*This article was published in the Mizen Journal, no

*This article was published in the Mizen Journal, no. 8 (2000): 110-127

Baltimore, the O'Driscolls, and the end of Gaelic civilization, 1538-1615

by Edward O'Mahony

At the beginning of the 16th century, the O'Driscolls of West Cork were the premier maritime lords of the southwest, and one of the most powerful clans in Munster. Within a century, most of them had been dispossessed, and, Baltimore, the traditional seat of their power, had been completely colonized by English settlers.

In 1500, the territory of the O'Driscolls stretched roughly from Cape Clear and the nearby islands, through Baltimore to Castlehaven. To the west lay the territory of the O'Mahony's, whose land encompassed the Iveagh peninsula, stretching from Ballydehob to Dunmanus bay. To the north lay the O'Donovans, who controlled the area from Drimoleague to Glandore Bay. All these clans came under the overlordship of The McCarthy Reagh, whose authority extended over the whole of the barony of Carbery, roughly from Bantry Bay to Kinsale. Bantry Bay itself, and the whole of the Beare peninsula belonged to the O'Sullivan Beares', who came under the overlordship of the McCarthy Mor. The McCarthy Mors themselves were the subjects of the Earl of Desmond, the most powerful magnate in Ireland at the time, whose territory extended from Bantry Bay to the outskirts of Waterford City, encompassing the counties of Kerry, Limerick, parts of Tipperary, northern Cork, and much of Waterford.

Much of the O'Driscoll's wealth derived from the rich fishing grounds off the coast of Baltimore. These became particularly valuable in the 15th century, when a series of climatic changes caused the migration of herring shoals to the south and west of Ireland. The herring attracted numerous foreign fishermen, particularly from England and Spain. Because herring had to be salted within twenty-four hours if it was to retain its flavour, the local lords grew rich on the dues (known as black rent) paid to them by fishermen for the use of their havens and bays for refitting, revictualing, and landing their catch.

It may have been the O'Driscolls' demand for black rent that brought them into conflict with the city of Waterford during the Middle Ages. Together with their allies the le Poers of Waterford, O'Driscolls fought a series of pitched battles against the citizens of Waterford. (1) In 1538, an event occurred that was to have a serious and long-last effect on the West Cork clan. It started on February 29, when three Portugese ships carrying wine, as well as merchants, from Spain to Waterford were driven by storms towards the coast of West Cork. One of them, La Santa Maria de Soci, was driven into Baltimore harbour. There, the "chief captains of the Islands," Fineen O'Driscoll, his son Conor, and his illegitimate son, Gilly Duff, agreed to pilot the ship into the harbour in exchange for three pipes of wine (1 pipe equals 126 gallons).

Initially, everything went according to the agreement. The ship anchored off Sherkin Island, in front of Dunalong castle, and the O'Driscolls received their three pipes as payment. At that time, wine, also known as the King of Spain's daughter, was a highly prized commodity, and having drunk the wine they had been given, the O'Driscolls decided to seize the ship. They invited some of the merchants to dinner in Dunalong, but on arrival put them in irons. The O'Driscolls then manned their galleys, seized the ship, and proceeded to distribute the cargo-72 tuns of wine (1 tun=252 gallons).

On the third of March, news reached Waterford of this incident. A citizen of Waterford, Piers Doben, set off with 24 men in a pickard that was well-armed with artillery pieces. They arrived at noon the following day, to find the Portugese vessel still occupied by the O'Driscolls. As the Waterfordmen boarded the ship from one side, Gilly Duff and 24 of his men fled over the other. Doben manned the vessel and released the imprisoned crew. Of the cargo, only 25 tuns of wine still remained. Doben then had the great hall of the O'Driscolls bombarded by the pickard's cannon, and then sailed for home.

Later that month, on the twenty-seventh, the citizens of Waterford launched a reprisal against the O'Driscolls. Led by the mayor of the city, four hundred men sailed in three vessels, including La Santa Maria de Soci and the great galley of Waterford, to Waterford. On the night of Wednesday, the first of April, the expedition arrived in Baltimore harbour, and proceeded to shell Dunalong castle on Sherkin Island. The bombardment continued all night. At dawn the garrison of the castle fled, allowing the Waterfordmen to land on the island. They spent five days there, destroying all villages on the island, all the boats of the O'Driscolls, and the abbey of the Friars Minor located near the castle and a mill. At the end of the five days, the Waterfordmen sailed to Cape Clear, where they again proceeded to destroy all the habitations on the island before landing on the mainland and burning Baltimore. On Good Friday, the Waterfordmen returned home, apparently without suffering a single casualty.

Following this attack, the power of the O'Driscolls was effectively broken. Although the boats and castles that had been destroyed were eventually replaced, there is no record of the O'Driscolls ever again attacking Waterford or merchant vessels again. The O'Driscolls were quite possibly the first clans of the south-west ever to be attacked by artillery, and the impact of that day appears to have stayed with them for the rest of the century.

In July 1540, Sir Anthony St. Leger was appointed the Lord Deputy for Ireland and initiated a major new policy, which has generally become known as surrender and re-grant. The objective of this policy was to incorporate the Gaelic lordships by consent into a new kingdom of Ireland, fully anglicized and covering the whole island. Under the policy, Irish chieftains, either through force or persuasion, were induced to surrender their lands to the English crown and renounce their Gaelic titles. In response the crown regranted the lands to the applicant, together with an English title. The applicant benefited by having his title to his land legally recognised, and by being able to pass his land directly on to his descendants through primogeniture. The English government gained partly by the further anglicization of Ireland, but more importantly, it gained by being able to seize the property of any Irish lord who had surrendered his land and subsequently, at some future date, rebelled. Over the following year, St Leger brought all the major Irish lords to terms, including the Earl of Desmond. Due to problems in England, this policy was effectively suspended in late 1543, though it was to be resurected later in the century.

In the mid-1540s, the aims of the English government in Ireland had shifted away from assimilating Gaelic Ireland and towards the subjugation of the border clans in order to protect the Dublin Pale. By the spring of 1549, the whole midlands area had been conquered, and although most of the land was regranted to conformable Gaelic lords, plans were also made to settle some of the lands with Englishmen. This was enough to provoke fears of a general plantation among the native Irish, and many of the Gaelic chieftains turned to France and Scotland for aid. These countries were natural allies of the Irish, since Scotland had been at war with England from 1542 to 1550, and France was its perennial enemy. In February 1550, French envoys in Ireland signed treaties with O'Neill, O'Doherty, and O'Donnell in Ulster.

