Flight of the Earls

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On 14 September [O.S. 4 September] 1607, Irish earls Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, permanently departed Rathmullan in Ireland for mainland Europe, accompanied by their extended families, retinue, followers and fellow nobility, numbering about 100 people. The earls were patriarchs of the two most powerful clans in Ulster—the O'Neill and O'Donnell clans—and their permanent exile is seen to symbolise the end of Gaelic Irish society.Template:Sfnm This event is known as the Flight of the Earls (Template:Langx).

Both earls fought against the English Crown in the Nine Years' War (1593–1603), which ended with their surrender. The newly crowned James VI and I granted the earls generous peace terms which allowed them to retain their lands and titles. Many courtiers were unsatisfied with the king's leniency, and hostility towards the earls from British officials gradually increased over time. The implementation of English law in Ireland led to financial difficulties for both earls as well as a major land rights dispute between Tyrone and his vassal Donnell Ballagh O'Cahan, which was weaponised by officials, including Arthur Chichester, John Davies, and George Montgomery.

The flight was seemingly a snap decision; its exact motivation is unclear and is the subject of debate.<ref name=":0">Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb</ref> The earls may have been conspiring against the government, and their flight could have been an attempt to evade arrest or execution.<ref name=":1">Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb</ref> The earls were bound for A Coruña, as Habsburg Spain had allied with the Irish confederacy during the war, but were turned away by Philip III for fear of violating the recently-signed Treaty of London. The refugees spent time in Leuven in the Spanish Netherlands, where many of the passengers left their young children to be educated at the Irish College of St Anthony. The earls arrived in Rome on 29 April 1608 and were granted small pensions by Pope Paul V. Their accommodation in Rome was paltry compared to their estates in Ireland. Tyrconnell died of a fever three months later. Tyrone repeatedly demonstrated his intent to return to Ireland and retake his lands, but he became ill and died in 1616 before doing so.

Most of the passengers on the flight never returned to Ireland. The flight was declared as treasonous by King James and the earls' titles were forfeited, which led to the acquisition of the earls' lands as part of the Plantation of Ulster.

Background

Nine Years' War

From 1593, Ulster lords Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and Hugh Roe O'Donnell led a confederacy of Irish lords in resistance to the Tudor conquest of Ireland.Template:Sfnm The Nine Years' War was a major political threat to the Tudor government's control of Ireland, and cost Queen Elizabeth I £2,000,000 to suppress—eight times more than had been spent on all continental wars waged during her reign.Template:Sfn Despite the confederacy's military assistance from Spain (which was then engaged in the Anglo-Spanish War against England),Template:Sfn confederate forces were decimated at the Siege of Kinsale. Hugh Roe traveled to Spain to seek further support from King Philip III, leaving his younger brother Rory in control of his forces.Template:Sfn

18th-century depiction of Tyrone's submission to Baron Mountjoy

Following the Irish defeat at Kinsale, the confederacy disintegrated as English forces travelled across Ulster destroying crops and livestock.Template:Sfn The royal army's use of scorched earth tactics led to famine across 1602–1603,Template:Sfn with conditions so extreme that the local population were reduced to cannibalism.Template:Sfn The promised Spanish fleet was repeatedly delayed due to a lack of resources, despite Hugh Roe's petitioning. He died in Simancas of illness on 9 September [O.S. 30 August] 1602.Template:Sfn Subsequently the Spanish government abandoned support for the confederacy and sought peace with England.Template:Sfn Rory surrendered to Lord Deputy Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy, at Athlone on 14 December [O.S. 4 December].Template:Sfn Tyrone went into hiding for several months, but eventually surrendered by signing the Treaty of Mellifont on 9 April [O.S. 30 March] 1603, which ended the Nine Years' War.Template:Sfn

Following Hugh Roe O'Donnell's death, his confessor Florence Conroy continued to pressure Philip III for send military resources. Conroy sailed from A Coruña in April 1603 with two ships carrying arms to Ireland, but he arrived after the Treaty of Mellifont had been signed. Conroy did not disembark and returned to Spain.Template:Sfn

Implementation of English law in Ireland

In summer 1603, Tyrone and Rory travelled to London to submit to King James I,Template:Sfnm who had acceeded to the English throne mere days before Tyrone's surrender.Template:Sfnm Despite years of bloodshed fighting the royal army, the confederates received remarkably generous terms.Template:Sfnm James pardoned Tyrone and Rory and restored them to most of their lands. Rory was made 1st Earl of Tyrconnell.Template:Efn Many English courtiers were upset and complained at the mild treatment of the earls,Template:Efn and became intent on dismantling the earls' remaining power.Template:Sfn

File:JamesIEngland.jpg
The recently-crowned James I of England granted the confederates generous peace terms.

