1567 - 1570 AD
1567 AD
Sir Henry Sidney
the English Lord Deputy in Ireland
for
Elizabeth 1st the
Welsh Tudor
English
Queen
and Cecil her Chancellor in
England,
wanted to bring in
English Shires in all
of the
Ulster
Province, so
Elizabeth 1st
to ensure that they would have no opposition put
out a reward
for
125.Shane O Niall / The O Niaill's
head
in
Ulster
and decreed that the The
O Niaill
name
should be obliterated
from
Ireland altogether,
and the English authorities in the
Dublin Castle
(The Devil's 1/2 Acre) then brought in
hired
assassins
from
Scotland
to murder him.
In the Spring,
125.Shane O Niall
was to
realise that now more then ever he needed to reassert his overall position in
the whole of the
Ulster Province
to take on the coming English onslaught,
and
to
this end he
gathered up his
Heremonian
Dal Cuinn
Cenel nEogain
warriors and his Heremonian
Dal Cuinn
Colla Mac Uais
Mac Donnell
galloglasses to ensure compliance from his kinsmen, the
Heremonian
Dal Cuinn Cenel Conaill
O Donnells
in the west
of
Ulster.
Upon arriving at
Farsetmore,
which was a low sandy ford across the River Swilly that crossed over into the
O
Donnell's
Tir
Conaill / Tyrconnell Co. Donegal
territory, both of these
Heremonian Dal
Cuinn
"northern"
Ui
Niaill
forces met head on,
with
the
O Donnells
able
to push
125.Shane
O
Niaill's
forces
back onto the surrounding boggy ground. The
O
Donnells
were then to be reinforced by their own personal galloglasses, the
Mac
Sweeneys,
and they were then able to counter attack the
O Nialls,
and during the ferocious battle that was to last for quite a long time, many on
both sides were killed, which once again only suited the English purpose.
125.Shane
O Niall
was by
now really feeling the pressure so he decided to
make a hasty retreat back across the River Swilly,
with his
Cenel
nEogain
followers, but the river had since risen in height and this meant also that many of his men were
to be drowned, and fully
realising that he had now lost his previous position in the scheme of things he decided to seek sanctuary with his
previous supporters the
Heremonian
Dal Cuinn
Colla Uais
Mac
Donnells,
and he then returned to their territory in
Co. Antrim in
the north - east of
Ulster,
but fighting also soon broke out there, as the
Mac
Donnells
were to be stirred on now by William Piers an English officer to suite the
English agenda.
125.Shane
O Niall
and his
followers were then cut to pieces in
North
Clann Atha Buidhe
/ Clannaboye
territory
near
Cushendun
and after
4 days, William Piers dug up
125.Shane O Niall's
body and cut off his head, pickled it and took it down to
Dublin Castle
were he
presented it
to
Sir Henry Sidney
125.Shane O Niall
/
The O Niaill
was to leave behind
the young
126.Henry
O Niall,
(whose mother was
Catherine
Mac Lean),
who would later be imprisoned in the
Dublin Castle
(The Devil's 1/2 Acre) from where he would escape with the young
Aed Ruadh
/ Red Hugh
O Donnell
in
1592 AD who was also imprisoned at that time by the English authorities who would be holding them as hostages
there for years,
but unfortunately.
126.Henry O Niall
would die in 1622 AD and
126.Aed
Gavelach
O Niall,
his brother, who was a son
also of
Catherine Mac Lean,
would be
executed
by the
English in 1590 AD,
while another brother,
126.Art O
Niall,
also from
Catherine Mac Lean, was to
die soon after
while escaping with
the young
Aed Ruadh
/ Red Hugh
O Donnell
in 1592
AD from Dublin Castle,
and l
The English authorities in the
Dublin
Castle
(The Devil's 1/2 Acre) acting on the instructions of
Elizabeth 1st
the
Welsh Tudor
English Queen confiscated
3 of the
Counties in the
Ulster Province
intending to bring in foreign English non - Catholic Episcopalian
"planters" to
occupy their land instead, and
they were also to support
125.Turlough
Luineach
O Niall,
who was 125.Shane O Niall's cousin,
to now become their "puppet "as
The O Niaill,
but despite this
appointment
he too was to also come under suspicion by the English, after he married
Agnes
Campbell,
the daughter of the
Scottish - Irish
Earl of
Argyll,
who also
gave him
2,000 mercenaries
from the Hebrides as a dowry,
but despite this
125.Turlough Luineach O Niall was basically seen by the Irish Septs in the UIster Province as an English lackey, while the most probable main contender and future standout for the Heremonian Dal Cuinn Cenel nEogain O Nialls would now be the young 126.Aed Dubh / Black Hugh O Niall, who was the son of 125.Fearadorach O Niall who had been the oldest son of 124.Conn Bacach O Niaill, who had also been The O Niaill, and the father also of 125.Shane O Niall, but he had previously accepted the position as the first English Earl of Tyrone, which had upset the Cenel nEogain Septs. 126.Aed Dubh / Black Hugh O Niall's initial commitment had been also to the English cause, due to his controlled upbringing of previously being groomed in England for an English purpose in Ireland, and because of this he would become the English Baron of Dungannon in the Ulster Province as he had already proven his commitment to the English cause in the Munster Province and in Ulster and because of this he too would also be appointed by Elizabeth 1st the Welsh Tudor English Queen not only the English third Earl of Dungannon but also the second English Earl of Tyrone to eventually do away with the Irish title of The O Niall. Despite his strong English imposed upbringing he was to eventually become aware of what was really going on in Ireland and also realise his true Gaelic heritage and was to eventually also become The O Niall in his own right, and therefore the leader of the final Gaelic stand against Elizabeth 1st and her devestating ongoing ethnic and religious persecution in Ireland.
