Rory O'Moore or Roger O'Moore (c, 1600 – 16 February 1655), was an Irish

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...

 noble and principal organizer of the Irish Rebellion of 1641

Irish Rebellion of 1641

The Irish Rebellion of 1641 began as an attempted coup d'état by Irish Catholic gentry, who tried to seize control of the English administration in Ireland to force concessions for the Catholics living under English rule...

.

Life

He belonged to an ancient Irish noble family

Irish nobility

This article concerns the Gaelic nobility of Ireland from ancient to modern times. It only partly overlaps with Chiefs of the Name because it excludes Scotland and other discussion...

 claiming descent from the mythical Conall Cernach

Conall Cernach

Conall Cernach is a hero of the Ulaidh in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He is said to have always slept with the head of a Connachtman under his knee. His epithet is normally translated as "victorious" or "triumphant", although it is an obscure word, and some texts struggle to explain it...

. He was born in Laois around 1600, but the exact date is unknown.

His uncle Ruairí Óge Ó Mórdha, King of Laois, had fought against the English. After having over 180 family members killed by English forces at a feast at Mullaghmast

Mullaghmast

Mullaghmast , is a hill in the south of County Kildare, Leinster, near the village of Ballitore. It was an important site in prehistory, in early history and again in more recent times...

, County Kildare

County Kildare

County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county...

 in 1577, in an effort to pacify the native Sept

Sept

A sept is an English word for a division of a family, especially a division of a clan. The word might have its origin from Latin saeptum "enclosure, fold", or it can be an alteration of sect.The term is found in both Ireland and Scotland...

s of Laois, Rory Oge became an enemy of Queen Elizabeth I of England

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...

. It led to the downfall of the O'Moore family

Moore

Moore may refer to:* Moore , a crater on Venus* Moore , lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon* Moore , a common English-language surname* People with surname Moore...

 and left them destitute.

Little is known of his personal exploits. Charles Gavan Duffy

Charles Gavan Duffy

Additional Reading*, Allen & Unwin, 1973.*John Mitchel, A Cause Too Many, Aidan Hegarty, Camlane Press.*Thomas Davis, The Thinker and Teacher, Arthur Griffith, M.H. Gill & Son 1922....

 thought highly of Rory's individual significance for the rebels' achievements:

"Then a private gentleman, with no resources beyond his intellect and his courage, this Rory, when Ireland was weakened by defeat and confiscation, and guarded with a jealous care constantly increasing in strictness and severity, conceived the vast design of rescuing the country from England, and even accomplished it; for, in three years, England did not retain a city in Ireland but Dublin and Drogheda, and for eight years the land was possessed and the supreme authority exercised by the Confederation

Confederate Ireland

Confederate Ireland refers to the period of Irish self-government between the Rebellion of 1641 and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in 1649. During this time, two-thirds of Ireland was governed by the Irish Catholic Confederation, also known as the "Confederation of Kilkenny"...

 created by O'Moore. History contains no stricter instance of the influence of an individual mind."

His final years are mysterious. He fled Inishbofin, County Galway after it fell in 1652. St. Colman's Church on the island once bore a tablet with the inscription:

• "In memory of many valiant Irishmen who were exiled to this Holy Island and in particular Rory O'More a brave chieftain of Leix, who after fighting for Faith and Fatherland, disguised as a fisherman escaped from his island to a place of safety. He died shortly afterwards, a martyr to his Religion and his County, about 1653. He was esteemed and loved by his countrymen, who celebrated his many deeds of valour and kindness in their songs and reverenced his memory, so that is was common expression among them; "God and Our Lady be our help and Rory O'More".

Descendants

Many historians believe he was the father of James Moore

James Moore (South Carolina politician)

James Moore was the British governor of colonial South Carolina between 1700 and 1703. He is remembered for leading several invasions of Spanish Florida, including attacks in 1704 and 1706 which wiped out most of the Spanish missions in Florida....

, Governor of the Province of Carolina

Province of Carolina

The Province of Carolina, originally chartered in 1629, was an English and later British colony of North America. Because the original Heath charter was unrealized and was ruled invalid, a new charter was issued to a group of eight English noblemen, the Lords Proprietors, in 1663...

 and therefore an ancestor of American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 General Robert Howe

Robert Howe (soldier)

Robert Howe was a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.-Early life:His great-grandfather was James Moore, colonial governor of South Carolina...

. His grandson, Patrick Sarsfield, 1st Earl of Lucan

Patrick Sarsfield, 1st Earl of Lucan

Patrick Sarsfield , created the first Earl of Lucan, Irish Jacobite and soldier, belonged to an Anglo-Norman family long settled in Ireland.-Background:...

 led Jacobite

Jacobitism

Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...

 forces in Ireland. The Rory O'More Bridge

Rory O'More Bridge

Rory O'More Bridge is a road bridge spanning the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland and joining Watling Street to Ellis Street and the north quays....

 in Dublin was named after him.

Family tree

Melaghlin mac Owny mac Gilla Padraigh Ó Mórdha, died 1502.
|
|____________________________________________________________________________________
| |
| |
Connell Ó Mórdha (died 1537) Pierce/Peter an Tainiste, fl. 1537.
|
|________________________________________________________________________________________________________
| | | | |
| | | | |
Lysaght (d. 1541?) Kedagh Roe (d. 1542) Ruairí Caoch Ó Mórdha, fl. 1554. Gilla Padraigh Connell Óge, d. 1557.
| =Margaret Butler d. 1548.
| |
Kedagh/James? |____________________________
fl. 1584? | |
| |
Ruairí Óge, d. 1578. Calvagh/Callagh of Ballina, d. 1618.
=? =Margaret Scurloug
| |
| ______|______________________________________________
Uaithne (Owney), d. 1600. | | | |
| | | |
| | | |
Ruairí Óg Ó Mórdha Lysaght Margaret dau.
=Jane Barnewall =Mary O'Reilly (issue) (issue)
(issue) |
|
Anthony O'Moore
=Anne Hope

Film

A short film entitled Rory O'More was made by the Kalem company in 1911. Sidney Olcott directed. It sets O'More's rebellion in 1798 rather than the 17th century and moves the action to the Lakes of Killarney. Trinity College Dublin has archived the film: http://www.tcd.ie/irishfilm/silent/rory-o-more.php .