Highways and byways in Donegal and Antrim;

Each story keeps the passage it was read from. Open one to read the passage as the book has it, and, where the companion has written its own telling, that too.

1. Apprentice Boys shut the gates of Derry

   near Derry · city · Derry · 1688

   In December 1688, thirteen apprentice boys seized the keys of Derry, drew the bridge, and locked Ferryquay Gate against Lord Antrim's advancing regiment. This action saved the city for the Protestant cause during the Williamite war.

   Read the passage

   carried out through his viceroy Tyrconnell, to have secured Catholic ascendency throughout Ireland. But, as Walker puts it in his story of the siege, " it pleased God so to infatuate the councils of my lord Tyrconnell " that he withdrew the soldiers who were in actual possession of Derry. Lord Antrim's regiment which was ordered to replace them was not ready, and did not reach its destination on the east bank of the Foyle till December 7th. Word had come to the aldermen of " some damnable design against the British of those parts," and the aldermen, after their fashion, deliberated. Two of Antrim's officers had crossed the Foyle, and were admitted within the gates to a parley. But in the meanwhile a company of the regiment had been ferried over and were marching on Ferryquay Gate (just south of the Diamond). The town was in a ferment and thirteen apprentice boys "drew their swords, ran to the main-guard, seized the keys without any great opposition, and came with them to the Ferry gate drew the bridge and locked the gate, the Irish soldiers having advanced within sixty yards of it." They then hastened to secure the other gates, and this action of theirs undoubtedly saved Derry to the Protestant cause. Lord Antrim's regiment drew off. At this time, according to Mackenzie's contemporary narrative, the whole number of fighting men in the town amounted to 300. But the next three months were full of events and the war of religions which spread through Ireland concentrated the Protestants of the north upon their sole surviving fortress. From Coleraine to LifTord they nocked in, until at the beginning of the siege the walls enclosed nearly 30,000 people.

   Ten thousand of these availed themselves of the permission to leave, and of those who remained nearly 8,000 were soldiers ; men with the virtues and confidence natural, as Macaulay points out, to a dominant caste. But Macaulay's dramatic story is apt to give the impression that the defenders of Derry were merely the citizens, men unused to warfare, stimulated to

   Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 143

2. Murder of Shane O'Neill near Cushendun

   Cushendun · townland · Antrim · 1567

   Shane O'Neill, fleeing after defeat by the O'Donnells, sought out the Macdonnells encamped on the hill slope north-west of Cushendun. After two days' banqueting, a quarrel erupted over his secretary's claim that Shane meant to marry James Macdonnell's widow, and the Macdonnells hacked Shane to pieces with dirks.

   Read the passage

   English for his overthrow. He had thoughts at first of going to the Lord Deputy at Dundalk with a halter round his neck ; but he bethought him of Sorley Boy and offered freedom and friendship to the chief of the Ulster Scots. At Sorley's advice, as it would seem, he arranged to meet Alexander Og Macdonnell, a surviving brother, who with his levies was encamped on the hill slope north-west of Cushendun. Here Shane came bringing Sorley with , him, and whether the Macdonnells meant fairly by him or no it would be hard to say. There were two days' banqueting, and in the revels Shane's secretary made a rash speech. Shane, he said, was of a mind to marry James MacdonnelPs wife, whom he still kept in his power, and the lady was willing. The Macdonnells swore it was a foul lie that their chief's wife would match with the man who had done to death her husband. The secretary, in Shane's own temper, said that the O'Neill was a match good enough for the Queen of Scots herself ; and Shane, on hearing the debate, struck in and spoke to the same purpose with such arrogance that in a minute dirks were out, and, once the work begun, the Scotch hacked to pieces this scourge of their clan. His mangled body was flung into a pit, but a certain wise Englishman of the nearest garrison, hearing of the result, sent to have the head cut off, pickled it, and sent it to the Lord Deputy with a claim for the thousand pounds that had been set upon it. Fitzwilliam wrote, exulting in the consummation, but wishing to God that the traitor's end had been more in accordance with his desert. The daggers, to his thinking, had done their work too quickly ; and all he could do was to hoist the great Shane's head and leave it to blacken — where so many Irish heads had blackened and were still to blacken — over the gate of Dublin Castle. The Macdonnells were more civilised than this English noble in their vengeance. Shane's body, wrapped, " for lack of a better shroud, in a keene's old shirt," was miserably interred at Glenarm, the home of the Macdonnell chief. The O'Neills sent to beg that this great shaker of Ulster might rest with his own kin. But the abbot of the monastery answered, " Have

   Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 178

3. Essex's massacre on Rathlin Island

   near Rathlin Island · island or archipelago · Antrim

   English forces under Essex landed on Rathlin, besieged the castle which surrendered after three days, and killed some 200 from the castle plus 300–400 more found hidden in caves and sea cliffs. Sorley Boy watched from Fair Head as his wife, children, and those of his gentlemen were slaughtered.

   Read the passage

   force of soldiers. They landed on Rathlin, and besieged the castle, which surrendered after three days. " There have been slain," says Sir Henry Sidney's Brief Relation, " that came out of the castle of all sorts two hundred. They be occupied still in the killing, and have slain all that they have found hidden in caves and in the cliffs of the sea to the number of 300 or 400 more." Sorley Boy, then close on sixty, but with life to last for another quarter of a century, ran up and down on Fair Head, seeing the butchery of his wife and children, and of the wives and children of all his gentlemen, and, a spy reported, " was like to run mad, turning and tormenting himself, saying that he there lost all he ever had."

   Essex penned an enthusiastic description of the raid which reached Elizabeth amid the famous revels of Kenilworth j and from Kenilworth she added in her own hand to the despatch of reply this postscript of congratulation in the euphuistic style of the period : —

   Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 173

4. Kidnapping of Red Hugh O'Donnell at Rathmullan

   Rathmullan · town · Donegal · 1587

   In September 1587, a merchant ship captained by George Dudall sailed up Lough Swilly and anchored opposite Rathmullan under pretence of trading wine. Captain Birmingham lured Red Hugh O'Donnell, then fifteen, aboard with the MacSwiney chiefs and Sir Owen O'Gallagher, then bolted the cabin door and seized them.

