The South Isles of Aran (County Galway)Burke, Oliver J. (Oliver Joseph)
History
The South Isles of Aran (County Galway)
Burke, Oliver J. (Oliver Joseph)
Aran Islands (Ireland); Galway (Ireland : County) -- History
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
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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