Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
Chapters towards a History of Ireland in the reign of Elizabeth (Author: Philip O'Sullivan Beare)
Chapter 8
Owny encounters Ormond. The men of Offaly storm Castle Croghan, and about Father Archer.
MEANTIME in Leinster Owny O'More having cut Maryborough off from supplies had reduced it to great extremities. Earl Ormond, general of the royalist army left Dublin with more than 4000 cavalry and foot to relieve this fort, and reached a small stream called the Blackford, where Owny at the head of about 1500 men attacked him in the open plain. They fought fiercely and stubbornly. Owny frequently drove the enemy's wings back on his main body, but was in turn driven off by the numbers of the foe. On this day Ormond lost 600 men whose bodies he placed in houses and burned, so that the full extent of his losses might not be known, for it is the English custom to conceal their own dead, and expose their slain enemies in public places. Sixty Catholics fell and about 80 were wounded. Ormond forcing a passage by dint of numbers, victualled the fort. Cahir, Murrough and John O'Connor, gentlemen of Offaly, with 100 foot surprised and scaled with long ladders, Castle Croghan in Offaly held by a garrison under Thomas More, knight, and Sifford, both Englishmen, and slew the defenders.
Again Earl Ormond, commander of the royalist army and Owny O'More, drew out their forces and faced one another. There was at this time with Owny Father James Archer of the Society of Jesus, an Irishman most zealous to spread the Catholic religion and consequently very bitter against the heretic enemy and therefore held in the greatest hatred by the English. And, indeed, he was most useful first to O'Neill and afterwards to Owny and subsequently to O'Sullivan and other Catholic opponents of base dogmas by his zeal, advice, pains and industry. Even by his own influence he often got Catholics to turn their arms against the heretics. This religious, actuated by a hope of bringing Ormond to reason, sought an interview with him. Ormond
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agreed and so on one side Ormond, Donough O'Brien, Earl of Thomond and Chief of Limerick, and George Carew, President of Munster, mounted on horseback; and on the other side Archer on foot, accompanied by three Irish soldiers met at a conference in view of both armies without any safe conduct on either side. Here, as Carew did not understand Irish, Archer, who spoke English fluently, began to speak in English as was his wont piously and devoutly. Ormond interrupted, him advancing some silly argument against the holiness of the Pope. Irritated at this Archer changed his tone somewhat and at the same time chanced to lift in his right hand the staff or stick on which he was resting his aged limbs. The three Irish foot soldiers who accompanied him and did not understand English thought the priest wanted to strike Ormond with his stick. Hereupon, fearing some harm to the unarmed priest from the armed men and wishing to guard against it, two of them attacked and dragged Ormond from the horse and the third drew his sword. Several others from the Catholic army ran up to their assistance and dreading the numbers, Earl Thomond and Carew took to flight. The royalists rushed en masse against Archer and Con O'Reilly, sent by Owny, resisted these. On both sides the cavalry and musketeers attacked until night put an end to the fight. On the following day both parties quitted this place. Ormond was kept in custody by Owny and converted to the Catholic faith by Archer. However, being safely released by O'Neill's orders in memory of ancient friendship, he returned again to his former heretical vomit. But I must not pass over Archer. He was held not merely in awe by the heretics but even in a kind of admiration or superstitious terror and they believed him able to walk dry-footed over the sea; to fly through the air; and to possess other superhuman power, arguing thence that he ought to be called Archdevil rather than Archer.