I have seen people say they're tired of Irish history focusing too much on very modern stuff, so here's a thread about something neat; the emergence of an early modern Irish military which beat England during several pitched battles.
Here's a very brief preulde to the war.>1500s Ireland>The long-term aftermath of England's initial invasion (the Norman Invasion, in the 12th Century) is mixed>The only land that remained reliably under English control was Dublin and the surrounding area; this heavily miltiarised zone was known as "The Pale">In the rest of Ireland, there was a constant power struggle between the Gaelic Irish and the Normans>Over the centuries, most of the Normans ended up assimilating into Gaelic society and culture-some more than others, but the distinction grew wider and wider>England trusted governance of Ireland to powerful Hiberno-Norman families, such as the famous FitzGeralds of Kildare>However, at times this created situations where the Hiberno-Norman rulers styled themselves as Kings of Ireland rather than subservient to England>All the while, Gaelic Ireland expanded and shrank in different areas>Actual English control over the island was incredibly waterySo we arrive in the 1500s.>Tudor England had a new strategy, which accelerated with the reformation>Instead trying to conquer land outright, they used two new strategies>Plantations, in which land was seized from the Gaels and settled by English/Scottish colonists>Surrender and regrant; Irish lords handed their land and titles over to the English crown-in return for having them immediately granted back and backed by England >Slowly, through the 1500s, most of Ireland is "re-conquered" by the Tudors but tensions remain highThen, the 1590s>Tensions very high in Ireland>England slowly advancing into Ulster, the last bastion of Gaelic Irish power>Henry Bagenal is selected to be provincial presidency, who'll impose English rule on Ulster>English sherriffs start breaking up Irish lordships>They hang the MacMahon ruler when he resists this, and his lands are divided>Everyone in Ulster furious>A group of rebellious lords decide to drive England out of Ulster
The two main powerhouses for the Irish Alliance in its infancy were Hugh Roe O'Donnell (picrel in previous post), who ruled Tír Chonaill (now Donegal) and Hugh O'Neill (picrel), who ruled Tír Eoghan (now Tyrone).O'Neill had previously worked with the English court and had even fought against the rebels at first-but having become disillusioned with any possibility of benign English rule, he joined the ranks of the Alliance. English sheriffs were driven out of their lands and English troops were beaten back. Henry Bagenal, the prospective English governor, was tasked with crushing the alliance. However, there were some new factors to the war.>SpainThe Irish Alliance had contacted Spain, and had been promised a great deal of military and financial aid in their efforts. The war escalated from driving England out of Ulster into a full blown war against all English authority in Ireland.>New Irish ArmiesO'Neill was keen to modernise the Gaelic Armies under his command, and had spent a lot of money buying up firearms and artillery from wherever he could find it. The result was a more modern Gaelic Army; you had the Kern for skirmishes, Gallowglass heavy infantry, light skirmish cavalry, musketeers, and cannon.However, Bagenal was confident; he had under his command an army of English troops bolstered by Irish troops who remained loyal to England, and with around 3,500 infantry and 350 horse he made his move to break through into Ulster and smash the alliance. His goal was to retake the Blackwater Fort; an English fort in County Armagh which the Irish Alliance had taken in 1595.Thus, Bagenal and his forces marched-while O'Neill and O'Donnell prepared to meet him. The battle which followed is known as the Battle of the Yellow Ford.
>August 13th, 1598 Bagenal reached the town of Armagh. His army, numbering around 4,000, was the largest English army that had been fielded against O'Neill and his alliance thus far. They were very confident; there was a general feeling amongst the men that this was to be a quick and easy engagement, with their vast army easily dispatching the Gaelic enemies.A detatched troop at the head of the English colum, commanded by Captains Leigh and Turner, are written to have been casually signing songs and smoking their pipes as they marched to battle. 4,000 well armed soldiers, cavalry, and cannon. What could go wrong?O'Neill, meanwhile, had also gathered a large army. Around 4,000 infantry and 600 horse were under his command, and his scouts gave him constant reports of Bagenel's position. He had pits and trenches cut into the road in such a way that forced the English troops to march on the right hand side-which left them on raised ground, exposed. While the hills gave Bagenel's troops a good view of the area, it left them little room for movement should anything go wrong. It was soon after leaving the Armagh town on August 14th that things did indeed go wrong.>August 14thIrish calivermen emerged from the shrubs on the lower end of the hills the English marched on, skirmishing with the English troops. O'Neill had placed his troops so that as one group finished firing, they were immediately replenished by fresh troops slightly further along-so that the English troops were undernear constant fire. As gaps began to form in the English column, a new problem emerged with the cannon.Bagenal had with him a saker-these were very popular on continental battlefields, but in the untamed shrubbery of Ireland it was a serious vulnerability. Getting bogged down in the earth-thanks in part due to being forced to travel over soft ground because of the ruined road-it slowed the army down. Irritated, Percy-the leader of the lead regiment-pressed on.
