By
Edward O’Mahony
On October 2, 1601,
Spanish forces landed at Kinsale. They
had come to assist the rebellion of Hugh O'Neill, the Earl of Tyrone, and their
presence had an electrifying effect on the inhabitants of West Cork. Up until
then, most of the clans of the region had remained either neutral in the
conflict or had assisted the government forces. Now, some sided openly with the
Spanish, a few remained loyal to the English crown, while many were divided in
their allegiance. The result was a vicious civil war, which saw kinsmen and
neighbours slaughter each other as the greater struggle revolved around them.
During the first half of the 16th century, the English government
began to strengthen its control in Ireland. This naturally led to conflict with
many of the Gaelic and Hiberno-Norman lords in Ireland, who had spent much of
the Middle Ages independent of central authority. In particular, the
Fitzgeralds of Kildare and Desmond chafed at the growing restrictions on their
power, a situation that was not helped by the fact that their hereditary enemy,
the Earls' of Ormond, became increasingly associated with government policy
over the course of the century. In 1534, the Fitzgeralds of Kildare had gone
out in rebellion. This uprising, known as Silken Thomas’ Rebellion, was quickly
crushed, and with it ended the power of the Fitzgerald’s of Kildare.
The English government continued its policy of centralizing
control in Ireland, and from the 1560s in particular, encouraged the
establishment of colonial settlements in the country. These settlements and the
actions of the colonists led directly to the outbreak of the First Desmond
Rebellion (1569-1574) as well as the Second Desmond Rebellion (1579-1583). With
the death of the Earl of Desmond, Gerald Fitzgerald, and the end of second
rebellion, the confiscation of Desmond’s lands and those of his supporters
began in earnest. In June 1584, a commission of survey was appointed for
Munster. In southwest Munster, the commissioners surveyed the lands belonging
to: Rory O'Donoghue Mor, who held land around Killarney; Teig McCarthy of
Mollahiffe; the McCarthys of Clandermot in Beare; the McCarthys of ClanDonell
Roe near Bantry; the O'Mahonys of Rosbrin, Dunbeacon, and Kinalmeaky; and two
other McCarthys in West Cork.
The lands in West Cork that had been surveyed were also
eventually escheated and 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 respectively.
Even though the rebels were
unsuccessful in 1579-1583, the involvement and support provided by the Spanish
and Papal courts in the Second Desmond Rebellion meant that Ireland was
becoming a new battleground in the conflict between Protestantism and
Catholicism-a deeply disturbing prospect for Elizabeth and her government. With
Anglo-Spanish relations becoming steadily worse, the attention of the English
government was increasingly drawn to the defences of Ireland.
In early 1588, the figure of
Florence McCarthy began to concern the government. Florence McCarthy was the
son of Sir Donough McCarthy Reagh, former head of the McCarthys of Carbery in
West Cork. In addition, he was married to a daughter of McCarthy Mor, who was
head of the McCarthys of Kerry and one of the most powerful noblemen in
Ireland. Florence McCarthy thereby became McCarthy Mor’s heir, an act that
seriously worried the government. By 1588, Florence McCarthy was already under
suspicion for being a close acquaintance of Sir William Stanley, the English
traitor who had handed the Dutch fort of Deventer over to the Spaniards in
1587. A Fitzgerald on his mother’s side and a possible successor to his uncle,
Sir Owen McCarthy Reagh, the then head of the McCarthys of Carbery, the government
was concerned he could draw support from all of Munster and could try to
resurrect the power of the McCarthys. The McCarthys of Carbery had
traditionally been loyal to the English government, because it had provided a
certain amount of protection against the depredations of the Earl of Desmond.
During the Desmond rebellions the McCarthys and their subordinate clans had
assisted the government forces. Now, however, many of the McCarthys believed that the plantation of the English
settlers, the associated discontentment of the Irish, the poor state of the
province, and the expectation of a Spanish invasion of England, would give them
the opportunity to take back what had once been theirs.
Any move towards rebellion by the McCarthy’s was nipped in the
bud when Florence McCarthy was arrested in June 1588. Two months later the
Spanish Armada was destroyed and with it died the immediate threat to England’s
security. Nevertheless, the plantation of colonists, particularly in Munster,
continued to spark off rebellious activity. In September, Donell Grany O'Mahony
of Kinalmeaky came back from England, where he appears to have been trying to
recover the lands forfeited by Conor O'Mahony, his father. Upon arrival he
promptly proceeded to ransack and burn Castle Mahon, which had been assigned to
the undertaker Phane Beecher. It was reported that: "There is daily
adhering unto him, providing of weapons and threatening to do all the murders
they may, he walketh by night and often by day in Carbery at his pleasure, [and]
nothing is done against him.." His forces also subsequently burned the
former O'Mahony castle of Dunbeacon in the Iveagh peninsula. Donell
Grano and his followers continued to live in Kinalmeaky, where it was reported
he: "..doth greatly repine at the settling of the undertakers.." Although no further hostile actions
are reported, he remained a threat to the undertakers and in October 1594 was
reported to be conspiring with Florence McCarthy.
For many years, the English government had also been trying to
increase its control over Ulster, one of the few remaining areas in the country
still controlled by Gaelic lords. In the 1550s and 1560s, the government had
tried to defeat Shane O’Neill and bring the O’Neill’s of Tyrone-the dominant
clan in the province-under its control. Although the government apparently
instigated the murder of Shane O’Neill in 1567, the outbreak of the First
Desmond Rebellion the following year stymied its plans. In the late 1570s, Hugh
O’Neill began to rise to prominence among the O’Neills. Although he initially
got along fairly well with the English government, during the 1580s, Hugh
O’Neill and his clansmen became increasingly concerned about English attempts
to establish colonial settlements in Connaught and Ulster, having seen the
effects of such settlement in Munster. O’Neill was joined in his opposition to
the government by two other leading nobles in Ulster, Hugh Roe O’Donnell and
Hugh Maguire. O’Donnell had been kidnapped and held as a hostage for four years
by the English government, an experience that left him extremely embittered.
Maguire in turn had been antagonized by the government’s imposition of an
obstreperous English army officer as sheriff of Fermanagh.
In May 1593, Maguire mounted a pre-emptive strike against
encroaching government officials by raiding Sligo and Roscommon. The following
year, 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 an 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 the last Earl of Desmond, out of poverty and
recognized him as the new earl. Although jokingly referred to as the Hayrope
(Sugan) 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
Fort and Armagh, but it also opened all Ireland to a war of liberation.
Immediately after Yellow Ford, O'Neill sent 2,000 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 countryside bare to secure the supplies O'Neill would need for a
winter campaign. Subsequently, Tyrrell's companies overran Counties Cork and
Limerick and enveloped the major towns 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, the towns of
Tralee, Castlemaine, and Killarney were captured. Overnight, the English
colonial presence in Munster was destroyed.
