Flight of the Earls - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Flight of the Earls took place on 14 September 1607, when Hugh Ó Neill of Tír Eóghain

Kings of Tir Eogain

This article lists the Kings of Tír Eoghain or Tyrone from 1185 to 1616. They are listed from their date of accession to date of death, unless otherwise stated....

, Rory Ó Donnell of Tír Chonaill and about ninety followers left Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

for mainland Europe

Continental Europe

Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....

Background to the exile

After their defeat at the Battle of Kinsale in 1601, and the suppression of the Nine Years' War in Ulster

Ulster

Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...

in 1603, Tyrone and the Prince of Tyrconnell

Hugh Roe O'Donnell

Aodh Rua Ó Dónaill, anglicised as either Hugh Roe O'Donnell or Red Hugh O'Donnell , was An Ó Domhnaill and Rí of Tir Chonaill . He led the Irish forces against the English conquest of Ireland from 1593 and helped to lead the Nine Years' War from 1595 to 1603...

, Lord Tyrconnell's elder brother and predecessor, had been forced into exile in January 1602 by the victorious English government of Ireland

Kingdom of Ireland

The Kingdom of Ireland refers to the country of Ireland in the period between the proclamation of Henry VIII as King of Ireland by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 and the Act of Union in 1800. It replaced the Lordship of Ireland, which had been created in 1171...

under the leadership of the Lord Mountjoy. They retained their lands and titles, although with much diminished extent and authority. However, the countryside was laid bare in a campaign of destruction in 1602, and induced famine in 1603, in the same way that O'Neill had devastated Munster in 1600. O'Neill was pardoned under the terms of the Treaty of Mellifont

Treaty of Mellifont

The Treaty of Mellifont , also known as the Articles of Mellifont was signed in 1603 ending the Nine Years' War which took place in the Kingdom of Ireland from 1594 to 1603.- The end of the war :...

in March 1603 and submitted to the crown.

When King James I

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

took the throne in 1603 he quickly proceeded to issue pardons for the Irish lords and their rebel forces. As king of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

he had a better understanding of the advantages of working with local chiefs in the Scottish Highlands

Scottish Highlands

The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...

. However, as in other Irish lordships, the 1603 peace involved O'Neill losing substantial areas of land to his cousins and neighbours, who would be granted freeholds

Surrender and regrant

During the Tudor conquest of Ireland , "surrender and regrant" was the legal mechanism by which Irish clans were to be converted from a power structure rooted in clan and kin loyalties, to a late-feudal system under the English legal system...

under the English system, instead of the looser arrangements under the former Brehon law system. This was not a new policy but was a well-understood and longstanding practice in the Tudor conquest of Ireland.

On 10 September 1602 the Prince of Tyrconnell had already died, allegedly assassinated, in Spain, and his brother succeeded him as 25th Chieftain of the O'Donnell clan. He was later granted the Earldom of Tyrconnell by King James I on 4 September 1603, and restored to a somewhat diminished scale of territories in Tyrconnell on 10 February 1604.

In 1605 the new Lord Deputy of Ireland

Lord Deputy of Ireland

The Lord Deputy was the King's representative and head of the Irish executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and later the Kingdom of Ireland...

, Sir Arthur Chichester

Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester

Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester , known between 1596 and 1613 as Sir Arthur Chichester, was an English administrator and soldier, best known as the Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1604 to 1615.- Early life :...

, began to encroach on the former freedoms of the two Earls and The Maguire, enforcing the new freeholds, especially that granted in North Ulster to the Ó Catháin

O'Cahan

O'Cahan is the name of a significant clan in Ulster, a province of Ireland. It has been angiclized to O'Kane, Kane and variations including, O'Keane, O'Kean, O'Keen, O'Keene, Keen, Keene, Kain, O'Kaine, and similar variations thereof. They are descended from Eógan, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages...

chief. The Ó Catháins had formerly been important subjects of the O'Neills and required protection; in turn, Chichester wanted to reduce O'Neill's authority. An option was to charge O'Neill with treason if he did not comply with the new arrangements. The discovery of the Gunpowder Plot

Gunpowder Plot

The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby.The plan was to blow up the House of...

in the same year made it harder for Catholics to appear loyal to both the crown and the papacy. As the Dublin administration sided with O Cathain, O'Neill was invited by King James to make his case in 1607 to the Privy Council in London, which he never did.

By 1607 O'Neill's allies The Maguire and the Earl of Tyrconnell were finding it hard to maintain their prestige on lower incomes. They planned to seek Spanish support before news of the Battle of Gibraltar arrived. When their ship dropped anchor, O'Neill seems to have joined them on impulse. He had three choices:

Flee with his friends and hope for a reinvasion by Spain
Go to London and stay at court until his grievances were redressed
Do nothing and live on a reduced income as a large landowner in Ulster.