Despite their generous peace terms, the confederates' defeat in the Nine Years' War had a profound effect on Gaelic culture. The Gaelic succession system of tanistry was replaced with primogeniture and Irish lords were forced to renounce their Gaelic titles.Template:Efn These legal changes, which essentially replaced the Gaelic legal system with English common law,Template:Sfn led to a prominent land rights dispute between Tyrone and his principal sub-chief (and son-in-law) Donnell Ballagh O'Cahan.Template:Sfnm

Customarily in Gaelic society, powerful chiefs granted portions of their land to sub-chiefs (Template:Langx) in return for black rents. The often-tense relations between these chiefs were exploited by the government to weaken the Gaelic nobility.Template:Sfn O'Cahan faced near-famine conditions towards the end of the war; he surrendered to English commander Henry Docwra in July 1602, relinquishing a third of his territory to the Crown under the promise that he would retain the remaining two-thirds under English law.Template:Sfn O'Cahan's surrender critically weakened Tyrone's position and created animosity between the two men.Template:Sfnm When Tyrone surrendered at Mellifont, he negotiated with Mountjoy to retain ownership of O'Cahan's territory, overruling Docwra's promise. O'Cahan was further frustrated when Tyrone imposed various levies and taxes on the land to rebuild his wealth. O'Cahan was forced to yield a third of his lands to Tyrone. Neither man was satisfied with their circumstances as all of the castles on the disputed land remained in government hands.Template:Sfn

Hostility from British officials

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Lord Deputy Arthur Chichester's animosity towards the Gaelic lords, particularly Tyrone, was a major contributing factor to the Flight.

It was initially easy for Tyrone to rebuild his estates due to the lacklustre government of the new Lord Deputy, George Carey.Template:Sfn He used his new patent to claim absolute ownership over his earldom and reduce the landholdings of other O'Neill clansmen.Template:Sfn Tyrone did not lose contact with Spain nor the hope that Anglo-Spanish conflict would renew.Template:Sfnm He wrote to Philip III in summer 1603, offering to take up arms for Spain if Anglo-Spanish peace negotiations failed.Template:Sfn Despite these hopes, the Anglo-Spanish War ended in August 1604 with the signing of the Treaty of London.Template:Sfn The Spanish government was hamstrung by bankruptcy and did not want to provoke conflict with England.Template:Sfn

Many English politicians and soldiers, who had fought against Tyrone in the war, went to great lengths to convince authorities that Tyrone was untrustworthy and required adequate punishment for his continued treachery.Template:Sfn Arthur Chichester, who became Lord Deputy in February 1605,Template:Sfn had an aggressive attitude towards the Gaelic lords. He abolished the Gaelic feudal system, making sub-chiefs into freeholders with new legal rights. In October he banned Catholic clergy from Ireland and forced the population to attend Protestant church services.Template:Sfn Additionally the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot in late 1605 led to an increase in the severity of anti-Catholic laws.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Tyrone's marriage became strained over his diminishing social position, and in December 1605 he considered divorcing his wife Catherine. Chichester sent officer Toby Caulfeild to recruit Catherine as a double agent, but she dismissed this out of hand.Template:Sfnm Tyrone was protected to an extent by Mountjoy's influence over the Irish Privy Council, but this support was lost when Mountjoy died in April 1606.Template:Sfnm

