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94-692: 1641–42 Irish Rebellion 1642–49 1649–53 Cromwellian Conquest The Laggan Army , sometimes referred to as the Lagan Army , was a militia formed by Protestant settlers in the fertile Laggan district in the east of County Donegal in Ulster , during the time of the Irish Rebellion of 1641 . Following the defeat of Gaelic Ireland after the Nine Years War and the Flight of

188-622: A 19th-century historian of the rebellion, concluding "it is far from clear on which side the balance of cruelty rests". The Scots executed Irish prisoners taken in a skirmish near Kilwarlin woods outside Dromore , while James Turner records that after retaking Newry, local Catholics were lined up on the banks of the Newry River and killed "without any legal process". On Rathlin Island , Scottish soldiers from Clan Campbell were encouraged by their commanding officer Sir Duncan Campbell to kill

282-735: A Protestant threat to "extirpate the Catholic religion", reinstated original Irish language place names and banned the use of English. Following their repulse at Lisnagarvey in November, rebels killed about 100 Protestants at Portadown by forcing them off the bridge into the River Bann , and shooting those who tried to swim to safety. Known as the Portadown massacre , it was one of the bloodiest such events to take place in Ireland during

376-563: A Scottish Covenanter army and local Protestant militia . This left approximately two thirds of Ireland under rebel control. In May 1642, Ireland's Catholic bishops met at Kilkenny , and declared the rebellion a just war . Along with members of the Catholic nobility, they created an alternative government known as Confederate Ireland . For the next ten years, the Confederacy fought a three-sided war with Irish Royalists, Scottish Covenanters and English Parliamentarians . The roots of

470-759: A certain rank in the army. The Privy Council of Ireland was dominated by English Protestants. The constituencies of the Irish House of Commons gave Protestants a majority. In response, the Irish Catholic upper classes sought ' The Graces ', and appealed directly first to James I and then his son Charles , for full rights as subjects and toleration of their religion. On several occasions, they seemed to have reached an agreement under which these demands would be met in return for raising taxes. However, despite paying increased taxes after 1630, Charles postponed implementing their demands until 3 May 1641 when he and

564-580: A fighting force due to internal ethnic divisions and as a result the force disbanded. Irish Rebellion of 1641 [REDACTED]   England 1641–42 Irish Rebellion 1642–49 1649–53 Cromwellian Conquest The Irish Rebellion of 1641 was an uprising in Ireland , initiated on 23 October 1641 by Catholic gentry and military officers. Their demands included an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and return of confiscated Catholic lands . Planned as

658-701: A forgery claiming he had been authorised by Charles I of England to secure Ireland against his opponents in England and Scotland . Many Royalist Anglo-Irish Catholics responded by joining the uprising, and the rebellion spread throughout Ireland. In November, rebels besieged Drogheda and defeated a government relief force at Julianstown . Especially in Ulster, thousands of Protestant settlers were expelled or massacred , and Catholics killed in retaliation. By April 1642, Royalist troops held Dublin , Cork , and large areas around them, with much of Ulster occupied by

752-761: A mint for making coins, and a press for printing proclamations were set up in Kilkenny. The Confederation eventually sided with the Royalists in return for the promise of self-government and full rights for Catholics after the war. They were finally defeated by the English Parliament's New Model Army from 1649 through to 1653 and land ownership in Ireland passed largely to Protestant settlers. Battle of Glenmaquin [REDACTED] Royalists 1641–42 Irish Rebellion 1642–49 1649–53 Cromwellian Conquest The Battle of Glenmaquin

846-469: A place where the Laggan Army would have an advantage. The following night the two armed forces gathered a few hundred meters apart on the opposite sides of a valley near the small village of Glenmaquin. Stewart prepared for battle by having his men build defensive works. Felim, planning to take the offense, chose not to construct any fortification. The next morning, Felim assembled his army and formed

940-532: A potential attack when the Confederates travelled west to Clones. After the failed siege of Derry in 1649, the Laggan Army started to break apart. Factions transferred their allegiance to the side of the Parliamentarians and eventually fought against their compatriots at the battles of Lisnagarvey , Scarrifholis , and Charlemont. By the end of 1649, the Laggan Army had ceased to be effective as

1034-461: A publisher who admitted paying for fictitious atrocity tales. Recent research suggests around 4,000 were killed in the attacks, with thousands more expelled from their homes, many of whom died of exposure or disease, leading to an upper estimate of around 12,000 deaths. This represents around 10% of the total settler population in Ireland, though in Ulster the ratio of deaths would have been somewhat higher, namely around 30%. They were used to support

