe senior branch, and the presence of minors on the deathof a senior co-heir affected inheritance.56 In the case oflearned kindreds the status of the most learned members ofthe family, such as those who received the title of ollamh,also impacted on landholding as such individuals wereusually granted rent-free land. In contrast to landholdingkindreds that spawned cadet branches and, through theuse of mortgage and pledge, settled junior lineages on thelands of lesser families, Clann Chruitín were almost exclu-sively settled at Laghvally and Carrowduff until the 1640s.

Little is known, however, about the precise nature andform of their landholding. Unlike the Meic Fhlannchadhabrehons of Tuath Ghlae (Killilagh) or the Meic Bhruaid-eadha chronicler-poets at Knockanalban in Ibrickan, thelands of Clann Chruitín were not recorded as rent-free orotherwise enjoyed privileged tenurial conditions.57 Thispossibly reflects the fact that the lands of Clann Chruitín

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were subject to the lordship of the Uí Conchobhair of Cor-comroe in late medieval times, whose chief residence wasat Ennistymon.58 Little detail exists as to the tenurial arr-angements of lesser lineages in either the Uí Conchobhairor Uí Lochlainn lordships. The earliest recording of Carrow-duff is in the fifteenth-century Suim Ciosa Ui Bhriain butthere is no indication that the land was rent-free at thatperiod.59 The absence of references to rent-free land whichwas a common privilege enjoyed by the aos ealadhna classin Gaelic society suggests that they had lost much patron-age and status. This is borne out by the conspicuousabsence of Meic Cruitín learned men in the annals duringthe sixteenth century. This is particularly stark when weconsider that over the same period a large volume ofannalistic entries exist for Meic Fhlannchadha, Meic Bhru-aideadha, Uí Nialláin and Uí Dhálaigh learned kindreds.60

We know that the landholding of many learned kin-dreds was characterised by material expressions of statussuch as tower house residences and tighe n-aoídheadh orhouses of hospitality. They often had a sgoilteach or scrip-torium where the production and storage of manuscriptswas undertaken. For example, the Meic Fhlannchadhabrehon lawyers built and possessed the tower-houses ofUrlanmore, Clonloghan and Castlekeale (Ballysallagh West)during the sixteenth-century.61 We know that they storedtitle-deeds and charters at their fortified residence at Castle-keale and, as we read in a deed from 1591, at their towerhouse at Knockfin in Corcomroe.62 Similarly, the Uí Nialláinoccupied Ballyallia and Ballycarroll in the late sixteenth-century63 while the Meic Bhruaideadha kept a library orscriptorium at Moynoe in east Co. Clare in the 1630s whereworks of genealogy and history where stored.64

Sources are silent regarding a chief residence or pro-fessional house of Clann Chruitín at either Laghvally orCarrowduff. The initial impression of this absence, however,is modified if we consider the reference in a mid-fourteenthcentury text to a different tradition of settlement for learnedkindreds.

In describing the residences of different groups the saga-text Caithréim Thoirdhealbhaigh notes that the ollamhainhad as their residence the ring-fort (‘agus gach ollam inaráith’)65 while other members of the learned class such as the ‘noble coarbs’ were described as dwelling in their‘high church’ (‘agus gach uasalchomarba ina áirdchill’).66The continued importance of the ring-fort as a secularresidence beyond the medieval period is attested in the Uí Dhuibhdábhoireann occupation of Cahermacnaughtenin the seventeenth century.67

It could be that one of several ring-forts recorded on theOrdnance Survey maps at Carrowduff may in fact representthe ceann áit or head-place of Clann Chruitín. One can-didate site is the large ring-fort at Knocknaraha near theborder with Laghvally.68 Other ring-forts associated withlearned kindreds include Parkmore (Lios Páirc Mhóir) inFinavarra where the remains of a large ring-fort69 served asthe ceann áit of the Uí Dhálaigh poets, and Cahermaclan-chy in Killilagh which probably served as the originalhabitation of the Meic Fhlannchadha prior to their con-struction of Knockfin tower house.

Fortunately, several seventeenth century surveys castlight on the landholding of Clann Chruitín. In a 1615 surveyof the earl of Thomond’s estate in Ibrickan, Hugh Cruttyneis recorded holding Tromroe (now Tromra). Although unlikebardic poet Tadhg mac Dáire Mhic Bhruaideadha’s propertyat Knockanalban, Tromroe was not held rent-free.70 We maydeduce from this that Clann Chruitín were not accorded thesame privileges as Clann Bhruaideadha in the seventeenthcentury. Their failure to be included among the ‘good and

lawful men’ who gave evidence in the 1585 Composition ofConnacht71 illustrates their predicament by the late six-teenth century. This is again shown by their absence in thelist of empanelled jurors at the inquisition post mortem ofDonough O’Brien, fourth earl of Thomond, in 1624.72

Hugh Cruttyne was active in drawing up legal instru-ments such as a deed of arbitration in 1600.73 It is highlylikely that he was ‘Hugo Mc Cruttin de Clandoyne gent’who was empanelled as a juror on the 1619 inquisition intothe lands of the fourth Earl of Thomond.74 Clandoyne is an unidentified land division presumably in the vicinity ofTromra although it could be a corruption of the placenameCloghaundine in Kilmacrehy parish.75 There is little doubtthat the Meic Cruitín continued in their ancient profess-ional role as historian-chroniclers. At the siege of Ballyalliacastle in 1642 English settler John Ward observed that:

Hugh Mc Crutten did use to take a note in writing of as manyof the besiedgers as were either hurte or killed against the saidCastle openly extolling them for their valour & good service inassaulting the said Castle, to noe other purpose (as this de-ponent then understood) but to give intimation thereof to therest of The Country & to encouradge them to like rebelliousactions [original spelling].76

This is first hand proof that Hugh Mc Crutten (Aodh MacCruitín) was following the family’s professional calling aschroniclers into the mid-seventeenth century, even aftermuch of their traditional patronage had evaporated. Therecording of Hugh Mc Crutten extolling the ConfederateIrish in assailing New English settlers must be one of thelast references to the seanchaidh class trained in the class-ical tradition, being called upon to act in their capacity asGaelic literati.

Another document from Petworth House provides furtherdetail on the hereditary lands of Clann Chruitín. Propri-etorship of Laghvally and Carrowduff are exemplified in aninquisition dated 5 September 1618 which was undertakenas part of the abortive surrender and regrant of Co. Clare:

Salmon McCruttin of Laghtvally gent is seised of 11 parts of theqr of Laghtvally in 16 parts to be divided; and 1 cartron orfourth part of the quarter of Carowduff.

Hugh oge McCruttin of Laghtvally gent is seised of 3/4 parts ofa cartron or 3 parts of the said quarter of Laghtvally in 16 partsto be divided.

Daniell Clanchy and Moelmury McCruttin of Laghtvally afore-said gent are seised of one half cartron or part of the saidquarter of Laghtvally.

Teig McCruttin and Connor McCruttin of Carowduff gent areseised of 1 cartron or 4th part of the quarter of Carrowduff.

Shanagh McCruttin of Carrowduff aforesaid is seised of onehalf cartron or 8 part of Carrowduff aforesaid.

Hugh na Tauny McCruttin of Carrowduff aforesaid gent is seisedof one other half cartron or 8 parts of Carrowduff aforesaid.

Connor McCruttin of Carrowduff aforesaid gent is seised of theother cartron or 8 parts of Carrowduff aforesaid.77

The fragmented nature of their landholding is indicative oftraditional proprietorship that vested control of the landcollectively; the land being subject to division betweeneligible kinsmen.

Another member of the family, Critten McCruttin, wasimpanelled as a juror in the 1618 Great Office of Clon-deralaw and Moyarta and was described as of Licke.78He was appointed bailiff for Toirdhealbhach Ruadh Mhic

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Mhathghamhna of Clonderalaw in 1611 to give effect to adeed in Irish between Toirdhealbhach and Seán mac TaidhgUí Ghiolla Sheanáin79 for Molougha near Kilrush. The deedwas signed ‘Christopr. Curtyn’ but it appears that he wroteand notarised the deed with the Irish form of his name,Criomhthann Mac Cruitín, appearing in the main text.80

Other records suggest that a branch of Clann Chruitínwere settled in the Meic Mhathghamhna lordship of Cor-kavaskin. In 1602 ‘Connor O’Crottine’ (recte Mc Crottine)was listed in the fiant rolls and his residence was ‘Moyadda’in Kilrush parish.81 In 1606 Christopher Crutin of Moyfadda(recte Moyadda) and ‘John, son of Teige of Kiltyline’ (Seánmac Taidhg Uí Ghiolla Sheanáin), were assigned lands in trust. It is likely that Christopher (i.e. Criomhthann) ofthe 1611 deed was possibly a brother or a son of Conor.82Clearly this branch of Clann Chruitín assisted in legaltransactions with their overlords the Meic Mhathghamhnaof Corkavaskin.

