1588 AD 

1588 AD May: Mary, Queen of Scots, the French Stuart Catholic Queen, who had been imprisoned in England for 19 years, by her second - cousin, Elizabeth 1st the Welsh Tudor Queen of England, had now been executed by her, and Phillip II, the King of Spain, saw England as a lost cause under Elizabeth 1st, and therefore any chance of Catholic Emancipation there.

July: Phillip 11 the King of Spain, sent his Spanish Armada from Lisbon, composed of 130 Ships, 31,000 men and 2,400 canons to besiege England.

September 2nd: The Spanish Armada ran into great storms, and 25 of their ships were wrecked around the Irish coast, near Blasket Sound, between the Blasket Islands, situated 3 miles from the end of the Dingle Peninsula, and Dungiven on the mainland, including the Santa Maria de la Rosa, which was wrecked on Dunmore Head near Ventry in Co. Kerry in the south - west of the Munster Province with a great loss of life and was to founder on Blasket Island, were they buried the Spanish Prince of Ascule.  The Don Juan, the flagship of the fleet, under its Captain and Admiral of the Armada, Juan / Martinez de Recalde, was to be the first of the Spanish ships to successfully arrive into Ireland. (He had previously landed the Spanish force a few years earlier who had been slaughtered at Smerwick) 7 of the other Spanish ships, sought shelter on the River Shannon, but were not allowed to take on any fresh water, by the English authorities there.

September 5th: The Spanish were to lose 6 out of their 7 ships and thousands of their crew members, and the victims were then buried at Spanish Point to the north of Milltown - Malbay in Co. Clare in the north - west of the Munster Province. Two of the English agents who had well and truly sold out their Irish heritage, Sir Turlogh O Brien of Liscannor Castle, and Boetius Clancy who was now the appointed English Sheriff of Co. Clare, also exterminated the rest of the survivors of the Zuniga, which was anchored on Liscannor Bay, under instructions from Sir Richard Bingham the English appointed Governor in Co. Clare. (He had previously threatened torture and death, to anyone who harboured any of the Spanish castaways.) (Their bodies too were also buried at Spanish Point.) The La Rata, the largest of the Spanish Galleons under the command of Don Alonso de Leyva. had foundered further north at Belmullet in Co. Mayo in the mid - west of the Connacht Province. Another 3 of the Spanish ships were also wrecked further north at Grange in Co. Sligo in the north - west of Connacht, and many Spanish lives were to be lost there also. Meanwhile on Clare Island, 100 Spanish survivors made it to the shore from the Gran Grin, but they were also subsequently slaughtered by Dubhdarach Ruadh O Malley, a kinsman to Grace O Malley the Pirate Queen. Near Galway, Teague na Buile O Flaherty captured the crew from the Conception, and at Killala Melaghlin Mac Cabb killed another 80 of the crew from another of their ships, and any survivors were rounded up wherever they could be found, and were then also executed, all under the orders of Sir Richard Bingham the English appointed Governor in Connacht for Elizabeth 1st. The Trinidad Valencera, had sailed around the top of Scotland, with a crew of 500 men on board, including those from the previously destroyed Barco de Amburgo, who were all physically in a very bad way, and under the command of Col. Alonzo de Luzon they anchored in Glenaguiney Bay and disembarked and wandered around the region there for 12 days, until they finally surrendered to Henry and Richard Hovenden / de Offington / Ovington and their men, who promised them they would be looked after. They took them towards Castle Berte, which was the stronghold of Sean O Docherty, who was then the Dal Cuinn "northern" Ui Niaill Cenel Conaill Lord of Inishowen and after first taking all of their arms, they suddenly turned on them, and stole whatever they could from them, and many of them were also killed during this particular conflict. (Only 57 out of the 130 ships, that had originally set out from Spain, and only 10,000 of the 31,000 men who had been on board, where to make it back to Spain, while some of the survivors however were still left behind in Ireland, who inter - married with many of the Irish girls from the Septs, possibly producing the Black Irish there.

     During this period, Brian O Rourke "The O Rourke," the father of Brian Oge - the Younger O Rourke, the Heremonian Dal Cuinn Ui Briuin Breifne King of West Breifne who had his kingdom and territory in Co. Leitrim in the north of the Connacht Province, was away fighting against the English Military forces who were under  the leadership of Sir Richard Bingham the English appointed Governor in Connacht. (Despite the overall threat of death, Brian O Rourke's wife was able to assist Francesco de Cuellar to hide away there.) Eventually, Brian O Rourke was to be defeated and was not only driven out of Connacht, but out of Ireland altogether, to seek refuge in Scotland, were James V1 was now the French Stuart King of Scotland. James V1 who had been taken from his mother. Mary Queen of Scots, when only a few weeks old, and reared under the Calvinistic supervision of John Knox would later become the future James 1st the French Stuart King of England, after the death of Elizabeth 1st, (He handed Brian O Rourke over to Elizabeth 1st.)