   Read the passage

   How was Perrott to come by his pledge ? The story is told in the beginning of Mr. Standish O'Grady's vivid narrative The Flight of the Eagle, a book which brings Elizabethan Ireland really to life again ; and from it I must condense my narrative. On May 2nd, 1587, Perrott wrote to Elizabeth and her Council : " For O'Donnell, if it would please her Majesty to appoint me to go thither, I will make him and his Mac- Sweenies deliver in what pledges I list. Otherwise, if it please her Majesty, I could take himself, his wife, who is a great bringer-in of Scots, and perhaps his son Hugh Roe (Red Hugh) by sending them a boat with wines." In plain English, Perrott proposed sending an army to coerce O'Donnell, or as an alternative, a kidnapping expedition ; and Elizabeth promptly decided for the kidnapping. It was found presumably that Hugh Roe was the easier object, and accordingly in September, 1587, a big merchantman sailed up Lough Svvilly, and cast anchor opposite Rathmullen. Her master was George Dudall, but the gentleman who appeared as her owner and announced that he came with a cargo of choice wines, was in reality Captain Birmingham of her Majesty's forces. And the reason why he sailed into Rathmullen was that he had heard of a visit purposed by Owen Oge of the Battle-axes to MacSwiney of Fanad, on whom the head of the MacSwineys came to " cosher " or demand free quarters for a period, according to his right. Birmingham had been trading freely and generously for some days, when in came Owen of the Battle-axes at the head of a great retinue. " Harpers rode there, their sheathed instruments of harmony slung behind their backs, or borne by attendants ; story-tellers to beguile the intervals of feasting and music with fragments of ancient epic, and shed a glamour of the romance of old over the tame familiar facts of the present. There rode Owen Oge's bard, who composed poems in his praise, and the professional rhapsodists who recited them, for the bard proper was a silent man ; he composed, but sung not.

   Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 118

   As the companion tells it

   As you come through Rathmullan in Donegal, this is where one of the most famous kidnappings in Irish history happened in 1587. In May of that year, Perrott wrote to Elizabeth proposing to take O'Donnell, his wife, or his son Hugh Roe, known as Red Hugh, by sending them a boat with wines. Elizabeth chose the kidnapping. In September 1587, a merchant ship sailed up Lough Swilly and anchored opposite Rathmullan. Her master was George Dudall, but the man who appeared as her owner and announced a cargo of choice wines was Captain Birmingham of her Majesty's forces. He had heard that Owen Oge of the Battle-axes planned a visit to MacSwiney of Fanad, where the head of the MacSwineys came to cosher, meaning to demand free quarters as was his right. Birmingham traded freely and generously for some days. Then Owen Oge arrived at the head of a great retinue. Harpers rode with their instruments slung behind their backs or borne by attendants. Story-tellers came to beguile the intervals of feasting with fragments of ancient epic. There rode Owen Oge's bard, who composed poems in his praise, and the professional rhapsodists who recited them, for the bard composed but did not sing. Captain Birmingham lured Red Hugh O'Donnell, then fifteen, aboard with the MacSwiney chiefs and Sir Owen O'Gallagher. He bolted the cabin door and seized them.

5. Cuellar defends MacClancy's Castle on Lough Melvin

   near Lough Melvin · lake or lakes · Fermanagh · 1588

   After the Spanish Armada, Captain Cuellar took refuge with the Irish chief MacClancy and offered to hold MacClancy's castle on Lough Melvin against the English. Fitzwilliam arrived with a large force but failed to make the Spaniards surrender and was driven away by a heavy snowfall. The castle was said to still stand at the time of writing.

   Read the passage

   Cuellar's stay with MacClancy seemed likely to come to an end, when Fitzwilliam came down, hanging all Spaniards, and punishing their harbourers ; MacClancy decided that he, as a chief who paid no Queen's rent, must fly ; but Cuellar undertook to remain with the other Spaniards and hold the castle on Lough Melvin which is still there. Fitzwilliam came to the lough side with a large force but failed to make the Spaniards surrender, and was driven away by a heavy fall of snow. Cuellar's reputation now stood so high that MacClancy was unwilling to let him go ; so he escaped secretly and made his way east, travelling for twenty days through the mountains of Donegal and Derry till he got to Dunluce, where he heard of

   Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 39

6. General Munro seizes the Earl of Antrim at Dunluce

   near Carrickfergus · town · Antrim · 1641–1642

   During the 1641 rebellion, the Earl of Antrim gave a hospitable welcome to General Munro at Dunluce Castle. Munro accepted the hospitality, then seized his host and imprisoned him on suspicion at Carrickfergus. Antrim escaped and later joined Owen Roe O'Neill.

   Read the passage

   Duneynie, and was buried among his kin at Bonamargy Abbey, in Ballycastle. His son, Sir James Macdonnell, succeeded him as Constable of Dunluce, but died in 1601 ; Sir Randal, another son of Sorley's, fortified Dunluce in defiance of orders, and joined O'Neill and Red Hugh in their rebellion ; but after the defeat at Kinsale, seeing the game was up, he made timely profession of loyalty and was taken into favour by James, who granted him formally all the land from the Cutts of Coleraine to the Curran of Larne. Macdonnell remained staunch and was rewarded in 1620 with the earldom of Antrim. He died at Dunluce in 1639. His son, the second earl, had for mother Tyrone's daughter, and so was an object of suspicion, though he lived at Charles I.'s court and married Buckingham's widow. In 1 64 1 came the rebellion, and a Macdonnell — the Earl's cousin — was prominent among the rebel leaders. Antrim seems to have wavered between his loyalty and a natural feeling for those who were fighting to recover the lands from which they or their fathers had been ejected. But he relieved the garrison of Coleraine and gave a hospitable welcome to General Munro in Dunluce. That officer accepted the hospitality, then seized, his host and Imprisoned him on suspicion in Carrickfergus. Antrim escaped, and appealed to the King ; returned and was again taken by Munro, but again escaped and joined Owen Roe O'Neill, and fought strenuously for the King. Under the Commonwealth he was deprived of his estates, but like the other " innocent Papists " received an allotment in Connaught, whither the Celts, under Cromwell's policy, were being driven as if into a pen. Under the Restoration he obtained, after much difficulty, restitution of his own. But Dunluce by this time had fallen into useless ruins, and the Earl built Ballymagarry House near it as a residence. Earlier than that the castle had begun to crumble, for in 1639, when Antrim's wife, the Marchioness of Buckingham, was entertaining a great party, an outlying piece of the wall overhanging the landward mouth of the cave fell, carrying eight servants in its ruins. It was

