The
Flight of Earls
The
Flight of Earls marked the end of Gaelic Ireland,
writes IrishAbroad's Douglas Dalby
WHEN
the earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell and their followers
sailed from Lough Swilly in September 1607, it marked
the end of Gaelic Ireland as a distinct political
system. It was the successful culmination of the centuries-old
attempt by the English crown to bring its troublesome
western flank under control and to extend its rule
beyond the confines of the area around Dublin known
as The Pale. It also sowed the seeds of another 400
years of bitter sectarian conflict by parcelling out
the lands belonging to the Catholic exiles to Protestant
planters loyal to the crown.
But
did they really have to leave? Was their exile voluntary
or enforced? Was it intended to be permanent or temporary?
Historians continue to debate these issues and uncover
conflicting evidence to support their theories. The
main thorn in England's side, Hugh O'Neill, Earl of
Tyrone, died nine years later in Rome and with him
any hope of a Spanish-aided invasion to drive the
English out.
Ulster
was the last of the four Irish provinces to succumb
to English rule. From the early 1500s, the English
Tudor dynasty had tried to complete the invasion that
the Anglo-Normans had begun four centuries earlier.
Until then, much of Ireland still retained its historical
allegiances to the Gaelic lords and to the descendants
of the Anglo-Norman conquerors who had inter-married
with the Irish. The English adopted a classic carrot
and stick approach where lands and titles were granted
in return for fealty to the English crown. The threat
of force was never far away either, of course.
By
the late 1500s, most of Ireland has sworn loyalty
to the crown. Ulster was the exception and in 1595
O'Neill - despite being granted extensive lands under
the Crown - joined Hugh O'Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell,
and Hugh Maguire of Fermanagh in armed resistance
to England. The so-called Nine Years War that followed
would decide the future of Ireland for centuries to
come.
O'Neill
was a skilled commander and he won early victories
over superior English forces at the Battle of Yellow
Ford near Monaghan in 1598. He received Spanish reinforcements
in 1601 and marched his army south to confront the
enemy at Kinsale in Cork but was roundly defeated.
The English harried the retreating army and overwhelmed
Ulster. O'Donnell fled to Spain where he died and
was succeeded by his brother Rory. In 1603 O'Neill
negotiated a conditional surrender and he and O'Donnell
were both allowed to return to their lands.
The
jury is still out on whether O'Neill had no option
but to flee into exile because the Crown was afterwards
constantly undermining him or he did so with a view
to raising Spanish help once more and beginning a
fresh campaign. What is undisputed is that the last
rebellious Irish chieftain, Cahir O'Doherty, was killed
in Donegal in 1608, paving the way for the beginning
of the Plantation of Ulster the following year.
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