Bissett family (Ireland)
Encyclopedia
The history of the Bissett family (also spelled Byset, Bysete, Bisset, Byssede, Biseid, Myssett) in Ireland
can be studied independently from that of the originally identical family
in Scotland
, because of their unique experience following their arrival in Ulster
in the early or mid-13th century. Here, while still remaining involved in Scottish affairs, the Bissetts would establish themselves as the Lords of the Glens of Antrim
and quickly become equally, then eventually more involved in the politics of the Irish province, becoming among the most Gaelicized
of all the so-called Anglo-Norman
families in Ireland. The heads of the leading branch of the family soon adopted the Gaelic
lineage style Mac Eoin Bissett (of the Glens), by which they are known in the Irish annals
, and which translates as "Son/Descendant of John Byset
", after a prominent ancestor born in Scotland. In a number of English
and Anglo-Norman sources the same head of the family is referred to as the Baron Bissett, also with variants.
This family style or title eventually split, in a manner, to provide both the modern County Antrim
surname Mac Eoin, anglicized McKeon
/McKeown
, and the surname Bissett
itself (in Ireland), the latter not easily distinguishable from the typically Scottish Bisset
, for which the doubling of the final -t-, the typical practice in Ireland from the 16th century, has become more common in modern times. In the Irish language
Bissett is usually written Bised (Biseid).
arrived with his family from Scotland is unknown, but he appears in the (surviving) English documents relating to Ireland in 1245, when Henry III of England
orders 50 marks to be given out of the treasury to him as a gift. Byset's activities from then on can only be guessed from the short description of his career in Ireland offered by the terse Annals of Ulster
, reporting his death twelve years later in 1257. This entry at least proves that he had established himself prominently in the region with fire and sword:
The Gaidhil in this context are the Gaelic Irish of Ulster and perhaps beyond. Whether he purchased his lands himself (one tradition) or was granted them by the English Crown (another) is also unknown, and his relationship with the leading English and other Scottish magnates of the region was probably complex. The first Earl of Ulster
(1st creation), Hugh de Lacy
, was dead by 1242/3 and his authority, namely the Earldom of Ulster, over the eastern quarter of the modern province of Ulster, this region being then called Ulidia, was incomplete. It is possible that the Bissetts aided de Lacy against his Scottish rival Donnchad, Earl of Carrick and received some of the latter's lands for their assistance, but while attractive no account of such a thing is preserved. Following de Lacy's death, Brian Ua Néill
rose to become the most powerful king in all the north of Ireland and in the 1250s was busy smashing the young earldom to pieces, killing many of the English (presumably Scots also) and destroying their castles, and the Bissetts may have been among the sufferers. However, the report of John Byset's death in 1257 shows that the family were viable and may have found themselves possibly even the most prominent British family remaining in Ulidia for a period, since no others are mentioned in the annals. O'Neill was elected High King of Ireland
in 1258 by the O'Conors and O'Briens but his death only two years later in the Battle of Druim Dearg
came too soon for a major Gaelic overlordship to be established and Walter de Burgh
, the Lord of Connacht, was created Earl of Ulster four years after the conflict to preserve England's interests there. Possibly the Bissetts were forced to become his subordinates, but it has been argued that theirs was understood to be, in any case, a palatine lordship
from its creation, whenever that may have been.
has suggested that Edward Bruce
may have spent some time as a youth with the Bissetts, and it was to Rathlin Castle
that Robert the Bruce and his followers retired in 1305/6 after suffering losses in Scotland. Despite the decrees of Edward I of England
, they were reportedly welcomed by the owner Sir Hugh Byset, usually presumed to be a son of the Mac Eoin, and at this time Rathlin Island
belonged to the Lordship of the Glens. It was also here that Robert Bruce may have begun planning to re-conquer Scotland, and later Sir Hugh's manor of Glenarm
is where his brother Edward arrived after their victory in the Battle of Bannockburn
. Parliament sent summonses to a total of five Byset magnate
s when hearing news of the invasion, their names being John, Hubert, William, and two named Hugh, one presumably Sir Hugh Byset, and the John Byset possibly being the Mac Eoin gone into rebellion to fight on the side of the Scots (for whom see below). The 19th century scholar Herbert Hore suggested the Bysets may actually have inspired Edward Bruce to later invade Ireland.
Since no pedigree of the Irish Bissetts survives, precise relationships can only be guessed and the politics in and of the lordship are unclear. However, Hugh Byset was among the most prominent magnates in the greater region because Aonghas Óg of Islay mentions him in a 1301 letter to Edward I as his compatriot, the pair "awaiting the royal commands." MacDonald's personal loyalty in practice to the English king is uncertain, perhaps complicating the matter, but Byset's is much more clearly established, because he is recorded a number of times, from the late 1290s, in the Anglo-Norman documents, being commanded to fight against the English king's enemies in Scotland, most notably Robert Bruce, the treasury (Crown) paying Byset's expenses for mustering his forces and equipping fleets to go against the Scots, and also sending supplies.
When Edward Bruce invaded Ireland in 1315, Hugh Byset and the heads of several other families, Norman and Gaelic, joined Sir Thomas de Mandeville in opposing him. In fact where Bruce landed, Olderfleet Castle, was quite possibly owned by the Bissett family, but no account is preserved of what if anything this may, if true, have had to do with strategic decisions made by either side. In any event, their mixed Norman-Irish force, importantly lacking the immediate support of the otherwise occupied Earl of Ulster, Richard Óg de Burgh
(who was mustering an army from his domains in Connacht
), was defeated by one led by Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, and the Scottish army then proceeded south to Carrickfergus
. The engagement is recalled by John Barbour, who greatly exaggerates the size of the Irish army to be defeated, in his famous epic poem The Brus
:
There were, however, members of the family on both sides. A Johannes Bisset, who may very well have been the Mac Eoin gone to Scotland in rebellion and now returning, is listed in Pembridge's Annals and Grace's Annals, both Latin
compilations, as one of the eight Scottish lords accompanying Bruce in the invasion of Ulster. According to these Johannes/John Bisset was a leader in the force defeating de Mandeville and his kinsman Hugh Byset, Logan and the Savages above, was evidently with the Scots when later opposed by the armies of Richard Óg de Burgh and Edmund Butler
, and was still with Bruce when victorious against Roger Mortimer in the Battle of Kells
. Bisset then appears to have died in February the next year (1316), the cause and exact date now unknown.
Hugh Byset was still active fighting for the other side. On All Saints' Day (November 1, the Irish Samhain
) in 1316 John Logan and he inflicted a defeat on an army of Scots, killing one hundred in heavy armour and two hundred in regular. In The Brus, John Barbour reports the Bissetts, presumably led by Sir Hugh, again with de Mandeville, Logan, the Savages, altogether with the de Clare
s, FitzGeralds, Butlers
and others, in an alliance defeated by Bruce's army, but the account is confused, location unspecified, and receives no support from the annals and other reliable sources, making it unlikely to have occurred as reported by the poet if such an encounter took place at all.
Despite his support of the English Crown Hugh Byset's lands, Glenarm
and Rathlin Island, were declared forfeit by the same government. Why is uncertain, but a (perhaps confused) report made to Edward II
in September of 1315 that "Bisset-men and Logans" had aided Bruce's arrival may have contributed, as might any report of his earlier welcome of Robert Bruce to Rathlin, and the role in the conflict of Sir Hugh's relation John. Whether anything was carried out is unknown, and in any event the collapse of the Earldom of Ulster less than two decades later in 1333 was the beginning of the end of direct English authority in the region for a long period, leaving the Bissetts surrounded by several increasingly influential Gaelic powers. But five years later in 1338 the situation remained uncertain, and to Byset's aid came his powerful friend John of Islay
, the Lord of the Isles
, who in May of that year petitioned Edward III
to restore to Byset certain lands in "Glynarvie" which had come into the king's possession from the forfeiture of Richard de Mandeville, with Edward III agreeing to grant them to Byset, taking into account either his or John of Islay's previous service in driving out the Crown's enemies (the language of the document leaving it unclear which). Notably John of Islay describes Sir Hugh as his kinsman, as he also may be described less than two weeks later at the beginning of June, when the Crown grants a certain "John Byset of Rachryn" protection out of regard for his kinsman the Lord of the Isles.
is recorded in 1287, when Richard Óg de Burgh involved the short-lived Earldom of Ulster, to which the Bissetts still belonged at this time, in an O'Neill succession dispute. But since this is also the earliest known occurrence of the Gaelic lineage or princely style Mac Eoin, only a few decades after the arrival of the family in Ulster, the Bissetts have already culturally assimilated
to a notable degree:
There are no surviving mentions of the Mac Eoin Bissetts in the Irish sources for nearly another century. The Earldom of Ulster, already weakened by the Bruce invasion, collapsed following the assassination of William Donn de Burgh
in 1333. It is unknown what role the Bissetts might have played in this, but half a century later in 1383 they are found probably allied with the O'Neills against the remnants of the earldom, which were led by the Savage family
. In that year Niall Mór Ó Néill, King of Ulster launched a massive assault against the remaining English in the north of Ireland, burning their towns and laying waste their territories, and following one engagement Seinicin Finn Bissett, a son of the Mac Eoin, is found dispatching the wounded Raibilin Savage, opponent of Aodh Óg Ó Néill in the battle. Bissett is himself slain by Savage's people in revenge for this.
