West Breifne
| Kingdom of West Breifne | ||||||||||||
| Bréifne Ua Ruairc (Irish) | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Motto Buagh (English: Victory) |
||||||||||||
 A map of 1450 Ireland showing Breifne O'Rourke
|
||||||||||||
| Capital | Dromahair | |||||||||||
| Languages | Irish | |||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholic | |||||||||||
| Government | Elective monarchy | |||||||||||
| King (Lord) | ||||||||||||
| • | 1250-1257 | Conchobar O'Ruairc | ||||||||||
| • | 1603–1605 | Tadhg O'Rourke | ||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||
| • | Dissolution of Breifne | 1256 | ||||||||||
| • | Shired | 1583 | ||||||||||
| • | Dissolved | 1605 | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Coat of arms
The Kingdom of West Breifne (Irish Breifne Ua Ruairc) or Breifne O'Rourke was an historic kingdom of Ireland that existed from 1256 to 1605, located in the area that is now County Leitrim. It took its present boundaries in 1583 when West Breifne was shired and renamed Leitrim, after the village of Leitrim, which was an O'Rourke stronghold. The kingdom came into existence after a battle between the ruling O'Rourke clan and the ascendant O'Reillys caused the breakup of the older Kingdom of Breifne and led to the formation of East Breifne and West Breifne. The kingdom was ruled by the O'Rourke clan and lasted until the early 17th century, when their lands were confiscated by England.
In 1172, Tighearnán Ua Ruairc, the longtime Lord of Breifne and Conmaice, was betrayed and killed at Tlachtgha during negotiations with Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath. Tighearnán was beheaded, and his head and body was conveyed to the Anglo-Normans in Dublin, where it was put on display. The assassination of Tighernán caused a war of succession in Breifne and for the next hundred years there would be no long standing King of Breifne, as rival branches of the O'Rourke clan fought for the kingship. This time of turbulence in the kingdom caused a great rift between the various branches of clan O'Rourke, with regular fighting between rival members. The instability and weakness of Breifne, which had already lost much of its territory during the Norman invasion, prompted the O'Reilly in the east of the kingdom to launch a campaign against the ruling O'Rourke dynasty. By the late 1230s the O'Reilly had usurped control of Breifne, Cathal O'Reilly ruled as king from the east of the kingdom and Cúchonnacht O'Reilly, Connacht's foremost general and close ally of King Felim O'Conor, had militarily taken control of western Breifne and expelled the O'Rourke leaders.
...
Wikipedia