   XVI

   Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 159

7. Sorley Boy watches massacre from Fair Head

   near Benmore or Fair Head · promontory · Antrim

   Sorley Boy, then close on sixty, ran up and down on Fair Head watching the butchery of his wife and children and those of his gentlemen. A spy reported he was like to run mad, saying he there lost all he ever had.

   Read the passage

   force of soldiers. They landed on Rathlin, and besieged the castle, which surrendered after three days. " There have been slain," says Sir Henry Sidney's Brief Relation, " that came out of the castle of all sorts two hundred. They be occupied still in the killing, and have slain all that they have found hidden in caves and in the cliffs of the sea to the number of 300 or 400 more." Sorley Boy, then close on sixty, but with life to last for another quarter of a century, ran up and down on Fair Head, seeing the butchery of his wife and children, and of the wives and children of all his gentlemen, and, a spy reported, " was like to run mad, turning and tormenting himself, saying that he there lost all he ever had."

   Essex penned an enthusiastic description of the raid which reached Elizabeth amid the famous revels of Kenilworth j and from Kenilworth she added in her own hand to the despatch of reply this postscript of congratulation in the euphuistic style of the period : —

   Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 173

8. Relief ships break the boom at Derry

   near Derry · city · Derry · 1689

   The Mountjoy under Captain Browning and the Phoenix of Coleraine broke the boom across Lough Foyle to relieve the besieged garrison of Derry. Browning, a Derry man, was shot dead at the boom and received no commemoration in the city.

   Read the passage

   Famine was now imminent : horseflesh was barely procurable, mice and rats fetched money, salted hides were regularly issued in provision to the soldiers. Flour ran out, but some ingenious man bethought him of a store of starch which, mixed with tallow, made an excellent substitute and prevented dysentery. But the garrison was reduced from 7,371 to little over 5.000, and unless help came there was no choice but starvation or surrender. Negotiations went on continuously ; but also hostilities. On July 16th Murray led a sally in which he was shot through both thighs. Baker was dead of illness and had deputed the governorship to Mitchelburne. At last deliverance came. In the fleet men naturally were chafing at the inaction, and Captain Browning, of the Mount joy ^ himself a Derry man, was eager to risk his vessel and her cargo. Finally Kirke yielded; and accompanied by the Phoenix, of Coleraine, Browning headed for the boom. The Dart7nouth frigate followed, harassing the enemy with her fire and endeavouring to draw theirs. At the first impact the boom broke, but the Mountjoy recoiled and stuck in the mud of the narrow channel. The besieged, watching from the walls, lost sight of the ships in the smother of smoke. Then they heard loud huzzas from the Irish and saw them preparing the boats to board ; but in a few moments the vessels were seen emerging from the cloud of smoke and creeping up under a light wind. The Phoenix had made for the gap, and the Mountjoy got herself off by firing a broadside, when the recoil of the guns lifted her off the bank. The Phoenix was first at the quay laden with meal; the Mountjoy came up later, but it came bringing the dead body of its captain, who was shot while putting his ship at the boom. It is strange enough that Browning has received no commemoration in a city so jealous of its memories.

   Derry was now safe though the siege was not actually raised till the night of July 31st: and it is August 1st — or by new

   Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 148

9. Kidnapped gauger held on island at Glenbeagh

   Glenbeagh · townland · Donegal

   A revenue gauger who held evidence against several townlands for illegal poteen distilling was kidnapped by hillmen, rowed on a lake at Glen Beagh, and kept in a dark cell on a small island for six weeks to prevent him laying information at the assize. He was then blindfolded and released near his home in Letterkenny. The tale is told by Caesar Otway on the authority of Dr. Hastings.

   Read the passage

   he was reaching the crest the hunt was up and after him, and away they went. The gauger took the water but was spent with running and weighted with his clothes and so came near to drown ; hut the hillmen went in after him, pulled him out, rubbed him and dosed him heavily with the poteen it was his trade to discover. Then, tying a bandage over his eyes, they mounted him on a pony and took him over the hills to (lien Beagh ; put him in a curragh and rowed, him up and down the lake for some hours, and then stowed him in a dark cell on a little island. Here they kept him in the dark but well fed, for a matter of six weeks ; then he was taken out, blindfolded again, marched for a day over the mountains, and finally left alone on a road near his home in Letterkenny.

   The object of this was to keep the man from laying information at the assize. Under the existing revenue laws, any townland where a still was found working, fell under a heavy fine; and this gauger held evidence against several townlands, the fines amounting to a matter of ^7,000. The assize passed, and with it the legal date for laying the information, and the gauger was restored to the bosom of his family.

   Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 69

10. Battle of the Margy River

    Bonamargy · townland · Antrim · 1565

    Shane O'Neill, having taken James Macdonnell's castle in the red sandstone cliff, continued toward Ballycastle and the Macdonnell sanctuary at Bonamargy. The whole force of Clandonnell arrayed against him by the Margy river; one Macdonnell brother was slain and James and Sorley were taken prisoner.

