O'Grady History AD1500 - Present [Historical note: In the late 1500s, the English presence in Ireland took on an ominous tone. The Munster Plantation of the 1580s was the first mass plantation in Ireland . It was instituted as punishment for the Desmond Rebellions, when the Geraldine Earl of Desmond had rebelled against English interference in Munster. The Desmond dynasty was annihilated in the aftermath of the rebellions and their estates confiscated. This gave the English authorities the opportunity to settle the province with colonists from England and Wales, who, it was hoped, would be a bulwark against further rebellions. In 1584, a commission surveyed Munster, to allocate confiscated lands to English Undertakers. Undertakers were wealthy colonists who "undertook" to import tenants from England to work their new lands. The Undertakers were also supposed to build new towns and provide for the defense of planted districts from attack.
As well as the former Geraldine estates (spread through the modern counties Limerick, Cork, Kerry and Tipperary) the survey took in the lands belonging to other families and clans that had supported the rebellions in south-west Cork and Kerry. However, the settlement here was rather piecemeal because the ruling clan – the MacCarthy Mór line -argued that the rebel landowners were their subordinates and therefore the land really belonged to them. Lands were therefore granted to some Undertakers and then taken away again when native lords like the MacCarthys appealed the dispossession of their dependents . Other sectors of the plantation were equally chaotic. Popham, the Attorney General for Ireland, imported 70 tenants from Somerset, only to find that that the land had already been settled by another undertaker and he was obliged to return them home. Nevertheless, 500,000 acres (2,000 km²) were planted with English colonists. It was hoped that the settlement would attract in the region of 15,000 colonists, but a report made out in 1589 showed that the undertakers had imported only in the region of 700 English tenants between them. It has been suggested that each tenant was the head of a household, and that he therefore represents 4-5 other people . This would put the English population in Munster at nearer 3-4000, but it was still substantially below the projected figure.
The Munster Plantation was supposed to produce compact defensible settlements, but in fact, the English settlers were spread in pockets across the province, wherever land had been confiscated. Initially the Undertakers were given detachments of English soldiers to protect them, but these were abolished in the 1590s. As a result, when the Nine Years War – an Irish rebellion against English rule – came to Munster in 1598, most of the settlers were chased off their lands without a fight. They took refuge in the province’s walled towns or fled back to England. However when the rebellion was put down in 1601-03, the Plantation was re-constituted by the Governor of Munster, George Carew.
The Nine Years War in Ireland took place from 1594 to 1603 and is also known as Tyrone's Rebellion. It was fought between the forces of Gaelic Irish chieftains Hugh O'Neill (Earl of Tyrone), Hugh Roe O'Donnell and their allies, against the Elizabethan English government of Ireland. The war was fought in all parts of the country, but primarily in the northern province of Ulster. It ended in defeat for the Irish chieftains, which led ultimately to their exile in the Flight of the Earls and to the Plantation of Ulster. It is not be confused with the Nine Years War of the 1690s, part of which was also fought in Ireland. The Nine Years War was caused by the collision between the ambition of the Gaelic Irish chieftain Hugh O’Neill and the advance of the English state in Ireland, from control over the Pale to ruling the whole island. In resisting this advance, O’Neill managed to rally other Irish septs who were dissatisfied with English government and those Catholics who opposed the spread of Protestantism in Ireland. After this, a split now appears in the O'Gradys. A branch accepted a change of religion to Protestantism, and bowed to the rule of England, thereby gaining some land and wealth. Their history is below. However, the majority, refused to accept the change of religion and remained Catholic. Their history is one of struggle and hunger. ] Protestant O'Grady branch.
122. William: son of Hugh.
123. Donal: his son.
124. Gilla-Duff: his son.
125. Mathew: his son.
126. Donogh: his son.
127. Dermod: his son.
128. Thomas: his son.
129. John: his son.
130. Thomas: his son.
131. John: his son; married in 1771 Mary-Eliza De Courcy. [For several generations religion was a thorny issue in the family. When John O Grady married Mary Elizabeth de Courcy, he promised her solemnly that he would change to her religion. However, on his deathbed he called for the priest. Mary barred the way, but the priest pushed her aside and John died, the last Kilballyowen Catholic.]
