The Retreat of Osullivan Beare (1603)
Above: The Lord of Beare and Bantry
After the capture of Dunboy, Dona II O’Sullivan the lord of Beare and Bantry had no home; and finding that he could no longer maintain himself and his followers where he was, he resolved to bid fare- well to the land of his inheritance and seek a refuge in Ulster. On the last day of the year 1602 he set out from Glengarriff on his memorable retreat, with 400 fighting men, and 600 women, children, and servants. The march was one unbroken scene of conflict and hardship. They were everywhere confronted or pursued by enemies, who attacked them when they dared; and they suffered continually from fatigue, cold, and hunger.
They fled in such haste that they were able to bring with them only one day’s provisions, trusting to be able to obtain food as they fared along; for O’Sullivan had plenty of money, which had been sent to him from Spain. But they found the country people too much terrified by Carew’s threats to give them help or shelter or to sell them provisions. As they could not buy, they had either to take by force or starve, which explains much of the hostility they encountered; for no man will permit his substance to be taken without resistance. Scarce a day passed without loss: some fell behind or left the ranks overcome with weariness; some sank and died under accumulated hardships; and others were killed in fight.
The first day they made their way to Bally-vourney, after a journey of about twenty-four miles over the mountains. Here tlicy rested for the night. On next through Duhallow, till they reached Liscarroll, where John Barry of Buttevant attacked then- rear as they crossed the ford, and after an hour’s fighting killed four of their men, but lost more than four himself. Skirting the north base of the Ballyhoura Mountains, they encamped one night beside the old hill of Ardpatrick. Their next resting-place was the Glen of Aherlow, where among the vast solitudes of the Galtys they could procure no better food than herbs and water: and the night sentries found it hard to perform their duty, oppressed as they were with fatigue and hunger. For the first part of their journey they made tents each evening to sleep in; but they were not able to continue this, so that they had to lie under the open sky, and they suffered bitterly from the extreme cold of the nights.
Next northwards from the Galtys across the Golden Vale, over the great plain of Tipperary, fighting their way through enemies almost every hour. While one detachment of the fighting men collected provisions, the others remained with the main body to protect the women and children; and the whole party were preserved from utter destruction only by the strict discipline maintained by the chief.
O’Sullivan’s wife, who accompanied the party, carried and nursed so far through all her hardships her little boy, a baby two years old; but now she had to part with him. She entrusted him to the care of one of her faithful dependents, who preserved and reared him up tenderly, and afterwards sent him to Spain to the parents. We are not told how it fared with this lady and some others; but as they did not arrive with the rest at the end of the journey, they must, like many others, have fallen behind during the terrible march, and been cared for, as they are heard of afterwards.
