Kinsale; the name of a pretty town and the scene of what is often seen as Gaelic Ireland's greatest defeat

one that set in chain the Flight of The Earls and the plantation of Ulster. The forces of Hugh O'Neill and Hugh O'Donell had moved south from Ulster (incidentally leaing their home territory vulnerable to attack from rivals and English forces stattioned there) to link up with Spanish forces who were, by the time of their arrival, besieged by Crown forces. The story is told in detail below:

It was at this date that the Spaniards arrived in Ireland. Without guns or ammunition, without means of manufacturing them at home, or ships to replenish their supplies from abroad, the Irish were becoming gradually exhausted, and if left to themselves their resistance should soon necessarily cease. Repeatedly O'Neill and O'Donnell had sought aid from Spain, implored Philip, as the champion of their faith, not to allow a Catholic people to be wiped out. But Philip's movements were slow; and the year 1600 passed by, and the greater part of 1601, and no aid came; nor was it until September of the latter year that the Spaniards set sail. Nor did all who left Spain arrive in Ireland, for a large part under Zubiar got separated from the main body, and only 3,500 arrived at Kinsale. And the choice of Don John Daguilla to command the expedition was unfortunate. He had no sympathy with a revolt; no skill in winning the people to his side; he was impetuous and self-willed, without any skill in forming plans, or any patience in difficulties. He had already commanded in Brittany, but defeats and disasters were all that could be placed to his account, and his incapacity was well established.

Under a capable leader, such an army landed in Ulster, might have done much, or, if landed in Munster, eighteen months earlier. But, in the meantime Carew had effectually crushed the rebellion, and the Sugane Earl was the last of the Munster chiefs who continued in arms. After his capture there yet remained Florence MacCarthy. Of all the Munster leaders he was the most disreputable. The nominee and ostensible supporter of O'Neill, he was corresponding with Mountjoy and Carew; and though he had made promises of service to Carew, and the Queen was ready to make him an Earl, he still posed as the ally of the Ulster chiefs. He was swayed by no motive but interest, was faithful to no friend, and in treachery and duplicity and abandonment of truth and honour, he was without a peer. As the adherent of O'Neill, he could have commanded enormous forces, and could have crushed Carew by the weight of numbers. But his wife would not allow him to remain on that side. She was the daughter of the late Earl of Clancarty; she believed the English would triumph, and perhaps bestow her father's earldom upon her husband; but in any event she vowed that she had no mind to be a pauper, nor to go a-begging, either to Ulster or Spain. But Florence would not boldly take the English side, as his wife wished; and his fate was the fate of those who undertake to serve two masters. Carew from the first distrusted him, but dissembled until the rebellion was crushed; and then, inviting Florence to a conference at Cork, he arrested him on various charges, and sent him a prisoner to London, where he died.43 At the same time, Carew also arrested and imprisoned all the other Munster chiefs whom he distrusted, lest they might give aid to the strangers; and when Daguilla landed at Kinsale, there was neither an Irish army nor an Irish leader in Munster to give him assistance.

The intended destination of the Spaniards was Cork; and they first arrived there, borne in vessels; but the wind suddenly changed, and, unable to land, they put in at Kinsale. The English garrison there evacuated the place on their approach, and when the Spaniards landed they were well received, and were billeted through the town more readily, says Carew, than if they were the Queen's troops. Daguilla published a proclamation that none would be molested, and that whoever wished to leave might do so, taking the1r goods with them. Carew and Mountjoy were then at Kilkenny. They had been warned from England that the Spaniards were coming, and had gone to Kilkenny to take counsel. Mountjoy proposed returning to Dublin to make his preparations; Carew's advice was that all their forces be at once sent to Munster, his object being to overawe the natives, lest they might join the Spaniards. This advice was taken, and from all quarters the English and their allies flocked to the south. From England 2,000 soldiers came; the Earl of Thomond arrived with 1,000 more; Clanricarde came from Connaught, and Ormond from Kilkenny; the garrisons were withdrawn from Ulster; and by the middle of October, Mountjoy and Carew were in front of Kinsale in command of 12,000 men.

In these circumstances Daguilla sent urgent letters to the Ulster chiefs, begging them to come to his assistance; and O'Donnell, leaving his brother Rory to watch Nial Garve and the English, set out for Munster, with nearly 2,000 men. The force of 2,000 men which Carew took from Kinsale was at least twice that number when he arrived at Cashel, for further reinforcements had been sent. Yet he was in no hurry to fight; and O'Donnell wished to reserve his strength, and taking advantage of a frost which had made even the bogs passable for troops, he turned west, and passed over the mountains of Slieve Felim; and within 24 hours had reached Croom, a distance of 40 English miles, the greatest march with carriage that Carew had ever heard of before. Passing through Duhallow and Muskerry, O'Donnell arrived at Kinsale, about the middle of November.

