Ireland History

On December 21st the entire Irish army marched up and settled themselves to blockade the English. The besiegers were now in their turn besieged, and were cut off from the interior of the country, whence their supplies of fresh food had been drawn. Under these circumstances, it could not be long till men and horses- began to suffer from starvation and disease.

The Irish had, therefore, only to remain quiet and allow the army of their enemies to melt away of its own accord. This was the course which O’Neill advised, but, unfortunately, some of the younger and more impetuous spirits allowed themselves to be moved by the urgent message which D’Aquila had sent, begging for a speedy attack, which he promised to support by a sally from the town. When a Council of War was held, the majority of the chiefs, including O’Donnell, voted for immediate action. It was decided to attempt a surprise attack on the English during the night of December 23rd.

In 1565 Sydney came again as Deputy, and endeavoured to negotiate with Shane with a view to a permanent peace, but he found him more exacting in his demands, and haughtier in speech, than ever. ” For the Queen, I confess she is my sovereign lady, yet I never made peace with her but by her own asking,” he said. ” My ancestors were Kings of Ulster. Ulster was theirs and shall be mine. . . . With this sword I won (the lands), and with this sword I shall keep them.” Sydney at once renewed the war, and marched northward into Tir Owen. Very little except cattle spoils was gained. Finally, Sydney returned homeward, and, more candid than Sussex, did not even pretend to have achieved any notable success.

Still, Shane’s position was a perilous one. Many of his neighbours were jealous of him, and his policy had ever been rather to crush than to conciliate those who opposed him. He now invaded the O’Donnell territory, and Hugh, the newly-elected O’Donnell chief, defeated his army with great slaughter at Farsetmore near Letterkenny. Shane and a small band of soldiers with difficulty crossed the Swilly and escaped.