Chichester began to work with John Davies, Attorney-General for Ireland, to accuse Tyrone of treason. Despite their attempts, no hard evidence could be found.Template:Sfn Chichester arrested and held Cuchonnacht Maguire, Maguire clan chief and a staunch supporter of Tyrone, for questioning.Template:Sfn Other officials harnessed O'Cahan's hostility to orchestrate Tyrone's undoing.Template:Sfnm George Montgomery, the new Protestant Bishop of Derry, encouraged O'Cahan to renew his lawsuit.Template:Sfnm Montgomery also encouraged O'Cahan to leave his wife (Tyrone's daughter Rose),Template:SfnTemplate:Efn noting that "the breach between [O'Cahan] and his landlord [Tyrone] will be the greater by means of [Tyrone's] daughter".Template:Sfn In March 1607 O'Cahan repudiated his marriageTemplate:Sfn (though he retained Rose's dowry,Template:Sfn against Tyrone's will)Template:Sfn and before the end of the year he remarried to another woman.Template:SfnTemplate:Quote box

O'Cahan received a loan from the Earl of Londonderry to fund his case,Template:Sfn and also had Davies acting as his counsel.Template:Sfn In May 1607, the trial came before the Privy Council. Tyrone lost his temper, snatching a document from O'Cahan's hands and tearing it up in front of Chichester. The council decreed that two-thirds of the lands should remain in O'Cahan's possession.Template:Sfn It became clear to Tyrone that the restoration of his earldom meant little,Template:Sfn and in a letter to the king he requested new letters patent to the disputed lands.Template:Sfn In mid-July, Tyrone was ordered to present himself in London at the beginning of Michaelmas term (late September)Template:Sfn to have ownership of the remaining land settled by the king.Template:Sfn

Plot

Tyrconnell's plotting

The Earl of Tyrconnell was discontented with his new royal grantTemplate:Sfn which did not include the lands of his sub-chief Cahir O'DohertyTemplate:Sfn in Inishowen.Template:Sfn Tyrconnell's struggle to transition from the role of a Gaelic warlord to an Irish peer led to financial difficulties. This made him bitter and led to his plotting against the government. On a trip to Maynooth in 1607, Tyrconnell spoke of a plot against the English government, involving Tyrone and Spain, during a conversation with Richard Nugent, Baron Delvin (later 1st Earl of Westmeath). By September 1607, Tyrconnell realised that his plotting was known to the government.Template:Sfn In late May 1607, Maguire left Ireland for the Spanish Netherlands.Template:Sfn

Allegations from Howth

In early summer 1607, Anglo-Irish statesman Baron Howth, having returned from the Low Countries, alerted Chichester and the Earl of Salisbury to the existence of a treasonous Catholic league. Howth implicated Tyrconnell and Delvin in "a general revolt intended by many of the nobility and principal persons of this land, together with the cities and towns of the greatest strength; and that they will shake off the yoke of the English government, as they term it, and adhere to the Spaniard". Howth couldn't prove Tyrone's involvement, but was assured from his exchanges with insiders that Tyrone was a key figure in the league.Template:Sfn Howth claimed that Conroy was travelling to Ireland to notify the Catholic league of an impending Spanish expedition, and had received funding from Philip III.Template:Sfn Chichester was alarmed by this news but doubted the veracity of Howth's information.Template:Sfn

By contrasting Howth's accusations with Tyrone's account, it appears that Howth exaggerated the information he received. Tyrone's records confirm the existence of this Catholic league, which included many Irish elites, which planned to occupy certain strongholds in Ireland once Spain assistance arrived. Howth stated that Philip III had promised military resources to the league, but from surviving Hispano-Irish correspondence it is clear that Philip III had not been appealed to until after the Flight.Template:Sfn

Salisbury appears not to have taken Howth's claims seriously; on 22 July 1607, Salisbury and the Privy Council wrote to Chichester that it was "not worthy to draw on the King to any sudden action; because first it might alarm the Irish, especially those he has tampered with and force them into rebellion." Chichester was told that he should had "rectified a little the strong discontent of the towns and others now boiling in their hearts... Their loyalty would then be confirmed and the less would be their jealousy if there were occasion to lay hold of any persons of rank".Template:Sfn

Irish reaction

File:Portrait of Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton - English School.jpg
It is possible that Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, alerted the earls that they might face arrest in England.

