Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use dmy datesTemplate:Use Hiberno-English Template:Infobox royalty
Hugh Roe O'Donnell IITemplate:Efn (Template:Langx; Template:Circa 20 October 1572 – 30 August 1602),Template:EfnTemplate:Efn also known as Red Hugh O'Donnell, was an Irish clan chief and senior leader of the Irish confederacy during the Nine Years' War. He was Lord of Tyrconnell from 1592 until his death in 1602.
He was born into the powerful O'Donnell clan of Tyrconnell (present-day County Donegal). By the age of fourteen, he was recognised as his clan's tanist and engaged to the daughter of the prominent Earl of Tyrone. The English-led Irish government feared that an alliance between Tyrone and the O'Donnell clan would threaten the Crown's control over Ulster, so in 1587 Lord Deputy John Perrot arranged Hugh Roe's kidnapping. The government subsequently backed regime change in Tyrconnell. After four years' imprisonment in Dublin Castle, Hugh Roe escaped circa January 1592 with the help of Tyrone's bribery. At nineteen years old, he was inaugurated as clan chief at Kilmacrennan on 23 April [N.S. 3 May] 1592.
Along with his father-in-law Tyrone, Hugh Roe O'Donnell led a confederacy of Irish clans in the Nine Years' War, motivated to prevent English incursions into their territory and to end Catholic persecution under Elizabeth I. Throughout the war, O'Donnell expanded his territory into Connacht by launching raids against successive Lord Presidents Richard Bingham and Conyers Clifford. O'Donnell led the confederacy to victory at the Battle of Curlew Pass. In 1600, he suffered various military and personal losses.Template:Efn His cousin Niall Garve defected to the English, which greatly emboldened commander Henry Docwra's troops and forced O'Donnell out of Tyrconnell.
After a crushing defeat at the Siege of Kinsale, O'Donnell travelled to Habsburg Spain to acquire reinforcements from King Philip III. The promised reinforcements were continually postponed, and whilst preparing for a follow-up meeting with the king, O'Donnell died of a sudden illness at the Castle of Simancas, aged 29. His body was buried inside the Chapel of Wonders at the Convent of St. Francis in Valladolid. O'Donnell's premature death disheartened an already withering Irish resistance; Tyrone ended the Nine Years' War in 1603 with the Treaty of Mellifont.
Fiercely patriotic and militarily aggressive, O'Donnell is considered a folk hero and a symbol of Irish nationalism. He has drawn comparisons to El Cid and William Wallace.<ref name="HI">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2020, an unsuccessful archaeological dig for his remains drew international media attention. Since 2022, the city has annually reenacted his 1602 funeral procession in period costumes.
Early lifeEdit
Family backgroundEdit
Hugh Roe O'Donnell was born Template:Circa 20 October [N.S. Template:Circa 30 October] 1572,Template:Efn the eldest son of Irish lord Hugh MacManus O'Donnell and his second wife, Scottish aristocrat Fiona "Iníon Dubh" MacDonald. He was born into the ruling branch of the O'Donnell clan, a Gaelic Irish noble dynasty based in Tyrconnell,<ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb.</ref> a kingdom geographically associated with present-day County Donegal.<ref>Template:Cite EB1911</ref> He had three younger brothers, Rory, Manus and Cathbarr (ordered oldest to youngest),Template:Sfnm and several sisters, Nuala, Margaret and Mary. He also had older half-siblings from his father's previous relationships,Template:Sfnm including Donal and Siobhán.Template:Sfnm
Paternally Hugh Roe claimed descent, via the lineage of Conall Gulban of the Cenél Conaill, from the semi-legendary High King Niall of the Nine Hostages.Template:Sfn Through his mother, Hugh Roe was a descendant of the first six Scottish Chiefs of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg and from Somerled, the first Lord of the Isles. He was also descended from King of Scots Robert the Bruce and his grandson Robert II, the first Stuart king of Scotland.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
Hugh Roe's father, Hugh MacManus, had ruled as clan chief and Lord<ref>Template:Harvnb. "...the title of king was no longer used in their annalist obits by the end of the reign of Aodh Dubh (reign 1505-37)"</ref> of Tyrconnell since 1566.Template:Sfnm He was a wary politician who alternated between alliances with the O'Neill clan, his long-established rivals in Ulster, and the English government, which controlled the area around Dublin (the Pale).Template:Sfn<ref>The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (29 March 2024). "Hugh O'Donnell". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 1 July 2024.</ref> In 1569 Hugh MacManus married Iníon DubhTemplate:Sfnm of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg, as part of a marriage alliance,<ref name="ob1">Template:Harvnb.</ref> which gave the O'Donnell clan access to the formidable Scottish mercenary forces known as Redshanks.Template:Sfnm Iníon Dubh pushed the O'Donnell clan further into opposition with the English,Template:Sfnm and in 1574 the clan established an alliance with ascendant O'Neill clansman Hugh O'Neill (future Earl of Tyrone) via his marriage to Siobhán.Template:Sfnm
Education and fosterageEdit
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Template:Tree chart/end Template:Chart bottom The Franciscan friars at Donegal Abbey were the spiritual counselors of the ruling O'Donnells, and were also the educators of the dynasty's children.<ref name="dddd">Template:Citation</ref> In medieval Ireland, the sons of Irish clan chiefs were typically trained from the age of seven in horse-riding and weaponry.Template:Sfn
Children of the Gaelic Irish nobility were traditionally fostered to fellow clans in the hopes of developing political alliances.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Sfn As such, Hugh Roe was fostered by four families of differing political alignments: Clans Sweeney na dTuath and O'Cahan, as well as two rival O'Donnell branches led by Hugh McHugh Dubh O'Donnell and Conn O'Donnell.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn Conn had a strong claim to the lordship as his father Calvagh was a prior ruler of Tyrconnell.Template:Sfnm In 1581 Conn turned hostile towards the ruling O'Donnells and Hugh Roe was removed from his care.Template:Sfn Conn died in 1583 and Hugh Roe's succession seemed assured.Template:Sfnm Nevertheless, Conn's sons, particularly Niall Garve, looked to the English government as a means of restoring their branch of the family to power.<ref>Template:Harvnb.</ref> By 1587, Hugh Roe was in the care of Owen Óg MacSweeney na dTuath, his final foster-father. According to historian Darren McGettigan, MacSweeney na dTuath "appears to have given [Hugh Roe] much freedom".Template:Sfn
Ultimately Hugh Roe's fosterage did not engender much loyalty in his foster-families. Hugh McHugh Dubh antagonised the ruling O'Donnells into the 1590s, and the sons of MacSweeney na dTuath and Conn eventually opposed Hugh Roe by defecting to the English.Template:Sfn
Rise to prominenceEdit
Hugh Roe saw his first military action in 1584, with his father's chief advisor Eoin O'Gallagher, against Clan O'Rourke of West Breifne.Template:Sfnm Even before reaching the age of fifteen, Hugh Roe had become well known across Ireland.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Biographer Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh praised the young noble: "He continued to grow and increase in comeliness and urbanity, tact and eloquence, wisdom and knowledge, goodly size and noble deeds".Template:Sfn Hugh Roe began to be associated with Aodh Eangach, a prophesied high king.Template:Sfn It was foretold that if two men named Hugh succeeded each other as O'Donnell chief, the last Hugh shall "be a monarch in Ireland and quite banish thence all foreign nations and conquerors".Template:Sfn
By 1587, Hugh Roe was betrothed to the Earl of Tyrone's daughter Rose.Template:Sfnm In addition to Tyrone's marriage to Siobhán, this betrothal would further cement a growing alliance between two clans who had traditionally been mortal enemies for centuries.Template:Sfnm Hugh Roe had become a focus of authority within Tyrconnell, and Tyrone described him as "the stay that his father had for the quieting of his inhabitance".Template:Sfn As tanist of the O'Donnell clan, Hugh Roe was widely considered to be his father's most likely successor.<ref name="HM">Template:Harvnb.</ref>
Imprisonment and escapeEdit
Capture at RathmullanEdit
The English government feared that the emergence of a powerful O'Neill-O'Donnell alliance, which would be cemented by Hugh Roe's marriage to Rose,Template:Sfnm would threaten English control over Ulster.Template:Sfnm Though Tyrone professed loyalty to the Crown, he was attracting suspicion from the government due to his growing power.Template:Sfnm Hugh Roe's familial links to various Scottish Highland clans were also a cause for concern;Template:Sfn English officials often pejoratively referred to him as "Scottish".<ref name="HM" /> Additionally Hugh Roe's father had failed to pay annual rents promised to the government,Template:Sfnm and at the time the English government kept hostages for policy reasons.Template:Sfnm Ultimately the government decided that Hugh Roe must not be allowed to succeed as O'Donnell clan chief,Template:SfnmTemplate:Efn and so the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Welsh statesman John Perrot, hatched a plan to kidnap the young noble.<ref name="fghfgh"/> In May 1587, Perrot proposed to Lord Burghley that he could capture "[Hugh MacManus], his wife (who is a great bringer in of Scots), and perhaps his son [Hugh Roe], by sending thither a boat with wines".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In September, Hugh MacManus was summoned to a conference with Perrot.<ref name="fghfgh">Template:Harvnb</ref> Meanwhile the ship Matthew, captained by Dublin merchant Nicholas BarnesTemplate:Sfnm (alias Nicholas Skipper)<ref name="source"/> was dispatched to Rathmullan on Lough Swilly,Template:Sfnm where fourteen-year-oldTemplate:Sfnm Hugh Roe was sojourning with his foster-father MacSweeney na dTuath.Template:SfnmTemplate:Efn The ship was anchored and the crew went on shore under the guise of ordinary merchants selling wine. Hugh Roe heard of the merchant ship and arrived with several young companions. Barnes claimed that he had no wine left unsold except for what was left on the ship, and invited Hugh Roe aboard.Template:Sfnm Chief Donnell MacSweeney Fanad (Hugh Roe's host) was ashamed that the young noble had missed out on the wine and unwittingly encouraged him to take a small boat to the Matthew.Template:Sfnm
Chief MacSweeney Fanad, Chief MacSweeney na dTuath and Eoin O'Gallagher accompanied Hugh Roe onto the Matthew.Template:Efn Once on board, Hugh Roe and his compatriots were conducted into a secured cabin and plied with food and wine. Whilst they were enjoying themselves, the hatches were fastened and their weapons were removed.Template:Sfn MacSweeney Fanad was released in exchange for his eldest son Donnell Gorm MacSweeney Fanad. O'Gallagher likewise gave his nephew Hugh O'Gallagher. MacSweeney na dTuath was also released upon giving "his eldest son" (actually a young peasant dressed in his son's clothes) as a hostage.Template:Sfn Hostages were offered in Hugh Roe's stead to no avail, and the ship set sail for Dublin.Template:Sfn
ImprisonmentEdit
Hugh Roe arrived in Dublin on 25 September; Queen Elizabeth I was informed the next day.<ref name="source">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn Perrot ascertained that the peasant was not MacSweeney na dTuath's son and dismissed him.Template:Sfn Hugh Roe and his fellow hostages were imprisoned in Dublin Castle, most likely one of the gate towers.<ref name=":2">Template:Harvnb.</ref>
Within three months, Tyrone was lobbying the queen for Hugh Roe's release.Template:Sfnm In 1588, he offered a bribe of £1000 to William FitzWilliam (Perrot's successor as Lord Deputy) plus £300 to newly-appointed officials. Tyrone was later accused of offering a further £1000 to Dublin Castle's constable.Template:Sfnm In spring 1588, Iníon Dubh offered Perrot a bribe of £2000, plus sureties and hostages, for her son's release.Template:Sfn After the Spanish Armada's September 1588 shipwreck in Inishowen, Hugh MacManus offered the government thirty captured Spanish officers in exchange for his son.Template:Sfn FitzWilliam refused due to "the dangers that might grow unto this miserable realm by letting loose the reins unto so harebrain and ungracious an imp". In 1590 he indicated a willingness to release Hugh Roe, but this came to naught.Template:Sfn
The English attempted to convert Hugh Roe and his fellow Catholic hostages to Protestantism by bringing them to a Protestant service, but the boys shouted over the hymns and music so the service could not be heard. They did not desist even when carried out of the church and sent back to their cell, and were never again summoned.Template:Sfn
During his time in Dublin Castle, Hugh Roe had little interaction with the outside world beyond conversations with fellow political prisoners (particularly the Anglo-Irish Munster lords imprisoned from the Desmond Rebellions).Template:Sfn In witnessing first-hand the brutality inflicted by the Dublin government on Irish rebels, he became embittered and resentful of English authority.Template:Sfnm Ó Cléirigh stated that "[O'Donnell] had been listening to [stories about the English] during the four years and three months he was in the prison in Dublin, and that was the tale which he remembered best from the captives cast into prison with him... he said that the promises of the English were always vain and deceitful, and that it was by false promises they had stolen their patrimony from the Irish of the province of Leinster and of the province of [Munster]... The English tell you lies now, and they will attack you when they find you unprepared".Template:Sfn Ironically, Hugh Roe learnt to speak English during his imprisonment.Template:Sfn This period in Dublin is seen as the defining event of his short life.Template:Sfn
Chaos in TyrconnellEdit
Hugh MacManus became prematurely senile,Template:Sfnm and Hugh Roe's imprisonment exacerbated a long-running succession dispute which had consumed Tyrconnell since October 1580.Template:Sfn The dispute was bloody; three of Conn's sons were violently killed in the conflict.<ref>Template:Harvnb.</ref> Iníon Dubh effectively took over Tyrconnell and ruled in her husband's name.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> She pushed successfully for Hugh Roe to become her husband's successor by spreading the Aodh Eangach prophecy and by directing her Redshanks to kill any challengers.Template:Sfnm Hugh MacEdegany, an illegitimate son of Calvagh O'Donnell,Template:Sfnm was the first major challenger.Template:Sfnm He was assassinated on Iníon Dubh's orders during a visit to her residence, Mongavlin Castle, in May 1588,<ref>Template:Harvnb.</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web
