. . ." Seven, " answered Father Donovan, in the same language. " Then let there not be any fear on you, " shouted the officer, and the seven were saved. Never since the days of Hugh Roe, himself, had the knowledge of Irish proved such a safeguard.
In truth it was not the " Wild Geese " who forgot the tongue of the Gael or let it perish. We are told that the watchwords and the words of command in the " Brigade " were always in Irish, and that officers who did not know the language before they entered the service found themselves of necessity compelled to learn it. And it was in Irish the famous war cry was composed, to which the exiles charged at Fontenoy
In truth it was not the " Wild Geese " who forgot the tongue of the Gael or let it perish. We are told that the watchwords and the words of command in the " Brigade " were always in Irish, and that officers who did not know the language before they entered the service found themselves of necessity compelled to learn it. And it was in Irish the famous war cry was composed, to which the exiles charged at Fontenoy
The 2nd Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles
And
And
Famous Irish Regiments
' The Wild Geese '
" I fought by my father's side, and when we were fighting sore
We saw a line of their steel, with our shrieking women before.
The red-coats drove them on to the verge of the Gobbins grey,
Hurried them-God! the sight! as the sea foamed up for its prey. "
We saw a line of their steel, with our shrieking women before.
The red-coats drove them on to the verge of the Gobbins grey,
Hurried them-God! the sight! as the sea foamed up for its prey. "
" Remember Limerick and Saxon Perfidy "
Many
other instances we have of these soldier-exiles' love for their old tongue, and the old literature
Captain Sorley Mac'Donnell, serving in the Low Countries about 1626, had a copy made for himself of the Fenian Tales, and to his passion for Irish hero-lore we owe, as Professor Eoin MacNeill reminds us, " the preservation of Duanaire Finn. " John O'Donovan, in the appendix of his edition of the ' Four Masters ', has an interesting tale to tell of a young Charles O' Donnell from County Mayo, who in the middle of the 18th century went out to seek his
fortune in Austria, where hsi uncle, Count Henry O'Donnell, the ' handsomest man in the Austrian Service and an especial favourite with the Empress ' had risen to high rank in the Imperial Army, and won a princess of the royal house of Cantacuzeno for his bride. Poor Charles was on the point of being packed home again because he answered in English when the General addressed him in Irish. The kind Irish Friar to whom the young man related his discomfiture, advised him to go back to the General and speak nothing but Irish, and all would be well. The advice was taken, and the reassuring prophecy fulfilled, Young Charles in his turn rising to be a Major-General and a Count. His initial faux-pas was all the less excusable, because his uncle, writing to his father Manus, had directed him to have whichever of his sons he intended sending to Austria carefully educated in the Irish language, for Count Henry desired to have his nephew's help in instructing his own children in the language of their ancestors. " The tongue being Irish, the heart must needs be Irish too."
fortune in Austria, where hsi uncle, Count Henry O'Donnell, the ' handsomest man in the Austrian Service and an especial favourite with the Empress ' had risen to high rank in the Imperial Army, and won a princess of the royal house of Cantacuzeno for his bride. Poor Charles was on the point of being packed home again because he answered in English when the General addressed him in Irish. The kind Irish Friar to whom the young man related his discomfiture, advised him to go back to the General and speak nothing but Irish, and all would be well. The advice was taken, and the reassuring prophecy fulfilled, Young Charles in his turn rising to be a Major-General and a Count. His initial faux-pas was all the less excusable, because his uncle, writing to his father Manus, had directed him to have whichever of his sons he intended sending to Austria carefully educated in the Irish language, for Count Henry desired to have his nephew's help in instructing his own children in the language of their ancestors. " The tongue being Irish, the heart must needs be Irish too."
The
great Field Marshal Ulrich Maximilian Count Brown - " whose ashes are every day watered with
the tears of the soldiers to whom he was so dear " ( I' Abbe MacGeoghegan ) was perhaps the greatest of the great Soldiers Ireland gave to Austria - and that is saying much. Born in 1705 and educated in Limerick, he had gone out as a boy to his uncle, George Brown, who commanded an infantry regiment in Hungary. He was present at the siege of Belgrade ( where his countryman, General O'Dwyer commanded a division ) was made Colonel in 1725, at the age of twenty, and in 1730, with his uncle, invested Corsica. In 1739 he was raised by the Emperor Charles VI to the dignity of Field Marshal and Member of the Council of War. On the accession of Maria Theresa, she appointed Brown one of her Privy Councillors, and in 1752 nominated him Generalissimo of all her forces; while the King of Poland, Elector of Saxony, in the following year, invested him with the order of the White Eagle. At the memorable battle of Prague in 1757, this hero received a wound of which he expired in two months.
