Thursday, November 19, 2015
Irish Historian's Report November 2015
THE BATTLE OF YELLOW FORD
by Mike
McCormack
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| Map and Illustration of The Battle of Yellow Ford |
The
year was 1587, and the English were concerned about the Irish Chieftains whom they
had not yet brought under control – especially in Ulster. Something had to be done to insure their
non-interference with Crown activities.
One of the more powerful clans was the O'Donnell of Tyr Connail, the
present day Donegal. Doe Castle was the
seat of ‘The MacSweeney of the Battleaxe’ and the teenage son of ‘The
O’Donnell’, was sent there to be trained in the arts: literature, music,
swordsmanship, horsemanship and all the educational pursuits befitting a young
Irish prince. One day, a trading ship
sailed into Rathmullen on Lough Swilly, 24 miles from Doe Castle. They were offering Spanish wines, and fine
fabrics for the Donegal Chieftains and their ladies. Red Hugh O'Donnell, the 15-year old heir to
the Tyr Connail Chieftainship and two friends, Dan MacSweeney and Hugh
O’Gallagher, were invited aboard to see the merchandise. Once on board, they were overpowered and the
young prince was taken captive. The
kidnapping infuriated the Irish, but Lord Deputy Perrot reassured them that Red
Hugh would remain alive, as long as the O'Donnells remained passive. The young prince was taken to Dublin
Castle. The O’Donnells had been
harboring 25 survivors of the Spanish Armada who shipwrecked on the Donegal
coast in August 1588; they offered them to the English in exchange for Red
Hugh. The offer was accepted and the
Spaniards were marched to Dublin to make the exchange. When the English got the Spaniards, they
beheaded them on the spot and sent the O’Donnells home, refusing to honor the
agreement.
As
Christmas neared in 1591, O’Donnell had been imprisoned and brutally treated
for near six years. So many wardens had
been replaced, it was doubtful if anyone remembered a red-haired boy in a cell
in the bowels of Dublin Castle. Then, on
Christmas night, 21-year old Red Hugh made a daring escape with Henry and Art
O’Neill, sons of the late Shane O’Neill, Chieftain of Tyrone. They fled into
the Wicklow Mountains where, days later, close to death, covered with snow and
embracing the lifeless body of Art O’Neill (Henry died during the escape) in an
attempt to keep him from freezing, Red Hugh was found by the great Munster
Chieftain, Fiach McHugh O'Byrne. Red
Hugh's escape sent a thrill through all of Ireland: the heir of Tir-Connaill was safe. He was brought to Hugh O’Neill at Dungannon,
who escorted him to Hugh Maguire, Lord of Fermanagh. The Maguire brought him to Tir-Connaill, where
in May, 1593, he stood on the Rock of Doone, the ancient crowning stone of Clan
O'Donnell, and received a title higher than any foreigner could give - that of
The O'Donnell, Prince of Tir-Connaill.
There were now two War Chiefs in Ulster ready to oppose the English.
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| Painting - "The Battle of Yellow Ford" by JB Vallely |
The
English, worried by the audacity of the northern Chieftains, captured The
Maguire's fort at Enniskillen which guarded the Gap of the Erne - one of the
two the main accesses to Ulster. Maguire
called on The O'Donnell for assistance, and O'Donnell rallied his clan. Thus began the great rising of the Ulster
Chieftains known as The Nine Years War.
O'Donnell swept through Ulster driving the English before him. By the time they reached Enniskillen, Hugh
O'Neill's brother, Cormac had joined them, and Enniskillen was recaptured. The English attacked Monaghan and again were
defeated, but in the battle, the banner of the Red Hand of O'Neill flew among
the Irish; Clan O'Neill had taken the field against the English, and at their
head was The O'Neill, England's trusted Earl of Tyrone. The English were now in trouble for, the
Irish had revealed their strength. The
three Hughs were in command of close to 1,000 horse-soldiers and 7,000 foot, at
a time when the entire English force in Ireland was less than 2,000. With Enniskillen safely in their hands, the
three Hughes moved toward the Blackwater where an English Fort controlled the
other main access to Ulster - the Gap of the North. The Crown sent Lord Ormond and a newly
arrived army of 4,000 foot and 300 horse to reinforce Blackwater. The Irish
decided to stop him at a ford in the Callan River known as the Yellow Ford.
The
O'Neill constructed defenses, The O'Donnell organized a cavalry and The Maguire
set to block an enemy retreat. What
happened next had never before happened in Ireland. On the morning of August 14, 1598, the
English were outmaneuvered, outgunned, outfought, and out-generaled by the
Irish. The Queen's army was destroyed,
Blackwater Fort was in Irish hands and all of Ireland stood open before their
army of liberation. Elizabeth was not on
the brink of losing Ireland; she had lost it, and would spend a fortune to
regain it. She raised the largest force
ever assembled – 25,000 troops – and sent her Earl of Essex to lead them. But Essex delayed, though Elizabeth demanded
he attack. In September, he finally
moved north. The two armies met in
Louth, and O'Neill called for a parlay.
The two leaders met on horseback in the middle of a stream at the Ford
of Bellaclynthe. What was said will
never be known, but when it was over, Essex turned his army south, and returned
to Dublin. In defiance of Elizabeth, he
had granted O'Neill a truce!
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| Hugh O’Neill and his Troops |
Essex
deserted his army and left for England to plot rebellion against her. Whether O'Neill had proposed such a strategy
during their meeting is unknown, but he was playing the politics of avoiding
conflict with Elizabeth. She was, after
all, an old woman and couldn't last much longer. He had been negotiating with her successor,
James Stuart of Scotland, and may well have offered Essex a position in the new
reign in return for a truce until Elizabeth's death. The only obstacle between O'Neill and the
Kingship of Ireland was a frail old woman who would not die. However, before she did, she had one more go
at taking Ireland – and she succeeded.
But that’s another story. For
now, Ireland was Irish.
