The Tudors in Ireland – Part 2
The Nine Year’s War and the Collapse
of Gaelic Ireland
The O’Neills of Tyrone
The most powerful Gaelic family in the
late 16th century were the O’Neills of
Ulster. Under the terms of “Surrender
and Regrant”, the chief of the O’Neills,
Conn Bacach O’Neill had surrendered
his lands to Henry VIII, and had
received the title “Earl of Tyrone”.
Conn had two sons, Matthew and
Shane. Matthew, who had the title
Baron Dungannon, was supposed to
become the new Earl, but when Conn
died, Shane murdered his brother and
declared himself head of the O’Neills,
with support from the rest of his clan.
The English government was not
pleased with this, but there was very
little they could do about it. The new
English ruler was Elizabeth I, second
daughter of Henry VIII. She was
determined to bring Ireland under
English rule.
Shane and Elizabeth
Elizabeth invited Shane to London to
see what sort of a person he was. She
even learned a few words of Irish for
the occasion, although as Shane spoke
fluent Latin, communication was not a
problem. Shane said “My ancestors
were kings of Ulster and Ulster is mine
and shall be mine!” It is easy to see
why he was called “Séan an Díomais”
(Shane the Proud). He fought against
the powerful McDonnells of Antrim, an
old gallowglass family, and captured
their chief, Sorley Boy. However, his
rise to power caused alarm among the
other Ulster families, and he was
ambushed and defeated by the
O’Donnells of Tír Chonaill at the battle
of Farsetmore. Surprisingly, he went to
the McDonnells for help, and they had
him murdered. His nephew Hugh
became the second Earl of Tyrone.
Hugh O’Neill, earl of Tyrone
Hugh O’ Neill
Hugh was the son of Matthew, who
had been murdered by Shane. Hugh
had been brought up in the English
royal court, and the English
government thought that he would be
an obedient servant to them, so they
were delighted when he became Earl
of Tyrone and chief of the O’Neills.
However, Hugh O’Neill had built up a
system of alliances with other Irish
chiefs – notably with the young Lord of
Tír Chonaill, Hugh O’Donnell. He had
made a bitter enemy of an English
lord, Sir Henry Bagenal, because he
had eloped with Bagenal’s sister Mabel
and then deserted her. O’Neill saw
how the English government was
extending its control over Ireland, and
determined to fight.
Red Hugh O’Donnell
Red Hugh O’Donnell
Red Hugh was the prince of Tír
Chonaill (Donegal), and next in line to
become chief. When he was 15, Sir
John Perrott, the Lord Deputy, had him
kidnapped and imprisoned n Dublin
Castle. On a bitter winter night, he
escaped with two nephews of Hugh
O’Neill’s. The weather was very cold,
and Red Hugh lost some of his toes to
frostbite. He escaped to O’Neill’s lands
in Tyrone, and along with Maguire of
Fermanagh, he agreed to help O’Neill
fight against he English. They looked
for help from Europe’s greatest
Catholic king, Philip II of Spain. They
said that they were fighting for
Catholic freedom against the
Protestant queen, Elizabeth I. Philip
promised support, and so did the
Pope.
Sir John Perrott
Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex
The Nine Years’ War
The war began in 1594. Elizabeth sent
18,000 troops to Ireland. Maguire
defeated an English army bringing
supplies at the Ford of the Biscuits.
O’Neill and O’Donnell won many
victories, at Clontibret, Tyrellspass and
especially at the Yellow Ford in 1598,
where an army of 4000 English
soldiers, commanded by O’Neill’s old
enemy, Bagenal, were massacred.
Elizabeth sent her favourite general,
Robert Devereaux, earl of Essex, to
fight O’Neill, but O’Neill outsmarted
him and the two made peace.
Elizabeth was furious, she had Essex
imprisoned in the Tower, and later she
had him executed. Word came to
O’Neill that Philip III the new Spanish
king was sending troops to help him.
The troops should have landed in the
North, but instead they landed in
Kinsale in Cork.
An old illustration of the Battle of Kinsale
The battle of Kinsale
O’ Neill and O’Donnell marched south
through Ireland. The Spanish army
had landed at Kinsale, where it was
surrounded by the English army under
Sir Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy, the
new English Lord Deputy. O’Neill and
O’Donnell surrounded the English
army, but they were weary from their
long march and as they rested, their
positions were betrayed to the English.
Mountjoy led a surprise attack and
routed the Irish. The Spanish
surrendered and were allowed to go
home. O’Neill and O’Donnell went
back North, losing men to sickness and
hunger at every step. Mountjoy now
took the initiative and began a
“scorched earth policy”, burning the
farms and homes of O’Neill’s
supporters. O’ Neill now knew his
rebellion was finished.
The Flight of the Earls
The treaty of Mellifont
and the Flight of the Earls
Red Hugh O’Donnell went to Spain to
seek further help, but was poisoned
there by an English agent. Elizabeth
and died, and no-one knew whether
her successor, James I, would be a
Protestant or a Catholic. Mountjoy was
anxious to end the war quickly, and
offered O’Neill good terms. They
signed the Treaty of Mellifont, under
which O’Neill agreed to end his
rebellion if he was left in peace in his
lands. Even though Mountjoy was
sincere about this, his successor, Sir
Arthur Chicester, began to harass
O’Neill and reduce his power. In 1607,
O’Neill, Rory O’Donnell, and Maguire
of Fermanagh left Ireland for Rome.
This was known as the “Flight of the
Earls” and signalled the end of serious
Irish threats to Tudor rule.
Lord Mountjoy