O’Farrell Bane, "the fair O’Farrell." The O’Farrells maintained their independence down to the year 1565, when Annaly was reduced to "shire ground" by Sir Henry Sidney, the English Lord-Deputy. Though they suffered severely under the plantation scheme of James I, the O’Farrells nonetheless were able to take a prominent part in the political and military affairs of the seventeenth century, and afterwards the family was well represented in the French service, providing many distinguished officers to the Irish Brigades. They are now numerous. The O’Moledys (0 Maoileidigh), a branch of the O’Farrells, were settled in Offaly and Westmeath during the sixteenth century, where they were highly respectable.