The
Honour of Annaly and Ancient Teffia - The medieval Nugent holdings of the Barony of Delvin were so extensive that they effectively constituted an Honour—a great feudal lordship composed of multiple manors, liberties, and subordinate estates held directly of the Crown. From the original 1172 de Lacy grant to Hugh de Nugent and his successors which included parts of Annaly, the Delvin lordship expanded beyond its
Meath nucleus into the western Teffian and Annaly territories, absorbing lands held by the O’Finolin, O’Skully, and related septs. Early surveys, genealogical accounts, and later Tudor confirmations indicate that the Nugent-Delvin sphere controlled a substantial portion—approximately 30% or more—of what later became
County Longford, particularly along the
Teffia &
Annaly frontier. This breadth of authority, spanning clustered manors, military service lands, and customary chief-rents, fits the classic definition of an Honour: a consolidated feudal jurisdiction whose size and influence exceeded an ordinary barony and shaped the territorial evolution of both medieval Annaly and modern Longford.
1552 Edward VI Grants to Delvin in Annaly - In 1552, King Edward VI granted lands of Annaly to Baron Delvin including the Holy Island and lands of the Ó Fearghail.
In 1556–57, King Philip and Queen Mary Grants to Delvin in Annaly - made grants to Lord Baron Delvin of Granard and the northern Annaly region before the county became County Longford. This grant is from Queen Mary of England and the King Philip (Von Habsburg) King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, Duke of Milan, Lord of the Netherlands, and Count of Burgundy. Thus, this grant by Mary and Philip awarded a territorially coherent Gaelic polity (Teffia/Annaly) in a rare dual-sovereign act from the pre-eminent Catholic monarch granting full attributes of territorial lordship—courts, rents, jurisdictions, ecclesiastical sites, and direct tenure in capite—thereby vesting the Baron of Delvin with delegated sovereignty functionally equivalent to that exercised by mediatized princes on the Continent.
Massive Grants in Longford - King James I (1605-1612) also granted to Lord Baron Delvin various castles, lands, ancient seats, and the Island and monastery of Inchemore, otherwise Inismore, in the Annalie.
Markets and Fair for Longford Annaly - In 1605, Markets and Fair Rights for Annaly-Longford - Grant by James I of England to Baron Delvin of market-and-fair rights, plus “courts” (baronial court/curia) in Longford: licence to hold a Thursday market and a fair on 1st August, with accompanying juridical rights. This 1605 royal grant to Sir Richard Nugent, Lord Delvin — recorded in the History of the County Longford (p. 123) — carries considerable feudal and sovereign significance, both legally and symbolically.
Captainship and Custody of the Annaly & Clann William - In 1565 (Elizabeth I) made Royal Patent to Baron Delvin of the – “Captaincy of Slewght William” (Slewght-Uilliam or Clann Liam i.e. Annaly) which this chieftaincy and custody had previously belonged to his father as a hereditary title and the honor was never revoked. ==See also==