Irish Chieftain, Kerne and Horse-boy
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| This is part of the booklet "The Last King, Donal IX MacCarthy Mór, King of Desmond and the Two Munsters, 1558-1596". |
"She Engaged Him to Surrender Into Her Hands His Kingdom of Desmond" King Donal IX MacCarthy Mór and Elizabeth Tudor by The Count of Clandermond |
The booklet is web published here by permission of The MacCarthy Clan Society, Kanturk, Co. Cork. |
It has been frequently alleged, particularly by English or Anglophile historians, that Donal IX MacCarthy Mór (regnant 1558-1596), the last de facto Eoghanacht King of Desmond and de juro divino King of Munster, not only abdicated his crown but negated the Sovereign status of his Dynasty by an act of surrender to Elizabeth Tudor, the de facto Queen of England. Whilst International Law allows the abdication of Sovereigns, there is no concept of 'Dynastic Abdication'. Whilst any Prince may renounce his own interest in the Crown which he enjoys, and, questionably, extend the terms of his renunciation to his unborn heirs, he cannot make a valid Dynastic Abdication binding on his whole Royal House. Immediately upon the renunciation of Royal Rights by a Sovereign the next legitimate heir succeeds automatically to the Crown. This principle being admitted it is clear that even if King Donal IX MacCarthy Mór had voluntarily abdicated his Crown, and extended the renunciation to include his only son, Prince Tadgh, he could not have surrendered the Sovereignty of Desmond itself to a foreign Crown. But Donal IX made no such voluntary abdication, but was constrained by threats to accept an earldom from Elizabeth Tudor. His acceptance of the Earldom of Clancare (Glencar) has been mistakenly protrayed as an act of dynastic abdication. In the year 1565, Donal IX MacCarthy Mór was seized and imprisoned by Lord Fermoy and sent, as a prisoner, to England. Whatever subsequently transpired in England, Donal's mere presence there cannot be held as proof of any voluntary action. We can cite the manuscript known as the Généalogie de la Royale et Sérénissime Maison de MacCarthy, prepared circa 1760 for the first Comte MacCarthy Reagh de Toulouse by Sir Issac Heard, then Norroy King of Arms (and subsequently Garter), and Ralph Bigland, Clarenceux King of Arms, as evidence:
Donal MacCarthy Mór, King of Desmond, being taken prisoner by David, Lord Roch of Fermoy, Sir Hentry Sydney, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, mistrusting the rebellious intentions of Gerald the last Earl of Desmond, sent Donal MacCarthy Mór to England, to the intent that by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's good usage to him, he might be made an instrument against the said Desmond. Her Majesty did so effectually prevail on him by Royal gifts and fair promises that she engaged him to surrender into her hands his Kingdom of Desmond and to take it back from the Crown by English tenure. She paid his expenses of his journey, conferred many ample privileges on him, left him in full possession of all his royalties, and power of appointing Sherrifs at will in his territory, at the same time she created him Earl of Clancarré and Baron of Valentia by letters patent bearing date the 7th year of her reign, anno 1565. Donal on his return to home was so much dispised by his vassals and followers for his new titles that he rejected them immediately, and after the example of O'Neill in Ulster, took to arms in the South, assuming the title King of Munster and sent ambassadors to the Pope and King of Spain for assistance ........"
Thus any submission made to Elizabeth was procured by threats and coercion. That he "surrendered" his Sovereignty is certainly in doubt. Even the English Kings of Arms were forced to admit that Elizabeth left the King in "full possession of all his royalties". Nor did Donal make any renunciation of his royal title of MacCarthy Mór. It was this title which, in a Gaelic context, embodied the fullness of his Royal Status. Just as, in the Roman Empire, the surname Ceasar was adopted by the Emperors as the title of Imperial Dignity, so the title of MacCarthy Mór was, in Desmond, the royal title.
Donal is referred to as 'Donal MacCarthy Mór' in the letters patent which created him Earl of Clancare. Thus Donal had not renounced his Gaelic royal title in exchange for the Earldom. He was Earl of Clancare and, simultaneously MacCarthy Mór, King of Desmond (the latter two titles being inseparable). By maintaining his use of the title MacCarthy Mór, Donal IX continued to assert that he was King of Desmond. Furthermore, since "on his (Donal) ...... return home took to arms in the South, assumed the title King of Munster and sent ambassadors to the Pope and King of Spain for assistance," it is obvious that Donal IX had made no voluntary renunciation of his Sovereignty.
The 'rebellion' of King Donal IX was crushed by the English in late 1568 and he was once again forced to 'submit' to Elizabeth Tudor and to accept the title of Earl of Clancare. Nevertheless, he still made no renunciation of the title MacCarthy Mór and continued to use it. This can be proven by reference to contemporary documents. For example, in confirming an hereditary office in the possession of one Manus Oge O'Rourke, by letters patent dated July 7th, 1584, Donal granted the former certain hereditary fees on the "marriage of my daughter, or of the daughter of a MacCarthy Mór." It is important to note that the fees envisaged a succession of MacCarthy Mórs and made no reference to successive Earls of Clancare.
Following the death of King Donal IX in 1596, the conquest and plantation of Desmond by the English was effectively realised. His Royal House, which had hiterto reigned for fourteen centuries, was now deprived of the exercise of de facto sovereignty in its ancestral Kingdom of Desmond. Donal IX MacCarthy Mór was indeed the last regnant King of Desmond, not in consequence of any pretended 'dynastic abdication' or personal renunciation of his royal title, but because the kingdom could no longer defend itself against the might of Elizabethan England.