Irish History
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The Fighting Irish
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The Fighting Irish
A Brief Summary
The
Desmond Rebellions occurred between 1569-1573 and 1579-1583 in Munster Southern Ireland.
( Desmond is the English language name given to the Gaelic ' Deasmumhain ' which means ' South Munster ' ) They were rebellions of the Earl of Desmond dynasty - the Fitzgerald family or Geraldines and their allies against the efforts of the Elizabethan English government to extend their control over the province of Munster. The rebellions were primarily about the independence of feudal lords from English rule, but also had an element of religious conflict ( Roman Catholic against Protestant ) The result of the rebellions was the destruction of the Desmond dynasty and the subsequent plantation or colonisation of Munster with English Protestant settlers.
The provinces of Munster and southern Leinster were dominated, as it had been for over two centuries, by the Old English Butlers of Ormonde and Fitzgeralds of Desmond, who formed what were essentially miniature feudal principates. Both houses raised their own armed forces and imposed their own laws, a mixture of Irish and English customs independent of the English government of Ireland in Dublin. However, since the 1530s successive English administrations in Ireland had been trying to expand English control over all of Ireland. By the 1560s their attention had turned to the south of the country and Henry Sidney, as Lord Deputy of Ireland, was charged with establishing the authority of the English government over the independent lordships there. His solution was the formation of " lord presidencies " provincial military governors who would replace the local lords as military powers and keepers of the peace.
The provinces of Munster and southern Leinster were dominated, as it had been for over two centuries, by the Old English Butlers of Ormonde and Fitzgeralds of Desmond, who formed what were essentially miniature feudal principates. Both houses raised their own armed forces and imposed their own laws, a mixture of Irish and English customs independent of the English government of Ireland in Dublin. However, since the 1530s successive English administrations in Ireland had been trying to expand English control over all of Ireland. By the 1560s their attention had turned to the south of the country and Henry Sidney, as Lord Deputy of Ireland, was charged with establishing the authority of the English government over the independent lordships there. His solution was the formation of " lord presidencies " provincial military governors who would replace the local lords as military powers and keepers of the peace.
Henry Sidney, Lord Deputy of Ireland
The local dynasties saw the presidencies as intrusions into their territory and sphere of influence, and into their traditional violent competition with each other. This had seen the Butlers and Fitzgeralds fight a pitched battle against each other at Affane in County Waterford in 1565. This was a blatant defiance of the Elizabethan state's law. Elizabeth I summoned the heads of both houses to London to explain their actions. However the treatment of the dynasties was not even handed. Thomas Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormonde - who was the Queen's cousin- was pardoned, while both Gerald Fitzgerald, 14th Earl of Desmond ( in 1567 ) and his brother, John of Desmond, widely regarded as the real military leader of the Fitzgeralds ( in 1568 ) were arrested and detained in the Tower of London on Ormonde's urging.
This decapitated the natural leadership of the Munster Geraldines and left the Desmond Earldom in the hands of a soldier, James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald, the " Captain General " of the Desmond military. Fitzmaurice had little stake in the new de-militarised order in Munster, which envisaged the abolition of the Irish lords' private armies.
A factor that drew wider support for Fitzmaurice was the prospect of land confiscation, which had been mooted by Sidney and Peter Carew, an English colonist. This ensured Fitzmaurice the support of important clans, notably MacCarthy Mor, O' Sullivan Beare and O' keefe and two prominent Butlers - brothers of the Earl. Fitzmaurice himself had lost the land he had held at Kerricurihy in County Cork, which had been leased instead to English colonists. He was also a devout Catholic, influenced by the counter-reformation, which made him see the Protestant Elizabethan gonernors as his enemies. To discourage Sidney from going ahead with the Lord Presidency for Munster and to re-establish Desmond primacy over the Butlers, he planned a rebellion against the English presence in the south and against the Earl of Ormonde. Fitzmaurice however had wider aims than simply the recovery of Fitgerald supremacy within the context of the English Kingdom of Ireland. Before the rebellion he secretly sent Maurice MacGibbon, Catholic Archbishop of Cashel, to seek military aid from Philip II of Spain.
This decapitated the natural leadership of the Munster Geraldines and left the Desmond Earldom in the hands of a soldier, James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald, the " Captain General " of the Desmond military. Fitzmaurice had little stake in the new de-militarised order in Munster, which envisaged the abolition of the Irish lords' private armies.
A factor that drew wider support for Fitzmaurice was the prospect of land confiscation, which had been mooted by Sidney and Peter Carew, an English colonist. This ensured Fitzmaurice the support of important clans, notably MacCarthy Mor, O' Sullivan Beare and O' keefe and two prominent Butlers - brothers of the Earl. Fitzmaurice himself had lost the land he had held at Kerricurihy in County Cork, which had been leased instead to English colonists. He was also a devout Catholic, influenced by the counter-reformation, which made him see the Protestant Elizabethan gonernors as his enemies. To discourage Sidney from going ahead with the Lord Presidency for Munster and to re-establish Desmond primacy over the Butlers, he planned a rebellion against the English presence in the south and against the Earl of Ormonde. Fitzmaurice however had wider aims than simply the recovery of Fitgerald supremacy within the context of the English Kingdom of Ireland. Before the rebellion he secretly sent Maurice MacGibbon, Catholic Archbishop of Cashel, to seek military aid from Philip II of Spain.
the first desmond rebellion
Fitzmaurice
launched his rebellion by attacking the English colony at Kerrycurihy
south of Cork city in June 1569, before attacking Cork itself and those native lords who refused to join the rebellion Fitzmaurice's force of up to 4,500 men went on to besiege Kilkenny, seat of the Earls of Ormonde in July.