    Read the passage

    Signal fires blazed on Torr Head, and James Macdonnell, head of the clan, hastened over from Cantire ; but by the time he landed in Red Bay, just south of Cushendun, Shane had taken his castle in the red sandstone cliff and was on his way towards Ballycastle and the Macdonnell sanctuary at Bonamargy. By the Margy river the whole force of Clandonnell arrayed itself against him. Three Macdonnell brothers went into the fight; one was slain, but James, lord of Cantire and Antrim, and Sorley, lord of the Route, were taken. Shane continued his progress along the coast, took Dunseverick, but Dunluce was too hard for him. Still he had in his hands the master of Dunluce, and for three days Sorley Boy was kept without food till the garrison surrendered sooner than let the chief die of starvation. Shane wrote to the Lord Deputy a glowing eulogy of his own zeal in the Queen's service, which had made him lord absolute in the north-east of Ulster. The Lord Deputy commended him and asked for James and Sorley Macdonnell, but Shane declared that he could not consent to" let so precious hostages out of his sight till he knew the Queen's own pleasure concerning them. So James and his wife and Sorley were shut up in a strong castle near Strabane, where neither Queen nor Deputy could reach them ; and there after a few months James Macdonnell came obscurely by his end. Even after death he remained a captive ; Shane buried him with much pomp and circumstance in the O'Neills' own ground at Armagh. But Sorley was proof against sickness — or it may be against poison — and two years later, when Shane made his fatal hosting into Tyrconnell, Sorley was still a prisoner. So after the day when Hugh O'Donnell met the O'Neills at the fords of Swiily and smote them hip and thigh, Shane, hardly escaping with his life, did not know which way to turn. On the north and north-west were the O'Donnells ; on the south the English ; and on the east the Macdonnells, now leagued with the

    xviii MURDER OF SHANE O'NEILL 275

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 178

11. Cuellar's account of Ulster customs at MacClancy's Castle

    near Lough Melvin · lake or lakes · Fermanagh · 1588

    Cuellar stayed three months with MacClancy, a refractory chief in a difficult country, and left a description of native manners and customs. He described people living in straw huts among rugged mountains, eating butter with oaten bread once a day, wearing coarse goats' hair garments, and carrying on perpetual war with English garrisons.

    Read the passage

    " The custom of these savages is to live as the brute beasts among the mountains, which are very rugged in that part of Ireland, where we lost ourselves. They live in huts made of straw. The men are all large-bodied and of handsome features and limbs, and as active as the roe-deer. They do not eat oftener than once a day, and this is at night ; and that which they usually eat is butter with oaten bread. They drink sour milk, for they have no other drink ; they don't drink water, although it is the best in the world. On feast-days they eat some flesh half-cooked, without bread or salt, as that is their custom. They clothe themselves, according to their habit, with tight trousers and short loose coats of very coarse goats' hair. They cover themselves with blankets • and wear their hair down to their eyes. They are great walkers and inured to toil. They carry on perpetual war with the English, who here keep garrison for the Queen, from whom they defend themselves, and do not let them enter their territory, which is subject to inundation and marshy. That district extends for more than forty leagues in length and breadth. The chief inclination of these people is to be robbers, and to plunder each other ; so that no day passes without a call to arms among them. For, the people in one village becoming aware that in another there are cattle, or other effects, they immediately come armed in the night, and attack and kill one another; and the English from the garrisons, getting to know who had taken and robbed most cattle, then come down upon them and carry away the plunder. They

    IV

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 38

12. Es massacre of Macdonnell women and children at Rathlin

    near Rathlin Island · island or archipelago · Antrim · 1571

    Walter, Earl of Essex, set out to colonise Ulster in 1571 and dealt a bloody measure to Sorley Boy's women and children on Rathlin Island. Despite this butchery, Sorley Boy was not cowed.

    Read the passage

    What measure he dealt to Sorley Boy's women and children in Rathlin you shall read elsewhere, but the Macdonnell chief was no more to be cowed by this butchery than on the day when they showed him his son's head on the gate of Dublin cattle. "My son," he retorted, "has many heads." In 1584 Sir John Perrot marched into Ulster, and brought cannon

    Ballycastlc with Knocklayde Mountain.

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 158

13. Lord Leitrim's murder on the Mulroy road near Milford

    Millford · town · Donegal

    Lord Leitrim was ambushed and killed on the road near Milford, where it comes within fifty yards of Mulroy Lough's shore. Two assailants hidden in dense woodland fired on his car, killed the driver and clerk, and escaped by boat through Mulroy's islets. Lord Leitrim was beaten to death with gun butts, found with his teeth hard set, having died fighting.

    Read the passage

    means clear, though it is sufficiently apparent that they made no great haste to come up. First they met the clerk running towards them, and saying he was shot ; then the horse shied at a black mass in the road, and refused to pass it ; it was the driver of the front car. Then they came to Lord Leitrim, lying in a pool of water, with his brains beaten out ; and, looking to the lough below, saw a boat with two men rowing away, who in a minute were lost behind one of Mulroy's innumerable islets.

    The clerk died in their hands, though the only wound on him was the scar, made by a slug, above his ear ; suffusion of blood on the brain was apparently more the result of a violent shock than of the wound. The driver's heart was riddled with shot. Lord Leitrim had no fatal shot-wound on him ; gun butts had done the work.

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 111

    As the companion tells it

    As you come through Millford, the road runs near Mulroy Lough. Lord Leitrim was killed on this stretch. Two men lay hidden in the woodland and fired on his car. They shot the driver through the heart and hit the clerk with a slug above the ear. Lord Leitrim had no fatal shot wound. Gun butts had done the work. He was found lying in a pool of water, beaten to death. Those who came upon the scene first met the clerk running towards them, saying he was shot. The horse shied at the driver's body in the road. The clerk died in their hands, more from the violent shock than the wound. Looking out over the lough, they saw two men in a boat rowing away, lost in a minute behind one of Mulroy's innumerable islets.

14. Lundy's treachery as Governor of Derry

    near Derry · city · Derry · 1689

    Colonel Lundy, sent as Governor of Derry in early 1689, declared the town incapable of defence and ordered two English regiments to leave. When James marched to the strand, the town clerk revealed the withdrawal, and Lundy fled disguised as a porter.