Other documents confirm that Clann Chruitín propri-etorship at Laghvally83 and Carrowduff continued into the1640s, prior to the Cromwellian confiscations. The 1641Books of Survey and Distribution84 record:

Carroduff: 1 qr.Connor mcMeike Cruttin……Sheppinpuchin 1 car[tron]Solomon Cruttin……Aghnaha 1 car[tron]ffarbshigh McCruttin……Knockanerhingnan, 1 car[tron]Patrick Commin……Lishenegorna 1 car[tron]

163 profitable acres152 unprofitable acres

Killaughvally: 1 qr.Patrick Commin……Gurtnegallagh East, 2/3 car[trons]Boetus Clanchy……Gurtnegallagh West 1/3 car[tron]Daniell O Bryan……1/2 qrSollomon Cruttin……1 car[tron] 58 profitable acres

40 acres

Clearly Carrowduff served as Clann Chruitín’s chief estate.Comparison with the 1618 inquisition illustrates the inter-twined nature of proprietorship as Salmon (or Sollomon)McCruttin retained an interest at Laghvally and Carrow-duff. His much reduced interest at Killaughvally (recteLaghvally) may be related to the mortgaging of lands. In1642 Connor mcGullduvie Mc Cruttine mortgaged ‘Skeagh-boogkine’ in Carrowduff to Patrick Comyne.85

Subsequent legal articles show that Christopher McCruttyne, possibly a son of Connor McGullduvie, left a willin 1666 where he passed his land at Carrowduff onto ‘hisbrother Michell Mc Cruttyne’, with the remainder to hiscousin Hugh McCruttyne his ‘next heyre in blood for euer’,should his brother fail to produce an heir. Christopher estab-lished an interest at Cahersherkin in Clooney to the southof Ennistymon which remained in the family in the follow-ing generation after their lease was confirmed in 1671.86 Thiswas not without controversy, however, and the joint interestof the land with the Comyns was disputed in 1703-4.87

From this we may take it that part of the family’s interestin Carrowduff was pledged as collateral in mortgage agree-ments for the acquisition of other land. This suggests thatCarrowduff was the chief hereditary estate of Clann Chruitín.However, this was not the case with their other hereditaryland at Laghvally, where Clann Chruitín’s interest haddeclined steadily since 1618.

Senior branch of Clann ChruitínIt may be speculated that the senior lineage of Clann

Chruitín claimed proprietorship over Carrowduff. Thisclaim possibly dates from an earlier division of the heredi-tary lands. Such a division, one that was permanent and

which had withstood the pressure of further sub-divisionby subsequent generations, was provided for in customarylaw.88 Most of those freeholders who in 1618 held Car-rowduff can either be identified in the Clann Chruitíngenealogies (e.g. Hugh na Tauny McCruttin89) or sharedforenames that were passed down within the same familybranch since medieval times (Solomon/Solamh; ffarbshigh/Fearbiseach; Shanagh/Seancha).90

These kinsmen appear to belong to one branch of ClannChruitín. Available evidence show that this branch pro-duced most of the better known learned members of ClannChruitín. For example, those literate members recorded inthe seventeenth century include Conchubhar Óg, Criomh-thann and Eolus all of who, the genealogies tell us, belongedto the same branch of Clann Chruitín that was associatedwith Carrowduff. Hereditary naming practices link seven-teenth-century kinsmen to medieval namesakes and thetendency that many learned members of the lineage wereattached to the branch settled at Carrowduff, points to thatline of the family as the senior branch of Clann Chruitín.This would explain their collective landholding and retentionof landed property there until the mid-seventeenth century.

It may not be coincidence that poet Aodh Buí MacCruitín traced his descent from the senior branch of thefamily. The genealogies inform us that he was a descen-dant of ‘Hugh na Tauny’ who resided at Carrowduff in1618.91 An earlier ancestor of Aodh Buí was Seanchadh (orSeancha) who can be identified in the annals as ollamhTuadhmumhan i senchus in 1434.92 The fact that the nameSeanchadh is a cognomen for ‘historian’ or ‘chronicler’highlights his learned status. According to the genealogiesthe two branches of Clann Chruitín shared a common an-cestor in Aodh who may tentatively be identified as ‘EagdMac Crutyn’ in an obituary from 1354.93 From him the twochief branches of Clann Chruitín sprung:

Cruitín file ó nabuirtear Clann Chruitín(14 generations earlier)

Aodh (d.1354)94

Aodh Óg

Senior branch Junior Branch

Solamh Conchubhar

Conchubhar Criomthann

Seanchadh (d.1434)95 Solamh

Fearbiseach An Cosnamhach

Eolus Rolond

Criomhthann Aindrias (c.1650-1738)96

Aodh na Tuinne (fl.1618)

Conchubhar

Conchubhar Óg

Aodh Buidhe (c.1680-1755)97

Scribes & notaries of Clann ChruitínAt this juncture of our study little has been said of Clann

Chruitín’s professional literary activity. While we mayappraise their literary activities from a number of sources,

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it would be remiss to regard these sources as representativeof the milieu of native learning in which they operated. As with other learned families, what records survived thetumultuous period of the seventeenth and eighteenth cen-turies were but a fragment of the original corpus of texts,annals, poems and manuscripts. From surviving legal in-struments we can attempt to piece together the nature ofthe professional and literary activities of Clann Chruitín.

As we have already alluded, the earliest identified ref-erence to a Mac Cruitín scribe occurs in the marginalia of a medical manuscript, parts of which were penned by‘Donnchadh mhac Matha alias Dionisius Cyriton’, a scholarof medicine in 1468 at Sutton Valence in Kent.98 It is un-certain why he was working as a scribe there but he mayhave travelled to England to further his education.

On the same manuscript a later Mac Cruitín scribeappears. This scribe’s copying of Tochomhladh Mac Míleadhprovides insight into the type of learning pursued by theMeic Cruitín as members of the aos ealadhna class. Conchu-bhar Mór Mac Cruitín, the scribe of parts of TochomhladhMac Míleadh, must have been familiar with this prímh-sgéla, or major tale, and that this particular text countedamong the series of tales (one authority gives it as numberthree-hundred and fifty) which were reckoned necessaryfor the masters of higher learning to know in order to bequalified in their learning.99 A date of mid-sixteenth centurymay be ascribed to this composition by Conchubhar Mórbecause Conchubhar Óg who witnessed the permanentdivision of the lands of Clann Mhathghamhna of Clondera-law in 1576 was probably his son.100

From the late sixteenth century other Meic Cruitínscribes appear in legal documents. We can judge that theyenjoyed the localised status of professional men whoserepertoire of learning meant that their presence at the sign-ing of a deed equated to notarius publicus. A deed from1585 is curious, because as an expert witness ‘Aodh og Mac Cirtin, testis’ penned his name in Irish101 alongsideother witnesses who opted for the anglicised form of theirnames.102 Despite the deed being written in English, Aodh’ssignature in Irish was a deliberate act, commensurate withhis role as an officer-holder of the learned Gaelic tradition.One wonders if Aodh was the same kinsman who drew up the complex deed relating to a dispute between RichardWingfield and Tadhg, son of Conchubhar Ó Briain, ofSmithstown (Kilshanny) in 1600.103 The deed related toproperty claimed by the parties through the inheritance oftheir wives. Clann Chruitín’s involvement in mediatingsuch an agreement which involved castles and lands istestimony to the professional standing of the lineage.

