Battle of Dysert O'Dea

Part of the Bruce campaign in Ireland

Date	10 May 1318
Location	O'Dea Castle near Corofin, County Clare
Result	Ó Deághaidh victory

Belligerents

Clann Ó Deághaidh
Clann Ó Briain
Clann Mac Namara
Clann Ó hEithir

Lordship of Ireland and Irish mercenaries

Commanders and leaders

Conchobhar Ó Deághaidh

Richard de Clare, Steward of Forest of Essex†

Strength

Casualties and losses

~80 dead

400–500 dead

Coordinates: 52°54′41″N 9°03′59″W / 52.911361°N 9.066381°W / 52.911361; -9.066381

The Battle of Dysert O'Dea took place on 10 May 1318 at Dysert O'Dea near Corofin, Ireland. It was part of the Bruce campaign in Ireland. The Norman Richard de Clare attacked the Gaelic Irish chieftain Conchobhar Ó Deághaidh, chief of the Cineal Fearmaic and ally of Muirchertach Ó Briain, but he was defeated.

The Bruce invasion of Ireland enabled the outbreak of a number of small wars that had little, if anything, pertaining to the Scots. Perhaps the most notable was the battle at Dysert O'Dea which erupted in Brian Boru's old Kingdom of Thomond in 1318.

Two factions of the O'Brien clan had been fighting for generations for supremacy in Thomond. Murtough O'Brien, the descendant of Thurlough O'Brien was the rightful King of Thomond. A challenger appeared in the form of Mahon O'Brien, allied with the opposing faction of the family, which paid its homage to Brian O'Brien. This side of the family was allied with the powerful Anglo-Norman Richard de Clare, a descendant of Strongbow. De Clare ruled over much of western Ireland from his castle at Bunratty, yet the English respected Thomond as a sovereign state and remained outside its borders. However, de Clare's alliance with Mahon O'Brien provided an excuse to invade Thomond. His pale Englishmen would meet in a pitched battle against Murtough's Irish in the Battle of Dysert O'Dea near what is now Ennis, County Clare.

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