That the Bissetts were now formally allied to the O'Neills may be supported by several notices in 1387 of the death of one Sabia O'Neill (Sadhbh inghen Aodha Uí Néill), wife of the Mac Eoin Bissett, in which she is praised as "the choice woman of the descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages
in her time" and "a lady that far surpassed all the ladies of the Clanna Neill, in all good parts requisite for the character of a noble matron". All entries describe her as the daughter of one Aodh Ó Néill but who this might be is uncertain. The 19th century genealogist John O'Hart
preserved the tradition that Aodh Reamhar Ó Néill, King of Ulster and King of Tyrone
(died 1364), also called Aodh Mór, and the father Niall Mór above, also had four daughters but does not give their names nor whom they married.
Further evidence of Bissett support for the Ulster Gaels against the English has possibly been found. A certain "MacGion" reported on the Gaelic side in a conflict in 1403 is suggested by the historian Kenneth Nicholls
to be "none other than [the] Mac Eoin Bisset".
of the leading families of Ireland, both of Gaelic and other lineage, who were not under English control. These were the strongest families of whom his officials had knowledge. First the Gaelic families are listed, and then the Norman families who have gone Gaelic:
Later on in the same document Ulster is discussed again. This time there are four Anglo-Norman families mentioned:
A similar list, of contemporary or slightly later date, made itself into the circa 1540 compilation known as the Book of Howth. The editors of the manuscript note that the list is in a different hand from the surrounding text:
The reference in both to Captains is very important. This was the English term for those families who enjoyed effectively total sovereignty
within their territories, even if these might not be extensive. In describing the Gaelic Captains in the beginning of the first document, the officials report that "... some callyth themselffes Kynges, some Kynges Peyres, in their langage, some Prynceis (Flatha), some Dukes, some Archedukes... and obeyeth to no other temperall person... and hath imperiall jurysdyction in his rome [realm]..." Gaelic Ireland
is described as a patchwork of various overkingdoms, petty kingdom
s, and other territories with limited to no national overlordship, although some might be practiced at the provincial level, for example by the O'Neills in the case of Ulster. The Bissetts and these other "English" families were those who had become like the Gaelic Irish, adopting their concepts of sovereignty, manners and styles. This was sometimes referred to as becoming more Irish than the Irish themselves
, although the extent of Gaelicization varied by family. Some families were later brought back, and others not. We never get to find out in the case of the Bissetts because they have apparently gone under by the time the Kingdom of Ireland
is proclaimed and Henry begins receiving the submission of the princes.
in 1522 as described in the Annals of Connacht
:
Above is the final report of an activity of the Mac Eoin Bissett family in the Irish and English sources, and it is assumed that not long after, the MacDonnells, newly of Antrim and the former friends and allies of the Bissetts, somehow managed to dispossess them of the Lordship of the Glens.
Only ten years previously the Bissett lordship was weakened by the invasion of Gerald Mór FitzGerald into the region, who after entering the O'Neill Clandeboye
lordship and taking the castle of Belfast
marched through into Bissett territory, where he destroyed the Mac Eoin's castle and plundered much of the Glens and surrounding countryside. This misfortune was itself preceded by another, although not of the same magnitude, in 1495, when the O'Donnells
of Tyrconnell to the west, the leading rivals of the O'Neills, made a small stealthy raid on the Mac Eoin's personal estates, and according to the Annals of the Four Masters
succeeded in capturing him, his praiseworthy wife, steeds and hound, who were all considered to be the finest in the area, as well as an amount of his personal fortune. This not always completely reliable compilation, being the work of biased Tyrconnell scholars, claims this was caused by the Mac Eoin's refusal to give up his fine steed to Conn O'Donnell after it has been requested. The actual extent of the damage is uncertain and the event is reported in no other source. In the annals it is clear that FitzGerald's invasion seventeen years later involved far greater forces.
, a daughter of the Mac Eoin, to John Mór MacDonnell
, the second son of John of Islay, Lord of the Isles
, in the 1390s. From the date of this marriage, or soon after, he and their descendants, the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg
, considered the Lordship of the Glens to be theirs and styled themselves lords of "Dunnyveg and the Glens," first found being styled so in a document dating to 1403. However the male line of the Bissetts was certainly "far from extinct," and whatever gains made by the MacDonnells are uncertain. Bissett hostility to the MacDonnells may in fact have produced an alliance between the latter and the Savage family, and the war-making, on the side of the Ulster Gaels, against the English of Ulster, including the Savages, by a certain MacGion, likely the Mac Eoin Bissett, in 1403 may be associated with MacDonnell's new style as recognized by Henry IV
. Also notable is that a member of the Savage family, the seneschal of Ulster Richard Savage, had the wardship of Margery, as well as her sister Elizabeth, following the late Mac Eoin's death, and this included some control over whatever for certain their actual inheritances may have been, but it is unknown what exactly this may have had to do with the marriage to MacDonnell or if any possible alliance may have been influential.
In the opinion of W. F. T. Butler the MacDonnell claim was of doubtful legality, while according to George Hill they did not establish a permanent (or any) presence in the Glens until Alexander Carragh
in the early 16th century, who is noticed campaigning in the Irish annals in the 1520s. He was a strong leader with a large following, and it is in this decade the Bissetts appear to lose control of their lordship following the Battle of Knockavoe. One of Alexander Carragh's sons, the celebrated Sorley Boy
, was finally allowed by Elizabeth I
in 1560 to be a tenant of the lands he claimed "by inheritance," but the MacDonnells continued to struggle to gain a foothold because of Ulster's leading prince, Shane O'Neill
, who continually harassed them. In 1573, six years after O'Neill's death, Sorley Boy (re-)petitioned, and this time for "a portion of the Glynns claimed by him by inheritance from the M[B]issetts," with the government thinking it a good idea to grant because they could use him against the Irish who were still refusing to submit. However, he himself soon became involved in a major conflict with the English, and ended up settling in the The Route
, the old MacQuillan lordship to the west of the Glens, while a younger brother, Donnell Gorme MacDonnell, swore fealty to Elizabeth in 1584 for "so much of the Glynns in Ulster as were the lands of Myssett, otherwise Bissett," agreeing to pay what yearly rents the Lord Deputy Henry Sidney
decided, this being 60 beeves (cattle). Uncertain is the actual extent of the territory being granted at this moment and the size of the lordship certainly varied over time. But less than two years later, and shortly before Elizabeth and James VI of Scotland agreed in the 1586 Treaty of Berwick
that the MacDonnells would finally have the right to stay in Ireland, the Lord Deputy granted the lordship, the yearly rents again being 60 beeves, to Angus MacDonnell of Dunnyveg
, another relative of Sorley Boy, with all its castles and "Myssett alias Byssett's lands" save Olderfleet Castle (by this time of uncertain origin to the parties involved), this to become the property of the Queen.
, in his Description and Present State of Ulster, describes the Glynns as they were understood then as being:
The Glynns contain seven baronies, these being Larn
, Park, Glenarm
(the seat of the lordship), Redbaye, Lade, Cary, and Mowbray, with Rathlin Island
counted as an additional half barony, and they were understood to be:
Uncertain is whether Irish and English attempts to drive out the MacDonnells in the 16th century are meant, or if their "quiet possession" of the territory refers to the period of over a century before this when the lordship or most of it remained in the possession of the Bissett family.
approach, that the MacDonnells did in fact gain the upper hand to become dominant in the Glens following the marriage of Margery Byset to John Mór MacDonnell. His approach disregards the lack of a MacDonnell presence in the Irish sources and English ones covering Irish affairs in favour of assuming the accuracy of the MacDonnell claims and styles prior to the 1520s. What is unknown is whether the Bissetts ever recognized the nominal overlordship of the much more powerful Scottish dynasty still based in the Western Isles, a different species of submission from giving up their lordship itself. If so then the MacDonnell claims could be understood differently, but remain unverifiable. Kenneth Nicholls
finds Bissett acceptance of the MacDonnell intrusion unlikely and military retaliation probable.