Percy and the lead regiment had pressed ahead, hoping to engage the Irish regardless of the delays and confusion. They arrived at a hill, below which they saw an earthen rampart and trench almost a mile wide. It was topped with thorns and five feet high-an excellent defensive position, but the Irish weren't in it.The English troops climbed over the trench, all the while being fired upon by Irish troops who seemed to emerge endlessly from whatever dark corner of shrubbery or bog the English passed. As they passed the trench, they found many more defences-none of them manned. Finally, they caught sight of the Blackwater Fort; an exhausted English garrison remained in it, having been spared by O'Neill following its surrender. They cheered and threw their caps in the air at the sight of Percy and the lead regiment. Perhaps, at long last, England had come to save them.But things weren't as they seemed. Whilst Percy and the lead regiment were ahead, the rear were under attack. O'Neill's troops had emerged in full and stopped the rear in its tracks, whilst the rest of the army remained stalled on the hill before the vast trench that Percy had just crossed. The Irish cavalry had charged forth, outnumbering the Engliush cavalry, and blocked the lead regiment from heading back join up with the rest of Bagenal's army. Disorder spread rapidly; Percy attemmpted to withdraw and was forced to engage with Irish shot, who raked the English at crose range resulting in heavy casualties. Panic erupted and the English troops began to retreat-at which point the Irish Cavalry rushed into the gaps to slaughter anyone they could.The English horse-which would have saved Percy and the lead regiment-could not help, thanks to the vast trench that the Irish had dug. The lead regiment was cut down in droves, shattering any hope of reaching the Blackwater Fort.
Bagenal was distraught.This was to be his victory, proof that he was capable of ruling Ulster. However, he had personal reasons to loathe O'Neill and his alliance. O'Neill and Bagenal had both fancied themselves as rulers of Ulster; the O'Neill dynasty is one of the oldest and most prestigous of the Gaelic dynasties and Hugh O'Neill was set to take his place as ruler of the north-while Baganel was hoping to correct his career after previous military failings in the south of Ireland.He had worked hard to erode the authority of Hugh O'Neill in favour of English rule, and became marshal of the army in Ireland as well as chief commissioner for Ulster in 1590. Sworn of the Privy Council, his hopes for an easy route to presidency were dashed when a decision was made by the Crown to try and court, rather than coerce, I'Neill in the earaly 1590s-partly so that he would help deal with the rebellious Ulster lords.O'Neill, aware of his rival, asked for the hand of Bagenal's sister Mabel in marriage. Bagenal was furious and refused, but the pair eloped regardless. There was no doubt; O'Neill was Bagenal's lifelong rival, and the man who represented all of his failings. Now, in 1598, the two men had finally met on the battlefield-and O'Neill was winning.At this point, Bagenal was at the top of the hill looking down at the trench, watching Percy and the lead regiment be slaughtered by the Irish cavalry. He raised his visor to get a better look, and was almost immediately struck by a bullet in the head-killing him instantly. Bagenal was dead, but things only got worse.A member of the English shot tried to replenish his gunpowder directly from the baggage train, whilst hurridly lighting a match to reload. An explosion ripped through the English on the hill, killing scores of men and causing many others to flee. The 2nd in Command, Sir Thomas Maria-Wingfield, called for a retreat to Armagh Town. But as he began to retreat, he noticed not everyone was listening.
