Elizabethan Ulster

Front matter

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Chapter I

Capture of Culoagh O'Donnell by Shane — Shane's cruel treatment of Culoagh and his wife — -Sussex appointed Lord Lieutenant — His Northern expedition — Overthrow of his raiding party — Sussex retaliates — Shane's submission — His visit to Elizabeth — Murder of Brian McBaron — Tirlough Luineach — Shane's return to Ireland — He violates all the terms of his submission — His raid on Donegal — Unreasonable attitude of Ulster Chiefs — The McDonnell settlement in the Route — Cusack's support of Shane — Elizabeth and the Ulster Scots.

SHANE O' NEIL'S triumph in Tyrone was now complete, and he lost no time in having himself formally invested as the O'Neil at Tullahogue, with the usual unpleasant rites associated with the ceremony. Further triumphs, however, were in store for him. Calvagh O'Donnell was still at war with his half-brother Hugh, and in the spring of 1561 he sent an expedition to attack Caffar O'Donnell (a brother of Hugh) at his island stronghold at Lough Veagh in West Donegal. Calvagh himself very prudently remained behind with his wife at the monastery of Killdonnell, on Lough Swilly, twelve miles from the scene of action. Here — according to the Four Masters — he pleasantly spent his time in carousing till May 14th, when he was rudely awakened by the sudden and unwelcome appearance of Shane, wha had received information through some of the O'Donnells of the unprotected state of their chief, and who lost no time in arriving on the scene with a strong band of followers.

Calvagh and his wife could, of course, put up no defence, and were carried off into captivity, where they were both very cruelly used. Calvagh was fettered with gyves round his neck and ankles, so arranged that he could neither stand nor sit. His sufferings, according to his own statement, were excruciating. In order to extract from him the secret of his treasure, Shane had the gyves strained so tight that " the blood did run down on either side of mine irons, in so much that I did wish after death a thousand times."* His wife, a Maclean, and the widow of the Earl of Argyle, became Shane's mistress by night, and during the day was chained by the wrist to a small boy so as to prevent her escape. "j*

The object of Shane's support of Hugh O'Donnell against Calvagh was now made clear, for — having safely disposed of the latter — he proclaimed himself Lord of Donegal, and, indeed, of all Ulster from Drogheda to the sea. On the strength of this piratical extension of his territory he made a formal application to the Crown for the title of Earl of Ulster, but — it need scarcely be said — without success.

Old Manus was still alive and the official O'Donnell, and by Calvagh' s capture the old chief once more regained his liberty, but he was too feeble and broken in health to resist, or even to resent, Shane's cool annexation of his lands. His sons Hugh and Caffar resented it most acutely, but were not strong enough to resist. They were both feeble creatures, totally devoid of spirit or military capacity. Shane's insolence in formally demanding the title of Earl of Ulster had the effect of arousing the full resentment of Elizabeth, who had just succeeded her sister to the throne. The title was a royal one and scrupulously reserved for Royalty, and Shane's claim to it pointed to a sense of growing power which it was felt must be promptly curbed. Sussex was sent back to Ireland with the full title of Lord Lieutenant, and with orders to bring the Northern Chief to his senses by one means or another. The selection of Sussex for this duty was not a happy one. He had proved a failure before, and he was destined to prove no less of a failure on this occasion. Entirely destitute of military genius, his only idea of warfare lay in the destruction of the enemy's country. His one good point was his energy, but even this was misdirected.

