The Flight of the Earls
occurred on the 14 of September 1607 when the Earl of Tyrconnel Rory
O Donnell and the Earl of Tyrone Hugh O’Neill left the island of Ireland along
with many of their followers to seek refuge and a chance to regroup in mainland
Europe. This move by the Earls was as sudden as it was shocking. The flight of
the earls is regarded as one of the most remembered events in Irish history,
however the causes for the Flight of the Earls have differed greatly among
historians over the years.[1]
One thing that can be agreed was that the power of the former Gaelic lords or
Earls as they had become to be known with the agreement of surrender and
regrant had been diminishing greatly. Many causes can be accredited for the
eventual departure of the Earls however some of the key factors can include
events such as the nine years war which culminated in the Battle of Kinsale.
Other factors such as the strengthening of English rule in Ireland all played a
role which led to the Earls leaving Ireland. Throughout this essay I will focus
on these various issues and explain how they aided in the migration of the Earl
of Tyrone and Tyrconnel in 1607.
The Nine Years War or
Tyrone’s rebellion as it was also known as took place from the years 1594 to
1603. Over this nine year period sporadic fighting took place between English
forces and Irish earls, who would be later joined by Spanish support. The high point
of the nine years war was the Battle of Kinsale. It was during this battle that
the Irish would suffer a heavy defeat. However it was not the loss which was
the main cause for the flight of the earls but it was the manner of the defeat
in general. There were many other Irish lords involved in the battle of Kinsale
however not all were as brave as the forces of Tyrconnel or Tyrone. It is noted
during the battle that various other Irish chiefs ‘’mounted their horses, and
fled like cowards, leaving there infantry to their fate.’’[2] The
idea of Irish chief’s retreating from battle would be seen as a something
extremely unlikely for a society which prided itself on warfare. Perhaps this act
taken by some Irish chiefs indicated that there was a turning of the tide and there
military power was not as strong as once was.
The idea of the Earls
having diminishing military power can be quiet evident in the loss they
suffered during the Battle of Kinsale. Irish casualties as well as wounded had
been reported to be as high as two thousand, whereas English losses were
relatively low in comparison.[3] The
loss at Kinsale would have played a huge blow to the Irish chiefs. It showed
them that they could not defeat the English garrisons even with aid. The loss
at Kinsale, although morally damaging for Tyrone and Tyrconnell was not the
most prominent reason for their departure from Ireland. The events of the
Battle of Kinsale were whitewashed over afterwards through O’Neill’s submission
of power to the English monarchy with the signing of the Treaty of Mellifont in
March 1603.[4]
This treaty would have added to the further humiliation of Tyrone and perhaps
aided him further with his decision to depart from Ireland.
One of the main causes
which can be associated with the Flight of the Earls which has been greatly
overlooked is the significant disrespect which the Earls where subjected too by
the English army as well as the government in Ireland. One example of how low
the Earls stature had dropped was with the pardon of Captain Edmund Ellis who had
raped a young girl and was given a pardon even though Rory O’Donnell had
objected to it.[5]
Not only was Ellis given a pardon but he was also re-appointed to the post of
military office in Donegal in December 1606.[6]
This incident highlights just how low the sway that the Earls now commanded.
Ellis’s behaviour as well as the government’s acceptance of it can be seen as
an important cause for the Flight of the Earls. In fact it played such a role
in his decision to leave that he includes it ‘Tyrconnell’s Grievances’.[7]
The pressure the army
placed as well as disrespect that the forces of Ulster where showing towards
the Earls seriously affected their power to govern effectively. Tyrone or
Tyrconnell could no longer stop forces from passing through their land. Under
the viceroyalty of Sir George Carey Earl Hugh gives an account of how troops
from a Derry garrison passing through his land came across one of the Earls
kinsmen and ‘without any speech, one of the soldiers shot him through, and
killed him dead’.[8]
It was not just single killings which were taking place on the lands of the
Earls but also massacres. For instance during the reign of King James a company
commanded by Sir Henry Folliott entered the lands of Tyrone and set about not
only seizing ‘above 200 cows’ but killing the herdsmen as well as ‘many other
poor men, women and children’.[9] No
doubt that this event constituted a massacre and highlighted the loss in power
that the earls now had. If the Earls could no longer protect their people what
reason would these followers have to say loyal to them? This factor would have
added to the Earls reasoning for leaving Ireland, if they could no longer
protect their followers what power did they have in Ireland.
