80-779: The Dursey massacre , also called the Dursey Island massacre , took place in June 1602 during the Nine Years' War on Dursey Island off the Beara Peninsula in southern Ireland. According to Philip O'Sullivan Beare , a group of around three hundred Gaelic Irish, including civilians, were killed by an English force under the command of George Carew . During the Nine Years' War , a coalition of Irish lords led by Hugh O'Neill revolted against English rule in Ireland . In
160-642: A cavalry charge, resulting in a rout of the Irish forces. The Spanish in Kinsale surrendered after their allies' defeat. The Irish forces retreated north to Ulster to regroup and consolidate their position. The Ulstermen lost many more men in the retreat through freezing and flooded country than they had at the actual battle of Kinsale. The last rebel stronghold in the south was taken at the siege of Dunboy by George Carew . Hugh Roe O'Donnell left for Spain pleading in vain for another Spanish landing. He died in 1602 of
240-614: A crossing of the River Erne , Bagenal and O'Neill marched (separately) northwards to the northern end of Lower Lough Erne . Blocking forces were posted by Maguire at the ford of Belleek, but these were overcome by Bagenal and O'Neill at the Battle of Belleek on 10 October. Initially O'Neill assisted the English, hoping to be named as Lord President of Ulster himself. Elizabeth I , though, had feared that O'Neill had no intention of being
320-489: A far more able commander, though his greater success could just as well have been because he was provided with all of the administrative support Essex lacked. In addition, two veterans of Irish warfare, George Carew and Arthur Chichester , were given commands in Munster and Ulster respectively. In November 1599 O'Neill sent a 22-paragraph document to Queen Elizabeth, listing his terms for a peace agreement. These called for
400-528: A fever—it is often incorrectly alleged that he was poisoned by a double agent. His brother Rory assumed leadership of the O'Donnell clan. Both he and Hugh O'Neill were reduced to guerrilla tactics, fighting in small bands, as Mountjoy, Dowcra, Chichester, and Niall Garbh O'Donnell swept the countryside. The English scorched earth tactics were especially harsh on the civilian population, who died in great numbers both from direct targeting and from famine. In 1602 O'Neill destroyed his capital at Dungannon due to
480-428: A group of civilians, including old men, women and children on the island to protect them from the violence in the area. Approximately 40 Irish soldiers and mercenaries were stationed there to defend the fort. An English force of several hundred men and some cannons landed on the island in boats. According to varying accounts, the Irish, after initial skirmishes, accepted surrender, with the promise of their lives, when it
560-616: A large earthwork stalled its advance. Bagenal was killed by an Irish musketeer, and scores of his men were killed and wounded when the English gunpowder wagon exploded. About 1,500 of the English army were killed and 300 deserted. After the battle, the Blackwater Fort surrendered to O'Neill. The battle marked an escalation in the war, as the English Crown greatly bolstered its military forces in Ireland, and many Irish lords who had been neutral joined O'Neill's alliance. In 1597,
640-531: A parley with O'Neill and agreed a truce that was heavily criticised by his enemies in London, despite Elizabeth's admission soon afterward that it was "so seasonably made...as great good...has grown by it." Anticipating a recall to England, he set out for London in 1599 without the Queen's permission, where he was executed after attempting a court putsch . He was succeeded in Ireland by Lord Mountjoy , who proved to be
720-565: A period of warfare, Shane had Matthew murdered and became O'Neill after his father died. After the murder of Matthew's first heir, Brian, the English authorities spirited the next heir Hugh out of Tyrone to be brought up with the Hovenden family in the Pale . At the parliament of 1585, Hugh O'Neill requested and was granted his English law birthright to the title of Earl of Tyrone. Prior to this and for several years afterwards Hugh O'Neill warred with
800-532: A rival of Hugh Roe, devastated the countryside in an effort to provoke a famine and killed the civilian population at random. Their military assumption was that without crops and people or cattle, the rebels could neither feed themselves nor raise new fighters. This attrition quickly began to bite, and it also meant that the Ulster chiefs were tied down in Ulster to defend their own territories. Although O'Neill managed to repulse another land offensive by Mountjoy at