Information reached Tyrone that the government intended to imprison him, or possibly execute him, once he got to London. Tyrone probably received the news at the same time he was ordered to London, as Chichester noted "since [Tyrone] received His Majesty's letter for his repair thither, he did lose his former cheerfulness and grew often exceedingly pensive".Template:Sfn Tyrone and Tyrconnell later declared in correspondence with Spain that this intelligence came from "intimate friends of theirs on the King's very Council", codenamed "el Cid", "Rodan" and "Malgesi". Of these three friends, only the identity of "el Cid"—Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton—is known.Template:Sfn

Historians are undecided on whether this plot actually existed and if the government intended to arrest Tyrone.<ref name=":1" /> The exact cause of Tyrone's flight is a matter of controversy among historians,<ref name=":0" /> though he certainly believed that his arrest was imminent.Template:Sfn

A group of confederate allies, including clan chief Cuconnacht Maguire, seaman John Rath, Tyrconnell's secretary Matthew Tully and nobleman Donagh O'Brien, sent a French vessel to Ulster to facilitate an escape.Template:Sfnm Tyrone was at Slane with Chichester when news of the vessel's arrival reached him.Template:Sfnm He seemed to have come to an immediate snap decision.Template:Sfn Attorney-General Davies recollected that Tyrone left Slane in an unusually solemn manner, farewelling every servant and child in the house.Template:Sfn

By 1607, O'Neill's allies the Maguires and the Earl of Tyrconnell were finding it hard to maintain their prestige on lower incomes. They planned to seek Spanish support before news of the Battle of Gibraltar arrived.

Journey

Ireland

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The Ulster aristocrats set sail from Rathmullan, on the shore of Lough Swilly.

On 14 September [O.S. 4 September] 1607,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> the émigrés embarked at middayTemplate:Sfn<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref> at Rathmullan, a village on Lough Swilly in County Donegal, bound for A Coruña in Spain.Template:Sfn Tyrone was clearly agitated during the departure. Due to time constraints, he left his five-year-old son Conn Ruadh behind, to Catherine's distress. According to an English account, "[Catherine] being exceedingly weary slipped down from her horse and weeping said she could go no further." Tyrone responded by threatening her with his sword "if she did not pass on with him and put on a more cheerful countenance".Template:Sfn The ship was an 80-ton French warship.Template:Sfn

File:Flight-of-the-Earls-Engraving.jpg
19th-century engraving of Tyrone coercing his wife Catherine to depart Ireland

The earls were accompanied by ninety followers, many of them Ulster noblemen, and some members of their families. Several left their wives behind, hoping either to return or retrieve them later. The late Tomás Ó Fiaich, Archbishop of Armagh, gave a lecture at Rathmullan in September 1988 and recounted that the Earl of Tyrone allegedly "had a gold cross which contained a relic of the True Cross, and this he trailed in the water behind the ship, and according to O'Ciainain, it gave some relief from the storm" during the crossing to Quillebeuf-sur-Seine in Normandy, France. They finally reached the Continent on 4 October 1607.Template:Sfn This supposed relic of the True Cross was probably a minor relic taken from that kept at Holy Cross Abbey, which they had previously visited en route to Kinsale in 1601.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

France

Their destination was Spain, but they disembarked in France, specifically Quillebeuf-sur-Seine.Template:Sfn The ship was driven by storms and contrary winds into port at Quillebeuf in Normandy. Henry IV of France refused English demands to hand over the émigrés and—though denying them from proceeding to Spain—permitted them passage to the Spanish Netherlands.Template:Sfn

Spanish Netherlands

Despite the earls' petitioning, Philip III would not allow the émigrés to enter Spain for fear of violating the 1604 Anglo-Spanish peace treaty.Template:Sfn Spain was on the verge of bankruptcy and could not afford another war with England.Template:Sfn In mid-December, the émigrés received news that Archduke Albert VII wanted them to leave his states. On Template:Old Style to New Style, Tyrone and his companions (now reduced to thirty-two people on horseback plus the women in a coach) left Leuven to travel southwards.Template:Sfn The nobles left their younger children behind in Leuven under the care of Irish Franciscans at St Anthony's College.Template:Sfn