Field Marshal Brown was, as we have said, the most famous of the Irish soldiers in the Imperial Service, but there were many other distinguished Irishmen in the Austrian Armies, and the Imperial Rulers showed the highest appreciation of their qualities. In a document written by the Emperor Francis I, and found among his papers after his death, we read:- " The more Irish officers in the Austrian service, the better our troops will always be disciplined; an Irish coward is an uncommon character, and even what the natives of Ireland dislike, they generally perform through a desire of glory. " " Such is our established reputation, " said Colonel O ' Shea, a veteran officer of the Austrian Army, " that Arch-Duke Charles said to me that never was the House of Austria better served than when possessing so many Irish, of whom at one time upwards of 30 were Generals. " There have been no less than 14 Irish Field Marshals in the Austrian Service at various times. On St. Patrick's Day in the year 1765, the Spanish Ambassador to the Court of Vienna, gave a grand entertainment in honour of the Apostle of Ireland, to which were invited only persons of Irish descent. The Ambassador himself was an O ' Mahony, son of the hero of Cremona, and the illustrious assembly included Count de Lacy, President of the Austrian Council of War, Generals O' Donnell, MacGuire, O' Kelly, Brown, Plunkett and MacEligott, four Chiefs of the Grand Cross, two Governors, several Knights Military, six Staff Officers, four Privy Councillors with the principle Officers of State, who to show their respect for the Irish Nation, wore crosses in honour of the day, as did the whole court.
Field Marshal Brown was, as we have said, the most famous of the Irish soldiers in the Imperial Service, but there were many other distinguished Irishmen in the Austrian Armies, and the Imperial Rulers showed the highest appreciation of their qualities. In a document written by the Emperor Francis I, and found among his papers after his death, we read:- " The more Irish officers in the Austrian service, the better our troops will always be disciplined; an Irish coward is an uncommon character, and even what the natives of Ireland dislike, they generally perform through a desire of glory. " " Such is our established reputation, " said Colonel O ' Shea, a veteran officer of the Austrian Army, " that Arch-Duke Charles said to me that never was the House of Austria better served than when possessing so many Irish, of whom at one time upwards of 30 were Generals. " There have been no less than 14 Irish Field Marshals in the Austrian Service at various times. On St. Patrick's Day in the year 1765, the Spanish Ambassador to the Court of Vienna, gave a grand entertainment in honour of the Apostle of Ireland, to which were invited only persons of Irish descent. The Ambassador himself was an O ' Mahony, son of the hero of Cremona, and the illustrious assembly included Count de Lacy, President of the Austrian Council of War, Generals O' Donnell, MacGuire, O' Kelly, Brown, Plunkett and MacEligott, four Chiefs of the Grand Cross, two Governors, several Knights Military, six Staff Officers, four Privy Councillors with the principle Officers of State, who to show their respect for the Irish Nation, wore crosses in honour of the day, as did the whole court.
Many
of the Irish Officers in Austria had relatives in the Russian Army, or had served in it them-
selves. Thus we find in Russia, Nugents, O' Rourkes, Browns, and de Lacy's. Count Peter de Lacy, born in Limerick, first entered the French Service, passed thence into the Polish, and was presented by the Polish Count de Croy to Peter the Great, who was then in alliance with Poland. The Czar took him into his own service, in which he obtained a Majority in 1705, and a Lieutenant Colonelcy in the following year. In 1708 he was promoted to the command of the Siberian Regiment of Infantry, and joined the Grand Army. he was wounded at the Battle of Pultowa ( 1709 ) where he acted as Brigadier. In 1710 he distinguished himself in the attack on Riga. In 1737 he was appointed to command an expedition into the Crimea. This was the General who according to Ferrer " taught the Russians to beat the army of the King of Sweden, and to become from the worst, to some of the best soldiers in Europe. " Before the Battle of Pultowa, he advised the Czar to send orders that every soldier should reserve his fire until he came within a few yards of the enemy, in consequence of which Charles the Twelth was totally defeated, losing in that single action the advantage of nine campaigns of glory. He died, Governor of Livonia in 1751.
The history of the de Lacy's would bring us through every country in Europe. Thus Count Peter's son, Joseph died a Marshal of the Austrian Army; his kinsman, Maurice, entered the Russian Service we are told, at 10 years old.
he served under Suwarrow in the Italian campaign, in campaigns against the Turks, and also in the Crimea. The Lacy's in Spain were numerous and important. The most famous was Count de Lacy, General and Diplomatist. Born in 1731, he commenced his military career as an Ensign in the Irish Brigade of Ultonia Infantry, was named Colonel in 1762, and a Commander of Artillery in 1780, when he was employed at the celebrated siege of Gibraltar. After the Peace of Versailles in 1783, he was made Minister Plenipotentiary of both Sweden and Russia and died at Barcelona in 1792.