880-567: A secure base in the large and dense forests of Tir Eoghain , O'Neill held out until 30 March 1603, when he surrendered on good terms to Mountjoy, signing the Treaty of Mellifont . Elizabeth I had died on 24 March. Although the war had effectively ended with the signing of the Treaty of Mellifont, its final battles were fought during the English invasion of West Breifne in April 1603, which remained
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#1732794251435960-427: A self-governing Ireland with restitution of confiscated lands and churches, freedom of movement, and a strong Roman Catholic identity. In respect of Irish sovereignty he now accepted English overlordship, but requested that the viceroy ".. be at least an earl , and of the privy council of England ". Elizabeth's adviser Sir Robert Cecil commented in the margin of the document, with the word " Ewtopia ". George Carew,
1040-587: A series of low hills and cross the River Callan . Bagenal was the English army commander in chief (marshal) of Ulster for a decade (beginning in 1587 as his father's deputy), gaining extensive experience fighting against the Maguires and other Irish lords. He had a bitter grudge against O'Neill, who some years earlier had eloped with his sister Mabel . He was familiar with the territory. He commanded 3,500 footsoldiers. Bagenal's footsoldiers were armed with
1120-545: A simple landlord and that his ambition was to usurp her authority and be "a Prince of Ulster". For this reason she refused to grant O'Neill provincial presidency or any other position which would have given him authority to govern Ulster on the crown's behalf. Once it became clear that Henry Bagenal was marked to assume the presidency of Ulster, O'Neill accepted that an English offensive was inevitable, and so joined his allies in open rebellion in February 1595, with an assault on
1200-469: A small colony had been planted in the 1570s; but here too the terrain was unfavorable for the English, since Lough Neagh and the river Bann , the lower stretch of which ran through the dense forest of Glenconkeyn, formed an effective barrier on the eastern edge of the O'Neill territory. A further difficulty lay in the want of a port on the northern sea coast where the English might launch an amphibious attack into O'Neill's rear. The English strategic situation
1280-471: A strong body of forces from Connacht , to assist his ally against those who were marching upon him. The Irish of all the province of Ulster also joined the same army, so that they were all prepared to meet the English before they arrived at Armagh". Bagenal's army marched from Dublin to Armagh. Meanwhile, O'Neill's troops had dug trenches in the countryside between Armagh and the Blackwater fort, blocked
1360-514: A thirteen month siege. In 1599, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex arrived in Ireland with over 17,000 English troops. He took the advice of the Irish privy council, to settle the south of the country with garrisons before making an attempt on Ulster, but this dissipated his forces and he ended up suffering numerous setbacks on a desultory progress through south Leinster and Munster. He spent almost all of his time in Ireland awaiting transport that he had been promised before setting out, it being
1440-541: A trained army including musketeers in prepared positions; after a stinging defeat at the Battle of Clontibret , successive English offensives were driven back in the following years. At the Battle of the Yellow Ford in 1598 up to 2,000 English troops were killed after being attacked on the march to Armagh . The rest were surrounded in Armagh itself but negotiated safe passage for themselves in return for evacuating
1520-403: A twelve-day siege, a force of 3,000 men led by Tadhg, Henry Folliott , and Rory O'Donnell eventually brought the area, and thus all of Ireland, under English control on 25 April 1603. The leaders of the rebellion received good terms from the new King of England, James I , in the hope of ensuring a final end of the draining war that had brought England close to bankruptcy. O'Neill, O'Donnell, and
1600-535: Is estimated to have been 5,000. O'Neill's army was unlike earlier Irish armies, as possibly 80% of his men were armed with calivers , which was a lighter and more portable version of the musket. These were supported by pikemen, and targeteers; Gaelic soldiers with sword and buckler who'd been trained by Spanish advisors, gave close protection to Tyrone's skirmishers. O'Neill had several English and Spanish military advisors in his pay, as well as many Irish officers with experience in mainland Europe, who trained his troops in
