This is NOT a review of Roy H Greer's new book 'Con O'Neill Last Gaelic Lord of Upper Clannaboy', because as yet I haven't read it. I want to draw your attention to the book as something you might like to read, if you have an interest in Ulster/Irish history and more locally, the history of Castlereagh/East Belfast.
Con O'Neill is 200 pages long. It is published by The White Row Press with support from Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council and can be had for
£14 95. This is an impressive volume, full of maps, diagrams, and colour photographs. It is clear that Roy Greer has done his homework ( lol ). This volume is a labour of love and not merely a passing fancy. There are extensive notes and a full bibliography in the end section.
This is what White Row Press says -
This exciting new work commemorates the four hundredth anniversary of the death of Con O’Neill, whose passing marked the end of the Gaelic way of life in Ulster, and the transformation of his realm by Scottish settlers.
The author, primary school principal Roy Greer, describes the publication as his ‘ten-year journey with an Irish chief’.
‘Long hours spent in the Linen Hall Library, the Public Record Office, and at Queen’s, and trailing through old archives and Calendars of State Papers on the internet soon revealed that little had been written on the subject. My task soon became like completing a large jigsaw puzzle. Each tiny piece revealed another extraordinary dimension of the story. What I discovered was a tale to rival Game of Thrones!’
The book falls into three main sections; the first traces the bloody rise of the Clannaboy or Clann Aodha Buidhe who fought their way to prominence in north-east Tyrone and south Londonderry in the thirteenth century.
The second section focuses on the part of Clannaboy known as Upper Clannaboy (Clandeboy). The rulers of Upper Clannaboy controlled their lands from their tower house of Castle Reagh.
Con O’Neill was their last leader. A flawed character, who lived at an absolutely seminal moment in Irish history. He was totally out of his depth as he struggled to cope with huge historical forces that were really beyond anyone’s power to manage.
‘This is a fascinating, complex story,’ says Roy. ‘And Con is undoubtedly an intriguing figure. But this is not just the story of a man or a clan, or a straightforward narrative of dispossession. It is not even the story of a clash of nations. It is about something even more fundamental than that, it is about a tectonic collision between two historical epochs, and about how capitalism, red in tooth and claw, turned an in some ways very innocent feudal society on its head. And it all comes together in Con’s life.’
‘Hopefully Con O’Neill: last Gaelic Lord of Upper Clannaboy will help to restore Con and his clan to heart of the history eastern Ulster. It is also my hope that in bringing the story of Con O’Neill and the Ulster Scots together in one volume, people will be encouraged to embrace our shared history.’
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