1603 AD - 3
January 14th: Donnell Cam O Sullivan the Heberian Eoghanacht Chieftain of Beare in Co. Cork in Southern Munster and his remaining followers who had been forced to leave the Munster Province with him, while hoping to escape the English massacres there, finally reached their intended destination in Co. Leitrim in Northern Connacht and after 14 days of unbelievable terror and bloodshed along the way, of the 1,000 people who had initially set out from Glengarriff with him, only 35, including 16 of the fighting men, 18 civilians and only one woman were now to be left among his group. (Over the next few days more of the Donnell Cam O Sullivan survivors would slowly wander in to the safety of Co. Leitrim also.) Brian Oge - the Younger O Rourke who was now "The O Rourke" and the Dal Cuinn Ui Briuin Breifne West Breifne Chief was still holding out in Co. Leitrim against the English Military forces of Elizabeth 1st, although some of his kinsman too had gone over to the English side to try and survive the onslaught. He was holding onto Dromhair / Drom Dha Eithiar (The Ridge of the Two Demons) on the River Bonet, which was the main seat of his Sept the Dal Cuinn Ui Briuin Breifne O Rourkes.
Donnell
Cam
O Sullivan
now
went about trying to build up his own contingent of Irish forces again,
while making use of the remaining
Spanish gold,
until he eventually had
a company of
300
men, and he then combined these forces with that of
Brian
Oge
- the Younger
Maguire
who was now the
Dal Cuinn
Colla Da Crioch
Chief
of
Co. Fermanagh
who had his territory nearby in
the south - west of the
Ulster
Province.
They set out towards
Loch Erne, which
was
situated
30
miles to the north - east of
Co.
Leitrim
and on arriving there they discovered that
Loch Erne,
and the fords that crossed over the
River Erne, were
still
being held
by some of the other
Maguire
Septs,
who had gone over to the
English side also,
so they decided to cross further down at
Belturbet,
in the
territory of the
O
Reillys who were a
Dal Cuinn
Ui Briuin
Breifne
Sept also
who had their territory in
East
Breifne
in
Co. Cavan in
Southern Ulster.
They then set up their camp, along with their families, but
they were now in
realty in behind
the enemy lines,
where they
soon came under
attack, but were still able to drive them off and
decided to besiege the
English
Military forces
throughout that region, and were able to defeat them all, which then gave them added momentum to
also attack the English held garrisons
set up on the islands in
the perimeter of
Loch Erne itself, who they
also
defeated, one by one. They
then set off towards the east going further into
the interior for another
50 miles,
always with the intention of joining up with any of the
other
Irish
Septs
under the command of
126.Aed Dubh
/
Black
Hugh
O Niall
"The O Niall"
their overall leader, but
unbeknown to them
he was already down to his last
60
horsemen
and was near
Slieve Gallon in the north
- east of
Loch Neagh in
Ulster.
March: By now there had been 9 years of endless fighting against the English Military forces of Elizabeth 1st the English Queen, and terrible devastations had been ferociously committed by the English Militia on the Irish population generally, especially the ongoing turmoil that the English forces were causing with her continuing policy of "Slash and Burn" against the people, the cattle, their property and their crops, 126.Aed Dubh / Black Hugh O Niall as the "The O Niaill" as their overall leader knew that by now he had to do something drastic about it all and to this end he decided it was time to bring Irish resistance to an end due to their ongoing onslaught and Blount / Lord Mountjoy, Elizabeth 1st's appointed Lord Deputy in Ireland, was to eventually arrive at Mellifont in Co. Meath in the north - east of Northern Leinster to receive his personal surrender.
March 24th: Mountjoy had received word that Elizabeth 1st had been dead in England a few days before, but he had kept it to himself, so as to ensure that 126.Aed Dubh / Black Hugh O Niall would not become aware of it and continue on with the resistance.
March 30th:
126.Black
Aed
/
Hugh
O Niall
arrived at Mellifont and surrendered himself up to
Blount /
Mountjoy,
under the proposed
Treaty of Mellifont,
still not aware that the never ending belligerent
Elizabeth 1st, was long gone, and it was
to be agreed under the
Treaty
that he should retain his English title as the second Earl of Tyrone
together with his main territory and
Rory O Donnell,
who was now
"The O Donnell"
in his own right
became
the
newly English appointed Earl of Tyrconnell,
and
retained the
territory of the
Dal Cuinn
"northern"
Ui Niaill
Cenel Conaill in
Co. Donegal
in the west of the Ulster
Province,
where the
English appointed Chief Baron,
Pelham was to conduct the first
English
Assizes
/ trials there.