1680-545: The Battle of Kilmacrennan and the rebellion quickly collapsed. In 1608 the absent earls' lands were confiscated for trying to start another war, and were soon colonised in the Plantation of Ulster . The Nine Years' War was therefore an important step in the English and Scottish colonisation of Ulster. Sources for Gaelic Ireland: Battle of the Yellow Ford England The Battle of
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#17327942514351760-431: The Battle of Moyry Pass near Newry in 1600, his position was becoming desperate. In 1601, the long promised Spanish finally arrived in the form of 3,500 soldiers at Kinsale , Cork , virtually the southern tip of Ireland. Mountjoy immediately besieged them with 7,000 men. O'Neill, O'Donnell, and their allies marched their armies south to sandwich Mountjoy, whose men were starving and wracked by disease, between them and
1840-509: The Battle of the Yellow Ford (1598), but the English won a pivotal victory against the alliance and their Spanish allies in the siege of Kinsale (1601–02). The war ended with the Treaty of Mellifont (1603). Many of the defeated northern lords left Ireland to seek support for a new uprising in the Flight of the Earls (1607), never to return. This marked the end of Gaelic Ireland and created
1920-515: The Tower of London , where Fitzthomas eventually died. Most of the rest of the local lords submitted, once the principal native leaders had been arrested. O'Neill's mercenaries had been expelled from the province. Mountjoy managed to penetrate the interior of Ulster by seaborne landings at Derry (then belonging to County Coleraine ) under Henry Docwra and Carrickfergus under Arthur Chichester. Dowcra and Chichester, helped by Niall Garve O'Donnell ,
2000-523: The Treaty of London in August 1604 with the new Stuart dynasty and did not wish to reopen hostilities. Further, a Spanish fleet had just been destroyed by a Dutch fleet in the Battle of Gibraltar in April 1607. In 1608 Sir Cahir O'Doherty , who had previously fought on the Crown's side against Tyrone, launched O'Doherty's Rebellion when he attacked and burnt Derry . O'Doherty was defeated and killed at
2080-565: The Blackwater Fort , which guarded a strategic bridge on the River Blackwater . Later in 1595 O'Neill and O'Donnell wrote to King Philip II of Spain for help, and offered to be his vassals . Philip proposed that his cousin Archduke Albert be made Prince of Ireland, but nothing came of this. A truce in late 1595 was followed by the submission of Hugh Maguire in April 1596, and Tyrone promised to explain his conduct before
2160-506: The English Lord Deputy of Ireland , Thomas Burgh, built a new fort on the river Blackwater five miles northwest of the English government's garrison town Armagh . Soon after it was built, Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone , laid siege to it. In 1598, with the besieged garrison running low on supplies, the English government debated whether to abandon the fort, as it was too far into O'Neill's home territory to be sustainable. It
2240-523: The English Lord President of Munster, managed more or less to quash the rebellion in Munster by mid-1601, using a mixture of conciliation and force. By the summer of 1601 he had retaken most of the principal castles in Munster and scattered the Irish forces. He did this by negotiating a pact with Florence MacCarthy , the principal Gaelic Irish leader in the province, which allowed MacCarthy to be neutral, while Carew concentrated on attacking
2320-423: The English infantry. It was later remarked that the leading English troops marched as if they had "won the goal in a match at football". As Percy pushed further he crossed a boggy ford , the 'Yellow Ford' from which the battle takes its name. It was an area of raised ground allowing access across the bog to the hills ahead. Bagenal's following regiment lagged behind, burdened with supplies and artillery, one of which
2400-516: The English retreat at the River Callan, but point-blank fire from the English column's remaining cannon halted the Irish advance. Finally, the shattered English force caught a break, as Irish fire slackened. The Irish shot had exhausted their immediate supply of gunpowder. Captain Cuney later noted that if O'Neill's pike had come on as his shot, none of his men would have survived. After recrossing