}}</ref> leaving Niall Garve as head of the "MacCalvagh" branch.Template:Sfn
Further disruptions developed as the government appointed various administrators in Tyrconnell who ransacked and pillaged the kingdom. Perrot appointed William Mostian as Sheriff of Tyrconnell—he quickly carried out eight cattle raids, ransacking Donegal Abbey and murdering its guardian. Later the same year, FitzWilliam gave Captain John Connill charge of TyrconnellTemplate:Sfn after being bribed with two Spanish gold chains.Template:Sfnm Connill assisted the opponents of the ruling O'Donnells. He was later joined by Captain Humphrey Willis and two hundred soldiers.Template:Sfn At one point Connill befriended then captured Hugh MacManus, but he was freed by Niall Garve.Template:Sfnm Another brutal administrator was Captain Bowen, a notorious torturer who fried the soles of his victims' feet. This chaos created mass resentment towards the English government.Template:Sfn
Hugh Roe's elder half-brother Donal became the Crown's favored candidate for the chiefdom, and shortly after the Armada's shipwreck, FitzWilliam knighted and appointed Donal as Sheriff.Template:Sfn FitzWilliam also imprisoned important Tyrconnell nobles Sean O'Doherty (Lord of Inishowen) and Eoin O'Gallagher, believing them to possess Spanish treasure from the Armada.Template:Sfn O'Gallagher's imprisonment also had political motivations as he was a major adherent of Hugh Roe during the succession dispute.Template:Sfn Donal made an effort to depose his father, backed by Connill's troops. Iníon Dubh, backed by her Redshanks and the clans of the Cenél Conaill who remained loyal to her husband, crushed Donal at the Battle of Doire Leathan on 3 September [N.S. 14 September] 1590.<ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb.</ref>
Willis (who replaced Donal as Sheriff) and Connill exploited the ensuing chaos. They took control of western Tyrconnell and began raiding into the east,Template:Sfn accompanied by a Captain Fuller.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Their forces also ransacked southern Tyrconnell and forced many of the population to flee to the mountains.Template:Sfn
Iníon Dubh bought off Niall Garve with a political marriage to her daughter Nuala, in an attempt to temper his hostility.Template:Sfnm By 1592, Niall Garve was in a strong position to claim Tyrconnell's lordship.Template:Sfn Despite the continual presence of freebooting government troops, Tyrconnell's nobility remained obsessed with their succession conflict.Template:Sfn
First escape attemptEdit
After three years and three months in captivity,Template:Sfn Hugh Roe made his first escape attempt in January 1591,Template:Sfnm in the company of fellow Ulster hostages Donnell Gorm MacSweeney Fanad and Hugh O'Gallagher.Template:Sfnm It is possible that the escape was incentivised by news of Donal's death.Template:Sfn Before Hugh Roe and his companions were put in their cells one night, they escaped through a nearby window and climbed down a rope onto the drawbridge. They jammed a block of timber into the door, preventing the guards from pursuing them.Template:Efn By the time the guards noticed Hugh Roe's absence and gave chase, the fugitives had already escaped past the open city gates.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Hugh Roe's shoes fell apart and he was left behind by his companions in the thick woods beyond Three Rock Mountain. He sent word to Castlekevin in County Wicklow, the territory of Chief Felim O'Toole, who had visited him in Dublin Castle. O'Toole wanted to assist Hugh Roe but faced pressure from his clan, who feared the consequences of aiding a high profile fugitive.Template:Sfnm O'Toole's sister Rose quickly planned for her husband Fiach McHugh O'Byrne, of Clan O'Byrne, to take Hugh Roe to his house in Glenmalure.Template:Sfn According to O'Sullivan Beare, O'Byrne and his clansmen immediately set out to rescue Hugh Roe, but their inability to cross a flooded river prevented them from reaching Castlekevin in time.Template:Sfn English officer George Carew was dispatched to Castlekevin on 15 January [N.S. 25 January]<ref>Template:Harvnb: New Style date; Template:Harvnb: Old Style date.</ref> and Hugh Roe was surrendered and returned to Dublin Castle in chains.Template:Sfn Ó Cléirigh states the Privy Council were pleased with Hugh Roe's recapture: "they made little or no account of all the hostages and pledges who escaped from them, and they were thankful for the visit which restored him to them again".Template:Sfn Hugh Roe was lodged in Dublin Castle's record tower (the Bermingham Tower),<ref name=":2"/> shackled more heavily than before,<ref name="mor4">Template:Harvnb.</ref> and checked by the chief gaoler twice a day.Template:Sfn
Second escape attemptEdit
Around January 1592,Template:Efn Hugh Roe made a successful escape attempt with his fellow prisoners Henry MacShane O'Neill and Art MacShane O'Neill.Template:Sfnm After years of lobbying and bribery,Template:Sfnm Tyrone had finally succeeded in bribing officials to help facilitate Hugh Roe's escape.<ref name="mor4" /> FitzWilliam, considered one of Tudor Ireland's most corrupt Lord Deputies,Template:Sfnm was most likely the recipient of this bribe, though this has never been conclusively proven.Template:Sfn A 17th-century account by Donegal priests alleged that Tyrone successfully bribed FitzWilliam with £1,000 (equivalent to £287,000 in March 2024).Template:Sfn In summer 1590, Conn MacShane O'Neill alleged that Tyrone "did lay down a plot and practised the escape of Hugh Roe" from prison—the plot apparently involved a silk rope and prepared horses. This is obviously a reference to some previous attempt, but is an accurate forecast of Hugh Roe's eventually successful escape.Template:Sfn
This escape plan was far more prepared than Hugh Roe's prior attempt.Template:Sfn The constable of Dublin Castle John Maplesden was on his deathbedTemplate:Sfnm which distracted the chief gaoler from his duties, making it the perfect time to mount an escape.Template:Sfn A gaoler's servant named Edward Eustace promised four horses which would be saddled in a nearby stable for three days prior.<ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb</ref> Fiach McHugh O'Byrne promised shelter for the fugitives at Glenmalure.Template:Sfnm Richard Weston, a servant of Tyrone, managed to supply Hugh Roe with a silk rope,Template:Sfnm and winter clothes were acquired for the long journey.Template:Sfn
When the three prisoners were unshackled to eat, they took advantage of the gaolers.Template:SfnmTemplate:Efn The prisoners made their way to the privy house. They tied one end of the rope there, and fed the other end down the privy hole which led outside the castle.Template:Sfnm Henry became separated from the others. According to Ó Cléirigh, "the darkness of the night and the hurry of the flight separated [Henry] who was the oldest of the party... [The others] were not pleased at the separation".Template:Sfn According to O'Sullivan Beare, Henry made his way down the rope first, and without waiting for the others, escaped safely back to Ulster. Hugh Roe followed, but Art MacShane was badly injured by a falling stone whilst sliding down the rope. Although Eustace had promised horses, on that day they had been removed without his knowledge.Template:Sfn Once outside the castle, Hugh Roe and Art MacShane met with EustaceTemplate:Efn who guided them through Dublin.Template:Sfnm The trio proceeded through the dark streets, mixing with the crowds, and safely escaped the city.Template:Sfn
The escape plan went awry. The fugitives had left their winter clothes in prison and Hugh Roe's shoes became worn out, exposing him to the elements. Art MacShane had to be carried by the others, either because he had grown fat and unfit in prison,Template:Sfnm or because of his injury from the falling stone.Template:Sfn The trio made it into the Wicklow Mountains at which point they sought shelter in a cave,Template:Sfnm traditionally said to be along the slopes of Conavalla.<ref name="irishexaminer.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hugh Roe and Art MacShane were too weak to reach Glenmalure, so Eustace left them in the cave and went on ahead to get help.Template:Sfnm According to O'Sullivan Beare, Hugh Roe managed to survive by eating leaves and bark, but despite his pleas, Art MacShane could not eat. After three nights,Template:Sfn when O'Byrne's men arrived to rescue them, Hugh Roe and Art MacShane were found covered in snow.Template:Sfnm Art MacShane died of hypothermia.Template:Sfnm O'Sullivan Beare claimed that Hugh Roe refused to eat due to his grief over Art MacShane's death, but was compelled to do so by O'Byrne's men.Template:Sfn He was taken to Glenmalure where he was revived with difficulty, tended to and recovered.Template:Sfnm Art MacShane's family were rivals to Tyrone, so it was speculated that Tyrone had O'Byrne's party kill him, though it is more likely he died of exposure. He was buried on the mountainside.Template:Sfn
Unusually, the state papers do not reference Hugh Roe's escape until his return to Ulster. This could point to corruption or embarrassment on the part of government officials.Template:Sfn In a letter to Lord Burghley, FitzWilliam attempted to vindicate himself by declaring he had sacked Maplesden (who died mere days after the escape) and imprisoned the chief gaoler.Template:Sfnm An outraged Queen Elizabeth I wrote to statesman Thomas Burgh in May 1592 and decreed that "O'Donnell escaped by the practice of money bestowed on somebody. Call to you the Chancellor, Chief Justice Gardiner, and the Treasurer, and inquire who they are that have been touched by it".Template:Sfn
Accession as clan chiefEdit
Return to UlsterEdit
For a few days after his rescue, Hugh Roe was tended to in a hidden cabin in Glenmalure.Template:Sfnm Hugh Roe and O'Byrne swore oaths to mutually assist each other if they came under English attack, and Hugh Roe promised to make Tyrone and Chief Hugh Maguire of Fermanagh swear similar oaths.Template:Sfn Turlough Boye O'Hagan, a trusted emissary of Tyrone, arrived to escort Hugh Roe back to Ulster; they set out immediately.Template:Sfn Hugh Roe's feet were frostbitten so he had to be lifted up and off of his horse.Template:Sfn He was escorted across the Liffey by a band of horsemen (which included Felim O'Toole). He proceeded northwards under O'Hagan's guidance and crossed the Boyne on a small ferry kept by a "poor little fisherman", whilst his attendant led their horses through Drogheda.Template:Sfn At Mellifont, he rested one night at the house of English ally Garret Moore,Template:Sfnm travelled through Dundalk and the Fews, and on the third day reached Armagh. The next day Hugh Roe arrived at Dungannon, Tyrone's residence,Template:Sfn where the two men presumably discussed their plans to retake Tyrconnell's lordship. It is also here that they may have planned their future attack on Turlough Luineach O'Neill, Tyrone's rival in Tír Eoghain. Hugh Roe remained at Tyrone's residence for four days, hidden in a secret chamber to avoid corrupting Tyrone's loyalist public image.Template:Sfn Afterwards, Hugh Roe was received by Maguire in Fermanagh. Maguire conveyed Hugh Roe across Lough Erne and brought him to the border of Tyrconnell where a party of supporters welcomed him. Hugh Roe then arrived at his father's castle in Ballyshannon.Template:Sfnm
Attack on English occupationEdit
Tyrconnell had suffered much repression and turmoil in Hugh Roe's absence.Template:SfnmTemplate:Efn Not long before his return, Willis and Connill's forces raided Donegal in the dead of night and occupied Donegal Abbey as a garrison.<ref>Template:Harvnb: primary source by the 17th-century clergy of Donegal Abbey; Template:Harvnb: Paul Walsh suggested that Willis had not been "long in Tír Conaill when Aodh Ruadh arrived home".</ref> Ballyshannon Castle and Donegal Castle were the two major strongholds in Tyrconnell not yet deprived by the Crown.Template:Sfnm Even nobles in Tyrconnell who previously favoured the Crown had become resentful by this time.Template:Sfnm Hugh Roe made expelling the English forces his first order of business,Template:Sfnm and he rallied his family's followers to Ballyshannon.Template:Sfnm
As soon as Chief Donough MacSweeney Banagh heard of Hugh Roe's safe return, he attacked Willis, forcing him and his soldiers into their garrison in Donegal Abbey.<ref>Template:Harvnb. fn 7. "MacSwiny Banagh attacked [Willis] as soon as Hugh O'Donnell reached Donegal."; Template:Harvnb. "[Willis] was levying tribute in Tyrconnell, and was attacked by MacSweeny, as soon as ever the latter had heard of Roe's safe arrival. Willis betook himself to the monastery..." O'Sullivan Beare subsequently names Donough MacSweeny as "Chief of Banagh".</ref> Hugh Roe's forces killed a number of English troops, forcing them to abandon plunder.Template:Sfn Hugh Roe travelled to Donegal to face Willis and forced the English troops to depart Tyrconnell. Sources conflict on the exact circumstances. According to Ó Cléirigh, Hugh Roe informed Willis that if he and his men left, they would not be harmed.Template:Sfn According to a 17th-century account written by the clergy of Donegal Abbey, Willis threatened to set the church on fire, but Hugh Roe was "anxious to preserve the sacred edifice" and allowed Willis to depart unharmed.Template:Sfn According to Captain Thomas Lee, O'Donnell intended to slaughter Willis's men but was held back by Tyrone.Template:Sfn According to O'Sullivan Beare, Willis surrendered to Hugh Roe, who dismissed the English forces in safety with an injunction that Tyrconnell would neither give tribute or allegiance to the Crown.Template:Sfn Afterwards the clergy returned to the abbey.Template:Sfnm
After expelling Willis's forces in February,Template:Sfnm Hugh Roe returned to Ballyshannon where his big toes were amputated due to frostbite.Template:Efn He remained ill and in recovery for a year.Template:Sfnm
InaugurationEdit
On 23 April [N.S. 3 May] 1592Template:Sfnm at Kilmacrennan Friary, 19-year-old Hugh Roe O'Donnell was inaugurated as O'Donnell clan chiefTemplate:Sfnm before an audience of his family and their supporters.Template:Sfn The inauguration ceremony was part-religious and part-secular,Template:Efn and involved the O'Donnell clan's ornamental inauguration stone.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn Hugh MacManus's apparently voluntary abdication was "stage-managed" by Iníon Dubh, who remained the "head of advice and counsel" in Tyrconnell.Template:Sfn Following his abdication, Hugh MacManus spent his final years living in retirement among the Franciscans at Donegal Abbey and doing penance for his sins.Template:Sfnm Hugh Roe's younger brother Rory was appointed as tanist.<ref name="RO" />