The Lord Lieutenant lost no time in getting to work. Before the end of 1561 he had pushed north nearly as far as Armagh without encountering any resistance. Making Armagh his headquarters, he sent out a raiding party into Shane's territory to the north-west, which succeeded in collecting a formidable drove of cattle, with which the raiding party began to make its way back in triumph to Armagh. Shane, however, was hot on their heels with 300 Scots and 200 Gallowglasses, and, choosing a moment when the raiders had relaxed their watch, * Calvagh to Elizabeth, Oct. 29th, 1564. f Bagwell II., 75, he launched a fierce and unexpected attack on the rear of the column. The English, completely taken by surprise, were thrown into hopeless confusion ; 50 were killed, 50 more wounded, and all the cattle returned whence they had come.* The distress of the Lord Lieutenant over this calamity was very great, and he blamed himself bitterly for not having accompanied the expedition personally. The blow to his prestige was almost irremediable, and was only equalled by the stimulus given to Shane's reputation. To recover his lost ground, Sussex made an exceptionally vigorous effort. With a formidable and mobile force he made a rapid march across the foot of Slieve Gallion to the wilds of Glenconkein (Loughinshollin in Co. Londonderry), which was Shane's most inaccessible fastness, driving in all the cattle as he went. Shane made no appearance and attempted no resistance, having, in fact, withdrawn still further west into the Sperrin mountains, and 4,000 cattle and a host of ponies were collected. Sussex's action on this occasion was singularly characteristic of his methods. With a clear recollection of the calamity which had overtaken his previous raiding expedition, he had all the captured cattle slaughtered on the spot, after which he proceeded methodically to lay waste the surrounding country. From Glenconkein he moved south-west to Omagh, and thence down the river Mourne to the Foyle, where a victualling fleet had been ordered to put in. The expected fleet, however, did not materialize, and Sussex had to content himself with collecting a further 500 cattle, with which he returned in triumph to Armagh. Throughout the expedition there had been an entire absence of fighting ; Shane and his armed forces keeping discreetly out of the way.

Sussex's methods, brutal and inartistic as they may appear to us, were probably a necessity of the times, and the only methods which were really intelligible to those he was dealing with. In any event the desired result was certainly achieved, for Shane, whose local reputation had no doubt waned in exact ratio to the destruction of his assets by Sussex, came into Carrickfergus, where he made abject and unconditional submission. It was eventually arranged that — following in the footsteps of his father — he should go on a visit to the English Court, not as a prisoner, but as a guest. He accordingly sailed for England early in 1562. Sussex, apparently quite satisfied

* Sussex to Cecil, July 31st, 1561.

with his exploit, followed him within a few months, leaving Sir William Fitzwilliam to carry on the administration of Ireland.*

Elizabeth's real object in getting this wild Irish chieftain to her Court is not quite clear. It may have been partly curiosity, but the probability is that there were deeper aims behind. Ferdoragh, Baron of Dungannon, was dead — as Shane had taken good care that he should be — but Brian, his eldest son, was now growing to manhood, and the royal hopes of reclaiming Ulster from savagery were, at the moment, centred in this youth. His father had been a consistent supporter of the English, not only against Shane, but (a more important matter in English eyes) against the Antrim Scotch, and their disquieting encroachments. He had also given evidence of an intelligent appreciation of English customs, and it was a reasonable hope that the son would, in this respect, follow in his father's footsteps. Anyhow, it was considered impossible that he could be as bad as Shane, who was without a redeeming characteristic. Accordingly, during O'Neil's absence in England, Fitzwilliam, acting under royal instructions, paid special attention to young Brian, gaining his friendship by small acts of kindness, and taking advantage of their friendship to train him in the way he should go. His chief aim was to eradicate from Brian's mind any lurking feeling of friendship for the Scots, with whom he had spent two and a half years in Cantyre as the nominal prisoner of James Mcdonnell of the Isles. "j*

Shane, in the meanwhile, was enjoying himself thoroughly at Court. His first appearance created something in the nature of a sensation, for he entered the presence of the Queen with a retinue of six shaggy-maned Gallowglasses, bearing battle-axes and wearing wide-sleeved saffron shirts, coats of mail and cloaks of rough fur. Shane himself came in on his knees, prostrated himself before the Queen, and " howling confessed his rebellion," in fluent Irish, for the O'Neil had no more English than his father before him. J

The rebellion which Shane " howling confessed " on his knees, was hardly such in the ordinary sense, i.e., he had in no

* The only essential difference between the title of Lord Lieutenant and that of Deputy was that the former was allowed to leave Ireland and could nominate a Deputy in his absence.

f The McDonalds who settled in Antrim soon became McDonnells, a form of spelling which consorted better with the Irish pronunciation of the name. % Camden's "Elizabeth."

way molested the Pale or any of the Government stations. His crimes were exclusively crimes against his own countrymen, and his only quarrel with England lay in the fact that he had grossly violated the compact entered into with Cusack in 1552. In this compact it had been expressly stipulated that neither Dungannon, Calvagh, Maguire nor Tirlough Luineach should be molested, and that the O'Neil was to confine his brigandage to his own specified boundaries. This he had not done ; but his two gravest faults vis-d-vis the English Government had been the murder of Dungannon and the imprisonment and torture of Calvagh.