The Irish Legion in Spain has a much longer history than that of the French Service, but its records have not been collected into a convenient form. They go back to the days when Irish soldiers recruited by Sir John Perrott were sent to the Low Countries under Sir William Stanley, as part of the expeditionary force led by Leicester to help the Dutch, then in revolt against Spain ( 1586 ). Their leader Stanley, having become a Catholic, surrendered Deventer, which he held for the Dutch, to the Spaniards, and was joyfully followed over to the side of the Catholic King by all his Irish fighting men. This was the nucleus of the famous Irish Legion in the Low Countries, which for long years kept the English in continual fear of an invasion of Ireland. Illustrious names illumine the lists of officers. Colonel Henry O' Neill, son of the great Hugh; his younger brother, John; " Don Hugh O' Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell, page to the Infanta in Flanders, " Don Tomaso Preston, and
The history of the de Lacy's would bring us through every country in Europe. Thus Count Peter's son, Joseph died a Marshal of the Austrian Army; his kinsman, Maurice, entered the Russian Service we are told, at 10 years old.
he served under Suwarrow in the Italian campaign, in campaigns against the Turks, and also in the Crimea. The Lacy's in Spain were numerous and important. The most famous was Count de Lacy, General and Diplomatist. Born in 1731, he commenced his military career as an Ensign in the Irish Brigade of Ultonia Infantry, was named Colonel in 1762, and a Commander of Artillery in 1780, when he was employed at the celebrated siege of Gibraltar. After the Peace of Versailles in 1783, he was made Minister Plenipotentiary of both Sweden and Russia and died at Barcelona in 1792.
The Irish Legion in Spain has a much longer history than that of the French Service, but its records have not been collected into a convenient form. They go back to the days when Irish soldiers recruited by Sir John Perrott were sent to the Low Countries under Sir William Stanley, as part of the expeditionary force led by Leicester to help the Dutch, then in revolt against Spain ( 1586 ). Their leader Stanley, having become a Catholic, surrendered Deventer, which he held for the Dutch, to the Spaniards, and was joyfully followed over to the side of the Catholic King by all his Irish fighting men. This was the nucleus of the famous Irish Legion in the Low Countries, which for long years kept the English in continual fear of an invasion of Ireland. Illustrious names illumine the lists of officers. Colonel Henry O' Neill, son of the great Hugh; his younger brother, John; " Don Hugh O' Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell, page to the Infanta in Flanders, " Don Tomaso Preston, and
" The worthiest warrior of them all
The princely Owen Roe "
The princely Owen Roe "
And great deeds of arms illuminied its records: at Bois-le-Due, Dourlen, Amiens, under Pontecarrero and Montenegro, the stupendous defence of Louvain by Preston, the no less stupendous achievments of Owen Roe and his men at Arras. The misfortunes of Ireland, her inability to provide for her young men at home, kept the ranks of the Legion filled. After the Battle of Kinsale, after the confiscation and plantation of Ulster, the dispossessed swordsmen trooped to it in countless numbers. The poignant phrase of the ' Four Masters ' paints their sad lot - Offering themselves for hire as soldiers to foreigners, so that countless numbers of the freeborn nobles of Ireland were slain in distant countries and were ' buried in strange places and unhereditary churches ' But always the hope remained with them, that one day they would return and strike a blow for Ireland. As they lay one night outside the town of Aire, waiting to storm it on the morrow, their thoughts and feelings were vocal in an Irish sentence which pierced the darkness:- " Tomorrow we are to adventure our lives for the succouring of a scabbed town of the King of Spain, where we may lose our lives, and we cannot expect any worse if we go into our own country and succour it. " And they did " go into their own country, " the brave boys, and " succour it " with Owen Roe O' Neill !
The triumph of Cromwell again drove many thousand trained soldiers to Spain, and other countries - in accordance with a definite policy, that of " voiding the swordsman out of the country. " It is estimated that between 1651 and 1654 " 40,000 of the most active spirited men, most acquainted with the dangers and discipline of war " went out of Ireland to die for the Princes and causes that were none of theirs. Of these Spain received the largest numbers. After the fall of Limerick, a great number of swordsmen sailed to Spain, and their numbers were subsequently increased by accession of Irish soldiers from France during theWar of the Spanish Succession.
L' Abbe MacGeoghegan enumerates the names of the most distinguished: " O' Mahony, MacDonnell, Lawless, the Lacy's, the Burkes, O' Carrolls, Coftons, Comerford, Gardiners, and O' Connors crowned themselves with laurels on the shawsa of Tagus. "
The triumph of Cromwell again drove many thousand trained soldiers to Spain, and other countries - in accordance with a definite policy, that of " voiding the swordsman out of the country. " It is estimated that between 1651 and 1654 " 40,000 of the most active spirited men, most acquainted with the dangers and discipline of war " went out of Ireland to die for the Princes and causes that were none of theirs. Of these Spain received the largest numbers. After the fall of Limerick, a great number of swordsmen sailed to Spain, and their numbers were subsequently increased by accession of Irish soldiers from France during theWar of the Spanish Succession.
L' Abbe MacGeoghegan enumerates the names of the most distinguished: " O' Mahony, MacDonnell, Lawless, the Lacy's, the Burkes, O' Carrolls, Coftons, Comerford, Gardiners, and O' Connors crowned themselves with laurels on the shawsa of Tagus. "