The major surviving opponents to Hugh Roe's succession—including Niall Garve, Hugh McHugh Dubh and Sean O'Doherty—did not attend the inauguration out of protest.Template:Sfnm At the time, Niall Garve was in Dublin unsuccessfully seeking support from authorities.Template:Sfnm Tomás G. Ó Canann noted that, as Hugh Roe O'Donnell failed to secure the attendance of such a significant chunk of the Cenél Conaill, his inauguration was arguably illegitimate.Template:Sfn With the exception of Niall Garve in 1603, Hugh Roe was the last O'Donnell clansman to be traditionally inaugurated as clan chief.<ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb.</ref>
Rise in powerEdit
Immediately after his inauguration, Hugh Roe O'Donnell and Tyrone mounted raids against Turlough Luineach, who had provided assistance to O'Donnell's rivalsTemplate:Sfn such as Niall Garve.Template:Sfnm O'Donnell desired revenge and sought to assist his new ally Tyrone,Template:Sfn whose alliance with O'Donnell was primarily founded on using the latter's military power to take control of Tír Eoghain.Template:Sfnm
In June 1592, O'Donnell renewed his clan's interest in north Connacht by supporting a revolt among the lower MacWilliam Bourkes,Template:Sfn to the chagrin of Lord President Richard Bingham.<ref name=":3" /> O'Donnell imposed his control over Tyrconnell. He dispelled bandits from Barnesmore Gap, established an execution site at Mullaghnashee beside Ballyshannon Castle, and took pledges from all nobles wealthy enough to maintain four horsemen.Template:Sfn
O'Donnell dispatched letters to the state informing of his inauguration and justifying his attack on Turlough Luineach. He offered to submit to FitzWilliam in person if he was lent £800. FitzWilliam, who recognised the necessity of conciliating with O'Donnell, reprimanded him for his arrogance but promised to pardon him and lend him £200 if they met at Dundalk by July. Tyrone was anxious to improve his own standing with the government,Template:Sfn and at FitzWilliam's request, he travelled to Donegal to confer with O'Donnell. After some convincing, O'Donnell accompanied Tyrone to Dundalk to submit to FitzWilliam.Template:Sfnm Bribery was probably involved in the meeting, which took place in a churchTemplate:Sfn on 2 August 1592. According to Thomas Lee, O'Donnell bribed FitzWilliam with £500 to ensure favourable negotiations.Template:Sfn O'Donnell made various agreements with FitzWilliam: he pledged his loyalty to Elizabeth I, agreed to receive a Sheriff in Tyrconnell, promised to pay his father's covenanted rents,Template:Sfn to treat his rivals (O'Doherty, Niall Garve and Hugh McHugh Dubh) fairly,Template:Sfn to banish Catholic clergy from Tyrconnell, and to avoid supporting the MacWilliam Bourkes in Connacht.<ref name=":3">Template:Harvnb.</ref> O'Donnell successfully negotiated to retain about 100 redshanks in Tyrconnell for use as his mother's bodyguards, ostensibly because he was concerned for her safety. After the meeting, the two Hughs feasted at Dungannon where they further discussed their developing alliance.Template:Sfn
Tyrone's daughter Rose was escorted to Tyrconnell in expectation of her marriage to O'Donnell.Template:Sfnm The couple were formally married during Christmas-time 1592 at O'Donnell's house.Template:Sfnm According to McGettigan, the marriage started out as a success with Rose having some measure of influence over O'Donnell.Template:Sfn
Despite his promises to FitzWilliam, O'Donnell subjugated his rivals. Sean O'Doherty was captured at a parley and imprisoned; only then did he acknowledge O'Donnell's lordship. In early 1593, O'Donnell obtained Hugh McHugh Dubh's submission by taking his last stronghold at Belleek and beheading sixteen of his followers "by train of a feigned treaty of friendship, mediated by Maguire".Template:Sfn This sufficiently intimidated Niall Garve that he submitted to his younger cousin through fear. He was forced to turn over control of Lifford's castle, though he did not give up his ambitions to seize the lordship.Template:Sfnm With the Tyrone-O'Donnell alliance against him, Turlough Luineach surrendered his lordship in May 1593.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Tyrone took control of Tír Eoghain, making both O'Donnell and his father-in-law the rulers of the two major kingdoms of Gaelic Ulster.Template:Sfn
Initial rebellionEdit
Conference of bishopsEdit
By late 1592 the Crown's continual advances into Ireland, as well as the recent executions of chieftains Hugh Roe MacMahon (1590) and Brian O'Rourke (1591) had created a fierce resentment in the Gaelic nobility and Irish Catholic clergy.<ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb.</ref> Catholic priests were suffering harassment and imprisonment from English authorities, and Spain had been a refuge to the Irish Catholic clergy since the 1570s.Template:Sfn Archbishop Edmund MacGauran returned from Spain having met with King Philip II in September 1592.Template:Sfnm MacGauran was eager to obtain Spanish military aid to combat English forces in Ireland.Template:Sfn Philip II wanted Ireland as an ally in the Anglo-Spanish War, but would only promise support if Ireland proved itself by launching prior military action.Template:Sfn MacGauran sought Irish lords willing to openly defy the Crown,Template:Sfn and in December a conference of seven Catholic bishops met in Tyrconnell.<ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb</ref> The bishops saw O'Donnell as their main hope,Template:Sfn and declared he was "fittest for the part" and thus to be "their leader or general".Template:Sfn On 29 March [N.S. 8 April] 1593, O'Donnell addressed Irish nobles living in Spain: "I and the other chiefs who have united with me and are striving to defend ourselves, cannot hold out long against the power of the Crown of England without the aid of his Grace the Catholic King.... We have thought it well to send the Archbishop of Tuam [James O'Hely] to treat of this matter with his Majesty".Template:Sfn
Maguire's revoltEdit
Captain Willis was appointed by FitzWilliam as Sheriff of Fermanagh against Maguire's will. In early April 1593,Template:Sfnm Willis entered Fermanagh with at least 100 men and began violently pillaging and raiding.Template:Sfnm This exacerbated resentment towards the Crown, and after Willis' first offensive,Template:Sfn O'Donnell met with MacGauran, Maguire, Brian Oge O'RourkeTemplate:Sfn and Theobald, Richard and John Bourke at Enniskillen Castle on 28 April [N.S. 8 May]. MacGauran advised that the noblemen sign a letter addressed to Philip II which emphasised their oppression and which requested urgent reinforcements from the Spanish army. Archbishop O'Hely was tasked with delivering the confederates' messages: two letters from O'Donnell, one letter from MacGauran, and the 28 April letter signed by the confederates.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn
Maguire obtained reinforcements from Tyrone's brother and foster-brothers,Template:Sfnm who were likely involved on Tyrone's behalf,<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> and forced Willis and his men from Fermanagh.Template:Sfnm Maguire's revolt marked the start of the Nine Years' War.Template:Sfnm
Historians have debated on O'Donnell's position within the confederacy.Template:Efn Historians Nicholas Canny, Michael Finnegan, John J. Silke and Darren McGettigan credit O'Donnell as the confederacy's driving force until Tyrone's break into open rebellion.<ref>Template:Harvnb. "Canny suggests that Tyrone was unwillingly pushed into rebellion to prevent his followers defecting to his brother, Cormac MacBaron".; Template:Harvnb. "Michael Finnegan in his examination of the outbreak of the war concurs with Silke's assertion that O'Neill may not have been able to manage O'Donnell. Finnegan argues that the actions of O'Donnell and the other confederates actually undermined Tyrone who in 1593 at least, genuinely wanted to prevent a war and only engaged in an open rebellion in order to survive because his position as a loyal servant to the crown became unattainable due to him being associated with O'Donnell and Maguire's military undertakings."; Template:Harvnb. "...while the role played by Hugh O'Neill was crucial to the confederacy, he did not build it, and may have been carried along by events and his own success, much more than some historians realize."; p. 60. "...the near-contemporary accounts of Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh, Philip O'Sullivan Beare and Archbishop Lombard all agree that at this time O'Donnell was playing a lead role".</ref> Historians Hiram Morgan and James O'Neill have disputed this by emphasising that Tyrone was a more important figure who hid his allegiance to the confederacy for strategic reasons.<ref>Template:Harvnb. "Conspiracies are by their nature clandestine and the Ulster lords' messenger to Spain told Madrid that O'Neill was a secret member of the conspiracy. If we combine this with the fact that O'Neill only consented to a treaty of equality with O'Donnell in 1599 or 1600, it is hard not to say that the older O'Neill was the leader in 1592/3."; Template:Harvnb. "Reappraisal of the evidence suggests that not only was Tyrone the guiding force behind Maguire's revolt, the conflict in Fermanagh was an essential diversion of English forces, allowing Tyrone to suppress English clients in east Ulster and bring his military power to the point where the earl could realistically challenge crown authority in Ireland at the start of 1595."</ref> The Sheriff of Monaghan alleged that Tyrone attended the meeting at Enniskillen Castle,Template:Sfnm though Tyrone did not sign MacGauran's letter.Template:Sfn Around August 1593, Maguire stated to a spy that Tyrone had pushed him into rebellion and "promised to assist him and bear him out in his war".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> O'Hely reached the Spanish court by September 1593Template:Sfn where he met with Juan de Idiáquez, the royal secretary. In Idiáquez's notes to Philip II, he notes that the early confederates wanted Tyrone to join them in open rebellion, though it appears Tyrone refused to publicly defy the Crown without reassurance that Spanish reinforcements would arrive.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Secret rebellionEdit
Catholic bishops began to spread the Aodh Eangach prophecy to advance the Irish rebellion.Template:Sfn Maguire and O'Rourke continued to rebel by attacking English forces. O'Donnell aided the growing rebellion by sending MacSweeney gallowglass,Template:Sfn but publicly he feigned neutrality.<ref name="mor6"/> This was because he lacked sufficient forces to combat a direct assault from English forces; he also faced pressure from his father-in-law to likewise appear publicly loyal to the Crown.Template:Sfn Bingham put Maguire and O'Rourke under heavy pressure, and O'Donnell used their chiefdoms as a buffer between Bingham's forces and Tyrconnell. O'Donnell had some influence over Maguire, giving him advice and sheltering his creaghts on Tyrconnell's borders.Template:Sfn MacGauran was killed on 23 June [N.S. 3 July] 1593 whilst accompanying Maguire on a raid.Template:Sfn In September, O'Donnell sent his mother to Scotland to secure further Scottish troops.Template:Sfn
Maguire's rebellious activity provoked a large-scale military expedition led by Marshal Henry Bagenal, which culminated at the Battle of Belleek in October.Template:Sfn Tyrone fought on Bagenal's side ostensibly to prove his loyalty to the Crown.Template:Sfnm O'Donnell was in nearby Ballyshannon when the battle was taking place, but he was ordered by Tyrone not to reinforce Maguire. The battle was a ploy to make the confederacy seem weaker than it actually was, thus diverting English attention away from Ireland. O'Donnell partially disobeyed Tyrone's order and sent 60 horsemen, 60 swordsmen and 100 gallowglass under the command of Niall Garve. Historian James O'Neill has theorised that O'Donnell intentionally dispatched Niall Garve to Belleek with the hope that he would die in the slaughter, thus easily eliminating a potential enemy. Bagenal's forces won the battle.Template:Sfn Despite the successful ploy, the battle was damaging to O'Donnell. Many of the gallowglass were killed and Niall Garve survived. To placate the Crown's victorious army, O'Donnell sent 115 cattle to the English camp as a gift.Template:Sfn A letter from O'Donnell was later found on the corpse of a Redshank captain killed in the battle.Template:Sfn
By November 1593, Bingham had received intelligence that O'Donnell was secretly assisting Maguire and O'Rourke.Template:Sfn The Crown demanded that Tyrone discipline O'Donnell and bring him under control,<ref name="mor6" /> and in March 1594, Tyrone and O'Donnell met with government commissioners near Dundalk.Template:Sfnm O'Donnell professed that "his ancestors had always been loyal to her majesty, and so he would continue but stood in danger of his life and feared practices would be used against him". Tyrone submitted a list of his and O'Donnell's grievances, but the talks ended in confusion when O'Donnell threatened to kill some of Tyrone's English friends.Template:Sfn Afterwards government commissioners surmised that a confederacy had been established between the Ulster lords.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> In March 1594, Philip II sent a Spanish ship—containing O'Hely, Spanish experts and Irish émigrés—to Ireland on a reconnaissance mission, but the crew died when it was shipwrecked off the coast of Santander.Template:Sfn
Open rebellionEdit
O'Donnell was aware that Tyrconnell would become an easy target if Maguire and O'Rourke's territories were occupied by the English.Template:Sfn In February 1594, O'Donnell demolished castles in Belleek and Bundrowes to prevent English forces from taking them, and he concentrated his forces at Ballyshannon on his mother's advice.Template:Sfn That same month, Captain John Dowdall captured Enniskillen Castle, Maguire's stronghold, after a nine-day siege.Template:Sfn O'Donnell rushed to Maguire's aid, assembling an army and joining Maguire to retake the castle. O'Donnell stated he "would not leave that siege until he had eaten the last cow in his country".Template:Sfn The castle was blockaded by 11 June, and by late July the English soldiers were suffering from food shortages.Template:Sfn O'Donnell's decision to join the siege of Enniskillen brought his rebellion into the open.Template:Sfnm
