Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 34.djvu/441

 Egerton, 154). On 28 April 1703 he wrote a poem called ‘The Lion of the Province of Ulster,’ and on 29 May 1703 a song to the air of Grainne Mhaol, in which he deplores the ruined state of the native gentry, and again alludes to the bishop's expatriation. All his works are in Irish, and, excepting those printed by S. H. O'Grady in his ‘Silva Gadelica’ (1892), have circulated exclusively in manuscript. 

M'CARTHY, CHARLES (1770?–1824), governor of Sierra Leone, one of the ancient Irish sept of the name, was second son of John Gabriel MacCarthy (born in 1737, and living in 1812), and great-grandson of Michael MacCarthy, who went to France with James II (and died at Caen in 1744, aged 71). An uncle, Charles Thaddeus François MacCarthy, knight of St. Louis, was an officer of the guards of Louis XV, and afterwards a captain of British foot; and many other members of the family were in the French army. When the Irish brigade, formerly in the service of France, was reorganised in British pay, after the revolution, M'Carthy was appointed (1 Oct. 1794) ensign in the regiment of James Henry, count Conway, afterwards called the 5th regiment of the Irish brigade, with which he served in the West Indies, becoming lieutenant in it 31 Dec. 1795, and captain 1 Oct. 1796. In 1800 he was appointed captain 52nd foot, and 14 April 1804 major in the New Brunswick fencibles, afterwards the old 104th foot (disbanded in 1816), of which fine body of backwoodsmen he was several years in personal command. On 30 May 1811 he was promoted to be lieutenant-colonel royal African corps, and the year after was made governor of Sierra Leone. When Cape Coast Castle was taken out of the hands of the African Company [see under, 1790–1824], M'Carthy was sent to assume the government there as well. On 22 Nov. 1820 he was knighted, and in 1821 attained the rank of colonel. About Christmas 1823, M'Carthy received tidings that the Ashantees, incensed at the protection afforded to the Fantees, were moving down in force against Cape Coast. After arranging for a defence of the settlement by native auxiliaries, M'Carthy started on 10 Jan. 1824, with a small advanced force, consisting of a company of the royal Africans, and some colonial militia and volunteers. The little force, exhausted with marching in the heavy rains, and having expended its ammunition, was routed by an overwhelming force of Ashantees on 21 Jan. 1824; M'Carthy was mortally wounded, and his head taken as a war-trophy by the Ashantees. His efforts to advance the cause of Christianity and civilisation in Africa increased the regret generally felt for his tragic end. M'Carthy's elder brother was born in 1765, and was a captain in the Irish brigade in the French service. He died unmarried, and was buried at Liège in 1793. A sister married Charles François, count Fontaine de Morvé, and died without issue. 

MACCARTHY, CORMAC LAIDHIR OGE (d. 1536), Irish chieftain, and lord of Muskerry, was son of Cormac Laidhir MacCarthy, lord of Muskerry (d. 1494), by Mary Fitzmaurice, daughter of Edmund, ninth lord of Kerry. He joined the English of Munster in 1510 after the expedition against Limerick, and was subsequently head of the coalition against the Fitzgeralds, which ended in 1520 with the great battle at Mourne, near Mallow. In this engagement MacCarthy, who was in command, entirely routed the Fitzgeralds, and in consequence the Butlers were left supreme in Munster. Soon after the battle Thomas Howard II [q. v.], earl of Surrey (afterwards third duke of Norfolk, 1473–1554), visited Munster, and had an interview with MacCarthy, whom he wished to create a baron. Probably it was to MacCarthy, who had expressed a wish to hold his lands in tail of the crown, that Henry VIII addressed his letter on the state of Ireland, which is printed in ‘State Papers,’ ii. 59. In 1524 MacCarthy defeated O'Conor Kerry, who had made a raid into his territory, and slew O'Conor O'Brien. He died in 1536, and was buried at Kilcrea. Surrey described him as ‘a sad, wise man.’ By his wife Catherine Barry, daughter of John, viscount Buttevant, he left a son, Teige, who died in 1566, and a daughter, Julia, or Shely, who married, first, Gerald Fitzmaurice, fifteenth lord of Kerry; secondly, Cormac MacCarthy Reagh, lord of Kilbritton; and thirdly, Edmund Butler, lord Dunboyne. 