2480-532: The Irish. After three days of negotiation, it was agreed that the English Crown troops could leave Armagh as long as they left their arms and ammunition behind and that the garrison of the Blackwater Fort surrendered. The most badly wounded English soldiers were left in Armagh Cathedral, many with severe burns suffered in the gunpowder explosion, but O'Neill agreed to tend to them and have them transported to Newry when they were fit to travel. According to
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2560-590: The MacMahon lordship in Monaghan when The MacMahon, hereditary leader of the sept , resisted the imposition of an English sheriff; he was hanged and his lordship divided. There was an outcry, with several sources alleging corruption against Fitzwilliam, but the same policy was soon applied in Longford (territory of the O'Farrells ) and East Breifne ( Cavan – territory of the O'Reillys ). Any attempt to further
2640-508: The Queen in London, but the arrival of three Spanish envoys from Philip II in 1596 promising men and supplies ended any chances of peace. An unsuccessful armada sailed in 1596; the war in Ireland became a part of the wider Anglo-Spanish War . The English authorities in Dublin Castle had been slow to comprehend the scale of the rebellion. After failed negotiations in 1595, English armies tried to break into Ulster but were repulsed by
2720-420: The River Callan and the rest of the English army had stalled on Drumcullen hill. O'Neill sent more troops to attack Percy's men, forcing the English musketeers to withdraw into their pike stand. This allowed O'Neill's shot to rake the compact body of troops with close-range gunfire, and his horse and swordsmen started to open gaps in the pike defence. Under severe pressure, Bagenal ordered Percy to retreat back over
2800-430: The River Callan, the English army returned to Armagh. About 1,500 of the English Crown forces were killed. This included 18 "captains" or officers killed. Three hundred soldiers deserted to the Irish alliance, including two Englishmen. Out of 4,000 soldiers who had set out from Armagh, just over 2,000 returned after the battle. Those who did reach Armagh were besieged. The English cavalry broke out and rode south, escaping
2880-500: The Spaniards. During the march south, O'Neill devastated the lands of those who would not support him. The English force might have been destroyed by hunger and sickness but the issue was decided in their favour at the Battle of Kinsale . On the 5/6 January 1602, O'Donnell, against the wishes and advice of O'Neill, took the decision to attack the English. Forming up for a surprise attack, the Irish chiefs were themselves surprised by
2960-462: The Ulster famine of 1602–3 alone. An Irish death toll of over 100,000 is possible. At least 30,000 English soldiers died in Ireland in the Nine Years' War, mainly from disease. So the total death toll for the war was certainly at least 100,000 people, and probably more. Although O'Neill and his allies received good terms at the end of the war, they were never trusted by the English authorities and
3040-467: The Yellow Ford was fought in County Armagh on 14 August 1598, during the Nine Years' War in Ireland. An English army of about 4,000, led by Henry Bagenal , was sent from the Pale to relieve the besieged Blackwater Fort . Marching from Armagh to the Blackwater, the column was routed by a Gaelic Irish army under Hugh O'Neill of Tyrone . O'Neill's forces divided the English column and
3120-521: The aging reigning chief of Tyrone, Turlough Lynagh O'Neill for control of Tyrone. Turlough died in 1595 allowing Hugh to be inaugurated "the O'Neill". Hugh however had also ruthlessly murdered his chief competitor to the title, Shane's son Hugh Gavelagh O'Neill . He also had sub-chiefs who wouldn't toe the line murdered such as Phelim McTurlough O'Neill, lord of Killetra. From Hugh Roe O'Donnell , his ally, Hugh O'Neill enlisted Scottish mercenaries (known as Redshanks ). Within his own territories, O'Neill
3200-419: The aid of MacBaron, launched punishing raids into northern Connacht, burning villages around Ballymote Castle . Maguire launched a more ambitious raid into Connacht during June, when he clashed with forces led by the governor of Connacht, Sir Richard Bingham, but the English were beaten back and Maguire continued to spoil thorough Roscommon before returning north. In response, the crown forces were gathered under