Among the lands reclaimed by the native Irish was Castle Mahon, formerly
possessed by the undertaker Phane Beecher.
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, however, Essex placed
his men in garrisons and proceeded on an eight-week march through Munster that
did little but exhaust his troops. At
the same time, Sir Thomas Norreys, the Lord President of Munster headed south
as far as Ross to check out reports of Spanish landings before heading north
again into Kinalmeaky, where on March 16 he destroyed the lands of the
O'Mahonys. 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. Among the local chieftains who went to O'Neill were Moelmoe
O'Mahony, chief of Kinalmeaky, and
the chief of the O'Mahonys of Ivagha. Neither of them was required to give
pledges to O'Neill, indicating that they were completely trusted by him, a fact
not forgotten by the English. Interestingly,
in light of subsequent events, neither Sir Fineen O'Driscoll of Baltimore nor
Donell Cam O'Sullivan Beare went to
meet O'Neill.
Earlier that same month, as symbolic of his new
expansive role as national leader, O'Neill had confirmed James FitzThomas as
Earl of Desmond and Florence McCarthy as the McCarthy Mor. O'Neill was later to
bitterly regret his support for Florence over his rival Donell McCarthy, the
bastard son of Donell McCarthy Mor. At the time, he may have thought it a
better idea to support Florence, who could unite the McCarthys of Carbery and
Kerry and thereby gain the major ports of the south-west for the rebel cause.
While, Tyrone was in Cork, Donell McCarthy Reagh met with Florence McCarthy.
The latter tried to convince him to join with the rebels, but McCarthy Reagh
decided to stay loyal to the crown. O'Neill also sent letters to the other
major lords of Cork, such as Roche and Barry, calling on them to support the
struggle for the Catholic religion and the relief of the country. Roche came to
an agreement with O'Neill, but Barry refused and suffered the consequences. His
lands were raided by rebel forces and completely destroyed.
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. The
impact that Tyrone nevertheless had had on the inhabitants of Munster can be
deduced from a report by Geoffrey Fenton, who wrote:" But, by his long
tarrying in Munster, he maketh strong his rebellion with those Irish Lords, and
draweth away the hearts of the subjects from Her Majesty, when they see her
army to give sufferance so long time, in the heart of their country, to an
enemy stranger and a rebel of Ulster, far from them, and not known to them
before."
In April, a Spanish delegation
put into Donegal Bay, and met with Hugh O'Neill and Hugh O'Donnell in a nearby
friary. During the conference, O'Neill outlined his ideas for a
Spanish invasion. He advised the delegation that if the expedition were small
it should put into Donegal Bay, specifically Teelin or Killybegs. If the
Spanish force numbered 6,000 or more, it should go to Munster. Munster was
easier to live off and operate in than Connacht or Ulster, and it offered more
prizes to an invading army, but only a large army could maintain itself there
until O'Neill arrived with his forces. Of the ports in Munster, O'Neill
overwhelmingly favoured Cork. On one side of the city lay the territories of
the McCarthys, where Florence McCarthy could easily assemble his forces. On the
other side lay the lands of O’Neill’s Earl of Desmond, FitzThomas. Both leaders
could join the Spanish with their forces within two days, while O'Neill himself
could arrive within ten days.
That same month, April 1600, Sir George Carew was installed as
the new president of Munster following the death in action of Sir Thomas
Norreys and proceeded to take the
field against FitzThomas 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. At the beginning of April, Sir
Henry Power, commander of English forces in Munster, sent 1,000 men, under the
command of Captain George Flower into Carbery, with orders to either waste it
or take assurances from the freeholders. At the time, Carbery was regarded as
Florence McCarthy's primary recruitment area and staging point for
attacks. Flower initially marched to
Kinsale, from where he proceeded south towards Rosscarbery. On the first day of
the march, the English forces attacked the O'Mahonys of Kinalmeaky, suppporters
of Florence McCarthy, and killed large numbers of them. This was followed two days
later by an attack on a castle called The Muntan. The castle belonged to a
foster father of Florence McCarthy, and a large store of weapons and other
spoils were seized. From there, the army marched to Rosscarbery, where they
rested for two days, before passing Leap on their way into the country of the
O'Donovans According to Flower, he and his troops:"..burned all those
parts, and had the killing of many of their churls and poor people, leaving not
them any one grain of corn within ten miles of our way, wherever we marched,
and took a prey of 500 cows, which I caused to be drowned and killed, for that
we would not trouble ourselves to drive them in that journey." From
O'Donovan's country, the English forces headed south towards Bantry, where they
attacked the McCarthys of Clandermod, who were then in rebellion. Having burned
and spoiled the McCarthy's territory, Captain Flower advanced towards the
O'Mahonys of the Iveagh peninsula. On their way there, Flower became aware that
Florence McCarthy had assembled a large force of 1,800 men to intercept his
passage back to Rosscarbery. McCarthy had united his forces with those of
Dermod O'Connor, an O'Neill supporter from Connaught who had brought a thousand
men with him.
The same day that Flower discovered McCarthy's actions, he and
his forces returned to Rosscarbery. That night, the rebels split their forces.
McCarthy camped on one side of Rosscarbery, about two miles from the English
forces, while O'Connor with his men camped on the other side, about three miles
away. Their objective was to prevent Flower from returning to Cork. Having
identified the location of the enemy forces, Flower attacked the Connaught men
and forced the two halves of the rebel army to link up again.
The two armies stayed facing each other for the next ten days. In
the meantime, the Earl of Ormond, the government's most important supporter in
Ireland, had been captured. On hearing this news, Sir Henry Power immediately
instructed Flower to return to Cork with his forces. On receipt of the orders,
Flower set out initially for Kinsale. McCarthy's forces attacked and a running
battle ensued throughout the day. Flower kept his forces a mile ahead of the
enemy, never allowing them to form up for a battle. The harrying attacks of the
rebels were held back by Flower's cavalry, and over forty rebels were killed.
It is unknown whether the English suffered any casualties, but the Irish losses
were particularly grievous. McCarthy's entire vanguard was destroyed and five of his captains were killed.
Flower and his men reached Kinsale on April 20. The following
day, having left 250 men under Sir Richard Percy and Captain Bostock as a
garrison, he set off for Cork with 100 horsemen and 600 foot. Initially, there
was no sign of the enemy. During the night, McCarthy and his men had marched
ahead of the English and occupied an ambush site about half way to Cork. The
Irish had positioned themselves in front of a narrow bridge, which had been
built over a deep and dangerous ford, with woodland and bogs all around.