132. Gerald: his son; married Eliza Waller.
133. Gerald de Courcy O'Grady, Esq., J.P., of Killballyowen, co. Limerick: his son; commonly called THE O'GRADY, living in 1865; married Anne Wise, and had:
134. William de Courcy, who had:
135. Thomas de Courcy O'Grady: living in 1887.
| Did you know .... That Muhammad Ali is the great-grandson of an O'Grady? In the 1860's Abe O'Grady left behind his hometown of Ennis in search for a better life in America. The plasterers' son settled in Kentucky where he married a slave woman. She gave birth to a son, John Lee who married an African American woman, Birdie Moorhead in 1914. Three years later Birdie gave birth to a daughter whom they christened Odessa. In 1942 Odessa herself gave birth to a baby boy whom she named Cassius O'Grady Clay. The "Greatest" had been born. |
[Standish O Grady (1766-1844), born at Mount Prospect, County Limerick, graduated in law from Trinity College, Dublin. He became Attorney-General and it was he who prosecuted at the trial of the patriot, Robert Emmet. For many years he was Chief Baron of the Exchequer of Ireland. In 1831 he was created Viscount Guillamore and Baron O Grady, both in County Limerick. The title is now extinct.
His nephew, Standish Hayes O Grady (1830-1915), was the son of Admiral Hayes O Grady (died 1864). He was born at Castleconnell, County Limerick, and went from fosterage in an Irish-speaking family to Rugby School in England and Trinity College, Dublin. There he divided his studies between engineering and copying ancient Irish manuscripts under the guidance of John O Donovan and the Clare scholar, Eugene O Curry. In about 1857, he went to the United States of America, where, for thirty years, he worked as a civil engineer. He retired home to spend the rest of his long life working on ancient Irish manuscripts. He made a valuable compilation of old folk tales, Silva Gadelica, but his principal work, Catalogue of the Irish Manuscripts in the British Museum, was delayed because of difficulties with his publishers. It was completed by another scholar, Robin Flower.
Tom O Grady, a cousin of the scholarly Standish, had served abroad in the British army and was a poet with a wicked sense of humour. He was known as Spectacles O Grady. He said of Standish that he "sent his children to church [Protestant] thro fear of his wife and went to Mass himself for fear of the devil". He satirized a Limerick banker in a notorious poem, "Nosegay". The repercussions led to Spectacles O Grady exiling himself to France rather than pay £500 damages and 6d costs in a £20,000 libel suit.
Standish James O Grady (1846-1928), a cousin of Spectacles O Grady, was born at Castletown Berehaven, where his father, Viscount Guillamore, was Church of Ireland rector. He was educated locally and followed the family tradition, studying law at Trinity College, Dublin. He too, like his scholarly namesake, was fascinated by the ancient Irish tales which, at that time, had not had the benefit of much research. Drawing on the rich vein of Celtic mythology and heroic incidents from Irish history, he wrote a stream of novels and children's books including Red Hugh's Captivity, Fin and His Companions, The Chieftain's Last Rally, The Coming of Cuchulain and The Flight of the Eagle. He influenced the younger generation, imbuing many of them with a strong sense of nationalism.
There are so many Standish O Gradys that it is understandable that, when Standish O Grady the engineer and scholar died in 1915, some of the obituaries in the English newspapers confused him with the living, romantic writer, Standish James O Grady. This family, who were Viscounts of Guillamore, a junior line, are commemorated in the church of St John of Knockaney, County Limerick, by a series of stained glass windows.
It was a family tradition to join the army, and many O Gradys had fine service careers. There was an O Grady admiral and naval commander. Lieutenant-Colonel Gerald Vigors de Courcy O Grady, who died in 1993, served in India and in Burma in the Second World War and was awarded a Military Cross. His wife, Holly, was from Maryland, USA. Their son Brian de Courcy, became "The O Grady" of Kilballyowen.
The O Grady mansion is no more. It was dilapidated and impossibly expensive to repair and maintain. It was quietly "put down" and replaced with a modern house nearby. The O Gradys have meticulously preserved the invaluable historic family archives. The late O Grady named his daughter Faith Standish O Grady, and their coat of arms and the 1632 deed guaranteeing their land through the original Standish is still in their possession. Callers often come from abroad seeking family roots, not all of them authentic O Gradys!]
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