The
Irish History
And
The Fighting Irish
And
The Fighting Irish
captain had gathered much spoil, intending the castle taken, to bring those beeves to Connacht and
Bingham. Red Hugh rose, laughed at his surgeons, called out his men, and marched to Donegal. He recovered the spoil, freed the castle and Inghin and drove the captain and his soldiers out of Tir-Conaill. It must have been a strange meeting between Red Hugh and his dauntless mother. For the four years of his captivity aided faithfully by MacSwiney of the Battle Axes, she had never ceased to try to obtain his release and keep the Chieftaincy for him.
On a May day the lad was made The O' Donnell. Sir Hugh, his father, gladly gave place to a son so fit to rule. A weak hesitating man, he had let his wife, the Dark Daughter Inghin Dubh, strike the blows for her stolen son. Now a mild old man, tired of a vexatious world where treachery and dark ways prevailed, he was about to seek the goal of old war-worn Irish princes, the rest and shelter of a monastery.
Therefore on that May day, young, valiant, beautiful, but lame in one foot - the mark of his captivity - the boy with gifts of mind and body that had made men look to him as the hope of Ireland, stood on the rock of Doone, the immemorial throne of the O' Donnells, the white wand in his hand, symbol of Authority and of what his rule must be, white and straight;
On a May day the lad was made The O' Donnell. Sir Hugh, his father, gladly gave place to a son so fit to rule. A weak hesitating man, he had let his wife, the Dark Daughter Inghin Dubh, strike the blows for her stolen son. Now a mild old man, tired of a vexatious world where treachery and dark ways prevailed, he was about to seek the goal of old war-worn Irish princes, the rest and shelter of a monastery.
Therefore on that May day, young, valiant, beautiful, but lame in one foot - the mark of his captivity - the boy with gifts of mind and body that had made men look to him as the hope of Ireland, stood on the rock of Doone, the immemorial throne of the O' Donnells, the white wand in his hand, symbol of Authority and of what his rule must be, white and straight;
The Rock of Doone
And turning thrice from left to right, and thrice from right to left, in honour of the Holy Trinity, he viewed from every point his territory. Then as he stood still, erect and kingly, the inaugurator called " O' Donnell! " giving him a title higher than any the foreigners could give, the ancient title of his ancestors, the princes of Tir-Conaill. And each man among the high officials, according to rank, cried out " O' Donnell! " and the voices of hundreds of clansmen carried " O' Donnell! " far into the distance. Thus Red Hugh's star rose and shone high in the north over Ireland; and still shines in the dark sky of her history.
The Nine Years' War had begun. A spear darted through Tir-Conaill. The invader was driven out; chiefs who had given their allegiance to the foreigner were taught that the O' Donnell was their Chief and prince. He swept through Ulster, and drove out the English sheriffs. He entered Connacht and hurled Bingham's forces before him.
Hugh O' Neill watched events; waited, held his hand, still uncertain; could he and those like him live under English rule or not? He visited London, answered to the queen the charges made against him and won her favour for the time. Then by Elizabeth's order, he was to be seized. It was feared he might not come. But he came walking into the Council Chamber as a man who had nothing to dread. He would have been arrested had not the Black Earl of Ormond declared that he " would not use treachery to any man. " Later he warned O' Neill to leave Dublin that night as the Deputy was preparing to prevent his getting away from the city.
So the issue of an independent Ireland or a conquered country was now to be put to the sword. Almost for the first time since the invasion Ireland had a statesman who saw the root of her weakness, and who placed the politics of the nation before the politics of the Clan.
The Nine Years' War had begun. A spear darted through Tir-Conaill. The invader was driven out; chiefs who had given their allegiance to the foreigner were taught that the O' Donnell was their Chief and prince. He swept through Ulster, and drove out the English sheriffs. He entered Connacht and hurled Bingham's forces before him.
Hugh O' Neill watched events; waited, held his hand, still uncertain; could he and those like him live under English rule or not? He visited London, answered to the queen the charges made against him and won her favour for the time. Then by Elizabeth's order, he was to be seized. It was feared he might not come. But he came walking into the Council Chamber as a man who had nothing to dread. He would have been arrested had not the Black Earl of Ormond declared that he " would not use treachery to any man. " Later he warned O' Neill to leave Dublin that night as the Deputy was preparing to prevent his getting away from the city.
So the issue of an independent Ireland or a conquered country was now to be put to the sword. Almost for the first time since the invasion Ireland had a statesman who saw the root of her weakness, and who placed the politics of the nation before the politics of the Clan.