O'Donnell encountered resistance from his family, with both his brother Rory and his father Hugh MacManus opposing his choice to go to war.Template:Sfn Frustrated with Tyrone's loyalist facade, O'Donnell warned Tyrone that he "must consider [him] his enemy, unless he came to his aid in such a pinch". Tyrone subsequently sent reinforcements under his brother Cormac MacBaron O'Neill to the Battle of the Ford of the Biscuits.Template:Sfn O'Donnell continued to negotiate through his father-in-law; in August, Tyrone presented the new Lord Deputy, William Russell, with a lengthy document of O'Donnell's grievances and demands, titled "A note of such oppressions and indirect courses as hath been held in Tirconnell and other places".Template:Sfnm O'Donnell requested a general pardon for himself and his followers, as well as "good security" for Maguire, O'Rourke and rebels in County Monaghan. Russell ignored these demands and resupplied Enniskillen castle with 1,200 Irish Army soldiers—comprising most of the troops at his disposal.Template:Sfn The English relief mission was successful but ominously peaceful—Russell lost communication with his spies as they had all been captured by confederate soldiers.Template:Sfnm By early 1595, Tyrone had finally joined O'Donnell in open rebellion with an assault on the Blackwater Fort.Template:Sfn
Expansion into ConnachtEdit
In 1595, O'Donnell began to expand his rebellion into Connacht. His ancestors (particularly his grandfather Manus O'Donnell) had ruled over Lower Connacht, and Hugh Roe O'Donnell increasingly demanded the restoration of these lands.Template:Sfnm Richard Bingham had persecuted Connacht's Gaelic population since the mid-1580s, causing many refugees to flee to Tyrconnell. O'Donnell aided the refugees and recruited many of them as swordsmen. O'Donnell resented Bingham and was "easily tempted" by the refugees, who urged him to attack Bingham's administration. O'Donnell invaded Connacht on 3 March 1595 with 400 men. From Rathcroghan, the province's ancient royal capital,Template:Sfn he launched large raids into Longford and Roscommon. In June 1595, the castle of Sligo, which was key to securing control over the province, was betrayed to O'Donnell "in a stroke of luck"; Bingham's government collapsed. O'Donnell reestablished brehon law and asserted suzerainty over north Connacht.<ref name="mor6">Template:Harvnb.</ref> According to Ó Cléirigh, O'Donnell "spared no one over fifteen years of age who could not speak Irish".Template:Sfn
By 1595, O'Donnell and his wife were facing difficulties; Rose had not born him children. In order to increase his influence in southern Connacht,Template:Sfn O'Donnell had hopes of a marriage alliance with Lady Margaret Burke, daughter of the neutral 3rd Earl of Clanricarde. With Tyrone's consent, Rose and O'Donnell separated,<ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb</ref> purportedly over her "barrenness".Template:Sfnm However the government became aware of his plan to reportedly "rob her from her parents by surprise or force", and in December Margaret was placed in protective custody.Template:Sfn Additionally Clanricarde stated that he would "rather see [Margaret's] burial than her marriage to [O'Donnell] were he a good subject". Tyrone sent his trusted secretary Henry Hovenden to Tyrconnell to advise O'Donnell,Template:Sfn and O'Donnell eventually took Rose back.<ref name="OA" /> His choice to remain in a barren marriage is representative of his dependence on Tyrone.Template:Sfn
Peace talksEdit
Negotiations with the CrownEdit
Tyrone and O'Donnell sought to delay the war in order to buy time for the arrival of Spanish troops,Template:Sfnm and in September 1595, Tyrone sent overtures of submission to the Crown.Template:Sfn Tyrone convinced O'Donnell to submit to the authorities and agree to a ceasefire whilst the settlement could be negotiated.Template:Sfn He tendered his submission in October, expressing his "inward sorrow and most harty repentance".Template:Sfn A cessation of arms was signed on 27 October 1595.Template:Sfn O'Donnell took advantage of the truce to intervene in Connacht politics. Accompanied by Cormac MacBaron and Tyrone's son Conn, he led a large force of troops into Mayo in December.Template:Sfn During Christmas-time, O'Donnell stage-managed the election of Connacht exile Tibbot MacWalter Kittagh as the Lower MacWilliam Bourke.<ref name="mor6"/> Further elections organised by O'Donnell, spanning four counties, were indicative of his growing power in Connacht.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn
In January 1596, O'Donnell and Tyrone entered into face-to-face negotiations with government commissioners.Template:Sfn The two confederates refused to meet the commissioners anywhere except in the open fields,Template:Sfnm thus negotiations were conducted in the countryside near Dundalk.Template:Sfnm O'Donnell demanded his ancestral claims of lands in Sligo, exemption from the jurisdiction of a sheriff, and a pardon for Connacht men including O'Rourke and MacWilliam Bourke. Similarly to Tyrone he demanded religious liberty of conscience.Template:Sfnm The queen warily accepted O'Donnell's claims to lands in Connacht. On 28 January, the commissioners presented O'Donnell with a list of twelve articles. These urged him to disperse his forces, to shire Tyrconnell, to stop aiding O'Rourke and Maguire, to re-edify Sligo Castle, to pay annual rents to the Crown as his father had done, and to confess the extent of his dealings with Spain. O'Donnell agreed to most articles, with some exceptions.Template:Sfn He refused to give hostages or make a personal submission. A compromise was created,<ref>Template:Harvnb.</ref> and O'Donnell agreed to terms on 30 January.Template:Sfn A hollow peace was signed on 24 April 1596,Template:Sfn and further negotiations to develop a peace treaty were almost complete by May.Template:Sfn
Relations with SpainEdit
In May, three Spanish ships arrived at Tyrconnell with the aim of encouraging the confederates and assessing Ireland's military situation.Template:Sfn Spanish captain Alonso Cobos arrived in Killybegs and was invited by O'Donnell to Lifford, where he was staying.Template:Sfn O'Donnell refused to go further into conversation without Tyrone present "because there was one above him naming [Tyrone], which if he would consent unto it he would do the same".Template:Sfn O'Donnell called the confederates to Lifford and in the meantime, he entertained Cobos and his men for three nights. When the confederates arrived at Lifford, a subsequent dinner took place. The confederates upheld their allegiance to Spain and pleaded for Philip II to re-establish Catholicism across Ireland.Template:Sfn
Later on, a secret talk between Cobos and O'Donnell, Tyrone, and Cormac MacBaron occurred in a small house beside Lifford's castle.Template:Sfnm Hugh Boye MacDavitt of Inishowen, a war veteran who had served in the Low Countries, served as their interpreter.Template:Sfn After the meeting, the confederates jointly agreed to abandon the peace treaty and become vassals of Philip II. Tyrone and O'Donnell also petitioned Philip II to make Albert VII, Archduke of Austria, the new Catholic monarch of Ireland.Template:Sfn O'Donnell and his father-in-law began to deliberately derail peace negotiations and provoke war in previously peaceful parts of the country.Template:Sfnm They developed a sophisticated "good cop, bad cop" routine which they used to stall peace talks.Template:Sfn Additionally, O'Donnell was ashamed at the sparse nature of his residence and set about purchasing "linen and pewter and all other necessaries fit to entertain the Spaniards".Template:Sfnm
The confederate lords of Connacht refused to discuss peace talks with government commissioners until the arrival of O'Donnell, who was apparently delayed by dealings with Redshanks. When O'Donnell arrived that June, he refused to hand over English hostages until his terms were met. Tyrone sent Hovenden to ostensibly aid O'Donnell in pacifying Connacht,Template:Sfn but the government intercepted a letter revealing that Hovenden was intentionally stalling negotiations so that Tyrone would have to be brought in as an arbitrator; this he eventually was.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The commissioners were in a weak position due to Elizabeth I's health issues.Template:Sfnm Soon after, O'Donnell met with Tyrone, O'Rourke and MacWilliam Bourke at Strabane. Together, they issued a letter to Munster's population demanding they adhere to Catholicism and join the confederacy.Template:Sfn In October, Cobos was sent back to Ireland to brief the confederates on the impending 2nd Spanish Armada. Cobos's briefing motivated O'Donnell to make extensive preparations for the arrival of Spanish troops in Tyrconnell.Template:Sfn After much delay, the Armada sailed from Lisbon in late October 1596, though it ended in disaster when a sudden storm claimed over 3,000 lives.Template:Sfn
Elizabeth I reopened negotiations in Dundalk. Ó Cléirigh states that Elizabeth offered to forfeit Ulster to the confederates (with the exception of land from Dundalk to the Boyne). O'Donnell was apparently instrumental in the confederacy's rejection of this offer—he was possibly motivated by Philip II's recently renewed interest in Ireland.Template:Sfn O'Donnell's relationships to Spain and England were complicated by the fact that aging monarchs Philip II and Elizabeth I were both in ill health at the time.Template:Sfn
Renewal of hostilitiesEdit
Clifford's presidencyEdit
Elizabeth I suspended Bingham from the presidency of Connacht. Conyers Clifford, a distinguished soldier favoured by the Irish, was made Connacht's chief commissioner in December 1596.<ref name="CC">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>Template:Sfn O'Donnell again raided into Connacht in January 1597, sacking Athenry and plundering the suburbs of Galway city.Template:Sfn He was supported by competitors to the Clanricarde title.<ref name=":0">Template:Harvnb.</ref> Clifford responded by forcing MacWilliam Bourke from Mayo. O'Donnell reinstalled MacWilliam Bourke, but Clifford forced him out again in June.Template:Sfn
Thomas Burgh took over as Lord Deputy in May 1597. Burgh refused to entertain the confederates' excuses and ordered prompt military attacks on both Tyrone and O'Donnell.Template:Sfn In July, the English launched a two-pronged assault in Ulster; Clifford assembled 1,500 men at Boyle and led them into Tyrconnell as the western arm of the assault. Clifford's army besieged Ballyshannon castle for five days, but it was successfully defended by O'Donnell's garrison of eighty men, which included Spaniards. Once O'Donnell himself arrived, Clifford's army, which had exhausted its supplies, retreated to Sligo, abandoning three pieces of ordnance and losing many men.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn On 4 September 1597, Clifford was appointed as Connacht's new Lord President.<ref name="CC" />
Lord Deputy Burgh died from illness in October. Despite the confederacy's advantageous position, Tyrone renewed peace negotiations.Template:Sfn He submitted to authorities on 22 December and promised to renounce his Gaelic titles and rebellious activities.Template:Sfn O'Donnell heavily criticised Tyrone for agreeing to a cessation, pointing out that the confederate forces were strong across Leinster, Connacht and Ulster. O'Donnell declared that he would break the cessation, though he never did.Template:Sfn
Clifford changed tactics following the defeat at Ballyshannon. He encouraged confederates to change sides by promising them royal grants. In February 1598, founding confederacy member O'Rourke submitted at Boyle.<ref name="BO"/> By April, Clifford had lured further confederates Conor McDermot, O'Connor Don and Shane MacManus Oge (O'Donnell's cousin). In response, O'Donnell executed six of McDermot and O'Connor Don's pledges. He detained Shane MacManus Oge upon the latter's secret return to Tyrconnell. O'Donnell also killed sixteen of Mulmurry MacSweeney na dTuath's men when MacSweeney na dTuath was linked to Shane MacManus Oge.Template:Sfn O'Donnell's younger brother Rory was also engaged by Clifford, and he resolved to serve against his brother. When this news reached O'Donnell, he had Rory clamped in chains—the brothers' relationship eventually improved and by 1600 Rory was once again fighting alongside his older brother.<ref name="RO">Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Sfn O'Donnell captured O'Rourke's brother Teigue and forced him to marry his sister Mary, in order to formalise an alliance and antagonise O'Rourke.<ref name="BO">Template:Cite journal</ref> By June 1598, O'Rourke had rejoined the confederacy in fear.Template:Sfn<ref name="BO" />
Battle of the Yellow FordEdit
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Government commissioners abandoned negotiations by spring 1598, recognising that O'Donnell and Tyrone were intentionally impeding the peace process.Template:Sfn Tyrone was granted a pardon in April 1598. However he felt that the Crown would eventually supersede his authority in Ulster. When the truce expired in June, Tyrone besieged the Blackwater Fort.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Bagenal encouraged for a relief exercise to be sent to the fort.Template:Sfn
Tyrone called O'Donnell and Maguire to assemble their combined forces, numbering 5,000 men. The confederates made extensive plans to obstruct Bagenal's army, preparing deep trenches in the ground outside Armagh. Prior to the attack, the confederates made a speech "to incite their people to acts of valour". On 14 August, Bagenal's army was attacked by O'Donnell, Tyrone and Maguire's combined forces. O'Donnell attacked from the left and Tyrone from the right simultaneously.Template:Sfn Bagenal was killed and roughly 2,000 men (half his army) were lost.Template:Sfn O'Donnell's men ran out of ammunition and the English survivors fled to Armagh. More than 300 English soldiers deserted to the confederacy.Template:Sfn
The battle was the greatest victory by Irish forces against England,Template:Sfn and it sparked a general revolt throughout the country, particularly in Munster.Template:Sfn News of the battle spread across western Europe, prompting Philip II to send a congratulatory letters to O'Donnell and Tyrone. Unfortunately for the confederacy,Template:Sfn Philip II died in September and was succeeded by his son Philip III.<ref>Template:Cite EB9</ref> Following the battle, O'Donnell purchased Ballymote Castle from Clan MacDonagh and made it his primary residence.Template:Sfnm He sent Sean O'Doherty, Donough MacSweeney Banagh and MacWilliam Bourke to successfully attack the O'Malleys in County Mayo. In December, O'Donnell led another successful raid into Clanricarde.Template:Sfn
The confederates' victory unravelled much of Clifford's success in Connacht, leaving loyalist Donough O'Connor Sligo (lord of Lower Connacht) as his only Gaelic Irish ally.<ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb</ref> The Irish victory at the Yellow Ford was highly distressing to the English Privy Council, and after much hesitation Elizabeth I appointed her royal favourite Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, as the new Lord Deputy. He arrived at Dublin in April 1599. Despite the generous resources afforded to him, Essex's campaign was a major failure on account of his poor generalship.Template:Sfn