Rome

On Template:Old Style to New Style, Tyrone and Tyrconnell were welcomed into Rome by a large procession of cardinals. The two earls met Pope Paul V the next day.Template:Sfnm

Tadhg Ó Cianáin's diary is important as the only continuous and contemporaneous account of the Flight. Its original title, Turas na dTaoiseach nUltach as Éirinn – the departure of the Chiefs of Ulster from Ireland – has been changed since the creation of the more dramatic phrase "Flight of the Earls" to the latter's modern literal translation, Imeacht na nIarlaí; and, according to Professor Ó Muraíle, turas can also mean a religious pilgrimage.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn

Attainders

Template:Multiple image King James issued "A Proclamation touching the Earles of Tyrone and Tyrconnell" on 15 November 1607, describing their action as treasonous, and therefore preparing the ground for the eventual forfeiture of their lands and titles.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Their titles were attainted on 28 October 1614,Template:Sfn although they continued to be recognized on the Continent. The attainders were not considered legitimate in continental Catholic countries of the day. Even within the context of English and colonial Irish rule, the attainder came about six years after Rory, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, had already died. As accused, for him to have been properly tried, he should have been tried by his peers in the Peerage of Ireland, under the presiding authority of the Lord High Steward of Ireland. However, he was already dead, unable to stand in his own defense, and his title already inherited by his son Hugh "Albert" O'Donnell; therefore in order to attain the title, the trial would have to have been of Hugh "Albert", who had in fact committed no crime. The 6-year delay in hearing the attainders was unavoidable, as his peers in the Irish House of Lords next sat in 1613, and dealt with the matter in the usual manner.

The attainder was however considered a travesty of justice by his supporters, and was considered null and void by many on the Continent. The succession of the Earl of Tyrconnell's son, Hugh Albert O'Donnell, as 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell (1st creation) was therefore recognized as valid in the Spanish Empire, and he was given the same status under a new Spanish title Conde de Tirconnel.

Under the Common law, the title granted by King James and accepted by the earl had potentially lapsed as soon as the Earl embarked on the ship without his king's permission to leave Ireland, and when it lapsed it could not then pass down to his descendants without some special waiver. Assuming that Hugh Albert was being punished for a crime he did not commit, and was not being given a hearing, misses the whole point of the law of attainder. Hugh Albert was never issued a Writ of Summons to sit in the Irish House of Lords as his father's heir. Hugh Albert also never came to Dublin in 1614 to argue his case for a waiver, so far as is known, and never accepted James I as his king. Until he did so, his title and his claim to nobility were considered to be "in abeyance".

These attainders had a much greater impact on the people of Ulster. The 1603 peace arrangement with the three lords was ended, as they had broken its conditions by leaving the kingdom without permission, and their remaining freehold lands were confiscated. Chichester proposed a new plantation of settlers from England, Wales and Scotland, sponsored in part by the City of London merchants, which became known as the Plantation of Ulster. This had an enormous negative impact on the lower class Gaelic-culture inhabitants of Ulster.

Change in Spanish policy

In the papal bull Template:Lang of 1555, the Pope had conferred the title King of Ireland on King Philip II of Spain when he was married to Queen Mary. Philip II made no claim to the kingship of Ireland after Mary's death in 1558.Template:Citation needed He engaged in a lengthy war from 1585 with her sister Elizabeth I, and he and his successor Philip III supported the Irish Catholic rebels by sending the 4th Spanish Armada to Ireland in 1601 which ended in defeat at Kinsale. He had been offered the kingship in 1595 by O'Neill and his allies but turned it down. Given this lengthy support, it was reasonable for O'Donnell and O'Neill to imagine that they might solicit help from Philip III, but Spanish policy was to maintain the 1604 Treaty with England, and its European fleet had been weakened from several conflicts, including the Battle of Gibraltar by the Dutch over four months earlier.

Therefore, by mid-1607 Spain had neither the desire nor the means to assist an Irish rebellion. While the Flight is often described as a first step in arranging a new war, this must be seen as an emotional and false conclusion, as there were no plans or proposals at all from the Spanish side to support the earls. Spanish policy in the 1590s had been to help the Irish warlords as a nuisance against England, but they had been defeated by 1603. It could not be in any way in the interest of Spain to assist their unsuccessful former allies in 1607.