Not only where the followers
of the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell under threat from the Ulster forces but O’Donnell
and O’Neill were under threat themselves. This was partly to do with the
introduction of martial law. Marital Law had been in operation in Ireland on
and off since 1556 under Lord Deputy Sussex. It was under the reign of Viceroy
Chichester that marital law became a real concern to Earls Rory and Hugh. The
historian David Edwards best sums up the role of Marital law as being ‘a major
addition to the crowns capacity for repression.’[10]
Marital law basically granted private armies, sanctioned by the viceroy free
reign to persecute whoever they pleased, be it by seizing of land or by
physical abuse. This measure only strengthened the garrisons of Ulster and
allowed them to increase hostilities with the two earls.[11]
Not only did marital law strengthen English control against disobedience in
Ulster, it also put the lives of Tyrconnell and Tyrone in danger. This stern
enforcement of martial law would have added with the Earls disillusionment with
Ireland and added in their decision to leave the country.
There have been many
causes accredited for the Flight of the Earls in 1607. Although Kinsale played
a key role in the Tyrone and Tyrconnell’s departure it was not the main one.
The pressure which the military placed on the Earls was a key cause for their
departure from Ireland. As the historian David Edwards states, it was ‘‘the
military threat to Tyrone and Tyrconnell was greater than has ever been
acknowledged.’’[12] Not only where the Earls facing a threat to
their lives through the enforcement of martial law but they were also
witnessing there power and kingdom being stripped from their grasp. The Earls
territories had been significantly eroded through the years by the likes of
Niall Garbh O’Donnell and George Montgomery.[13] The
increasing power of the Ulster garrisons had been slowly suffocating the Earls.
It was these reasons that caused the Earls to leave the shores of Ireland. Hugh
O’Neill even mentions this fact in article twenty of ‘Tryone’s Grievances’. Tyrone
states how he had suffered so many abuses at the hands of King James’s
ministers as well as inferior officers, and that he had lost so much of his
honour and dignity that these circumstances could drive anyone to forego the
country they loved.[14]
It was the subjection which both O’Neill and O’Donnell suffered at the hands of
the crown which was the main cause in forcing them to take flight to the
continent.
Bibliography
Alfred D’Alton, Edward,
History of Ireland: from the earliest
time to the present day, Volume 3, (The Gresham Publishing Company, London,
1910)
Bardon, Jonathan, A History of Ulster, (The Blackstaff
Press, Belfast, 1994)
Edwards, David, Beyond Reform: Marital Law and the Tudor
Reconquest of Ireland: Irish history, Vol.5, No.2, (Summer 1997), (Wordwell,
Dublin, 1997)
McCavit, John, The Flight of the Earls, (Gill and
Macmillan, Dublin, 2002)
McGurk, John, The Elizabethan conquest of Ireland: The
1590s crisis, (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1997)
O’Connor, Thomas, &,
Lyons, Mary Ann, The Ulster earls and
baroque Europe: Refashioning Irish identities, 1600-1800, (Four Courts
Press, Dublin, 2010)
[1]
McCavit, John, The Flight of the Earls,
(Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 2002), p. 1.
[2]
Alfred D’Alton, Edward, History of
Ireland: from the earliest time to the present day, Volume 3, (The Gresham
Publishing Company, London, 1910), p. 178.
[3]
Ibid., p. 179.
[4]
McGurk, John, The Elizabethan conquest of
Ireland: The 1590s crisis, (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1997),
p. 75.
[5]
O’Connor, Thomas, & , Lyons, Mary Ann, The
Ulster earls and baroque Europe: Refashioning Irish identities, 1600-1800,
(Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2010), p. 55.
[6]
Ibid., p. 55.
[7]
Ibid., p. 55.
[8]
Ibid., p. 69.
[9]
Ibid., p. 70.
[10]
Edwards, David, Beyond Reform: Marital
Law and the Tudor Reconquest of Ireland: Irish history, Vol.5, No.2, (Summer
1997), (Wordwell, Dublin, 1997), p. 17.
[11]
O’Connor, Thomas, & , Lyons, Mary Ann, The
Ulster earls and baroque Europe: Refashioning Irish identities, 1600-1800,
(Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2010), p. 63.
[12] Ibid.,
p. 76.
[13]
Bardon, Jonathan, A History of Ulster,
(The Blackstaff Press, Belfast, 1994), p. 116.
[14]
O’Connor, Thomas, & , Lyons, Mary Ann, The
Ulster earls and baroque Europe: Refashioning Irish identities, 1600-1800,
(Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2010), p. 76.
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