RAINBOW FARMS AUSTRALIA                                            

                                                                                                                                                                                      1642 AD  

1642 AD The English Civil War in England meant that loyalties were also divided in Ireland, as to who was supporting who, either the Puritan Ascendancy Parliament now set up in England or Charles 1st the English King's Royalists such as James Butler the twelfth English Earl of Ormonde who was acting as his English Lieutenant in Ireland, while the two "survivors," who were supposed to be Charles 1st's Royalist Lord Justices in Ireland, were in reality now acting in the interests of the Puritan Parliament in England as was General Robert Munroe in Scotland.The towns of Derry in the north - west of the Ulster Province and Enniskillen in the south - west also there now became refuges for the previously introduced foreign Ascendancy Church of England and Lowland Presbyterian "planters" from the long time build up of repressed anger and frustration of the surviving Irish Septs who had previously been totally oppressed, but were still hanging in there after they had forcibly been removed from their individual territories there and driven above the 600' level to starve to death by the English Militia of Henry V111, Elizabeth 1st, James 1st and Charles 1stand a terrible massacre was soon to occur at the Gobbins, involving  the Irish Ulster Catholics and the Lowland Presbyterians "planters."

    The Irish Confederacy, that now combined both the common interests of the Catholic Mere Irish and the Catholic Anglo - Irish / Old English in Kilkenny City in Co. Kilkenny in the south - west of Southern Leinster were now to establish an Irish Provisional Government also in Ireland, with Kilkenny City as its base, and would continue to remain in Session there for 6 years until 1648 AD.

    Charles 1st the second Stuart English King was still trying to survive in England, and as a true "survivor" he gave into the English Puritan Parliament once again, by giving his assent to the Adventures Act for the sale of vast tracts of confiscated land in Ireland, which was in reality only a guise by them to gain extra finances to eventually use to fight against the Royalist forces of Charles 1st himself and bring about his ultimate demise and overall Puritan supremacy.

February: The Irish Confederacy forces were by now in control of the greater part of Ireland, and they continued on with their siege against the English stronghold at Drogheda in Co. Louth in the north - east of Northern Leinster, but there were still also a few scattered areas under English Ascendancy Episcopalian control there. Meanwhile the two "survivors" the supposed English Royalist Lord Justices, who in reality supported the English Puritan Parliament, were still holding out in the city of Dublin in Co. Dublin in Southern Leinster, while in the Munster Province St. Leger the English President of Munster was not only holding onto the City of Cork in Co. Cork in the south, but also the surrounding territory there. In the Ulster Province. the Scottish army under the command of General Robert Munroe, who was acting for the Puritan Parliament, had control of the north of Co. Down and the south of Co. Antrim in the north - east there, including Belfast and Carrickfergus, together with a small area nearby in the north of Co. Donegal, while a large group of Ascendancy Episcopalian and Lowland Presbyterian "planters" still had control of the towns of Coleraine, Derry and Enniskillen. The majority of the Old English / Anglo - Irish had also by now decided to join in with the cause of the Irish Septs due to the previous never - ending oppression in Ireland and were now involved with the Irish Confederacy, except for those regions previously mentioned that were still under the control of "foreign planter" forces in Co. Antrim and Co. Donegal in Ulster, and Co. Cork in Southern Munster.  

March: Charles 1st had gone along with the English Puritan Parliament, under the pretense of the Adventurer's Bill, to confiscate a further 2,500,000 Irish acres for the intended purpose of paying the English troops to retake Ireland, but instead this money was to be used to take on Charles 1st himself and his Royalist forces and they were to eventually raise 2,000,000 pounds on the proposed sale of this further confiscated Irish territory by auctioning it off to individual speculators and adventurers, and this was to once again be the direct cause whereby the emaciated bodies of Irish women and children once more were to lay by the wayside to be eventually devoured by the wolves and birds of prey,   

     O Reilly the Catholic Archbishop of Armagh in the south - east of the Ulster Province, held a Catholic Synod at Kells in Co. Meath in the south - east of Northern Leinster, were it was agreed by all to support the War against the English Puritan Parliament in the hope of ridding Ireland eventually of the ongoing English oppression once and for all, and to also outline among themselves the basic rules for the Irish Confederacy's conduct to maintain civil order throughout Ireland.

    James Butler the Royalist English twelth Earl of Ormonde acting as the English Lieutenant for Charles 1st in Ireland was finally able to break through the Irish Confederacy forces siege at Drogheda in Co. Louth in the north - east of Northern Leinster, and bring relief and reinforcements to the English Military forces who were still trapped there. 

April: James Butler the Royalist English twelth Earl of Ormonde now went on the attack against the Irish Confederacy forces in his own territory in Co. Kildare in Central Southern Leinster, and on April 15th his uncle, Lord Mount - Garrett the Irish Confederacy's Anglo - Irish overall leader, was defeated near Kilrush in Co. Clare in the north - west of the Munster Province, when he tried to intercept him as he passed through there.