The need for
The
English Pale
that
surrounded Dublin in
Co. Dublin
in
Southern Leinster
it now seemed had come to an end with the surrender of
126.Aed Dubh
/ Hugh
O Niaill
as the very last of the overall
Irish Chieftains.
Meanwhile, Donnell Cam O Sullivan and Brian Oge Maguire and their Irish forces had arrived to join up with 126.Aed Dubh / Black Hugh O Niall, but they were too late, and Brian Oge Maguire, William Burke, Tyrell and many of the others on learning of the news of his capitulation also submitted, while O Connor Kerry went directly to Scotland to see the English heir - apparent James V1, who would soon became James 1st the Stuart King in England, and he was given back his estates in Co. Kerry in the south - west of the Munster Province. On the other hand, Brian Oge - the Younger O Rourke did not submit, and was to die within a year, while endeavouring to keep on with the resistance to the English oppression on all things Irish and Catholic in his region in Co. Leitrim in the north of the Connacht Province. Sir Owen Oge - the Younger O Sullivan who had gone over to the English side, received what he considered was his just reward, and was granted the territory of Beare in Co. Cork in Southern Munster, while many of the Irish leaders along with all of Donnell Cams O Sullivan's family were now to make it to Spain, where they were to die there in exile in service to the Spanish King, in opposition to English domination in Ireland, and they also married into the Spanish nobility.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Irish and the Anglo - Irish / Old English were excited by the news that there was to be a change in the English monarchy, and were expecting that James V1 / James 1st, who was the son of the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots and had maternal Gaelic Irish blood, would be much more tolerant then his predecessor, the never ending belligerent Elizabeth 1st and they began taking back or reopening the Catholic churches in Ireland for Catholic services in the Munster Province, and also in the Leinster Province, including Co. Wexford and Co. Kilkenny.
April 5th: With Elizabeth 1st, now gone James V1, the French Stuart King of Scotland, was now in as James 1st the first French Stuart King of England, and he immediately notified Donogh O Brien the English appointed fourth Earl of Thomond to enforce English Law on the Irish Septs and impose Recusancy fines to compel all of the Irish and Anglo - Irish Catholics to attend the Church of England Episcopalian services or pay up and as hard as it was to believe, religious persecution of the Irish and Anglo - Irish Catholics was actually to be increased all over Ireland, as the English Ascendancy Parliament proposed, "To finish off the Gaelic and Catholic way of life in Ireland." (The Irish were now also to be forced to cut their hair and dress like the English.)
April 9th:
Charles Blount / Mountjoy,
as the English
appointed Lord
Justice, Lord Deputy and
Lord
Lieutenant in
Ireland,
marched on the
Munster Province
to restore English
Episcopalian Ascendancy authority there
also.
May: Blount / Mountjoy was recalled to England were he was to be created Lord Devonshire, but would die within 3 years, and Sir George Carey became the new English appointed Lord Deputy in Ireland, and the infamous anti - Catholic persecutor, Sir John Davies was to be the appointed the English Solicitor - General in Ireland until 1606 AD.
June:
The Catholic
Irish in
desperation, sent delegates over to England to see
James 1st,
in
regards to obtaining some democratic rights, but he was not to give them any answers for
another
2 years
and f
New
English
Episcopalian plantations, were begun in Ireland
on the
Irish
Families confiscated territories, with
the English only to run the
Government in
Ireland,
while
further land
in the
Ulster Province
was confiscated also and granted by
James
1st
to
Sir
Randall Mac Donnell,
who brought in both
Catholic and Presbyterian lowland
Scots into the north - east and
James 1st
also granted Newtownards in
Co. Down
in the south - east of
Ulster
to
Sir
Hugh Montgomery
/ Lord Braidstaine
who was from Ayshire
in England, being a one third portion taken from the territory of
Conn O Niall
the
Heremonian Dal Cuinn
"northern"
Ui Niaill
Cenel
nEogain
Clan na Bhuidhe Chief while Sir James Hamilton
was also granted another one third portion from the same
territory,
With
Elizabeth 1st
gone, the
Franciscan monks were feeling
much safer also, and they began to return to
Ireland,
as
the
9,000 English Military
troops who were
still in
Ireland, were
reduced
in number, and
126.Aed
Dubh
/ Black Hugh
O Niall
and Rory O
Donnell
went over to
England to appear before
James 1st,
the new French
Stuart
King of England as the
Irish
Septs were now hoping for
some relief, due to his connection to his Catholic mother,
Mary
Queen of Scots, and his
Gaelic
female heritage through the maternal side of his
grandfather,
James V
also
meant that he had the blood of the
Irish
Scottish
Kings of
the
Heremonian
Dal Riada
and the
Dal Cuinn
"northern" Ui
Niaill Cenel NEogain
in the
Highlands of
Scotland.