3280-531: The aid of Spain, O'Neill could arm and feed over 8,000 men, unprecedented for a Gaelic lord, and leaving him well prepared to resist English incursions into Ulster. By the early 1590s, the north of Ireland was attracting the attention of Lord Deputy Fitzwilliam, who had been charged with bringing the area under crown control. A provincial presidency was proposed; the candidate for office was Henry Bagenal , an English colonist settled in Newry , who would seek to impose
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3360-423: The approach of Mountjoy's forces, and withdrew to hide in the woods. In a symbolic gesture Mountjoy smashed the O'Neills' inauguration stone at Tullaghogue . Famine soon hit Ulster as a result of the English scorched earth strategy. O'Neill's uirithe or sub-lords (O'Hagan, O'Quinn, MacCann) began to surrender and Rory O'Donnell , Hugh Roe's brother and successor, surrendered on terms at the end of 1602. However, with
3440-462: The authority of the crown through sheriffs to be appointed by the Dublin government. O'Neill had eloped with Bagenal's sister, Mabel, and married her against her brother's wishes; the bitterness of this episode was made more intense after Mabel's early death a few years after the marriage, when she was reportedly in despair about her husband's neglect and his mistresses. In 1591, Fitzwilliam broke up
3520-514: The centre of the northern province of Ulster . His father, Matthew O'Neill, Baron Dungannon , was the reputed son of Conn O'Neill the Lame , the first O'Neill to be created Earl of Tyrone by the English Crown . Matthew O'Neill had been appointed by Conn as his heir, whereas Conn's eldest surviving son Shane O'Neill was the preferred heir according to the Irish custom of tanistry . After
3600-407: The command of Sir Henry Bagenal , who launched an expedition into Monaghan, then Fermanagh, to crush Maguire and his allies, receiving his commission on 11 September 1593. Bagenal had under his command 144 horse, 763 foot, and 118 kern, to which O'Neill was to bring a further 200 horse and 1,200 foot. Bagenal entered Fermanagh on 22 September and was joined by O'Neill four days later. Unable to make
3680-415: The command or refused to obey it, or was unable to make an orderly retreat and instead launched a foolhardy second counterattack across the trench. O'Neill quickly crushed Cosby's attack. Only quick action by Wingfield and the English horse saved 500 men from the slaughter, but Cosby was taken prisoner by O'Neill's men. The rest of the English Crown forces struggled back to Armagh. The Irish moved to cut off
3760-607: The country, notably James Fitzthomas Fitzgerald as the Earl of Desmond and Florence MacCarthy as the MacCarthy Mór . In Munster as many as 9,000 men came out in rebellion. The Munster Plantation , the colonisation of the province with English settlers, was dealt a serious blow; the colonists, among them Edmund Spenser , fled for their lives. Only a handful of native lords remained consistently loyal to either side, and loyalties were complicated by splits within clans. However all
3840-462: The distrust was mutual. O'Neill, O'Donnell, and the other Gaelic lords from Ulster allied to them left Ireland in 1607 in what is known as the " Flight of the Earls " after news they planned another rebellion reached the authorities. They intended to organise an expedition from a Catholic power in Europe, preferably Spain, to restart the war but were unable to find any military backers. Spain had signed
3920-499: The force of James Fitzthomas Fitzgerald, who commanded the main rebel force. As a result, while MacCarthy resisted English raiding parties into his territory, he did not come to Fitzthomas's aid, despite urgings from O'Neill and O'Donnell to do this. In the summer of 1600, Carew launched an offensive against Fitzthomas's forces. The English routed Fitzthomas' forces at Aherlow and in November, Carew reported to London that he had, over
4000-559: The fortified cities and towns of the country sided with the English colonial government. Hugh O'Neill, unable to take walled towns, made repeated overtures to inhabitants of the Pale to join his rebellion, appealing to their Catholicism and to their alienation from the Dublin government and the provincial administrations. For the most part, however, the Old English remained hostile to their hereditary Gaelic enemies. The English fortress at Castle Maine surrendered in November 1599 after
