O'BRIENS OF BALLYNALACKEN.
This Turlough, King of Thomond, was ancestor of Teige O'Brien, who married Annabella, daughter of Ulick McWilliam Burke, of Clanrickarde, known as "Ulick of the Wine," and by her had, with other sons, Turlough Don, King of Thomond in 1498, and Donal. Turlough Don was ancestor of the family of Inchiquin, of which we have spoken, and from Donal sprang Turlough O'Brien, who was married to a grandniece of Sir Toby Butler, better known as the jovial Sir Toby, the great luminary of the Connaught Circuit, Solicitor-General for Ireland under James II., and the celebrated lawyer who drafted that treaty which will be remembered by all generations as the broken Treaty of Limerick. Turlough was the grandfather of John O'Brien, of Ballynalacken, who died in 1855, and of James O'Brien, Esq., Q.C., who was Member of Parliament for the city of Limerick from 1854 to 1858, when he was raised to a judgeship in the Queen's Bench. It is too near our own time to speak of that learned lawyer further than to say that "he judged not according to appearance, but judged just judgment;" that in him the prisoner at the bar found a merciful judge, and at the same time one who held the scales so that crime could not escape with impunity. Let us hope that when he went to a higher court he reaped the rewards promised to a just judge; and let us hope that those who come after him of his name and race may, when their turn comes, follow in his footsteps, and thus show that the wisdom of the wise still dwells in the brehons of the Celtic race.
The Ballynalacken O'Briens are now represented amongst the landed gentry by James O'Brien, J.P., D.L., and they are also represented at the Bar by his brother, my learned friend, Peter, late Sergeant O'Brien, now Solicitor-General for Ireland.
FOOTNOTES:
[29] 2 Sam. xii. 31.
APPENDIX B
STATISTICS OF ISLANDS OF ARAN.
| Area, | 11,288 acres. | |||
| Population—Census | 1815, | 2400 | ||
| " | 1871, | 3049; | increase, 640 | |
| " | 1881, | 3163 | "114 | |
| Inhabited houses, | 1815 | 395 | ||
| " | 1881 | 576 | "181 | |
| Petty Sessions District, Aran. | ||||
| Religion of Aranites, | 1871, | 2993 | Roman Catholics | |
| " | " | 55 | Protestant Episcopalians | |
| " | " | 1 | Presbyterian | |
| —— | ||||
| Total | 3049 | |||
| Religion of Aranites, | 1881, | 3118 | Roman Catholics; increase, 125 | |
| " | " | 44 | Protestant Episcopalians; decrease, 11 | |
| " | " | 1 | Presbyterian | |
| —— | ||||
| Total | 3163 | |||
| Number speaking Irish only in Aran, | 1871 | 835 |
| English and Irish, | " | 1924 |
| Irish only, | 1881 | 889 |
| English and Irish, | 1881 | 1829 |