struggle of Irish lords against English expansionism in the 16th century, and was an early precursor to the generation of Irish nobles who would combat the English in the Nine Years War, which heralded the end of Gaelic Ireland. O'Rourke remains one of the most common surnames within County Leitrim to this day. As a homage to the legacy of the historic kings of West Breifne, the county's coat of arms features the defaced crest of the O'Rourke clan. Family Brian O'Rourke had at least six known children - Eóghan, Brian Óg, Tadhg, Art, Eogan and Mary. O'Rourke's first two children were by Annalby O'Crean. She is described as being the wife of a Sligo merchant and it is not known whether she and Brian were ever officially married. They had two known children - Eóghan, born in 1562, and Brian Óg, born in 1568. Brian's first recorded marriage was to Lady Mary Burke (a daughter of the second Earl of Clanricarde). They had three known children - Tadhg, born in 1576, and two other sons named Art and Eogan. O'Rourke and Burke separated sometime prior to 1585 but were never formally divorced. Tadhg, and possibly their other children, continued to live with their mother in Galway following the separation. O'Rourke later married Elenora, daughter of James FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond and they had a daughter, Mary, who married Sir Hugh O'Conor, O'Conor Don. They later separated and Elenora remarried. She died in the spring of 1589. Based on accounts from Francisco de Cuellar who spent the Autumn of 1588 at O'Rourke's castle, Brian appears to have remarried once more, his wife being described by de Cuellar as "beautiful in the extreme". References Bibliography Dictionary of National Biography 60 vols. (London, 2004). 1540s births 1591 deaths 16th-century Irish monarchs Executed Irish people People extradited to England Irish lords People executed under Elizabeth I by hanging, drawing and quartering People executed under the Tudors for treason against England People from County Leitrim People of Elizabethan Ireland People extradited from Scotland