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1128-640: A revolt known as the Bishops' Wars against Charles I's attempt to impose Church of England practices there, believing them to be too close to Catholicism. The King's attempts to put down the rebellion failed when the English Long Parliament , which had similar religious concerns to the Scots, refused to vote for new taxes to pay for raising an army. Charles therefore started negotiations with Irish Catholic gentry to recruit an Irish army to put down

1222-642: A swift coup d'état to gain control of the Protestant -dominated central government , instead it led to the 1641–1653 Irish Confederate Wars , part of the wider Wars of the Three Kingdoms . Despite failing to seize Dublin Castle , rebels under Felim O'Neill quickly over-ran most of Ulster , centre of the most recent land confiscations . O'Neill then issued the Proclamation of Dungannon ,

1316-546: The Commons , leading to further delay and allowing the rebellion to spread. With the situation deteriorating, in February 1642 the two sides put aside their differences and agreed to send 2,500 Scots to Ulster. Parliament now adopted two measures intended to manage concerns over control of the forces needed for Ireland and how to raise funds for it as quickly as possible, both of which had significant consequences. On 15 March,

1410-747: The Laggan Army . Many politicians and officials in Dublin and London opposed Scottish intervention in Ulster, seeing a well-armed and independent Presbyterian army as a threat to the status quo, and Parliament continued recruiting English regiments. On 21 December, the Lords approved a Scottish army of 10,000 but the Covenanter government insisted they should also be given control of the three largest ports in Ulster, Carrickfergus, Coleraine and Derry , along with land grants. These demands were rejected by

1504-546: The Long Parliament made it clear that Irish Catholics who did not demonstrate their loyalty would have their lands confiscated under the Adventurers' Act , agreed on 19 March 1642. Charles was also forbidden by parliament to pardon those accused of rebellion. Thirdly, it looked initially as if the rebels would be successful after they defeated a government force at Julianstown in November 1641. This perception

1598-476: The Militia Ordinance brought the military and county militia under the control of Parliament, rather than the king. When Charles refused to give it his royal assent , Parliament declared the legislation in force regardless, marking a major step on the road to civil war. On 19 March, the Adventurers' Act invited members of the public to provide loans which would be repaid with land confiscated from

1692-644: The Parliament of Ireland , along with 226 commoners. The Assembly elected a Supreme Council of 24, which controlled both military and civilian officers. Its first act was to name the generals who were to command Confederate forces: Owen Roe O'Neill was to command the Ulster forces, Thomas Preston the Leinster forces, Garret Barry the Munster forces and John Burke the Connaught forces. A National Treasury,

1786-601: The battle of Glenmaquin , near Raphoe . The Confederates were invading County Donegal intent upon bringing northwestern Ulster and the Royalist stronghold and port city of Derry under their control, however the Laggan Army routed them and then went on to capture a number of towns in Ulster ending the Confederate threat in the region for the time. The Laggan Army continued to serve in King Charles' service during

1880-524: The plantations of Ireland . Although it was intended to be bloodless, the rebellion was characterized by rebel atrocities against Protestant settlers. While O'Neill himself was opposed to these attacks he was unable to control the Irish rebels under his command. At the outset of the rebellion, thousands of Protestant settlers were evicted from their lands. Their homes were burned and their possessions taken. Most attacks involved robberies and assaults, however if

1974-503: The "Supreme Council of the Confederate Catholics". The rebels henceforth became known as Confederates. The synod re-affirmed that the rebellion was a "just war". It called for the creation of a council (made up of clergy and nobility) for each province , which would be overseen by a national council for the whole island. It vowed to punish misdeeds by Confederate soldiers and to excommunicate any Catholic who fought against

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2068-474: The 1640s. In nearby Kilmore , English and Scottish men, women and children were burned to death in the cottage in which they were imprisoned, while in Armagh as a whole, some 1,250 died in the early months of the rebellion, roughly a quarter of the local settler population. In County Tyrone , modern research has identified three blackspots for the killing of settlers, the worst being near Kinard , "where most of

2162-566: The 1641 rebellion derived from the colonisation that followed the Tudor conquest of Ireland , and the alienation of the Catholic gentry from the newly-Protestant English state in the decades following. Historian Aidan Clarke writes that religion "was merely one aspect of a larger problem posed by the Gaelic Irish, and its importance was easily obscured; but religious difference was central to

2256-635: The Anglo-Irish Catholic families. In the judgement of historian Pádraig Lenihan, "It is likely that he [Wentworth] would have eventually encountered armed resistance from Catholic landowners" if he had pursued these policies further. However, the actual rebellion followed the destabilisation of English and Scottish politics and the weakened position of the king in 1640. Wentworth was executed in London in May 1641. From 1638 to 1640 Scotland rose in

