Kingdom of Desmond

The Kingdom of Desmond — Deasmhumhain, 'South Munster' — was a historic kingdom in southwestern Ireland, comprising all of what is now County Cork and most of County Kerry. It was founded in 1118 by Tadhg Mac Cárthaigh, King of Munster, when the Treaty of Glanmire formally divided the Kingdom of Munster into Desmond and Thomond, North Munster. Desmond was ruled by the Mac Cárthaigh (MacCarthy) dynasty, with other clans of the kingdom including the O'Sullivans and O'Donovans. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland in the late twelfth century, the eastern half of Desmond was conquered by the Anglo-Normans and became the Earldom of Desmond under the Fitzmaurices and FitzGeralds — the famous Geraldines — while the western half lived on as a semi-independent Gaelic kingdom under the Mac Cárthaigh, often at war with the Anglo-Normans; Fínghin Mac Carthaigh's victory over them at the Battle of Callann in 1261 helped preserve Desmond's independence. The kingdom in the form shown on the map — the Gaelic west that had kept its kings — endured until 1596, the end date recorded for the ancient kingdom of South Munster.