1) 🏰 HISTORICAL SEATS OF EAST ANNALY

(O’Farrell Ban – Northern and Eastern Division)

1. Granard Castle (Caisleán Gránard)

• Major fortress of East Annaly

• Controlled key passes into Breifne

• Appears in multiple medieval annals as an O’Farrell stronghold

2. Rathcline / Ráth Cloinne (Rathcline Castle)

• Sometimes linked to the eastern branch

• Located on Lough Ree near Lanesborough

• Associated with O’Quin and later O’Farrell influence

3. Moydristan / Moyedrish / Moidristan (lesser chief seat)

• Cited in 15th–16th century sources concerning East Annaly

• A regional lordship within the Ban branch

4. Castle Forbes region (Newtownforbes area)

• Though later renamed, originally an O’Farrell stronghold

• One of the eastern defensive positions along the Longford–Leitrim fringe

Summary: East Annaly’s primary seat was Granard Castle, with Rathcline and regional sub-seats supporting it.

2) 🏰 HISTORICAL SEATS OF WEST ANNALY

(O’Farrell Buidhe – Southern and Central Division)

1. Longford Castle / Longphort Uí Fhearghail

• The capital fortress of the O’Farrell kingdom

• “Longphort” means a fortified encampment

• The recognized royal seat of the Princes of Annaly

2. Abbeylara / Lerha

• Religious and political center

• Patronized by the O’Farrell princes

• Later granted to Baron Delvin (Nugent) in multiple patents

3. Liserdowle / Lissardowlan

• Hereditary chief seat of the O’Farrell Buidhe

• Frequently cited as the ancestral seat of the Princes and Chiefs of Annaly

• Later granted to Baron Delvin because it was the principal princely seat

4. Ardagh (Ardagh of the Saints)

• Spiritual and administrative center of West Annaly

• The area linked to the ancient kingdom of Teffia

• A place of inauguration and judgment

5. Inchcleraun (Holy Island, Lough Ree)

• Monastic authority seat;

• Though ecclesiastical, the O’Farrell chiefs controlled and endowed it

• Later granted to Baron Delvin (1552 and confirmed under James I)

Summary: West Annaly’s principal seat was Longford (Longphort), with Liserdowle as the hereditary princely seat, and Abbeylara/Ardagh serving as religious and judicial centers.

🔶 Unified Summary

East Annaly (O’Farrell Ban)

• Granard Castle – main seat

• Rathcline Castle – secondary seat

• Moydristan – regional stronghold - Granard Abbey historically controlled Moyedrish and associated granges prior to dissolution.

West Annaly (O’Farrell Buidhe)

• Longphort (Longford Castle) – capital/royal seat

• Liserdowle / Lissardowlan – hereditary princely seat

• Abbeylara (Lerha) – ecclesiastical-administrative seat

• Ardagh – ancient Teffia governance seat

• Inchcleraun – monastic seat

The English Crown and Church granted both the spiritual and temporal authority of the ancient Christian principality of Annaly (Teffia/Anghaile) to the Barons Delvin (Nugent family) because Ireland—Christian since the 5th century and one of the earliest Christian nations in Europe—had long fused sovereignty with sacred ecclesiastical power, making political rule inseparable from control of abbeys, holy sites, and monastic jurisdictions. The O’Farrell Princes of Annaly had derived their legitimacy from the sacred seat of Ardagh, from patronage over abbeys, monastic granges, holy islands such as Inchcleraun and Inchmore, ancient burial grounds, tithes, advowsons, and the spiritual authority radiating from early Patrician Christianity, while their temporal power was anchored in the military and political capital of Slewght William. To extinguish Gaelic sovereignty legally and completely, the Crown therefore transferred to the Nugents not only the Captaincy and Chiefship of Slewght William (the secular princely office), but also the full complex of religious and monastic rights, including manors, courts, market rights, ecclesiastical patronage, sacred lands, Christian burial areas, and monastic islands—effectively granting them the entire sacred and administrative infrastructure through which the O’Farrells had ruled for nearly a thousand years. By merging these grants between 1552 and 1620, culminating in the creation of the Earldom of Westmeath, the Crown installed the Nugent Barons Delvin as its legal successor-in-title to the Christian–Gaelic princely sovereignty of Annaly, forming the basis of the Feudal Honour and Seignory of Longford–Annaly, a Crown-recognized successor to the ancient principality.

Continental King Grant to Delvin - Philip and Mary ruled not only as King and Queen of England and Ireland but also as continental monarchs through Philip, who was simultaneously King of Spain, King of Naples, King of Sicily, Duke of Milan, Lord of the Netherlands, and sovereign over the vast Spanish Empire in the Americas and Asia—making their joint reign one of the most globally expansive in European history. During their rule (1554–1558), they issued a crucial royal confirmation and restitution to Richard Nugent, 13th Baron Delvin, restoring all the estates, manors, and jurisdictions previously held by his father, including the important Annaly (County Longford) lands of Abbeyderg, Killashee, Rathcline, Ballymahon, Taghshinny, Lisserdowle, Castlerichard, Moate, Kilbride, and the dependent religious and palatine privileges once belonging to Fore Abbey. This joint act constitutes a unique dual grant, because the authority emanated from a sovereign pair in which Mary acted as the legitimate hereditary Queen of England and Ireland, while Philip acted simultaneously as a fully crowned continental monarch—King of Spain, Naples, and Sicily—whose royal seal and prerogatives were recognized throughout Europe. Thus, the restoration to Baron Delvin carries the rare distinction of being made under the united authority of an English sovereign and a reigning continental king, giving the grant an unparalleled breadth of legitimacy, prestige, and international royal authority not found in any typical single-monarch English patent. These lands represent the heart of medieval Annaly (County Longford).