Battle of Curlew PassEdit
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In July 1599, Essex sent O'Connor Sligo to confront O'Donnell. In response, O'Donnell quickly laid siege to O'Connor Sligo's stronghold, Collooney Castle. Essex then ordered Clifford to relieve O'Connor Sligo,Template:Sfn and Clifford subsequently led an expedition of 1,400 men towards Collooney Castle.Template:Sfn O'Donnell left Niall Garve to continue the siege and he took up a position in the Curlew Mountains, where he remained for two months, deliberately provoking Clifford. In August, Clifford finally gave in and marched his troops into the Curlew Mountains. O'Donnell made a dramatic speech and prepared his men.Template:Sfn
Once O'Donnell's brothers had lured Clifford's army into a prepared position, O'Donnell and O'Rourke (who was camped nearby) ambushed Clifford's forces in a swift battle.Template:Sfn The English panicked and were routed back to Boyle Abbey. 240 English soldiers were killed, including Clifford who was stabbed by a pike. After the battle, O'Rourke decapitated Clifford and gave the head to O'Donnell. When O'Donnell presented Clifford's severed head to O'Connor Sligo, the latter surrendered Collooney Castle.Template:Sfn The queen and her secretary of state Robert Cecil were shocked by the Irish victory.Template:Sfn The victory is viewed as a highlight of O'Donnell's career, though contemporary sources credit O'Rourke and Conor McDermot with the battle's success.Template:Sfnm
O'Donnell forced O'Connor Sligo to join the confederacy, and he gave O'Connor Sligo "large numbers" of oxen, horses, cattle and corn to re-establish himself in lower Connacht. However he threatened O'Connor Sligo with imprisonment on an island in Lough Eske if he did not cooperate. By this time Iníon Dubh had been in Scotland for two months gathering redshanks—as Clifford's forces had been easily defeated, O'Donnell notified his mother that the redshanks were unnecessary, and she returned to Tyrconnell in January 1600 with gunpowder instead. O'Donnell followed the victory at Curlew Pass with a successful battle at the Ballaghboy Pass.Template:Sfn
Quarrels with TyroneEdit
By the late 1590s, O'Donnell's relationship with his father-in-law was coming under strain,<ref name="OA">Template:Harvnb.</ref> not least because of the breakdown of O'Donnell's marriage to Rose.Template:Sfnm It was reported in April 1597 that O'Donnell had recently renewed his alliance with Tyrone, and that "their league of friendship is more apparently confirmed... by O'Donnell's receiving of the earl's base daughter" in marriage.Template:Sfnm By 1598, it was reported O'Donnell had divorced Rose,<ref name="HW">Template:Harvnb</ref> most likely against Tyrone's wishes.Template:Sfn She remarried to Tyrone's principal vassal Donnell Ballagh O'Cahan by 1599.<ref name="Donnell">Template:Cite journal</ref> O'Donnell reportedly divorced Rose due to her "barronness",<ref name="HW" /> though the historian Morwenna Donnelly has questioned this truthfulness of this explanation, considering that O'Donnell did not immediately remarry to ensure an heir.Template:Sfn
The confederacy leaders argued over the division of money and munitions sent from Spain. Tyrone typically demanded the superior portion; when munitions arrived in 1596, Tyrone took twenty firkins of gunpowder compared to O'Donnell receiving fifteen. This came to a head in mid-1599, when O'Donnell debated over the division of a delivery brought by Barrionuevo. O'Donnell felt he was owed more resources in view of his recent victories, as well as his riskier approach to warfare. According to a spy's report, "Tyrone and O'Donnell fell into some contention about receiving of the said munition and treasure, Tyrone challenging the disposal of the whole, as chief and general of the common service, and O'Donnell claiming as great a right in it as he, as he affirmed, as deeply engaged therein as he. In the end the assembly there (by mediation of an Irish bishop from Rome with them) overruled the disposition of the whole for Tyrone". A treaty of equality was established between the two men, which decreed that "one had no pre-eminence over the other and that in walking and travelling together whichever was the elder should be on the right hand".Template:Sfn
Tyrone refused to fight Essex's dwindling forces; instead the two men parleyed on 7 September 1599 and a six-week truce was organised.Template:Sfn O'Donnell was furious at Tyrone's decision to negotiate with Essex, as he wanted to avoid any association with English officials in favour of soliciting aid from the Spanish. He declared that he would travel into Connacht, but Tyrone forbid him on account of the truce. O'Donnell admitted that he would burn the entire Pale if not for Tyrone preventing him.Template:Sfn Essex left Ireland on 24 September and was shortly afterwards removed from his post.Template:Sfnm His downfall briefly put the confederacy in a strong position.Template:Sfnm In February 1600, Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy, arrived in Ireland as the new Lord Deputy. Mountjoy posed a major threat to the confederacy as he immediately began revitalising and restoring confidence in the royal army.Template:Sfnm
On 1 March [N.S. 11 March] 1600,<ref>Template:Harvnb: primary source; Template:Harvnb: secondary source.</ref> Hugh Maguire was shot and killed whilst on reconnaissance near Cork.<ref name="barryhugh">Template:Harvnb</ref> His lordship was contested by rival claimants Cúconnacht Maguire (his younger half-brother) and Connor Roe Maguire (his loyalist-leaning cousin). Tyrone favoured Connor Roe's accession, perhaps to ensure Connor Roe's loyalism was kept in check. O'Donnell favoured Cúconnacht, and a debate ensued on how to resolve the succession crisis. At a banquet at Tyrone's house in Dungannon, with Tyrone and both claimants present, O'Donnell addressed Cúconnacht as the new Maguire clan chief. O'Donnell's fait accompli affronted Tyrone and created further tension between the confederates.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
In April 1600, a Spanish ship arrived in Ireland bearing considerable supplies of money and ammunition for the confederacy, as well as letters from Philip III.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Tyrone and O'Donnell stimulated the Irish-Spanish alliance by sending pledges to Spain; Tyrone sent his son Henry, and O'Donnell sent the sons of O'Doherty and O'Gallagher.Template:Sfn
Forced from TyrconnellEdit
Defection of Niall GarveEdit
In May 1600, English commander Henry Docwra established an English garrison in Derry.Template:Sfnm O'Donnell made a substantial attempt to weaken Docwra's forces on 29 July. O'Donnell captured at least 60 horses and Docwra was nearly killed by Hugh McHugh Dubh. O'Donnell later made a failed night attack on the garrison. Despite the poor conditions at the Derry garrison—desertion and disease was rife—Docwra managed to maintain his position,Template:Sfn which led to further tension between O'Donnell and Tyrone.Template:Sfnm
The prospects of Docwra's mission depended on winning over disaffected confederates, Niall Garve being the most important.Template:Sfnm Niall Garve's grievances were well-known to the government on account of his overtures,Template:Sfn and Docwra began secretly communicating with him. By August, Niall Garve had sent through his list of demands, the principal of which was to rule Tyrconnell in the same manner as his grandfather Calvagh. Docwra promised to obtain him a royal grant of Tyrconnell if he defected and served against his cousin.Template:Sfn
In September O'Donnell left Ulster for a raid in Thomond, entrusting Niall Garve to besiege Derry.Template:SfnmTemplate:Efn Whilst O'Donnell was in Ballymote, Niall Garve and his followers murdered Niall Garve's uncle Neachtan in a drunken rage. Neachtan was "a man of great authority with [O'Donnell] and all his country". Fearing O'Donnell's revenge,Template:Sfn Niall Garve—alongside his three brothers and about 100 soldiers—quickly defected to the English. They joined Docwra on 3 October.Template:Sfn O'Donnell was in Thomond when he received the news,Template:Sfnm and he immediately hurried to secure Lifford Castle to retain control over Lough Foyle.Template:Sfn According to Willis, O'Donnell was "dumb-stricken" to hear of Niall Garve's betrayal and could not drink or sleep for three days.Template:Sfnm Niall Garve and an English force stormed Lifford Castle on 9 October, taking it from O'Donnell's brother Rory.<ref name=":1"/><ref name="RO"/> O'Donnell wrote angrily to Tyrone, "charging him with many oversights, that he lay too long at the Moyry, that he spent his munition, lost his best men, and wasted his victuals there to no purpose".Template:Sfn
O'Donnell's sister Nuala separated from Niall Garve due to his defection.Template:Sfnm According to a February 1601Template:Sfnm report by Docwra, O'Donnell was so outraged by his brother-in-law's defection that he ordered mass hangings of Niall Garve's followers, and personally killed Niall Garve and Nuala's four-year-old son (his own nephew) by bashing the child's brains out against a post.Template:Sfn This accusation is considered contentious among historians.<ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb</ref> Docwra's biographer John McGurk acknowledges the uncertainty of the report's truthfulness, and notes that it is unclear where Docwra received this intelligence. He points out that Docwra's "blunt" personality indicates that he reported current affairs accurately, and also admits that infanticide was a feature of warfare in the early modern period.Template:Sfn Morgan notes that since this is a contemporary account, it should not be dismissed out of hand.Template:Sfn
Battle of LiffordEdit
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O'Donnell tried in vain to retake Lifford from Niall Garve, with minor skirmishes occurring around the castle.Template:Sfn He lost about 20 men on 17 October 1600. He attacked again on 24 October,Template:Sfn but Niall Garve retaliated by leading a cavalry charge of mixed Irish and English forces out to battle.Template:Sfnm During the battle, Niall Garve speared O'Donnell's brother Manus in the shoulder.Template:Sfnm Manus was taken to Donegal where he died from his wounds.Template:Efn O'Donnell's father Hugh MacManus died shortly afterwards, apparently from grief, on 27 November [N.S. 7 December]. They were buried beside each other at Donegal Abbey,Template:Sfn as was customary for the ruling O'Donnell branch.<ref name="dddd"/>
Docwra was pleased that the outcome of the battle had exacerbated the feud between O'Donnell and Niall Garve: "I think there needeth no better hostages for his fidelity, for he hath slain with his own hands (in fight and open view of our men that saw him) O'Donnell's second brother... His love and credit with the people is little inferior to O'Donnell's and may easily be more, if he be backed and strengthened by Her Majesty..."Template:Sfn By December 1600, O'Donnell had put a price of £300 on Niall Garve's head.Template:Sfn It appears Niall Garve made later efforts to rejoin the confederacy, but his murder of Manus made this near-impossible.<ref name=":1">Template:Harvnb.</ref>Template:Efn His defection allowed Docwra to mobilise the Crown's forces beyond Lough Foyle into Tyrconnell, Inishowen and even Tír Eoghain.Template:Sfn In addition to his skill as a guide across Tyrconnell, Niall Garve informed Docwra of his cousin's tactics.Template:Sfnm
Political alliances collapseEdit
O'Donnell made further plans to cement his alliances beyond Ulster. In November 1600, he schemed to marry Joan FitzGerald (step-daughter to O'Connor Sligo and sister of the loyalist 1st Earl of Desmond). A servant met with Joan in Limerick "alleging that O'Donnell was a great Lord, and very rich, and that if he would prove good, he were a fit marriage for the best lady in the country". Joan rejected the match; additionally Lord President of Munster George Carew placed her under house arrest as a precaution.Template:Sfnm
O'Donnell became frustrated by the Spanish government's failure to send the military resources he desired. When a Spanish ship arrived around the time of the new year, O'Donnell was "like a madman when he saw no kind of news, neither of men nor money to come: presently swore he would go himself to Spain and would have gone indeed, if the Captain of the Spaniards had suffered him".Template:Sfn
Sean O'Doherty, Lord of Inishowen, died on 27 January 1601, leading to a succession dispute. The O'Doherty clan preferred Sean's eldest son Cahir (then aged about 14) as the successor, but O'Donnell was bribed into inaugurating Sean's half-brother (and his own first cousin) Phelim Og O'Doherty. This decision outraged Cahir's foster family and they opened negotiations with Docwra to secure the lordship.Template:Sfn<ref name="dib">Template:Cite journal</ref> O'Donnell attempted revenge by invading Inishowen with 1,500 men, but 40 of his men were killed and he retreated.Template:Sfn
Both Docwra and O'Donnell's conduct of war was vicious; soldiers and civilians on either side were summarily executed (including Bishop Redmond O'Gallagher). In February 1601, Docwra noted that O'Donnell was regularly hanging individuals of otherwise good standing at the slightest cause for suspicion.Template:Sfnm When O'Donnell discovered that O'Connor Sligo was plotting with Mountjoy in early 1601, he imprisoned O'Connor Sligo in Lough Eske Castle's prison.Template:Sfnm Docwra plundered and garrisoned Rathmullan. By April, the list of O'Donnell's allies preparing to submit to Docwra included Tadhg Og O'Boyle, Owen Og MacSweeney (son of O'Donnell's late foster-father), Chief Donough MacSweeney Banagh, Chief Donnell MacSweeney Fanad and his son Donnell Gorm MacSweeney Fanad. By the end of 1601, only the immediate families of O'Donnell and Hugh McHugh Dubh remained loyal to the confederacy. Ballyshannon Castle became a safe haven to masses of women and children. Others took refuge in Lower Connacht.Template:Sfn In late October 1601, O'Donnell's mother Iníon Dubh, plus one of his sisters, were taken prisoner in Collooney Castle.Template:Sfn
Siege of DonegalEdit
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On 18 March 1601, the government recognised Niall Garve as the rightful chief of the O'Donnell clan. Hugh Roe O'Donnell marched on Lifford in April 1601, forcing Niall Garve and his forces to temporarily retreat to Derry.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Following the Earl of Clanricarde's death in May, O'Donnell concentrated his forces at Ballymote in anticipation of an attack from Clanricarde's successor. This allowed Niall Garve to take Donegal AbbeyTemplate:Sfn in August and occupy it as a garrison, installing 500 English troops.Template:Sfnm His hold over Donegal was his greatest blow against O'Donnell; it virtually prevented O'Donnell from entering Tyrconnell and led to a month-long siege.<ref name="clavin6">Template:Harvnb</ref> The siege climaxed on 26 SeptemberTemplate:Sfnm when a fire in the garrison's store detonated several barrels of gunpowder and caused the abbey to collapse.Template:Sfn O'Donnell hurriedly ordered his men to attack, leading to a chaotic engagement amidst the burning abbey. Niall Garve's defeat seemed certain, but the loyalist forces held out until a relief force arrived and forced O'Donnell to call off the attack. 330 of Niall Garve's troops were killed during the battle, including his brother Conn Oge.Template:Sfnm