2350-698: The British families planted... were ultimately murdered". Elsewhere at Shrule in County Mayo , Protestant prisoners were killed by their Catholic escorts, despite attempts by their officers to intervene. Killings of Catholics also took place, including the murder of two dozen at Islandmagee by members of the Carrickfergus garrison in November 1641. The arrival of a Covenanter army in Ulster in April 1642 led to further such atrocities, William Lecky ,

2444-524: The Catholic armies of France and Spain , particularly the Army of Flanders . They formed a small émigré Irish community, militantly hostile to the English-run Protestant state in Ireland, but restrained by the generally good relations England had with Spain and France after 1604. In Ireland itself, resentment caused by the plantations was one of the main causes for the outbreak and spread of

2538-526: The Confederates; and supporting other Royalist militias in numerous conflicts. William Stewart served as the nominal leader of the Laggan Army in the beginning as he had greater seniority and landed interests than his brother. Fairly quickly, however, Robert Stewart was selected for overall command based upon his extensive experience in the Thirty Years' War on the European continent. Robert Stewart

2632-538: The Confederation. The synod sent agents to France, Spain and Italy to gain support, gather funds and weapons, and recruit Irishmen serving in foreign armies. Lord Mountgarret was appointed president of the Confederate Council, and a General Assembly was held in Kilkenny on 24 October 1642, where it set up a provisional government . Present were 14 Lords Temporal and 11 Lords Spiritual from

2726-735: The Earls in 1607, the colonization of Ulster began in 1609. English and Scottish settlers, supported by the Crown , started to colonize the north-east province of Ulster . The settlers largely settled on land which was confiscated from Gaelic chiefs in Ulster, many of whom had fled from Ireland following the Irish defeat in the Nine Years' War . In 1641, the Irish rose up in a rebellion led by Felim O'Neill . This coup's purposes included putting an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and to partially or fully reverse

2820-639: The English Privy Council instructed the Lords Justices of Ireland to publish the required Bills. The advancement of the Graces were particularly frustrated during the time that Wentworth was Lord Deputy . On the pretext of checking of land titles to raise revenue, Wentworth confiscated and was going to plant lands in counties Roscommon and Sligo and was planning further plantations in counties Galway and Kilkenny directed mainly at

2914-468: The Irish Catholic upper classes were not opposed to the sovereignty of Charles I over Ireland but wanted to be full subjects and maintain their pre-eminent position in Irish society. This was prevented by their religion and the threat of losing their land in the Plantations. The failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 had led to further legal discrimination against Catholics. The Protestant Church of Ireland

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3008-405: The Irish rebels; and supporting other Royalist militias in numerous conflicts. William Stewart served as the nominal leader of the Laggan Army in the beginning as he had greater seniority and landed interests than his brother. Fairly quickly, however, Robert Stewart was selected for overall command based upon his extensive experience in the Thirty Years' War on the European continent. Robert Stewart

3102-461: The Laggan defensive position with the Confederates at their heels. As the Confederates reached the Laggan fortifications, the main body of the Royalist militia opened fire with their muskets. Caught in the open, the first line of the Confederate force took heavy casualties. Unable to advance, the Confederates broke and attempted to flee. Stewart then pressed forward with a counter-attack. This caused

3196-987: The MacDonnells of Antrim and invaded the Laggan Valley. At the outset of the Irish Rebellion of 1641, thousands of Protestant settlers were evicted from their lands. Their homes were burned and their possessions taken. The settlers became homeless refugees and were mercilessly hunted down and murdered by the Confederates. Thousands of the Protestant refugees sought safety and protection in Royalist strongholds or attempted to leave Ireland and return to England and Scotland. Wealthy Protestant landowners in northwest Ulster such as Sir William Stewart and his brother Sir Robert Stewart chose to defend their properties by organizing militias. The Stewarts were Scottish settlers who had served King Charles I of England in

3290-544: The Planter population. Prior to that Protestants had to defend themselves by means of militias such as the Laggan Army. Afterwards the Laggan Army continued to operate in Ulster, and often participated in joint campaigns with the Scottish expeditionary force. Eventually, violence against civilians by both sides began to calm, mainly due to the arrival of Eoghan Ruadh O'Néill , an experienced Irish general who had served under

3384-515: The Protestants were widely exaggerated in press reports in Britain. Initially, Parliamentarian propaganda pamphlets claimed over 200,000 Protestants were killed, which was widely believed despite the fact that the estimates being stated were almost twice the number of Protestants living in Ireland at the time. On 3 April 1642, a Scottish Covenanter expeditionary army landed in Ulster to protect