Other deeds are found to have been notarised by mem-bers of Clann Chruitín. As we have already seen, Hugo McCruttin ‘de Clandoyne gent’ served as a juror in an enquiryinto the lands of the earl of Thomond in 1619.104 His nameappeared after ‘Thady McBrody’, bardic poet and instigatorof Iomarbhágh na bhfileadh (‘Contention of the Bards’) inc.1616. Moreover, we read in a foeffment of lands in favourof a McBrody in Drumcliff and dated 7 November 1622,that ‘Eolus Mac Cruitin’ signed his name in Irish as awitness.105 The forename ‘Eolus’ (also spelt Eolas) appearsin the genealogies for an earlier period, signifying that thename was hereditary within the family. It may also be ofsignificance that this name in Irish denotes ‘knowledge’(eolas, ‘knowing’, ‘comprehension’). The name Eolus alsohas classical Greek associations. Eolus or Aiolos (Αιολος)features in Greek mythology as the ruler of the winds. Thename is also associated with the druid Eolus who reputedlycame to Ireland with the Milesian invaders from Greece.106

It was not uncommon for learned families to use illus-

trious names which had either ecclesiastical or classicalresonances.107 The forename Solamh is found in the ClannChruitín genealogies as a name used by both branches ofthe family and, like Eolus, it features in Greek mythology as‘Salmoneus’ (Σαλµωνε ′υς) the son of Eolus. An appreciationof classical learning may have had a bearing on the namingpractices of Clann Chruitín; certainly both Eolus and Sol-amh were distinctive names and seldom, if at all, feature inthe genealogies of other learned families in Co. Clare.

Eolus appears again in the historical record, this time ina lease from 1624108 concerning Connor McBrody of Kiltye(recte Kilkee). Connor McBrody is known to history as Con-chubhar Mac Bruaideadha who provided the approbationof Micheál Ó Cléirigh’s work, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann,in November 1636.109 Conchubhar himself was a literatusof native learning, his father being the poet and officialollamh, Maoilín Óg.110 That fact that Eolus appears twice as a witness to these Meic Bhruaideadha land transactionssuggests a connection between the two learned families.We read in the Latin writings of Antonius Bruodinus thatCornelius Cruttin of ‘de Ballybeg’ married ElionoramBruodinam (Eilionóir Nic Bruaideadha) in the first half ofthe seventeenth century, so the two learned families sharedmarriage ties.111

We seldom meet references to Meic Cruitín scribes andexpert witnesses after the mid-seventeenth century.112Among the petitions to the Duke of Ormond in 1650,Mahon McCruttin sought redress for his cows which wererustled from him by Col. Wogan’s company as his troopravaged parts of Clare.113 The outcome of the petition isuncertain but given that Cromwellian forces were alreadyin Ireland and Ormond departed for France later in theyear, it is unlikely that recompense was arranged. In onelease we are reminded of the family’s own cognisance oftheir hereditary professional status. In 1671 Peter Crutinesigned an indenture bearing his personal seal which dis-played a crowned figure playing a harp and a now partiallyunintelligible Latin inscription that contains the wordFLOREN.114 Personal seals were relatively rare except formen of status and this seal ostensibly had a symbolic mean-ing. The harp may represent the etymological origin of thesurname Mac Cruitín (i.e. cruit, harp) and, moreover, sug-gests their former professional cultivation of music.

Remaining references that have survived chiefly pertainto lease agreements. This includes the wangling involvedover the family’s interest in Cahersherkin in Clooney par-ish after it was first held by Christopher McCruttyne beforehis death in 1666, and was leased jointly to Patricke Comyneand Peter Cruttyne in 1671.115 The difficulty in securing thelease of Cahersherkin continued until 1709 when a letter toSir Donough O’Brien detailed that several Meic Cruitín hadan interest in the land including Hugh Crutin, Peter Crutinand the bearer of the letter, Connor Crutin. The latter wasdescribed as the ‘grandson and heir of Christopher and[who] will doe any seruice he can for yr honr. wishing yr. honr. all happiness’.116 Connor’s appeal anticipates thepatronage sought by poet Aindrias Mac Cruitín from theLeamaneh and Dromoland O’Briens a decade later.117

‘School’ of poetry of west ClareMuch attention has been paid to the poetry of Aindrias

and Aodh Buí Mac Cruitín by modern writers. While it isgenerally agreed that the family’s flowering of poetry andliterary renown was chiefly embodied in the work of thesetwo poets, the physical remains of a school house (sgoil-teach) where members of Clann Chruitín cultivated theirprofessional specialisations of history and music, has notbeen identified. Unlike the Uí Dhuibhdábhoireann glosses

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in the British Library manuscript Egerton 88, there are nomanuscripts that explicitly refer to a ‘sgol’ operated by ClannChruitín.118

There exists, however, a rather oblique reference in apoem composed by the Scottish poet Maol Domhnaigh Ó Muirgheasáin in his visitation to the centres of poeticlearning in Ireland in the mid-seventeenth century. In list-ing the places of learning such as the Uí Dhálaigh school at Finavarra (Fiodhnach Bhearaigh), Ó Muirgheasáin alsoidentified a place whose name is partly corrupted in thetext, appearing as ‘-locha’ followed by ‘ós Linn Luimnigh’(i.e. ‘above the lower Shannon’).119 T.F. O’Rahilly suggest-ed that this could be Magh Locha (Molough) near Kilrush,an area associated with the Clann Chruitín in the earlyseventeenth century and perhaps served as a place of pro-fessional learning for this branch of the family.120

A statement made by Séamus Mac Cruitín in June 1846may cautiously be taken to cast light on the matter. In hisshort biography of Aodh Buí, Mac Cruitín describes the‘small college’ that Aodh Buí opened in the mid-eighteenthcentury at the ploughland of Cnoicín an aird and that hehad a dwelling place at Cora an Fhile. Mac Cruitín informsus that both places situated in Kilmacrehy and their ruinswere still extant in 1846.121 While this may be a referenceto a school which Aodh Buí founded, there is reason tothink that it could be older, representing a sgoilteach oper-ated by Clann Chruitín in the same manner that classicalbardic schools operated in earlier times. Moreover, Cora an Fhile (i.e. ‘the poet’s retreat’)122 suggests a sequesteredplace purposefully located for the pursuit of scholarshipand instruction. We know that bardic schools were oftensequestered for reasons of pedagogy and security, althoughin this case there is no way of determining if the school’sorigin pre-dated the eighteenth century.

Wherever the Meic Cruitín school was located its widerinfluence on literature and native learning has not beenlost on historians. Thomas J. Westropp commented thatthe learning of Eugene O’Curry and his father Malachy wasinherited from the earlier activities of the professionalpoets of Clann Cruitín.123 The tradition of native learningwas handed down by the poets of west Clare such as Seánde hÓra of Kilkee, Anthony O’Brien a school master atDoonaha, Seán Lloyd of Kilrush, and the prolific lexicog-rapher Peadar Ó Conaill of the Killimer area. These mencontinued the classical manuscript tradition into the nine-teenth century through participating in ‘courts of poetry’,copying texts and collaborating across scholarly networks.

Aodh Buí Mac CruitínAodh Buí and Aindrias Mac Cruitín wrote poems and

other material for their patrons the Mac Donnells of Kilkeeand the O’Briens of Ennistymon. Such literary activitiesechoed that of their forebears’ professional role.124 Theyounger of these two distantly related kinsmen, Aodh Buí,is best remembered on account of his authorship of threeimportant published works. Living for ten years in Dublinand about ten years at Louvain and Paris where he brief-ly served in Lord Clare’s Irish regiment in Flanders, he was well travelled and evidently more successful than hiskinsman Aindrias in securing patronage.125 Prior to leavingfor France in 1717 he published A brief discourse in vin-dication of the antiquity of Ireland126 which, on account of censorship, is thought to have seen him committed toNewgate prison for a year, but an intervention by SirDonough O’Brien of Dromoland (d.1717) appears to havesecured his release.127

Aodh Buí published an Irish grammar in 1728 atLouvain.128 This work constituted the first Irish grammar

written in English; it also contains a defence of retainingIrish orthography in order to maintain continuity and lin-guistic integrity with earlier texts.129 He claimed to havewritten the comprehensive grammar as a means to pre-serve the Irish language and deplored the abandonment of Irish by members of the higher social classes. In 1732 he appeared as a co-author of the English-Irish Dictionarypublished in Paris, although the bulk of the work is attrib-uted to An tAthair Conchubhar Ó Beaglaoich (Fr ConorBegley).130