, a son of Sorley Boy, received a grant for both the Glynns and the Route in 1603, he was created Viscount Dunluce
in 1618 and soon after that 1st Earl of Antrim
in 1620. In the 11th year of Elizabeth's reign an Act of Parliament
officially vested the "Baron Bissett's land" in the Crown of England, and in 1617–8 the MacDonnells' claim to it as "heirs unto Bissett" remained of importance, with the new Viscount Dunluce's pedigree even provided for the record:
Domhnall Ballach
, the son of John Mór and Margery, spent some time under the protection of the O'Neills in Ireland after fleeing Scotland following conflicts with James I
, but he returned to his seat on Islay
in 1437 and is not recorded in possession of any part of the Glens from that time or at his death in 1476 in contemporary Irish or English sources. His son John Mor (II) MacDonnell
(executed 1499), the 3rd Lord of Dunnyveg, also lived his life in Scotland, but his son was the Alexander Carragh
already discussed, evidently responsible for completely ousting the Bissetts in the Glens in the 1520s or not long after.
A certain ghost by the name of Ann Bissett was in the 19th century and may still be known to inhabit Glenarm Castle
and its grounds, where she will not appear to MacDonnells, only to others, because of the bitter later history of their families.
, tells us in his pedigree of the MacDonnells the following:
The passage goes on to state incorrectly that the MacDonnells had by 1649 been in possession of the Glens of Antrim for 227 years, but above we are provided with our only surviving mention of what was a tradition current in Ireland some period of time before the mid-17th century. Duald Mac Firbis reported pedigrees and traditions as he found them and so it is not his own speculation. Without offering an opinion on this claim of Greek origins, John O'Donovan
wondered if this should really mean (to Scotland with) William the Lion, it being the well known case that the Scottish king brought a number of Norman
families with him to Scotland, from 1174, following his captivity in England. In fact the first known Byset in Scotland, Henricus Byset, witnessed a charter by William circa 1198. But this is not of the most importance, as the family are typically classed as Norman in any case, even if their origins beyond that grouping are uncertain. Edmund Chisholm-Batten took the Irish tradition seriously and offered some possibilities, first noting the similarity of the arms
of the Byzantine Greek
family named Dassiotes to those of the Bissetts. Alternatively, noting an instance of the name being spelled Buset in 1294, he suggests the family name Βυσσητòς, from the word for "fine linen
," Βυσσoς.
Latin annals
Norman and English documents
Irish genealogical
Scottish sources
Other
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
can be studied independently from that of the originally identical family
Clan Bissett
Clan Bissett is a Scottish clan of Anglo-Norman origin. It does not have a clan chief recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, therefore the clan has no standing under Scots Law...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, because of their unique experience following their arrival in Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
in the early or mid-13th century. Here, while still remaining involved in Scottish affairs, the Bissetts would establish themselves as the Lords of the Glens of Antrim
Glens of Antrim
The Glens of Antrim , known locally as simply The Glens, is a region of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It comprises nine glens , that radiate from the Antrim Plateau to the coast. The Glens are an area of outstanding natural beauty and are a major tourist attraction in north Antrim...
and quickly become equally, then eventually more involved in the politics of the Irish province, becoming among the most Gaelicized
Gaelicization
Gaelicization or Gaelicisation is the act or process of making something Gaelic, or gaining characteristics of the Gaels. The Gaels are an ethno-linguistic group who are traditionally viewed as having spread from Ireland to Scotland and the Isle of Man."Gaelic" as a linguistic term, refers to the...
of all the so-called Anglo-Norman
Anglo-Norman
The Anglo-Normans were mainly the descendants of the Normans who ruled England following the Norman conquest by William the Conqueror in 1066. A small number of Normans were already settled in England prior to the conquest...
families in Ireland. The heads of the leading branch of the family soon adopted the Gaelic
Gaels
The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....
lineage style Mac Eoin Bissett (of the Glens), by which they are known in the Irish annals
Irish annals
A number of Irish annals were compiled up to and shortly after the end of Gaelic Ireland in the 17th century.Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days...
, and which translates as "Son/Descendant of John Byset
John Byset
John Byset the Elder, Lord of the Aird was a Scottish or Scoto-Irish nobleman who is the progenitor of the Bissett family of the Glens of Antrim in Northeast Ireland or Ulster. Born in Scotland, a significant portion of what is known of his life is probably legendary and the certain details are...
", after a prominent ancestor born in Scotland. In a number of English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Anglo-Norman sources the same head of the family is referred to as the Baron Bissett, also with variants.
This family style or title eventually split, in a manner, to provide both the modern County Antrim
County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...
surname Mac Eoin, anglicized McKeon
McKeon
McKeon or MacKeon is an Irish surname originating both from the Gaelic Mac Eoghain and Mac Eoin , which are pronounced identically...
/McKeown
McKeown
McKeown or MacKeown is an Irish surname originating both from the Gaelic Mac Eoghain and Mac Eoin , which are pronounced identically.- People :*Bob McKeown, Canadian reporter...
, and the surname Bissett
Bissett (surname)
Bissett is a surname that can be attributed to two or three origins. At the moment, it's somewhat more commonly Irish, descending from the Bissett family, who arrived in what is now County Antrim in Ulster in the mid-thirteenth century from Scotland...
itself (in Ireland), the latter not easily distinguishable from the typically Scottish Bisset
Bisset
Bisset is a surname of Scottish origin. At the time of the British Census of 1881, its relative frequency was highest in Kincardineshire , followed by Aberdeenshire, Fife, Perthshire, Ross-shire, Linlithgowshire, Haddingtonshire, Forfarshire, Edinburghshire and Elginshire...
, for which the doubling of the final -t-, the typical practice in Ireland from the 16th century, has become more common in modern times. In the Irish language
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
Bissett is usually written Bised (Biseid).
From Scotland to Ulster
Precisely when John BysetJohn Byset
John Byset the Elder, Lord of the Aird was a Scottish or Scoto-Irish nobleman who is the progenitor of the Bissett family of the Glens of Antrim in Northeast Ireland or Ulster. Born in Scotland, a significant portion of what is known of his life is probably legendary and the certain details are...
arrived with his family from Scotland is unknown, but he appears in the (surviving) English documents relating to Ireland in 1245, when Henry III of England
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
orders 50 marks to be given out of the treasury to him as a gift. Byset's activities from then on can only be guessed from the short description of his career in Ireland offered by the terse Annals of Ulster
Annals of Ulster
The Annals of Ulster are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years between AD 431 to AD 1540. The entries up to AD 1489 were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, under his patron Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa on the island of Belle Isle on Lough Erne in the...
, reporting his death twelve years later in 1257. This entry at least proves that he had established himself prominently in the region with fire and sword:
The Gaidhil in this context are the Gaelic Irish of Ulster and perhaps beyond. Whether he purchased his lands himself (one tradition) or was granted them by the English Crown (another) is also unknown, and his relationship with the leading English and other Scottish magnates of the region was probably complex. The first Earl of Ulster
Earl of Ulster
The title of Earl of Ulster has been created several times in the Peerage of Ireland and Peerage of the United Kingdom. Currently, the title is a subsidiary title of the Duke of Gloucester, and is used as a courtesy title by the Duke's son, Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster...
(1st creation), Hugh de Lacy
Hugh de Lacy, 1st Earl of Ulster
125px|right|thumb|[[coat of arms|Arms]] of Hugh de LacyHugh de Lacy, 1st Earl of Ulster was the younger son of Hugh de Lacy, and founded the Earldom of Ulster....
, was dead by 1242/3 and his authority, namely the Earldom of Ulster, over the eastern quarter of the modern province of Ulster, this region being then called Ulidia, was incomplete. It is possible that the Bissetts aided de Lacy against his Scottish rival Donnchad, Earl of Carrick and received some of the latter's lands for their assistance, but while attractive no account of such a thing is preserved. Following de Lacy's death, Brian Ua Néill
Brian Ua Neill
Brian Ua Néill, also known as Brian O'Neill, was the High King of Ireland from 1258 to 1260. He died in the Battle of Druim Dearg in 1260.- Revolt in Ireland :...
rose to become the most powerful king in all the north of Ireland and in the 1250s was busy smashing the young earldom to pieces, killing many of the English (presumably Scots also) and destroying their castles, and the Bissetts may have been among the sufferers. However, the report of John Byset's death in 1257 shows that the family were viable and may have found themselves possibly even the most prominent British family remaining in Ulidia for a period, since no others are mentioned in the annals. O'Neill was elected High King of Ireland
High King of Ireland
The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...
in 1258 by the O'Conors and O'Briens but his death only two years later in the Battle of Druim Dearg
Battle of Druim Dearg
The Battle of Druim Dearg, also known as the Battle of Down, was a battle between the Normans and Brian Ua Neill , High King of Ireland near Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland in 1260...
came too soon for a major Gaelic overlordship to be established and Walter de Burgh
Walter de Burgh, 1st Earl of Ulster
Walter de Burgh was 2nd Lord of Connaught and 1st Earl of Ulster .De Burgh was the second son of Richard Mór de Burgh, 1st Lord of Connaught and Egidia de Lacy. He founded Athassel Priory....