Alarmed by rumours of a French invasion of Ulster with Scottish aid, the privy council in London decided on the 7th of January 1551 to set up an expedition to fortify the harbours in the southwest and north of Ireland, specifically, Baltimore, Beare, Olderfleet, and the Bann. Subsequently, the expedition, which consisted of 1000 men in six ships under the command of Lord Cobham, (2) were instructed not to fortify Baltimore and Beare, but simply to survey them, together with Cork and Kinsale, while placing "the port towns in a proper state of defence." (3) The change in instructions is probably due to a realization in London that Baltimore and Beare were too far removed from English control to fortify safely. On May 11, 1551, the privy council acknowledged receipt of two maps showing, respectively, Baltimore, and Kinsale and Cork. Beare does not appear to have been mapped at the time, though it must have been subsequently, since mention is made in 1558 of a map depicting "the two peninsulas between the River Kenmare and Dunmanus Bay, including Dursey and Beare Islands, Beare Haven, and the whole of Bantry Bay. (4)

Not much is known of the O'Driscolls during the decades 1538-1568. Mention is made of a Spanish vessel fishing in Baltimore under the command of Roderigo de Pieta in 1550, so it is likely that they went back to charging vessels for fishing in their waters. Around them, however, the world was changing rapidly. In May 1565, the army of Gerald Fitzgerald, the Earl of Desmond, met the forces of Thomas Butler, the Earl of Ormond, in what was to be the last private battle in the British Isles at Affane, near Lismore Castle on the Blackwater River. Desmond brought with him his feudal levies drawn from the McCarthys, O'Sullivans, McSheehys, and O'Connors, but within the space of an hour his forces had been completely defeated. Over 300 of his followers were killed, and he himself was captured.

For the two Irish lords, Affane was just the latest in a long line of battles in the feud between their respective lordships that had been going on for generations. For Queen Elizabeth I, however, it was the last straw. She had previously warned them on a number of occasions not to fight each other, and she had been ignored. Now, she ordered them both to come to London to stand trial. Ormond was a cousin of the Queen and could be expected to come, while Desmond was his prisoner and had no choice in the matter.

In addition to the two lords, their most important followers were also ordered to come to London, including MacCarthy More and Owen O'Sullivan Beare. It would appear that the policy of surrender and re-grant was resurrected to include the chiefains loyal to Desmond and on June 22, 1565, McCarthy More was made an Earl and O'Sullivan Beare was made a Knight. Under the terms of the patent granting O'Sullivan Beare his lands in Beare and Bantry, his territory was defined as "including, with the towns and castles of Downebwy, the town and principal castle of Beare Haven, Ardee, &c., lands extending 42 miles in length and 24 in breadth." (5) The patent itself was granted to him on July 24, 1565.

The Earl of Desmond himself was to be held in various forms of confinement for the next seven years. In addition, his two brothers, Sir John of Desmond and James, were also arrested not long afterwards, which meant that power in Desmond devolved entirely onto the earl's captain-general, James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald.

By late 1568, the perception was rife that the English government intended to overturn the rights of existing Old English and Gaelic proprietors and institute a small-scale but widespread plantation. At the same time, Sir Peter Carew, encouraged by the government, was laying claim to lands once held by the Anglo-Norman Carews in the Pale, Carlow, and Munster.

At that time as well, a number of prominent Englishmen applied to the Queen for a grant of the fishing on the south and southwest coast of Ireland as well as for the incorporation of the town of Baltimore, presumably with the intention of establishing a settlement there. This scheme was approved by the privy council in principal in April 1569. It is unknown whether or not the O'Driscolls knew of this plan, but on November 2, 1568 it was reported that Fineen O'Driscoll (chief of the O'Driscolls) and others, "whose ancestors never came to any Deputy, are come in, of their own accord" to meet a representative of the government.

Before any further developments could take place, the First Desmond Rebellion broke out in June 1569, when James Fitzmaurice and McCarthy More destroyed the English colony in Kerrycurrihy, North Cork. The Lord Deputy, Sir Henry Sidney, reacted immediately by ravaging the castles and lands of the rebels, forcing them to break off from Fitzmaurice to protect their own holdings and thereby breaking up the confederacy which had formed around Fitzmaurice. Sidney's progress across Munster was marked by widespread slaughter, the killing of cattle, and burning fields. The destruction was so bad that for years afterwards the fields were to lie fallow-the cause of the terrible famine that was later to affect the area.

In September 1569, Sidney captured the fortress of Kilmallock, Co. Limerick, forcing Fitzmaurice into the fastnesses of Kerry where the Geraldine captain adopted guerilla tactics against the government forces. Over the next three months, Sidney proceeded to march through Limerick, Galway, Athlone and finally back to Dublin. Along the way Sidney took the submission of the Earl of Clanricarde, the Earl of Thomond and dozens of smaller chieftains. On November 13, 1569, McCarthy Mor was reported to have sent in a letter of submission, following a disastrous attack on Kilmallock by Fitzmaurice and himself, when 1,500 Irish foot soldiers and 60 horsemen were defeated by Captain Humphrey Gilbert and 100 English soldiers. Nevertheless, the guerilla war continued. Sidney was replaced by Sir John Perrot shortly after his return to Dublin. With Perrot's arrival, a two-year campaign of attrition was waged against Fitzmaurice, until he finally submitted to Perrot at Kilmallock on February 23, 1573. The rebellion did break out again briefly in November of that year, when the Earl of Desmond escaped from captivity, but on September 2, 1574, the Earl of Desmond too finally submitted.

It is unknown what approach the O'Driscolls took to the rebellion, though it would appear that they provided some help for the rebels. In 1573, Finnin O'Driscoll and several other O'Driscolls recieved pardons for their role in the uprising, although there is no mention of any them taking an active role on either side. Their overlord, and Sir Fineen O'Driscoll's father-in-law, Sir Owen McCarthy Reagh was reported in 1567 to be one of a number of large possessioners in the county of Cork, who were "so injured and exacted upon by the Earl of Desmond, `as in effecte they are or were become his Thralls or Slaves.' " (7) It is unlikely therefore that the McCarthy's of Carbery would have assisted the Geraldines in their rebellion, and in 1572, McCarthy Reagh was mentioned as being among the Irish leaders associating with the government.

