In
Irish History
And
The Fighting Irish
And
The Fighting Irish
his book ' The Sory of the Irish Race ' Seumas MacManus writes the following:
From Dublin Castle under the date 25th February 1642, the Government issued fpr guidance of its generals, the very clear and explicit command " to wound, kill, slay and destroy by all the ways and means you may, all the rebels and adherents and relievers: and burn, spoil, waste, consume and demolish all places, towns and houses, where the said rebels are or have been relieved and harboured, and all hay and corn there, and kill and destroy all the men inhabiting, able to bear arms. " ( Carte's " Ormond. " )
Sir Charles Coote, typical of the English generals in this war, employed rack and dungeon and roasting to death, for appeasing of the turbulent natives. He stopped at nothing - even hanging women with child.
Lord Clarendon, in his narrative of the events of the time, records how, after Coote plundered and burned the town of Clontarf " he massacred town people, men and women and three suckling infants. " And in the same week, says Clarendon, men, women and children of the village of Bullock frightened of the fate Clontarf went to sea to shun the fury of the soldiers who came from Dublin under Colonel Clifford. But being pursued by the soldiers in boats and over-taken, they were all thrown overboard - and drowned. Castlehaven sets down an incident characteristic of the humanity of the English troopers of the time. He tells how
Sir Arthur Loftus, Governor of Naas, marched out with a party of horse, and being joined by a party sent out by Ormond from Dublin: " They both together killed such of the Irish as they met . . . but the most considerable slaughter occurred in a great straight of furze situated on a hill, where the people of several villages had fled for shelter. " Sir Arthur surrounded the hill, fired the furze and at the point of the sword drove back into the flames the burning, men, women and children who tried to emerge - till the last child was burned to a crisp. Says Castlehaven in his Memoirs, " I saw the bodies - and the furze stll burning. "
It shoul be particularly noted that the suckling infant smetimes aroused in the English soldiers the same blood-thirst that did the fighting rebel. The butchering of infants was more diligently attended to during this period than in any other previous or subsequent English excursion through Ireland. It is matter record that in the presence and with the toleration, of their officers - in at least one case with the hearty approval of a leader - the common soldiers engaged in the sport of tossing Irish babes upon their spears. The old English historian Dr Nalson, in his history of the Civil Wars ( introduction to his second volume ) states - " I have heard a relation of my own, who was a captain in that service ( in Ireland ) relate that . . . little children were promiscuously sufferers with the guilty, and that when any one who had some grains of compassion reprehended the soldiers for this unchristian inhumanity, they would scoffingly reply, ' Why? nits will be lice !' and so desptach them. "
Sir Charles Coote, typical of the English generals in this war, employed rack and dungeon and roasting to death, for appeasing of the turbulent natives. He stopped at nothing - even hanging women with child.
Lord Clarendon, in his narrative of the events of the time, records how, after Coote plundered and burned the town of Clontarf " he massacred town people, men and women and three suckling infants. " And in the same week, says Clarendon, men, women and children of the village of Bullock frightened of the fate Clontarf went to sea to shun the fury of the soldiers who came from Dublin under Colonel Clifford. But being pursued by the soldiers in boats and over-taken, they were all thrown overboard - and drowned. Castlehaven sets down an incident characteristic of the humanity of the English troopers of the time. He tells how
Sir Arthur Loftus, Governor of Naas, marched out with a party of horse, and being joined by a party sent out by Ormond from Dublin: " They both together killed such of the Irish as they met . . . but the most considerable slaughter occurred in a great straight of furze situated on a hill, where the people of several villages had fled for shelter. " Sir Arthur surrounded the hill, fired the furze and at the point of the sword drove back into the flames the burning, men, women and children who tried to emerge - till the last child was burned to a crisp. Says Castlehaven in his Memoirs, " I saw the bodies - and the furze stll burning. "
It shoul be particularly noted that the suckling infant smetimes aroused in the English soldiers the same blood-thirst that did the fighting rebel. The butchering of infants was more diligently attended to during this period than in any other previous or subsequent English excursion through Ireland. It is matter record that in the presence and with the toleration, of their officers - in at least one case with the hearty approval of a leader - the common soldiers engaged in the sport of tossing Irish babes upon their spears. The old English historian Dr Nalson, in his history of the Civil Wars ( introduction to his second volume ) states - " I have heard a relation of my own, who was a captain in that service ( in Ireland ) relate that . . . little children were promiscuously sufferers with the guilty, and that when any one who had some grains of compassion reprehended the soldiers for this unchristian inhumanity, they would scoffingly reply, ' Why? nits will be lice !' and so desptach them. "
From 1641 to early 1642, the fighting in Ireland was characterised by small bands, raised by local lords or among local people, attacking civilians of opposing ethnic and religious groups. At first many of the Irish Catholic upper classes were reluctant to join the rebellion, especially the " Old English " community. However withing six months almost all of them had joined the rebellion. There were three main reasons for this. Firstly, local lords and landowners raised armed units of their dependants to control the violence that was engulfing the country, fearing that after the settlers were gone, the Irish peasantry would turn on them as well. Secondly, the English Parliament and the Irish administration, and King Charles, made it clear that Irish Catholics who did not demonstrate their loyalty would be held responsible for the rebellion and killings of settlers, and would confiscate their lands under the Adventurers Act. Thirdly, it looked initially as if the rebels would be successful after they defeated a government force at Julianstown. This perception was soon shattered when the rebels failed to take nearby Drogheda, but by then the Pale lords had already committed themselves to rebellion.