3478-961: The Spanish in Flanders in the Eighty Years' War . He landed in Ireland in 1642 along with several other Gaelic Irish and Old English officers, an example of the latter being Thomas Preston . Due to their experience they were given positions of command within the Confederate military. O'Neill began disciplining the troops of the Irish Ulster Army and hanged soldiers who attacked civilians. In turn, reprisals by Protestants also declined. Wealthy Protestant landowners in northwest Ulster such as Sir William Cole , Sir William Stewart and his brother Sir Robert Stewart chose to defend their properties by organizing militias. The Stewarts were Scottish settlers who had served King Charles I of England in

3572-582: The Stewarts to establish a regiment of 1,000 foot and a troop of horse for the king's service. The military force that the Stewarts created came to be known as the Laggan Army. Originally the unit was formed to protect the Laggan Valley in eastern Donegal along with the northwest portions of counties Tyrone and Derry. As the war progressed, the Laggan Army became the most dominant Royalist militia in Ulster, defending and relieving Protestant strongholds; escorting refugees to safe havens; conducting reprisal attacks on

3666-527: The Stewarts to establish a regiment of 1,000 foot and a troop of horse for the king’s service. The military force that the Stewarts created came to be known as the Laggan Army. Originally the unit was formed to protect the Laggan Valley in eastern Donegal along with the northwest portions of counties Tyrone and Derry. As the war progressed, the Laggan Army became the most dominant Royalist militia in Ulster, defending and relieving Protestant strongholds; escorting refugees to safe havens; conducting reprisal attacks on

3760-524: The country, but the plot relied on surprise rather than force to achieve their objectives, after which they would issue their demands, in expectation of support from the rest of the country. The plan to seize Dublin Castle was foiled when one of the ringleaders, Hugh Og MacMahon, revealed details to his foster-brother, a Protestant convert named Owen O'Connolly. He promptly informed one of the Lord Justices, and MacMahon and Maguire were arrested, while

3854-480: The cultural divide between these groups, especially at elite social levels, was narrowing; many of the Old English spoke Irish , patronised Irish poetry and music, and have been described as being " More Irish than the Irish themselves ". Writing in 1614, one author claimed that previously the Old English "despised the mere Irish, accounting them a barbarous people, void of civility and religion and [each viewed]

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3948-574: The declaration is now accepted as a forgery, many of the Anglo-Catholic gentry were dismayed by indiscriminate anti-Catholic measures taken by the Dublin authorities, including those who had initially condemned the rebellion. The suspension of the Irish Parliament on 17 November deprived them of the political means to resolve these issues and the declaration provided cover for moderates such as Nicholas Plunkett to make common cause with

4042-545: The disbanding Irish army. Unfavourable economic conditions also contributed to the outbreak of the rebellion. This decline may have been a consequence of the Little Ice Age event of the mid 17th Century. The Irish economy had hit a recession and the harvest of 1641 was poor. Interest rates in the 1630s had been as high as 30% per annum. The leaders of the rebellion like Phelim O'Neill and Rory O'Moore were heavily in debt and risked losing their lands to creditors. What

4136-431: The field was spotty with more defeats than victories. Support for the rebellion among the local Irish lords was weak in counties Donegal and Derry compared to the enthusiasm across the rest of Ulster. Felim may have believed that confronting the Laggan Army would gain him the support of the hesitant Irish lords. Alternatively, he may have believed that he could defeat the Laggan Army and then conquer northwest Ulster including

4230-566: The first line of the Confederates to retreat in such disorder that they collided with the second line which was attempting to advance. All this chaos and confusion caused the second line of the Confederates to panic and break despite the commands of Felim and his officers. As the Confederates fled in all directions, Stewart unleashed his cavalry to pursue those on the run. For Felim it was a horrendous loss. In addition to common soldiers, many officers including Donnell Gorm MacDonnell, an Antrim chieftain, were lost. Casualties were heavily weighted on

4324-493: The infantry up along two lines. The Laggan Army took positions behind their defensive structures. Out of musket range and without artillery, the two armies stood facing each other, waiting for the other side to make the first move. Stewart chose to act, sending a small vanguard of sharpshooters partway across the field to attack the Confederates, goading them to react. The Confederates reacted as Stewart hoped they would, charging downhill, full force. The forward detachment retreated to

4418-402: The insurgency, including previously peaceful Munster where St Leger had imposed a brutal martial law regime. When the rebellion began, Phelim O'Neill sought to exploit divisions between English and Scots settlers by offering the latter protection, hoping thereby to gain their support. This strategy initially contributed to the rapid spread of the revolt, in part because the Dublin government