Similarly, in April 1567 Sir Owen O'Sullivan Beare appeared before Lord Deputy Sir Henry Sidney, despite being forbidden to do so by the Earl of Desmond. On November 7, 1569, shortly after the disastrous battle at Kilmallock, O'Sullivan Beare went to Cork, presumably to plege his allegiance to the crown, an action he repeated again in November 1572. O'Sullivan Beare appears to have been playing both sides, however, since many of his followers joined the rebellion under the leadership of a relative of his, Dermot O'Sullivan.

Shortly after Fitzmaurice's surrender, and possibly because of concerns of confiscations, Fineen O'Driscoll entered a "suit to surrender all his possessions to the Queen, and to hold them by such tenure as shall seem good to her" in March 1573. (8) This application for a surrender and regrant was formally presented to the government in September, where it received a favourable response. O'Driscoll would appear to have been regranted his lands shortly afterwards, together with a knighthood.

A few months after Desmond's surrender, James Fitzmaurice fled to the Continent in March 1575 to seek help for another rebellion from the Pope and the Spanish government. On 17 July, 1579, Fitzmaurice landed near Dingle, Co. Kerry, with Spanish and Italian troops, thereby setting off the Second Desmond Rebellion. The government was immediately informed of his landing by Sir Owen O'Sullivan Beare, who was once again professing his loyalty to the crown while many of his people, including Dermot O'Sullivan and Donal O'Sullivan (9) flocked to the rebellion. In addition, the O'Mahonys of Rosbrin, Dunbeacon, and Kinalmeaky (near present-day Bandon) also joined the rebellion. Fitzmaurice was killed not long after he landed, but the rebellion continued, carried on initially by the Earl of Desmond's brothers, James and Sir John, and then by the Earl himself after he was proclaimed a traitor on November 2.

In England, Sir John Perrot was proclaimed Admiral of the Queen's ships and sent to patrol the seas off Ireland's west coast. On September 14, 1579, he landed with four ships at Baltimore, reputedly with several hundred men, while other naval vessels landed at Cork. At that time, Baltimore was the furthest west of the harbours available to the government on the southwestern coast and was therefore crucial to their plans. All the ports to the west as far as Limerick were either threatened by, or in the hands of, the rebels. Luckily for the English, Sir Fineen O'Driscoll and his people appear to have sided completely with the government during this rebellion. The troops landed in Baltimore and Cork were probably designed not only to protect the county and their supporters in the south but also to act as a staging point for the invasion of Desmond territories. They were not, however, able to prevent the sack of Youghal on November 24, 1579, when Desmond's forces stormed the city, put the English garrison to the sword and had the English officials in the city hanged.

It was at Youghal that one of the most poignant scenes of the rebellion took place. When writing his history of the period, Don Philip O'Sullivan Beare, recalled how his father, Dermot O'Sullivan, "..captain of the foot of Bear, with signal valour and agaisnt immense difficulties, scaled the walls by ladders, and the besieged in vain resisting. When pillaging the town a soldier of his, having forced a strong box, took out a sack full of gold and silver, saying, "Here most valiant captain, is a lucky find unless it be a dream." Dermot replied, "Do not my brave fellow, be so greatly charmed with your dream, lest, waking up, you find it be not a true image, but a delusion of the senses." (10)

In something of a panic, Sir Warhame Sentleger, the provost marshal of Munster, warned the government in a letter dated December 2 & 3, that Desmond was assembing "all his force at the foot of Slievloghera, intending to prey Carbery and sack Cork." (11) Desmond did head west to Cork, where he threatened the city, but he did not have the forces to attack. He subsequently withdrew into the fastnesses of Munster, although McCarthy Mor does appear to have sacked Kinsale beforehand. From those fastnesses, Desmond's forces carried out guerrilla attacks on the castles of their enemies, destroying their crops so the English could not use them.

The government forces, particularly those under the command of the Earl of Ormond, responded with a scorched earth policy of their own. In a letter to the government dated December 27, 1579, Ormond wrote that: "He preyed and burned all Connelo to Slieve Logher; also John of Desmond's town of Lesfynen and lands in Cosbride; and Castle Shean belonging to Maurice M'Gerot, and all Imokilly, where he slew the Seneschal's brother.." (12) Undoubtedly cowed by this show of force, many of the major lords of Munster came into Cork to pledge their loyalty to the crown. They included: "..the Earl of Clancarr [McCarthy Mor], the Lords Barry and Roche, Courcy, Sir Cormack M'Teige M'Carthy, Sir Owen M'Carthy [Reagh], Sir Owen O'Sullivan [Beare], Barry Oge, M'Donougho, and O'Keefe." (13)

Baltimore and the O'Driscolls continued to play an important role in the government's campaign. On February 22, 1580, Sir William Morgan, who had arrived with fresh military forces from England in late 1579, and who was subsequently made Lieutenant of the province of Munster, reported on his visits to Baltimore and Cork. On March 23, 1580, the O'Driscolls of Sherkin Island seized a Spanish vessel that was acting strangely. Two possible spies, who were described as "handsome men, who spoke both fine Latin and Spanish" were seized and appear to have been handed over to the authorities. (14)

On March 17, 1580, Sir William Winter was instructed to cruise off the Irish coast with a fleet of naval vessels in order to intecept any aid intended for the rebels. Shortly beforehand, in mid-February, Lord Justice Pelham set out from Waterford with a large army and joining forces with the Earl of Ormonde at Clonmel, moved west towards Limerick and Kerry, burning everything and killing everyone they found along the way. The English forces penetrated into Kerry as far as Dingle, where, on the verge of starvation, they were resupplied by Winter's squadron. Using cannon, naval gunners, and seaborne soldiers supplied by Winter, Pelham and Ormond proceeded to attack Carrigafoyle castle on the mouth of the Shannon.

Carrigafoyle was more than just another Geraldine stronghold. With its moat, 86-foot high walls, and sturdy defenders (which included 16 Spaniards who had landed with Fitzmaurice), it was the keystone of Desmond's defences and of vital importance to both sides. If the government forces were to fail in their attempt to seize the castle, they would be stranded deep within enemy territory, cut off from the sea and rescue. For Desmond, the capture of Carrigafoyle would effectively force him to remain penned up against the mountains of Kerry, and, more importantly, would destroy the fragile alliance of the Geraldine chiefs.