Shane was entertained for a considerable time at the English Court. The Queen wanted to see young Brian O'Neil, now Baron of Dungannon, before she could decide how far he was worth supporting as a counterpoise to Shane. Accordingly, on May 13th, 1562, she wrote to Fitzwilliam, instructing him to send the boy over. Fitzwilliam at once acted on these instructions, and Brian was on his way to Carlingford, with a view to taking ship, when he was waylaid by Tirlough Luineach, with a hundred or so of the Donnelly sept, and murdered. Brian could make no resistance, for he had only twenty men with him, but he succeeded for a time in eluding his pursuers by hiding, naked to the skin, in a thicket, with the intention of swimming the river as soon as it was dark. One of his followers, however, betrayed his hiding-place, and he was dragged out and butchered.*

This act first brings Tirlough Luineach into prominence in Ulster. He was the son of Neil Connelly O'Neil, and a grandson to Art O'Neil, who was Con Bacagh's brother. He was therefore first cousin once removed to Shane. Tirlough Luineach was the official tanist, i.e., the nominated heir in case of Shane's death, so that he had a potential interest in Brian's death ; but there is very little doubt that the act was secretly instigated by Shane himself, and that the Donnelly sept, who were Shane's foster-brothers, were mainly responsible for the act, though Tirlough Luineach was their nominal leader at the time of the murder.

Brian left two brothers, Hugh and Cormac, and a half-brother named Art, who was older than either. Hugh automatically became Baron of Dungannon, and lived to become the

* Cal. State Papers, Vol. V., 82, 83, 84.

second Earl of Tyrone, and the most persistent rebel of all the long list of turbulent O' Neils.

With Brian's death the desirability of keeping Shane in England passed away, and so, with £300 in his pocket, the promise of O'Cahan's country, and a rhetorical outburst of loyal protestations on his lips, he set sail for Ulster.* The terms to which he bound himself were to keep the peace for six months with O'Donnell, Maguire, O'Reilly, O'Hanlon, McMahon and Magennis, while a commission, consisting of the Earl of Kildare, the Earl of Ormonde and four members of the Irish Privy Council, two named by himself and two by his opponent, should sit and decide on all local differences. Shane furthermore undertook not to molest the garrison at Armagh, so long as it was victualled from the Pale, and to bring Calvagh O'Donnell before a tribunal consisting of the four Earls of Thomond, Desmond, Clanricard and Kildare, who should pronounce as to his liberation or otherwise. Shane had no sooner got back to Ulster than he coolly proceeded to break every covenant he had made. The six months' independence of the lesser chiefs, to which he had pledged himself with such passionate vehemence in London, he now laughed at as a stipulation beneath consideration, and, to prove his contempt for such trivial covenants, he started by driving into Tyrone several thousand of O'Donnell' s cattle that were lying conveniently at hand in Donegal, just across the river Mourne."j* Kildare, Thomond and Clanricard were sent up to reason with him, but nothing resulted. He was invited to meet Sussex at Dundalk, but, conscious of his recent evil practices, he failed to keep the appointment. In place of meeting the Lord Lieutenant he made another raid into Donegal, drove off several thousand more cattle, laid the entire country waste, and on his way home fell on Maguire' s harvesters at Belleek and killed 300 men, women and children. X By these two successive raids Donegal was reduced to absolute famine ; no food was left, except berries and roots, and the people died in hundreds by the roadside.

With a curious inconsistency, the Irish chiefs, instead of finding fault with Shane for these villainous breaches of faith,

* Sir Richard Cox in his " Hibernia Anglicana " states that Elizabeth lent Shane £2,500, but this is to be doubted.

t Cal. State Papers, Vol. VI., 75.

% Maguire to Sussex, Oct. 26th, 1562.

threw all the blame on the Queen ; never again, they said, would they believe an English Monarch's promise of protection. Sussex was completely unnerved by this unexpected and undeserved attack from those whom he had been doing his best to help and protect. " I pray God," he wrote in pious despair, " to rid me from serving with such as speak with their mouths what they mislike with their hearts, and put forth with their words that which they overthrow with their deeds."