    Read the passage

    preternatural valour by religious zeal. That is not so. " Town companies''" existed in December, 1688; many of those who came in had seen fighting about Coleraine; and a great number were enrolled for active service by Colonel Lundy, who was sent down early in 1689 to be Governor of the town. It is true that their experience of service under him was not encouraging. In April the Catholic army, with James in person at their head, marched northwards. Lundy drew out his forces to oppose them at the crossing of the Finn near LifTord, but the affair was so managed that the Protestants had to beat a disorderly retreat and James advanced along the left bank of the Foyle. On April 15th English ships with two regiments under Colonel Cunningham and Colonel Richards had entered the Lough. Lundy had refused to employ these men against the advancing enemy, and on his return he called a Council of War, at which he declared that the town was incapable of defence and unprovided with food ; that to throw two regiments into it would therefore merely be a useless sacrifice of them. The officers, being commissioned to take their orders from Lundy, sailed reluctantly down the river. Naturally the town was full of rumours of treachery, though it was not yet generally known that the regiments had been finally withdrawn. Matters came to a crisis on the 1 8th. James marched his army to the strand, not far from where the Great Northern Railway station now is ; and while his army was under the walls, the town clerk insisted on publishing the fact that Cunningham and Richards had been ordered to leave the town with their troops. While the Council was still deliberating, those on the walls fired a cannon at the Irish which, it is said, killed an officer near the king's person. Still emissaries went to and fro ; the deciding incident was the arrival of Captain Adam Murray, with a troop of horse, from Culmore. Fifteen hundred foot were at Pennyburn, a little way beyond the present Lough Swilly railway station. Lundy, hearing of Murray's arrival, ordered him back, but he forced an entrance and immediately assumed the direction of affairs. He broke

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 144

15. The Sunken Bells of Killydonnell

    Killydonnell · townland · Donegal

    Killydonnell church, noted for its architectural beauty including remnants of east window tracery, once possessed a fine peal of bells. Marauders from the Tyrone shore carried off the bells but sank with them in a storm, and the bells are said to toll underwater once every seven years at midnight.

    Read the passage

    There is a story, less matter-of-fact in nature, clinging to Killydonnell. The church, besides its architectural beauty— of which some remnants can be seen in the tracery of an east window — owned a fine peal of bells. Marauders from the Tyrone shore crossed the water and robbed the abbey, and made a shift to carry off the bells with them. But a storm rose, and the heavy cargo was fatal to these sacrilegious persons, for they all went to the bottom with the bells. And once every seven years at midnight, if you are listening, the bell may be heard tolling deep down under the waters of the lough.

    One more battle was fought in the vale of Swilly, which seems indeed to have been the cockpit of Tyrconnell. It was in that strange and confused war which began with the Irish outbreak in 1640, and was finally put down by the hard hand of Cromwell. In that war the Irish, divided as always against themselves, yet were more or less held together by a great general, Owen Roe O'Neill, of the house of Tyrone. After his death in 1649, there was a hopeless break-up. His brother, Black Hugh, the only man who could ever claim to have inflicted a severe check on Cromwell, was passed over because of insurmountable jealousies ; and by a senseless compromise the command of the Ulster army was given to Heber M'Mahon, Bishop of Clogher. The result was many defections of soldiers, who had no desire to serve under a " Bishop-General."' M'Mahon marched from Tyrone, where Owen Roe had left the army in an impregnable position, into Tyrconnell, and Sir Charles Coote followed him from Deny. Henry O'Neill, another of Owen's brothers, begged of the Bishop not to risk a general action; but M'Mahon taunted him with cowardice, and the armies met at Scariffhollis Ford, where Shane had escaped eighty-three years before. The Bishop ordered his

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 81

16. Neil Garv proclaims himself O'Donnell at Doon Rock

    Doon Rock · rock or rocks · Donegal · 1602

    After Red Hugh O'Donnell's death in 1602, his cousin Neil Garv, who had betrayed the O'Donnell cause and joined the English, learned of Red Hugh's death and caused himself to be proclaimed O'Donnell at the Rock of Doon, though much of the clan regarded him as a traitor.

    Read the passage

    The last O'Donnell here inaugurated with the full consent of his tribe, was the famous Red Hugh, whose history I must tell fully in another place. After his death in 1602, his brother Rory submitted to the English, abjured any claim to the O'Donnellship, and was named Earl of Tyrconnell. But Neil Garv (the Fierce), Red Hugh's cousin, who had betrayed the O'Donnell cause, and joined the English for a promise of the lordship of Tyrconnell, was in actual possession of the country, and when he learnt of Red Hugh's death caused himself to be proclaimed at the Rock ; though a great part of the clan looked up to Rory as their leader, and regarded Neil with hatred as a traitor.

    But it mattered little, for the English were determined that

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 73

17. Von Rosen's brutality drives Protestants to Derry walls

    near Derry · city · Derry · 1689

    Von Rosen drove in all Protestants from ten miles around, mostly women and children, and hunted them at sword-point under the walls of Derry, threatening they would be left to die unless the besieged surrendered. The defenders erected a gallows on the walls in retaliation.

    Read the passage

    The siege was now turned into a bombardment, and a quantity of heavy shells, weighing 275 pounds, were thrown into the city, causing much loss of life. Food also began to run short, so that there was great joy when, on June 13th, a fleet was seen in the Lough below Culmore. Kirke, a soldier of infamous reputation for cruelty, was in command ; and he showed no redeeming qualities on this occasion. According to Mackenzie's account, the boom was constructed only after his appearance in the Lough ; and in any case it was his plain duty to risk a ship or two in the effort to break it. But the batteries on Culmore and the difficulties of the channel intimidated him, and he lay in the mouth of Lough Foyle in sight of the walls for full six weeks. Meantime lead was giving out and the guns fired brick with a lead coating : while food grew daily scarcer. James, impatient of the obstacle, sent down Von Rosen, a soldier who had acquired the methods of war by which Louis XIV. subdued the Palatinate. An assault upon the walls at Butcher's Gate, led by Lord Clancarty, was attempted, and repulsed with severe loss. Then Von Rosen resorted to moral suasion. He drove in all the Protestants for ten miles round, mostly women and children, and hunted them at the sword-point under the walls j sending in a message to the town that all the unfortunates should be kept there to die of hunger and cold unless the besieged surrendered. The reply was the erection of a gallows on the walls and a message that all prisoners — of whom several were of rank and position — would be hanged by way of retaliation. Fortunately Hamilton was not a barbarian, like Von Rosen, and matters were not pushed to an extremity ; though the unfortunate people, most

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    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 147

18. Boys steal rector's sermon at Kilmacrenan church

    Kilmacrenan · town · Donegal

    Two boys staying at Kilmacrenan Rectory, including a son of Caesar Otway, stole Dr. Hastings' sermon from his coat-tail pocket on the way to church. To their amazement, the rector preached an excellent discourse from a backup sermon he kept in his other pocket, which he called the 'bully.'