In the event, the siege of Carrigafoyle only lasted two days, before the walls of the fortress were destroyed by cannon fire and the garrison put to the sword. Pelham promptly headed for Askeaton, Co. Limerick, the traditional home of the Earls of Desmond, which surrendered a week later without a shot being fired . This was soon followed by the capture of Newcastle, Balliloghan, Rathkeale and Ballyduff, until the road to Tralee and Castlemaine, with their important harbours, lay completely open. And as predicted, Desmond's followers deserted him in droves and sought pardons from the government. McCarthy More, Desmond's most important follower, had already submitted to Ormond in December 1579, though he would appear to have gone back to supporting Desmond afterwards. On March 31, 1580, McCarthy Mor submitted again to the government, and from then onwards went out of his way to prove his loyalty, supplying the garrison at Castlemaine with food on the 26 April and informing the government of the landing of Papal troops at Smerwick, Co. Kerry, in September.

Following the capture of Carigafoyle and Askeaton, Winter resumed patroling off the coasts of Cork and Kerry, Baltimore again playing an important role in his operations. On July 25, 1580, he was resupplied off Baltimore with four ships of sea victuals from England, while in September (4-17) English naval vessels spent almost a fortnight in Baltimore, refitting and revictualing, before joining him.

Around this time, English naval vessels started to land in Bearehaven [Bear Island]. Richard Bingham, captain of the Swiftsure, a ship in Winter's squadron, wrote letters to the government from Bearhaven in July and August with news of Winter's activities. A small garrison also appears to have been established there when Sir Owen O'Sullivan Beare's castle of Beare Haven was taken over by government forces in August.

All this was necessary, because, although the Earl of Desmond had been effectively contained, a new rebellion had broken out in Leinster led by Viscount Baltinglas and Fiach McHugh O'Byrne. In particular, the rebels victory over the Lord Deputy (elect) Arthur Baron Grey de Wilton at Glenmalure on August 25 stirred up the whole country. By one of those tricks of fate, Winter chose to have his vessels refitted at Baltimore and Cork, just when Papal troops arrived at Smerwick, Co. Kerry. He was unable to get his ships out of Baltimore until September 17, a full week after the papal forces had landed (12-13 September). In the event, it was the Swiftsure under Richard Bingham that arrived off Smerwick first and drove the few remaining Spanish vessels inshore, effectively bottling up the invaders.

The government forces reacted swiftly and ruthlessly to this invasion. Winter's squadron transported 1,000 men and siege guns to the area, while over 3,000 government troops converged on Smerwick where the 600 papal troops were cooped up in the Fort Del Oro. In the event the siege lasted for only a little over a day, after which almost all the prisoners, which included a large number of Irishmen and women, were hacked to death with swords and pikes. Only the Italian commanders were spared.

In March 1581, James Eustace Viscount Baltinglas fled Ireland, first to Scotland and then to France. The Earl of Desmond, however, continued to hold out, carrying out guerilla attacks throughout Munster. On January 12, 1582, a Captain Apsley was ordered to place 100 troops in Carbery and Bantry. In Bantry, the troops appear to have taken over an old abbey as their lodgings. Just a little over three months later, on March 23, it was reported that Captain Apsley and all his men were killed during an attack by David Barry and the McSwineys, followers of the Earl of Desmond. Only James Fenton, the Constable of Bearehaven, managed to escape. Sir Owen O'Sullivan Beare appears to have arrested shortly thereafter, probably in connection with this incident. He was to be held a prisoner in Limerick Castle until July 1582.

This incident once again illustrated the importance of Baltimore, where troops, naval vessels, and government officials could all land safely. On January 20, 1582, it was reported that Sir Warham St. Leger, the president of Munster, had been at Baltimore, while on May 25, Conor O'Driscoll informed Sir Warham St. Leger that a Spanish shallop had been surveying Castlehaven and the surrounding coastline.

To all the other horrors of this war, was now added perhaps the most terrible of all-famine. As early as March 1, 1580, the government were warned that famine would strike Munster by the autumn, which would cause "more death than by the sword." (15) By April 20, 1582, Sir Warham St. Leger was informing the Queen that 30,000 people had died in Munster alone of famine in the previous six months. This figure did not include the thousands more who had been hanged by the military or killed in battle. In Sentleger's words: "Munster [is] nearly unpeopled by the murders done by the rebels and the killings by the soldiers." In addition, on top of everthing else, the plague had hit Cork city, causing "72, 66, and 62 [to] die in a day in Cork, which is but one street not a half a quarter of a mile in length.." (16) People continued to die of famine long after the war had ended, and it is estimated that by 1589, the population had been reduced by 30 percent.

The war continued to drag on through 1582 and 1583, becoming increasingly hopeless for the Geraldines. In February 1583, the garrison in Bearhaven was withdrawn, since it was no longer needed there, while on July 9, the land survey commissioners in Munster informed the Privy Council that the rebellion had been virtually suppressed. By this stage, the Earl of Desmond had been reduced to hiding in the mountains with only a small number of supporters, waiting desperately for foreign troops to land. On November 11, 1583, Desmond's luck finally ran out. He was tracked down and killed in the Slieve Mish mountains by Maurice O'Moriarty, who received 1000 pounds of silver for Desmond's head from the English government.

A few months before this, on August 15, 1583, Sir Fynyn O'Driscoll was praised by Sir Warham St. Leger as having "..loyally behaved in this dangerous time and animated the Chieftain of Carbery [McCarthy Reagh] to the finding of 100 soldiers.." in addition to having taken action against pirates in the region. (17) Sir Finnin appears to have asked for a grant from the government, possibly for fishing rights off Baltimore. On September 28, 1583, Sir Finnin wrote to the government asking that his request be granted soon as "..he hears of 100 sail of fishermen gone to Baltimore, and fears his tenants may fall out with them." (18) His request must have been granted, since nothing more is heard of the issue.

With the death of the Earl of Desmond, the confiscation of his lands and those of his supporters began in earnest. Throughout the rebellion, Dublin officials had asserted that the escheated land would be more than enough to pay for the revolt's suppression. In April 1582, the lord deputy had been instructed by London to carry out a survey of the rebel lands. Since the war was still raging in Munster, the survey initially was carried out on the lands confiscated after the Baltinglas revolt in Leinster. In June 1584, a commission of survey was appointed for Munster and instructions issued. The commissioners entered Munster on September 1, 1584, and proceeded in an uneven circle from Tipperary to Limerick, from there to Kerry, back up to Limerick and then to Cork and Waterford, before returning to Dublin in late November. In southwest Munster, the commissioners surveyed the lands belonging to: Rory O'Donoghue Mor, who held land around Killarney; Teig MacCarthy of Mollahiffe; the MacCarthys of Clandermot in Beare; the MacCarthys of Clandonnell Roe near Bantry; the O'Mahonys of Rosbrin, Dunbeacon, and Kinalmeaky; and two other MacCarthys in West Cork.

