By Edward O’Mahony
In
February 1685, James II succeeded his brother Charles II has king of England. A
Catholic, James’ accession to the throne was received with considerable
misgivings by Protestants in Ireland, and with corresponding joy by Irish
Catholics. For over a century, Protestant colonists had been the guarantors of
English power in Ireland. In return, these colonists had benefited from the
land settlements that had taken place repeatedly in Ireland during that period.
By the 1680s, these settlements had resulted in Protestant settlers owning
four-fifths of all land in Ireland. Catholics now hoped for-and Protestants
feared-a reversal of government policy that would lead to major changes in
civil liberty, religion, employment, and the ownership of property.
James II did in fact institute a number of
changes, such as allowing Irish Catholics to serve as officers in Irish
regiments and dropping some of the restrictions that had been placed on
Catholic clergy. Until 1688, however, Protestants in both England and Ireland
were comforted by the fact that James II did not have a son and would be succeeded
by his Protestant daughter Mary, the wife of the Dutch prince, William of
Orange. In June of that year, however, James’ second wife bore him a son. This
event, combined with growing unhappiness in England over some of the king’s
policies, led directly to the Glorious Revolution, when James was replaced by
William and Mary. James fled to France in December, where he spent the next few
months making plans to recapture his throne with French assistance.
In Ireland, these events created a major
crisis, with Protestants openly supporting the recently crowned William III. In
Dublin and the northern counties it looked like the settlers might be strong
enough to challenge the government in Ireland, which remained loyal to James.
In Derry, thirteen apprentice boys closed the gates of the walled city to
prevent a Catholic regiment from garrisoning the city. Outside of Ulster,
however, rumours of invasion and massacre created a general feeling of unease
among Protestants. This was not helped by the fact that law and order broke
down almost completely during this period, with land seizures and cattle raids
taking place on an almost daily basis. Many Protestants-some of them the
survivors of the 1641 massacres-fled to either the north or to England. Others
banded themselves into self-defence groups, some of which adopted an
aggressively Williamite attitude. In Sligo, a local self-defence association
seized control of a large part of the county and declared their support for
what they termed “the lawful government.” The Sligo association held on until
March 1689, when its members decided to join their co-religionists in Ulster,
where pro-Williamite groups were in considerable strength.
In early 1689, the town of Bandon in County
Cork was garrisoned by two companies of infantry and one company of cavalry
under the command of Captain Daniel O’Neil. O’Neil had remained loyal to King
James, and on Saturday, the 16th of February, he issued a
proclamation ordering the inhabitants of Bandon to hand over all their weapons and
ammunition within 72 hours. When the three-day period expired, O’Neil
discovered that only a fraction of the town’s residents had acceded to his
demands. Accordingly, he contacted Lord Clancarthy, the leader of a regiment of
soldiers in the area, and asked for help. Clancarthy informed O’Neil that he
and his men would arrive at Bandon on the following Monday, February 25. The
inhabitants of Bandon were aware of Clancarthy’s approach and, encouraged by
the announcement that William of Orange had been crowned King, resolved not
only to resist Clancarthy, but to also evict O’Neil’s forces from the town.
They were further encouraged to embark on their revolt by a rumour that was
circulating in the town. This rumour held that on the Sunday after Clancarthy arrived
in Bandon, O’Neil would allow mass to be said in the local Protestant church of
Kilbrogan.
On Sunday, February 24, a number of
conspirators met in a private house in the town. A local Presbyterian minister
was made chairman of the group, and within a short time, the conspirators had
agreed to disarm the garrison at dawn the following day. Those present in the
room promised to induce as many people as possible to join the revolt and then
spread throughout the town to pass on the message. In a few hours, all the men
of the town had agreed to join in the uprising.
As the sun rose over the town the next
morning, one of the rebels rang the church bell to signal the start of the
revolt. Immediately the townspeople fell on the soldiers and seized all the
arms, ammunition, horses, and other accoutrements in their possession. This was
made easier by the fact that the soldiers were not living in barracks but had
been quartered on the local population. The troops were not able to organize
themselves in time to meet this new threat and were easily overwhelmed.
Nevertheless, some of the soldiers did try to resist and these were killed on
the spot. Three of dead soldiers were Protestants, and they were buried in
Kilbrogan, while the other five who were killed were Catholics and were buried
in the graveyard attached to the Catholic chapel in the same parish. The
surviving soldiers were escorted out of the town and then allowed to march back
to Cork. For a long time afterwards, the town of Bandon was often referred to
as the “Southern Derry,” because the events of February 25 mirrored in many
respects the actions taken by the inhabitants of Derry a few weeks beforehand.
In addition, the people of Bandon were often referred to later as the “Black
Mondays,” owing to the fact that they had carried out their revolt early on a
dark Monday morning.
