And here we may indulge briefly in a retrospective glance at the status of the MacCarthys[[16]] in the land of Erin. For from these, unquestionably, the Rhode Island pioneer was descended. Then we will touch upon certain “troubles in Cristifars” which may have been the same as those to which Charles MacCarthy alludes as having forced him to New England.
Burke, Ulster King of Arms, the great authority on the British and Irish peerages, declares that “few pedigrees in the British empire can be traced to a more remote or exalted source than that of the Celtic house of M’Carty.” The learned Dr. O’Brien says that it was “the most illustrious of all those families whose names begin with Mac.” It has also truthfully been declared that “The MacCarthys may proudly defy any other family in Europe to compete with them in antiquity, or accurate preservation of the records of their descent.” Their patrimony was chiefly in Cork and Kerry, where they had strongholds for many centuries. They built over twenty castles there, many of them overlooking “the pleasant Bandon crowned with many a wood.”
These castles were massively constructed, the towers and battlements being equal in grandeur and strength to those elsewhere in Europe. For generation after generation they defied the attacks of time and the elements and proudly reared aloft their stately walls. The ruins of some of them still remain, crowned with ivy, and frequented by appreciative tourists. The MacCarthys have been Princes of Carbery, Earls of Clancarthy, Earls of Muskerry, Earls of Mountcashel, Viscounts of Valentia, and have also held other titles. Their history has been replete with chivalrous deeds, brave men, handsome women, noted clerics, generous benefactors, whole-souled hospitality.
The MacCarthys were the dominant family in Desmond (South Munster), at the period of the Anglo-Norman invasion. The MacCarthy Mor, lord of the elder branch, was generally inaugurated in Kerry. The O’Sullivan Mor and the O’Donoghoe Mor presided at the ceremony. The hereditary judges of the McCarthy Mor were the MacEgans; his captains of war, the O’Rourkes; and his poets and antiquaries, the O’Dalys and O’Quinns. His feudatories also included the O’Donovans and O’Hurleys. Charles, who died in 1770, was styled “the last MacCarthy Mor.” The arms of the family are thus described: “Arg. a stag trippant, attired and unguled or.” One branch of the family had as its motto: “Forti et fideli nihil difficile,” and another: “Ex arduis perpetuum nomen.” The motto of the MacCarthy Reagh was: “Fortis ferox et celer.” “The MacCarthys were a regal and princely house,” observes Burke, and he states that at one period the head of the clan could muster 3,000 men-at-arms. The MacCarthys Reagh constituted the second sept of the clan in point of importance, while the MacCarthys Glas were also a strong branch of the family.
Dermot MacCarthy, feudal lord and founder of the house of Muskerry, was killed in 1367. Cormac MacCarthy, slain in 1494, had been lord of Muskerry for 40 years. Donoch MacCarthy Mor was, in 1556, created Earl of Clancare (Clancarthy), and Viscount Valentia. Cormac Oge MacCarthy became a viscount in 1628. There was a Ceallachan MacCarthy who married Elizabeth Fitzgerald, daughter of the Earl of Kildare, and died 1676. A Charles MacCarthy, born about 1721, was a solicitor, seneschal of the manor of Macroom, recorder of Clonakilty, and clerk of the crown for the county of Cork. A Donoch MacCarthy, lord viscount Muskerry, was an Irish officer exiled to the continent in 1641–’42. He had commanded the king’s forces in Munster against Cromwell. At the restoration of Charles II, Donoch returned to Ireland and contested the right of Florence and Charles McCarthy to the title and dignity of “MacCarthy Mor.” He was created Earl Clancarthy, and died in 1665.
It is to be regretted that we do not know the name of the brother of Charles MacCarthy, the Rhode Island settler—the one to whom he refers in his will as having written from Kinsale. Did we have access to that letter which Charles of Rhode Island received, the desired knowledge would, no doubt, be obtained. But at this distance of time, all efforts to locate the letter have failed.
It seems reasonable to conclude that the brother of the Rhode Island pioneer was a man of some prominence—possibly of much prominence. It has been suggested that he was Donoch, Earl Clancarthy, just mentioned, but this could hardly have been so, as the Earl died in 1665 and Charles of Rhode Island, when he made his will in 1682, speaks of his brother as still living.
There was another Donoch MacCarthy, descendant of the first named, who was privately married when but sixteen years of age to Lady Elizabeth Spencer, daughter of Robert Spencer, Earl of Sunderland. It may be recalled, purely as a coincidence, that Charles MacCarthy of East Greenwich, R. I., was an intimate friend of the Spencers of that town and made one of them his heir. It is quite possible that John Spenser,[[17]] the Rhode Island settler, and intimate friend of Charles MacCarthy, was an Irish officer who, like many other chivalrous spirits of his time, was obliged by the fortunes of war to leave Ireland and reside in other parts. On the arrival of James II, in Ireland (1688), this second Donoch MacCarthy was one of the Irish officers who received him at Kinsale. At the fall of Cork in 1690, MacCarthy was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London. He had succeeded to the title of Earl Clancarthy and was a man of immense estate. All this was forfeited owing to his adhesion to the cause of James II. In 1694, he escaped from the Tower and fled to France. Upon rashly going back to England in 1698 he was rearrested and exiled. He died in 1704 at a locality in Hamburg. If Charles MacCarthy of Rhode Island was “forced from home” at the same time as his brother, it would be interesting to know why one went to Spain and the other to the island of St. Christopher. The whole matter, however, is wrapped in mystery. Charles tells us that his brother returned “from Spaine,” which statement reminds us of a prominent fact. King Charles II in a famous declaration mentions a large number of Irish “restorees,” who were to be given back their former estates in Ireland for having “Continued with Us or served faithfully under Our ensigns beyond the Seas.” Among these Irish restorees is mentioned Col. Charles MacCarthy of County Cork, and Capt. Charles MacCarthy, also of Cork. In another place Charles II mentions Charles James MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry.
A fourth Charles MacCarthy is mentioned during the Cromwellian settlement as a “Papist,” whose property was to be confiscated. These four Charles MacCarthys were all Irish officers or leading gentlemen, and the Rhode Island settler may have been one of them.
Yet another point: Charles of Rhode Island tells us that his brother, who was again in Ireland, had written from Kinsale asking him to return. Why? It may be that Charles and his brother were both “restorees,” as defined in the King’s Declaration above mentioned.