The
Fitz Geralds
who were
the
Anglo
- Norman
/ Old English Earls of Desmond
/
Southern Munster
had
continued to control their particular region in the
Munster Province from
Dungarvon to
Co. Kerry, Co. Limerick
to
Co. Cork,
for the English monarchy, but
by now due to the persistent onslaught of the
Tudors
they were now only a
Junior
branch of the
Geraldines
while the
Fitz Geralds who were the
Anglo
- Norman
/ Old English
Earls of Kildare
who were their kinsmen had
previously become the
Senior
branch, who had then ruled for the English monarchy over the most powerful
Irish
Septs, the
Heberian Eoghanacht
Chaisil Mac Carthys and
O Sullivans
in
Southern
Munster.
(The
anglo - Norman
Fitz Geralds were usually up against the
Butlers
the Anglo - Norman English Earls of Ormonde, who were always reared
in England for an English "purpose" and because of this were fully committed to the English monarchy).
The English
authorities in the
Dublin Castle
(The Devil's 1/2 Acre) who were
controlling
Ireland
for
Elizabeth
1st
were by this period in time
exchanging pardons
for sacks filled with
Irish
heads,
and
they
also introduced their
State Conformity Act
for the Episcopalian Church of
England / Ireland where
the
Irish
population
must
conform to
the English Episcopalian Church or else. John Fitz
Gerald
who was now the
Catholic Anglo
- Norman
/ Old English Earl
of Desmond
was to refuse to conform, so
Elizabeth 1st
sent more
English Militia
to
Ireland
to carve out further confiscated Estates for themselves,
and the
Irish
and Anglo - Norman
/ Old English
naturally
rebelled
against this further imposition also. This then forced both the
Butlers the Anglo - Norman English Earls of
Ormonde
and the
Geraldines
of
Kildare
and
Desmond
to
combine briefly against these
particular foreign English military attacks and the imposition of further land confiscations
against them also, and
1568 AD
126.Aed
Dubh
/ Black Hugh
O Niall
who was from the Heremonian Dal Cuinn
"northern"
Ui Niaill
Cenel nEogain
Sept,
and a son
of
125.Fearadorach
O Niall,
the illegitimate older son
of
124.Conn
Bacach O Niall
who had also previously been
The O Niall
and
the
first English appointed Earl of
Tyrone
in the
Ulster Province,
returned to
Ireland
from England to carry out the policies of
Elizabeth 1st
in
Ireland, and his father,
125.Fearadorach O Niall
had been previously killed by his younger half - brother,
125.Shane O Niall
/
The O Niall
who had been
the legitimate
Prince
/ Tanaiste
/ heir apparent of the
Cenel
nEogain
under the
Irish
Brehon Law.
126.Aed Dubh
/ Black Hugh
O Niall who
had been
born at
Dungannon
in the
Ulster Province,
had been taken as a child and reared in
England by the English Earl of Leicester for an "English purpose" and he was now officially
the
English
Baron of
Dungannon,
and would also in time
be appointed the
second English Earl of
Tyrone, as
he was at first to loyally serve
the English cause in
Ireland
against the beleaguered
Irish
Septs
in the
Munster
Province
and
also in
Co. Monaghan
in Ulster.