     Charles 1st the Stuart English King in England was denied any chance of supply for his own forces, by the English Puritan Parliament, to try and continue to bring him further under their control and force him to give assent to another part of the Adventurers Act, "To forbid pardons for the Irish Rebels " and in the future this particular part of this English Act would come to serve Oliver Cromwell's sickening agenda much better later on, and it would last until 1660 AD.

     General Robert Munroe with his Scottish army had previously landed at Carrickfergus in the north - east of the Ulster Province where he had been joined by the local Presbyterians and went about recovering territory there previously seized by Sir Phelim O Niall for the Irish Confederacy in the Blackwater Valley, except for the English stronghold there known as the Charlemont Fort. 

     Ascendancy Episcopalian Church of England and Presbyterian "planters" there in the north in Ulster Province were by now under the command of Stewart Brohen who had an army from Laggan, while Derry and Enniskillen in Ulster were to be refuge areas. as two of the Stewart brothers in the north had turned the "foreign planters" there into the Laggan army, while the Lowland Presbyterians in Ulster, as a whole, now organized their religion more on strict Presbyterian lines.

    127.Eoghan Ruadh / Owen Roe O Niall the Irish Confederacy Catholic commander had by now arrived from Spain to command the Irish Confederacy forces, while Sir Phelim O Niall in Ulster Province was to take on both James Butler the Royalist English Earl of Ormonde and his forces acting for Charles 1st and the English Puritan Parliament forces and 127.Eoghan Roe O Niall, acting for the Irish Confederacy, was to have his most successful victory at Benburb on the River Blackwater in Co. Tyrone in Central Ulster, but unfortunately the fly in the ointment always for him was to be his ongoing personal disagreements with Thomas Preston the Anglo - Irish commander also for the Irish Confederacy

   Charles 1st the Stuart English King had previously treated in secret with the Irish Catholics over their right to gain the 51 Graces, to try and gain their support against the Puritan Parliamentary forces, but had never delivered the 51 Graces that he had promised for all of the money that he had received previously in that regard and eventually due to his prior constant insidious greed the Puritan Parliament would be eventually triumphant over him in England.    

May: The Irish Confederacy forces, that now included the Gentry and the Nobles, met at Kilkenny City in Co. Kilkenny in the south - west of the Southern Leinster with the Catholic Irish clergy, to institute the Irish Provisional Government in Ireland that would have an Irish Supreme Council and an Irish General Assembly with a Seal adopted and a Mint established and taxes levied and where foreign ambassadors were to be received, and further Irish forces were raised and both of the new Irish Houses of Parliament where to be convened in the house of Robert Shee in Parliament Street.

     Dermot O Brien put together an Irish Confederacy force composed of 1,000 men from the south of the Connacht Province and the adjacent region in Co. Clare in the north - west of the Munster Province, and then requested those in the English held Bunratty Castle in Co. Clare to surrender and come out peacefully, but they refused, so he had Turlough O Brien lay siege to it with his Irish forces, while a member of the Mac Namara Sept went north to get a cannon to assist them in the siege, but none could be found and eventually Donnell O Brien from Leamenagh Castle together with Teague Ruadh O Brien decided to besiege the Bunratty Castle themselves and the English in there then surrendered and no one was harmed. Among the Irish forces were Sir Daniel O Brien and his son, Conor O Brien, Daniel O Brien of Carrowduff, Conor O Brien of Leamenagh Castle and many more from the old Heberian Dal gCais Ui Bloid Ui Turlough Ui mBriain Septs including the Heberian Dal gCais Ui Caisin Mac Namaras and their Septs, the Heberian Dal gCais O Gradys, the Heremonian Dal Cuinn Ui Fiachrach Aidni O Shaughnessys from Kilmacduagh in Co. Galway in Southern Connacht, together with Flann and David Neylor from Ross Levan and Andrew Burke from Ennis. (Later on all of the "foreign English Episcopalian "planters" there in Co. Clare were to make claims on the English Puritan Government for the loss of their property. )

     The Heremonian Dal Cuinn  Colla Da Crioch Ui Maine O Kellys were also heavily involved in the Irish Confederacy in Co. Galway also, as by now most of the Irish Septs could once again see a light at the end of the English controlled tunnel, and the opportunity that they now had to remove their yoke for ever.

       St. Leger the English President in Munster, died, and Murrough O Brien an Toitean - of the Burnings who was the English Earl of Inchiquin, who had previously been reared in England as an Ascendancy Episcopalian also for an English purpose, was to hold out against the Irish Confederacy forces first as a Royalist in support of Charles 1st, but he would eventually accept the cease fire with the English Puritan Parliament that was to come, because he was to be passed over by the English Dublin Castle authorities to replace St. Leger as their English appointed President in Munster, to which he believed was his herediatry right. The position was to then be given to the English Earl of Portland instead, which was to upset Murrough O Brien - of the Burnings no end, who was to then join forces with the English Puritan Parliament who would only use him to their own advantage also, by granting him the position of President of Munster that he so desired and then dump him later on when his services were to be no longer of any advantage to them.                         