McCarthy again divided his force into two sections, with Dermod O'Connor
commanding one and he the other. As the English advanced, the Irish troops lay
themselves flat on the ground. English scouts crossed over the bridge and
returned without noticing anything amiss. Encouraged, the English forces set
out to cross the bridge. A cavalry unit was sent first, but as it was coming
down the hill towards the bridge the sun glinting off the helmets of the rebels alerted them to the
ambush. The English forces began to retire in order to regroup. Realizing that
their position had been given away, the Irish opened fire, and their vanguard
rushed at the retreating English before they could regain the hill. Panicked by
this unexpected attack, the cavalry broke and rode over their own foot
soldiers. A quarter of a mile from the bridge lay a castle, where the English
forces now headed for safety. At the castle, Flower was finally able to rally
his troops. 60 men with guns were placed at the bawn of the castle, the banks
of which were breast high. The Irish forces were following very close behind,
and as they came up to the castle they were met with a fusillade that ripped
through their ranks. The survivors began to retreat. Sensing his moment, Flower
charged them with part of his cavalry. For over a mile, a fierce battle raged.
As Flower later wrote:"..myself being at that time and in the beginning
hurt; upon the first charge, with a pike, nine inches into the thigh, by their
general. At that charge I had one horse killed under me, with three pikes in
his body and two bullets. When we brake them, I fought hand to hand with their
general, where I received my second hurt in my head, by one that carried their
colours, I having part of them in my hand and he the other. There I had my
second horse slain with pikes under me..." Both Florence McCarthy and
Dermod O'Connor were shot and injured, though neither seriously. With the
English having broken through their lines, the Irish were forced to retreat
back up the hill where the battle had taken place. Seven or eight horsemen
followed them but were forced to turn back. Any chance the English had of
completely destroying the Irish force was lost at that moment by the
unwillingness of the infantry to attack. McCarthy and the rest of his men were
able to get away safely.
Casualty figures vary considerably. According to Flower, nine men
were killed on the English side, including a lieutenant, and sixteen wounded.
He went on to claim that his forces had killed 137 Irish and seriously wounded
37 more. Florence McCarthy subsequently declared that only seventeen Irish were
killed, four of them Captains and fifteen wounded. Whatever the true figure,
the battle was a close run thing. As one participant later wrote: "..if
the castle had been one quarter of a mile further, all Her Majesty's forces had
been cut off, and scarce any had come away to tell who had hurt them." Having beaten off the Irish attack,
Flower again assembled his forces and proceeded to march to Cork. Along the
way, McCarthy's forces began to regroup for another attack. At that moment, Sir
Henry Power arrived on the scene with forty fresh horsemen and the Irish
retired. The English forces marched to Cork without any further hindrances,
arriving in the city that evening, April 21.
Following this battle, Florence McCarthy began to make desperate
overtures to the government, protesting his innocence. These overtures, were encouraged by the English, since as Sir
George Carew wrote:" Florence himself is in nature a coward, and as much
addicted to his ease as any man living, and therefore unmeet to be a rebel;
which makes me glad that he is the chief commander of Carbery and Desmond
forces. For, if he were gone, his wife's bastard brother [Donell McCarthy]
would be far worse than he.” The subsequent discussions between McCarthy and the
government went on for a number of months, effectively paralyzing the rebel
forces in large parts of Cork and Kerry.
Throughout the summer of 1600,
government forces continued to put pressure on the rebels, particularly in
Munster. On September 17, Sir George
Carew announced his intention to go to Kinsale at the end of the month, in
order to settle Carbery. Following a
severe defeat inflicted on James FitzThomas by the garrison of Kilmallock,
Florence McCarthy came into Cork on October 29, where he submitted himself to
Sir George Carew, asking for the government's mercy.
In November, as part of the campaign to reduce West Cork, the
commander of the English garrison in Kinsale, Sir Richard Percy raided
Kinalmeaky with his forces. A number of O'Mahonys were killed and 200 cattle
were seized. Following this attack, arrangements were made to watch the
movements of the Kinsale garrison. On December 21, Percy sent 60 of his men
against the O'Mahonys of Kinalmeaky. They were met by three hundred armed clansmen,
including horsemen, under the command of Maelmoe O'Mahony and his cousin,
Dermod Moyle McCarthy (Florence's brother). McCarthy was at the time hiding in
Kinalmeaky from Sir George Carew, who regarded him as one of the most dangerous
men in Munster. For two hours the two sides battled each other before the
garrison troops were forced to retreat.
No other raid was attempted on Kinalmeaky by the Kinsale
garrison. Nevertheless, by May 1601, when the sugan Earl was captured, the
rebellion was practically over in Munster. Florence McCarthy was taken prisoner
less than three weeks later, and the two of them were sent to England in early
August. 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. In fact, on July 27, a Spanish ship sailed for
Ireland carrying a messenger, Ensign Pedro de Sandoval. Sandoval was to bring
O'Neill and O'Donnell the news that an invasion was imminent and was to get
their views on where the fleet should land. Sandoval met O'Donnell at Sligo on
August 10. O'Neill was unable to attend the meeting because his territory was
now completely surrounded by Mountjoy's garrisons. Nevertheless, he sent a
message advising the Spanish to land either at Limerick, or in case of a mishap
between Limerick and Lough Foyle. O'Neill felt that since both James FitzThomas
and Florence McCarthy were in English hands, and that Waterford and Cork were
both being fortified, the best chance for a successful Spanish landing was in
the West. Unfortunately, contrary winds delayed Sandoval's return, and he did
not get back to Spain until October 1, well after the invasion force had left.
On August 6, in a prescient letter, Carew wrote to the privy council that:
"As Florence McCarthy and James Fitzthomas are now Her Majesty's prisoners
the Spaniards will either not come to Munster or, if they do, will hesitate
which way to advance after landing, not knowing which of the Irish leaders to trust."
To further discourage Spanish forces
from landing, Sir George Carew began to seize anyone in Munster who could be of
assistance to the enemy. In July, Carew set out to capture what he regarded as
the four most dangerous men in the province: Dermod Mac Owen McCarthy alias Mac
Donogh; Teig Mac Dermond McCarthy, brother and tanist to the Lord of Muskerry;
Maelmoe O'Mahony of Kinalmeaky; and Dermod Moyle McCarthy, brother of Florence
McCarthy. Since Carew did not have the forces to track them down, he used deception.
All of the freeholders of the county were invited to the Assizes in Cork.
Possibly under the mistaken impression that they had been granted amnesty,
Maelmoe, McDonough, and Teig McCormack were lured to Cork where they were
promptly seized and imprisoned. Dermod Moyle McCarthy, more cautious than the
others, waited to see what would happen to his comrades and then fled north to
join O'Neill.
