West Breifne

West Breifne was a Gaelic kingdom based at Dromahair in later County Leitrim. It emerged when Breifne split in 1256; in 1337 the O Rourkes ruled its western lands.

The Tudors made it County Leitrim in 1565. Brian na Murtha O Rourke sheltered survivors of the Spanish Armada in 1588; expelled in 1590, he was handed over by Scotland’s James VI and hanged in 1591. His son fought in the Nine Years War, and after the last O Rourke lord died in 1605 the lands passed to the Plantation of Leitrim.