Details of his activity in France and Ireland have beendealt with elsewhere, and a good number of his poemshave been printed in recent times.131 Several of his poemsreflect personal patronage which he received from Som-hairle Mac Domhnaill and his wife Isibél Ní Bhriain. Itappears that Aodh Buí’s daughter, Úna Nic Cruitín, alsocomposed poetry and in c.1740 she composed a short poem to Isibél Ní Bhriain seeking patronage in her right asa poet of the professional tradition.132 This rather uniqueoccurrence – the daughter of a poet pursuing her family’straditional calling – is recalled in a letter sent by the greatIrish ‘noblesse procurer’ Chevalier Thomas O’Gorman in1761, which stated that Aodh Buí’s daughters, who lived atCorofin, preserved their late father’s book which appearedto be regarded as the ‘chief part of their subsistance’.133

Around this time O’Gorman also referred to ‘an oldmanuscript of Hugh Mac Curtin, containing a completegenealogy of the O Brien family’ and from which Hugh(i.e. Aodh) may have tweaked the pedigree of the LismoreO’Briens ‘during his stay in Paris, in 1735 or thereabouts’in order for them to obtain a certificate of nobility.134 Onewonders if the book referred to as ‘Hugh Buie Mac Curtin’sbook’ that contained genealogical material of variousUí Bhriain branches135 was the same book possessed by hisdaughters. An interesting bibliography of Aodh Buí andother west Clare poets was written by Séamus Mac Cruitínin June 1846. Séamus, himself a poet of the family whoclaimed descent from a brother of Aindrias Mac Cruitín,cut a rather forlorn figure judging from his surviving corre-spondence. He eked out a living as a school master at Moyand Cloonanaha during the mid-nineteenth century andwas, rather despondently, regarded as the last of the heredi-tary bards of Thomond.136

Aindrias Mac CruitínAindrias Mac Cruitín’s life and works have been detailed

at length elsewhere.137 Suffice to say Aindrias was born inc.1650 at Moyglass, near Miltown Malbay, where he work-ed as a teacher and scribe. His poems are testament to theclassical genealogical and historical tradition which ClannChruitín had access to even at this comparatively late date.For example, Aindrias’ poem Sloinneam saoir-ghéaga síolg-Cais138 details the genealogy of Dál gCais families in amanner that suggests he had access to traditional genealog-ical tracts. His particular poems to the Uí Lochlainn revealthem as his main patrons and in 1727 he penned a duan-aire, or poem book, for them.139 The 280-page duanairewas a composite work and drew on his traditional learningconsisting predominantly of poetry addressed to variousbranches of the family and genealogy. The book is unusualin that Aindrias catered for those with minimal familiarityof reading Irish by including a list of standard contractionsused in the text to aid the uninitiated.

In 1721 he undertook the complicated task of transcribingthe mid-fourteenth century text Caithréim Thoirdhealbhaigh(‘The Triumphs of Turlough’) for Tadhg Mac Conmara ofRanna near Quin.140 The transcription of this lengthy textwritten in a rather bombastic style that was a hallmark of

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its medieval author was of enduring value, as the oldestcopy now survives in Aindrias’ hand. Aindrias’ hardship inhis later life was on account of a lack of patronage which isbest illustrated in his poem Donn na Daibhche (‘Donn ofthe sand hills’) composed in 1733.141 From this poem it isclear that he was living at Moyglass in Ibrickan. It is likelythat a number of his works have not survived, but remark-ably one manuscript was discovered in 1892 at Ballyeanear Ennis in a very weathered condition.142 The manu-script contained 267 written folio pages and its contents,according to the colophon, were penned by Aindrias inc.1709. The contents demonstrate that he was familiar withthe religious writings of Seathrún Céitinn and the poetry of Tadhg mac Dáire Mhic Bhruaideadha and DonnchadhMór Ó Dálaigh. Aindrias died in 1738 and was buried atKilmacrehy.143

Judging from the array of poetry composed by Aodh Buí and Aindrias it is probable that they both drew from a collective store of manuscripts and annalistic materialpreserved by Clann Chruitín over generations. For ex-ample, in Aodh Buí’s publication, A Brief Discourse inVindication of the Antiquity of Ireland,144 his detailing ofthe origins of Dál gCais families indicates a familiarity withgenealogy that could only be achieved through access tomanuscripts and genealogies. Both poets had access to amiscellany of tales, verse and aphorisms which served as a framework that underpinned the professional pursuit ofnative learning and the chief expression of that, the writingof poetry.

Aodh Buí was involved in copying the Annals of Innis-fallen,145 while Aindrias transcribed poems from the earlyseventeenth-century Iomarbhagh na bhFileadh which mayindicate that he had links with the Meic Bhruaideadha ofIbrickan who authored many of its poems. Aindrias wasalso active as a copyist of a number of works of SeathrúnCéitinn (Geoffrey Keating) and over a dozen manuscriptssurvive in his hand, including a poem on the saints ofMunster which he must have copied from an older exem-plar. This manuscript, in turn, was re-copied by hedgeschool master, Antony O’Brien of Dunaha, in 1780.146

There is no evidence that either Aodh Buí or Aindriasregarded themselves as professional ollamhain. In 1846Séamus Mac Cruitín, when collecting biographical sketchesof local poets stated, not without a hint of nostalgia, thatAindrias was ‘a hereditary bard ... and was a first rate poet,antiquarian and genealogist.’147 A similar distinction wasalso accorded to Aodh Buí in Séamus Mac Cruitín’s bio-graphical sketches. While the scholarship and intellectualframework that underpinned their written work undoubt-edly had roots in the native seanchas tradition, neitherAodh Buí nor Aindrias enjoyed the privileges that the roleof ollamhnacht seanchas conferred on their ancestors.Rather, they may rightly be regarded as having trained inthe traditional manner at a time when the professionalseanchas and filidheacht tradition was at an end.

The renown of the Meic Cruitín and their literary dis-tinction, however, went beyond these poets and the Irishlanguage. Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott made mention ofthem in his romantic poem Rokeby, first published in 1813:

Old England’s bards were vanquish’d then,And Scotland’s vaunted Hawthornden,And, silenced on Iernian shore,McCurtin’s harp shall charm no more!148

Clann Chruitín is also recalled by nineteenth centuryLimerick poet Michael Hogan, also known as the ‘Bard ofThomond’ in his poem on ‘Clan MacInnerny’:

Say, Muse, what sweet harp gave their glory a name,And, with song, lent a soul to the deeds of their fame?‘Twas the harp of McCurtin, the bard of the free,And the fire of his spirit that descended to me!149

On the death of both Aodh Buí and Aindrias only vestigesof native learning were continued by Clann Chruitín. This isattested in the poetry of Úna Nic Cruitín and in the writingsand poems of Séamus Mac Cruitín in the mid-nineteenthcentury. Even this continuation is remarkable when we con-sider that the literary activity of the hereditary professionallearned lineages had virtually ceased by the eighteenthcentury. The learning passed on through the works of AodhBuí and Aindrias continued in the hands of local storytellers,scribes and poets in west Clare into the nineteenth century,with traces surviving in corrupted and fragmented form intothe early decades of the twentieth century.150

Genealogies of Clann Chruitín

Royal Irish Academy, Ms E.iv.3, p.10151

Genelach Mic Cruitín

Aindrias mac Roloind mic an Chosnamhach mic Solaimh micCriomhthainn mic Conchubhair mic Aodha Óig mic Aodha micConchubhair mic Aodha mic Giolla Críost mic Arailt mic Floinn micConchubhair mic Liobáinn mic Mudhna mic Saorthuile mic Saoir-bhreithe mic Fianghusa mic Maeile Ruáin mic Cruitín file ó nabart-air cloinne Chruitín mic Brógáin mic Labáinn mic Seanáin micLonáin mic Carrthainn mic Fraoich condreaghaid et ó Lochloinn.

Royal Irish Academy, Ms 23 H 25, p. 30 [p.93]

Genelach Mic Cruitín

Aodh Buidhe macConchubhair Óig micAodh na Tuinne micCriomhthainn micEoluis mic Firbhisighmic Seancha micConchubhair micSolaimh micConchubhair mic Aodh mic Giolla Críostmic Arailt mic Flainnmic Conchubhair micLiobáinn mic Mudhnamic Saorthuile micSaoirbhreithe micFionghusa mic MaeileRuáin mic Cruitín file ó nabartair cloinneChruitín mic Brógáinmic Labáinn micSeanáin mic Lonáin mic Carrthainn micFraoich mic Osgair mic Mesin Duin mic Mesin Salaigh152 videgenelach Uí Chonchubhair Chorcamruadh.

