Margaret O’Carroll was some Woman! Source: libraryireland.comCo. Offaly's Queen of craic
A true Queen of the people... Unlike Marie Antoinette, this Irish ruler ACTUALLY let her people eat cake, and lots of it too.
And that was just the tip of the ice-burg for the generous and fascinating life led by this 15th Century Offaly Queen.
This is the tale of Margaret-an-Einigh....
Or in English, ‘Margaret the Hospitable,’ the woman responsible for the 'EP' of the 1400’s.
1. Mairgréag an Einigh ('Margaret the Hospitable')
Margaret O’Carroll of Eile, County Offaly was born in the early fifteenth century during a time of intense war and conquest.
Yet despite this, she quickly became known as Queen of kindness humility and serenity...
And her extreme generosity, kindness and political prowess became the stuff of legend.
Margaret set a timeless example of unselfishness for the rest of humanity to follow, a lesson which may be more relevant now than ever.
In fact, so loved and respected was Margaret, that upon her death in 1451, a Chronicler for the Annals of Connacht wrote:
"The best woman of the Gaedil and the one who made the most causeways, churches, books, chalices and all articles useful for the service of a church ... she died of a cancer in the breast this year ... the darling of all the Leinster people" (do ec do galur cigí in hoc anno)."
That’s some pat on the back!
2. The Woman sure loved a party
If festivals had great ancestor’s, some of the biggest and best festivals in Ireland like Electric Picnic, Longitude and Sea Sessions would be definitely be able to trace their roots all the way back to the 1430’s, and two massive ragers Margaret threw for her people in 1433.
They were the The feast of Dasinchell and the first festival of Mary in the Autumn.
Both were apparently so much fun, that all who attended them were said to have been ‘satisfied fully...’ We assume that's the 15th Century way of saying it was a grand auld time
So what went down at them? Well breaking the rule of ‘what happens at the festival stays at the festival.’
There was apparently a ton of free food and drink, the latest bangin’ 15th century tunes, entertainment by the way of plays and puppet shows and more medieval craic dare we say.
3. Like Mother like Daughter
They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and that couldn’t be more accurate when it comes to Margaret and her Daughter Fionnghuala.
Fionnghuala was the youngest of Margaret’s Seven Children (Five boys, Two girls), and by accounts, she was also the most like her Mum.
A poem was written in 1425 celebrating Fionnghuala's second marriage to a man called Aodh pays tribute both to her own and her mother's generosity:
'’...Fionnghuala’s splendour is so great that no woman can be set above her...
From her girlhood - high praise! - her mother’s nature shows in her; ere she came to a husband she was pregnant with generosity.’’
That’s top parenting Margaret, top parenting.
4. She was even a fine hostage negotiator as it turned out
So here was Margaret, casually making her way back home from a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in 1445...
When she manged to negotiate a prisoner exchange between the Gaelic Irish and their English neighbors in Meath.
The story goes that a number of Irishmen, had been taken prisoner by the English while in the company of the Baron of Dealbhna.
In order to secure their freedom, Margaret released a number of English prisoners being held by her husband (Calbhach, a famous Irish Warrior) and brought them to Trim Castle to make the exchange.
It’s believed she acted solely without informing Calbhach of her plans, because Mag's don’t need no permission!