, the Lord of Connacht, was created Earl of Ulster four years after the conflict to preserve England's interests there. Possibly the Bissetts were forced to become his subordinates, but it has been argued that theirs was understood to be, in any case, a palatine lordship
County palatine
A county palatine or palatinate is an area ruled by an hereditary nobleman possessing special authority and autonomy from the rest of a kingdom or empire. The name derives from the Latin adjective palatinus, "relating to the palace", from the noun palatium, "palace"...
from its creation, whenever that may have been.
Bruce Wars
The historian Archie DuncanArchie Duncan
Archibald Alexander McBeth Duncan, FBA, FRHistS, FRSE is a Scottish historian.From 1962 to 1993 he was Professor of Scottish History and Literature at the University of Glasgow. On giving up his professorship, he became Clerk of Senate and Dean of Faculties, retiring from the University in 2000...
has suggested that Edward Bruce
Edward Bruce
Edward the Bruce , sometimes modernised Edward of Bruce, was a younger brother of King Robert I of Scotland, who supported his brother in the struggle for the crown of Scotland, then pursued his own claim in Ireland. He was proclaimed High King of Ireland, but was eventually defeated and killed in...
may have spent some time as a youth with the Bissetts, and it was to Rathlin Castle
Rathlin Castle
Rathlin Castle, also known as Bruce's Castle, was a castle on Rathlin Island off the coast of County Antrim in Northern Ireland.-History:In 1306 after being defeated by Sir Aymer de Valence at the Battle of Methven and then by the Lord of Lorne at the Battle of Strathfillan, King Robert I of...
that Robert the Bruce and his followers retired in 1305/6 after suffering losses in Scotland. Despite the decrees of Edward I of England
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
, they were reportedly welcomed by the owner Sir Hugh Byset, usually presumed to be a son of the Mac Eoin, and at this time Rathlin Island
Rathlin Island
Rathlin Island is an island off the coast of County Antrim, and is the northernmost point of Northern Ireland. Rathlin is the only inhabited offshore island in Northern Ireland, with a rising population of now just over 100 people, and is the most northerly inhabited island off the Irish coast...
belonged to the Lordship of the Glens. It was also here that Robert Bruce may have begun planning to re-conquer Scotland, and later Sir Hugh's manor of Glenarm
Glenarm
Glenarm is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies on the North Channel coast north of the town of Larne and the village of Ballygalley, and south of the village of Carnlough. It had a population of 582 people in the 2001 Census. Glenarm takes it name from the glen in which it lies,...
is where his brother Edward arrived after their victory in the Battle of Bannockburn
Battle of Bannockburn
The Battle of Bannockburn was a significant Scottish victory in the Wars of Scottish Independence...
. Parliament sent summonses to a total of five Byset magnate
Magnate
Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...
s when hearing news of the invasion, their names being John, Hubert, William, and two named Hugh, one presumably Sir Hugh Byset, and the John Byset possibly being the Mac Eoin gone into rebellion to fight on the side of the Scots (for whom see below). The 19th century scholar Herbert Hore suggested the Bysets may actually have inspired Edward Bruce to later invade Ireland.
Since no pedigree of the Irish Bissetts survives, precise relationships can only be guessed and the politics in and of the lordship are unclear. However, Hugh Byset was among the most prominent magnates in the greater region because Aonghas Óg of Islay mentions him in a 1301 letter to Edward I as his compatriot, the pair "awaiting the royal commands." MacDonald's personal loyalty in practice to the English king is uncertain, perhaps complicating the matter, but Byset's is much more clearly established, because he is recorded a number of times, from the late 1290s, in the Anglo-Norman documents, being commanded to fight against the English king's enemies in Scotland, most notably Robert Bruce, the treasury (Crown) paying Byset's expenses for mustering his forces and equipping fleets to go against the Scots, and also sending supplies.
When Edward Bruce invaded Ireland in 1315, Hugh Byset and the heads of several other families, Norman and Gaelic, joined Sir Thomas de Mandeville in opposing him. In fact where Bruce landed, Olderfleet Castle, was quite possibly owned by the Bissett family, but no account is preserved of what if anything this may, if true, have had to do with strategic decisions made by either side. In any event, their mixed Norman-Irish force, importantly lacking the immediate support of the otherwise occupied Earl of Ulster, Richard Óg de Burgh
Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster
Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster and 3rd Baron of Connaught , called The Red Earl, was one of the most powerful Irish nobles of the late 13th and early 14th centuries.-Early life:...
(who was mustering an army from his domains in Connacht
Connacht
Connacht , formerly anglicised as Connaught, is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the west of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for...
), was defeated by one led by Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, and the Scottish army then proceeded south to Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus , known locally and colloquially as "Carrick", is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is located on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,201 at the 2001 Census and takes its name from Fergus Mór mac Eirc, the 6th century king...
. The engagement is recalled by John Barbour, who greatly exaggerates the size of the Irish army to be defeated, in his famous epic poem The Brus
The Brus
The Brus is a long narrative poem of just under 14,000 octosyllabic lines composed by John Barbour which gives a historic and chivalric account of the actions of Robert the Bruce and the Black Douglas in the Scottish Wars of Independence during a period from the circumstances leading up the English...
:
There were, however, members of the family on both sides. A Johannes Bisset, who may very well have been the Mac Eoin gone to Scotland in rebellion and now returning, is listed in Pembridge's Annals and Grace's Annals, both Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
compilations, as one of the eight Scottish lords accompanying Bruce in the invasion of Ulster. According to these Johannes/John Bisset was a leader in the force defeating de Mandeville and his kinsman Hugh Byset, Logan and the Savages above, was evidently with the Scots when later opposed by the armies of Richard Óg de Burgh and Edmund Butler
Edmund Butler, Earl of Carrick
Edmund Butler, Earl of Carrick and 6th Chief Butler of Ireland was a noble in the Peerage of Ireland. He was the second son of Theobald Butler, 4th Chief Butler of Ireland.-Career:...
, and was still with Bruce when victorious against Roger Mortimer in the Battle of Kells
Battle of Kells
The Battle of Kells was a battle between Edward Bruce and Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. Mortimer was decisively beaten. The battle's outcome however, did not matter, for after, Bruce was defeated in the Battle of Faughart....
. Bisset then appears to have died in February the next year (1316), the cause and exact date now unknown.
Hugh Byset was still active fighting for the other side. On All Saints' Day (November 1, the Irish Samhain
Samhain
Samhain is a Gaelic harvest festival held on October 31–November 1. It was linked to festivals held around the same time in other Celtic cultures, and was popularised as the "Celtic New Year" from the late 19th century, following Sir John Rhys and Sir James Frazer...
) in 1316 John Logan and he inflicted a defeat on an army of Scots, killing one hundred in heavy armour and two hundred in regular. In The Brus, John Barbour reports the Bissetts, presumably led by Sir Hugh, again with de Mandeville, Logan, the Savages, altogether with the de Clare
De Clare
The de Clare family of Norman lords were associated with the Welsh Marches, Suffolk, Surrey, Kent and Ireland. They were descended from Richard fitz Gilbert, who accompanied William the Conqueror into England during the Norman conquest of England.-Origins:The Clare family descends from Gilbert...
s, FitzGeralds, Butlers
Butler dynasty
Butler dynasty refers to the several branches of the Butler family that has its origins in the Cambro-Norman family that participated in the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century. Variant spellings include le Boteler and le Botiller. The surname has its origins in the hereditary office of...
and others, in an alliance defeated by Bruce's army, but the account is confused, location unspecified, and receives no support from the annals and other reliable sources, making it unlikely to have occurred as reported by the poet if such an encounter took place at all.