The escheated land in West Cork was eventually divided into four seignories, those of Rosbrin, Cloghan, and Dunbeacon, which were south of Bantry; Glanecrym, north of Rosscarbery; and two seignories in Kinalmeaky on the Bandon river. These lands were then granted to a number of English undertakers: the first was given to Roger Warre, the second to Edward Gray, and the last two to Phane Becher and Hugh Worth. Sometime before 1592, Sir Owen McCarthy Reagh managed to have the seignory of Rosbrin, Cloghan, and Dunbeacon restored to him on the basis that he was the overlord of the O'Mahonys and the McCarthys of that region.

Even though the rebels were unsuccessful in 1579-1583, the involvement of the Spanish and Papal courts meant that Ireland was becoming a new battleground in the conflict between Protestatism and Catholicism-a deeply disturbing prospect for Elizabeth and her government. At the same time, adherents at court of the new wave of Protestant patriotism in England were demanding that the government intervene more decisively to help the French Hugurnots and the Dutch rebels fighting Spain. This faction had also gone a long way in promoting the oceanic enterprises, including piracy, which had been a major element in the decline of Anglo-Spanish relations. In January 1584, the Spanish ambassador to England was sent home after being implicated in a plot involving Mary Queen of Scots. During that year as well, both England and Spain found themselves being inexorably sucked into the affairs of the Netherlands and France respectively, and by extension, into conflict with each other. In May 1585, Phillip II of Spain had all English ships in Iberian ports seized, hoping to weaken England's commercial power. The confiscation provoked a violent response, and from that summer onwards, merchants and seafaring gentry carried out a campaign of plunder and privateering off the Iberian coast. From that summer, Phillip II began to seriously consider an invasion of England.

With Anglo-Spanish relations becoming steadily worse, the attention of the English government was being increasingly drawn to the defences of Ireland. On 31 October 1586, Geoffrey Fenton, a senior English official, apprised the government of a journey he undertook through Munster: "I began my circuit at Waterford, and continued it until I came to Cape Clear, being not able to pass further for the ways which were impassable by land, and the weather very tempetuous by sea, and yet not so much as a pinnace to transport me. In this tract I found the principal gentlemen and captains of countries [presumably including Sir Finnin O'Driscoll], possessed of an intelligence that a navy of Spanish ships, lately prepared in Biscay, were fallen down to the coast of Brittany, with the intention to pass for Rochelle. And that the fugitives of Ireland, as well the priests as gentlemen, were drawn down to the sea-coasts of Spain, to be embarked for some attempt upon this land; and were enabled thereunto with money and men. Amongst whom, the better to continue the exploit, they told me that the Pope had lately created a new Earl of Desmond, and another Viscount of Baltinglas, the one a Geraldine, though in a remote degree, and the other a brother to the late Viscount, the Revolt: but I answered these points and left them fully satisfied. And withal not a little comforted that Her Majesty in so doubtful a time, had care of their safety, in sending one of purpose to be at hand with them in all events..." (19)

Fenton's primary purpose was not to reassure the population of West Cork, however, but to determine how well the various harbours could be defended. After viewing Kinsale, Fenton had headed south to O'Driscoll country: " Castlehaven and Glandore, alias Dumhaven are the next to [Kinsale], and lie by west the Old Head of Kinsale, where I also was and viewed it at large. They lie one near another, being divided but by a small neck of land, which nevertheless doth not impeach them but that they may succour and relieve one another. Their entry or mouth is somewhat large, but yet a bulwark placed upon the easterly point of either of them may defend them and make it too hot for ships to enter. Their harbours within, but chiefly that of Castlehaven, are large, and draw great water, a good space up into the land, with castles of either side the shore to answer any turn either with or against Her Majesty, as they shall be possessed and employed. If the time continue doubtful for a foreign invasion, it were to good purpose that these castles were taken for Her Majesty, till the danger be past, for that if they should fall into the hands of the enemy, I see not how they might be recovered by any service or attempt by land, the ways being inaccessible either for horse or great artillery, and almost for men to march on foot by reason of rocks and mountainous ground full of difficulties.

At Baltimore, which lieth under Cape Clear, the entry of the haven is somewhat "more narrower" than that of Castlehaven, and therefore more commodious to be fortified with one bulwark only at the easterly point, and though the harbour within be large and spacious, and ships being once entered may be a natural benefit of the place, pass through into the sea by another outleap, as the seamen term it, yet by reason of an abbey and castle upon the island of Inisherkan within the harbour, which may be made to flank from the one end of the harbour to the other with small charges, ships cannot ride there in safety though they escape the danger of the bulwark at the entry. The abbey within the island of Inisherkan is Her Majesty's, and the castle belongeth to one of the O'Driscols, kinsman and follower to Sir Finnin O'Driscol, by whom I learned it would not be hard for Her Majesty to have that castle, if it should be required for any necessity of service...." (20)

On February 18, 1587, Mary Queen of Scots was executed, thereby providing Phillip II with a legal excuse to invade England. On March 8, 1587, it was reported that on the first of that month, a Waterford ship carrying goods from Spain was seized by an English man-of-war and a treasonous letter was found on board. In addition, information was provided by Sir Finnin O'Driscoll who: "saith that one of the said ship told him in secret that all the Irishry at Rome, and elsewhere in Spain, were making their repair to Lisbon, (21) where they think to meet the King in person." (22)

In April 1587, Sir Francis Drake raided Cadiz where he destroyed twenty-four ships, thereby setting back the Spanish invasion by a year. On December 23, Geoffrey Fenton alerted the government to the fact that more Spanish vessels visited Baltimore and Kinsale than any other harbours, the implication being that they were scouting out the harbours for invasion.