The townspeople of Bandon did not have long
to enjoy their success. The deputy commander of military forces in Ireland,
Lieutenant-General Justin MacCarthy was in Cork City at the time when these
events were occurring. He immediately proceeded to Bandon with all the troops
he could muster, reportedly over 12,000 men. On their arrival at Bandon,
MacCarthy’s forces surrounded the town, and MacCarthy demanded that the
ringleaders of the revolt be handed over to him. Although Bandon was ringed by
a fortified wall at the time, the inhabitants actually had few weapons and
would have been unable to resist a concerted attack on the town. Nevertheless,
the townspeople replied that while they would be willing to surrender the town
on honourable terms, they would not hand over their leaders.
MacCarthy responded by ordering an attack
and the town soon fell to his forces. Ten of the principal men of Bandon were
rounded up and condemned to death for treason, and MacCarthy started to make
plans to burn the town down. At that moment, one of the town’s residents, Dr.
Nicholas Brady, appealed for mercy. Brady, who was well-known for having
written a metrical version of the Psalms, was also known to be a supporter of
James II. Following a long conversation with Brady, the details of which are
sadly unknown, MacCarthy decided to spare the men and the town in return for an
indemnity of £1,500 and a promise to make restitution to the
soldiers who had been attacked and robbed. Under the circumstances, these were
ridiculously easy terms, and they were later strongly disapproved of by the
head of the Irish government, Lord Deputy Tyrconnell, and by James II himself.
It is unclear why MacCarthy acted so leniently at this time, but is may have
been the case that he believed an act of mercy at this stage might help put
down the rebellion in the north. Shortly after these events took place at
Bandon, MacCarthy put down similar revolts by the Earl of Inchiquin and by
Captain Boyle of Castlemartyr. It was primarily due to Justin MacCarthy’s
promptness and vigour that Munster was made safe for James II.
A few weeks later, on March 22, 1689, James
II landed at Kinsale with an army of French soldiers, determined to win back
his throne. At James’ instigation, the primary legal officer in Ireland, Chief
Justice Nugent, was instructed to bring proceedings against the men of Bandon
for treason. Indictments were accordingly issued against the twelve ringleaders
of the revolt, and preparations were made for a trial. The names of the men
arrested and charged with treason were Arthur Bernard, Ralph Chartres, Ralph
Clear, John Sullivan, Thomas Dennis, Robert Gookin, Henry Jones, Thomas Ware,
Philip White, William Ware. Sampson Twogood, and Samuel Sweete. Once again, Dr.
Brady interceded with Justin MacCarthy, and he begged MacCarthy to speak to the
King on behalf of the inhabitants of Bandon. MacCarthy-who felt bound in honour
to uphold the terms of the surrender-tried his best, but he was unable to
change the king’s mind on the subject. Shortly afterwards, James left for
Dublin, leaving MacCarthy behind to organize the transportation of the French
military stores.
With James gone, MacCarthy could finally do
something on behalf of the arrested men. He assembled a number of soldiers and
marched into the courthouse, where he openly threatened Nugent until the judge
postponed the trial for 12 months. By that time, events in Ireland and England
had completely overshadowed the case of the twelve Bandon men, and after the
Battle of the Boyne on 1 July, 1690 the case became moot.
The Protestant settlers of Bandon revolted
against James II, three hundred and thirteen years ago this month.
*
Postscript
In June 1690, with William III expected to
land in Ireland at any time, a militia unit was raised from among the men of
Bandon. These troops marched north and joined up with a force from Derry. From
there they went to meet and join up with William, who had landed at
Carrickfergus on the fourteenth of June. The Bandon militia subsequently fought
at the Battle of the Boyne, where they are said to have acquitted themselves
well. The militiamen returned home to Bandon after the battle, and on 16 July
the townspeople once more declared themselves for William. This time, however,
the Jacobite forces were in too much disarray to care about Bandon, and the
subsequent capture of Cork and Kinsale by the Duke of Marlborough in September
and October of 1690 removed any threat that still existed to the town.
In May 1689, Justin MacCarthy was appointed
Master General of the Artillery of
Ireland and he went to join James’ army, which was besieging the city of Derry.
On 10 August, MacCarthy was seriously wounded and subsequently captured during
a battle near Newtownbutler in Co. Fermanagh. MacCarthy, who not long before
had been granted the title of Viscount Mountcashel, was sent to Enniskillen,
where he spent the next few months under guard recuperating from his wounds. By
December, MacCarthy had recovered sufficiently to make a successful escape from
Enniskillen, and he joined James II in Dublin. On his return, MacCarthy immediately
began work on the creation of the first Irish Brigade. In March 1690, the
brigade, consisting of just over 5,000 troops, was sent to France in exchange
for 6,000 French soldiers who were sent to assist James II. Following the
Treaty of Limerick on 3 October, 1691, thousands of Irish Jacobite soldiers
joined MacCarthy in France and formed the main Irish Brigade, which over the
course of the next ninety years was to win enduring fame.
For
further reading: Many of the details about the Bandon revolt are contained in a
book written in the 19th century by George Bennett, entitled “The
History of Bandon.” John A. Murphy’s “Justin MacCarthy, Lord Mountcashel”
provides an excellent introduction to the life of that Irish soldier. For
anyone interested in learning more about the period, I would recommend
“Jacobite Ireland” by J.G. Simms.