4512-529: The insurgents held most of counties Armagh , Tyrone , Fermanagh and Monaghan . The Proclamation of Dungannon , issued by O'Neill on 24 October, stated they had taken up arms only to defend their freedoms and meant no harm to the king's subjects. This was followed on 4 November by the Newry declaration which claimed Charles had approved the rising to secure Ireland against his opponents in England. Although

4606-487: The invasion of Donegal was Alasdair Mac Colla , the Scottish military officer who defected to the side of the Irish Confederates in early 1642. On 14 June, Felim crossed the river Foyle and entered Donegal seeking an engagement with the Laggan Army. Stewart was aware of the approach of the Confederates and had his force of 2,000 ready but chose not to immediately attack. Stewart withdrew, drawing Felim in to

4700-569: The local Catholic MacDonnells , who were related to the Campbells' enemies in Scotland, Clan MacDonald . They threw scores of MacDonnell women over cliffs to their deaths. The killings were brought under some degree of control by Owen Roe O'Neill , who in July 1642 was given command of Irish forces in Ulster and hanged several rebels for attacking civilians. Though still brutal, the war thereafter

4794-400: The long term, the 1641 massacres intensified existing sectarian animosity on both sides, although modern historians argue the killings had an especially powerful psychological impact on the Protestant community. Dr. Mary O'Dowd wrote they "were very traumatic for the Protestant settler community in Ulster, and left long-term scars within that community". Contemporary Protestant accounts depict

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4888-627: The masses of Irish Catholics surrounding them [who] were and always would be, unregenerate and cruel enemies". Although Charles, the English Parliament and Scottish Covenanter government all agreed the rebellion should be crushed, doing so was delayed by political tensions. Charles was in Edinburgh when he received news of the uprising on 28 October and immediately urged the Scots to send troops to Ulster , once approved by their colleagues in England. On 4 November, Parliament voted to send weapons and gunpowder to Ireland and recruit 8,000 men to suppress

4982-554: The meantime, Charles sent weapons, gunpowder and a small number of Scots volunteers to Ireland at his own expense, but had insufficient money to finance an expedition on his own. James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond , a member of one of the leading Old English families and Protestant convert, was made commander of Royal forces in Ireland and recruited three infantry regiments from the refugees flooding into Dublin. Several prominent Ulster Scots were also commissioned to raise troops, including Robert Stewart and his brother William, who formed

5076-483: The military. During the colonization of Ulster King Charles awarded English and Scottish loyalists such as the Stewarts with large tracts of escheated land under the condition that improvements be made and tenant settlers be brought over from England or Scotland. The Stewarts were held in such high regard by the English Crown that immediately after the outbreak of the rebellion, King Charles authorized both of

5170-411: The military. During the colonization of Ulster, King Charles awarded English and Scottish loyalists such as the Stewarts with large tracts of escheated land under the condition that improvements be made and tenant settlers be brought over from England or Scotland. The Stewarts were held in such high regard by the Crown that immediately after the outbreak of the rebellion, King Charles authorized both of

5264-407: The new settlers. The Tudor conquest of the late 16th and early 17th century led to the Plantations of Ireland , whereby Irish-owned land was confiscated and colonised with British settlers. The biggest was the Plantation of Ulster , which utilised estates confiscated from the northern lords who went into exile in 1607. Around 80% of these were distributed to English-speaking Protestants, with

5358-411: The newcomers. The pre-Elizabethan population of Ireland is usually divided into the native Irish and Old English, many of whom were descendants of medieval English and Anglo-Normans settlers. These groups were historically antagonistic, with English settled areas such as the Pale around Dublin , Wexford , and other walled towns being fortified against the rural Gaelic clans. By the 17th century,

5452-436: The opportunity, a small group of Irish Catholic landed gentry (some of whom were Members of Parliament ) plotted to take Dublin Castle and other important towns and forts around the country in a quick coup in the name of the King, both to forestall a possible invasion and to force him to concede the Catholics' demands. At least three Irish colonels were also involved in the plot, and the plotters hoped to use soldiers from

5546-403: The other as a hereditary enemy" but cited intermarriage "in former ages rarely seen", education of the Gaelic Irish and "the late plantation of New English and Scottish [throughout] the Kingdom whom the natives repute a common enemy; but this last is the principal cause of their union". In addition, the native population became defined by their shared Catholicism, as opposed to the Protestantism of