The Battle of Julianstown was fought in November 1641 at Julianstown, near Drogheda. The insurgents led by Rory O'Moore moved south from Ulster towards Dublin, hoping to take the capital. An untrained, hastily raised force of Governmet soldiers, largely composed of refugees from the fighting in the north, was sent against them. The two sides met at the bridge at Julianstown. The British commander gave the order to counter march, which the half trained recruits misinterpreted as a march to the rear. The British army began slowly edging backwards. However the rebel force believed that the British had shouted ' contuirt bhais ' ( danger of death ) The Irish, up on hearing this and seeing the panic and confusion amongst the British force let loose with a war cry and charged with unyielding ferocity. What followed was a simple rout. The soldiers attempted to hold them off by firing in volleys, but were unable to co-ordinate their actions and panicked when they saw the rebels bearing down on them. Many threw down their muskets and ran away. the remainder beng either killed o captured. One soucetells us that t rebels spared the Irishmen in the soldier's ranks, but killed all the Englishmen and Scots.
The consequences of this skirmish were far more disproportionate to its military significance. The rebel's victory made them seem much more formidable than they actually were and helped to spread the rebellion to the rest of Ireland. This also was a rude wake up call to the crown forces and showed that untrained troops were far more effective than half trained ones. This indirectly helped to trigger the English Civil War and Confederate Ireland - a short lived independent Irish state.
By early 1642, there were four main concentrations of rebel forces; Ulster under Phelim O' Neill, in the Pale around Dublin led by Viscount Gormanstown, in the south east, led by the Butler family - in particular Lord Mountgarret and in the south west, led by Donagh MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry. In areas where British settlers were concentrated, around Cork, Dublin, Carrickfergus and Derry, they raised their own militia in self-defence and managed to hold off the rebel forces.
Charles I was initially hostile to the rebels and sent over a large army to Dublin to subdue them. The ccottish Parliament also sent an army to Ulster to defend their compatriots there. However, a quick defeat of the rebels in Ireland was prevented by the outbreak of the Civil War in England. Among other issues, the English Parliament did not trust Charles with command of the army raised to send to Ireland, fearing that it would afterwards be used against them. because of the Civil War in England, English troops were withdrawn from Ireland and a military stalemate ensued.
This gave the Irish Catholics breathing space to create the Catholic Confederation, which would run the Irish war effort. This was instigated by the Catholic clergy and by landed magnates such as Viscount Gormanstown and Lord Mountgarret. By the summer of 1642, the rebellion proper was over and was superseded by a conventional war between the Irish, who controlled two thirds of the country, and the British controlled enclaves in Ulster, Dublin and around Cork in Munster. The following period is known as Confederate Ireland. The Confederaation sided with the Royalists in return for the promise of self-government and full rights for Catholics after the war. They were finally defeated by regiments of the English Parliament's New Model Army from 1649 through to 1653 and land ownership in Ireland passed almost exclusively to Protestant settlers. The ' barbaric ' treatment of Ireland and its people would continue.
The Battle of Julianstown was fought in November 1641 at Julianstown, near Drogheda. The insurgents led by Rory O'Moore moved south from Ulster towards Dublin, hoping to take the capital. An untrained, hastily raised force of Governmet soldiers, largely composed of refugees from the fighting in the north, was sent against them. The two sides met at the bridge at Julianstown. The British commander gave the order to counter march, which the half trained recruits misinterpreted as a march to the rear. The British army began slowly edging backwards. However the rebel force believed that the British had shouted ' contuirt bhais ' ( danger of death ) The Irish, up on hearing this and seeing the panic and confusion amongst the British force let loose with a war cry and charged with unyielding ferocity. What followed was a simple rout. The soldiers attempted to hold them off by firing in volleys, but were unable to co-ordinate their actions and panicked when they saw the rebels bearing down on them. Many threw down their muskets and ran away. the remainder beng either killed o captured. One soucetells us that t rebels spared the Irishmen in the soldier's ranks, but killed all the Englishmen and Scots.
The consequences of this skirmish were far more disproportionate to its military significance. The rebel's victory made them seem much more formidable than they actually were and helped to spread the rebellion to the rest of Ireland. This also was a rude wake up call to the crown forces and showed that untrained troops were far more effective than half trained ones. This indirectly helped to trigger the English Civil War and Confederate Ireland - a short lived independent Irish state.
By early 1642, there were four main concentrations of rebel forces; Ulster under Phelim O' Neill, in the Pale around Dublin led by Viscount Gormanstown, in the south east, led by the Butler family - in particular Lord Mountgarret and in the south west, led by Donagh MacCarthy, Viscount Muskerry. In areas where British settlers were concentrated, around Cork, Dublin, Carrickfergus and Derry, they raised their own militia in self-defence and managed to hold off the rebel forces.
Charles I was initially hostile to the rebels and sent over a large army to Dublin to subdue them. The ccottish Parliament also sent an army to Ulster to defend their compatriots there. However, a quick defeat of the rebels in Ireland was prevented by the outbreak of the Civil War in England. Among other issues, the English Parliament did not trust Charles with command of the army raised to send to Ireland, fearing that it would afterwards be used against them. because of the Civil War in England, English troops were withdrawn from Ireland and a military stalemate ensued.
This gave the Irish Catholics breathing space to create the Catholic Confederation, which would run the Irish war effort. This was instigated by the Catholic clergy and by landed magnates such as Viscount Gormanstown and Lord Mountgarret. By the summer of 1642, the rebellion proper was over and was superseded by a conventional war between the Irish, who controlled two thirds of the country, and the British controlled enclaves in Ulster, Dublin and around Cork in Munster. The following period is known as Confederate Ireland. The Confederaation sided with the Royalists in return for the promise of self-government and full rights for Catholics after the war. They were finally defeated by regiments of the English Parliament's New Model Army from 1649 through to 1653 and land ownership in Ireland passed almost exclusively to Protestant settlers. The ' barbaric ' treatment of Ireland and its people would continue.
