O'Kelly (Ó Ceallaigh), Uilliam Buidhe

by Emmett O'Byrne

O'Kelly (Ó Ceallaigh), Uilliam Buidhe (d. 1381), probably the youngest son of Donnchad Muimnech O'Kelly (qv), king of Uí Mhaine, became king after a long period in obscurity. It was only in middle age that opportunities opened for him to push his claims to the kingship forward. His chance came after the killing in 1339 of his cousin Ruaidhrí O'Kelly, king of Uí Mhaine, by Cathal O'Connor. Ruaidhrí was succeeded by Tadhg Óg, son of Tadc O'Kelly (qv) (d. 1316). However, it was clear that Tadhg Óg was the candidate of Toirrdelbach O'Connor (qv) (d. 1345), king of Connacht. Clearly Tadhg Óg was eager to be rid of Uilliam Buidhe, whom he regarded as a threat and banished from Uí Mhaine. Not content with the exile of Uilliam Buidhe, Tadhg Óg determined in 1340 to overtake his departing followers and kill his rival. As Tadhg Óg's forces approached, Uilliam Buidhe ordered his followers to turn and face their onrushing assailants. In a bloody encounter, Tadhg Óg's troops were overthrown and their leader mortally wounded and taken prisoner, dying shortly afterwards. Soon after Uilliam Buidhe returned to live in Uí Mhaine, during a period in which the O'Kelly succession is unclear. He apparently became king of Uí Mhaine after the defeat and death of Conchobhar Cearrbhach (‘the gambler’) O'Kelly at the hands of the Berminghams and Burkes during 1343. It was clear that the O'Kellys had suffered heavy losses in this battle, as eleven notables fell with their king. However, the first mention of Uilliam Buidhe's kingship comes in 1351. During Christmas of that year, Uilliam Buidhe and his son Maolsheachlainn (qv) hosted great feasts at great expense for the learned, travellers, and the poor of the land, earning the O'Kellys great reputations as patrons. Indeed, Uilliam Buidhe in 1353 further cemented his reputation for piety and generosity by founding the monastery of Kilconnell for the Franciscans. His feud, however, with the descendants of Toirrdelbach O'Connor was to continue. In 1356 he procured the assassination of Toirrdelbach's son Aodh O'Connor, king of Connacht, by Donnchadh Carrach O'Kelly. There was a deeply personal reason for this, as Aodh had earlier kidnapped Uilliam Buidhe's wife, the daughter of John Burke. Uilliam Buidhe's alliance with the Clanwilliam Burkes was consolidated by the marriage of his daughter Fionnuala to Thomas Burke, while another daughter was married to Brian MacMahon (qv) (d. 1371), king of Oirghialla. The next reference to him comes during a period of great disturbance among the English of Connacht in 1366. With his Burke son-in-law, Uilliam Buidhe lined up with King Aodh O'Connor of Connacht against the Burkes of Clanricard. After a campaign lasting three months, this confederation forced the Burkes into submission. Two years later it was quite a different story when, in a violent and bloody encounter in 1368, Uilliam Buidhe was surprisingly taken prisoner by his own vassals (the O'Kellys of Clann mic Eoghain) and O'Madden (Ó Madadháin). His captivity did not last long, as he was soon released. Due to his rapidly advancing age, Uilliam Buidhe may have decided to take a more limited role in dynastic politics, transferring much of his power to his able son Maolsheachlainn. In spite of this he took the credit for the O'Kelly defeat of the Berminghams in 1372. But by and large Maolsheachlainn was the driving force behind O'Kelly ambition. Because of their firm alliance with Thomas Burke of Clanwilliam, the O'Kellys found themselves in continual opposition throughout the 1370s to Ruaidhrí O'Connor (qv) (d. 1384), king of Connacht. In 1377 Maolsheachlainn and his Burke brother-in-law surrounded Ruaidhrí's fortress of Roscommon castle. In a pitched battle before the castle, Ruaidhrí and his MacDermot allies destroyed the forces of the Clanwilliam Burkes and the O'Kellys. What Uilliam Buidhe thought of this reverse is unrecorded. He died in 1381 at a great age and was hailed as generous patron in his obit in the Annals of the Four Masters.