Hugh Ruadh O'Donnell had been over four years eating out his heart in prison in Dublin Castle. He was a man grown now, twenty years of age, and he longed for freedom and revenge. ' On Christmas night, 1591, " it seemed to the Son of the Virgin full time that he should escape," and he and his fellow-prisoner, Art O'Neill, son of Shane, let themselves down by a rope from a window of the Castle. Outside, a servant had been awaiting ... Read More

Shane had for some time been expressing a strong desire to visit the English Court, so as to make personal acquaintance with his " sovereign lady." The English ministers, as the difficulty of dealing with the Ulster chief increased, seem to have come to believe that some improvement in the political situation might result,and to have concluded that it would be best to accede to the request. What reasons can have induced Shane to wish to embark in an enterprise, the dangers of ... Read More