OSullivans March In 1602, after the defeat at Kinsale and the subsequent razing of Dunboy Castle, Donal Cam OSullivan Beare went into hiding in the hills above Glengariff for a few months, before setting off north, hoping to join forces with Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone. O’Sullivan Beare was a man of substance and had gold at his disposal. However, the country was experiencing a famine that winter and provisions were not for sale, so the people walking from Glengariff to Leitrim suffered from both the weather and a severe lack of nourishment. Most of Donal’s troubles on the way north came from other Irish, either protecting their supplies or actively attacking him, as they had by now gone over to the Queen’s side. A large number of O’Sullivan’s soldiers were paid mercenaries, galloglasses. A significant number of the surviving galloglasses, still with O’Sullivan Beare when he reached the final stages of the march at the Curlews, turned left for Galway and went home.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 22:30:00 +0000
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