5640-630: The outbreak of the First English Civil War in August 1642 ended the flow of reinforcements and money from England and a military stalemate ensued. By early 1642, there were four main concentrations of rebel forces; in Ulster under Felim O'Neill, in the Pale around Dublin led by Viscount Gormanston, in the south-east, led by the Butler family – in particular Lord Mountgarret, and in the south-west, led by Donagh MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry . In areas where British settlers were concentrated, around Cork , Dublin, Carrickfergus and Derry , they raised their own militia in self-defence and managed to hold off

5734-424: The post 1607 Plantation. Due to take place on Saturday 23 October 1641, armed men led by Connor Maguire and Rory O'Moore were to seize Dublin Castle and its arsenal , then hold it until help came from insurgents in neighbouring County Wicklow . Meanwhile, Felim O'Neill and his allies were to occupy strategic points in Ulster. The English garrison of Ireland was only about 2,000 strong and scattered around

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5828-424: The rebel forces. Within a few months of the rebellion's outbreak, almost all of the Catholic gentry had joined it, including the Anglo-Irish Catholics. There are three main reasons for this. First, local lords and landowners raised armed units of their dependents to control the violence that was engulfing the country, fearing that after the settlers were gone, the Irish peasantry would turn on them as well. Secondly,

5922-435: The rebellion as a complete surprise; one stated that it was "conceived among us and yet we never felt it kick in the womb, nor struggle in the birth". Many argued Catholics could not be trusted and in Ulster, Protestants commemorated the anniversary of the rebellion for over two hundred years. According to historian Pádraig Lenihan, this "helped affirm communal solidarity and emphasise the need for unrelenting vigilance [against]

6016-432: The rebellion as war in defence of the catholic religion. On 10 May 1642, Archbishop O'Reilly convened another synod at Kilkenny . Present were 3 archbishops, 11 bishops or their representatives, and other dignitaries. They drafted the Confederate Oath of Association and called on all Catholics in Ireland to take it. Those who took the oath swore allegiance to Charles I and vowed to obey all orders and decrees made by

6110-750: The rebellion in Scotland, in return for granting longstanding requests for religious toleration and land security. Composed largely of Irish Catholics from Ulster, an army was slowly mobilised at Carrickfergus opposite the Scottish coast, but then began to be disbanded in mid-1641. To the Scots and Parliament of England , this seemed to confirm that Charles was a tyrant, who wanted to impose his religious views on his kingdoms, and to govern again without his parliaments as he had done in 1628–1640. In early 1641, some Scots and English Parliamentarians even proposed invading Ireland and subduing Catholics there, to ensure that no royalist Irish Catholic army would land in England or Scotland. Frightened by this, and wanting to seize

6204-603: The rebellion, combined with Poynings' Law , which required Irish legislation to be approved by the Privy Council of England . The Protestant-dominated administration took opportunities to confiscate more land from longstanding Catholic landowners. In the late 1630s Thomas Wentworth , the Lord Deputy of Ireland , proposed a new round of plantations designed to expand Protestant cultural and religious dominance. Delays in their implementation caused by Charles' struggles with his political opponents in England and Scotland meant that Catholics still owned over 60% of land in 1641. Most of

6298-426: The rebels. Rumours also circulated that radical Protestants were seeking to replace Charles I with his exiled German nephew the Elector Palatine , paving the way for increased repression of Irish Catholics. The influential Lords of the Pale joined the rising in early December, while rebels in Cavan were led by Philip O'Reilly , the local Member of Parliament , and Mulmore O'Reilly, the High Sheriff . Dundalk

6392-524: The rebels. This need to ensure these were repaid and maintain government credit was one of the factors behind the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in 1649. In the first few months of 1642, Ormond regained much of the Pale, relieved Drogheda, re-took Dundalk and defeated a rebel force at Kilrush on 15 April. On the same day, the Covenanter army led by Robert Monro landed at Carrickfergus and recaptured Newry on 1 May. By mid-1642, Protestant forces in Ireland totalled 40,000 infantry and 3,600 horse, but

6486-435: The relationship between the government and the colonists". During the decades between the end of the Elizabethan wars in 1603 and the outbreak of rebellion in 1641, the political position of the wealthier landed Irish Catholics was increasingly threatened by the English government of Ireland. As a result, both the Gaelic Irish, and the Old English communities increasingly defined themselves as Irish and were viewed as such by

6580-449: The remainder going to "deserving" native Irish lords and clans. By 1641, the economic impact of the plantations on the native Irish population was exacerbated because many who retained their estates had to sell them due to poor management and the debts they incurred. This erosion of their status and influence saw them prepared to join a rebellion, even if they risked losing more. Many of the exiles, such as Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill , served in