4080-616: The groundwork for the foundation of the Plantation of Ulster . The war against O'Neill and his allies was the largest conflict fought by England in the Elizabethan era . At the height of the conflict (1600–1601) more than 18,000 soldiers were fighting in the English army in Ireland. By contrast, the English army assisting the Dutch during the Eighty Years' War was never more than 12,000 strong at any one time. The Nine Years' War
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#17327942514354160-514: The hill and over the blockade, led by the forlorn hope under Captains Turner and Leigh. The trench was not defended and O'Neill made no effort to stop them. Reaching the top of the third hill (Mullyleggan), Percy could see the Blackwater Fort. The beleaguered garrison could see their relief and threw their caps in the air "hoping to have a better supper than the dinner they had that day". But their hopes were stillborn. The rear English regiments under Captains Cuney and Billing had been halted crossing
4240-661: The march, hundreds died from attacks and exposure, while more settled along the way. In the end, of the 1,000 people who left the Beara Peninsula, just 35 remained. Upon arrival in the north, O'Sullivan put together a force to continue the fight, but the Irish alliance surrendered in March 1603, following O'Neill's surrender and the subsequent Treaty of Mellifont . Nine Years%27 War (Ireland) ~21,000, including: The Nine Years' War , sometimes called Tyrone's Rebellion , took place in Ireland from 1593 to 1603. It
4320-399: The massacre. Meanwhile, at nearby Dunboy, the outnumbered defenders were overrun and Dunboy Castle fell. The entire garrison, consisting of 143 soldiers, were killed, with 85 dying in the assault and 58 being executed afterwards. After the fall of Dunboy, O'Sullivan retreated north to West Breifne in modern County Leitrim . This long journey is commonly known as " O'Sullivan's March ". On
4400-411: The more prominent forts in O'Sullivan territory. While O'Sullivan had returned south from Ulster, he was not present at the siege. While the main English force besieged Dunboy Castle, a detachment under George Carew attacked a small fort on the island of Dursey about 20 km away. This fort reportedly housed a group of Irish civilians taking refuge from the fighting in the region. O'Sullivan had hidden
4480-469: The occupation of Fermanagh . In 1592, Hugh Roe O'Donnell had driven an English sheriff, Captain Willis , out of his territory, Tyrconnell (now part of County Donegal ). In 1593, Maguire supported by troops out of Tyrone led by Hugh O'Neill's brother, Cormac MacBaron, had combined to resist Willis' introduction as Sheriff into Maguire's Fermanagh . After Willis was expelled from Fermanagh, Maguire, with
4560-656: The only effective way of reaching his stated objective of Lough Foyle; however, a lack of administrative efficiency in England caused his plans to go awry and the requisite pack animals and ships were never sent. Those expeditions he did organise were disastrous, especially an expedition crossing the Curlew mountains to Sligo , which was mauled by O'Donnell at the Battle of Curlew Pass . Thousands of his troops, shut up in unsanitary garrisons, died of diseases such as typhoid and dysentery . When he did turn to Ulster, Essex entered
4640-435: The other surviving Ulster chiefs were granted full pardons and the return of their estates. The stipulations were that they abandon their Irish titles, their private armies, and their control over their dependents, and that they swear loyalty only to the Crown of England. In 1604, Mountjoy declared an amnesty for rebels all over the country. The reason for this apparent mildness was that the English could not afford to continue
4720-425: The powder, he still had his lit match from his firearm. Two to four hundred pounds of gunpowder exploded in the English central position, killing and wounding scores and shrouding the hill in a thick cloud of smoke. This disaster within the English ranks only encouraged the Irish to redouble their attacks. With little option, Wingfield ordered a retreat to Armagh. But the commander of the English rear either did not get
4800-417: The roads with felled trees, and set up brushwood breastworks . The countryside was hilly with drumlins and was made up of woodland, bog and some fields. In Armagh, Bagenal was aware that the five miles to the besieged fort was laced with ambush positions, but believed his army could handle the hit-and-run tactics and that he would win any pitched battle. With the main road blocked, Bagenal chose to march along