Despite his support of the English Crown Hugh Byset's lands, Glenarm
Glenarm
Glenarm is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies on the North Channel coast north of the town of Larne and the village of Ballygalley, and south of the village of Carnlough. It had a population of 582 people in the 2001 Census. Glenarm takes it name from the glen in which it lies,...
and Rathlin Island, were declared forfeit by the same government. Why is uncertain, but a (perhaps confused) report made to Edward II
Edward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
in September of 1315 that "Bisset-men and Logans" had aided Bruce's arrival may have contributed, as might any report of his earlier welcome of Robert Bruce to Rathlin, and the role in the conflict of Sir Hugh's relation John. Whether anything was carried out is unknown, and in any event the collapse of the Earldom of Ulster less than two decades later in 1333 was the beginning of the end of direct English authority in the region for a long period, leaving the Bissetts surrounded by several increasingly influential Gaelic powers. But five years later in 1338 the situation remained uncertain, and to Byset's aid came his powerful friend John of Islay
John of Islay, Lord of the Isles
John of Islay was the Lord of the Isles and chief of Clan Donald. In 1336, he styled himself Dominus Insularum, "Lord of the Isles"; because this is the first ever recorded instance of the title in use, modern historians count John as the first of the later medieval Lords of the Isles, although...
, the Lord of the Isles
Lord of the Isles
The designation Lord of the Isles is today a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It emerged from a series of hybrid Viking/Gaelic rulers of the west coast and islands of Scotland in the Middle Ages, who wielded sea-power with fleets of...
, who in May of that year petitioned Edward III
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
to restore to Byset certain lands in "Glynarvie" which had come into the king's possession from the forfeiture of Richard de Mandeville, with Edward III agreeing to grant them to Byset, taking into account either his or John of Islay's previous service in driving out the Crown's enemies (the language of the document leaving it unclear which). Notably John of Islay describes Sir Hugh as his kinsman, as he also may be described less than two weeks later at the beginning of June, when the Crown grants a certain "John Byset of Rachryn" protection out of regard for his kinsman the Lord of the Isles.
Mac Eoin and the O'Neills
The first certain contact of the Bissetts with the O'Neill dynastyO'Neill dynasty
The O'Neill dynasty is a group of families that have held prominent positions and titles throughout European history. The O'Neills take their name from Niall Glúndub, an early 10th century High King of Ireland from the Cenél nEógain...
is recorded in 1287, when Richard Óg de Burgh involved the short-lived Earldom of Ulster, to which the Bissetts still belonged at this time, in an O'Neill succession dispute. But since this is also the earliest known occurrence of the Gaelic lineage or princely style Mac Eoin, only a few decades after the arrival of the family in Ulster, the Bissetts have already culturally assimilated
Cultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...
to a notable degree:
There are no surviving mentions of the Mac Eoin Bissetts in the Irish sources for nearly another century. The Earldom of Ulster, already weakened by the Bruce invasion, collapsed following the assassination of William Donn de Burgh
William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster
William de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster and 4th Baron of Connaught , was a noble in the Peerage of Ireland.-Background:...
in 1333. It is unknown what role the Bissetts might have played in this, but half a century later in 1383 they are found probably allied with the O'Neills against the remnants of the earldom, which were led by the Savage family
Savage family (Ireland)
The Savage family in Ireland are descended from Norman descendants in England, that landed in Ulster and settled in the barony of Ards, County Down in the latter half of the 12th century during the conquest of Ulster by Sir John de Courcy....
. In that year Niall Mór Ó Néill, King of Ulster launched a massive assault against the remaining English in the north of Ireland, burning their towns and laying waste their territories, and following one engagement Seinicin Finn Bissett, a son of the Mac Eoin, is found dispatching the wounded Raibilin Savage, opponent of Aodh Óg Ó Néill in the battle. Bissett is himself slain by Savage's people in revenge for this.
That the Bissetts were now formally allied to the O'Neills may be supported by several notices in 1387 of the death of one Sabia O'Neill (Sadhbh inghen Aodha Uí Néill), wife of the Mac Eoin Bissett, in which she is praised as "the choice woman of the descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages
Niall of the Nine Hostages
Niall Noígíallach , or in English, Niall of the Nine Hostages, son of Eochaid Mugmedón, was an Irish king, the eponymous ancestor of the Uí Néill kindred who dominated Ireland from the 6th century to the 10th century...
in her time" and "a lady that far surpassed all the ladies of the Clanna Neill, in all good parts requisite for the character of a noble matron". All entries describe her as the daughter of one Aodh Ó Néill but who this might be is uncertain. The 19th century genealogist John O'Hart
John O'Hart
John O'Hart was an Irish genealogist. He was born in Crossmolina, Co. Mayo, Ireland. A committed Roman Catholic, O'Hart originally planned to become Catholic priest but instead spent 2 years as a police officer. He was an Associate in Arts at the Queen's University of Belfast...
preserved the tradition that Aodh Reamhar Ó Néill, King of Ulster and King of Tyrone
Kings of Tir Eogain
This article lists the Kings of Tír Eoghain or Tyrone from 1185 to 1616. They are listed from their date of accession to date of death, unless otherwise stated....
(died 1364), also called Aodh Mór, and the father Niall Mór above, also had four daughters but does not give their names nor whom they married.
Further evidence of Bissett support for the Ulster Gaels against the English has possibly been found. A certain "MacGion" reported on the Gaelic side in a conflict in 1403 is suggested by the historian Kenneth Nicholls
Kenneth Nicholls
Kenneth W. Nicholls Irish academic and historian is one of the most widely respected Irish historians of the twentieth century. He came to national and international prominence as the author of the seminal Gaelic and Gaelicised Ireland in the Middle Ages, first published in 1972, and reprinted 2003...
to be "none other than [the] Mac Eoin Bisset".
Englyshe rebelles
The following belongs to a section of the preliminary list created in 1515, before the Tudor conquest of Ireland, for Henry VIII of EnglandHenry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
of the leading families of Ireland, both of Gaelic and other lineage, who were not under English control. These were the strongest families of whom his officials had knowledge. First the Gaelic families are listed, and then the Norman families who have gone Gaelic:
Later on in the same document Ulster is discussed again. This time there are four Anglo-Norman families mentioned:
A similar list, of contemporary or slightly later date, made itself into the circa 1540 compilation known as the Book of Howth. The editors of the manuscript note that the list is in a different hand from the surrounding text:
The reference in both to Captains is very important. This was the English term for those families who enjoyed effectively total sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
within their territories, even if these might not be extensive. In describing the Gaelic Captains in the beginning of the first document, the officials report that "... some callyth themselffes Kynges, some Kynges Peyres, in their langage, some Prynceis (Flatha), some Dukes, some Archedukes... and obeyeth to no other temperall person... and hath imperiall jurysdyction in his rome [realm]..." Gaelic Ireland
Gaelic Ireland
Gaelic Ireland is the name given to the period when a Gaelic political order existed in Ireland. The order continued to exist after the arrival of the Anglo-Normans until about 1607 AD...
is described as a patchwork of various overkingdoms, petty kingdom
Petty kingdom
A petty kingdom is one of a number of small kingdoms, described as minor or "petty" by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it...
s, and other territories with limited to no national overlordship, although some might be practiced at the provincial level, for example by the O'Neills in the case of Ulster. The Bissetts and these other "English" families were those who had become like the Gaelic Irish, adopting their concepts of sovereignty, manners and styles. This was sometimes referred to as becoming more Irish than the Irish themselves
More Irish than the Irish themselves
"More Irish than the Irish themselves" is a phrase used in Irish historiography to describe a phenomenon of cultural assimilation in late medieval Norman Ireland....
, although the extent of Gaelicization varied by family. Some families were later brought back, and others not. We never get to find out in the case of the Bissetts because they have apparently gone under by the time the Kingdom of Ireland
Kingdom of Ireland
The Kingdom of Ireland refers to the country of Ireland in the period between the proclamation of Henry VIII as King of Ireland by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 and the Act of Union in 1800. It replaced the Lordship of Ireland, which had been created in 1171...
is proclaimed and Henry begins receiving the submission of the princes.
Lordship lost
The Battle of KnockavoeBattle of Knockavoe
The Battle of Knockavoe , was fought in 1522 between the O'Donnells, led by Hugh Dubh O'Donnell and Manus O'Donnell, against the O'Neills, in which the O'Neills and their supporters were surprised and routed...
in 1522 as described in the Annals of Connacht
Annals of Connacht
The Annals of Connacht, covering the years 1224 to 1544, are drawn from a manuscript compiled in the 15th and 16th centuries by at least three scribes, all believed to be members of the Clan Ó Duibhgeannáin....
:
Above is the final report of an activity of the Mac Eoin Bissett family in the Irish and English sources, and it is assumed that not long after, the MacDonnells, newly of Antrim and the former friends and allies of the Bissetts, somehow managed to dispossess them of the Lordship of the Glens.