In June 1588 another report was sent to the government by Sir William Herbert regarding the threat of Spanish landings in Munster: "..The exterior dangers of most moment are foreign invasions and the combinations or confederacies of the Irish Lords....As touching the first...it may be conjectured....they will attempt as soon as may be to possess the towns and cities in the maritime parts of this province, and therefore will seek those havens that be nearest and most convenient for that purpose. To meet with this in readiest sort, with least charge to most purpose, the present state of this province considered, in my poor opinion it were requisite that the president or governor were appointed to lie at Cork with the horsemen and footmen allowed him, with some other convenient forces, having therewithal the forces of those two cities and counties in good "areadiness;" his particular charge to attend those coasts: Waterford, Dungarvan, Youghal, Cork, Kinsale, Ross, Baltimore, and Bearhaven." (23) In the last week of July the Armada finally set sail, only to be frustrated by inclement weather and English naval tactics. As a result, the immediate threat to England and English interests in Ireland was averted.

In the 1590s, Munster began to experience a renewal and a lively trade sprang up between Cork and European ports. This trade also allowed disaffected Irish, secretly supported by Hugh O'Neill, the Earl of Tyrone, to import gunpowder and ammunition from Spain and pay for their purchases with Munster grain. In the spring of 1594, the Maguires broke through the Gap of the Erne with O'Neill's connivance and overran the plain of Roscommon. A few months later, Red Hugh O'Donnell defeated and English column at the Ford of Biscuits on the Blackwater River, and by early 1595 the O'Donnells and the Maguires had broken through the English garrison line that stretched from Newry to Lough Erne. February saw the O'Neills in the field for the first time, when Hugh O'Neill defeated Sir Henry Bagenal at the Battle of Clontibret. Although O'Neill and his supporters were driven back to Ulster in 1597, O'Neill's strength continued to grow.

In Munster, Hugh O'Neill had raised James FitzThomas Fitzgerald, a nephew of Gerald Fitzgerald, out of poverty and recognized him as the new Earl of Desmond. Although jokingly referred to as the Hayrope Earl, James attracted the same devotion as the legitimate Desmonds had, and more importantly, acted as a rallying point for all those dispossessed in the Munster plantation. When fighting finally broke out in 1598, James was able to lead more men into battle than Gerald ever commanded-8000 foot and 1000 horse.

As 1598 dawned, Munster was completely infiltrated by rebels. In July, Hugh O'Neill laid siege to the English fort on the Ulster Blackwater and subsequently defeated Henry Bagenal at the Battle of the Yellow Ford. O'Neill's victory at the Yellow Ford not only brought about the surrender of the Blackwater Ford and Armagh, but it also opened all Ireland to a war of liberation. Immediately after Yellow Ford, O'Neill sent 2000 well-armed rebels under Captain Richard Tyrrell across Leinster and into Munster. After defeating Ormond outside Kilkenny, Tyrrell swept into the Aherlow Valley, where he stripped the countrside bare to secure the supplies O'Neill would need for a winter campaign. Subsequently, Tyrrell's companies overran Counties Cork and Limerick and envoloped the major of the region-Waterford, Cork, Limerick, and Kilmallock.

On the morning of October 6, the Geraldines rose all across Munster. In Cork, the Awbeg Valley, the Blackwater Valley, and most of the coastline between Cork and Youghal was pillaged, while in Kerry, Tralee, Castlemaine, and Killarney were captured. Overnight, the English colonial presence in Munster was destroyed. On October 14, 1598, the Earl of Ormond reported that McCarthy Reogh had reported to him with 60 foot and 20 horse, though all ill furnished. All the rest of his men had joined the rebels. And the situation only got worse. On December 9, Sir Thomas Norreys reported from Cork that the only principal men "..professing subjection [to the Queen] are, Lord Barry, Cormack M'Dermott, Chief of Muskerry, M'Carthy Reogh, Chief of Carbery, and John FitzEdmunds. The two first have their two brothers, with all their men and followers, for the most part in action; the other two cannot command ten men for Her Majesty's service." (24)

On March 5, 1599, Sir Thomas Norreys reported to the Privy Council from Rosscarbery, that a force of Connaughtmen, under the command of William Burke had gone into Carbery to incite McCarthy Reogh and other leaders of the barony to rebellion. They defeated Burke, however, though at the cost of thirty dead and several captured. The dead included McCarthy Reogh's son, Sir Finnin O'Driscoll's son, Dermot Neill McCarthy, and O'Donovan. O'Donovan's successor must have sided with the rebels because subsequently McCarthy Reogh, Sir Finnin O'Driscoll, and Barry Oge were ordered to fight in Carbery and along the borders thereof, against Dermot McOwen [McCarthy?], Dermot Moyle McCarthy, and O'Donovan.

On March 12, 1599, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, was appointed lieutenant deputy and sent to Ireland with the largest army to leave England during Elizabeth's reign-17,300 men. Instead of tackling O'Neill head on, Essex placed his men in garrisons and proceeded on an eight-week march through Munster that did little but exhaust his troops. In September, Essex finally marched north, only to encounter O'Neill with a much larger force near Louth. A parley between the two commanders took place there, the result of which was that a truce ensued (which was to last until January 1600) and the rebels were allowed to keep all the territory they had captured.

When the truce expired, Tyrone marched south unopposed as far as Kinsale, where he proceeded to get submissions and hostages from local landowners. In February, Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy arrived in Dublin as Lord Deputy and proceeded to take advantage of his resources to put O'Neill under pressure with winter campaigns, while utilizing sea power and planting garrisons to effectively break up rebel strongholds. To avoid envelopment by the forces of Mountjoy and Ormond, O'Neill was forced to retreat back to Ulster.

In April, Sir George Carew was installed as the new president of Munster and proceeded to take the field against the Hayrope Earl (as known as the sugan Earl) and his supporters. With O'Neill gone, 3,000 reinforcements, easy communications, and the support of major towns and local loyalists, this was a relatively easy affair. By May 1601, when the sugan Earl was captured, the rebellion was practically over in Munster. Although O'Neill was able to hold out in Ulster, he was coming under severe pressure from the English. The rebels' only hope now was that Spain would send troops to help them.

On October 2, a Spanish army under Don Juan del Aguila landed unopposed at Kinsale. Disappointed to discover that the sugan Earl and Florence MacCarthy Mor had been captured, Aguila decided to await reinforcements from Ulster or Spain and fortified himself in Kinsale. Afraid that a general insurrection would take place if Aguila were not defeated, Mountjoy immediately left for Cork and was besieging the Spaniards by October 26 with a force of 7,000 men. On his arrival near Kinsale, the leading men of Carbery and Beare, with the exception of Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare, were brought by the Lord President of Munster, Sir George Carew, before Mountjoy, where they swore their allegiance to the Crown. They included the two sons of Sir Fineen O'Driscoll, Conor and Fineen.