4880-399: The same in the O'Neill and O'Donnell territories was bound to be resisted by force of arms. The most significant difficulty for English forces in confronting O'Neill lay in the natural defences that Ulster enjoyed. By land there were only two viable points of entry to the province for troops marching from the south: at Newry in the east, and Sligo in the west – the terrain in between
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#17327942514354960-411: The sole holdout Irish kingdom following O'Neill's capitulation. The kingdom was ruled by Brian Óg O'Rourke , one of the alliance's chief lieutenants and leader of the Irish forces during the Battle of Curlew Pass . He failed to secure any concessions from the treaty as his half-brother Tadhg O'Rourke had fought with the English during the war and was granted lordship of West Breifne in return. Following
5040-485: The southern province of Munster , one of these lords was Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare who was based in the Beara Peninsula in modern County Cork . After the siege of Kinsale in 1601, O'Sullivan remained one of the few Irish leaders in the region who continued to resist the English Crown. In early 1602, with English forces tightening their control of Munster, O'Sullivan went north to Ulster to consult with O'Neill. In June, an English force attacked Dunboy Castle , one of
5120-418: The standard weapons of the day: pikes and muskets . Standard formation when marching through hostile territory was musketeers in outside columns, able to fire out, and pikemen on the inside able to relieve the musketeers in the event of a sustained charge against the column. Bagenal also had 350 cavalry and several pieces of artillery . The cavalry were commanded by Sir Calithenese Brooke. A troop of cavalry
5200-411: The summer, killed 1,200 'rebels' and taken the surrenders of over 10,000. Carew also weakened Florence MacCarthy's position by recruiting a rival MacCarthy chieftain, Donal, to English service. In June 1601, James Fitzthomas was captured by the English forces. Shortly afterwards, Carew had Florence MacCarthy arrested after summoning him for negotiations. Both Fitzthomas and MacCarthy were held captive in
5280-492: The town. O'Neill's personal enemy, Sir Henry Bagenal, had been in command of the army and was killed during the early engagements. It was the heaviest defeat ever suffered by the English army in Ireland up to that point. The victory prompted uprisings all over the country, with the assistance of mercenaries in O'Neill's pay and contingents from Ulster, and it is at this point that the war developed in its full force. Hugh O'Neill appointed his supporters as chieftains and earls around
5360-406: The trench he was shot through the head and killed. The English counter-attack continued but it was badly mauled by O'Neill, sending them spilling back over the trench. Thomas Maria Wingfield took over command of the English army. Matters went from bad to worse, as an English soldier attempted to refill his supply of gunpowder straight from the powder store in the supply train. Thrusting his hand into
5440-404: The trench, but this could not be done in an orderly way and the lead English regiment was routed . The trench had cut off Percy's men from their cavalry. Moreover, it hindered the English infantry's retreat as "falling over one another they filled the dyke and were trodden down where they fell". Marshal Bagenal led his men forward to help the shattered infantry, but as he descended the hill towards
5520-429: The use of modern weaponry. However, his army was not the same as the pike and shot deployed by the English. O'Neill developed a hybrid army which maximised his infantry's firepower while maintaining the key Irish advantage of mobility. The earl had less success modernising his cavalry, who carried their spears over-arm, either thrusting or throwing them at close quarters in the traditional way. The English Crown army
5600-494: The war any longer. Elizabethan England did not have a standing army, nor could it force its Parliament to pass enough taxation to pay for long wars. Moreover, it was already involved in a war in the Spanish Netherlands . As it was, the war in Ireland (which cost over £2 million) came very close to bankrupting the English exchequer by its close in 1603. Irish sources claimed that as many as 60,000 people had died in
5680-450: Was a saker (a cannon weighing 2,500–3,000 pounds) drawn by oxen. It was getting bogged down "every ten score end" and eventually got stuck and was abandoned. Percy's regiment climbed a second hill (Drumcullen), where he found a mile-long earthen trench and bank cutting across their line of advance. The trench was five-foot deep, the bank five-foot high and crested with thorns. Harried by gunfire from his flanks, Percy took his regiment down
