Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin

Who was Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin?

Murrough McDermod O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin and 6th Baron Inchiquin, was known as Murchadh na dTóiteán - of Irish Catholics and their land and dwellings.

O'Brien studied war in the Spanish service and fought against the confederate Catholics on the outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1641. He was made governor of Munster in 1642 and had some small success, but was hampered by lack of funds. Sidney Lee states that he outwitted the Irish leader, Donough MacCarty, 2nd Viscount Muskerry, with threats and promises O'Brien persuaded Muskerry to delay attacking the garrisons at Cappoquin and Lismore until a truce was brokered by a representative of King Charles I, after which O'Brien forces dispersed. O'Brien visited Charles I at Oxford in 1644. He was forced to submit to parliament in 1644, as the parliamentarians being masters of the sea, were therefore the only people who could help the Munster Protestants. He was made President of Munster, supplies having been brought to him by Philip Sidney in 1647. O'Brien gradually became master of the south of Ireland, and declared for Charles I in 1648, fortified the southern ports against parliament and signed a truce with the confederate Catholics. He was joined by James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, with whom he got possession of Drogheda and Dundalk. O'Brien lost influence in Munster, which revolted after Cromwell's landing, 1649, but made a stand at Kilmallock in 1649. He retired to the west of the Shannon and then left Ireland for France in 1650, where he became one of the royal council and in 1654 was created Earl of Inchiquin. He served under the French in Catalonia in 1654, and was engaged in the Sexby Plot in 1656 and in the same year became a Roman Catholic. He was taken prisoner by the Algerines in 1660, but ransomed the same year and became high steward of Queen Henrietta Maria's household. He lived quietly in Ireland after 1663.