Fearing arrest, they chose to flee to the Continent, where they hoped to recruit an army for the invasion of Ireland with Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

help. However, earlier in 1607 a Spanish fleet had been destroyed by the Dutch in the Battle of Gibraltar

Battle of Gibraltar

The naval Battle of Gibraltar took place on 25 April 1607 during the Eighty Years' War when a Dutch fleet surprised and engaged a Spanish fleet anchored at the Bay of Gibraltar. During the four hours of action, most of the Spanish fleet was destroyed....

. Also as the Anglo–Spanish War (1585) had ended in 1604, King Philip III

Philip III of Spain

Philip III , also known as Philip the Pious, was the King of Spain and King of Portugal and the Algarves, where he ruled as Philip II , from 1598 until his death...

of Spain wanted to preserve the recent peace with England under its new Stuart

House of Stuart

The House of Stuart is a European royal house. Founded by Robert II of Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century, and subsequently held the position of the Kings of Great Britain and Ireland...

dynasty. As a part of the peace proposals, a Spanish princess was to marry James' son Henry, though this never transpired. Tyrone ignored all these realities, remained in Italy, and persisted with his invasion plan until his death in exile in 1616.

End of the old Gaelic order

The earls left from the town of Rathmullan

Rathmullan

Rathmullan is a small seaside village on the Fanad Peninsula in County Donegal, part of the Province of Ulster in Ireland. It is situated on the western shore of Lough Swilly, 11 km north-east of Ramelton and 12 km east of Milford...

on Lough Swilly on a French ship with some of the leading Gaelic families in Ulster. This town was said to have witnessed the end of the old Gaelic order, in the sense that the earls were descended from Gaelic clan dynasties that had ruled their parts of Ulster for centuries. The Flight of the Earls was a watershed in Irish history, as the ancient Gaelic

Gaels

The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....

aristocracy

Aristocracy

Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...

of Ulster went into permanent exile. Despite their attachment to and importance in the Gaelic system, the Earls' ancestors had also accepted their Earldoms from the English-run Kingdom of Ireland

Kingdom of Ireland

in the 1540s, under the policy of surrender and regrant

Surrender and regrant

. Some historians argue that their flight was forced upon them by the fallout from the Tudor conquest of Ireland, others that it was a strategic mistake that cleared the way for the Plantation of Ulster

Plantation of Ulster

The Plantation of Ulster was the organised colonisation of Ulster—a province of Ireland—by people from Great Britain. Private plantation by wealthy landowners began in 1606, while official plantation controlled by King James I of England and VI of Scotland began in 1609...

The journey

The Earls set sail from Rathmullan

Rathmullan

, a village on the shore of Lough Swilly

Lough Swilly

Lough Swilly in Ireland is a glacial fjord or sea inlet lying between the western side of the Inishowen Peninsula and the Fanad Peninsula, in County Donegal. Along with Carlingford Lough and Killary Harbour it is one of three known glacial fjords in Ireland....

in County Donegal

County Donegal

County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...

, accompanied by ninety followers, many of them Ulster

Ulster

noblemen, and some members of their families. Several left their wives behind, hoping either to return or retrieve them later.
The late Tomas Cardinal O’Fiaich, Archbishop of Armagh, gave a lecture at Rathmullan in September 1988 and recounted that the Earl of Tyrone allegedly “had a gold cross which contained a relic of the True Cross

True Cross

The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.According to post-Nicene historians, Socrates Scholasticus and others, the Empress Helena The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a...

, and this he trailed in the water behind the ship, and according to O’Ciainain, it gave some relief from the storm” during the crossing to Quillebeuf-sur-Seine

Quillebeuf-sur-Seine

Quillebeuf-sur-Seine is a commune in the north-western part of the Eure department in Haute-Normandie in northern France.Quillebeuf, which is an old port, is located on left bank of the Seine. The town is connected to Port-Jérôme, in Seine-Maritime via a car ferry.-Population:-References:*...

in Normandy

Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

; they finally reached the Continent on 4 October 1607. The significance of this act is also underlined by the fact that the date of the exile from Rathmullan was the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. This supposed relic of the True Cross was probably a minor relic taken from that kept at Holy Cross Abbey

Holy Cross Abbey

The Holy Cross Abbey in Tipperary is a restored Cistercian monastery in Holycross near Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland, situated on the River Suir. It takes its name from a relic of the True Cross or Holy rood....

which they had previously visited en route to Kinsale

Kinsale

Kinsale is a town in County Cork, Ireland. Located some 25 km south of Cork City on the coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon and has a population of 2,257 which increases substantially during the summer months when the tourist season is at its peak and...

in 1601.

Their destination was Spain

Spain

, but they disembarked in France

France

and proceeded overland to Spanish Flanders

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

, some remaining in Leuven

Leuven

Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...

, while the main party continued to Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. They planned to return to Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

and campaign for the recovery of their lands, with the support of Spain, but both died in exile. Tadhg Ó Cianáin

Tadhg Ó Cianáin

Tadhg Og Ó Cianáin was an Irish writer.He was the author of Imeacht na nIarlaí/The Earls' Departure, a diary of the Flight of the Earls, kept from September 1607 to November 1608, from Rathmullen, County Donegal to Rome. It is the earliest example in Irish of the diary genre...

subsequently described the journey in great detail.

