At the coming of the Anglo-Normans to Ely the head of the O'Carrolls was Finn, or Donald, or Donald Finn (the Fair). He opposed the English, but was defeated and slain in 1205. It was after his death that Murtogh O'Brien, lord of Ara, laid claim to Ely. He sacked the Castles of Lorrha, Birr, and Kinnitty, which had been erected by the English.298

Ely. This was a territory between Lough Derg on the river Shannon and the Slieve Bloom mountains. The territory consisted of Lower Ormond and the Ikerrin in north Tipperary together with Clanrisk and Ballybritt in south Offaly.