Because of this
early English influence, at this time
he was disturbed that the
Irish
population
were not following the English ways,
but from now on he
was to hold control over the
Heremonian Dal Cuinn Cenel nEogain
"northern" Ui Niaill
territories in the
Ulster
Province
for
40 years, together with his kinsman from the other
Heremonian
Dal Cuinn
"northern"
Ui Niaill
Sept
in the "aged"
Aed
O Donnell
who was also now the English appointed
first Earl of
Tyrconnell
/
Tir Connell,
(The Land of
91.Conall Gulban.)
by negotiation and war. Elizabeth 1st
the Welsh Tudor
English Queen and her English authorities in the
Dublin Castle
(The Devl's 1/2 Acre.) were now certain that they had firmly entrenched their English
reared "puppets" in
Ulster, who would toe the English line
The
"Book of Kells,
"The Most Beautiful Book in
the World," at this time was in the custody of
Gerald Plunkett
/
Pluinceid, who acted as a harbour master in
Dublin
in the north - east
of
Southern
Leinster,
1569
AD The
Catholic English Lords
in the north of
England
were
this year once again "crushed" after a
rebellion there against the ongoing sectarian oppression
also being carried out there by the
English Earl of Sussex under the direction of
Elizabeth
1st the Welsh Tudor
English Queen,
and the
Episcopalian
Ascendancy in England was also in
conflict with the Catholic populations in
Europe, with 1 in 14 still remaing Catholic there in
England regardless of what was
being done to them also there, but despite this further setback in
England, the
Irish
Catholic rebellion was to still continue on in
Ireland
against her ongoing ethnic and sectarian oppression, which
she was to continually impose on the whole of the
Irish
population with a vengeance.
Turlough O Brian
the
Catholic
Bishop
of
Killaloe
in
Co. Clare in
the north - west
of the
Munster Province,
died this year,
and
Elizabeth 1st's
English authorities in the
Dublin Castle
(The Devil's 1/2 Acre) took this opportunity to appoint one of their
previous supporters, a son of
Mac
O Brian of
Ara to the post, who became the
first Church of England / Ireland
Episcopalian Bishop in
West
Thomond
/ West
Northern Munster.
1570 AD Elizabeth 1st, now "officially" appointed Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir Walter Raleigh's older half - brother, the English Military commander in the Munster Province, and he began his campaign by cutting off the heads of the various members of the Irish Septs and placing them along both sides of the road leading up to his camp, to the disgust of Sir James Croffs who was Elizabeth 1st's Deputy, who attacked him for "his savagery to ploughmen, babes in cradles and the decrepit aged." (As a reward for these inhumane actions on her behalf in Ireland Elizabeth 1st was to reward Humphrey Gilbert with a knighthood). She then appointed Sir Henry Sidney as the English President in the Munster Province to take it over with English Military force, together with the Leinster Province and the Connacht Province by outright "bloody murder" and "total massacre." To this end he attacked the towns of Cork, Kinsale, Youghal and Kilmallock and the Irish population in Munster who were by now pushed to the very limit, until eventually they could not take any more of this ongoing English brutality and they naturally revolted against this ferocious never - ending inhumane oppression, as these particular towns were to be defended by the Irish Septs under The Mac Carthy Mor the Heberian Eoghanacht Chaisil Lord of Muskerry and also James Fitz Maurice Fitz Gerald, a cousin of Gerald Fitz Gerald the Anglo - Norman 14th English Earl of Desmond who Elizabeth 1st had also put in the Tower of London for his failure to suppress the Celtic Gaelic way of life and also pay her what she saw as her officially sanctioned dues. The Mac Carthy Mor was also the previously appointed first English Earl of Clan Carty and the English appointed Baron of Blarney who had rebuilt the Blarney Castle, and this particular "revolt" was to become known as the 1st Desmond Revolt.
James Fitz aurice
Fitz Gerald,
had
stepped in to
take Gerald Fitz Gerald's place as the leader of the
Irish
defence,
with kerns (foot soldiers) and
galloglasses / mercenaries,
and although he was
to be
defeated
he was able to repeatedly escape the clutchers of
Elizabeth 1st
the
Welsh
Tudor
English Queen, who
then had an
English Act passed
making all of the
Irish Septs'
territories in
Ireland
into
English Shire Land,
whereby the
Irish Chiefs
also lost all
of the agreements previously made with their previous
English oppressors, and she also abolished the
Irish Brehon Law
again, and all of the
Irish Septs
under
English Law "officially" became
"Irish Rebels
and Outlaws"
if
they resisted any of the
English
imposed Legislation,
which was backed up by English Military forces that removed
2,000 years of Celtic
possession of Ireland
by the Celtic
Irish
Septs.