In Spain itself, there was
considerable disagreement about where to land. Don Juan del Aguila, the commander
of the military forces, wanted to sail to Donegal Bay, where he felt the
northern leaders could join him more easily. Another senior official, Fray
Mateo de Oviedo, who had been on the embassy to Ireland in 1600 and claimed to
speak for O'Neill, insisted on a Spanish landing at Cork, Waterford, or
Limerick. On August 26, the war council of the Spanish government ordered that
the armada should go wherever Oviedo ordered. Aguila continued to protest the
decision to land in the south but was only able to extract one concession from
Oviedo-that the Spanish forces could land at Kinsale (a port never mentioned by
O'Neill) rather than Cork, which was heavily fortified.
On September 3, 1601, the armada for Ireland set sail with 4,432
troops on board, well below the stipulated 6,000 thought necessary for a
Munster landing. In addition, the
weather now turned against the Spanish, with foul weather and contrary winds
preventing the fleet from reaching the Irish coast for almost four weeks.
Shortly before they reached Ireland, a conference was held among the Spanish
leaders, and it was decided that if the fleet should become separated everyone
should rendezvous at Kinsale, or if that were impossible at Castlehaven. On the
evening of September 17, the Spanish fleet reached the Irish coast, and
somewhere between the Blaskets and Dursey Island took on pilots preparatory to
landing the following morning. That night, however, a storm hit the fleet,
separating two galleons and six smaller craft from the main fleet. Despite this
loss, which left him with only 1,700 men, Aguila was determined to land, and on
September 21 the Spanish army landed unopposed at Kinsale.
With the Spaniards was a
follower of Florence McCarthy, Cormack McFineen McCarthy, who inquired of the
mayor of Kinsale where Florence McCarthy and James Fitzthomas were. Disappointed to discover that the two
leaders had been captured, Aguila
decided to await reinforcements from Ulster or Spain and fortified himself in
Kinsale. Shortly afterwards, some of the ships that had been lost arrived at
Kinsale with reinforcements, bringing the total number of Spanish forces in the
town to between 3,300 and 3,400 men. The rest of ships, the galleon San Felipe, under the command of Don
Pedro de Zubiaur, and three hookers tried in vain for five days to link up with
the rest of the fleet or make it to Kinsale or Castlehaven. Zubiaur next tried
to make for Teelin, but again the winds were against him and so he sailed for
home. What made the loss of these vessels worse, apart from the 674 soldiers
they had on board, was the fact that they also carried most of the munitions
and match for the arquebuses, leaving Aguila very short.
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 Donell 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, Donell O'Sullivan Beare had offered to provide him with two
thousand men, one thousand armed, and another thousand to be armed by the
Spanish, in order to block Mountjoy's progress and prevent a siege until
O'Neill's army arrived. This was quite a significant act, since,
with the exception of some of Florence McCarthys adherents, no one else offered
to help the Spanish. Suspicious of
O'Sullivan's motives, however, Aguila decided to wait until he had assurances
from O'Neill and O'Donnell before trusting him. Aguila may have been influenced
in his decision by the followers of Florence McCarthy whom he had brought with
him. For almost twenty years, Donell O'Sullivan Beare had studiously avoided
any contact with insurgents, and he had repeatedly sworn to the government that
he was loyal. Only a few months before the Spanish landing, he had written to
Sir George Carew, thanking God that the times had been:"...reduced to some
quiet" and asked him for his
help in surrendering his land to the Crown and having it regranted. His reasons
for joining the rebellion can only be guessed at now. I could have been that he
was always attracted to O’Neill’s war of liberation, but he may not have wanted
to throw in his lot with the rebels until he thought there was a chance of
success. The landing of the Spaniards offered that opportunity.
Possibly inspired by the actions
of O'Sullivan Beare, Fineen and Conor O'Driscoll, the sons of Sir Fineen
O'Driscoll of Baltimore, and Donough Moyle McCarthy and his brother Fineen, the
sons of Sir Owen McCarthy Reagh, together apparently with the O'Mahonys and
O'Crowleys went to Aguila and gave their word to support him in early November.
Only days later, however, on the tenth of November, 1000 English foot and 100
horse, which had been blown off course, arrived at Castlehaven from Bristol
commanded by Donough O'Brien, the third earl of Thomond. It was now that
Aguila's unwillingness to allow O'Sullivan Beare to mobilize forces in support
of the Spaniards first really told.
Thomond's forces do not appear to have encountered any opposition from
the O'Driscolls of Castlehaven, and they were able to link up with Mountjoy
shortly afterwards without incident.
On December 1, the lost portion of Aguila's fleet under Zubiaur
finally arrived off the coast of West Cork. A few weeks after arriving back in
Spain, Zubiar had set out from Corunna in late November with ten ships and once
again headed for Ireland with the objective of reaching Kinsale. A contrary
wind once more prevented him from reaching Kinsale, splitting his fleet during
the course of it, and he finally decided to land at Castlehaven on December 1.
This turned out to be a fortuitous occurrence, since it prevented him from being captured by the
English fleet stationed off Kinsale. Zubiaur's fleet of six ships carried food,
arms, and artillery, as well as 621 infantry under the command of Captain
Alonso de Ocampo.
At that time, Castlehaven, an O'Driscoll harbour, was in the
possession of four brothers, who showed Zubiaur where to land. One of them,
Dermot, who spoke Latin, informed the general about the political situation.
Shortly thereafter, English naval vessels 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 Donell 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
ships. Unable to get away because of contrary winds, the English were forced to
endure the bombardment for two days-in the process losing two of their vessels
while the Spanish lost one-before they could flee. Following the battle, Sir
Fineen O'Driscoll allowed Spanish troops to occupy the O'Driscoll castles of
Donnelong on Sherkin Island and Donneshed near Baltimore, while O'Sullivan
Beare gave them Dunboy castle.
Zubiaur's arrival brought a general rally of the lords of
south-west Cork to Castlehaven, where they took oaths of loyalty to the King of
Spain, Philip III, and were armed with 350 arquebuses and 650 pikes. O'Sullivan
Beare proceeded to assemble a force of 1,000 men, while Conor O'Driscoll raised
a company of horse. Among the men who swore loyalty to the Spanish crown were
the two sons of Sir Owen McCarthy Reagh, Donough Moyle and Finnin and almost
all of the McCarthys of Carbery; Florence McCarthy's brother Dermot Moyle;
Donell O'Donovan; and Felim McCormac and his brother.
In November 1601, O'Neill and his ally, Hugh Roe O'Donnell took
the considerable risk of marching south to relieve the Spanish at Kinsale. To
distract the attention of the government forces, O'Neill tarried for a while in
Leinster raiding the property of loyalists. O'Donnell headed straight down to
Cork, eluding a force of two regiments led by Sir George Carew. Once in County
Cork, which he reached on December 12, he camped in the O'Mahony territory of
Kinalmeaky. He was subsequently met there by 500 Munstermen under O'Sullivan
Beare and 200 out of the 500 Spanish reinforcements who had landed at
Castlehaven.