Historiography

The event was first named as a "flight" in an 1868 book by Reverend Charles Patrick Meehan. In Irish, the neutral term Imeacht is usually used i.e. the Departure of the Earls. The term 'Flight' is translated 'Teitheadh na nIarlaí'.

Historians such as Micheline Kerney Walsh have criticised the name "Flight".Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Kerney Walsh argued that the Flight was a tactical retreat and not a brash escape from authorities.Template:Sfn Historians disagree to what extent the earls wanted to start a war with Spanish help to re-establish their positions, or whether they accepted exile as the best way of coping with their recent loss of status since the Treaty of Mellifont in 1603.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Meehan argued that the earls' tenants wanted a new war: "Withal, the people of Ulster were full of hope that O'Neill would return with forces to evict the evictors, but the farther they advanced into this agreeable perspective, the more rapidly did its charms disappear."Template:Sfn

Their departure was the end of the old Gaelic order, in that the earls were descended from Gaelic clan dynasties that had ruled their parts of Ulster for centuries. The Flight of the Earls was a watershed event in Irish history, as the ancient Gaelic aristocracy of Ulster went into permanent exile. Despite their attachment to and importance in the Gaelic system, the Earls' ancestors had accepted their Earldoms from the English-run Kingdom of Ireland in the 1540s, under the policy of surrender and regrant (under this policy, Anglo-Irish and Gaelic Irish rulers were to surrender themselves and their lands to Henry VIII, and he would grant their land back to them along with an English title). Some historians argue that their flight was forced upon them by the fallout from the Tudor conquest of Ireland, while others that it was an enormous strategic mistake that cleared the way for the Plantation of Ulster.<ref>'The Flight of the Earls: A Popular History' by Liam Swords, Columba Press, 2016.</ref>

From 1616, a number of bards outside Ulster had a poetic debate in the "Contention of the bards" and one of the arguments celebrated King James's Gaelic-Irish Milesian ancestry through Malcolm III of Scotland. So it is debatable whether the Gaelic order had ended or was evolving.

Commemoration of 400th anniversary

President of Ireland Mary McAleese arrives to unveil a statue depicting the Flight of the Earls at Rathmullan on 14 September 2007.

In 2007, the 400th anniversary of the Flight was commemorated throughout County Donegal, including a regatta of tall ships, fireworks, lectures, and conferences.Template:Citation needed

On 14 September 2007, President of Ireland Mary McAleese unveiled a statue by John Behan at Rathmullan. The bronze statue depicts three men walking a gangplank, representing the plight of the refugees.<ref name=":2" />

There is a permanent exhibition dedicated to the Flight of the Earls<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and the subsequent plantation in Draperstown in Northern Ireland and at the "Flight of the Earls Centre" in the Martello tower at Rathmullan.

The Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich Memorial Library and Archive marked the anniversary with an exhibition and outreach programme supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.Template:Sfn Commemorative postage stamps were issued by the Irish post office, featuring illustrations of Tyrone and Tyrconnell by Seán Ó'Brógáin.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Flight of the Earls - geograph.org.uk - 821328.jpg
A bronze sculpture by John Behan commemorating the Flight in Rathmullan

In 2008 there were also celebrations to mark the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Earls in Rome, with a celebratory performance by the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland in Sant'Ignazio Church in Rome.<ref>Irish Get Special Place for Corpus Christi Events Template:Webarchive, Zenit, 21 May 2008</ref> The flight was famously depicted by Thomas Ryan in his 1958 painting The Departure of O'Neill out of Ireland.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Across 2007 and 2008,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Denis Conway starred in and organised<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> a production of Brian Friel's 1989 play Making History, which follows Tyrone in Rome reckoning with his legacy.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The production was toured along the route of the Flight of the Earls, as well as at various sites in Ireland associated with Tyrone and Hugh Roe O'Donnell. Similarly to the Flight, the tour concluded in Rome.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In January and February 2007, BBC Northern Ireland broadcast a documentary on the Flight.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

List of émigrés

Tadhg Ó Cianáin kept a record of the émigrés who participated in the flight. In 1972, Tomás Ó Fiaich and Pádraig de Barra published Imeacht na nIarlaí, which expanded the list based on extensive research.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Sfn Not all of these individuals made the complete journey from Rathmullan to Rome; some left or joined midway through the journey.