The narrow channel which connects Kinsale with the open sea was guarded on each side by two strong castles, Rincorran on the east, and Castle ny Park on the west, in both of which Spanish garrisons had been put, and thus was the town protected on the sea side. On the land side, it was more difficult to protect. The position of the town itself, on the slope of Compass Hill, laid it open to be swept by an enemy's batteries placed on the ascending side. But Daguilla had done the best he could; had built up the crumbling walls; and from the bastions his cannon were pointed to deal death on an advancing foe. On the 16th of October, Mountjoy encamped 5 miles from Kinsale. He had not yet a sufficient supply of artillery; but, on the 23rd, his wants in this respect were supplied, and three days later he crossed Oyster Haven and pitched his camp on the Spittle, and on the 29th attacked Rincorran Castle. Daguilla endeavoured to relieve it from the sea, but was unable, and after a heroic defence the garrison capitulated, on condition that their lives were spared. On the 10th of November, Daguilla published a proclamation that any of his soldiers who quitted his post, without directions from his officers, should be punished with death. Yet in spite of all this the besiegers gained ground. The capture of Rincorran allowed the English admiral, Levison, to enter the harbour with his ships, and the town was soon invested completely both by sea and land. Castle ny Park was then assailed, and as the Spaniards in the town could lend no assistance, the garrison was compelled to surrender; and such was the progress made by the English, that, on the 28th, they summoned the town to surrender. Their messenger was not allowed to enter, but was informed at the gate that the Spaniards held the town for Christ and for the King of Spain, and were ready to defend it against anyone and everyone who might assail it.

So far the advantage lay with the English. Gradually, but surely, their entrenchments were pushed nearer the walls; the Earl of Thomond on the west side, and the Deputy and Carew on the east side, continued to advance; and by the end of November, had planted their heavy guns so near that they could play upon, and batter down, the walls. On the two last nights of November, and the first of December, a breach was made on the east side, and the gate broken down; the entrenchments approached the walls on the west side, where cannon were planted on a small fort built there; and it was evidently the intention of the besiegers to enter the breach, and carry the town by storm. But on the night of the 2nd of December the Spaniards sallied from the town and furiously assailed the enemy; endeavoured to spike their cannon, and to some extent succeeded; damaged the fort lately built on the west side, and captured portion of the entrenchments, and would have held them but for the arrival of fresh troops under the Earl of Clanricarde. The result of this vigorous sally was that the English abandoned the idea of carrying the place by storm.

Nor was this all that happened to dispirit them. Additional troops to reinforce Daguilla had set out from Spain in 12 vessels, but the winds separated them on the sea, and 6 vessels were forced to put back to Corunna; the remainder reached Castlehaven in safety; and when they landed, to the number of 700, Levison was sent from Kinsale with his fleet, and landed men and heavy guns to assail them. But his reception was entirely unexpected, for the Munster chiefs, who had lately submitted to the President, now revolted to the Spaniards. The O'Driscolls surrendered their castles to them; O'Sullivan Beare gave them his castle at Dunboy; and O'Connor Kerry his castle at Carrigfoyle. Instead of Levison being aided by the Irish, he was attacked by them; his ships, moored close to the land, were attacked by the Spanish and O'Sullivan Beare; some damage indeed was done the Spanish transport vessels, but still more to the English; and when Levison got back to Kinsale, it was in a battered and helpless condition, and with the loss of 50a of his men. All West Munster revolted; the Spaniards under Ocampo joined themselves to O'Donnell, and set up their headquarters at Bandon; and on the west of Kinsale, the English besieging the town were themselves besieged.

The Spaniards in Kinsale grew bold, and night after night sallied from the town; and in these night attacks the English lost many of their men. Their supplies became scarce; they were compelled to keep within their encampments; the winter was severe; the hardships of the campaign told heavily on the troops; the English soldiers especially were sick and weary; dozens died every day; the sentinel was often found dead at his post; desertion became common; the army was rapidly melting away; and by the 20th of December the effective fighting force was reduced to about 6,000 men.