Shane, having succeeded to his satisfaction in showing his contempt for any restrictions placed by the Queen on his jurisdiction of Ulster, now proceeded to make his own terms with those on whom he had been starnping his authority. By the terms of this arrangement, entered into September, ljj§3, Con O'Donnell was to enjoy his father's estate, and Calvagh was to remain a prisoner for the rest of his life. By a further triangular arrangement, in which the Antrim McDonnells were included, it was settled that Con was to marry Shane's daughter, Shane was to marry James McDonnell's daughter, and Sorley Boy was to provide 500 Scots for Shane when called upon to do so. Sorley Boy (or "the yellow-haired") had now been ruler of the McDonnell settlements in the Route since the death of Colla in 1558. When Colla, whom Sussex in a letter to Boxall describes as the best of the family,* died, James McDonnell offered the captaincy of the Route to Alexander Oge, his second brother, and then to Angus ; but both refused. Finally Sorley Boy, the youngest, was forced to accept a position which was clearly none too popular with the family. The practical effect of the arrangement, above described, was — as, of course, intended— to considerably augment Shane's fighting strength ; and, with the increase in his power, came a corresponding increase in his insolence. The pose of loyalty, temporarily assumed as a convenience, was now contemptuously discarded, and Shane blossomed out once more as an openly-defined rebel. Sussex made an endeavour to correct this new mood by fitting out the usual punitive expedition, with which he started north in the summer of 1563. The army, however, was almost entirely composed of Irish, and these quarrelled so incessantly among themselves that no united action was possible, and Sussex had to return with nothing accomplished.

He reorganized his force, however, and, a fortnight later,

* Sussex to Boxall, June 3rd, 1558.

pushed westward as far as Clogher, but Shane never showed, and, after capturing a few cattle, he again returned to Armagh, having done little more than before. In an attempt to justify the cost of the expedition, Sussex now fortified the great church at Armagh, and, leaving 200 men there as a garrison, made his way back to Dublin. Sussex's performances had been barren enough, but his intentions were honestly polemic, and at his next essay he would, in all probability, have brought Shane within sight of submission, but — during his absence in the north — the Queen had been persuaded to an entire reversal of her policy. Cusack the Chancellor had been interviewing her, and, by the advice of this pusillanimous and weak-kneed politician, Shane was released from all his pledges. In pursuance of the same policy, the Queen's protection was withdrawn from all the minor chiefs who had previously relied on it. Cusack' s argument was that the only way to govern Ireland was to propitiate the more powerful and turbulent among the chiefs, and to ignore such as were either too weak or too loyal to give trouble — a policy which, unfortunately, did not die with Cusack — but the real motive behind his advice was probably mercenary, for Shane was little less ready with a bribe than his successor in rebellion, Tyrone. Elizabeth was mainly induced to fall in with Cusack' s view by her ingrained hatred of the Scots. Her intense jealousy of Mary Stuart had broadened out into a bitter rancour against all the subjects of that unhappy Queen. Sussex had the sense to see that, as far as Ulster was concerned, this was the foolish and narrow policy of a jealous woman. All the continuous troubles and unrest of Ulster, throughout Elizabethan days, might have been avoided had the Queen only treated the Scots as friends in place of enemies, and used them as her instruments for the pacification of Ulster, which, indeed, they were only too anxious to become. Sussex, in a report of his administration which was drawn up in 1562, advises that " the Queen should not only tolerate with the Scots of James Macdonald now in Ireland, but should gratify them in their requests, and, by all the means that may be, retain them in her service, which they earnestly seem to desire." But Elizabeth, though shrewd enough in most matters, was blind where her personal vanity was touched. Her terror was lest Mary Queen of Scots should establish so firm a footing in Ireland as to push her own interests to the detriment of

Elizabeth. So, in consultation with Cusack and in direct opposition to the advice of Sussex, she arranged that Shane should be taken into alliance against the intruders from Scotland. Cusack was accordingly sent over in a plenipotentiary capacity, not to displace Sussex, who still remained Lord Lieutenant, but with a special charter to put in operation any methods which he might deem advisable. Sussex raised no objection, for he was in bad health, miserably conscious of his failure, and delighted at the prospect of a holiday in England. Before leaving, however, he made one last attempt against Shane which did not add to his reputation. One, John Smith, was sent down into Tyrone, with instructions to bribe Neil Gray, a hangeron of Shane, to get rid of the troublesome O'Neil by means of poison or otherwise.* The plot failed, and Sussex denied all complicity in it, but there is very little doubt that he was implicated, and possibly Cusack as well, but there is no evidence that Elizabeth had any knowledge of the plot.