Niall Garve was so unsettled by his losses at the siege that, with Docwra's permission, he began negotiating with O'Donnell to became his tanist. Niall Garve's conditions (which included "that [Hugh Roe O'Donnell] and [Niall Garve] should be bound and sworn never to come in sight of one another") were so numerous that O'Donnell discarded negotiations.Template:Sfn
Siege of KinsaleEdit
Throughout 1601, Philip III was focused on dispatching an armed expedition to Ireland to improve his position in the Anglo-Spanish War.Template:Sfn Under the command of General Juan del Águila, the 4th Spanish Armada finally landed and was besieged by English forces inside the port town of Kinsale—virtually the opposite end of Ireland from Ulster—on 21 September [N.S. 1 October] 1601.Template:Sfnm O'Donnell was energised by the news of the Spanish expedition's long-awaited arrival and he called his forces to abandon their sieging of Niall Garve's forces.Template:Sfn He set out for Kinsale from BallymoteTemplate:Sfnm in late OctoberTemplate:Efn with about 2,000 men.Template:Sfnm Tyrone's forces began their separate march a week after O'Donnell.Template:Sfnm O'Donnell's army marched through Connacht to Ath Croch near Shannon Harbour, where they were joined by Chief John Og McCoughlanTemplate:Sfn and Captain Richard Tyrrell.Template:Sfn O'Donnell's men carried two garrons loaded with Spanish silver on their march; this was to impress his wealth and wisdom upon locals he encountered.Template:Sfnm Marching onwards they reached Druim-Saileach in County Tipperary, where the troops stopped for twenty days to plunder the neighbouring territories.Template:Sfn O'Donnell visited Holy Cross Abbey on Saint Andrew's Day where he venerated its relic of the True Cross. He also dispatched an expedition to Ardfert, which included his nephew Donal Oge (son of his late half-brother Donal), to recover the territory of confederacy ally Thomas Fitzmaurice.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Carew attempted to intercept O'Donnell on 7 November but O'Donnell eluded him by passing through a defile in the Slieve Felim Mountains. O'Donnell's forces regrouped in Connelloe, County Limerick, and finally united with Tyrone at Bandon on 15 December.Template:Sfn
The Crown's army was trapped in Kinsale between the Irish and the Spaniards.Template:Sfn It appears Tyrone and O'Donnell had previously agreed to starve out the English,Template:Sfnm but Juan del Águila urged for a prompt combined attack.Template:Sfnm Near-contemporary writers Ó Cléirigh and O'Sullivan Beare allege that O'Donnell was convinced by Juan del Águila and naively urged Tyrone to attack. This account is not unanimously accepted by historians. McGurk, Silke, McGettigan and Cyril Falls concur; Morgan and G. A. Hayes-McCoy disagree. O'Donnell had previously induced Tyrone into a full frontal assault during a campaign in 1598, so this narrative is not out of the question.Template:Sfn Morgan claims that the pressure from the beleaguered Spaniards that wore down Tyrone,<ref>Template:Citation</ref> and that both O'Donnell and Tyrone had their reputations at stake.<ref name="morganoneill17">Template:Harvnb</ref> Whatever the cause, Tyrone uncharacteristically agreed to a combined attack on both English camps.Template:Sfn
At dawn on 24 December [N.S. 3 January 1602] 1601, Tyrone's forces of 4,000 men took their position. Mountjoy spotted the soldiers and ordered an immediate attack.Template:Sfn Tyrone retreated but Mountjoy's cavalry charge routed the confederate soldiers; 1,200 were killed and 800 were wounded.<ref name="morganoneill17"/> O'Donnell was too far off to aid Tyrone. The sight of butchered Irish forces demoralised O'Donnell's soldiers, and many fled despite O'Donnell's commands to stay and fight. O'Donnell's forces were lightly engaged but Tyrone's forces suffered the greatest losses.Template:Sfn The defeat at Kinsale was a fatal blow for the confederacyTemplate:Sfn and destroyed what remained of O'Donnell's military strength. Niall Garve was left as the de facto ruler of Tyrconnell.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>
Travel to SpainEdit
Meeting with Philip IIIEdit
The defeated confederates gathered at Innishannon.Template:Sfn Tyrone was strongly in favour of attempting another siege, but was unable to convince O'Donnell,Template:Sfnm who was in a state of nervous breakdown.Template:Sfnm According to Ó Cléirigh, his followers "were greatly afraid that he would bring on his death, through the suffering which seized him, so that he did not sleep nor eat in comfort for three days and three nights after". He became determined to travel to Spain to secure reinforcements from Philip III.Template:Sfn A factor in his decision was that, having been forced from Tyrconnell, O'Donnell had no property in Ulster to return to.Template:Sfn Tyrone disagreed with O'Donnell's plan but could not stop him. Before the confederate commanders returned to Ulster, O'Donnell appointed Rory as commander of his forces.Template:Sfn
O'Donnell left Castlehaven on 27 December [N.S. 6 January 1602] 1601 with General Pedro de Zubiaur. He was accompanied by Archbishop Florence Conroy, Maurice MacDonough Ultach, Redmond Burke and Captain Hugh Mostian. They arrived in Luarca on 3 January [N.S. 13 January] after travelling through a stormy passage. As Philip III was in the province of Leon at the time, the group headed to A Coruña.Template:Sfn They were welcomed to A Coruña by Luis de Carillo, the governor of Galicia and Conde de Caracena, who was a political supporter of the confederacy's cause. He offered the group the hospitality of his seaside house.Template:Sfn O'Donnell was also taken to sightsee the Farum Brigantium, where the legendary sons of Milesius left for Ireland.Template:Sfnm
Philip III agreed to meet with O'Donnell on the recommendation of his advisors, and O'Donnell was escorted to Zamora with a dozen Irishmen to meet the Spanish king.Template:Sfn When he arrived in the king's presence, O'Donnell knelt before him and vowed not to rise until three requests were granted:
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
1. To send a Spanish army (with O'Donnell) to Ireland;
2. To make O'Donnell the most powerful noble in Ireland, once it had been conquered by Spain;
3. To protect the rights of his clan and his successors.{{#if:|{{#if:|}}— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries}}
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Philip III agreed and bade O'Donnell to rise.Template:Sfnm During O'Donnell's time at the Spanish court, he met with Tyrone's son Henry (also his own nephew)Template:Sfn and was treated for a bubonic plague sore by Tyrconnell physician Nial O'Glacan.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> He also spent much of his time working with Archbishop Mateo de Oviedo to assemble a case against Juan del Águila. The Spanish Council of State reported to the King that "[O'Donnell's] zeal and loyalty should be highly praised... He should be assured that His Majesty regards the Irish Catholics as his subjects." Philip III granted O'Donnell a generous pension and ordered him to return to A Coruña to supervise the planned naval reinforcements.Template:Sfn
Edit
O'Donnell returned to A Coruña on 16 February [N.S. 26 February], by which time he received news of Juan del Águila's surrender, which was not unexpected. O'Donnell wrote to the King two days later, begging him to focus his attention on sending the discussed naval expedition to Ireland. Although O'Donnell would have been content with a small-scale expedition sent to Tyrconnell, Philip III wanted to send a large fleet—three times the size of the 4th Armada—to ensure military success and restore his damaged reputation. Due to the time it would take to assemble a force of this size, O'Donnell was left anxiously waiting in Spain.Template:Sfn Meanwhile, the confederacy disintegrated as English forces travelled across Ulster destroying crops and livestock. In June 1602 Tyrone burned Dungannon and retreated into Glenconkeyne.Template:Sfn O'Donnell kept in contact with Ireland during this time—he wrote to one confederate "if there is anything bad it may be concealed from the Spaniard, but not from me".Template:Sfn
Throughout 1602 O'Donnell was placated with promises that the Spanish fleet was being gradually assembled.Template:Sfn He insistently asked to return to court to discuss the military situation.Template:Sfn In March, O'Donnell was alarmed by the Duke of Lerma's suggestion that O'Donnell could be sent back to Ireland with only one ship and 50,000 ducats. On 10 June [N.S. 20 June] O'Donnell wrote to Philip III: "I am weary of seeing how I am wasting my time here, and I fear that things are going on badly at home".Template:Sfn By July it became clear that, due to delays, the envisioned fleet would not be ready until the next year.Template:Sfn On 23 July [N.S. 2 August], the ships already prepared at A Coruña were sent to the New World on unrelated missions.Template:Sfnm O'Donnell's companions reported that he was gripped "by an extreme melancholia and disgust which took hold of him when buoyed up by hope as a result of the promises and letters he had received... he saw the whole [Spanish] army suddenly diverted... without even a mention being made of Ireland".Template:Sfnm Philip III permitted O'Donnell to meet with him, and O'Donnell left A Coruña on 26 July [N.S. 5 August] to go to Simancas.Template:Sfnm
Death and burialEdit
O'Donnell arrived at the Castle of Simancas on around 31 July [N.S. 10 August].Template:Sfn Within weeks he had developed a fever,Template:Sfn and by 14 August [N.S. 24 August] he was extremely ill.Template:Sfnm He was attended by Irish doctor John Noonan; the guilty king also sent his own physician, Álvarez, to the castle.Template:Sfnm O'Donnell was aware he was dying, and indicated that he was "fearful of death, as is natural to my creaturely condition".Template:Sfn He received the last ritesTemplate:Sfn and was attended by Archbishop Conroy and two Franciscans, Maurice MacDonough Ultach and Maurice MacSean Ultach.Template:Sfn
O'Donnell made his will on 28 August [N.S. 7 September], whilst on his deathbed.Template:Sfn He dictated his will in Irish, but Conroy translated it into Castilian Spanish for the notary.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn O'Donnell was in an extremely weak physical condition and could only blot the page when attempting to sign his signature.Template:Sfnm He warned against news of his death reaching Ireland before Spanish reinforcements arrived, as he believed the news would demotivate the confederacy and lead to a peace treaty with England. O'Donnell was content to be a vassal of the Spanish king if the Gaelic chiefs could keep their power over Ireland, which would effectively make Ireland a Spanish colony.Template:Sfn<ref name="NA">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> O'Donnell bequeathed "all [his] estates, lands, lordships and vassals" to his younger brother Rory.Template:Sfnm
After over two weeks of bedridden suffering,Template:Sfnm Hugh Roe O'Donnell died at the Castle of SimancasTemplate:Sfnm on 30 August [N.S. 9 September] 1602.Template:Efn He was 29 years of age,Template:Sfnm and left no children.Template:Sfnm The same evening, his body was taken to Valladolid in a four-wheeled hearse "with blazing torches and bright flambeaux of beautiful waxlights blazing all round on each side of it". The elaborate procession was attended by Philip III, state officers and council members.Template:Sfnm His funeral rites were performed in Valladolid on the morning of 1 September [N.S. 11 September].Template:Sfn Per his will, O'Donnell was buried in the Convent of St. Francis,Template:Efn in the Chapel of Wonders.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn
Cause of deathEdit
A now-debunked popular legend claims that O'Donnell was poisoned by James Blake,Template:Sfnm a Galway merchant hired as a spy for the government.Template:Sfn Blake approached Lord President Carew with an offer to travel to Spain to assassinate O'Donnell.Template:Sfn In a ciphered letter dated 28 May 1602, Carew informed Mountjoy that "James Blake...took a solemn oath to do service...and is gone into Spain with a determination (bound with many oaths) to kill O'Donnell".<ref>Template:Harvnb. Words in italics were encrypted in the original.</ref> O'Donnell was aware that Blake was a security threat.Template:Sfnm Despite Blake's oath to Carew, on 19 August [N.S. 29 August] at Valladolid he outlined a detailed plan to the Duke of Lerma for a Spanish expedition aimed at retaking Galway from English control.Template:Sfnm Given Blake's apparent pro-Spanish sentiments, historians Frederick M. Jones and Micheline Kerney Walsh have questioned whether he was truly an English spy, and speculate that Blake was a Spanish agent who proposed the mission as a means of securing safe passage to Spain.Template:Sfnm
Another ciphered letter was sent from Carew to Mountjoy on 9 October: "O'Donnell is dead... he is poisoned by James Blake, of whom your lordship hath been formerly acquainted... He never told the President in what manner he would kill him, but did assure him it should be effected".<ref>Template:Harvnb. Words in italics were encrypted in the original.</ref> After O'Donnell's death, Blake was arrested in ValladolidTemplate:Sfn on suspicion of being an English spy.Template:Sfn Despite two months of interrogation he was never suspected of poisoning O'Donnell.Template:Sfn None of O'Donnell's companions, nor his physicians, suspected foul play;Template:Sfnm at the time, they credited his anguish over the diplomatic situation with causing his death.Template:Sfnm There is no evidence that Blake was successful in his promised assassination;Template:Sfnm when Carew heard of O'Donnell's death, he would have naturally assumed that Blake was responsible.Template:Sfn
Historians dismiss the theory that O'Donnell was poisoned. It is more likely he died of illness.<ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb.</ref> Prior to his death he vomited a worm ten measures long, "a thing unheard of by the doctors and regarded by them as extraordinary".<ref>Template:Harvnb: cites Ludovico Mansoni who clarifies that the worm, initially reported to be 14 measures long, was later measured and found to be 10 measures long; Template:Harvnb.</ref> It was also reported that "a kind of snake or serpent was found within him".Template:Sfnm This could indicate a tapeworm infection<ref>Template:Harvnb. "It is more than likely that Red Hugh was killed by a particularly large and virulent tapeworm..."; Template:Harvnb. "...it is more likely he died of an infection caused by a tapeworm."; Template:Harvnb. "...died of a suspected tapeworm infection..."</ref> or a cancerous tumour.Template:Sfn
