Kingdom of West Breifne or Breifne O'Rourke was a historic kingdom of Ireland that existed from 1256 to 1605, located in the area that is County Leitrim.
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34 Facts About West Breifne
2.
The instability and weakness of West Breifne, which had already lost much of its territory during the Norman invasion, prompted the O'Reilly in the east of the kingdom to launch a campaign against the ruling O'Rourke dynasty.
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3.
At these talks, which the O'Rourke lords of West Breifne were excluded from, it was agreed that the king of Connacht was the rightful ruler of all of West Breifne "from Kells to Drumcliff".
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6.
The O'Rourke rebellion against Connacht's dominance was ultimately a failure, but the O'Reilly of East West Breifne had succeeded in theirs and Connacht never regained control of the east.
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7.
West Breifne was succeeded by Tigernan, grandson of Ualgarg O Ruairc, who died just one year after his inauguration.
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8.
West Breifne was inaugurated in 1316 with the support of King Fedlim of Connacht and fought alongside Fedlim in the Second Battle of Athenry that year.
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9.
West Breifne was succeeded by his brother Flaithbheartach who ruled for 3 years before being overthrown by Ualgarg Mor's son Aodh ban.
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10.
West Breifne ruled from there until his death in 1376 and his younger brother Tigernan Mor succeeded him.
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11.
West Breifne died of natural causes at an old age in his stronghold at Dromahair on St Brigid's Day.
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12.
Much of its history, West Breifne saw disputes over kingship, with persistent battles between rival factions.
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14.
West Breifne ruled from his stronghold of Castle Carha for 24 contentious years.
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15.
Under the terms of this agreement the O'Rourke king was to keep his authority and traditional rights over the other clans of West Breifne, the sitting O'Rourke king was to be granted the peerage title "Viscount Dromahaire" and pay a tribute to the crown, however the terms of this treaty were never realized as the English failed to uphold them.
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16.
In 1569 West Breifne was subsumed into the Presidency of Connaught, an English government jurisdiction.
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17.
Under the 1576 agreement the king of West Breifne was to answer to the Presidency-appointed High Sheriff of Leitrim, was denied the authority to rule over the other clans and, most crucially, was not allowed to maintain gallowglass.
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18.
West Breifne was a signatory of the Second Composition of Connaught in 1585, but resisted the appointment of a High Sheriff of Leitrim, and refused to pay rent on large tracts of land.
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19.
West Breifne regarded his agreements with the presidency as non-binding and his relationship with England remained tense.
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20.
West Breifne was given refuge by Eoghan Og, Chief of Mac Suibhne na d'Tuath, and stayed in his castle on the western shores of Tyrconnell for a year.
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22.
West Breifne was however, supported by the O'Donnells and Maguires in neighboring Tyrconnell, where he was living in exile and, with the tacit support of Tyrconnell, carrying out guerilla attacks on West Breifne from 1590 to 1592.
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23.
Edmund McGuaran, a prominent Bishop from Tullyhaw in West Breifne territory was instrumental in the formation of the Irish alliance.
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24.
West Breifne spent much of the 1580s in Madrid, persuading King Phillip II of Spain to support the Gaelic kingdoms militarily, framing the conflict between them and England as a defence of Catholicism.
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25.
George Bingham led an expedition into West Breifne and seized O'Rourke's milch cows in lieu of unpaid rent.
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26.
Many of the clans of West Breifne who had sworn loyalty to the English allied themselves with O'Donnell.
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27.
In contrast to the situation 3 years earlier, the once desolate kingdom of West Breifne was now more prosperous than anywhere in Connacht, having recovered from the devastation wrought by Bingham and had been relatively untouched by the war in the last four years.
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28.
West Breifne was now the only Irish kingdom that had not yet surrendered.
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29.
West Breifne's resistance was ultimately broken and Brian Og fled.
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30.
The clans within West Breifne were granted land and assurances of their rights to pass on that land to their eldest son under English law in exchange for pledging loyalty to the crown, circumventing the authority of the ruling O'Rourke dynasty – the same form of divide and rule that was first adopted by the English government in Ireland following their occupation of MacMahon territory in 1590.
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31.
West Breifne's opportunity arose when questions over the legitimacy of Brian and Aedh were raised as their mother Mary was twice divorced before her marriage to Tadhg.
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32.
West Breifne was ordered to pay an unprecedented £250 each to the three claimants.
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34.
West Breifne received 6,500 acres but would later grow this to over 18,000 acres.
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