Only ten years previously the Bissett lordship was weakened by the invasion of Gerald Mór FitzGerald into the region, who after entering the O'Neill Clandeboye
Clandeboye
Clandeboye is in modern times an area of Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is named after the Clandeboye family, a branch of the O'Neill dynasty. They settled in the 1330s after the death of the Earl of Ulster in what is now south Antrim and north Down, giving their name to the territory...
lordship and taking the castle of Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
marched through into Bissett territory, where he destroyed the Mac Eoin's castle and plundered much of the Glens and surrounding countryside. This misfortune was itself preceded by another, although not of the same magnitude, in 1495, when the O'Donnells
O'Donnell dynasty
O'Donnell , which is derived from the forename Domhnaill were an ancient and powerful Irish family, kings, princes, and lords of Tír Chonaill in early times, and the chief allies and sometimes...
of Tyrconnell to the west, the leading rivals of the O'Neills, made a small stealthy raid on the Mac Eoin's personal estates, and according to the Annals of the Four Masters
Annals of the Four Masters
The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland or the Annals of the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history...
succeeded in capturing him, his praiseworthy wife, steeds and hound, who were all considered to be the finest in the area, as well as an amount of his personal fortune. This not always completely reliable compilation, being the work of biased Tyrconnell scholars, claims this was caused by the Mac Eoin's refusal to give up his fine steed to Conn O'Donnell after it has been requested. The actual extent of the damage is uncertain and the event is reported in no other source. In the annals it is clear that FitzGerald's invasion seventeen years later involved far greater forces.
Margery Byset and the MacDonnells
The MacDonnell claim to the Glens of Antrim dated from the marriage of Margery BysetMargery Byset
Margery Byset was an Irish noblewoman belonging to the Bissett family whose marriage to John Mór Tanister MacDonnell in 1399 laid the basis for the Clan Donald claim to the Glens of Antrim, the lordship of which her family had established in the 13th century...
, a daughter of the Mac Eoin, to John Mór MacDonnell
John Mór Tanister
John Mór Tanister was the second son of John Macdonald and Princess Margaret Stewart of Scotland, daughter of King Robert II. He is the founder of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg....
, the second son of John of Islay, Lord of the Isles
John of Islay, Lord of the Isles
John of Islay was the Lord of the Isles and chief of Clan Donald. In 1336, he styled himself Dominus Insularum, "Lord of the Isles"; because this is the first ever recorded instance of the title in use, modern historians count John as the first of the later medieval Lords of the Isles, although...
, in the 1390s. From the date of this marriage, or soon after, he and their descendants, the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg
Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg
Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg, also known as Clan Donald South, Clan Iain Vor, Clan MacDonald of Islay and Kintyre, MacDonalds of the Glens and sometimes referred to as MacDonnells, is a Scottish clan and a branch of Clan Donald...
, considered the Lordship of the Glens to be theirs and styled themselves lords of "Dunnyveg and the Glens," first found being styled so in a document dating to 1403. However the male line of the Bissetts was certainly "far from extinct," and whatever gains made by the MacDonnells are uncertain. Bissett hostility to the MacDonnells may in fact have produced an alliance between the latter and the Savage family, and the war-making, on the side of the Ulster Gaels, against the English of Ulster, including the Savages, by a certain MacGion, likely the Mac Eoin Bissett, in 1403 may be associated with MacDonnell's new style as recognized by Henry IV
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...
. Also notable is that a member of the Savage family, the seneschal of Ulster Richard Savage, had the wardship of Margery, as well as her sister Elizabeth, following the late Mac Eoin's death, and this included some control over whatever for certain their actual inheritances may have been, but it is unknown what exactly this may have had to do with the marriage to MacDonnell or if any possible alliance may have been influential.
Alexander MacDonald, 5th of Dunnyveg
Alexander Carragh Mac Domhnaill, or MacDonald in Scotland, 5th of Dunnyveg , a Scoto-Irish chieftain, who was the son of John Cathanach MacDonald, 4th of Dunnyveg and Cecillia Savage, daughter of the Lord of the Ardes....
in the early 16th century, who is noticed campaigning in the Irish annals in the 1520s. He was a strong leader with a large following, and it is in this decade the Bissetts appear to lose control of their lordship following the Battle of Knockavoe. One of Alexander Carragh's sons, the celebrated Sorley Boy
Sorley Boy MacDonnell
Somhairle Buidhe Mac Domhnaill , Scoto-Irish prince or flaith and chief, was the son of Alexander MacDonnell, lord of Islay and Kintyre , and Catherine, daughter of the Lord of Ardnamurchan...
, was finally allowed by Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
in 1560 to be a tenant of the lands he claimed "by inheritance," but the MacDonnells continued to struggle to gain a foothold because of Ulster's leading prince, Shane O'Neill
Shane O'Neill
Seán Ó Néill, anglicised Shane O'Neill , nicknamed 'Seán an díomais', was an Irish king of the O'Neill dynasty of Ulster in the mid 16th century. Shane O'Neill's career was marked by his ambition to be The Ó Néill Mór - Sovereign of the dominant Ó Néill Mór family of Tyrone... and thus head...
, who continually harassed them. In 1573, six years after O'Neill's death, Sorley Boy (re-)petitioned, and this time for "a portion of the Glynns claimed by him by inheritance from the M[B]issetts," with the government thinking it a good idea to grant because they could use him against the Irish who were still refusing to submit. However, he himself soon became involved in a major conflict with the English, and ended up settling in the The Route
Route, County Antrim
Route, Reuta, Rowte, or , was a medieval territory in County Antrim, Northern Ireland consisting of the baronies of Dunluce Upper, Dunluce Lower, Toome Lower, and the North East Liberties of Coleraine . It also formed part of the more ancient kingdoms of Dál Riata and Dál nAraidi, as well as the...
, the old MacQuillan lordship to the west of the Glens, while a younger brother, Donnell Gorme MacDonnell, swore fealty to Elizabeth in 1584 for "so much of the Glynns in Ulster as were the lands of Myssett, otherwise Bissett," agreeing to pay what yearly rents the Lord Deputy Henry Sidney
Henry Sidney
Sir Henry Sidney , Lord Deputy of Ireland was the eldest son of Sir William Sidney of Penshurst, a prominent politician and courtier during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, from both of whom he received extensive grants of land, including the manor of Penshurst in Kent, which became the...
decided, this being 60 beeves (cattle). Uncertain is the actual extent of the territory being granted at this moment and the size of the lordship certainly varied over time. But less than two years later, and shortly before Elizabeth and James VI of Scotland agreed in the 1586 Treaty of Berwick
Treaty of Berwick (1586)
The Treaty of Berwick was a 'league of amity' or peace agreement made on July 6, 1586 between Queen Elizabeth I of England and King James VI of Scotland....
that the MacDonnells would finally have the right to stay in Ireland, the Lord Deputy granted the lordship, the yearly rents again being 60 beeves, to Angus MacDonnell of Dunnyveg
Angus MacDonald, 8th of Dunnyveg
-Life:Angus Macdonald went to Islay and Kintyre to renew the conflict with Clan Maclean. In 1579, upon information of mutual hostilities committed by their followers, the king and council commanded Sir Lachlan Mor Maclean and Angus Macdonald of Dunyveg or Isla, to subscribe assurances of indemnity...
, another relative of Sorley Boy, with all its castles and "Myssett alias Byssett's lands" save Olderfleet Castle (by this time of uncertain origin to the parties involved), this to become the property of the Queen.
1586 description
This same year Sir Henry BagenalHenry Bagenal
Sir Henry Bagenal was marshal of the army in Ireland during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.-Life:He was the eldest son of Nicholas Bagenal and Eleanor Griffith, daughter of Sir Edward Griffith of Penrhyn...
, in his Description and Present State of Ulster, describes the Glynns as they were understood then as being:
The Glynns contain seven baronies, these being Larn
Larne
Larne is a substantial seaport and industrial market town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland with a population of 18,228 people in the 2001 Census. As of 2011, there are about 31,000 residents in the greater Larne area. It has been used as a seaport for over 1,000 years, and is...
, Park, Glenarm
Glenarm
Glenarm is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies on the North Channel coast north of the town of Larne and the village of Ballygalley, and south of the village of Carnlough. It had a population of 582 people in the 2001 Census. Glenarm takes it name from the glen in which it lies,...
(the seat of the lordship), Redbaye, Lade, Cary, and Mowbray, with Rathlin Island
Rathlin Island
Rathlin Island is an island off the coast of County Antrim, and is the northernmost point of Northern Ireland. Rathlin is the only inhabited offshore island in Northern Ireland, with a rising population of now just over 100 people, and is the most northerly inhabited island off the Irish coast...
counted as an additional half barony, and they were understood to be:
Uncertain is whether Irish and English attempts to drive out the MacDonnells in the 16th century are meant, or if their "quiet possession" of the territory refers to the period of over a century before this when the lordship or most of it remained in the possession of the Bissett family.
