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Chapters towards a History of Ireland in the reign of Elizabeth (Author: Philip O'Sullivan Beare)
Chapter 3
The most memorable of the remarkable vicissitudes of Shane O'Neill, chief of Tyrone.
GREATER butchery of ecclesiastics was prevented by various risings of the nobles, some of which are now to be related, and in the first place those excited by Shane O'Neill, chief of Tyrone,1 which are as follows:—Con O'Neill, chief of Tyrone, having paid the debt of nature, left two sons, Shane and Fardorch, born of different mothers. Shane succeeding on his father's death as chief of Tyrone, was held in great esteem amongst the Irish, old as well as new, of which latter race was his paternal grandmother, the daughter of the Earl of Kildare: nor was his jurisdiction narrow, for he annexed to Tyrone a great part of Tyrconnell as a ransom for Calvagh O'Donnell, chief of Tyrconnell, when he was taken prisoner, as I related above. The English, therefore, greatly feared him as they were not ignorant that the power of this Catholic hero would resist the persecution of Catholics which they were plotting and had already begun to carry out. Wherefore desirous of diminishing his power, they eagerly seized an opportunity which offered. Between him and his brother Fardorch there arose a dispute about their father's property. The
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latter honoured with the title of baron of Dungannon the English incite to war, and inflame him with the hope of obtaining the chieftaincy, and with no want of alacrity help him with royal forces. A troop of Englishmen is also sent to O'Donnell, who freed from his captivity went to England to ask aid of the queen. With this assistance, though chiefly by the suffrages of the clansmen who readily deserted O'Neill, O'Donnell recovered the whole of Tyrconnell. And now O'Neill was fiercely attacked on the one side by O'Donnell, and on the other by his brother, Fardorch, and on both by the forces of the queen. Moreover, the regiment of Scots which he drew from Scotland for the war, mutinied and pillaged his country, on account of their hire not being punctually paid. Nevertheless O'Neill, in the very beginning of the war, wiped out Fardorch. Leading the rest of his army against the Scotch regiment he slew three thousand Scots. Besides this, seven hundred English whom the queen sent to O'Donnell's assistance, under command of Randal, an Englishman, were destroyed by divine vengeance. There is in the chieftaincy of Tyrconnell a town overhanging Lough Foyle, which is an episcopal seat of great fame, under the patronage of St. Columba, hence it is called Dire Colum Kell Derry, that is, 'the Grove of Columba's cell.' English heretics having landed in this town, they, against the wish and command of O'Donnell, expel the priests and monks, invade the holy churches, and in one church place for safe keeping gunpowder, leaden bullets, tow-match, guns, pikes, and other munition of war. In other churches they performed the heretical rites of Luther, Calvin, and others of that class of impious men. They left nothing undefiled by their wickedness. St. Columba (it is supposed) did not long delay the punishment of this sin. The natives confidently assert that a wolf of huge size and with bristling hair coming boldly out of the nearest wood to the town and entering the iron barriers, emitting from his mouth a great number of sparks, such as fly from a red hot iron when it is struck, proceeded to the place in which the powder was stored and spitting out sparks set fire to powder and church. I will not take upon myself to vouch for the truth of this story: upon fame and longstanding tradition let it rest. This which is admitted by all, I may assert, viz., that the gunpowder suddenly took fire, the English who were in the church were burnt up, and those who were patrolling round the church were struck with burning tiles and killed; those who fled to
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neighbouring houses or into the adjoining lake were killed by pursuing tiles, some of which were thrown five hundred paces from the town. And thus without a single Irishman being wounded, miserably perished Randal with seven hundred English except a few witnesses of the slaughter, who, returning to their English fellows, gave an account of the catastrophe in their native and peculiar manner in these words:—‘The Irish god, Columba, killed us all.’ Mark the words of the barbarous heretics! as if the Irish worshipped St. Columba as a god, and not as a faithful servant of God, who, because he observed the commandments of his Creator, and because of his holy and innocent life, is noted in the calendar of the saints for many miracles. In his lifetime, being filled with divine inspiration, he foresaw that this holy city would be violated by heretics. When he was oppressed with great grief on this account, being asked the cause of his sorrow by his companion Baethan, ‘Anguish,’ said he, ‘Baethan, that Randal should be in this grove.’ Which prophecy committed to writing, but after long ages unintelligible, was clearly spoken of this Randal of the English.
O'Donnell who, though a Catholic, introduced heretics into the holy town to defile holy things, also quickly suffered meet punishment. When, after the destruction of these English, he was leading against O'Neill a large army of his own clansmen, he suddenly fell dead from his horse, overtaken by some sudden disease in the heyday of his health and vigour. His brother Hugh O'Donnell succeeded, and O'Neill carrying on hostilities against him as against the deceased, surprised and having raised some troops, surrounded him, ill-protected by a few attendants. O'Donnell having lost a few of his men sought safety in flight, but, on the same day having rallied his forces, he returned again to fight the victor with a determination to be avenged. Many fell on both sides fighting stoutly. At length O'Neill, his line having been broken and his forces destroyed, with difficulty escaped with a few followers, no whit however disspirited, for on the eighth day after, having quickly collected forces, he encountered the queen's troops and obtained that famous victory which is called 'of the red coats', because among others who fell in battle were four hundred soldiers lately brought from England and clad in the red livery of the viceroy. Although made famous by this victory, he unluckily fell not long after. That he might have greater forces against the queen and O'Donnell, he had brought a regiment of Scots from Scotland, and,
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when he was off his guard amongst them and fearing nothing, he was surrounded by Scottish soldiers, mindful of the cutting off of the Scotch regiment a short time before, and falling under almost innumerable stabs of poinards, he was slain despite the efforts of the officers to restrain the fury of the men. Thus the Scotch regiment avenging the death of their fellow-countrymen put an end to this war.
The chieftaincy of Tyrone was thereupon added to the queen's dominions, but to little purpose as Turlough O'Neill forthwith took possession of it, worn with war and for the most part wasted. Against Turlough the queen afterwards excited Hugh O'Neill, son of Fardorch, aided the latter and honoured him first with the title of baron and then of earl. This will later on be shown by us in its proper place.