Donal of the Pipes, 17th Prince of Carbery

Donal na Pipi MacCarthy Reagh (Irish: Domhnall na bpíopaí Mac Cárthaigh Riabhach) (died 10 October 1612) was the 17th Prince of Carbery.[1][2] from 1593 to 1606,[3] when he surrendered the principality to the English Crown under the policy of Surrender and Regrant.[4] He belonged to the MacCarthy Reagh dynasty as a son of Cormac na Haoine, the 13th Prince of Carbery.[3][5][6] His epithet "of the Pipes" (na bpíopaí in Irish) originates from when several pipes of wine washed up on the beach at Burren, which was traditionally believed to be a sign of good fortune for him.[7]

Although he surrendered Carbery to the Crown in 1606 he does not appear to have been granted a peerage in return (as was typical). However, as seen in the 1607 pedigree, he is listed being "Lord of Carbery"[3] and as such the family was able to retain a vast yearly income. Donal na Pipi's son, Cormac, predeceased him leaving an only son, Donal of Kilbrittain, who died in 1636.[2][5] Upon his death an inquisition was taken of the family[8] and it was determined that the MacCarthy Reagh was still collecting yearly rents from various Irish chiefs that all totaled £207 16s 11¼d per annum.[8][9] This sum doesn't include any revenue from his 70½ demesne ploughlands,[9] and is approximately equivalent to £1,056,000 in 2018.[10]

A projection of the Principality of Carbery, circa 1606, upon a modern map of Ireland's baronies. This map would have been the extent of the territory surrendered by Donal na Pipi.

Donal na Pipi is widely known due to his conflict with his cousin, Florence, over the succession to the chiefship as Prince of Carbery. Donal notoriously broke a promise to Florence when he violated his bond with Florence for £10,000 and surrendered the territory and lordship of Carbery to King James I in 1606.[4] Although it can only be speculated, it seems Donal may have realized that English conquest was by now a sure thing, and the best way (despite his personal ambitions) to preserve Carbery was to opt for surrender and regrant. The family's native Irish allegiance can hardly be called into question, as just fours years earlier, although Donal na Pipi remained visibly neutral, his cousin fought alongside The O'Sullivan Beare against the English at the Battle of Kinsale.

Carbery

By comparing W.F.T. Butler's map, 'The Barony of Carbery in Tudor Times,' with modern land surveys, we can estimate that at the time Donal surrendered Carbery, it comprised the modern baronies of West Carbery (East and West Divisions), East Carbery (East and West Divisions), Kinalmeaky, and Ibane and Barryroe. Which would equate to 436,478.1 acres (682 square miles) in size, or just over 2% of Ireland's total size. In medieval Ireland (prior to its incorporation as a petty kingdom) it was the largest barony, and that superlative would remain true today. In fact, if it were reestablished today as its own kingdom it would rank a respectable 180th out of the world's recognized 225 countries and dependencies by land area.[11]

Family

Donal married Margaret FitzGerald, daughter of Sir Thomas Ruadh FitzGerald and Ellice Poer, and the granddaughter of James FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond. Ellie Poer was the daughter of Sir Richard Poer, 1st Baron le Power and Coroghmore, and Catherine Butler, daughter of Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond, and Margaret FitzGerald. Through Donal's marriage to Margaret, he had two sons. Donal na Pipi had his eldest son, Cormac, who predeceased him, and then a grandson, Donal MacCarthy Reagh who married Ellen Roche of Fermoy, daughter of David Roche, 7th Viscount Fermoy. This Donal had a son, Cormac who married Eleanor, sister of Donough MacCarty, 1st Earl of Clancarty, by whom he had two sons whose progeny are the senior branches of the MacCarthy Reagh alive today. Donal na Pipi's younger son, Owen, founded the Springhouse branch of the dynasty. The senior representatives of the Springhouse McCarthys would become the Count MacCarthy Reagh of Toulouse in 1766, but the last male issue of that line died in 1906.

Ancestry

8. Finghin MacCarthy Reagh, 10th Prince of Carbery

4. Donal MacCarthy Reagh, 12th Prince of Carbery

18. Thomas FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Desmond

9. Catherine FitzGerald

19. Ellice de Barry

2. Cormac na Haoine MacCarthy Reagh, 13th Prince of Carbery

10. Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare

5. Eleanor FitzGerald

11. Alison FitzEustace

1. Donal na Pipi, 17th Prince of Carbery

Cormac Laidir MacCarthy, 4th Lord of Muskerry

6. Cormac Oge MacCarthy, 5th Lord of Muskerry

Mary FitzMaurice

3. Julia MacCarthy of Muskerry

7. Catherine Barry

References

1. Moody, Terry (2011). A New History of Ireland. A Companion to Irish History. Oxford University Press. p. 157.
2. McCarthy, Evan (2019). The History and Pedigree of the McCarthy Family of Drinagh, Co. Cork (PDF). pp. 32–33, 99–100.
3. Pedigree of MaCarthy Reagh and MaCarthy Mor, Lords of Carbery, of Fyall, c.1500-1687. Genealogical Office: MS 156. National Library of Ireland, Dublin: Genealogical Office. 1607. pp. 233–234.
4. Lee, Sidney (1909). Dictionary of National Biography. New York: The MacMillan Co. pp. 443.
5. O'Hart, John (1892). Irish Pedigrees. Dublin: James Duffy and Co.
6. Pedigree of MacCarthy, Kings of Desmond, Mac Carthy Reagh, the Bernard MacCarthys and Leader MacCarthys 1045-1937. Genealogical Office: MS176. National Library of Ireland, Dublin: Genealogical Office. 1937. pp. 459–463.
7. McCarthy, S.T. (April 1912). "The Clann Carthaigh (continued)". Kerry Archaeological Magazine. 1 (8): 452. JSTOR 30059797.
8. MacCarthy, Samuel Trant (1922). The Mac Carthys of Munster; the History of a Great Irish Sept. Dublin: Gryphons Publishers. p. 365.
9. Butler, W.F.T. (April 1904). "The Barony of Carbery". Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society. 10 (62, Ser. 2): 1–10–73–84.
10. "Measuring Worth - Purchase Power of the Pound". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
11. "Largest Countries in the World by Land Area - Worldometers". www.worldometers.info. Retrieved 1 August 2019.