Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Thomond

Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Thomond

Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Thomond (Gaelic Murchadh Ó Briain) (died 7 November 1551) was the last King of Thomond.

A member of the Irish nobility, he was the son of Turlough O'Brien, King of Thomond and Raghnailt McNamara and also brother of Connor O'Brien, King of Thomond, who was inaugurated King of Thomond in 1528. On his brother's death in 1539/40 he set aside his nephew Donough O'Brien and made himself of King of Thomond. He married Eleanor FitzGerald, daughter of Thomas FitzGerald, Knight of the Valley. They had three sons and four daughters.

In 1543 he surrendered his Irish royalty to King Henry VIII of England and the same year he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Earl of Thomond, with remainder to his nephew Donough (who was created Baron Ibrackan on the same day) and Baron Inchiquin, with remainder to the heirs male of his body. The grant of the English titles was conditional upon the abandonment of native titles, the adoptation of English customs and laws, the pledging of allegiance to the English crown, apostasy from the Roman Catholic Church, and conversion to the Anglican Church.

In August of that year he joined the king's Privy Council.

Lord Thomond died in November 1551. He was succeeded in the earldom according to the special remainder by his nephew Donough while the barony of Inchiquin passed to his eldest son Dermod. Another son was Teige Mac Murrough O'Brien, who was an early High Sheriff of Thomond. Of his daughters, Lady Honora O'Brien married Sir Rory Gilla Duff O'Shaughnessy. His daughter Margaret O'Brien married Richard Sassanach Burke, 2nd Earl of Clanricarde, but they were divorced after he claimed that she worked witchcraft against him.

References

• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages

Further reading

• Lodge, John; Archdall (1789). The peerage of Ireland: or, A genealogical history of the present nobility of that kingdom. 2. Dubli: James Moore. pp. 27–30. 

Regnal titles
Preceded by Conchobhar mac Toirdhealbaig	King of Thomond 1539–1543	Succeeded by none
Peerage of Ireland
New creation	Earl of Thomond 1543–1551	Succeeded by Donough O'Brien
	Baron Inchiquin 1543–1551	Succeeded by Dermod O'Brien