    Read the passage

    Accordingly on the way to church they contrived to pick the pocket ; but to their amazement the rector when he mounted the pulpit only showed a moment's hesitation and then launched into an excellent discourse. Coming out of church he shook his head at them. " Ah, ye young rascals, I know what ye were up to ! But I tell you, boys ; you forgot the bully in the other pocket." The " bully " was a second and superior article held in reserve for the chance of distinguished strangers.

    One of the pickpockets was a son of the late Mr. Caesar Otway, whose Sketches in Ireland^ published some seventy years ago, contain a great deal that is amusing, but are not to be relied on for strict veracity. I give, therefore, with all reservation, one more story of Dr. Hastings, told by this authority, who was, at least, undoubtedly an intimate friend of the Doctor's. One fine summer morning Dr. Hastings heard a noise at his back door and observed one of his servants trying to keep out a man who was anxious to get into the house. This person had that air of something between the classes, which in those days and at that place, could belong only to a gauger. " Let me in," he begged, "or my life's lost, and hide me somewhere." While Dr. Hastings was parleying with him, up came the forerunners of a great crowd demanding the gauger. Hastings remonstrated, but the crowd said they wished him no harm, but the gauger they must have or they would pull the house down to get him. "Well," said the Doctor, "there's no way to stop you, but there must be fair play given. The man had ten minutes start of you when he got here ; he must have the same law when he gets away." The pursuers consented, and the Doctor explained to the hunted man that if he could reach the Lennan, about half-a-mile off, and swim it he might get clear that way. Accordingly the crowd gathered, the Doctor stood on his doorstep watch in hand, and away went the gauger down the lawn, forded the Lurgy and was taking up the ridge that divides it from the Lennan, when just as

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 68

19. Fitzwilliam peregrinates through Tyrconnell and executes Spaniards

    Ballyshannon · town · Donegal · 1588

    Lord Deputy Fitzwilliam, having seen Streedagh Strand littered with corpses, reached Ballyshannon. Taking with him O'Donnell, Red Hugh's father, he made a peregrination through Tyrconnell and seized the survivors from the Trinidad Valencera, all of whom were put to death.

    Read the passage

    treated by the natives. Matters soon changed for the worse. As soon as the news reached Dublin that the Western coast was being strewn with wreckage and plunder, Fitzwilliam, the Lord Deputy, posted off in haste to the scene, gathering what treasure he could, and making a short end of all Spaniards. Having seen the whole length of Streedagh Strand littered with twelve or thirteen hundred dead corpses, shattered timbers, boats, cordage, and huge masts, he reached Ballyshannon. Thence taking with him the O'Donnell, Red Hugh's father, bound to acquiescence at this time, for his eldest son was a kidnapped prisoner in Dublin Castle, he made a peregrination through Tyrconnell and seized upon the survivors from the Trinidad ValenCera, all of whom were put to death.

    Two other vessels — one, it is said, a treasure-ship — went ashore on the coast of Donegal in the Rosses. One treasureship lies, to this day, in the sand off Mullaghderg, and various expeditions have been made to recover her spoils ; but a few brass guns, brought in a century ago, are all that has been won back from the sea. As lately as the spring of 1895, tne Harbour Lights steamer stayed for a fortnight on the spot trying to disinter treasures, but went away empty-handed. The other wreck lies about two miles to the south in Castleford Bay, inside the Island of Aran. In 1853 the coastguards at Rutland Island tried their luck on this vessel, and fetched up the great anchor which lies outside the United Services Institution in Parliament Street.

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 36

    As the companion tells it

    You're coming through Ballyshannon now. In 1588, Lord Deputy Fitzwilliam reached this town after riding west from Dublin in haste. The western coast was strewn with wreckage and plunder from the Armada, and he came to gather what treasure he could and make a short end of all Spaniards. Before arriving at Ballyshannon, he had seen the whole length of Streedagh Strand littered with twelve or thirteen hundred dead corpses, shattered timbers, boats, cordage, and huge masts. From Ballyshannon, Fitzwilliam took with him the O'Donnell, Red Hugh's father. The O'Donnell was bound to acquiescence at this time, for his eldest son was a kidnapped prisoner in Dublin Castle. Together they made a peregrination through Tyrconnell and seized upon the survivors from the Trinidad Valencera, all of whom were put to death. Two other vessels went ashore on the coast of Donegal in the Rosses, one said to be a treasure ship. One treasure ship lies to this day in the sand off Mullaghderg, and various expeditions have been made to recover her spoils. A few brass guns, brought in a century ago, are all that has been won back from the sea. As lately as the spring of 1895, the Harbour Lights steamer stayed for a fortnight on the spot trying to disinter treasures, but went away empty-handed. The other wreck lies in Castleford Bay, inside the Island of Aran. In 1853 the coastguards at Rutland Island tried their luck on this vessel, and fetched up the great anchor which lies outside the United Services Institution in Parliament Street.

20. Levarcham spies on Deirdre at Emain Macha

    near Navan · monument · Armagh

    Conor sent Deirdre's nurse Levarcham to spy on Deirdre's beauty at the Red Branch mansion. She found Naisi and Deirdre playing chess, warned them that treachery and murder were planned that night in Emain, and urged them to bar their doors.