      William Bedell the Episcopalian Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh who had translated the Bible into the Celtic Erse language against the wishes of the English Ascendancy Government, and had subsequently been protected by the Irish Septs, and later captured by the English Militia had died and was interred at Kilmore / Cill Mor (The Big Church) in Co. Cavan in Southern Ulster.

June: General Robert Munroe with his Puritan Scottish army was able to retake Newry, Mountjoy and Dungannon in the north - east of the Ulster Province back from the Irish Confederacy forces.

July: 127,Eoghan Roe O Niall, who was a nephew of the deceased 126.Aodh Dubh / Black Hugh O Niall / The O Niall, who had since arrived back from Spain into Loch Swilly had been put in charge of the Irish Confederacy forces in the Ulster Province by the Irish Supreme Council, where he was joined in his resistance there by the Irish Septs and the Anglo - Irish from the south, including General Thomas Preston, (a brother to Lord Gormanston), who had landed at Waterford in Co. Waterford in the south - east of the Munster Province, after also coming back from the Spanish Netherlands, and had originally been put in control of the Leinster Province for the Irish Confederacy. General Garret Barry an Anglo - Irish Confederacy  commander was placed in charge of the Munster Province, while the Connacht Province was under the command of John Burke also an Anglo - Irish Confederacy commander. Unfortunately Thomas Preston and 127.Eoghan Roe O Niall were not capable of being subordinate to each other, and over time this was to create a very shaky alliance and many problems were to surface, because of this discontent between them, for the Irish Confederacy.

     Patrick Donnelly / Patraic Ui Donnghaile, was from the Heremonian Dal Cuinn "northern" Ui Niaill Cenel nEogain Sept, whose Sept / Family branch had previously been composed of poets and warriors who had been descended directly from Donnell O Niall who had died in 876 AD and they had their original territory in Co. Donegal in the north - west of the Ulster Province where they were Chiefs, but they later migrated to Bally Donnelly in Co. Tyrone in Central Southern Ulster where they were also Chiefs and from where they had also been dispossessed by the English Galls. In keeping with the mood now prevailing for retaliation against the foreigner "planters" he took the opportunity to personally burn down the English stronghold at Donaghmore in Co. Tyrone in Central Ulster, which had previously been the site of the fort of his own family Sept.

August: The English Civil War in England had been between the Royalist forces who had remained loyal to Charles 1st the Stuart English King, and those committed to the English Puritan Parliament, but the dividing lines were much clearer by now, and James Butler the Royalist English twelfth Earl of Ormonde openly declared himself as a committed Royalist acting for Charles 1st in Ireland, but the two English Lord Justices that Charles 1st had previously appointed in Ireland were still in reality acting as "survivors" continuing to cover their tracks by declaring for both Charles 1st and the English Puritan Parliament.

August 20th: Liscarroll Castle / Lios Cearuill, constructed by the Anglo - Normans around 1280 AD in Co. Cork in Southern Munster, that was now under the control of the English Military forces was attacked by General Garrett Barry the Irish Confederacy commander who was now responsible for the overall command in the Munster Province.

September 2nd: The English Military garrison at Liscarroll Castle in Co. Cork finally surrendered to the Irish Confederacy forces, but on the next day it was to be retaken with great slaughter by the English Military who were now under the leadership of Murrough O Brien - of the Burnings who had 1,850 men under foot and 400 horse, (This castle would be eventually passed on to the Percivals the English Earls of Egmont, and it is still there to be seen, but in a neglected state). The castle of the Knight Templars nearby at Newcastle West in Co. Limerick in the mid - north - west of the Munster Province was also burnt during these times, but some of the ruins are still in existance today containing 2 large halls, including Desmond's Hall, which is still well preserved.

     Backing for the Irish Confederacy forces had by now also been organized with the Pope in Rome, were Mazarin and Luke Wadding had arranged for Cardinal Rinuccini to be sent to Ireland to act as a go between on his behalf.

October: The Irish Confederacy General Assembly held another meeting at Kilkenny City in Co. Kilkenny in the south - west of Southern Leinster, and "officially" set up their Irish Provisional Government and took a 3 stage oath, (1) To restore the common rights of the Catholic Church, (2)To maintain the English Crown, (3) To defend their personal Liberties" and also "officially" put the separate Irish Confederacy commanders and their military divisions into each of the 4 Provinces, and as the Old English / Anglo - Irish dominated the proceedings Lord Mountgarrett, who was a "Butler" kinsman, was elected as their overall President. 

    Conor Mac Brody from Letter Maolin, the son of Maolin Oge - the Younger Mac Brody, from the Heberian Eoghanacht Chaisil Sept of renowned historians and poets in the Munster Province, died this year.    

      Despite all of the previous ethnic and sectarian persecution and the confiscation of the Irish Catholic Institutions the Franciscan friars from the Creevelea Friary in Co. Sligo in the north - west of the Connacht Province were still hanging in there at this time, and would continue to remain in the area for many years to come.

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