      Aed Dubh O Donnell  "The O Donnell" the "aged" son of Manus O Donnell, arrived into Dublin, once again, to see his young imprisoned son, Aed Ruadh / Red Hugh O Donnell, and brought with him 30 officers from the Trinidad Valencera, and handed them over to Lord Fitz William who was now the newly appointed English Lord Deputy in Ireland doing this in anticipation of gaining the release of his young son, Aed Ruadh / Red Hugh O Donnell from imprisonment from out of the Dublin Castle (The Devil's 1/2 acre) by carrying out this gesture to show his loyalty. When he informed his son, Aed Ruadh / Red Hugh O Donnell that the English Military forces had previously slaughtered the other 300 members of the crew, and that all of their bodies had been flung into a bog, he was greatly upset with the action his father had taken, although he understood the reasons behind it. (Naturally nothing came of this terrible condescending conciliatory gesture to the English authorities in the Dublin Castle.)

November 4th: Lord Fitz William, Elizabeth 1's new English appointed Lord Deputy in Ireland, went north to the Ulster Province, seeking out any remaining living members of the Spanish crews, and returned before Christmas Day instead with further Irish hostages including Sean O Docherty the Heremonian Dal Cuinn "northern" Ui Niaill Cenel Conaill Chief of Inishowen, and Eogan / Owen mac Toole O Gallagher, the young Eogan O Gallagher's father, who was already being held as a hostage with the young Aed Ruadh / Red Hugh O Donnell in the Dublin Castle.

       Myler / Mael Muire Magrath, who was by now the notorious first Episcopalian Archbishop of Cashel, who had also well and truly sold out his heritage for great personal financial gains, was brought in to the Dublin Castle, to try and persuade the young Aed Ruadh / Red Hugh O Donnell to conform to the Church of England and to join in with the English cause in Ireland and as he continued to rebuff them both, the young Art Cavanagh / Kavanagh, and Hugh O Toole who was a brother to Felim O Toole from Castle Kevin and a brother - in - law to Fiach mac Hugh O Byrne the Cu Corb Ui Dunlainge Chieftain in Southern Leinster, (from whom they had been taken as hostages also), were put in with him. His original two compatriots, the young Eogan O Gallagher and Donnell Mac Sweeney, had previously managed to escape, organized by his foster - father, Eogan mac Toole O Gallagher the father of young Eogan. Lord Fitz William was too frightened also of Elizabeth 1st to let young Aed Ruadh / Red Hugh O Donnell escape, as he was too important to the English in the scheme of things. Donnell Mac Sweeney and the young Eogan O Gallagher, on escaping from the Dublin Castle, had previously reached the Vale of Glenmalure in Co. Wicklow in the south - east of Southern Leinster, were Fiach mac Hugh O Byrne had given them two horses to return to the Ulster Province. On the way, Donnell Mac Sweeney's horse had gone lame and he was recaptured at Drogheda in Co. Louth in the north - east of Northern Leinster, but Eogan O Gallagher had been able to continue on back to Co. Donegal in the north - west.

     Teige Mac Namara the Heberian Dal gCais Ui Caisin Chief of the West Clan Culien in Co. Clare in the north - west of the Munster Province, who was a son of Donnell Reagh Mac Namara the son of Cuvea Mac Namara the son of Donogh Mac Namara the son of Rory Mac Namara, was hung at Galway in Co. Galway in the Connacht Province this year.  

     Shrah Castle, was constructed, situated a half a mile west of Tullamore in Co. Offaly in the mid - north - west of Southern  Leinster to be also used against the Irish Septs there, where the ruins are also still there to be seen today.  

    Sir Walter Raleigh, one of Elizabeth 1st's favourites, was appointed the English Warden of Youghal, on the east coast of Co. Cork in Southern Munster until 1589 AD and given 3 times the usual grant of Irish territory there, including the fertile Blackwater Valley between Youghal and Lismore while his friend, Edmund Spenser, the author of the Faerie Queen, feeling safer now, had finally moved into  the Fitz Gerald's Kilcolman Castle in Desmond in Co. Kerry in the south - west of Munster.

    Richard Boyle who was to become the richest Englishman in Ireland, was this year appointed the English 1st Earl of Cork in Co. Cork in Southern Munster.

    Mac Ennis / Mac Guinness, the Lord of Iveagh in the Ulster Province, constructed Newcastle there, were the River Shinna flows into the sea in Co. Down in the south - east of Ulster.

    Luke Wadding / Uaidin the future Anglo - Irish Catholic historian and philosopher, was born in Waterford in Co. Waterford in the south - east of the Munster Province, and would become a Franciscan monk, and compile a great deal of Irish History in the future assisted by both the Irish and the Anglo - Irish. 

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