SNIPPET: In 1651, General Edmund LUDLOW, a Commander in Oliver CROMWELL's Parliamentarian occupation forces, moved his invading armies into north Co. Clare. On viewing the limestone terraces and stony expanses of the Burren region, he grimly noted, "There is here not wood enough to hang a man, water enough to drown a man nor earth enough to bury a man!" LUDLOW, along with his co-invader, General Henry IRETON, must also have been equally struck by the proliferation of the well-fortified stone castles, high towers and great fortress-keeps that dotted the landscape from the banks of the Shannon to the rugged shores of the Atlantic. By far the greatest, and most imposing of these fortified places was Leamaneh Castle, strategically situated at the crossroads twelve miles north of the then garrison town of Ennis, and home of Maire 'Rua' (Red Mary) McMAHON-O'BRIEN, last of the great Irish Warrior Queens. It was built in the late 1400s as a single Norman-style Tower-keep, and in the 1640s, a splendid O'BRIEN-owned manor-house castle, that the legendary Maire Rue resided and ruled from, together with her husband Conor. Born circa 1615 to Sir Torlach and Mary McMAHON of Clonderlaw Castle near Killimer in South Clare, Maire was married in 1634 to a wealthy Daniel NEYLON, of nearby Dysert O'Dea, with whom she had three children. In 1639 NEYLON died and Mary soon married young Sir Conor O'BRIEN, who was of the powerful ruling O'BRIEN Clan of Thomond. Together they moved northward to take up residence in an O'BRIEN castle stronghold at Leamaneh in the Barony of The Burren in north Clare. Life was peaceful, living at their castle at Leamaneh with their five children. Then the execution of King Charles I of England in early 1642 saw the elevation of anti-royalist Oliver CROMWELL to power and to become the virtual dictator as Lord Lieutenant Protector of England. In Co. Clare, Conor O'BRIEN found himself at the head of his troop of cavalry moving to do battle to halt General LUDLOW's incursion into north Clare that threatened the O'BRIEN-held Burren lands. Conor was wounded and died. Maire, acting swiftly, tracked down the man who shot her husband and had him hanged. Dressed in her finest, she rode in her best coach and four to present herself to General IRETON, then laying siege to Limerick City. IRETON, who was CROMWELL's son in law, was to help her to achieve her ultimate goal of retaining her estates and castle, as Mary offered on the spot to marry any one of the officers. Maire Rua was subsequently married for the third time to one John COOPER, one of IRETON's junior officers, a Cornet, the lowest rank in the cavalry. Part of the marriage agreement was that her sons, Sir Donough and Sir Teige, be raised in the Protestant faith, which she agreed to. Contrary to folklore (murders, witchcraft, a blind but spirited white stallion, and Mary's ghost), this romantic, daring (ruthless?) lady was apparently contented in this marriage. A son, Henry, was born to them in 1654. Maire's final years were spent at Dromoland Castle, near Limerick city, having outlived her husband. There is some question, apparently, where she buried, having died in 1868. If you travel North Clare from the village of Corofin towards Kilfenora or Ballyvaughan, as you round a gentle bend in the road, standing dark and alone against the stony Burren backdrop, you will see the great abandoned Castle of Leamaneh. -- Author P. J. CURTIS, of Kilnaboy, Co. Clare, is a well-known author and award-winning broadcaster. If you have an interest in Clare, you'll enjoy his books. His most recent publication is "The Lightning Tree" (Bandon, 2006). The author's full account of Clare's Warrior Heroine appears in the Nov-Dec 2007 issue of Dublin's "Ireland of the Welcomes" magazine with accompanying photographs of the area by Mike MULCAIRE. There is also a painting of the formidable lady, herself.