6674-536: The remaining plotters slipped out of Dublin. Warnings of an imminent rising had also been communicated to Dublin by Sir William Cole . Despite this failure, the rebellion in Ulster went ahead and Felim O'Neill and his allies, including Rory Maguire , quickly captured positions throughout the province, including Dungannon , Charlemont Fort , Newry , Tandragee , Portadown , Mountjoy Castle , Castleblaney and Carrickmacross . Those that did not surrender, such as Enniskillen Castle , were besieged and within two days

6768-552: The rising but the situation was complicated since any such army would be legally controlled by the king. A series of alleged Royalist military conspiracies in 1641 and rebel claims that Charles supported their actions heightened fears he would turn it against his opponents in England and Scotland, rather than the Irish. The Covenanters urged the English Parliament to fund a Scottish army rather than recruiting their own, arguing it could reach Ireland more easily and would be independent of both Charles and his Parliamentary opponents. In

6862-409: The settlers resisted they were often murdered by the Irish rebels. Thousands of the Protestant refugees sought safety and protection in Royalist strongholds or attempted to leave Ireland and return to England and Scotland. Protestant militias along with English and Scottish soldiers replied with brutal reprisals. Often after rebels surrendered, they were given no quarter. Reports of the violence against

6956-501: The side of the Confederates. Laggan losses are unknown but were significantly lower than the 500 estimated casualties of the Confederates. Felim’s losses would have been even higher had not Alasdair MacColla and his force of Antrim Scots interceded in the pursuit of Felim’s fleeing army. In the days after the battle, Felim returned eighty kilometers east back to his headquarters at Charlemont in County Armagh . The Irish army

7050-416: The start of the Irish Rebellion of 1641 , numerous settler militias were formed. One of the militias created during this period, the Laggan Army, took its name from the fertile farmland of the Laggan Valley in east County Donegal . In the late spring of 1642, Sir Felim O'Neill, a principal organiser of the initial coup and commander of the Irish Ulster Army, assembled a large Confederate army reinforced by

7144-636: The time of the First English Civil War and the Eleven Years' War . On 13 June 1643, Robert Stewart and the Laggan defeated General Owen O'Neill and the Confederates at the Battle of Clones and on 8 July 1645 the Laggan Army assisted Sir Charles Coote and the Parliamentarians capture Sligo. In 1646, the Laggan Army was one of three forces including Scottish Covenanter regiments and English settler armies commanded by Robert Monro that

7238-486: The town and retreated. This setback and the stubbornness displayed by the town's defenders allegedly made a deep impression on the attackers, since it showed hopes of a quick and relatively painless victory in Ulster were over optimistic. Further south, the rebellion spread into counties Leitrim , Longford , Wicklow, Wexford , Tipperary and Kildare . The Dublin government called it "a most disloyal and detestable conspiracy" by "some evil affected Irish Papists", which

7332-536: The undefended Royalist stronghold and port city of Londonderry. Or perhaps Felim was caught in a trap and had no other alternative in that the eastern counties of Ulster were held by Sir Robert Monro , commander of a Scottish expeditionary force, who was sent to protect Protestant civilians. Carrying through with his decision, Felim joined forces with the MacDonnells of Antrim in early June and marched west toward Donegal with an army estimated to be as large as 6,000 foot and several hundred horse. Also supporting Felim in

7426-521: The victims resisted. They intensified as the rebellion progressed, particularly in Ulster where many had lost land in the post 1607 Plantations, while attacks on local Protestant clergy were in part due to resentment at the relative wealth of the Church of Ireland in that province. Other factors included religion and culture; in County Cavan, rebels justified the rising as a defensive measure against

7520-663: The view of the rebellion as a Catholic conspiracy to wipe out all Protestants in Ireland, a narrative constructed in the Depositions , a collection of victim reports gathered between 1642 and 1655 and now housed in Trinity College Dublin . In 1646, these accounts were summarised in The Irish Rebellion , a book by John Temple , in which he urged the military re-conquest of Ireland and segregation of Irish Catholics from British Protestants. In

7614-478: Was a brief battle on 16 June 1642 during the Eleven Years' War . It was fought between the Royalist Laggan Army commanded by Sir Robert Stewart and Irish Confederate forces commanded by Sir Felim O'Neill . The battle ended in a decisive victory for the Laggan Army with the Confederate forces suffering heavy losses. As a result of the violence that erupted against Protestants in Ireland after

7708-419: Was aimed at "a general massacre of all English and Protestant inhabitants". In December, troops led by Charles Coote , Governor of Dublin Castle, and William St Leger , Lord President of Munster , attacked rebel-held areas in counties Wicklow and Tipperary respectively, expeditions characterised by "excessive and indiscriminate brutality" against the general Catholic population. This provoked many into joining