O'Donnell also now had the allegiance of Thomas Fitzmaurice,
Lord Kerry; John O'Conor Kerry of Carigafoyle; Donell McCarthy (now recognised
by O'Neill as the McCarthy Mor); Dermot Moyle McCarthy (Florence's brother) and
many others of the leading men of west Munster. He did not, however, have the
allegiance of Donell McCarthy Reagh or Cormac McDermot McCarthy of Muskerry.
Fear of McCarthy Mor domination was keeping Cormac McDermot loyal to the crown
and made him join Mountjoy later at the siege of Kinsale.
O'Neill joined O'Donnell by the evening of December 15. Among
those accompanying O'Neill were Captain Richard Tyrrell of Westmeath, who
brought with him a force of between four and six hundred men. On O'Neill's
orders, Tyrrell and his men joined O'Sullivan Beare's force. By December 21, the combined Irish forces, numbering about 6,500 men, had
arrived near Kinsale. On the day
before, O'Sullivan Beare had written to the King of Spain, beqeathing himself
and all he had to the Spanish monarch. This letter was subsequently intercepted
by agents of Carew and was to cost O'Sullivan Beare dearly in the future.
During these critical weeks, the English were also receiving
further reinforcements. They had already received a regiment of foot led by
Lord Clanricarde (Burke). As mentioned above, another 1000 foot and 100 horse
had arrived from Bristol commanded by Donough O'Brien, the third earl of
Thomond on November 10. On November
23, another 1,000 men arrived from England, while the following day another
2,000 reinforcements were landed at Kinsale. Nevertheless, by the end of
December the state of the English army was extremely bad. Exposure was killing
forty men a day. Sir George Carew wrote in a letter dated December 24: "We
cannot progress much for want of the men needed to ply our works and to form
guards on our approaches. The Irish enemy are now within two miles of us and
have cut us off from Cork, keeping us from our victuals and the
"vivandiers" that followed the army. Our provisions have to come by
sea, but northerly and easterly winds are rare here at this time of the year.
We have to keep a constant look out at night for we hear by intelligence that
they mean to force our camp, the Spaniards taking us in front and the Irish in
the rear....The state of our army is exceedingly weak. The last 6,000 out of
England are consumed. Ten or twelve able men in a company is the ordinary
proportion, and 30 or 40 sick, unable to do any duty, is seen in every company;
and of these few recover....I do think that a more miserable siege hath not
been seen, or so great a mortality without a plague.." Carew did not have
much longer to wait. That night the Irish attacked.
A few days beforehand, O'Neill had finally given in to the pleas
of the besieged Aguila and ordered his forces to move up towards the English
lines. During the night of December 24, the marched into position for the
attack. In the vanguard was Tyrrell and his forces, the Munster Irish under
O'Sullivan Beare, and the 200 Spaniards from Castlehaven. The main Irish force
was commanded by O'Neil, while the rear was led by O'Donnell. During the night,
however, the three sections lost touch with each other. In addition, Tyrrell
failed to reach the rendezvous point where Aguila was to link up with the Irish
forces. Seeing that his men were not in position and that the English were
aware of the attack, O'Neill decided to retreat.
Sensing his opportunity, Mountjoy launched his cavalry against
the rebels, forcing them to embattle their forces. Tyrrell was placed in the
center, O'Neill's section formed the right and O'Donnell came up with the rear
to form the left. During the subsequent confusion as the various units aligned
themselves, the English cavalry launched a massive attack on the Irish horse
assembled in front of O'Neill's section. This intial attack was repulsed by the
Irish horse, but the English attacked again shortly afterwards with
reinforcements and this time the Irish horse broke. The English cavalry now
attacked the Irish foot in the rear, while English infantry attacked them in
front. These simultaenous attacks-and the flight of the Irish horse, composed
as it was of their leading men-were too much for the Irish and they fled in a
disorganized manner. Seeing the rout of O'Neill's section, Tyrrell began a
flanking movement to try and place his forces between O'Neill and the English
foot but was himself attacked and forced to retreat. The Spanish forces with
Tyrrell were unable to move as fast as the Irish and made a stand instead.
Ninety of them died on the field and another fifty were captured.
O'Donnell's men had provided no support during the battle,
probably because they were stationed too far away. The sight of the other
sections being routed was too much for them, however, and they too became
demoralized and retreated. The English forces followed for about a mile and a half,
attacking constantly and killing many of the fleeing rebels. The whole battle
lasted for barely an hour but resulted in between 500 and 1,000 Irish dead. The
English lost fewer than a dozen men. At the end of the battle the English fired
off a volley to symbolize their victory. Believing this was finally the signal
for the Spanish to surge out and link up with their Irish allies, Aguila
advanced with his forces. He soon realized his mistake, however, when he saw
captured Spanish colours being carried by English soldiers, and he beat a hasty
retreat back into Kinsale. To emphasize the disaster that had befallen the
Irish forces, Mountjoy subsequently had between 200 and 300 prisoners hanged
before the walls of Kinsale.
The day after the battle, O'Neill informed Aguila that he could
no longer assist him since his own lands were now being devastated by the
English, and he headed back to the north. O'Donnell gave command of his forces
to his brother Rory, who also headed back home, while he went to join Zubiaur
at Castlehaven. O'Donnell arrived at Castlehaven on December 27, where he
informed the astonished Spaniards of the rebels' defeat. The following day,
Zubiaur left for Spain, together with O'Donnell who wanted to speak to the
Spanish king himself, and other Irish leaders. These included Donell
O'Driscoll, son of Sir Fineen, and O'Sullivan Beare's son, who was sent as a
pledge for his father.
O'Sullivan Beare had decided to continue the fight in West Cork. He wrote to Aguila, urging him not to
surrender Kinsale and promised to cut off English supplies with his forces. At
the time, O'Sullivan Beare had with him not only his own forces, but also those
of Conor O'Driscoll and Richard Tyrrell, numbering altogether between 2,000 and
3,000 men. Together with his men, O'Sullivan Beare now took up position at a
mountain pass a few miles from Castlehaven, while Tyrrell placed his forces on
Cape Clear where there was an O'Driscoll castle. With O'Sullivan Beare in rebellion
were Dermot O'Driscoll of Castlehaven; Donell McCarthy Mor, O'Sullivan Mor's
son, Donell; Thomas Fitzmaurice, baron of Lixnaw, the Knight of the Valley; and
the Knight of Kerry.
