property, drove to Limerick and offered to marry any Cromwellian officer who would take her hand. (This is refuted in other versions of the story which state that Máire Rua didn't marry until 1653, two years after Conor's death.) General Ludlow, who commanded the English Parliament forces at Inchicronan subsequently conducted counter-insurgency operations in the Burren, making his well-known statement about the area's barrenness. He went on to say about Leamaneh "and finding it indifferent strong, being built with stone and having a good wall about it, we put a garrison into it and furnished it with all things necessary". Máire Rua's third husband, Cornet John Cooper was a Cromwellian soldier and through this marriage she successfully retained her estates. Cooper left the army and amassed some wealth through land and property speculation. However, he later ran into financial difficulty and, as a result, the estate which he had married into at Leamaneh, which he under law now owned through his wife, was mortgaged to repay his debts. In the 1660s, Cromwellian troops were stationed on and off at Leamaneh. Máire Rua's son, Donagh or Donough (after 1686 Sir Donat) found the tower and manor damaged but stayed there until 1684/1685, when he moved the family seat from Leamaneh to the much larger Dromoland Castle in Newmarket-on-Fergus, south of Ennis. Although Máire Rua's children from her first marriage to Daniel O'Neylan (or O'Neillan) were raised Catholic, Sir Donagh/Donat was brought up as a Protestant and eventually became the "richest commoner in Ireland." He built "Sir Donat's Road", connecting Killnaboy and Leamaneh, a toll road, the flanking stone walls of which are still visible in places. The gate houses at which tolls were collected have since been demolished. He served as Sheriff of Clare in 1690 and as MP for Clare from 1695 to 1713. He died in 1717. By 1678, the estate had been increased to over 10,000 acres of land. Recent past Leamaneh had various occupants in subsequent years. However, the house finally fell into ruin at the end of the 18th century. The barbican-like gates which adorned the entrance to the property were moved to Dromoland Castle in 1906 or 1908 by Lord Inchiquin. They are still there. The most elegant of the fireplaces was relocated to the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis. Today Today, the ruins include both the tower house with its arrow slits (or "loops")