Captain Cosby, who had brought up the remains of the rear and what remained of Bagenal and Percy's regiments, decided to try and stage a counterattack. He and his men surged over the Trench once more-only for O'Neill's men to rush forward and crush the assault. Wingfield rushed down with the English cavalry to save them, but Cosy was captured.O'Neill at this point had sent his men to catch the English as they withdrew at the river Callan, but mercifully for the English troops their cannons prevented this. The saving grace of the battle was that at this point, the Irish had exhasted their supply of gunpowder. Captin Cuney noted that had the Irish not run out of gunpowder, the entire army would likely have been killed;>seeing our distress, I think not any of us should have hardly livedTaking advantage of the situation, the army fled back to Armagh town. The force that arrived back in Armagh was barely half of the force that had left it; around 1,500 had been killed and several hundred had deserted. On the Irish side, meanwhile, around 200 had been lose.O'Neill wrote to the remaining garrison at the Blackwater Fort, offering them safe passage south should they surrender. Fearing slaughter if they refused, Captain Williams-the governor of the fort-agreed after 3 days. He and the forts inhabitants were given safe passage to Armagh Town, stripped of their weapons and artillery.The war would continue, and there were many other key victories for the Irish-and some for the English-but as we know, the eventual result was a defeat of the alliance after the disasterous siege of Kinsale. This was the "last hurrah" of old Gaelic Ireland; after the collapse of the Irish Alliance, there was no authority left in Ireland other than that of England, save for a few sporadic rebellions by Gaelic Irish loyalists who regretted their actions.
There were several other very interesting battles in what was ultimately a very interesting war; Tyrone's Rebellion is also simply often referred to as the Nine Years War (Ireland). Another Irish victory was Curlew Pass in 1599; Sir Conyers Clifford-the Lord President of Connaught and MP for Pembroke-were attacked whilst passing through the Curlew Mountains.This battle is notable as it included Gallowglass troops charging English Cavalry head-on and winning!
>>18424640>They hang the MacMahon ruler when he resists this, and his lands are divided
>>18424656Part of it was also widespread complaints against the sheriff involved on account of apparant corruption; Hugh O'Neill had clout within the English Court on account of the fact that England raised him to be "their man in Ulster."He spent the years prior to the rebellion actually working for the Crown, before ditching them to take up his Gaelic titles and go to war. The sheriff who hung the MacMahon did the same to neighbouring clans, which is partly why O'Donnell decided that war was inevitable.
>>18424640Was Tyrone Black irish?
>>18424639>Irish history thread>It's anti-English propaganda Many such cases.
>>18424667He was not, Tyrone is what the English called it. Tír Eoghain (land of Eoghan) is its actual name.
>>18424667Yes. The English hated him because they were jealous of the fact that their women all craved his bbc
>>18424659>corrupted official ruthlessly exploiting people he was meant to oversee in colonial countrymany such cases that being said if i was one i would did exactly the same lol you don't get to power by being a nice guy
>>18424852The problem was that the Tudors used a system called surrender and regrant to try diplomatically expand across Ireland-any Gaelic lords who gave their lands to the Crown were granted them back, rights protected.But it became increasingly apparant that this agreement was regularly violated by England, hence why things eventually got violent.
>>18424667Theres no such thing as black Irish. You must be an American too if you see the word Tyrone and immediately think of niggers.
>>18424639who stole the captain's pants? and someone is walking a mile in his shoes.
>>18424639wtf i didn't know there were black people in ireland
>>18425842Tyrone is what the English called Tír Eoghain.
>>18425746The image is based on a painting of Thomas Lee (picrel), English captain who fought for England during the Tudor conquest of Ireland. He started off in the Pale (English-controlled Dublin and the surrounding region) where he helped put down a revolt, and from there he became a well known soldier for the Crown in Ireland.He was actually commeded by Hugh O'Neill (picrel in this >>18424642) for his bravery, and it was Lee who urged the Crown to not hrashly punish O'Neill as he feared that he was England's best chance to not have to fight tooth and nail for every scrap of Ulster.As for his trousers and shoes, it's a bit of a common mistake. The painting is an English impression of Irish dress, but in truth many Irish soldiers absolutely wore trousers; the "typical" attire of a soldier was often:>LéineAnkle-length garment which went over the head; women wore it over their whole body while men tended to tuck it into a belt. It was often paired with a Brat (a sort of mantle) but this fell out of fashion by the period we're talking about. Whilst the Léine was often one solid colour, the brat could be decorated with many colours or patterns.>CriosA belt which was used by men to allow the Léine to be hitched up.>TriúbhasTrousers which were tight from the ankles to the knees and loose from the knees to the waist. Lower half was usually a simple >IonarA sort of jerkin that allowed the very large hanging sleeves of the Léine to fit through, mostly decorative.>Cóta MórIn winter, literally just a big coat. Usually with gores added on account of the pleated skirt of the Léine underneath.As for>shoes They did wear shoes, certainly. But remember that much of Ireland at the time was a heavily forested bog; going barefoot often allowed soldiers to move quickly and not have to worry about the problems that come with sodden footwear.