On Aguila's arrival in Kinsale, Donal O'Sullivan Beare (25) offered to provide him with two thousand men, one thousand armed, and another thousand to be armed by Aguila, in order to block Mountjoy's progress and prevent a siege until O'Neill's army. Aguila was suspicious of O'Sullivan's motives, however, and decided to wait until he had assurances from O'Neill and O'Donnell before trusting them.

Possibly inspired by the actions of O'Sullivan Beare, Fineen and Conor O'Driscoll went to Aguila and gave their word to support him in early November. On the sixth of December, a portion of Aguila's fleet under the command of General Pedro de Zubiaur, which had been separated from the main fleet by bad weather, finally arrived off the coast of West Cork. Zubiar's objective was Kinsale, but luckily for him a contrary wind forced him to land at Castlehaven on the 11th of December, thereby preventing him from being captured by the English fleet stationed off Kinsale. Zubiaur's fleet of six ships was carrying food, arms, and artillery, as well as 621 infantry under the command of Captain Alonso de Ocampo.

At that time, Castlehaven was in the possession of the brothers Donagh, Dermot, Cornelius, and Darius (Dara?) O'Driscoll. They showed Zubiaur where to land, and Dermot, who spoke Latin, informed the general about the political situation. Shortly thereafter, the Royal Navy showed up off Castlehaven, and began firing on the Spanish transports. Fully aware of the danger an English landing in Castlehaven would pose to his forces, Zubiaur sent letters to Donal O'Sullivan Beare seeking his help. Within 24 hours after receiving the letters, O'Sullivan Beare arrived in Castlehaven with 500 men just as English troops were taking to small boats in order to land. Sir Fineen O'Driscoll and his son Conor, who appears to have overruled his elderly father's objections towards supporting the rebels, also showed up with O'Sullivan Beare.

Daunted by the sight of the massed Irish and Spanish troops, the English remained on board their vessels. Encouraged by this turn in events, Zubiaur unloaded cannon from his ships and proceeded to bombard the English naval vessels. Unable to get away because of contrary winds, the English were forced to endure the bombardment for two days-in the process losing one of their vessels-before they could flee. Following the battle, Sir Fineen O'Driscoll allowed Spanish troops to occupy one of the O'Driscoll castles dominating Baltimore harbour, while O'Sullivan Beare gave them Dunboy castle.

Shortly afterwards, O'Neill and his ally, Hugh Roe O'Donnell took the considerable risk of marching south in mid-winter and arrived near Kinsale on December 21 with about 6,500 men. With them were about 500 Munstermen under O'Sullivan Beare and 200 out of the 600 Spanish reinforcements who had landed at Castlehaven. On December 24, the Irish forces met the English in battle and were badly defeated. Aguila made no move because the Irish never reached the appointed rendezvous. Instead, he surrendered on January 2, 1602. The battle at Kinsale effectively broke the rebellion: O'Donnell left for Spain to seek further aid but died soon after, while Tyrone was finally forced to surrender on March 30, 1602.

The surrender of Aguila came as a considerable shock to the chieftains of West Cork, most of whom, with the exception of McCarthy Reagh, had given their support to the Spaniards. Many of them now hurried to placate the government. On February 15, 1602, Sir George Carew wrote to the government: "..Few of the 'provincials' here were in rebellion. The best of them, namely Sir Fynin O'Driscoll, O'Donovan and Sir Owen McCartie's sons, have not joined Tyrrell and the northern rebels, and ask to be received to mercy. They say they only conversed with Tyrone, O'Donnell and the Spaniards, and did no harm to any of her Majesty's subjects. I believe this is true.(26)

O'Sullivan Beare, as well as Conor O'Driscoll and most of the O'Driscolls, nevertheless, decided to fight on. With 2,000 to 3,000 men, they retreated to a mountain pass a few miles from Castlehaven. The Spanish, although sympathetic to the Irishmen's situation, nevertheless surrendered the castles in their possession to the English. On February 22, 1602, English troops under Captain Roger Harvey took over the castle at Castlehaven, and subsequently seized the castles at Dunashed and Dunalong on 7 March. Harvey also placed troops in the O'Driscoll castle on Cape Clear.

On hearing that the Spanish were to hand over Dunboy to the English, O'Sullivan Beare managed to get the castle back through deception on February 23, and garrisoned it with 150 men, while stationing 1,200 others outside the walls as skirmishers. O'Sullivan Beare was well aware of the difficulties in defending Dunboy against English bombardment, and decided to make a last stand, if necessary, on Dursey Island. For that purpose, he placed Conor O'Driscoll with 60 men and three artillery pieces there.

During this period, the attention of the English military forces was primarily devoted towards the defeat of O'Neill. With O'Neill's submission on March 30, Sir George Carew was able to concentrate on defeating O'Sullivan Beare. He was temporarily detained in Cork while he waited for supplies, but on April 23 he set sail for Bantry Bay. On April 30, Carew and his forces landed near Bantry Abbey but were forced by bad weather to remain in its vicinity for several weeks. As Carew wrote on May 29: "I have not dared to cross the Bay of Bantry, and we have had such storms of rain and wind that our ships have been in danger even riding in the harbour..." (27) The overland route was even worse. Dunboy was just 24 miles away by land, "but through such mountainous and boggy land and with so many straights that 100 men would hold it against 5,000. No horse can be led in it, and for the best of it three men cannot march in front and in most places but in file." (28)

For that reason, Carew decided to wait until the weather improved and land his troops as close to Dunboy as he could. In mid-June, Carew was finally able to attack Dunboy. After a heavy bombardment, the castle finally fell around the 20th of June and the defenders were massacred. Dursey Island was also captured and its defenders massacred, together with many of the local inhabitants.

Following the capture of Dunboy, the revolt in Munster was effectively at an end. O'Sullivan Beare was not yet ready to admit defeat, however. Connogher O'Driscoll, who does not appear to have been on Dursey Island when it was captured, was sent to Spain to seek more help, while O'Sullivan Beare set off on his famous march to Leitrim to join up with the O'Rourkes. Connogher O'Driscoll was to spend the rest of his life in Spain.