    Read the passage

    Then they came to the gate, and they struck a loud stroke with the wooden knocker. The doorkeeper asked them " Who was there ? " and they said, " the three sons of Usnach, with Deirdre and the two sens of Fergus." Then Conor bade them be lodged in the mansion of the Red Branch, and Deirdre still pressed them to fly. " That we will not," says Ulan, " for no cowardice or unmanliness has been known of us, and we will go to the Red Branch." Meat and wine were set before them, and after they had their fill Naisi said, " Bring now the chessboard that we may play." And Conor in his hall asked, " Whom now shall I find to bring me word if her own shape and features still live on Deirdre ? for if her own form live in her, there is no woman more beautiful in the world." " I will go," said Lavaicam, Deirdres nurse, "and bring you tidings,"' Then she came and found Naisi and Deirdre playing at the chess, and she kissed them lovingly ; but, said she, *"* You do ill to be playing on this chessboard, the thing which Conor most grieves the loss of, save of Deirdre alone ; and it is to inquire after the beauty of Deirdre I am come, if it still live on her ; and an evil deed is to be done this night in Eman, treachery and murder. " Then she bade them make fast the doors and windows, and exhorted the sons of Fergus to be faithful to their charge, and she went back to the king.

    " What news have you ? " said he.

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 170

21. Murray's arrival from Culmore saves Derry

    near Culmore · town · Derry · 1689

    Captain Adam Murray arrived with a troop of horse from Culmore, forcing an entrance into Derry despite Lundy's order to turn back. He broke into the Council-room, confronted Lundy, and took direction of the defence, saving Derry from surprise.

    Read the passage

    preternatural valour by religious zeal. That is not so. " Town companies''" existed in December, 1688; many of those who came in had seen fighting about Coleraine; and a great number were enrolled for active service by Colonel Lundy, who was sent down early in 1689 to be Governor of the town. It is true that their experience of service under him was not encouraging. In April the Catholic army, with James in person at their head, marched northwards. Lundy drew out his forces to oppose them at the crossing of the Finn near LifTord, but the affair was so managed that the Protestants had to beat a disorderly retreat and James advanced along the left bank of the Foyle. On April 15th English ships with two regiments under Colonel Cunningham and Colonel Richards had entered the Lough. Lundy had refused to employ these men against the advancing enemy, and on his return he called a Council of War, at which he declared that the town was incapable of defence and unprovided with food ; that to throw two regiments into it would therefore merely be a useless sacrifice of them. The officers, being commissioned to take their orders from Lundy, sailed reluctantly down the river. Naturally the town was full of rumours of treachery, though it was not yet generally known that the regiments had been finally withdrawn. Matters came to a crisis on the 1 8th. James marched his army to the strand, not far from where the Great Northern Railway station now is ; and while his army was under the walls, the town clerk insisted on publishing the fact that Cunningham and Richards had been ordered to leave the town with their troops. While the Council was still deliberating, those on the walls fired a cannon at the Irish which, it is said, killed an officer near the king's person. Still emissaries went to and fro ; the deciding incident was the arrival of Captain Adam Murray, with a troop of horse, from Culmore. Fifteen hundred foot were at Pennyburn, a little way beyond the present Lough Swilly railway station. Lundy, hearing of Murray's arrival, ordered him back, but he forced an entrance and immediately assumed the direction of affairs. He broke

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 144

    As the companion tells it

    You are coming through Culmore, and in 1689 this was where Derry's rescue began. Captain Adam Murray rode out of here with a troop of horse and broke into the besieged city against the Governor's own orders. The story behind it is worth telling. Colonel Lundy had been sent down early in 1689 to govern Derry, but his leadership was poor. In April, James marched his Catholic army north. Lundy drew out his forces to oppose them at the crossing of the Finn near Lifford, but it was so badly managed that the Protestants retreated in disorder and James advanced along the left bank of the Foyle. On April 15, English ships carrying two regiments under Colonel Cunningham and Colonel Richards entered the Lough. Lundy refused to use them, called a Council of War, and declared the town incapable of defence and unprovided with food. The officers, under orders to take their commands from Lundy, sailed reluctantly down the river. Matters came to a crisis on April 18. James marched his army to the strand, near where the Great Northern Railway station later stood. While his army sat under the walls, the town clerk published the fact that Cunningham and Richards had been ordered to leave with their troops. Those on the walls fired a cannon at the Irish, which is said to have killed an officer near the king's own person. Lundy, hearing of Murray's arrival from Culmore, ordered him back. Murray ignored him, forced an entrance, and immediately took direction of affairs. Derry was saved from surprise.

22. Paddy M'Kye's 1837 Memorial on Gweedore Poverty

    near Gweedore · locality · Donegal · 1837

    In 1837, Patrick M'Kye, the national school teacher in Gweedore, sent a memorial to the Lord Lieutenant detailing the extreme destitution of the parishioners of Tullaghobegly. He catalogued the lack of basic possessions, starvation conditions, and families living alongside their cattle in squalor, appealing for immediate relief.

    Read the passage

    "That the parishioners of this parish of Tullaghobegly, in the Barony of Kilmacrenan, are in the most needy, hungry, and naked condition of any people that ever came within the precincts of my knowledge, although I have travelled a part of nine counties in Ireland, also a part of England and Scotland, together with a part of British America. I have likewise perambulated 2,253 miles through some of the United States, and never witnessed the tenth part of such hunger, hardships, and nakedness.

    " Now, my Lord, if the causes which I now lay before your Excellency were not of very extraordinary importance, I would never presume that it should be laid before you.

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 85

    As the companion tells it

    You are passing through Gweedore in Donegal. In 1837, Patrick M'Kye, the national school teacher here, sent a memorial to the Lord Lieutenant describing the desperate state of the parishioners of Tullaghobegly. He wrote that they were "in the most needy, hungry, and naked condition of any people that ever came within the precincts of my knowledge." M'Kye had travelled through parts of nine counties in Ireland, England, Scotland, British America, and 2253 miles through the United States, and said he had never witnessed even a tenth part of such hunger, hardships, and nakedness. He told the Lord Lieutenant that only the extraordinary importance of the matter would make him presume to lay it before him.