7802-480: Was demoralised by the defeat and many returned to their homes, having lost faith in O'Neill as an effective leader of the Ulster Army. The Laggan Army continued to operate against the Confederate forces in the province. However, the arrival of experienced Irish general Owen Roe O'Neill in 1642 to take command of the Ulster Army brought increased training and discipline to the Irish Ulster Army. Despite gaining

7896-444: Was fought according to the code of conduct both O'Neill and the Scottish commander Robert Monro had learned as professional soldiers in mainland Europe. Contemporary pamphlets published in London contained lurid details of the massacres and suggested over 200,000 Protestants (more than entire settler population) had lost their lives. These figures were recognised even then as wildly exaggerated and in November 1641 Parliament jailed

7990-524: Was more, the Irish farmers were hard hit by the bad harvest and were faced with rising rents. This aggravated their desire to remove the settlers and contributed to the widespread attacks on them at the start of the rebellion. A creditor of O'Neill's, "Mr Fullerton of Loughal   ... was one of the first to be murdered in the rebellion". The rebellion was planned by a small group of Catholic landed gentry and military officers, many of whom were Gaelic Irish from Ulster who had lost lands and influence in

8084-441: Was not total, his own brother being one of those who took part in these actions. A contemporary Catholic source wrote that O'Neill "strove to contain the raskall multitude from those frequent savage actions of stripping and killing" but "the floodgate of rapine, once being laid open, the meaner sort of people was not to be contained". It has been argued the initial purpose of the attacks was economic and killings occurred only when

8178-466: Was occupied, while an army under Brian McMahon moved south from Ulster towards Dublin and on 21 November besieged Drogheda from the north. Others advanced through County Meath and blockaded the town from the south, then defeated a relief force sent from Dublin at Julianstown on 29 November, inflicting over 600 casualties. On 28 November, around 8,000 rebels besieged Lisnagarvey but after losing some 300 men in an unsuccessful assault, they set fire to

8272-434: Was relatively undisciplined and poorly trained. This was partly due to Felim O'Neill's lack of military experience, but also the Irish soldiers' tendencies to attack British civilians and plunder their possessions rather than fight the enemy forces. In the late spring of 1642, Felim decided to invade Donegal. It’s not entirely clear why he chose to directly confront the Laggan Army at that time. Felim’s military record in

8366-413: Was resourceful and proved to be adept at recruiting men and training military units. His troops were better equipped than the Confederates they faced especially with respect to muskets. And perhaps most important of all, Stewart was both experienced and knowledgeable with regard to battlefield tactics. In contrast to the Protestant militias, the Confederate military during the early stages of its existence

8460-420: Was resourceful and proved to be adept at recruiting men and training military units. His troops were better equipped than the rebels they faced especially with respect to muskets. And perhaps most important of all, Stewart was both experienced and knowledgeable with regard to battlefield tactics. On 16 June 1642, the Laggan Army confronted and defeated a large Confederate Irish force commanded by Phelim O'Neill at

8554-493: Was soon shattered when the rebels failed to take nearby Drogheda , but by then most of the Catholic gentry had already committed themselves to rebellion. The Catholic gentry around Dublin, known as the "Lords of the Pale", issued their Remonstrance to the king on 17 March 1642 at Trim, County Meath . Hugh O'Reilly (archbishop of Armagh) held a synod of Irish bishops at Kells, County Meath on 22 March 1642, which legitimised

8648-449: Was the only approved form of worship, although it was a minority even among Irish Protestants, many of whom were Presbyterians. Both they and the majority Catholic population were required to pay tithes to the church, causing great resentment, while practicing Catholicism in public could lead to arrest, and non-attendance at Protestant service was punishable by recusant fines. Catholics could not hold senior offices of state, or serve above

8742-469: Was to be included in an attack on Owen Roe O'Neill and the Confederates in Ulster. The Laggan Army was in Clogher on its way to meet up with Monro's force on 4 June when Monro's Scottish Covenanter and settler militia force was confronted and decisively defeated by Irish general Owen Roe O'Neill at the Battle of Benburb . After the battle, the Laggan Army retreated back to Derry and Enniskillen to prepare for

8836-418: Was uncertain who to trust and thus delayed a coordinated response. The situation changed when it became clear the rising had been only partially successful, while the breakdown of state authority prompted widespread attacks by the Catholic peasantry on Protestants, regardless of nationality. They were soon joined by members of the gentry; O'Neill's authority was largely confined to County Armagh and even there

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