Celtic Culture & heritage

Tyrconnell (Irish Gaelic: Tir Chonaill) was an independent Gaelic state in Ireland. It covered an area that was larger than the present County Donegal.  It took in parts of Derry, Sligo, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Leitrim. The powerful Irish family O’Donnell (Ó Domhnail) ruled the land under Brehon Law.  The statutes of Brehon Law were used to govern early medieval Irish society. As quoted in historian Peter Berresford Ellis' interview with Transceltic, it is “what could be claimed as northern Europe’s oldest legal system”.

The Kingdom of Tyrconnell was said to have been founded in the fifth century by Conall Gulban, a son of Niall Noígíallach. Niall Noígíallach was an Irish King known as Niall of the Nine Hostages. He got his name from his strategy of taking hostages in his battles with other chieftains. There are a number of present day Irish names which claim a link to Niall and his dynasty of Irish chieftains held sway in Ireland for several centuries. The O’Donnell’s were descended from Conal Gulban.

Daphne du Maurier (May 13 1907-April 19 1989) was an author and playwright who had a deep love for Cornwall. In total she wrote 15 novels, 12 non-fiction books, 3 plays and a number of collections of short stories. Her novels "Rebecca" and "Jamaica Inn", set in Cornwall, were adapted for film and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. "Frenchman's Creek" published in 1941 was made into a film in 1944 and directed by Mitchell Leisen. Amongst other of her works adapted for the screen were "The Birds" (directed by Alfred Hitchcock) and "Don't Look Now" (directed by Nicholas Roeg).

Daphne du Maurier was born in London, one of three sisters; the elder was writer Angela du Maurier (1902-2002) and the younger painter Jeanne du Maurier (1911-1996). Her father was actor-manager Gerald du Maurier (1873-1934) and her mother actor Muriel Beaumont (1881-1957). Daphne du Maurier lived in Cornwall for many years where she died in 1989.

John Callow is a writer, screenwriter, and historian, specialising in Seventeenth Century politics and popular culture. He is the author of 9 books including: 'The Making of James II' (2000), 'Witchcraft and Magic in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Europe' (co-author with Geoffrey Scarre 2001), 'King in Exile' (2004) and 'James II -The Triumph and the Tragedy' (2005), 'Change the World' (2010), 'The Art of Revolution' (2011), and 'GMB at Work - The story behind the Union' (2012). He has recently completed work on a new cultural history of witchcraft, 'Embracing the Darkness', published by I.B. Tauris.

John is of Manx descent and alongside his books he is the author of the article 'The Limits of Indemnity: Sovereignty and Restribution at the Trial of William Christian (Illiam Dhone)' (Seventeenth Century, vol.XV. no.2) and a forthcoming study of Illiam Dhone's work at the heart of Lord Fairfax's administration of the Isle of Man, 1652-60. He has appeared in numerous television programmes, including 'Find My Past' and the 'One Show'.

We put the following questions about Manx nationalist and political martyr Illiam Dhône to acclaimed historian John Callow. For more information on Illiam Dhône and the historical context in which he lived, read our introduction to Illiam Dhône.

1. Why do you think Illiam Dhône took the actions that he did and which eventually led to his execution?

The English Civil War (1642–1651) had placed enormous strains upon the Manx economy and society. The island had been militarised to an unprecedented degree, with the creation of new state of the art artillery forts and gunpowder mills. Conscription was used for these building projects and for sustaining the Earl of Derby's war effort. In addition, the Earl had sought to overturn inheritance law, limit farm leases, and re-assert the centralised control of Stanley authority in almost every aspect of Manx life. The balance between lord and tenant was dramatically redrawn on the Isle, in favour of the rich and the powerful.

It was no surprise, therefore, that there was discontent: or that a rebellion had been attempted before, in 1643. What was surprising, not least to the Stanleys, themselves, was that the rising of 1651 was led by one of their own clients. However, it really shouldn’t surprise us that Illiam Dhône was moved to act in the good of his island home.

He knew full well what could happen to a native Gaelic society when it was visited by English invasion. Tales of (and refugees from) Ireland at the time of both the massacres of 1640 and the Cromwellian conquest of 1649 would have been the source of frightening rumours and first-hand accounts of the cultural and physical devastation wrought by the total collapse of Charles I's government.