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References1 The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance of Martin Breen (Ruan,

Co Clare), Vincent Morley and Michelle O Riordan in the preparation ofthis paper.

2 Liam Ó Luaighnigh, Dánta Aindréis Mhic Cruitín (Ennis, 1935), p. 46. Ithank Vincent Morley for his assistance with the translation.

3 Vincent Morley (ed), Aodh Buí Mac Cruitín, (Baile Átha Cliath, 2012), p. 53. This featured in the elegy on the death of Aindrais Mac Cruitín byAodh Buí Mac Cruitín.

4 AFM, sub anno 1404. According to a list of learned writers of Irelandcompiled by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh in 1656, Clann Chruitín werecounted among the ‘ollamhuin seanchais’. James Carney, ‘De scriptoribusHibernicis’, Celtica, 1 (1946–50), pp 86–110, p 91. Antonius Bruodinuscounts them (cf. Chruttini) among the ‘antiquissimae nobilitatis familiae,quae usque ad Cromwelis Tyrannidem’ (‘ancient noble families that con-tinued down until the Cromwellian tyranny’). See Antonius Bruodinus,Propugnaculum Catholicae Veritatis Libris x Constructum, in DuasquePartes Divisum (Prague, 1669), p. 971.

5 Cited in Brian Ó Dálaigh, ‘The last of the hereditary bards of Thomond:Séamus Mac Cruitín 1815-1870’, North Munster Antiquarian Journal, 47(2007) pp 77–90, p. 88.

6 An early reference to the birth date of Aodh Buí Mac Cruitín appears inhis work The elements of the Irish language grammatically explained inEnglish (Louvain, 1728) wherein he states ‘After forty years study, andmany pains taken in learning the Irish language from the most expert ofmy time...’ From this we can assign a birth date of c.1680, assuming thathe did not begin studies until he was eight years of age. Implicit in hisstatement is that he actively sought to acquire knowledge from profess-ional learned men. Also see Vincent Morley, An crann os coill: Aodh Buí

Mac Cruitín, c.1680-1755 (Baile Átha Cliath, 1995), p. 101.7 See Morley, An crann (1995), and Morley (ed), Aodh Buí Mac Cruitín,

(2012). 8 According to Franciscan Antonius Bruodinus his great uncle, poet Tadhg

mac Dáire Mhic Bhruaideadha, was learned in Greek, Latin, English andIrish literature. See Bruodinus, Propugnaculum, pp 851–2. The obit of thebrehon Baothghalach Mac Fhlannchadh (Boetius Clanchy) boasted thathe was ‘fluent in the Latin, Irish, and English’. AFM, sub anno 1598.

9 Annála Connacht, sub anno 1328.10 Proinsias Mac Cana, The Learned Tales of Medieval Ireland (Dublin,

1980), p. 27.11 See Eleanor Knott, Irish classical poetry: Filíocht na Sgol (Cork, 1978).12 On the links between the learned class and the ecclesiastical grades see

Proinsias Mac Cana, ‘The rise of the later schools of Filidheacht’, Eriú, 25(1974), pp 126–46. On such links in the later medieval period in Co.Clare see Luke McInerney, Clerical and learned lineages of medieval Co.Clare: A survey of the fifteenth-century papal registers (Dublin, 2014).

13 AFM, sub anno 1184.14 Bruodinus, Propugnaculum, p. 771.15 RIA 23 N. 12, pp 186, 187. Also see NLI, MS G.193, p. 237, which ranks

the Meic Fhlannchadha and the Meic an Oirchinnigh as collaterallineages of the Meic Conmara.

16 We read in the annals that a ‘Bruaided’ succeeded to the kingship in 871,and he is sometimes identified as a progenitor of the lineage. Diarmuid Ó Murchadha, ‘The Origins of Clann Bhruaideadha’, Éigse, 31 (1999),pp 121–30, p. 122.

17 Ibid. Antonius Bruodinus sets out the genealogical links of Clann Bhruaid-eadha to the Uí Dheaghaidh and their shared descent from the brother ofBloid (a quo Uí Bhloid) Óengus. Bruodinus, Propugnaculum, pp 771, 851.

Branches of Clann Chruitín

Cruitín file ó nabuirtear Clann Chruitín

Maile Ruán = Fionghusa = Saorbreathach = Sáortúile = Mudhna = Altán153 = Conchubhar = Flann = Arailt

Giolladh Chríost = Aodh = Conchubhar = Aodh154 = Aodh Óg

Solamh Conchubhar

Conchubhar Criomhthann

Seanchadh Solamh

Fearbiseach An Cosnamhach

Eolus Rolond

Criomhthann Aindrias (c.1650–1738)155

Aodh na Tuinne

Conchubhar

Conchubhar Óg

Aodh Buidhe (c.1680-1755)156

Genealogy of Clann Chruitín of Cahersherkin in Clooney

Gullduvie Mc Cruttine

Connor (of Carrowduff, fl. 1642)157

Christopher + Any Neylon (2nd mar. Brian McMahon) Michael (fl. 1666) Hugh(fl. 1642, d. 1666) (fl. 1666; cousin of Christopher)

Peter (fl. 1671-1699) of Bally Cottine in 1671 Elyzabeth (fl. 1666)

Connor (fl. 1709)158

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18 E. J. Gwynn, (ed.), ‘Fragmentary annals from the west of Ireland’,Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 37C (1926), pp 149–57, p. 153.

19 AFM, sub anno 1376, 1404, 1434, 1436.20 Séamus Pender (ed.), The O Clery Book of Genealogies (Dublin, 1951).21 See RIA Ms E.iv.3, p. 10; and RIA Ms 23 H 25, p. 30 [p. 93].22 RIA Ms 24 P.41 (scribe Tadhg Ó Neachtáin).23 Antonius Bruodinus writes that the chronologists enjoyed ‘sed & ex-

emptione plus, quam Ecclesiastica gaudebant’ (‘they also enjoyed greaterexemption than that of the church’). Bruodinus, Propugnaculum, p. 771.

24 Eugene O’Curry, On the customs and manners of the ancient Irish, 3(Dublin, 1878), p. 237. Alternatively cruit may denote a hunchbackedperson, though given that Clann Chruitín attained the ollamhnacht inseinm (music) it is plausible that their cultivation of music may be traced(either literally or figuratively) to this progenitor. This is supported bythe observation that poetry was sometimes delivered with musicalaccompaniment, suggesting that the forename in question evolved froma cognomen.

25 On the multi-functional nature of the learned class consider the obit ofMuiris Ó Gilbelláin who was described in the annals as the chief pro-fessor of the new law and old law (‘ardmaighistir Ereann i n-dligheadhnua agus i seanlicceadha’), and who was the canon chorister of Tuam,Elphin, Achonry and at Killala, Annadown and Clonfert, and who alsoheld the position of official and general brehon of the archbishopric. Inan almost identical entry in Annála Connacht it additionally notes thathe was accomplished in Ogham lore (‘n-ogmorachta’). AFM, sub anno1328, Annála Connacht, sub anno 1328.

26 AFM, sub anno 1404.27 RIA Ms 23 H 25, p. 30 [p.93].28 Ó Luaighnigh, Dánta, p. 46.29 Pádraig Ó Riain, A Dictionary of Irish Saints (Dublin 2011), p. 349. Also

see Pádraig Ó Riain, Diarmuid Ó Murchadha & Kevin Murray (eds)Historical Dictionary of Gaelic Placenames, 3 (London, 2008) p. 163.

30 John O’Donovan, Ordnance Survey letters: the antiquities of County Clare(Ennis, 2003) pp 94, 100.

31 See, for example, Mac Cana, ‘Filidheacht’, (1974), pp 126– 46.32 Published for the first time in McInerney, Clerical and learned lineages

(Dublin 2014). 33 For example the Uí Dhuibhdábhoireann supplied clerics at Noughaval

and the Meic Fhlannchadha at Killilagh. See McInerney, Clerical andlearned lineages, pp 164–5.