Name Role/Rank Notes Template:Tooltip
Ship's Crew
John Connor Captain Template:Sfn
John Rath Pilot Not to be confused with merchant John Bath. Template:Efn
O'Neill Clan
Family
Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone O'Neill clan chief, family patriarch Died July 1616 in Rome, buried in San Pietro in Montorio. Template:Sfnm
Catherine O'Neill, Countess of Tyrone Tyrone's fourth wife Died March 1619 in Naples. Template:Sfn
Hugh O'Neill, 4th Baron Dungannon Tanist to the O'Neill chieftaincy, Tyrone's eldest surviving son by his wife Siobhán Died of illness in Rome in September 1609, buried in San Pietro in Montorio. Template:Sfnm
Shane O'Neill Tyrone and Catherine's eldest son Became 3rd Earl of Tyrone in the Spanish nobility and appointed colonel of the first Irish regiment in Spanish service. Died in the Battle of Montjuïc in January 1641. <ref>Template:Harvnb: Shane was Tyrone and Catherine's eldest son; Template:Harvnb: Biography.</ref>
Brian O'Neill Tyrone and Catherine's youngest son Found hanged in Brussels in August 1617, aged 13, possibly assassinated. Buried at St Anthony's College. Template:Sfnm
Art Oge O'Neill Tyrone's nephew Son of Tyrone's brother Cormac MacBaron and Tyrconnell's sister Margaret <ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb</ref>
Art Oge O'Neill's wife Template:Sfnm
Brian O'Neill Tyrone's nephew Son of Tyrone's brother Cormac MacBaron and Tyrconnell's sister Margaret <ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb</ref>
Feardorcha O'Neill Tyrone's grandson Son of Tyrone's eldest son Conn O'Neill, who died in 1601 Template:Sfnm
Hugh Oge O'Neill Tyrone's grand-nephew Template:Sfn
Maigbheathadh Ó Néill Template:Sfn
Hugh MacHenry O'Neill Template:Sfn
Bridget O'Neill Tyrone's daughter She was with Tyrone in Rome the year before his death, so she presumably took part in the Flight. Template:Sfnm
Staff
Henry Hovenden Tyrone's secretary and chief advisor Tyrone's Anglo-Irish foster-brother. He died in September 1610 in Rome, buried in San Pietro in Montorio. Template:Sfnm
Henry O'Hagan Tyrone's secretary Survived Tyrone and settled disputes of his will. Template:Sfnm
Pedro Blanco Footman Spanish seaman who came to Ireland in the Spanish Armada. Blanco was still living in Rome in 1616. <ref name=":06">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Muirchearttach Ó Coinne Marshall Template:Sfn
Christopher Plunkett Master of horse Template:Sfn
Colmán Tyrone's priest Template:Sfnm
Unnamed Tyrone's page Template:Sfn
Seán na bpunta Ó hÁgáin Rent collector Template:Sfn
Wife of Seán na bpunta Ó hÁgáin Template:Sfnm
O'Donnell Clan
Family
Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell O'Donnell clan chief, family patriarch Made 1st Earl of Tyrconnell in 1603. Died in Rome from fever in July 1608, buried in San Pietro in Montorio. Template:Sfn
Hugh O'Donnell, Baron of Donegal Tanist to the O'Donnell chieftaincy, Tyrconnell's only son by his wife Bridget. Succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell. He became a general in the Spanish army, and died off Barcelona in July 1642 during a naval battle against the French. Template:Sfnm
Cathbarr O'Donnell Tyrconnell's only surviving brother His older brothers, Hugh Roe and Manus, died in the Nine Years' War. Cathbarr died in Rome from fever in September 1608, and was buried in San Pietro in Montorio. Template:Sfnm
Rosa O'Doherty Cathbarr's wife Sister of Cahir O'Doherty. She later remarried to Owen Roe O'Neill and returned to Ireland in the 1640s. Rosa died in Brussels in November 1660 and was buried at St Anthony's College. Template:Sfn
Hugh O'Donnell Cathbarr and Rosa's son Died in 1625 as a captain in the Siege of Breda. Template:Sfnm