Although the English felt they could deal with this situation
and were confident of being able to root the Spanish out of Kinsale, they were
seriously worried that further reinforcements would be landed at Baltimore,
Bearhaven, and Castlehaven. Such reinforcements would not only encourage the
rebels to hold out. It would also make it a lot more difficult to capture those
harbours, because the Spanish could be expected to fortify them. Just as
importantly, as Sir George Carew wrote: "The West of Munster, where these
havens are seated, is a mountainous, barren country, wherein no horse can serve
or carriage pass..[and where] no relief can come unto us but by sea.."
As for Aguila, despite the defeat his position was still quite
strong. The wind favoured ships from Spain, raising the hope that
reinforcements would arrive shortly. Moreover, the Spanish in Kinsale still had
six week's worth of food left, compared with the six day's worth of food
available to Mountjoy and his men. Lastly, Aguila's forces had more protection
than the English, and therefore were suffering less from exposure and disease.
Nevertheless, the Spanish were losing about a dozen men a day, and by late
December, Aguila had only 1,800 effective troops left. More importantly, he was
without the two major advantages necessary for a besieged place to hold out indefinitely
in those days: strong fortifications, and control of the water approaches,
which would allow supplies and reinforcements to land. That fact, and the
belief that the Irish had let him down, led him to surrender to Mountjoy on
January 2, 1602.
Under the terms of the
surrender, Aguila agreed to hand over the castles of Castlehaven, Donneshed
(Baltimore), Donnelong (Sherkin), and Dunboy, and promised not to take up arms
again even if reinforcements arrived. Mountjoy, who was very worried about the
effect such reinforcements would have, readily agreed to Aguila's terms, which
involved providing the Spanish with enough shipping and food to allow him to
transport his men, Spaniards and Irish back to Spain with all their arms,
artillery, money, ensigns, and so forth. In the event, reinforcements did
arrive two days after the surrender on board three vessels under the command of
Captain Martin de Ballecilla. On arriving at Kinsale, Ballecilla discovered
that the town had surrendered, and so promptly returned to Spain.
Although the Spanish commanders were sympathetic to the rebel's
situation, they nevertheless followed their orders and prepared to surrender
the castles in their possession to the English. Despite this, the rebels
continued to believe that Spain would not abandon them and they renewed their
oaths of fidelity to the Spanish king, promising to hold out until the end of
May. Bad weather delayed the castles' handover, and government troops under
Captain Roger Harvey did not finally arrive in Castlehaven until February 10.
There they found the castle being besieged by the Spanish, who had lost it to
the O'Driscolls through a ruse. However, when the O'Driscolls saw the English
ships they surrendered the castle to the Spanish commander, Pedro Lopez de
Soto, on condition that they be allowed to leave in safety. Harvey decided to
leave his brother Gawen in command in Castlehaven and together with de Soto
sailed to Baltimore where the English took over the castles of Dunashed and
Dunalong. Harvey also placed troops in the O'Driscoll castle on Cape Clear.
Before the troops' arrival on the island, Richard Tyrrell and his forces
retired to Dunboy, where they joined up with O'Sullivan Beare. From Baltimore,
two companies of troops were sent under the command of Captain George Flower to
take Dunboy. Contrary winds, however, kept them out at sea, and Harvey and his
forces were unable to land.
On hearing that the Spanish were to hand over Dunboy to the
English, O'Sullivan Beare decided to take back his castle. He marched back to
Beare and on the night of February 23, he had a mason knock a hole in the wall
and then sent his forces in to capture the Spanish. A short but vicious fight
followed, in which three of the Irish were killed and several injured on both
sides, before the Spanish surrendered. They were then sent to Baltimore where
they were embarked for Spain. O'Sullivan
Beare subsequently garrisoned Dunboy with 150 men, while stationing 1,200
others outside the walls as skirmishers. The Irish commander was well aware of
the difficulties he would have 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, mostly O'Driscolls, and three artillery
pieces there. Shortly afterwards, O'Sullivan Beare received further artillery
pieces from a Spanish ship that landed at Bearhaven. This brought his total
number of cannon up to 12. He also got another 60 barrels of gunpowder, as well
as victuals and provisions. More importantly, he was able to detain two Spanish
gunners as well as an Irish gunner to train his men to fire the cannons.
During this period, the attention of the English military forces
was primarily devoted towards the defeat of O'Neill. By early March, the
English had achieved the upper hand in Ulster and the Spanish had finally left
for home. The English were therefore able to spare men to deal with O'Sullivan
Beare, and Carew began to assemble his forces in Cork. At his disposal he had
4,300 foot, although only 1,600 were fit enough to fight, as well as auxiliary
Irish forces, some of which were led by Donough O'Brien, the Earl of Thomond.
On March 12, it was reported that Donough O'Brien, the Earl of
Thomond had marched into Carbery, Beare, and the borders of Kerry with 2,500
men, while another 1,700 men under Sir Charles Wilmot ravaged Kerry and
Desmond. While in West Cork, the
Earl of Thomond took over Whiddy Island and fortified it with a garrison of 500
men under Captain George Flower. At
the time, Whiddy Island belonged to man named Owen O'Sullivan, a relative of
Donal Cam O’Sullivan Beare. The two men had been involved in a bitter land
dispute, and there was still a lot of enmity between them
Captain Flower's forces were to stay on Whiddy for about two
months. At the end of April, they became aware of plans by O'Sullivan Beare to
overrun their position and with no expectation of help arriving soon, they
decided to leave the island. Guided by Owen O'Sullivan, the English took the
road back to Cork. A running battle now ensued. On April 29, Owen and his
brothers, fought some of Tyrrell's men near Glengarrif, killing four and
capturing another four, all of whom were subsequently executed. The following
day, the retreating soldiers were again attacked, this time by the forces of
O'Sullivan Beare who killed a number of their men and captured their baggage.
The English soldiers were only saved by the sudden arrival of Sir George Carew
and his troops, who had landed that day at Bantry Abbey. Faced with Carew's
forces, O'Sullivan Beare retreated back to Dunboy.
Carew had been temporarily detained in Cork while he waited for
supplies, but on April 23 he finally set sail for Bantry Bay. On April 30,
Carew and his forces landed near Bantry Abbey. The English were, nevertheless,
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..." 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." For that
reason, Carew decided to wait until the weather improved and land his troops as
close to Dunboy as he could. On May 14 he moved his forces to Bear Island, at
the entrance to Bantry Bay, which allowed his forces to be provisioned easier
from the sea. More importantly, the island was also just a stone's throw away
from Dunboy and there the English waited for a chance to attack.
A few weeks beforehand, as the rebels' position worsened, it
was reported on April 13 that Dermot Moyle McCarthy, Florence's brother, had
sent a letter to the Bishop of Cork, begging to be received into the Queen's
mercy by Carew. Donell McCarthy also sued for mercy and
promised that if the Queen were to give him back the lands once assigned by her
to him, he would subdue all of Desmond.
