Elizabethi's Irish Nemesis

Hiram Morgan tells the story of the Irish earl Hugh O’Neill, a brilliant warrior and slippery negotiator who ran rings around Elizabeth I’s greatest generals and almost ended English rule in Ireland

- Hiram Morgan

In the dying days of the 16th century, one man drove Elizabeth I to distraction, wrecked the career of one of her most celebrated captains, brought her nation close to bankruptcy, and threw the very survival of her administration in Ireland into grave doubt. That man was Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone. His story is one of the most remarkable in the history of Anglo-Irish relations – and the Nine Years’ War empowered by O’Neill’s uprising threatened England’s hold on the island.

When Hugh was born, in around 1550, Ireland was a divided island, one whose history had been shaped by its English neighbour. Henry II had launched a concerted invasion of Ireland in 1171, setting the scene for four centuries of considerable English influence, culminating with Henry VIII’s decision to have himself declared King of Ireland in 1541.

As Elizabeth I ascended the throne in 1558, there were effectively two Irelands: the ‘English Pale’ around Dublin and the south, containing English-style towns; and the predominately Gaelic west and north, dominated by powerful clans such as the O’Neills and O’Donnells. Suspicious of English attempts to exert control over them, the Gaelic Irish became ever-more restive in the late 16th century.

This unrest was to heavily influence Hugh O’Neill’s early years. His father Matthew, Baron of Dungannon, was assassinated by his own half-brother Shane in 1558, and Hugh’s elder brother Brian was killed by another dynastic competitor in 1562. Hugh, taken into crown wardship near Dublin, was at first happy to work with the English occupiers, accepting the role of maintaining a troop of soldiers to protect the borders of the Pale. But his attempts to increase his power in Ulster soon brought him into conflict with the authorities.

Double alliance