The attainders

King James issued a "A Proclamation touching the Earles of Tyrone and Tyrconnell" on 15 November 1607, describing their action as treasonous, and therefore preparing the ground for the eventual forfeiture

Forfeiture (law)

Forfeiture is deprivation or destruction of a right in consequence of the non-performance of some obligation or condition. It can be accidental, and therefore is distinguished from waiver; see waiver and forfeiture....

of their lands and titles. No reply was made to the proclamation.

Their titles were attainted

Bill of attainder

A bill of attainder is an act of a legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a judicial trial.-English law:...

in 1614, although they continued to be recognised on the Continent. It can be noted that the attainder of these titles in 1614 – six years after Earl of Tyrconnell’s death in Rome in 1608 – can hardly have been considered legitimate, at least in continental Catholic countries of the day. Even within the context of English and its colonial Irish rule, the attainder came about six years after Rory, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, had already died. As accused, for him to have been properly tried, he should have been tried by his peers in the Peerage of Ireland

Peerage of Ireland

The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...

, under the presiding authority of the Lord High Steward of Ireland

Lord High Steward of Ireland

The Lord High Steward of Ireland is a hereditary Great Officer of State in Ireland, sometimes known as the Hereditary Great Seneschal. The Earls of Shrewsbury have held the office since the 15th century....

. However, he was already dead, unable to stand in his own defence, and his title already inherited by his son Hugh “Albert” O'Donnell, therefore in order to attaint the title, the trial would have to have been of Hugh “Albert”, who had in fact committed no crime. Under English legal theory the title had potentially lapsed as soon as he embarked on the ship without permission to leave Ireland, and when it lapsed it could not then pass to his descendants without some special waiver.

The attainder was therefore considered by his supporters as a travesty of justice and was considered null and void by many on the Continent. The Earl of Tyrconnell's son, Hugh “Albert” O'Donnell's succession as 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell (1st creation) was therefore recognized as valid abroad, not least in the Spanish realm.

These attainders had a much greater impact on the people of Ulster. The 1603 peace arrangement with the three lords was ended, as they had broken its conditions by leaving the kingdom without permission, and their remaining freehold lands were confiscated. Chichester proposed a new plantation of settlers from England, Wales and Scotland, sponsored in part by the City of London merchants

The Honourable The Irish Society

The Honourable The Irish Society is the organisation created by royal charter consisting of members nominated by livery companies of the City of London, set up to colonise County Londonderry during the plantation of Ulster. Notably it was involved in the construction of the city of Londonderry,...

, which became known as the Plantation of Ulster

Plantation of Ulster

. This had an enormous negative impact on the lower class Gaelic-culture inhabitants of Ulster, an outcome that is still overlooked.

Change in Spanish policy

In the Papal Bull

Papal bull

A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....

Ilius of 1555, the Pope had conferred the title King of Ireland

King of Ireland

A monarchical polity has existed in Ireland during three periods of its history, finally ending in 1801. The designation King of Ireland and Queen of Ireland was used during these periods...

on King Philip II of Spain when he was married to Queen Mary. Philip II made no claim to the kingship of Ireland after Mary's death in 1558. He engaged in a lengthy war

Anglo-Spanish War (1585)

The Anglo–Spanish War was an intermittent conflict between the kingdoms of Spain and England that was never formally declared. The war was punctuated by widely separated battles, and began with England's military expedition in 1585 to the Netherlands under the command of the Earl of Leicester in...

from 1585 with her sister Elizabeth I, and he and his successor Philip III

Philip III of Spain

Philip III , also known as Philip the Pious, was the King of Spain and King of Portugal and the Algarves, where he ruled as Philip II , from 1598 until his death...

supported the Irish Catholic rebels up to the siege of Kinsale in 1601 at great expense but without success. He had been offered the kingship in 1595 by O'Neill and his allies, but turned it down. Given this lengthy support it was reasonable for Tyrconnell and Tyrone to try to solicit help from Philip III, but Spanish policy was to maintain its recent (1604) peace with England, and its European fleet had anyway been destroyed by the Dutch over four months earlier. There are two possibilities at the time of the Flight;

either the earls did not know that Spain was unable and unwilling to help, or
they did know, and deceived their followers into thinking that a Spanish invasion would arrive within months.

Commemoration on the 400th anniversary

The 400th anniversary of the Flight of the Earls was marked on 14 September 2007, throughout Donegal, including a regatta of tall ships, fireworks, lectures, and conferences. There is a permanent exhibition dedicated to the Flight of the Earls and the subsequent Plantation in Draperstown

Draperstown

Draperstown is a village in the Sperrin Mountains of County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 1,638 people in the 2001 Census.-Name:...

in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

and at the "Flight of the Earls Centre" in the Martello Tower

Martello tower

Martello towers are small defensive forts built in several countries of the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the Napoleonic Wars onwards....

at Rathmullan.

In 2008 there were also celebrations to mark the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Earls in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

External links

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