By early May, Kerry and Desmond had
been completely reduced, mainly through the actions of Dermot O'Sullivan
and Donell McCarthy. Working on behalf of Sir Charles Wilmot, on May 5, they
seized 5,000 cattle from O'Sullivan Mor. This broke the resistance of his son,
the last remaining rebel in the region, who was unable to support his forces.
The reasons why these men supported Wilmot, according to Carew, were twofold:
O'Sullivan, the brother of O'Sullivan Mor, was worried that his son--who had
been placed as a pledge of loyalty with the English garrison at
Castlemaine--would be hanged if he didn't support the English, while McCarthy
was hoping to get lands back that had been seized by the government.
Further bad news for the rebels occurred on the 13th of May.
Dermot Moyle McCarthy was raiding the territory of McCarthy Reagh and had
stolen some cows from one of the latter's tenants when he was intercepted by
some of the O'Donovans under the command of his cousin Fineen McCarthy, son of
Sir Owen McCarthy Reagh. Shortly
afterwards, Donell McCarthy Reagh himself appeared on the scene with a larger
force. Some shots were exchanged and Dermot Moyle McCarthy fell dead. In
Beare, Donell O'Sullivan's position was becoming increasingly untenable. His
territory contained about 7,000 head of cattle, of which his forces were eating
50 every night. O'Sullivan's men, particularly the buonies from Connaught, were getting tired of this diet and it was
reported that they would have left already had not his men captured a Galway
bark filled with corn and wine, which was distributed among the men.
Nevertheless, O'Sullivan Beare was not going to give up. Dunboy was further
fortified, and it was reported that:"...'by the advice of the Spaniards,
and other Low Country soldiers of this country birth that are in it, with a
strong rampart of earth twenty feet thick, and in height a pike's length and
more and well flanked.' The top of the castle is taken down almost to the level
of the rampart and strongly vaulted; and on this and the rampart they have
placed their ordnance."
On June 5, Carew was finally able to mount an attack. Although
the Irish forces were expecting an attack, they were not able to finish
building their defences before Carew landed near Dunboy and their attack on the
invading English forces was beaten back.
According to Carew, the rebels were on the verge of giving up when news
arrived that a Spanish vessel had docked twelve miles away at O'Sullivan
Beare's castle of Ardea in Kenmare Bay. On board was Owen McEgan, the Catholic
Bishop of Ross, who brought with him a large amount of money, reportedly 12,000l., as well as large quantities of wine,
gunpowder and lead. The arrival of the money and provisions gave the rebels
courage to hold out until Spain sent another army, which was expected on a
daily basis.
After a heavy bombardment, the castle finally fell on the 17th
of June and the defenders were either killed on the spot or soon afterwards
hanged. Shortly beforehand, Dursey Island was also captured when Owen
O'Sullivan and some English troops under John Bostock sailed to the island and
massacred its defenders, together with many of the local inhabitants-men, women
and children of the O'Sullivans. A Jesuit lay brother captured on the island,
Dominick Collins, was later taken to Cork where he was hanged, drawn and
quartered. The executions and
massacres appear to have had the opposite effect of that intended. Together
with the expected help from Spain, they hardened the rebels' stance towards the
English. Freed now from having to
defend Dunboy, the Irish reverted to what they knew best-guerilla warfare.
Conor O'Driscoll, who does not appear to have been on Dursey
Island when it was captured, was sent to Spain on July 3 to seek more help. He took
with him his son and heir, as well as many of the O'Driscolls of Castlehaven and Cape Clear. Many other
Irishmen joined him, including Conor O'Mahony of Leamcon near Schull. Conor O'Driscoll was to spend the rest of
his life in Spain.
On June 28, Carew informed the government that he intended to
place a strong garrison at Rosscarbery, in case O'Sullivan Beare came down from
his fastnesses, and to place the rest of his troops in Kinsale and Cork where
they could be easily brought together in case the threatened Spanish invasion
took place. Shortly afterwards, he reported that on his way home he had
burnt and ransacked a castle called Lyttertenlis [Lettertinlish] belonging to
Conor O'Driscoll The O'Driscoll castles of Dunnalong,
Duneshead, and Castlehaven were temporarily spared pending further orders from
the government, although Carew did have the O'Driscoll castle on Cape Clear
destroyed. Another English force
under the command of Captain Roger Harvey, who was garrisoned in Baltimore,
destroyed the O'Mahony castles of Dunmanus and Leamcon, in addition to the
castles of Rincoluskin, Donnegall, and the Downings. All of these lay close to
the sea, and were destroyed to prevent them from falling into enemy hands.
On July 13, it was reported that the sons of Sir Owen McCarthy
Reagh, Donough Moyle and Fineen had gone out in rebellion. This came as a
considerable shock to the English, since they couldn't understand why the
brothers would risk their inheritance to join the rebellion at this stage. A
large part of the reason why they did rebel appears to have been the common
belief that the Spanish were shortly going to return. In addition, they had
been given a large part of the money that O'Sullivan Beare had received from
the Spanish. This provided them with the financial resources necessary to raise
a military force. What was of most concern to the English was the fear that as
expectations of another Spanish landing increased, more and more Irish lords
would revolt. Such fears were completely justified. Just two months later,
Cormac McDermot McCarthy, lord of
Muskerry, encouraged his major
followers to join the rebellion and handed over his castle of Macroom to
O'Sullivan Beare. Tyrrell moved into the area with 800 foot and 40 horsemen. Carew
responded by placing Cormac McDermot in custody and imposing a garrison of 500
foot and 100 horsemen on the region. Shortly
after his arrest, Cormac McDermot was broken out of Cork jail by some of his
followers and went to join O'Sullivan Beare.
In October 1602, news reached Ireland that Hugh O'Donnell was
dead, possibly assassinated by an English agent. This had a terrible, dispiriting effect on the remaining Irish
rebels, and a number of them, including Cormac McCarthy of Muskerry now
surrendered. At the end of the month, with fears of a Spanish invasion
receeding and Muskerry quiet, Carew sent a strong military force of horsemen
and foot into Kerry and Desmond and another to Baltimore and Bantry to attack
O'Sullivan Beare and the other rebels. To catch any rebels trying to sneak out
of Munster, he distributed the remainder of his forces between Cork and
Limerick. Shortly afterwards, Sir Samuel Bagnall, with his own regiment, a
couple of companies of foot, and some cavalry units was led to Captain Richard
Tyrrell's camp by a spy. About half a mile from the camp a firearm discharged
by accident alerted the rebels to the nearness of the enemy. Their plans
foiled, the English rushed the camp and:"...followed the attempt so hotly
as they forced Tyrrell and his wife (if she be not slain) to flee naked,
leaving clothes and what else they had behind them. And there, besides the
killing of 80 men dead on the ground, they gained above 40 horse and hackneys,
besides 400 garrons, money, cows, arms and household stuff, good store of
Spanish money, bolts of Holland, a piece of velvet uncut, gold and silver lace,
good English apparel of satin and velvet...the richest Irish camp...in
Ireland."