It was at this juncture that O'Neill arrived with 4,000 men and, pitching his camp at Belgooly, besieged the English on the north and east as effectually as O'Donnell had done on the west. All communication with the country round was thus denied the besiegers; the men continued to die from cold and hunger, the horses for want of forage; the numbers who died and were buried within the camp bred sickness among the survivors; only 2,000 English remained; and O'Neill's expectation was that the remainder who were Irish would desert; and his simple, but effective, plan was to continue the siege until the English were exhausted and compelled to surrenders But, unfortunately for himself and for Ireland, his hands were forced.

Daguilla had sent urgent letters representing the hardships of his position, and the weakness of the enemy; if the Irish chiefs attacked them from outside he would co-operate from the town, and the result would be certain victory. O'Neill was not convinced, and would still wait, knowing that time was on his side. The Spaniards were in no danger; too much depended on the issue of the contest to run risks; and he foresaw clearly that the defeat of the Irish at Kinsale would be the ruin of their cause. But O'Donnell was for attacking at once. Eight years of victory had given him unbounded self-confidence; he was no longer disposed to adopt the more cautious and wiser advice of O'Neill; and he declared it would be a shame and a disgrace if they did not respond to Daguilla's appeal. At the council of war held there were others as hot-headed as O'Donnell; O'Neill was outvoted, but not convinced, and against his better judgment, preparations were made for attacking the English on the night of the 23rd of December.

The Irish troops were good at guerilla warfare, but had no experience in storming entrenchments, and were ill-fitted for such work; and to spoil all their chances, the English were forewarned and, therefore, prepared. For the inevitable Irish traitor who has dogged and ruined every Irish movement was at hand, and a certain Brian MacMahon from Ulster sent the English warning that they were to be attacked. His son, it seems, had been some years before a page to Sir George Carew in England, and for old times' sake he sent a message to Carew for a bottle of whiskey. It was sent, and so grateful was MacMahon that he informed Carew of the meditated attack on the 23rd of December. The list of Irish traitors is a long one, but our history records no more infamous transaction than this bartering of faith and country for a bottle of whiskey.
Instead of surprising the enemy, the Irish were themselves surprised.

The night was dark and stormy, the guides lost their way; and when they arrived at the English trenches, weary, exhausted, and dispirited, the morning of the 24th had dawned, and they found the English quite ready, horses saddled, men standing to arms. In these circumstances O'Neill's army fell back, intending to defer the attack. They retired in some disorder; the disorder was noted by the enemy; and the Deputy, leaving Carew to watch the Spaniards in the town, took with him 1,200 foot, and 400 horse, and pursued the retreating Irish. The route lay through a boggy glen, cut by a stream at the north-west of the town; and Mountjoy, knowing the capacity both of O'Neill and O'Donnell, was reluctant to pursue them, fearing that they were only enticing him to his ruin. But he was assured that the country beyond was an open and level plain; the Earl of Clanricarde who, with Wingfield, led the cavalry, was especially eager to attack; and when the order was given he fell on the disordered and retreating mass.

With some cavalry, O'Donnell drove back the English across the stream, but he was not seconded, and the other Irish chiefs, mounted their horses, and fled like cowards, leaving the infantry to their fate. The rear-guard was driven in upon the main body, and vanguard and rear and main body were soon mixed up together. The Spaniards and Tyrell made a stand, but they were overwhelmed, the larger portion killed, and some, including Ocampo, were taken prisoners. For two miles the pursuit was continued. Clanricarde was especially active, and called out that no Irish were to be spared; the wounded were put to death, and the few prisoners taken were brought into the camp and hanged. The loss on the Irish side is put as high as 2,000 killed and wounded, and as low as 200; but on the English side the loss was small. It was a humiliating day for Ireland, the victory, say the Four Masters, of the few over the many.

The defeat is hard to explain. O'Sullivan attributes it to the sins of the Irish, the Four Masters to the anger of God; the mishap of losing their way, and the consequent depression and weariness in the ranks will, only partially account for it; and it is not unlikely that there were other traitors among the chiefs besides MacMahon. Victory would mean their being permanently subject to O'Neill, and like so many other Irish chiefs they perhaps preferred being subject to England. At all events their precipitate and cowardly flight demoralized their followers, and spread a panic through the whole army. Daguilla remained inactive during the battle, and made no sally from the town as he had promised; but, when the battle was over, he sallied to no purpose, and soon after he made terms with the English, and returned to Spain.

IMAGES & TEXT FROM History Of Ireland: From The Earliest Times To The Present Day - Volume 3 Edward Alfred D'Alton