In response Sidney mobilised 600 English troops, who marched south from Dublin and another 400 troops landed at by sea at Cork. Thomas Butler, Earl of Ormonde returned from London, where he had been at court, brought the
rebel Butlers out of the rebellion and mobilised Gaelic Irish clans antagonistic to the Geraldines. Together, Ormonde, Sidney and Humphrey Gilbert, appointed as governor of Munster, began devastating the lands of Fitzmaurice's allies. Fitzmaurice's forces broke up, as individual lords had to retire to defend the own territories and people. Gilbert in particular was notorious for the terror tactics he employed. Killing men, women and children at random and setting up a corridor of severed heads at the entance to his camps.
In response Sidney mobilised 600 English troops, who marched south from Dublin and another 400 troops landed at by sea at Cork. Thomas Butler, Earl of Ormonde returned from London, where he had been at court, brought the
rebel Butlers out of the rebellion and mobilised Gaelic Irish clans antagonistic to the Geraldines. Together, Ormonde, Sidney and Humphrey Gilbert, appointed as governor of Munster, began devastating the lands of Fitzmaurice's allies. Fitzmaurice's forces broke up, as individual lords had to retire to defend the own territories and people. Gilbert in particular was notorious for the terror tactics he employed. Killing men, women and children at random and setting up a corridor of severed heads at the entance to his camps.
Humphrey Gilbert, killed men, women and children at random
In late 1569 a similar but shorter " Northern Rebellion " broke out in England, but was quickly crushed. This and the Desmond Rebeliion caused the Pope to issue " Regnans in Excelsis " in support in 1570. Thereafter, Elizabeth's previous acceptance of Roman Catholic worship in private turned into a more active suppression of organised Catholic services. Sidney forced Fitzmaurice into the mountains of Kerry, from where he launched hit and run attacks on the English and their allies. By 1570, most of Fitzmaurice's allies had submitted to Sidney. The most important, Donal MacCarthy Mor surrendered in November 1569. Nevertheless, the guerrilla campaign dragged on for three more years. In February 1571, John Perrot was made Lord President of Munster, pursuing Fitzmaurice with 700 troops for over a year without success. Fitzmaurice had some victories, capturing an English ship near Kinsale and burning the town of kilmallock in 1571, for example, but by early 1573, his force was reduced to less than 100 men. fitzmaurice finally submitted on February 23rd 1573, having negotiated a pardon for his life. However in 1574, he again became landless and in 1575 he sailed to France to seek help from the Catholic powers to start another rebellion.
Gerald Fitzgerald, Earl of Desmond and his brother John were released from prison to stabilise the situation and to reconstruct their shattered territory. Under a new settlement imposed after the rebellion, known as 'composition'
the Desmond's military forces were limited by law to just 20 horsemen and their tenants made to pay rent to them rather than supply military service or to quarter their soldiers. Perhaps the biggest winner of the first Desmond
Rebellion was the Earl of Ormonde, Thomas Butler ( below left ), who established himself as loyal to the English Crown and the most powerful lord in the south of Ireland.
Gerald Fitzgerald, Earl of Desmond and his brother John were released from prison to stabilise the situation and to reconstruct their shattered territory. Under a new settlement imposed after the rebellion, known as 'composition'
the Desmond's military forces were limited by law to just 20 horsemen and their tenants made to pay rent to them rather than supply military service or to quarter their soldiers. Perhaps the biggest winner of the first Desmond
Rebellion was the Earl of Ormonde, Thomas Butler ( below left ), who established himself as loyal to the English Crown and the most powerful lord in the south of Ireland.
Although all of the local Chiefs had submitted by the end of the rebellion, the methods used to suppress it provoked lingering resentment, especially among the Irish mercenaries the Gallowglass, who had rallied to Fitzmaurice. William Drury the new Lord President of Munster from 1576, executed around 700 of them in the years after the rebellion. Furthermore the aftermath of the rebellion, Gaelic customs such as the Brehon Laws, Irish dress, bardic poetry and the maintaining of private armies were agin outlawed - things that were highly provocative to traditional Irish society. Fitzmaurice, by contrast had deliberately emphasised the Gaelic character of the rebellion. wearing the Irish dress, speaking only Irish and referring to himself as the captain ( taoiseach ) of the Geraldines. Finally, Irish landowners continued to be threatened by the arrival of English colonists. All of these factors meant that when Fitzmaurice returned from Continental Europe to start a new rebellion there were people who were willing to fight with him.