In July 1602, Carew reported that he had burnt a castle called Lyttertenlis [Lettertinlish] belonging to "the traitor Sir Fynin O'Driscoll," probably to punish all the O'Driscolls and in particular Sir Fineen's son, Conor. (29) The O'Driscoll castles of Dunnalong, Duneshead, and Castlehaven were temporarily spared pending further orders from the government. Following the end of the rebellion, Sir Fineen got his land back

Not long afterwards, a series of English settlements sprung up in South-West Cork, in particular at Baltimore, Crookhaven, and Bantry Bay. The motives for this sudden expansion were threefold: fishing, piracy (or the aiding of pirates), and freedom of religion. The largest of these was Baltimore. In 1606, Sir Fineen O'Driscoll, financially ruined by the Nine Year's War and no longer able to charge fishing vessels for operating off the coast of Baltimore, granted a 21 year lease of the town and a great part of the adjoining cantred of Collymore, to a Londoner, Thomas Crooke. Crooke paid an entry fine of £2,000 and afterwards rent of £56 a year.

Croke must have had considerable financial resources, because an English settlement was established in Baltimore in a remarkably short time. In July 1607, Crooke was granted the territory by the Crown as well as getting two yearly fairs and a weekly market for Baltimore. By the following year, the whole area was largely occupied by newcomers with a town at Baltimore and an unidentified town on the far side of the Baltimore harbour.

During this period, Sir Fineen O'Driscoll was also borrowing money from Walter Coppinger, the scion of an Old English Catholic family from Cork. Over a period of years, O'Driscoll borrowed almost £1,700 from Coppinger, and in return mortgaged sixteen ploughlands to him-the same lands that were leased to Crooke in 1606. Since O'Driscoll did not have the money to repay Coppinger, this made the latter the effective owner of the property. Naturally, this caused a large number of legal, as well as political, problems (29) The issue was not finally settled until April 1629, when Coppinger received a deed of defeasance from O'Driscoll's heir, (30) giving him legal ownership of the land and making him landlord of the settlement. By that stage, there were over 100 English households in and around Baltimore, with very few O'Driscolls or native Irish left.

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Footnotes:

1. See "Waterford and the Sack of Baltimore" by Edward O'Mahony; pp. 29-45, The Mizen Journal No. 7 (1999).

2.Cobham was shortly afterwards replaced by Sir James Croft.

3. CSP Ireland 1509-1573; p. 110

4. CSP Ireland 1509-1573; p. 152

5. CSP Ireland 1509-1573; p. 265

6. CSP Ireland 1509-1573; p. 392

7. CSP Ireland 1509-1573; p. 330

8. CSP Ireland 1509-1573; p. 498

9. He was later to achieve fame as Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare

10. O'Sullivan Beare, Don Philip; A History of Ireland in the Reign of Elizabeth, p. 27

11. CSP 1574-1585; pp. 198-199

12. CSP 1574-1585; p. 201

13. CSP 1574-1585; p. 201

14. CSP 1574-1585; p. 214

15. CSP 1574-1585; p. 211

16. CSP 1574-1585; pp. 361-362

17. CSP 1574-1585; p. 463

18. CSP 1574-1585; p. 471

19. CSP 1586-1588; p. 191

20. CSP 1586-1588; p. 192

21. Portugal had been under Spanish control since 1580.

22. CSP 1586-1588; p. 279

23. CSP 1586-1588; p. 529

24. CSP 1598, January-1599, March; p. 400

25. Sir Owen O'Sullivan Beare died c. 1600

26. CSP 1601-1603; p. 296

27. CSP 1601-1603; pp. 392-393

28. CSP 1601-1603; pp. 392-393

29. The government did not want a Catholic Irishman effectively owning a new English town and parliamentary borough (after 1612).

30. Sir Fineen died sometime after 1614.

Bibliography:

Primary Sources:

1. Calendar of State Papers relating to Ireland of the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth I., 1509-1573; (ed.) Hans Claude Hamilton.

2. Calendar of State Papers relating to Ireland of the reign of Elizabeth, 1574-1585; (ed.) Ernest George Atkinson.

3. Calendar of State Papers relating to Ireland of the reign of Elizabeth, 1586-1588; (ed.) Hans Claude Hamilton.

4. Calendar of State Papers relating to Ireland of the reign of Elizabeth, 1588, August-1592, September; (ed.) Hans Claude Hamilton.

5. Calendar of State Papers relating to Ireland of the reign of Elizabeth, 1592, October-1596, June; (ed.) Ernest George Atkinson.

6. Calendar of State Papers relating to Ireland of the reign of Elizabeth, 1596, July-1597, December; (ed.) Ernest George Atkinson.

7. Calendar of State Papers relating to Ireland of the reign of Elizabeth, 1598, January-1599, March; (ed.) Ernest George Atkinson.

8. Calendar of State Papers relating to Ireland of the reign of Elizabeth, 1599, April-1600, February; (ed.) Ernest George Atkinson.

9. Calendar of State Papers relating to Ireland of the reign of Elizabeth, 1601-1603; (ed.) Ernest George Atkinson.

10. Calendar of the Carew Manuscripts preserved in the Archepiscopal Library at Lambeth 1589-1600; (ed.) J. S. Brewer, M.A., and William Bullen, Esq.

11. Calendar of the Carew Manuscripts preserved in the Archepiscopal Library at Lambeth 1601-1603; (ed.) J. S. Brewer, M.A., and William Bullen, Esq.

Secondary Sources:

1. Appleby, John C.; A Calendar of Material relating to Ireland from the High Court of Admiralty Examinations 1536-1641. (Dublin, 1992)

2. Berleth, Richard; The Twilight Lords (London, 1978)

3. Ellis, Steven G.; Tudor Ireland: Crown, Community and the Conflict of Cultures 1470-1603 (London, 1985)

4. Lydon, James; England and Ireland in the Later Middle Ages (Dublin, 1981)

5. MacCarthy-Morrogh, Michael; The Munster Plantation: English Migration to Southern Ireland 1583-1641 (Oxford, 1986)

6. O'Faolain, Sean; The Great O'Neill: A Biography of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, 1550-1616

7. O'Flanagan, Patrick and Buttimer, Cornelius G. (ed); Cork History & Society: Interdisciplinary Essays on the History of an Irish County (Dublin, 1993)

8. Sasso, Claude Ronald; The Desmond Rebellions, 1569-1573 and 1579-1583 (Ph.D. Loyola University of Chicago 1980)

9. Silke, John J.; Kinsale: The Spanish Intervention in Ireland at the End of the Elizabethan Wars (Liverpool, 1970)

10. Smith, Charles; The Ancient and Present State of the County and City of Cork containing a Natural, Civil, Ecclesiastical, Historical, and Topographical Description thereof. (Cork, 1893)