To ensure
the success of this English legislation it was also to be enforced by
torturers and
hangmen
who were always
supported by their
English Militia,
and all of the
Irish Septs
whether they were sick or old, women or children, scholars or bards, were now
branded as
"Irish
Rebels."
All
Irish
Books and
genealogies
were burnt,
"So
that no Irishman was ever to know his Grandfather."
This aspect of this particular ongoing English oppression was to be instigated
for
70 years,
as one piece of
the
Irish Septs'
territory after another was taken from any of those
Irish
Septs
who were to try to resist by defending their homes, and
it was
even continued on with abandon throughout the
cold
Irish
Winters. All of the
Cistercian
monks were
also
driven out
of
Ireland
with
such cruelty and ferocity that they would not return until 1832 AD, which would
be over
260 years
later on. Under
Elizabeth 1st' s
"Slash and Burn" policy the
Munster Province was to be
also totally destroyed,
while the
English
authorities in the
Dublin Castle
(The Devil's 1/2f Acre) continued to exchange
sacks full of
Irish
heads for pardons,
while
the undergrowth grew
thicker and
thicker and the
Irish and
Anglo -
Norman
/ Old English slowly
starved to death.
(In desperation Sir
Edmund Fitz Gerald
also besieged
Wexford
in
Co. Wexford
in the south - east of
Southern
Leinster,
as he was a
fully
committed
non - conformist to the Church of England also).
To ensure the English success of their further encroaching agenda of
confiscations in the
Ulster Province
125.Shane
O Niall
/ The O Niall
was now Attainted by
Elizabeth 1st
the
Welsh
Tudor English Queen, and the combined
territories that actually belonged under the
Irish Brehon Law
to the
combined
Heremonian
Dal Cuinn
"northern"
Ui Niaill
Cenel nEogain
Septs
was now also
confiscated there,
but despite this, and the removal of the
Irish Septs
from there,
her intended "foreign" English Ascendancy non - Catholic Episcopalian "plantations" in the north - east of
Ulster
were not to succeed.
February: Sir Edward Fitton, who was Elizabeth 1st's appointed English President in the Connacht Province, declared that an English Assizes was to be held at Ennis in Co. Clare in the north - west of the Munster Province, and 122.Teague O Brien, (the son of 121.Murrough - the Tanaiste O Brian who had previously been the first English Baron of Inchiquin), was now appointed the first English Sheriff of Co. Clare, and he arranged for an English Assizes to be held in what had been the Franciscan monastery there, and 123.Conor O Brien the third English appointed Earl of Thomond, (who was a son of the deceased 122.Donough - the Fat O Brien) did not turn up. On the third day of the Assizes, Sir Edward Fitton endeavouring to assert his English authority over the Irish Septs in Co. Clare sent a detachment of English Military cavalry to bring him in from Clare Castle, which was only 2 miles away, but once the cavalry were inside his stronghold there 123.Conor O Brien took them all prisoner and also killed those who were still outside. On hearing what had occurred Sir Edward Fitton fearing for his own life now headed north to the safety of the English stronghold in the City of Galway in Co. Galway in Southern Connacht with 123.Conor O Brien in hot pursuit, but he was able to make it to the safety of the Gort Castle across the north border from Co. Clare. A large English Military force was then sent to West Thomond to bring 123.Connor O Brian to heel led by his kinsman, Butler the Anglo - Norman English Earl of Ormonde, and their personal relationship on this occassion allowed them to peaceably discuss the issue, and it was decided that it would be better for 123.Conor O Brien to disappear and go into exile to France for a while, and this allowed Elizabeth 1st to once again confiscate all of the Heberian Dal gCais territory also in Co. Clare, that was previously under his control.
Donnell Mac Brody from the Heberian Eoghanacht Chaisil Sept who were famous historians and poets in the Munster Province was to write a poem commemorating the actions of James Fitz Maurice Fitz Gerald of Desmond against the physical oppression and brutality of Elizabeth 1st.
The notorious Myler / Mael Muire Magrath, who had conformed to suite his own personal financial position in life, was appointed the first Church of England / Ireland Episcopalian Bishop of Clogher in Co. Tyrone in Central Ulster. (This was where the Irish Princes of Ergalia had, had their fortress in ancient times.)
Captain Brown
constructed
a castle near
Nendrum
on
Mahee Island off
of
Co. Down
in south - east
Ulster to resist the
Irish
Septs
there.