Alternative view
In the minority is the scholar Simon Kingston, who has recently argued, using an absence of evidence is not evidence of absenceEvidence of absence
Evidence of absence is evidence of any kind that suggests the non-existence or non-presence of something. A simple example of evidence of absence: checking one's pocket for spare change and finding nothing but being confident that one would have found it if it were there...
approach, that the MacDonnells did in fact gain the upper hand to become dominant in the Glens following the marriage of Margery Byset to John Mór MacDonnell. His approach disregards the lack of a MacDonnell presence in the Irish sources and English ones covering Irish affairs in favour of assuming the accuracy of the MacDonnell claims and styles prior to the 1520s. What is unknown is whether the Bissetts ever recognized the nominal overlordship of the much more powerful Scottish dynasty still based in the Western Isles, a different species of submission from giving up their lordship itself. If so then the MacDonnell claims could be understood differently, but remain unverifiable. Kenneth Nicholls
Kenneth Nicholls
Kenneth W. Nicholls Irish academic and historian is one of the most widely respected Irish historians of the twentieth century. He came to national and international prominence as the author of the seminal Gaelic and Gaelicised Ireland in the Middle Ages, first published in 1972, and reprinted 2003...
finds Bissett acceptance of the MacDonnell intrusion unlikely and military retaliation probable.
Earldom of Antrim
The MacDonnells were still pressing their claim based on their "inheritance" and descent from Margery and the Baron (Mac Eoin) Bissett into the 17th century. After Randal MacDonnellRandal MacDonnell, 1st Earl of Antrim
Randal MacDonnell, 1st Earl of Antrim , having been fostered in the Gaelic manner on the Scottish island of Arran by the Hamiltons, was the 4th son of Sorley Boy MacDonnell, and of Mary, daughter of Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone.He fought at first against the English government, participating...
, a son of Sorley Boy, received a grant for both the Glynns and the Route in 1603, he was created Viscount Dunluce
Dunluce Castle
Dunluce Castle is a now-ruined medieval castle in Northern Ireland. It is located on the edge of a basalt outcropping in County Antrim , and is accessible via a bridge connecting it to the mainland...
in 1618 and soon after that 1st Earl of Antrim
Earl of Antrim
Earl of Antrim is a title that has been created twice, both times in the Peerage of Ireland and both times for members of the MacDonnell family, originally of Scottish origins. This family descends from Sorley Boy MacDonnell, who established the family in County Antrim...
in 1620. In the 11th year of Elizabeth's reign an Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
officially vested the "Baron Bissett's land" in the Crown of England, and in 1617–8 the MacDonnells' claim to it as "heirs unto Bissett" remained of importance, with the new Viscount Dunluce's pedigree even provided for the record:
Domhnall Ballach
Domhnall Ballach
Domhnall Ballach, also known as Donald Balloch MacDonald was a son of Iain Mòr Tànaiste MacDhòmhnaill and Margaret Bisset, daughter of MacEoin Bisset, Lord of The Glens. He was the second chief of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg....
, the son of John Mór and Margery, spent some time under the protection of the O'Neills in Ireland after fleeing Scotland following conflicts with James I
James I of Scotland
James I, King of Scots , was the son of Robert III and Annabella Drummond. He was probably born in late July 1394 in Dunfermline as youngest of three sons...
, but he returned to his seat on Islay
Islay
-Prehistory:The earliest settlers on Islay were nomadic hunter-gatherers who arrived during the Mesolithic period after the retreat of the Pleistocene ice caps. In 1993 a flint arrowhead was found in a field near Bridgend dating from 10,800 BC, the earliest evidence of a human presence found so far...
in 1437 and is not recorded in possession of any part of the Glens from that time or at his death in 1476 in contemporary Irish or English sources. His son John Mor (II) MacDonnell
John Mor MacDonald, 3rd of Dunnyveg
John Mor MacDonald was a son of Donald Balloch MacDonald and Johanna, daughter of Conn O'Neill of Edenduffcarrick. He was the third chief of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg.-Biography:...
(executed 1499), the 3rd Lord of Dunnyveg, also lived his life in Scotland, but his son was the Alexander Carragh
Alexander MacDonald, 5th of Dunnyveg
Alexander Carragh Mac Domhnaill, or MacDonald in Scotland, 5th of Dunnyveg , a Scoto-Irish chieftain, who was the son of John Cathanach MacDonald, 4th of Dunnyveg and Cecillia Savage, daughter of the Lord of the Ardes....
already discussed, evidently responsible for completely ousting the Bissetts in the Glens in the 1520s or not long after.
Descendants
The Earldom of Antrim, although much reduced, still exists today and in the possession of descendants, the Earls of Antrim and Viscounts Dunluce, of the Lady Margery and the Mac Eoin Bissetts. Their Gaelic title has also been revived in a fashion recently by another MacDonnell descendant, who styles himself MacDonnell of the Glens and received recognition from the Irish government (until courtesy recognition of Chiefs of the Name was ceased in 2003).A certain ghost by the name of Ann Bissett was in the 19th century and may still be known to inhabit Glenarm Castle
Glenarm Castle
Glenarm Castle, Glenarm, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, is the ancestral home of the Earls of Antrim.There has been a castle at Glenarm since the 13th century, and it is at the heart of one of Northern Ireland’s oldest estates....
and its grounds, where she will not appear to MacDonnells, only to others, because of the bitter later history of their families.
A Greek family?
While a pedigree of the Irish Bissetts probably does not survive, Duald Mac Firbis, in his Leabhar na nGenealachLeabhar na nGenealach
Leabhar na nGenealach is a massive genealogical collection written mainly in the years 1649 to 1650, at the college-house of St. Nicholas's church, Galway, by Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh. He continued to add material until at least 1666, five years before he was murdered in 1671...
, tells us in his pedigree of the MacDonnells the following:
The passage goes on to state incorrectly that the MacDonnells had by 1649 been in possession of the Glens of Antrim for 227 years, but above we are provided with our only surviving mention of what was a tradition current in Ireland some period of time before the mid-17th century. Duald Mac Firbis reported pedigrees and traditions as he found them and so it is not his own speculation. Without offering an opinion on this claim of Greek origins, John O'Donovan
John O'Donovan (scholar)
John O'Donovan , from Atateemore, in the parish of Kilcolumb, County Kilkenny, and educated at Hunt's Academy, Waterford, was an Irish language scholar from Ireland.-Life:...
wondered if this should really mean (to Scotland with) William the Lion, it being the well known case that the Scottish king brought a number of Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
families with him to Scotland, from 1174, following his captivity in England. In fact the first known Byset in Scotland, Henricus Byset, witnessed a charter by William circa 1198. But this is not of the most importance, as the family are typically classed as Norman in any case, even if their origins beyond that grouping are uncertain. Edmund Chisholm-Batten took the Irish tradition seriously and offered some possibilities, first noting the similarity of the arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
of the Byzantine Greek
Byzantine Greeks
Byzantine Greeks or Byzantines is a conventional term used by modern historians to refer to the medieval Greek or Hellenised citizens of the Byzantine Empire, centered mainly in Constantinople, the southern Balkans, the Greek islands, Asia Minor , Cyprus and the large urban centres of the Near East...
family named Dassiotes to those of the Bissetts. Alternatively, noting an instance of the name being spelled Buset in 1294, he suggests the family name Βυσσητòς, from the word for "fine linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
," Βυσσoς.
Medieval and Early Modern
Irish annalsLatin annals
- Annales Hiberniae (Grace's Annals), James Grace of Kilkenny (1537–1539), ed. & tr. Richard Butler (1842). Dublin: The Irish Archaeological Society. edition and translation available from CELT.
- Annales Hibernie ab anno Christi 1162 usque ad annum 1370 (Pembridge's Annals), John Pembridge (1331–1343), ed. John T. Gilbert (1884–1886). London: Longmans. edition available from CELT.
Norman and English documents
- The Battle Abbey RollBattle Abbey RollThe Battle Abbey Roll is supposed to have been a list, lost since at least the 16th.c., of the Companions of William the Conqueror, which had been erected or affixed as a memorial within Battle Abbey, Hastings, founded by William ex-voto on the spot of the slaying of Harold in the Battle of...
, ed. Catherine Powlett, Duchess of Cleveland (1889). The Battle Abbey Roll, with some account of the Norman Lineages, Vol. I. London: John Murray. - The Book of Howth. Compiled from earlier and contemporary sources, circa 1540. Printed in Calendar of the Carew Manuscripts. 1871. Eds. by J. S. Brewer & William Bullen.
