Page:Confiscation in Irish history.djvu/95

 a general inquiry was made into the King's title to lands in Westmeath, King's County, and Queen's County.

Already in 1611 Chichester had informed the Privy Council that Ely appeared to be now of right part of His Majesty's inheritance. The grounds on which this title was based, as given in Vol. 625 of the Carew MSS. at Lambeth, are curious.

Sir Teig O'Carroll had held Ely by Irish custom, and without any title good by the laws of the realm, until mindful of his duty to his Sovereign he had made a surrender of all that he was in possession of to Edward VI. who thereupon made him a regrant of what he had surrendered.

This was evidently, from the context, a surrender and regrant of the lands, castles and duties attached to the chieftainship, and not of the clan lands as a whole, although this is not explicitly stated in the abstract of title.

Sir Teig died without heirs male, and the lands reverted to the Crown. His base brother. Sir William, succeeded as O'Carroll. He too made a surrender, and obtained a regrant.

He made a settlement of his property, and enfeoffed certain persons for this purpose. His lawful sons, named in the settlement, apparently predeceased him; for the MS. says that he left only one lawful child, a daughter named Johan, who was married to Redmund Burke.

When Sir William died his base son Sir Charles succeeded as O'Carroll. The feoffees of Sir Wil-