Annals (Four Masters, Ulster, etc.)

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Mac Eoin = Bissett. This was a Gaelic lineage-based noble style the family early adopted, after their ancestor John (Eoin) Bissett who had migrated from Scotland. It is also written McKeown

(Note to self and others, the Annals of the Four Masters were compiled by O'Donnell partisans and are, even if valuable, not entirely reliable where the O'Donnells are concerned.)


State Papers, etc. (English sources)

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Fitz John, Fytzjohn Byssede = Mac Eoin Bissett. Since the family were by this time principally associated with the Gaelic world, this is probably an English translation of the Irish noble style. Notably it is not presented as a surname like FitzGerald, but as a title like in the case of MacWilliam Burke. The following account belongs to a section of the preliminary list created before the Tudor conquest of Ireland for Henry VIII of England by his officials of the leading families of Ireland, both of Gaelic and other lineage, who were not under English control.


Later on in the same document Ulster is discussed again. This time there are four mentioned.


A similar list made itself into the circa 1540 compilation known as the Book of Howth. The editor of the manuscript notes however that the list is in a different hand from the surrounding text. The date will in any case be roughly contemporary with the above.


The reference in both to captains is very important. It was the English term for those families who enjoyed effectively total sovereignty within their territories and conducted their affairs as would sovereign princes, dukes and counts, even if their territories might not be extensive. Gaelic Ireland is described as a patchwork of various petty kingdoms and other territories with no effective national overlordship, although some might be practiced at the provincial level. The Bissetts and these other "English" families were those who had become just like the Gaelic Irish, adopting their concepts of sovereignty, manners and styles. This was sometimes referred to as becoming more Irish than the Irish themselves. Some families were later brought back, and others not. We never get to find out in the case of the Bissetts because they have apparently gone under by the time the Kingdom of Ireland is proclaimed and Henry begins receiving submissions.

Before the end of the century the family are already being spoken of as the Lords of the Glynnes in the past tense, without reference made to their current status (if any):


Thus the Clan Donald are still experiencing some difficultly establishing themselves in Ireland, and their maternal kin the Bissetts, still remembered as the Lords of the Glynnes by Tudor England, have now become the MacDonnell's inheritance, excuse and legitimacy all in one.

Greek?

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While a pedigree of the Irish Bissetts probably does not survive, Duald Mac Firbis, in his Leabhar na nGenealach, tells us in his pedigree of the MacDonnells the following:

Notes

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  1. ^ Or so they later claimed. This is probably quite false but eventually became a sort of truth.
  2. ^ Completely false.

References

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Primary sources
  • Annals of Clonmacnoise, translated by Connell MacGeoghegan (1627), ed. Denis Murphy (1896). The Annals of Clonmacnoise. Dublin: Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland.
  • Annals of Connacht, ed. and tr. A. Martin Freeman (1944). Annála Connacht: The Annals of Connacht (A.D. 1224-1544). Dublin: DIAS. (Edition and translation available from CELT)
  • Annals of the Four Masters, ed. & tr. John O'Donovan (2nd ed., 1856), Annála Rioghachta Éireann. Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters... with a Translation and Copious Notes. 7 vols. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. CELT versions. Full scans at Internet Archive: Vol. I. Vol. II. Vol. III. Vol. IV. Vol. V. Vol. VI. Indices.
  • Annals of Loch Cé, ed. and tr. W. M. Hennessy (1871). The Annals of Loch Cé. Rolls Series 54. 2 vols. Dublin: Longman. (Available from CELT: Edition and translation of vol. 1 (s.a. 1014-1348); Edition and translation of vol. 2 (s.a. 1349-1590))
  • Annals of Ulster, ed. and tr. W. M. Hennessy and B. Mac Carthy (2008) [1895]. Annala Uladh: Annals of Ulster otherwise Annala Senait, Annals of Senat: a Chronicle of Irish Affairs from A.D. 431 to A.D. 1540 (Revised ed.). Dublin: Longman – via CELT. (4 vols)
  • The Battle Abbey Roll
  • Book of Howth
  • Calendar of Documents, Relating to Ireland: 1252-1284 1171-1251 the same
  • State Papers alt alt see also p. 27, Barony of the Glens
  • The Description and Present State of Ulster
  • Inquisition and Assessments relating to Feudal Aids
  • Leabhar na nGenealach translation of passage
Secondary sources
Seals

(of minor importance, but interesting)