End of the Nine Years' WarEdit
With O'Donnell's death, Spanish plans to send further assistance to the confederacy were abandoned. At this time the Spanish court was dominated by the Duke of Lerma who sought peace with England.Template:Sfn The Spanish Council of State ignored O'Donnell's request to withhold notice of his death,Template:Sfn believing that the confederates "should be undeceived, so that they may be able to make the best terms [with the English] they can, bad as the consequences may be".Template:Sfn
Mountjoy sent Rory news of O'Donnell's death and stated that "the war was at an end by his death". Rory convened a council of his advisors. The faction advocating for peace prevailed, though some of Hugh Roe O'Donnell's supporters still refused to believe he was dead. In December, Rory surrendered to Mountjoy at Athlone.Template:Sfn Tyrone went into hiding for several months, but eventually surrendered by signing the Treaty of Mellifont on 30 March 1603, which ended the Nine Years' War.Template:Sfn Furthermore, the Treaty of London in 1604 ended the Anglo-Spanish War.Template:Sfn The historian John McCavitt has stated that "had [O'Donnell] lived... It could have changed the course of Irish history forever."<ref name="HI"/>
LegacyEdit
SuccessionEdit
Following their surrender, Tyrone and Rory were confirmed in their titles and core estates by King James I.Template:Sfn Rory was created hereditary Earl of Tyrconnell and granted most of Tyrconnell's lands, which greatly incensed Niall Garve.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Per the terms of his surrender, Rory was required to give up his Gaelic titles and thus was not traditionally inaugurated as the O'Donnell clan chief.Template:Sfn<ref name="RO" /> Niall Garve had himself inaugurated as clan chief in Kilmacrennan.<ref name="j">Template:Harvnb</ref>
Hugh Roe O'Donnell was the last undisputed chief of the O'Donnell clan.<ref name="fdo">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Rory died of illness in 1608,<ref name="RO" /> and the following year Niall Garve, along with his son Naghtan, was imprisoned in the Tower of London for life for his role in O'Doherty's rebellion.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Rory had only one son, Hugh Albert, Baron of Donegal, who died without issue,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> making the subsequent line of succession unclear.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn Today, branches of the O'Donnell clan which can trace their pedigree to the ruling O'Donnell clan live in Newport, Larkfield and Castlebar, as well as in Spain and Austria.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
HistoriographyEdit
Beatha Aodh Ruadh Ó DomhnaillEdit
Hugh Roe O'Donnell was highly praised by seventeenth-century Irish chroniclers,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> such as Philip O'Sullivan BeareTemplate:Sfn and the Four Masters,Template:Sfn as well as in Irish bardic poetry.Template:Sfn Most notably, the Classical Gaelic biography Beatha Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill (Template:Langx), written between 1616 and 1627 by Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh, is a highly important source about O'Donnell's life and times.<ref name="beathaadapted"/><ref name="oclery"/> It begins with O'Donnell's birth and ends with his death and funeral in Spain.Template:Sfn<ref name="lo">Template:Cite DNB</ref>
Beatha is essentially a eulogy of Hugh Roe O'Donnell, placing him as the central figure of the Nine Years' War and minimising Tyrone's involvement.Template:Sfn Ó Cléirigh was motivated to write the biography when Spanish interest in Ireland was renewed during the Anglo-Spanish War (1625-1630). Ó Cléirigh places O'Donnell at the forefront of the confederacy with the hope that another O'Donnell clansman would retake Ireland.<ref name="HP">Template:Harvnb.</ref> Ó Cléirigh lionises O'Donnell; he claims that Hugh McHugh Dubh submitted willingly to Hugh Roe, when it reality it took O'Donnell beheading followers to obtain a submission.Template:Sfnm Beatha is written in a deliberately archaic style which further venerates O'Donnell.<ref name="oclery"/><ref>Template:Citation</ref> It was typical for Irish scribes to take liberties to gratify their patrons. They frequently omitted details which would be disagreeable to their patrons or scandalous to the Church.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
As a result, Beatha has distorted historical interpretation.Template:Sfnm According to Paul Walsh, "O'Neill, if not eliminated, is certainly reduced in stature... if one were to read only the Life, [one could say] that O'Donnell and O'Neill were of equal importance".Template:Sfn Beatha "is an immense panegyric of a young chief who had just expired in a foreign land, and it cannot be expected to be quite impartial, especially when dealing with Red Hugh's enemies." Ó Cléirigh's portrayal of Niall Garve would have been particularly biased.Template:Sfn
It is possible that Ó Cléirigh attended O'Donnell's inaugurationTemplate:Sfn and participated in O'Donnell's expeditions, and he may have kept notes.Template:Sfn His description of O'Donnell's last days and funeral is based on the recollections of the two friars both named Maurice Ultach. Sections of the Annals of the Four Masters which pertained to O'Donnell's life were adapted from Beatha.<ref name="beathaadapted">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="oclery">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Gaelic RevivalEdit
The dramatic content of O'Donnell's short life, which includes his escape from prison and his early overseas death, has "enabled much mythologising of his life and character".Template:Sfn He is considered an archetypal hero whose personal struggles against Tudor England served as an allegory to represent Ireland's incarceration, escape from British rule and spirit of resistance.<ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb. "[O'Donnell's] personal struggle served as an allegory to explain Ireland's incarceration and escape from imprisoning and oppressive rule."</ref> Seventeenth-century annalists and eighteenth-century Catholic authors in Ireland typically admired O'Donnell over Tyrone.Template:Sfn During the nineteenth-century Gaelic revival, O'Donnell was embraced as a Celtic national hero, to the exclusion of Tyrone, whose "Machiavellian" nature and partially-English cultural identity were viewed as incompatible with Irish nationalism.Template:Sfn
Modern reappraisalEdit
James MacGeoghegan rehabilitated Tyrone's reputation in the eighteenth century.Template:Sfn Twentieth-century historians, such as John Mitchel, Seán Ó FaoláinTemplate:Sfnm and Hiram Morgan,Template:Sfnm restored Tyrone to the status he was formerly afforded by contemporary English commentators, and gave him more prominence as the Irish confederacy's leader.Template:Sfn In most modern depictions of the Nine Years' War, O'Donnell is portrayed as the junior partner and thus his reputation has been overshadowed by Tyrone's.<ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb.</ref>
The Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill Guild was formed in 1977 to seek O'Donnell's cause for canonization as a saint of the Catholic Church.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The historian James Kelly states that, in opposition to the image of O'Donnell as a Catholic martyr, "it can be argued [that] O'Donnell was first and foremost a traditional Gaelic chieftain intent on affirming the regional authority of his clan and the dynastic aspirations of his immediate family... it was the threat posed by the expanding presence of the English Crown that constituted the major threat to Red Hugh's ambitions".Template:Sfn Morgan considers O'Donnell to be "too Catholic and too violent for today's Ireland",Template:Sfn and also calls O'Donnell "a counter-reformation Irish dynast living in the world of Machiavelli's Prince rather than the cattle-raid of Cooley".<ref name="HP" />
CommemorationEdit
Ballyshannon Castle, Hugh Roe O'Donnell's key residence, was demolished in 1720.<ref name="CD">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Donegal Castle was granted to Sir Basil Brooke in 1616. It was eventually restored in the 1990s<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and it is now open to the public as a tourist attraction.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> O'Donnell's birthday has been celebrated in County Donegal.<ref name="HB">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="FR">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":4">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
A large cross in honour of Art MacShane O'Neill stands near the site of his death and burial in the Wicklow Mountains.<ref name="irishexaminer.com" />Template:Sfn Since 1954<ref name="FMcN">Template:Cite news</ref> (and as an official event since 2006),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> O'Donnell and Art MacShane's escape is commemorated each January in the Art O'Neill Challenge, an ultramarathon endurance event in which participants retrace the same 55km journey from Dublin to Glenmalure on foot.Template:Sfn<ref name="irishexaminer.com" />
A sculpture by Maurice Harron, titled The Gaelic Chieftain, was unveiled in 1999 near Boyle. Overlooking the N4, the sculpture depicts O'Donnell on horseback and commemorates his victory at the battle of Curlew Pass.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>
O'Donnell's will became lost for a period, but in 1983 it was discovered by Donegal priest John J. Silke in the archives of Simancas.Template:Sfn In 1991, a commemorative plaque was erected at the Castle of Simancas.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As of 2023, plans are afoot to erect statues of O'Donnell in both Lifford and Simancas.<ref name="HB" /> It has also been proposed that the two towns be twinned.<ref name=":4" /> The proposed twinning was passed by the Donegal County Council in March 2024, and as of April is yet to be validated by Simancas.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Following an unsuccessful dig for O'Donnell's remains, Valladolid has reenacted O'Donnell's funeral procession in 2022, 2023<ref name="FR" /> and 2024, on the instigation of chairman of the Hispano-Irish Society, Carlos Burgos.<ref name="honours">Template:Cite news</ref> The reenactors wear period costumes and carry an empty casket draped with an Irish tricolour.<ref name="FR" /><ref name="honours" /> It is based on historical records of the real procession.<ref name="HS" />
Search for remainsEdit
Template:Quote boxThe Convent of St. Francis was later secularised and O'Donnell's body was disinterred; its current location is unknown.<ref>Template:Harvnb.</ref> The Chapel of Wonders was sold and destroyed in 1836 during a wave of monastic expropriations, and its exact location was lost.Template:Sfnm In 2019, Donegal man and retired soldier Brendan Rohan visited Valladolid and persuaded city authorities to conduct a dig for O'Donnell's grave.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="flanagan2020">Template:Cite news</ref> The following year, a week-long excavation of Valladolid's Constitution Street revealed the walls of what was believed to be the Chapel of Wonders underneath a four-storey building.Template:Sfn<ref name="flanagan2020"/> On 22 May 2020, archaeologists began a dig inside the chapel's remains.Template:Sfn
A number of modern descendants of O'Donnell's kin were "lined up for DNA tests" to confirm O'Donnell's identity if his remains were found.Template:Sfn There was call for repatriation of O'Donnell's remains if discovered,<ref name="CD" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> even though O'Donnell himself asked to be buried in the Convent of St. Francis in his will.Template:Sfn It was hoped his skeleton would be easy to identify due to his two missing big toes.<ref name="NA" /><ref name="FR" /> However many of the skeletons discovered were in a state of decay and did not have any existing feet.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Eventually twenty skeletons were discovered during the dig,<ref name="SC" /><ref name="FR" /><ref name="NA" /> though DNA testing showed they were from an earlier period.<ref name="NA" /><ref name="HS" /> The site has been used for burials for hundreds of years, making O'Donnell's discovery near-impossible.Template:Sfn
In March 2021, archaeologists believed the Chapel of Wonders extended further beneath the dig site, and went into negotiations to resume the excavation.<ref name="SC">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The search ended in October 2021.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> By September 2022, McCavitt had come across an inscription on an early 17th-century tombstone about O'Donnell. According to McCavitt, if O'Donnell's burial place still exists, it would have been marked by such a gravestone.<ref name="HI" />
As of 2024, O'Donnell's grave has not been discovered, though the media attention garnered by the dig has promoted Hispano-Irish relations.Template:Sfn<ref name="honours"/><ref name="HS">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The dig was spearheaded by the local Hispanic-Irish Association.<ref name="NA" /> As of October 2023, the investigation is not closed.<ref name="HS" /> If discovered intact, O'Donnell's remains may provide insight into his health, nutrition and diet.<ref name="GR">Template:Cite news</ref> Tests may also determine his specific cause of death.Template:Sfn
CharacterEdit
PersonalityEdit
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
[O'Donnell's] voice was musical. In action he was quick and decisive. He loved justice and was stern with evildoers. He was resolute, faithful to his word and steadfast in time of trial. Maintaining a rigorous military discipline, he led by example in battle. To all he was courteous and affable. He was not married. He was gracious, without pretension.{{#if:Fr. Donagh O'MooneyTemplate:Efn|{{#if:|}}
— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries}}
