SEFRAID’S FIRST MENTION IN THE RECORDS
Published in UncategorizedThe Annals of Connacht state that in 1271 Sefraig h. Fergail, along with the Muintir Angaile (the people of Anghaile), killed Nicol mac Seoan Berdun, tigerna Oirgiall (Nicholas fitz John de Verdun, the lord of Oirghialla/Louth). The phrasing is the same used for a death in battle, not a secret murder. The Annals of Multifarnham noted that Sir Nicholas de Verdun, Sir John (his brother) and ‘many others’ were killed on the feast of St Leo (10 November) in 1271. No killers were named. Seven years later the Dublin Bench record states that ‘Geoffrey Offergoll’, ‘Thomas Mackternan’ (Tomás Mac Thighearnáin), ‘Annaly Makmalice’ (Ánle Mac Maoil Íosa) and their ‘followers’ (what Gaelic sources would refer to as their slúagh) unlawfully killed Nicholas de Verdon, Sir John de Verdon, Sir Thomas de Chaumpayne, Hugh Cosyn, William le Wylde, Richard Stures, John Cappellanus, Geoffrey Clericus, William de Duneston, Thomas Broun and ‘others’. The Gaels were all outlawed for not answering the charges.