5760-518: Was caused by the clashes between the Gaelic Irish lord Hugh O'Neill and the advance of the English state in Ireland , from control over the Pale to ruling the whole island. In resisting this advance, O'Neill managed to rally other Irish septs who were dissatisfied with English government and some Catholics who opposed the spread of Protestantism in Ireland. Hugh O'Neill came from the powerful Ó Néill sept of Tír Eoghain , which dominated
5840-491: Was commanded by Maelmora O'Reilly, who was deemed to be lord of East Breifne by Queen Elizabeth I . This was not recognised within the East Breifne and Maelmora had no authority there as it had risen up in rebellion. Maelmora was the eldest son of Sir John O'Reilly, Lord of East Breifne, who had died fighting against the English in 1596. Maelmora was slain in the battle of the Yellow Ford. The strength of O'Neill's army
5920-535: Was complicated by interference from Scots clans, which were supplying O'Neill with soldiers and materials and playing upon the English need for local assistance, while keeping an eye to their own territorial influence in the Route (present-day County Antrim ). Historians disagree on the exact beginning of the Nine Years' War, but it is generally considered to have begun in May 1593 with Gaelic lord Hugh Maguire resisting
6000-633: Was entitled to limited military service from his sub-lords or uirithe . He also recruited his tenants and dependants into military service and tied the peasantry to the land to increase food production (see Kern ). In addition, he hired large contingents of Irish mercenaries (known as buanadha ) under leaders such as Richard Tyrrell. To arm his soldiers, O'Neill bought muskets , ammunition, and pikes from Scotland and England. From 1591, O'Donnell, on O'Neill's behalf, had been in contact with Philip II of Spain , appealing for military aid against their common enemy and citing also their shared Catholicism . With
6080-436: Was fought between an Irish confederacy—led mainly by Hugh O'Neill of Tyrone and Hugh Roe O'Donnell of Tyrconnell —against English rule in Ireland , and was a response to the ongoing Tudor conquest of Ireland . The war began in Ulster and northern Connacht, but eventually engulfed the entire island. The Irish alliance won numerous victories against the English forces in Ireland, such as the Battle of Clontibret (1595) and
6160-438: Was largely mountains, woodland, bog, and marshes. Sligo Castle was held by the O'Connor sept, but suffered constant threat from the O'Donnells; the route from Newry into the heart of Ulster ran through several easily defended passes and could only be maintained in wartime with a punishing sacrifice by the Crown of men and money. The English did have a foothold within Ulster, around Carrickfergus north of Belfast Lough , where
6240-427: Was made up of six regiments—two forward, two centre, and two rear, and with cavalry at centre. As soon as it left Armagh, it was harried with gunfire from Irish troops hidden in scrubland on both flanks of the column. While fire poured in from the sides, no resistance was met at the head of the column as it crossed the River Callan. As the lead regiment pressed on, led by Sir Richard Percy, dangerous gaps began to separate
6320-456: Was offered by Carew. According to a later account written by the nephew of Dónal Cam, Philip O'Sullivan Beare , Carew reneged on the terms of surrender and led his men in killing scores of the survivors. According to Beare's account (who was a child at the time and had been sent to Spain prior to the siege), some of those killed were bound and thrown from nearby cliffs onto the rocks below. The entire group of over three hundred people were killed in
6400-681: Was six and a half miles from the O'Neill stronghold of Dungannon . Sir Henry Bagenal argued the fort should be re-supplied, and in early August 1598 was appointed to lead the expedition. According to the Annals of the Four Masters : "When O'Neill had received intelligence that this great army was approaching him, he sent his messengers to O'Donnell , requesting of him to come to his assistance against this overwhelming force of foreigners who were coming to his country. O'Donnell proceeded immediately, with all his warriors, both infantry and cavalry, and
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