- Calendar of the Carew Manuscripts. 1515–1574. 1575–1588. 1603–1624. Vol. 6. Eds. J. S. Brewer & William Bullen. London: Longmans, Green, Reader, & Dyer.
- Calendar of Documents, Relating to Ireland. 1171–1251. 1252–1284. 1293–1301. 1302–1307. Eds. H. S. Sweetman & Gustavus Frederick Handcock. London: Longman's & Co.; Trübner & Co.
- Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward III, Vol. IV, 1338–1340. Deputy Keeper of the Records. London: For Her Majesty's Stationary Office by Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1898. University of Iowa.
- Calendar of the State Papers, Relating to Ireland. 1509–1573. 1574–1585. 1586–July 1588. Ed. Hans Claude Hamilton. London: Longman's & Co.; Trübner & Co.
- The Description of Ireland 1598, ed. Edmund HoganEdmund HoganEdmund Hogan S.J. was a Jesuit scholar.Edmund Ignatius Hogan was born in Cork on 25 January 1831. He joined Society of Jesus and was educated at Jesuit college, Rome...
. Dublin: M. H. Gill & Son. 1878. alt - The Description and Present State of Ulster by Sir Henry BagenalHenry BagenalSir Henry Bagenal was marshal of the army in Ireland during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.-Life:He was the eldest son of Nicholas Bagenal and Eleanor Griffith, daughter of Sir Edward Griffith of Penrhyn...
(1586), ed. with notes and commentary by H. F. Hore. Ulster Journal of Archaeology II. 1854. pp. 137–60. - State Papers, Henry the Eighth, Vol. II, Part. III. His Majesty's Commission. 1834.
Irish genealogical
- Duald Mac Firbis, Leabhar na nGenealachLeabhar na nGenealachLeabhar na nGenealach is a massive genealogical collection written mainly in the years 1649 to 1650, at the college-house of St. Nicholas's church, Galway, by Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh. He continued to add material until at least 1666, five years before he was murdered in 1671...
. Ireland. 1650. - John O'HartJohn O'HartJohn O'Hart was an Irish genealogist. He was born in Crossmolina, Co. Mayo, Ireland. A committed Roman Catholic, O'Hart originally planned to become Catholic priest but instead spent 2 years as a police officer. He was an Associate in Arts at the Queen's University of Belfast...
, Irish Pedigrees. Dublin: James Duffy and Co. 5th edition, 1892.
Scottish sources
- John Barbour, The BrusThe BrusThe Brus is a long narrative poem of just under 14,000 octosyllabic lines composed by John Barbour which gives a historic and chivalric account of the actions of Robert the Bruce and the Black Douglas in the Scottish Wars of Independence during a period from the circumstances leading up the English...
(1375), ed. Walter William SkeatWalter William SkeatWalter William Skeat , English philologist, was born in London on the 21st of November 1835, and educated at King's College School , Highgate School, and Christ's College, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow in July 1860. His grandsons include the noted palaeographer T. C...
(1894). The Bruce; or, The Book of the Most Excellent and Noble Prince, Robert de Broyss, King of Scots, Volume II. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons for The Scottish Text Society.
Other
- Description of England and Ireland under the Restoration, Albert Jouvain (Paris, 1672), ed. & tr. C. Litton Falkiner (1904). London: Longmans, Green, and Co. translation available from CELT.
Modern
- A., L. L., "Glenarm Castle and its Ghost. Some Old Recollections", in The Ulster Journal of Archaeology, Vol. XVII, 2nd ser., No. 1/4. Ulster Archaeological Society. 1911/1912. pp. 9–15. JSTOR.
- Butler, W. F. T., Confiscation in Irish History. Dublin: The Talbot Press. 2nd edition, 1918.
- Chisholm-Batten, Edmund, The Charters of the Priory of Beauly with Notices of the Priories of Pluscardine and Ardchattan and of the Family of the Founder John Byset. London: Houlston & Sons. 1877. alt
- Curley, Walter J.P.Walter CurleyWalter Joseph Patrick Curley II was the 57th United States Ambassador to France from 1989 to 1993 and the United States Ambassador to Ireland from 1975 to 1977. Curley was New York City's Commissioner of Public Events and Chief of Protocol from 1973 to 1974, during the administrations of John...
, Vanishing Kingdoms: The Irish Chiefs and their Families. Dublin: Lilliput Press. 2004. - Duffy, Seán, "The Lords of Galloway, Earls of Carrick, and the Bissetts of the Glens: Scottish settlement in thirteenth-century Ulster", in David Edwards (ed.), Regions and Rulers in Ireland, 1100–1650: Essays for Kenneth Nicholls. Four CourtsFour Courts PressFour Courts Press is an Irish academic publishing house.It was founded in 1970 by Michael Adams, a managing director at the Irish Academic Press and a member of Opus Dei. Its early publications were primarily theological, notably the English translation of the Navarre Bible...
. 2003/4. pp. 37–50. - Duncan, A. A. M.Archie DuncanArchibald Alexander McBeth Duncan, FBA, FRHistS, FRSE is a Scottish historian.From 1962 to 1993 he was Professor of Scottish History and Literature at the University of Glasgow. On giving up his professorship, he became Clerk of Senate and Dean of Faculties, retiring from the University in 2000...
, "The Scots' Invasion of Ireland, 1315", in R.R. Davies (ed.), The British Isles, 1100–1500. Edinburgh: J. Donald. 1988. pp. 100–17. - Ellis, Peter BerresfordPeter Berresford EllisPeter Berresford Ellis is an English historian, literary biographer, and novelist who has published over 90 books to date either under his own name or his pseudonyms Peter Tremayne and Peter MacAlan. He has also published 95 short stories...
, Erin's Blood Royal: The Gaelic Noble Dynasties of Ireland. Palgrave. Revised edition, 2002. - Fittis, Robert Scott, Romantic Narratives from Scottish History and Tradition. Paisley: Alexander Gardner. 1903.
- Frame, Robin, "Power and Society in the Lordship of Ireland 1272–1377", in Past & Present, Vol. 76. OUPOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
on behalf of The Past and Present Society. 1977. pp. 3–33. Oxford Journals. JSTOR. - H., J. W., "The Earldom and Barons of Ulster", in The Ulster Journal of Archaeology, Vol. I, 1st ser.. Belfast: Archer & Sons. 1853. pp. 38–42. alt. JSTOR.
- Hill, George, "Chiefs of the Antrim MacDonnells prior to Sorley Boy", in The Ulster Journal of Archaeology, Vol. VII, 1st ser.. Belfast: Archer & Sons. 1859. pp. 247–59.
- Hill, George, An Historical Account of the MacDonnells of Antrim: Including Notices of some other Septs, Irish and Scottish. Belfast: Archer & Sons. 1873. alt
- Hore, Herbert F., "The Bruces in Ireland", in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology, Vol. V, 1st ser.. Belfast: Archer & Sons. 1857. pp. 1–12. alt. JSTOR
- Kingston, Simon, Ulster and the Isles in the Fifteenth Century: The Lordship of the Clann Domhnaill of Antrim. Four CourtsFour Courts PressFour Courts Press is an Irish academic publishing house.It was founded in 1970 by Michael Adams, a managing director at the Irish Academic Press and a member of Opus Dei. Its early publications were primarily theological, notably the English translation of the Navarre Bible...
. 2004. - MacDonald, Angus, and Archibald MacDonald, The Clan Donald, Vol. I. Inverness: The Northern Counties Publishing Company. 1896.
- McDonnell, H., "Glenarm Friary and the Bissets", in The Glynns, XV (1987): 34–49.
- Nicholls, K. W.Kenneth NichollsKenneth W. Nicholls Irish academic and historian is one of the most widely respected Irish historians of the twentieth century. He came to national and international prominence as the author of the seminal Gaelic and Gaelicised Ireland in the Middle Ages, first published in 1972, and reprinted 2003...
, "Anglo-French Ireland and after", in PeritiaPeritiaPeritia: Journal of the Medieval Academy of Ireland is an annual Irish academic journal "devoted to Irish and Insular medieval studies as seen in the context of the European middle ages and the heritage from antiquity, and to European medieval studies generally." The editors are Donnchadh Ó Corráin...
1 (1982): 370–403. BREPOLS - Reeves, WilliamWilliam Reeves (bishop)William Reeves was an Irish antiquarian and the Church of Ireland Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore from 1886 until his death...
, Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down, Connor, and Dromore. Dublin: Hodges and Smith. 1847. - Savage-Armstrong, George Francis, The Ancient and Noble Family of the Savages of the Ards. London: Marcus Ward & Co. 1888. alt. revised & expanded (1906).