34 Ó Muraíle (ed.) Mícheál Ó Cléirigh: His Associates and St Anthony’sCollege Louvain (Dublin, 2008), p. 110.

35 On Clann Bhruaideadha see Luke McInerney, ‘Lettermoylan of ClannBhruaideadha’, North Munster Antiquarian Journal, 52 (2012) pp 81–113.

36 AFM, sub anno 1376.37 W. M. Hennessy & B. Mac Carthy, Annála Uladh: Annals of Ulster

otherwise Annala Senait, Annals of Senat: a chronicle of Irish affairs fromA.D. 431 to A.D. 1540, 3 (Dublin, 1895) p. 130.

38 Gwynn, (ed.), ‘Fragmentary annals’, p. 153. 39 AFM, sub anno 1376. The Annals of Ulster put his death occurring in 1371.40 AFM sub anno 1404. The Annals of Ulster note that his patron was

Ó Briain: ‘Gilla-Duibin Mac Cruitin died this year, namely, the ollam ofUa Briain, to wit, one eminent in music and in history and in literarydistinction in Ireland’.

41 AFM sub anno 1434. The Annals of Ulster note that his patron was Ó Briain: ‘Mac Cruitin died this year: to wit, Sencha Mac Cruitin,namely, the professor of history of Ua Briain’.

42 AFM sub anno 1436. The reference to ‘intended’ (adhbar) may indicatethat he was in training. Given the hefty investment in training and time,the high status and relative scarcity of members of hereditary profession-al families, death before graduation was likely to attract attention fromthe annalists.

43 On Seaán Buidhe Mac Bruaideadha’s poem Dlighidh ollamh urraim ríogh(‘An ollamh should be respected by his prince’) see Láimhbheartach MacCionnaith (ed), ‘Dlighidh ollamh urraim ríogh’, Dioghluim Dána (BaileÁtha Cliath, 1938) pp 252–6.

44 Cornel O’Mollony, Anatomicum examen enchiridii apologettici (Prague,1671) pp 112–3. It is significant that Finola’s husband was ConchubharMac Fhlannchadha himself a member of the Meic Fhlannchadha brehonswho were allies of the fourth earl of Thomond. Conchubhar could be the‘Connogher Maglanchy’ who held ‘Enenshy’ (unidentified) tower housethat situated in or near Ennis in 1574. R.W. Twigge, ‘Edward White’sDescription of Thomond in 1574’, North Munster Antiquarian Journal,1:2 (1910), pp 75–85, p. 84.

45 AFM sub anno 1360, 1364. 46 Seathrún Céitinn, Foras Feasa ar Éirinn, 3 (London, 1908), pp 12–14. 47 Thomas O’Sullevane, Dissertation in Memoirs of the Right Honourable

The Marquis of Clanricarde, Lord Deputy General of Ireland (London,1722), pp clxvii–clxix.

48 Joseph Walker’s Historical memoirs of the Irish Bards (London, 1818), pp 202–4. While an alternative attribution could be to Tadhg mac DáireMhic Bhruaideadha, no poems of his are known to be addressed to MacCarthaigh.

49 Pádraig de Brún & Máire Herbert, Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts inCambridge Libraries (Cambridge, 1986), p. 106. This can be translatedas: ‘scholar in medicine at Sutton Valence in the county of Kent, in theyear of grace 1468’.

50 Ibid. p. 107.51 Ibid.52 Ibid. On this tract and the transcription given here see Gearóid Mac

Niocaill, ‘Blogh de ‘Tochomlad Mac Miledh’, Celtica, 6 (1963) pp 259–61,p. 61.

53 The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance of Risteárd Ua Cróinínand Monsignor Réamonn Ó Muirí with this translation.

54 See the poem Donn na Daibhche (‘Donn of the sand hills’) by AindriasMac Cruitín in c.1733. These are the sand hills of the west Clare coast.See Ó Luaighnigh, Dánta, pp 7–9.

55 On types of collective landholding and annual divisions see Gearóid MacNiocaill, ‘Seven Irish Documents from the Inchiquin Archives’, AnalectaHibernica, 26 (Dublin, 1970) pp 47–69.

56 Luke McInerney, ‘Land and Lineage: The McEnerhinys of Ballysallagh in the Sixteenth Century’, North Munster Antiquarian Journal, 49 (2009)pp 1–26, p. 23.

57 On immunities from tribute and military service for the Meic Fhlann-chadha of Tuath Ghlae (Killilagh) in Corcomroe, see James Hardiman(ed.), ‘Ancient Irish Deeds and Writings Chiefly relating to Landed Prop-erty from the Twelfth to Seventeenth Century: With Translation, Notesand a Preliminary Essay’, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 15(1826) pp 1–95, pp 36–43. The reference reads, ‘A ta na sairsi ac SilFlannc[h]ad[h]a’ (‘immunities of the race of Flanchy’). On the rent-freestatus of the Meic Bhruaideadha at Knockanalban see Petworth HouseArchive, Ms C.27.A.60 printed in Luke McInerney, ‘The Earl of Thomond’s1615 Survey of Ibrickan, Co. Clare’, North Munster Antiquarian Journal,53 (2013), pp 173–91 and Petworth House Archive, Ms No. C27/A 39.‘An abstract of such rents and revenewes as doe belonge to the right Hon.Henrye Earle of Thomond’ [1626]. The latter is discussed and publishedin Martin Breen, ‘The 1626 rental of Thomond Property’, North MunsterAntiquarian Journal, 53 (2013) pp 193–205.

58 Twigge, ‘1574’, p. 81; O’Donovan, Ordnance Survey, p. 277.59 Hardiman (ed.), ‘Irish Deeds’, pp 37, 41.60 On the Meic Fhlannchadha see AFM, sub anno 1482, 1483, 1492, 1575,

1576, 1598; On the Meic Bhruaideadha see AFM, sub anno 1563, 1582,1599, 1602; On the Uí Nialláin see AFM, sub anno 1588, 1599; on the UíDhálaigh see AFM, sub anno 1404, 1415, 1420, 1514.

61 R.W. Twigge, ‘Edward White’s Description of Thomond in 1574’, NorthMunster Antiquarian Journal, 1:2 (1910), pp 75–85; Martin Breen, ‘A1570 List of Castles in County Clare’, North Munster Antiquarian Journal,36, (1995) pp 130–8; On the castle builders see RIA Ms 24 D 10, p. 70–2.

62 In a chancery pleading from 1623 it was recorded that at the MeicFhlannchadha residence at Castlekeale (Ballyallagh) was ‘where all ofthe deeds and counterparts relating to the mortgages [were] burnedeither casually or of malice’. We also read that Boetius MacClancy wasentrusted with the storage of charters made between the Uí Lochlainnand the fourth earl of Thomond in 1591 and which were signed andstored at the Meic Fhlannchadha residence of Knockfin in Killilaghparish. Chancery Bills: Survivals from pre-1922 collection, K [undatedchancery bills] No.11. Also see James Frost, The history and topographyof the county of Clare: From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the18th Century (Dublin, 1893) pp 20–1.

63 Twigge, ‘1574’, p. 79.64 Bruodinus, Propugnaculum, p. 770.65 Sean Mac Ruaidhrí Mac Craith, Caithréim Thoirdhealbhaigh, Standish

Hayes O’Grady (ed.) (London, 1929), i., p. 134, ii., p. 117.66 Ibid.67 Cahermacnaughten was inhabited by the Uí Dhuibhdábhoireann until at

least 1675. See Brian Ó Cuív, ‘A seventeenth century legal document’,Celtica, 5 (1960), pp 177–85.

68 See 1842 Ordnance Survey 6-Inch maps.69 O’Donovan, Ordnance Survey, p. 10.70 Luke McInerney, ‘The Earl of Thomond’s 1615 Survey of Ibrickan, Co.

Clare’, North Munster Antiquarian Journal, 53 (2013), pp 173–91, p. 188.71 A. Martin Freeman, (ed) The Compossicion Booke of Conought (Dublin,

1936).72 Luke McInerney, ‘Documents from the Thomond Papers at Petworth

House’, Archivium Hibernicum, 64, (2001), pp 7– 55, pp 13–14. Also seePetworth House Archive MS 1141 [inquisition post mortem of DonoughO’Brien, fourth earl of Thomond].