Thinking he had been betrayed by
Cormac McDermot, Tyrrell in his fury burnt as many towns-including apparently
Macroom-and as much corn as he could. He also hanged all the followers of
Cormac he could find-men, women, and children-calling the men of Muskerry
traitors to God and the Catholic cause. He then retreated to Desmond to consult
with O'Sullivan Beare. As Carew gleefully noted:"Into Muskerry I am sure
he will not return any more, but if he do, I doubt not that Cormacke will seek
a revenge upon him.."
By the end of November, the
actions of the English forces in Munster were starting to bear fruit. In
Carbery, the forces of Sir Richard Percy, Captain Flower, and Captain Harvey
had burned all the rebels' corn, and Harvey had captured two of their castles.
In Kerry, Sir Charles Wilmot had captured Dunkerron, O'Sullivan Mor's house and
the gateway to Beare, and he destroyed all of O'Sullivan Mor's lands. With
pressure increasing on the rebels, Tyrrell started making overtures for a
surrender. Carew turned down the offers, saying that Tyrrell had to come to him
alone, without his forces. Nevertheless, Carew did later write to the
government stating that he would be willing to grant a pardon to Tyrrell under
the right conditions, just to be able to end the war. As he had written in a previous letter, the average cost of the
rebellion in the past four years had been £300,000. It was obvious that both
sides were weary of the conflict.
In an effort to bring the war to an end, Carew settled on a
daring strategy. Tyrrell and his men had retired to Beare, thinking that the
English would not be able to follow them into such a desolate area. Once
English garrisons were safely esconced in Dunkerron and Bantry in early
December, Carew ordered a general rising of men from Munster under the command
of Lord Barry. Together with 550 English foot under Sir George Thornton, all
the forces now started to converge on Beare-1,050 from Bantry, 1,000 from
Dunkerron, and 1,600 under Lord Barry.
Realizing that they were in danger of being surrounded and
destroyed, the rebels decided to split their forces in three-700 men would stay
in Beare under O'Sullivan Beare and William Burke, another 400 would go to
Carbery led by Sir Owen McCarthy Reagh's sons, and the final group of 500 men
under Tyrrell and McMorris would head for Kerry. Tyrrell was still unhappy
about the situation, despite being given a large sum of money by O'Sullivan
Beare to stay in the rebellion, and on his way to Kerry he decided to give up
and head for home. On the 27th of December, the English forces linked up and
entered Beare. A few days later, on December 31, they finally found O'Sullivan
Beare's camp at Gortnakilly near Glengarrif and assaulted it. The battle raged
for six hours, during which many were killed and wounded on both sides, before
the camp was taken. The loss of the camp, and with it many of
their provisions, had a disheartening effect on the rebels and many now started
to surrender to the English.
Realizing that his forces were
disintegrating, William Burke decided on the night of January 3 to leave the
area and flee to the north. He went to O'Sullivan Beare and offered him the
choice of fleeing that night or staying behind with practically no men. Faced
with certain destruction, O'Sullivan Beare agreed and left with Burke that
night. The suddenness of the decision meant that the rebels had to leave
everything and everyone behind who could not travel. When the English entered
the rebels camp the next day they found all the rebels baggage, as well as
those wounded unable to flee, women, children and churls. The wounded were
killed on the spot, and the spoils were distributed among the soldiers.
O'Sullivan Beare now headed north to join O'Neill. He and his
forces were closely pursued by Lord Barry with his lightly armed Irish troops,
but they were able to get away. The English now marched through Beare and
Bantry destroying everything in their path, including the two castles remaining
to O'Sullivan Beare, Ardea and Carignasse, thereby making certain that he could
never return.
Shortly before the English victory at Gortnakilly, Captain
William Taafe had been ordered by Carew to follow and destroy Sir Owen
McCarthy's sons and their forces in Carbery. The rebels consisted primarily of
O'Mahonys under the command of Teig O'Mahony, brother of the captured Maelmoe,
and McCarthys from Carbery. Taafe had a force of just under 500 men, including
cavalry, and on January 5 he met up with the insurgents at Grillagh, west of
Ballineen on the southern side of the Bandon river. As the government forces
approached, their advance guard were rushed by the rebels with such fury that
they broke and ran. Seeing the plight of his troops, Taafe charged the Irish
forces with his horsemen, killing four of the rebel horsemen and forcing the
foot to retreat. On perceiving this reversal, Bishop Owen McEgan rallied 100
men behing him and charged the enemy sword in hand. He was struck down almost
immediately and killed, whereon the rest of the rebels fled, many drowning in
the Bandon river as they tried to get away. In all 120 Irishmen on both sides
are thought to have been killed, while the English lost one horseman killed and
forty foot killed or injured.
Immediately after their defeat, Donough Moyle and Fineen, the
sons of McCarthy Reagh, sued for pardon. At that stage, Taafe was still unaware
of the English victory at Gortnakilly, and so he received them into the Queen's
mercy, together with Donough Keogh McCarthy, Florence's brother. Subsequently,
Teig O'Mahony also tried to surrender but was seized during a truce and
beheaded on the spot.
This battle effectively ended
the rebellion in Cork. While it was going on, O'Sullivan Beare was desperately
fighting for his life, as he and his followers struggled to link up with
O'Neill in Ulster. By the time they had reached safety with O'Rourke in
Leitrim, only 35 out of the 1,000 remained. After only a few days of rest,
O'Sullivan Beare mustered another army of 300 men and went on to meet up with
O’Neill. After another march of 100 miles, O'Sullivan Beare reached O'Neill's
camp only to discover that O'Neill had travelled to Mellifont only a few days
before to surrender to Mountjoy.
Following the surrender, many of the rebels were pardoned and
received their lands back, including O'Neill, Ruairi O'Donnell, and O'Connor
Kerry. The only rebel not pardoned was O'Sullivan Beare, whose letter to the
King of Spain now made him an exile forever. He departed shortly afterwards for
Spain where he was to spend the rest of his life. Although O’Neill had been
officially pardoned, he continued to be persecuted by his enemies in the
government. In 1607, fearing that he was about to be imprisoned, O’Neill fled
to Spain. He was accompanied by O’Donnell and Maguire, in what later became
known as the Flight of the Earls. Their lands were promptly confiscated and
subsequently colonized by settlers from England and Scotland. O’Neill died in
Rome in 1616.