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Described as "fiery and flamboyant",<ref name="tudor">Template:Cite book</ref> Hugh Roe O'Donnell was a highly charismatic individual.<ref>Template:Harvnb. "...the charisma of O'Donnell..."; Template:Harvnb</ref> 17th-century sources opined on his great powers of command, and stated that the look of amiability on his face captivated onlookers.Template:Sfn He also had an aggressive and bellicose personality and could not always control his impulses.<ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb, pp. 6, 12.</ref> As Edward Alfred D'Alton put it, "the ordinary Irish chief... boasted much, and talked much, and did little, and... heedlessly rushed into war without estimating his difficulties or his resources".<ref name="DAlton">Template:Cite book</ref>
In his youth, a bardic poet claimed that O'Donnell was arrogant and in need of maturity.Template:Sfn Thomas Lee warned the government that because of O'Donnell's youth, he could become radicalised by his imprisonment.Template:Sfnm Indeed, O'Donnell's four years in prison instilled within him a profound anti-English stanceTemplate:Sfnm which shaped his aggressive military approach.Template:Sfnm The bardic poet Maolmuire mac Con Uladh Mic an Bhaird addressed a composition to O'Donnell in 1590, urging O'Donnell to "show fortitude in his adversity", but also indicating that the period in prison would lead O'Donnell to cultivate the discipline and solemnity "appropriate to kingship".Template:Sfn Particularly because he had not committed any offence, O'Donnell saw his imprisonment as unjust and villainising. His distrust of English people affected the 1596 peace talks,Template:Sfn and is why he was more committed to an alliance with Spain than Tyrone was.Template:Sfn O'Donnell's insolence was remarked on by English officials, who described him as the "firebrand of all the rebels".Template:Sfn McGettigan notes that O'Donnell was "only anti-English on a political level", as he willingly purchased English goods and firearms for his own purposes.Template:Sfn Jane Ohlmeyer describes O'Donnell as "a wily negotiator, an effective and pragmatic power broker, and a brave soldier".<ref name="GR" />
Personal relationshipsEdit
Morwenna Donnelly notes that it is unusual that O'Donnell had no further marriages after his divorce from Rose. Excluding his rejected proposal to Joan FitzGerald, he appeared uninterested in securing an heir. Despite his desirable status as a prominent and powerful lord, O'Donnell had no known mistresses or illegitimate children.Template:Sfn This is in stark contrast to Tyrone, who had four wives, many concubines and various children.Template:Sfn Donnelly suggests that O'Donnell remained single because he coveted Donnell Gorm's wife, Honora MacSweeney na dTuath (daughter of O'Donnell's foster-father).Template:Sfn Another explanation for O'Donnell's celibacy comes from the Franciscan Donagh O'Mooney, who stated that O'Donnell sought to join the Franciscan clergy if he survived the war. O'Mooney also stated that O'Donnell was "not married", possibly in keeping with clerical celibacy.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn As the war progressed, O'Donnell came under the influence of Franciscan Archbishop Conroy.Template:Sfn
Partnership with TyroneEdit
Historians have debated on whether O'Donnell or his father-in-law held a more influential position within the confederacy in its early years.Template:Efn Many of Tyrone's contemporaries who knew Tyrone, such as John Perrot, considered O'Donnell to be the junior partner in the confederacy.Template:Sfn In 1596, O'Donnell described Tyrone as his senior.Template:Sfn In 1596, a list of the confederates drawn up by Alonso Cobos' secretary was altered to place Tyrone's name above O'Donnell's.Template:Sfn By 1599, O'Donnell saw his partnership with Tyrone as one of two equals, as evident from their treaty of equality.Template:Sfn
O'Donnell and Tyrone had contrasting temperaments, which often caused disputes over military tactics.Template:Sfn In contrast to Tyrone, who was known for bribing or elaborately bluffing his way out of trouble,Template:Sfn O'Donnell was uncompromising and preferred military solutions over negotiations.Template:Sfnm Tyrone attempted to restrain O'Donnell from openly attacking English forces in the early stages of the war.Template:Sfn O'Donnell's absence from the Battle of Beleek (per Tyrone's request) suggests that Tyrone had a level of control over his son-in-law.Template:Sfn English Privy Councillor Geoffrey Fenton stated that Tyrone could "command and rule" O'Donnell at will.<ref>Template:Harvnb. fn. 46.</ref> That being said, Canny and Silke suggest that Tyrone's failure to manage O'Donnell led to the former's decision to reluctantly go into open rebellion.Template:Sfnm
By 1596, the pair had developed a sophisticated double-actTemplate:Sfn as O'Donnell played the "bad cop" to Tyrone's "good cop" during their negotiations with the government. They used the absence of one of them to delay and stall further negotiations.Template:Sfn Spanish emissaries noted that the pair "acted like one man and were respected by the rest".Template:Sfn Throughout the war the two leaders got on remarkably well,Template:Sfnm and O'Donnell probably learned the virtue of patience from his father-in-law.<ref>Template:Harvnb. "...in alliance with the more patient Hugh O'Neill had to learn to bide his time." Template:Harvnb. "Red Hugh showed himself to be very willing to learn from Hugh O'Neill, especially in military matters..."</ref> Their partnership was under heavy strain by the war's end,<ref name="OA" /> and it is possible that their differences in temperament led to the disastrous failure at Kinsale.Template:Sfn O'Donnell warned against Tyrone violating their agreements after his death: "in case the Earl O'Neill (though I know and believe he will not do so) should wish to violate the agreement and settlements arranged and made between him and me and our heirs, I hereby beg his Majesty to uphold my brother [Rory] in his rights and to retain him in his service".Template:Sfn
The age difference between the two men may have been a source of conflict; Tyrone was O'Donnell's senior by 22 years.Template:Sfn Unlike Tyrone, who was raised in the Pale and had received generous assistance from the government during his early years in Ulster, O'Donnell had a traditional Gaelic upbringing and associated the government with his time in captivity.Template:Sfnm
GeneralshipEdit
Tyrone and O'Donnell's military approaches were representative of their personalities.Template:Sfn Tyrone typically won out in arguments over military strategy, though not always.Template:Sfn Donnelly and Lucius Emerson argued that O'Donnell's success early in the war indicate a leader wise beyond his years.<ref>Template:Harvnb.</ref> Donnelly stated that "any statement of Red Hugh which seeks to imply that a dynamic temperament was not under control of a keen and realistic mind, is a superficial one. Within eighteen months, young and totally inexperienced, he had radically changed the situation in West Ulster; what he effected could only have been accomplished by a highly disciplined man with balanced judgment".<ref>Template:Harvnb. Cites Template:Cite journal</ref> O'Donnell's notes on the Battle of Moyry Pass show that he could develop complex battle plans, as he stated that it was better to attack Mountjoy's forces when they were deep in Irish territory, away from reinforcements, and in poor weather.Template:Sfn
McGettigan praises O'Donnell's leadership abilities and vision,Template:Sfn but McCavitt notes that his failure to foresee Niall Garve's betrayal displays clear flaws in his foresight.Template:Sfn The pitfalls of O'Donnell's aggressive approach are evident—he lost over 100 confederate soldiers in an ill-fated 1598 assault on the Blackwater Fort,Template:Sfn and his poor foresight may have led to the defeat at Kinsale.Template:Sfn Morgan states that credit for the victory at Curlew Pass should go to O'Rourke and McDermot rather than O'Donnell. He describes O'Donnell as a "gung-ho leader" whose military successes were limited.Template:Sfn
Physical appearanceEdit
There are no surviving portraits or visual representations of Hugh Roe O'Donnell made in his lifetime.<ref name="GR" /> Donagh O'Mooney described him as "above middle height, strong, handsome, well-built and of pleasing appearance".Template:Sfn He presumably had red hair,<ref name="hair">Template:Harvnb "Roe, i.e., Ruadh, from the colour of his complexion or hair."; Template:Harvnb</ref> as adjectives such as ruadh (Irish for red) were commonly employed in Irish names to refer to hair colour. This epithet would have differentiated him from kinsmen also named "Hugh O'Donnell".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> After losing his big toes to frostbite, Hugh Roe O'Donnell would have hobbled around or travelled on horseback for the rest of his life.Template:Sfn If discovered intact, O'Donnell's skeleton would reveal his stature and height, and technology might allow researchers to recreate his facial features.<ref name="GR" />
Although O'Donnell was fiercely patriotic, he had no aversion to foreign dress. He was described in 1601 as wearing English clothing and even going to mass in a "fine English gown".Template:Sfnm Historian Francis Martin O'Donnell suggests that Hugh Roe O'Donnell dressed in Spanish clothing, as his grandfather Manus was known for preferring continental fashion over traditional Gaelic clothing.<ref name="2020c"/>
AncestryEdit
In popular cultureEdit
PoetryEdit
- In his 1861 poem Eirinn a' Gul ("Ireland Weeping"), Scottish Gaelic poet William Livingston laments the loss of the heroism displayed by O'Donnell, Tyrone and Maguire.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- James Clarence Mangan's poem Ceann Salla dramatises O'Donnell's last words on his deathbed.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Thomas MacGreevy's 20th-century poem Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill describes a search for O'Donnell's grave.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
MusicEdit
- Róisín Dubh, which is one of Ireland's most popular political songs,<ref name="q"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> is addressed in O'Donnell's voice to his wife Rose.<ref name="mangan" /> The song is reputed to have originated in the rebel encampments during the Nine Years War,<ref>Template:Cite wikisource "Róisín Dubh, meaning "Dark Little Rose", written in the 16th to 19th century, is one of Ireland's most famous political songs. It is based on an older love-lyric in which the title referred to the poet's beloved rather than, as here, being a pseudonym for Ireland. The intimate tone of the original carries over into the political song. The song, the Roisin Dubh, is reputed to have originated in the camps of Red Hugh O'Donnell."</ref> and has also been attributed to a Tyrconnellian poet under O'Donnell's reign.<ref name="mangan">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Conversely, music scholar Donal O'Sullivan claims there is no evidence it was composed that early.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The most popular version of Róisín Dubh was adapted by James Clarence Mangan from a fragmentation of an existing romantic poem to Rose.<ref name="q">Template:Cite journal</ref> Although superficially a love song, it has been described as a patriotic song that covertly hides its nationalism via allegory.<ref name="mangan"/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- In 1843, the Young Irelander Michael Joseph MacCann wrote the song O'Donnell Abú in tribute to O'Donnell, drawing on the tradition of romantic nationalism which was popular during the era.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- Hugh Roe O'Donnell is the subject of the Irish ballad If These Stones Could Speak, as featured on the Phil Coulter album Highland Cathedral.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- For Seville Expo '92, composer Bill Whelan composed The Seville Suite to commemorate the 390th anniversary of O'Donnell's arrival in Galicia. The suite was commissioned by the Taoiseach's office and was performed by a 50-piece orchestra at the Teatro de la Maestranza on 4 October 1992.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
NovelsEdit
Novels based on O'Donnell's life (particularly centred on his escape from Dublin Castle) include:
- O'Donel of Destiny (1939) by Mary Kiely<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Red Hugh, Prince of Donegal (1957) by Robert T Reilly<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Red Hugh: The Kidnap of Hugh O'Donnell (1999) by Deborah Lisson<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
FilmEdit
- Hugh O'Donnell was portrayed by English actor Peter McEnery in the 1966 Disney adventure film The Fighting Prince of Donegal, which was based on Robert T Reilly's 1957 book Red Hugh, Prince of Donegal.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
TheatreEdit
- On 15 August 1902 in Kilkenny, Captain Otway Cuffe staged a single performance of a masque (titled Hugh Roe O'Donnell) recounting O'Donnell's kidnapping, escape and inauguration. The masque was authored by Standish James O'Grady, produced by Francis Joseph Bigger, and performed by the Neophytes, a north Belfast theatre troupe. It was well-received and formed part of the Gaelic revival movement.Template:Sfn
- O'Donnell is a major character in Brian Friel's 1989 play Making History, which focuses on Tyrone reckoning with his own legacy.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Sfn According to historian Jane Ohlmeyer, "Friel portrayed the youthful Red Hugh as fiery, headstrong, quick-witted, passionate, committed to Catholicism, and to the preservation of the values, language, and culture of the Gaelic world into which he had been born and reared."<ref name="GR" /> In its original production by Field Day, O'Donnell was played by Peter Gowen.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
OtherEdit
- Several Gaelic sports clubs in County Donegal are named after Red Hugh O'Donnell, such as Aodh Ruadh CLG in Ballyshannon<ref name="history">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Red Hughs GAA Club in Killygordon.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
CitationsEdit
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Further readingEdit
Primary sourcesEdit
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- Calendar of the State Papers relating to Ireland. Full scans at Internet Archive: 1586 – 1588, July; 1588, August – 1592, September; 1592, October – 1596, June; 1596, July – 1597, December; 1598, January – 1599, March; 1599, April – 1600, February; 1600, March – October; 1 November, 1600 – 31 July, 1601; 1601-3
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See alsoEdit
- O'Donnell dynasty
- Irish kings
- Tyrconnell
- County Donegal
- Kings of Tir Connaill
- Early Modern Ireland 1536-1691
- Nine Years' War (Ireland)
External linksEdit
- The Life of Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill, transcribed from the Book of Lughaidh Ó Clérigh
- The Hugh O'Donnell Guild
- The O'Donnell Coat of Arms and Family History
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