Cusack lost no time in giving evidence of his new powers by releasing Shane from all his pledges and establishing formal peace with him till All Saints' Day. After the feast of All Saints it was agreed that the garrison was to be withdrawn from Armagh, and the great church was to cease to be a fortress. Shane was shrewd enough to base this demand on religious grounds, and, in support of his new character for piety, he undertook to forfeit £1,000 if he did not restore divine worship in Armagh church within a month from the date of its being restored to him.f Shane really does seem for a very short time to have made an effort in the right direction, by encouraging various branches of husbandry in his territories. In any case, the fact remains established that, during the next twelve months, his only recorded offence against outside society was the piratical seizure in Carlingford Harbour of a Scotch ship laden with wine, which was doubtless too tempting a prize for any O'Neil to allow to pass his gates.

* Carew MSS., 388. f Cal- state Papers, Nov. 1563.

CHAPTER 11

Death of Manus O'Donnell — Culoagh's release — His appeal to Arnold and Cusack — His final appeal to the Queen — Shane captures Donegal Castle — His tortures of Con McCalvagh — His defeat by Sorley Boy at Coleraine — Shane's secret service system — The Battle of Glentor — Defeat of the Scots — Death of James McDonnell — Sorley Boy a prisoner — Shane captures Dunseverick and Dunluce — Jubilation in Dublin at Shane's victory — Shane accepts ransom for his prisoners — Elizabeth's indignation — Sir Henry Sidney arrives as deputy — Shane captures Dundalk, but is expelled again — Sidney's expedition to the north — Randolph arrives at Derry with a fleet — Sidney's conquering tour of Donegal — Calvagh reinstated as the O'Donnell — His death — Randolph's troubles at Derry — Privations of the garrison — Defeat of Shane at Lifford — Randolph's death — Evacuation of Derry — Defeat of Shane at Fersatmore — He surrenders to the McDonnells — His death and character.

JN February, 1564, old Manus O'Donnell died in Lifford Castle at the age of seventy-one. Shane seems to have had a certain regard for the old man. It may be that his friendship for Manus was only a reflection of his inveterate hatred for Calvagh, for the father and son had always been at enmity. But, in any event, the fact stands out that Lifford Castle was left unmolested so long as Manus occupied it, but no sooner was he dead than Shane instantly started to bargain with Calvagh for its possession. This wretched man was still a prisoner, but he was now promised his release on the condition of handing over Lifford Castle and the lands of Inishowen to Shane. Calvagh, having little option in the matter, agreed, and the gyves, which he had now worn for close on three years, were knocked off. His wife, however, who was by this time the mother of two sons of Shane, was still kept prisoner with the idea of extracting a ransom from the Macleans for her release. As a matter of fact Shane did not get Lifford Castle, for the garrison in occupation — either acting on their own initiative or else under Calvagh' s secret orders — sturdily refused to give it up, and Shane was not at the moment in a position to take it by force. His fury at this unexpected rebuff was not lessened by the fact of his late prisoner being beyond the reach of his vengeance. Calvagh, as a matter of fact, had very wisely taken himself off to Dublin, where he laid his piteous case before the Lords Justices Arnold and Cusack, who were the Queen's representatives at the moment. From neither of these time-servers did he get much satisfaction. Arnold was a mere puppet in the hands of Cusack, and the latter, acting on his fixed principle of never helping anyone who was too weak to be troublesome or too poor to bribe him, turned a deaf ear to all poor Calvagh' s woes. With a casuistic avoidance of the main issue, he read O'Donnell a lecture on his own past ill-treatment of his father Manus, and tried to argue that he was now only reaping as he had sown.

Calvagh was dreadfully upset by this reception, and, when he at length realized that the verdict was unfavourable, " he burst out into such a weeping as when he would speak he could not."* He had no intention, however, of accepting the Lords Justices' ruling as final, and, in his resolve to push his case to the last Court of Appeal, took measures for transferring himself to England. His intention was discovered, and he was definitely forbidden to leave the country, but he nevertheless managed somehow to elude detention and slip across, and, making his way in miserable poverty to London, laid his case before the Queen herself. Elizabeth heard him very patiently, and at the end of his interpreted recital expressed herself sorry for him, and gave him money for his immediate needs, for he complained that " no man would trust him for so much as a meal." At the same time she told Calvagh quite plainly that she herself was powerless to decide his case, which must be adjudicated through the regular channels in Ireland, but that she would instruct Arnold to make him a fixed allowance on his return to Ulster. Calvagh thanked her with all humility, but he had no intention of returning to Ireland just yet. He thoroughly distrusted Arnold and Cusack, both of whom he strongly suspected of being in the pay of hi* deadly enemy Shane, and he determined to remain on the safe side of the Channel till Sidney went over as Deputy, of which there was at the time much talk. He accordingly took himself off to Scotland, where he remained as the guest of the Earl of Argyle till the news reached him of the definite transfer of authority in Ireland into the hands of Sidney.