73 Mac Niocaill, ‘Irish Documents’, p. 59.74 Petworth House Archive Ms B.26.T.16, [1 April, 1619].75 Alternatively it may be the modern Glendine in Kilfarboy parish.76 Trinity College Dublin Library, Ms 829, fol. 81v [617] 25/4/1643 [Depos-

ition of John Ward.]77 Petworth House Archive Ms 16.B.D.2 [Great Office of Corcomroe Barony,

5 September 1618]. I thank Kenneth Nicholls for this reference.78 Petworth House Archive, Ms 16 D.1 [Great Office 1618 – Clonderalaw &

Moyarta baronies] 1618. I thank Kenneth Nicholls for this reference.79 The Uí Ghiolla Sheanáin were a hereditary clerical lineage associated

with Inis Cathaigh since at least the early fifteenth-century and wherethey often held the priorship. Their hereditary lands were at Kilteelinand a corrupt form of the placename was recorded in this deed as CillTilang, the residence of Seán mac Taidhg Uí Ghiolla Sheanáin. See LukeMcInerney, ‘The clerical lineages of Inis Cathaigh’, The Other Clare, 37(2013), pp 57–64, p. 59.

80 O’Donovan, Ordnance Survey, pp 127–9.

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81 The Irish Fiants of the Tudor Sovereigns During the Reigns of Henry VIII,Edward VI, Philip & Mary, and Elizabeth I, (Dublin, 1994) No. 6615 [year1602]. The spelling O’Crottine must be an error for ‘Mac Crottine’.

82 Frost, History and topography, p. 305.83 In 1641 only ‘Solloman Cruttin’ was recorded as holding part of ‘Kil-

laughvalley’ (i.e. Laghvally). See R. Simington, Books of Survey andDistribution, Being Abstracts of Various Surveys and Instruments of Title,1636-1703, [Co. Clare], p. 238.

84 Ibid., pp 236–8. 85 John Ainsworth (ed), The Inchiquin Manuscripts (Dublin, 1961) (no.

1062), p. 346. The deed was signed and witnessed in Irish by ‘ConcubairMc Crutin’ and also witnessed by Christopher Cruttine, presumably hisson who entered into further agreements with Comyne in 1658 and 1660.

86 Ainsworth (ed), Inchiquin, (no. 1360), p. 449.87 Ibid., (no. 1441), p. 483.88 Mac Niocaill, ‘Irish documents’, p. 49.89 The appellation ‘na Tauny’ is probably an anglicisation of na tuinne, de-

noting ‘of the waves’. An alternative views posits that it is an anglicisedform of na tuinnidhe and denotes a ‘den/cavern’. On this view see JohnO’Hart, Irish pedigrees; or, The origin and stem of the Irish nation(Dublin, 1892) pp 307–8. Also see Edward O’Reilly, An Irish-EnglishDictionary (Dublin, 1864) p. 540.

90 This name is given in another pedigree as ‘Seanchaidh’ which denotes‘historian’ or ‘chronicler’, a forename or appellation that reflected theprofessional pursuit of the family. The annals note that in 1434 SeanchaMac Cruitín ‘ollamh Tuadhmumhan’ in history died. The annals ofUlster, however, record that he was ollamh to Ua Briain. NLI Ms G.177,p.31. Also see AFM, sub anno 1434 and Annals of Ulster, sub anno 1434.

91 Petworth House Archive Ms 16.B.D.2 [Great Office of Corcomroe Barony,5 September 1618]. Also see RIA, Ms 23 H 25, p. 30 [p. 93].

92 See AFM, sub anno 1434. In the genealogy found at NLI Ms G.177, p. 31,Aodh Buidhe was seventh in descent from Seancha who, theoretically,had a fifteenth-century floruit. Other genealogies that assign AodhBuidhe as sixth in descent from Seancha, such as we find in Ms 23 H 25,p. 30 [p.93], appear to omit one generation.

93 Gwynn, (ed.), ‘Fragmentary annals’, p. 153.94 Ibid.95 AFM, sub anno 1434.96 RIA Ms E.iv.3, p. 10.97 NLI Ms G.177, p. 31. Scribe of pedigree: Richard Tipper (‘Riosdard

Tuibear’), c.1710. The pedigree of Clann Chruitín, printed by JohnO’Hart, appears to be derived largely from NLI Ms G.177. See O’Hart,Irish pedigrees, pp 307–8.

98 de Brún & Herbert, Catalogue, p. 106.99 Mac Cana, Tales, pp 8, 41. Also see the reference to Tochomlad mac Mili

a hEspain co hErind in Ibid., p. 60.100 Mac Niocaill, ‘Irish Documents’, p. 51. Conchubhar Óg may also have

been the same scribe who wrote an undated deed in Irish published byJames Hardiman, but from internal evidence can be dated to the 1590s.See Hardiman, (ed) ‘Irish deeds’, p. 15–16. This deed refers to TadhgMac Mathghamhna who is probably Tadhg, lord of east Corkavaskin,who died in 1594. See AFM, sub anno 1594.

101 The surname Mac Cruitín underwent a metathesis in its anglicisation to the modern forms ‘McCurtin’ and ‘Curtin’. Possibly this change inphonetics occurred in Irish first which, subsequently, influenced theanglicised forms. See W. M. Hennessy Annála Uladh, p. 53, note 2.

102 Ainsworth (ed), Inchiquin, (no. 904), p. 282.103 Mac Niocaill, ‘Documents’, p. 59.104 Petworth House Archive Ms B.26.T.16, [1 April, 1619].105 Ainsworth (ed), Inchiquin, (no. 1025) p. 331.106 Eugene O’Curry, On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish

(Dublin, 1873) ii, p. 184. Céitinn, Foras, i, pp 78–9.107 For example, the name Boetius/Baothghalach was a favourite cognomen

of the Meic Fhlannchadha as well as being the name of a sixth centuryChristian philosopher.

108 Ainsworth (ed), Inchiquin, (no. 1029), p. 332.109 Bernadette Cunningham, The Annals of the Four Masters: Irish history,

kingship and society in the early seventeenth century (Dublin, 2010), p. 278.

110 AFM, sub anno 1599, 1602.111 O’Mollony, Anatomicum, p. 132.112 On other deeds witnessed by Meic Cruitín kinsmen see the conveyance

of land in Kilfenora and Kiltoraght parishes in 1678 and witnessed by‘Aug[ustin] Cruttin’. Ainsworth (ed), Inchiquin, (no. 1168) pp 380–1. TheInchiquin Manuscripts are, however, incorrect to regard the O’Cruyn ofKilnaboy who appear in deed from 1620 as members of Clann Chruitín.On the O’Cruyn see Ainsworth (ed), Inchiquin, (no. 1013), pp 326, 666.

113 Gifford Charles-Edwards, ‘Calendar of Petitions to Ormonde in 1649 and1650’, The Irish Genealogist, 6:6 (1985) pp 724–47, p. 746.

114 Ainsworth (ed), Inchiquin, (no. 1140), p. 372.115 Ibid., (no. 1360), p. 449.116 Ibid., (no. 316) p. 100.117 See Aindrias Mac Cruitín’s poem, Marbhna Sir Donnchaidh mhic

Chonchobhair Uí Bhriain, Leim an Eich, in Ó Luaighnigh, Dánta, pp 1–3. 118 Standish Hayes O’Grady, Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts in the British

Museum, 1, (London, 1926), pp 131–3. Egerton 88 contains references tothe ‘sgol’ (school) of the Uí Dhuibhdábhoireann in the Burren.

119 T.F. O’Rahilly, ‘A Poem by Piaras Feiritéar’, Ériu, 13 (1942), pp 113–8, pp114 & 116.

120 O’Donovan, Ordnance Survey, pp 127–9. Also see Ibid, p. 116.121 University College Dublin Archive, Ms La38/50.122 Ibid. Translation by Séamus Mac Cruitín.123 Thomas J. Westropp, ‘Ring-forts in the Barony of Moyarta, County Clare,

and their legends. Part II - Kilkee to Carrigaholt’, Journal of the RoyalSociety of Antiquaries of Ireland, 3 (1909), pp 113–26, pp 120–1.

