Redmond M’Comon O’Byrne, chief of Donamace and Leagh, had two gigantic sons named Roderick and Maurice. The latter was married to a daughter of The O’Neill and had one son called Connell.
Upon the death of the old chieftain O’Byrne, he divided his territory between his sons, leaving Donamace to the elder, Roderick, and Leagh to the younger, Maurice.
Roderick, believing he should have inherited all his father’s possessions, determined to murder his brother.
LEA CASTLE (EXTERIOR).
One stormy night he set out alone from Donamace, and having tied his horse beneath a grove of ash-trees near the castle of Lea, he let himself in by the postern, with the key of which his unsuspecting brother had entrusted him.
Reaching Maurice’s chamber he murdered him in cold blood, but not before his victim had cried out to his son to revenge his death by a brother’s hand.
Roderick seized the body and, carrying it to where he had left his horse, put it into a leather bag that he had brought with him. Arriving at Dunamace he threw the body into a very deep well, thinking it would never be discovered.
Maurice’s son, Connell, had heard his father’s cry for vengeance in his dreams, but upon awaking and finding his father gone, with blood stains on the floor and stairs, he knew he had actually heard his voice.