* Wrothe to Dudley, July 23rd, 1564.

Shane, baulked of his hoped-for vengeance on Calvagh, determined that the son should suffer in place of the father, and to this end hatched various schemes for getting possession of the person of young Con. Fortune again favoured him. Con — who considered himself the natural heir to the Chiefry of Tyrconnell — set out in the early months of 1564 to attack Hugh McHugh O'Donnell, who had taken possession of Donegal Castle. Con met with but little success at first, but he finally prevailed on Egnechan and Con O'Donnell, first cousins of Hugh McHugh and members of the garrison, to betray the castle into his hands.* The plot was carried through without a hitch, and the garrison — completely taken by surprise — was easily disposed of. The victors thereupon laid themselves out to celebrate the event in the traditional way by a two or three days' carouse. In the midst of this pleasant orgy they were surprised by Shane and Hugh McManus (Calvagh's half-brother), who had been kept fully informed of all that was going on inside the walls ; in fact the circumstances strongly suggest that there was double treachery, and that Con and Egnechan, having first of all betrayed Hugh for the purpose of getting the younger Con within the walls, then in turn betrayed him to Shane, in accordance with a prearranged plan. In any case, the victors now became the vanquished. Con took his father's place as Shane's prisoner, and Hugh McManus had himself proclaimed the O'Donnell. Shane at once began to torture his new captive, with a view to forcing him to give up Lifford Castle. The high strategic importance of this place lay in its position, which commanded the only passage of the Mourne by which Donegal could be entered from the east without the aid of boats, for the river here was always fordable at all heights of the water. Below Lifford the Mourne spreads out into the broad tidal estuary of the Foyle, while above Lifford the river comes down as a heavy turbulent stream only fordable at one or two spots in the driest weather.

To avoid further torture, Con agreed to surrender the Castle, but the garrison within the walls again refused to give it up. This time Shane, having more leisure, deliberately sat down to invest the place with a force which ate the country bare for miles round, and finally starved the garrison into submission. During these operations Tirlough Luineach, the tanist, worked

* Four Masters.

heart and soul with his chief, helping him both by personal service in the field, and by placing at his disposal his Castle at Strabane, locally known as " the Salmon."*

Part of Cusack's scheme of compromise with Shane had been on the understanding, and indeed on the reasonable expectation, that the O'Neil, if left alone by the English, would concentrate his energies against the Antrim Scots. The wily Chancellor knew well that, whatever the result, the advantage would remain with the English ; for it was clearly easier and cheaper to encourage the O'Neils and Mcdonnels to destroy one another rather than that the Government should have to fight them both. He accordingly represented to Shane that he would not be viewed with strong favour by Her Majesty unless, in return for his immunity from interference by the Government, he undertook some kind of enterprise against the Scots. Such a proposition was quite in tune with Shane's personal ambition. His recent successes had filled him with the idea that he was invincible, and the suggestion of ravaging a neighbour with the approval of the Government was far too novel and attractive to be neglected. He got together his fighting forces, and in August, 1564, set out towards the east with a view to putting Cusack's proposition into practice. He ferried his army across the flooded Bann at Coleraine and occupied the strong stone-built Dominican Friary on the east bank. Shane himself, with his customary prudence, remained on the western shore in the ruined Castle of Culrath (Coleraine), which he entrenched and fortified. With him was his friend and firm ally, Terence Donnelly, Dean of Armagh. From this safe distance the two watched the indignant Sorley Boy arrive in the early morning with a force which was estimated at 800 men. The Mcdonnel lost no time in attacking, and when he did attack, attacked with irresistible vigour. " The Scots," according to the subsequent report of the Dean of Armagh, " fought like madmen."*)* They lost 90 men before they finally carried the place by assault and put an end to the invaders. Shane's mounted men alone escaped by swimming their horses across the Bann. O'Neil himself had, as usual, galloped off into safety at the first suggestion of defeat.