124 Brian O’Looney, A Collection of Poems Written on Different Occasionsby the Clare Bards in Honour of the MacDonnells of Kilkee and Killone, in the County of Clare (Dublin, 1863), pp iii-v; also see Ó Luaighnigh,Dánta (1935).

125 See Aindrias’ poem Donn na Daibhche dated to c.1733 where he appealsto the mythical Donn son of Milesius for patronage, underlining hisreduced circumstances. On the poem see Ó Luaighnigh, Dánta, pp 7–9The list of subscribers to Aodh Buí’s book A brief discourse in vindicationof the Antiquity of Ireland (Dublin, 1717) is heavily populated by cadetbranches of the O’Briens and contains only a handful of O’Loughlins andO’Conors. The list can be taken as representing patrons for the work,both actual and potential. Publication of the book in English was cal-culated to broaden its appeal beyond his traditional patronage.

126 Hugh McCurtin, A brief discourse in vindication of the Antiquity ofIreland (Dublin, 1717).

127 Morley, An Crann, p. 39. On Aodh Buí’s life also see Michael MacMahon,‘From Clare’s Gaelic past: Part 2’, The Other Clare, 31 (2007), pp 43–50.Aodh Buí’s imprisonment in 1717 is inferred in his book The Elements ofthe Irish Language where he states that he ‘durst not venture to appear inpublick without the protection of a person of…quality.’ H. Mac CurtinThe elements of the Irish language grammatically explained in English(Louvain, 1728), preface. On another reference to his imprisonment seeMorley, An crann, p. 93.

128 Mac Curtin Irish language, (Louvain, 1728).129 Ibid., preface.130 Conchubhar Ó Beaglaoich, The English-Irish Dictionary (Paris, 1732).131 On some of his poems see Morley, Aodh Buí, (2012).132 Angela Bourke (ed) et al., The Field Day Anthology of Irish Literature:

Irish Women’s Writing and Traditions, (New York, 2002), p. 434. Thefirst line of the poem reads: A bhuime den bhród mhórdha ba rathamhailréim. It is equally possible that Úna was a sister or niece of Aodh Buí. Ithank Vincent Morley for his suggestion in the matter.

133 MacMahon, ‘Clare’s Gaelic past, Part 2’, p. 47.134 Ainsworth, (ed.), Inchiquin, (no. 593) p. 179.135 Mac Craith, Caithréim Thoirdhealbhaigh, ii, p. 190.136 On his life and literary activities see Ó Dálaigh, ‘Séamus Mac Cruitín’, pp

77–90. Séamus Mac Cruitín claimed that he was sixth in line of descentfrom Seán, brother of Aindrias Mac Cruitín. He appears to have hadaccess to a considerable body of manuscripts and writings in Irish, andin a letter written to Eoghan O’Curry in February 1847 as the famine wasravaging west Co. Clare, Mac Cruitín listed 134 poems and other items inhis possession, excluding other works of ‘our own county bards’ such asthe poems of Aindrias and Aodh Mac Cruitín. See Ó Dálaigh, ‘SéamusMac Cruitín’, pp 77–8; University College Dublin Archive, Ms LA 38/44.

137 See T. O’Rahílly, ‘Deasgan Tuanach: Selections from Modern Clare Poets.II. Aindrias Mac Cruitín Cct’, The Irish Monthly, 53:619 (1925), pp 45–7;and Liam Ó Luaighnigh, Dánta Aindréis Mhic Cruitín (Ennis 1935). Alsosee the notes on Aindrias (Andrew) and Aodh (Hugh) in Brian O’Looney,A Collection of Poems Written On Different Occasions by the Clare Bardsin Honor of the Macdonnells of Kilkee and Killone, in the County of Clare,(Dublin, 1863) pp iii–v.

138 Ó Luaighnigh, Dánta, pp 10–14.139 See RIA Ms E iv 3 [date: 1727]. Also see Bernadette Cunningham, ‘The

Book of O’Loghlen: an unwanted wedding gift?’, in R. Gillespie and R.F.Foster (eds.), Irish provincial cultures in the long eighteenth century(Dublin, 2012), pp 181–97. Also see Bernadette Cunnigham & SiobhánFitzpatrick (eds) Aon amharc ar Éirinn: Gaelic families and their manu-scripts (Dublin, 2013) pp 24–5.

140 Mac Craith, Caithréim Thoirdhealbhaigh, ii, p. 1.141 See University College Dublin Archive Ms LA 38/50, Papers of Eugene

O’Curry, [‘biographical sketches of the modern bards of County Clare’ byJames McCurtin June 1846]. Also see the reference to Moyglass in hispoem Donn na Daibhche of c.1733: ná fág fo cheas me ag teacht do’n t-saoire, air scéird Mhóghlais im’ spreas ‘sam spíonladh. On the latter seeÓ Luaighnigh, Dánta, pp 7–9.

142 Brian O’Looney, ‘An old Irish Ms. found in Co. Clare’, Proceedings of theRoyal Irish Academy, 111 (1893–6), pp 218–22.

143 Ó Luaighnigh states that he was buried at Kilfarboy. See Ó Luaighnigh,Dánta, introduction. This claim is repeated in Seosamh Mac Mathúna,Kilfarboy: a history of a west Clare parish (1971), p. 112.

144 McCurtin, Discourse, (1717).145 See RIA Ms 3 B.18 (821) [Annals of Innisfallen, from AD 250 to 1435].146 See Luke McInerney, ‘A poem on the saints of Munster’, Seanchas Ard-

mhacha, 24, (2012) pp 10–22.147 University College Dublin Archive Ms LA 38/43, Papers of Eugene

O’Curry, [‘biographical sketches of the modern bards of County Clare’,by James McCurtin, June 1846]. A similar claim is repeated by BrianO’Looney who asserted that Aindrias was ‘ollamh and historian to theO’Briens of Thomond’. This claim, however, is unsubstantiated and while

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Aindrias was a recipient of patronage from some O’Brien branches suchas the O’Briens of Ennistymon, probably the last hereditary ollamh of theÓ Briain was Tadhg mac Dáire Mhic Bhruaideadha who died in c.1624and whose land at Knockanalban was held rent-free. In a poem com-posed by Aodh Buí on the death of Aindrias titled Ní buan brón go básollamh, his use of the term ollamh in describing Aindrias refers to hisaccomplished learning rather than any professional title. Ó Luaighnigh,Dánta, p. 60.

148 Sir Walter Scott & John Gibson Lockhart, The Poetical Works of Sir WalterScott, bart., (first published 1813; reprinted: Edinburgh, 1847), p. 329.

149 From the poem ‘The warrior-exiles: a legend of the Clan MacInnerny’, inMichael Hogan, Lays and Legends of Thomond (Limerick, 1924, reprint1999), pp 289–91.

150 Mac Mathúna, Kilfarboy, p. 115.151 This genealogy formed part of Leabhar Uí Lochlainn and was compiled

by Aindrias Mac Cruitín in 1727. See RIA Ms E iv 3.152 On this part of the genealogy which is illegible refer to Seán Ó hÓgáin,

Conntae an Cláir: A Triocha Agus A Tuatha (Baile Átha Cliath, 1938) p. 91.153 The forename Altán does not appear in the other Clann Chruitín

genealogies such as RIA Ms E.iv.3, p. 10 and Ms 23 H 25, p. 30 [p.93].154 This Aodh is possibly the ‘Eagd Mac Crutyn’ whose obit survives for

1354. Gwynn, (ed.), ‘Fragmentary annals’, p. 153.155 RIA Ms E.iv.3, p. 10.156 NLI Ms G.177, p. 31. Scribe of pedigree: Richard Tipper (Riosdard

Tuibear), c.1710. The pedigree of Clann Chruitín, printed by John O’Hart,appears to be derived largely from NLI Ms G.177. See John O’Hart, Irishpedigrees; or, The origin and stem of the Irish nation (Dublin 1892) pp307–8.

157 Ainsworth (ed), Inchiquin, (no. 1062), p. 346. Connor Mc Gullduvie Mc Cruttine mortgaged land called ‘Skeaghboogkine’ at Carrowduff toPatricke Comyne in 1642 and Christopher entered into further agree-ments with Patrick Comyne in 1658 and 1660.

158 Ainsworth (ed), Inchiquin, (no. 316), p. 100. It states that Connor was‘grandson and heir of Christopher’.

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