Nuala O'Donnell Tyrconnell's sister Died circa 1630, and buried at St Anthony's College <ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Grania O'Donnell Nuala's daughter Possibly the daughter of Niall Garve O'Donnell Template:Sfnm
Donal Oge O'Donnell Tyrconnell's half-nephew Son of Rory's late half-brother Donal Template:Sfnm
Nechtain O'Donnell Tyrconnell's second cousin Template:Sfn
Staff
Seán Crón MacDaibhid Steward Template:Sfn
Mathew Tullie Secretary Formerly secretary to Tyrconnell's late brother Hugh Roe O'Donnell Template:Sfnm
Caecilia O'Gallagher Hugh Albert O'Donnell's wet nurse Template:Sfnm
Muiris Tyrconnell's page Died in August 1608. Template:Sfnm
Other
Nobles
Cúchonnacht Maguire Maguire clan chief, Lord of Fermanagh Maguire organised the ship. He died of fever in Genoa in August 1608. <ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Sémus Mac Éimhir MacConnell Maguire's son Template:Sfn
Maguire's son Name of the second son is unknown Template:Sfn
Donagh O'Brien A cousin of the earls of Thomond and Clanrickard who helped Maguire get to Rathmullan <ref>Template:Harvnb: Donnchadh Ó Briain was on the Flight; Template:Harvnb. "Donagh O'Brien, a cousin of the earls of Thomond and Clanrickard, who had helped Cuchonnacht Maguire to get to Rathmullan, had also joined the throng."; Template:Harvnb.</ref>
Clergymen
Fr. Muiris Ultach Franciscan friar This individual could be Muiris MacDonough Ultach or Muiris MacSean Ultach. Template:Sfnm
Fr. Florence Conroy Conroy did not board at Rathmullan; he met the earls at Douai and escorted them to Leuven, then continued on with them to Rome. <ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Fr. Roibeard Mac Artúir (or Chamberlain) Template:Sfn
Fr. Tomás Strong Template:Sfn
Fr. Patrick Duff The Earl of Tyrone's private chaplain Template:Sfnm
Fr. Pádraig Ó Lorcáin The Countess of Tyrone's chaplain Template:Sfnm
Fr. Pádraig Ó Luchráin Template:Sfn
Fr. Niallán Mac Thiarnáin Template:Sfn
Fr. Toirealach Ó Sléibhín Template:Sfn
Fr. Brian Ó Gormlaigh Template:Sfn
Fr. Diarmaid Ó Duláin Template:Sfn
Students
Patrick MacHenry O'Hagan Template:Sfn
Patrick MacCormac O'Hagan Template:Sfn
Éamann Ó Maolchraoibhe Template:Sfn
Fearghas mac Cathmhaoil Template:Sfn
Matha Mac Thréanfhir Template:Sfn
Walter Rath Template:Sfn
Merchants
Richard Weston Dundalk merchant Manager of Tyrone's bribes. By 1599 he had become a double agent working for the English government. Template:Sfnm
John Bath Merchant from Ulster He was a brother of William Bath, the Jesuit who killed Donal O'Sullivan Beare in 1618. John Bath is not to be confused with pilot John Rath. Template:Efn
Writers
Tadhg Ó Cianáin Ó Cianáin authored a diary of the Flight whilst living in Rome. His account abruptly ends in November 1608, so it is possible he died around this time. Template:Sfn
Eoghan Ruadh Mac an Bhaird A bardic poet who accompanied his patroness, Nuala O'Donnell. Template:Sfn

Other refugees

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Additional staff

In his account, Ó Cianáin recorded "2 lackies of [Tyrone]", "4 servants of [Tyrconnell]", "3 lackies of [Tyrconnell]" and "3 waiting women".Template:Sfn

Nobility left behind in Ireland

See also

Notes and references

Notes

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Citations

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Sources

After 1960

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Pre-1960

Further reading

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Template:Flight of the Earls Template:Uí Néill Template:Gaels Template:Kingdom of Ireland Template:Ireland topics Template:Authority control

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