23. Saldanha wreck and Captain Pakenham's premonition

    near Lough Swilly · estuary · Donegal

    The Saldanha frigate was lost with all hands on the Swilly Rock near Fanad Head; the only living thing to come ashore was a grey parrot. Captain Pakenham had confided to Napier before sailing that he was uneasy, feeling forewarned he would lose his life on this voyage at Lough Swilly in the north of Ireland.

    Read the passage

    To the left of the hotel a line of cliffs runs for about six miles out to Fanad Head, reaching their highest point in a square-cut precipice that is called the Bin of Fanad. It has a fall of about 300 feet. Just off the Bin is the one obstacle to navigation, the Swilly Rock, where, early in the century, the Saldanha frigate was lost with all hands, the only thing that came alive ashore being a grey parrot. A strange story is told in the Napier memoirs of Captain Pakenham who commanded this unlucky vessel. He was in the Peninsula when a command reached him to join his ship and sail with sealed orders. He confided to Napier that for the first time he was uneasy about his safety. It was borne in upon him, he said, that he would lose his life on this voyage, and that the place where he would lose it would be Lough Swilly in the North of Ireland. The forewarning was of no more use than one of Cassandra's, predictions.

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    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 114

24. Signal fires on Torr Head warn of Shane O'Neill

    near Torr Head · promontory · Antrim · 1565

    In 1565, signal fires were lit on Torr Head to warn of Shane O'Neill's march into the Glens of Antrim. James Macdonnell, head of the clan, hurried over from Cantire but by the time he landed at Red Bay, Shane had already taken his castle.

    Read the passage

    Signal fires blazed on Torr Head, and James Macdonnell, head of the clan, hastened over from Cantire ; but by the time he landed in Red Bay, just south of Cushendun, Shane had taken his castle in the red sandstone cliff and was on his way towards Ballycastle and the Macdonnell sanctuary at Bonamargy. By the Margy river the whole force of Clandonnell arrayed itself against him. Three Macdonnell brothers went into the fight; one was slain, but James, lord of Cantire and Antrim, and Sorley, lord of the Route, were taken. Shane continued his progress along the coast, took Dunseverick, but Dunluce was too hard for him. Still he had in his hands the master of Dunluce, and for three days Sorley Boy was kept without food till the garrison surrendered sooner than let the chief die of starvation. Shane wrote to the Lord Deputy a glowing eulogy of his own zeal in the Queen's service, which had made him lord absolute in the north-east of Ulster. The Lord Deputy commended him and asked for James and Sorley Macdonnell, but Shane declared that he could not consent to" let so precious hostages out of his sight till he knew the Queen's own pleasure concerning them. So James and his wife and Sorley were shut up in a strong castle near Strabane, where neither Queen nor Deputy could reach them ; and there after a few months James Macdonnell came obscurely by his end. Even after death he remained a captive ; Shane buried him with much pomp and circumstance in the O'Neills' own ground at Armagh. But Sorley was proof against sickness — or it may be against poison — and two years later, when Shane made his fatal hosting into Tyrconnell, Sorley was still a prisoner. So after the day when Hugh O'Donnell met the O'Neills at the fords of Swiily and smote them hip and thigh, Shane, hardly escaping with his life, did not know which way to turn. On the north and north-west were the O'Donnells ; on the south the English ; and on the east the Macdonnells, now leagued with the

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    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 178

25. Sorley Boy submits to Queen Elizabeth's portrait in Dublin

    Dublin · city · Dublin · 1585

    After recapturing Dunluce in 1585, the eighty-year-old Sorley Boy came to Dublin and made his allegiance to Queen Elizabeth's portrait, going on his knees to kiss the embroidered pantofle of her Majesty's royal foot.

    Read the passage

    against Dunluce that shook it sadly till it was forced to surrender. Sorley was not taken in it, and in the next year he re -captured it by treachery ; but the triumphant Tudor bastard struck fear into him, and the old chief, now eighty years old, came to Dublin and there made his allegiance duly to Queen Elizabeth's portrait, going on his knees to kiss the embroidered "pantofle" of her Majesty's royal foot. He died in 1590 at his castle of

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    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 158

    As the companion tells it

    Dublin was where Sorley Boy MacDonnell made his peace with the crown in 1585. After recapturing Dunluce by treachery, the old chief, then eighty years old, came here and made his allegiance to Queen Elizabeth's portrait, going on his knees to kiss the embroidered pantofle of her Majesty's royal foot. He died in 1590 at his castle.

26. Spanish crews shelter at Killybegs under MacSwiney

    Killybegs · town · Donegal · 1588

    Three Armada vessels put into Killybegs where the ships foundered but 2,000 crew got ashore with their arms. They obtained fresh stores and a welcome from MacSwiney of Banaght, lord of the country, before patching up two vessels and putting to sea again, abandoning the San Martin.

    Read the passage

    the coast of Tyrconnell would have met a very different reception; but Ireland had not yet been driven to hold that her best friends were the enemies of England. Three great ships went ashore on Streedagh Strand between Sligo and Bundoran. Another, the Rata, under Don Alonzo de Leyva, broke loose from her anchors and ran ashore ; but her crew were hospitably sheltered by O'Rourke. of Brefny, till they embarked again upon another vessel, the San Martin, which had been able to hold out in the offing. They met the Girona, and Duquesa Sta. Anna, and made their escape northwards, the wind being still westerly : but the three were obliged to put into Killybegs when the ships again foundered, but the crews — 2,000 in number — got ashore with their arms. Here they obtained fresh stores, and a welcome from MacSwiney of Banaght, lord of this country : and having managed to patch up two of their vessels they again put to sea, abandoning the San Martin. The Duquesa Sta. Anna, however, had no better fortune ; she ran upon the rocks in Glennagaveny Bay, west of Inishowen Head. De Leyva, escaping from her, made his way to the Girona, which lay at anchor in Mulroy or Sheephaven. After a week's labour upon her to make her seaworthy, he and the remnant of three crews, stood out to make the coast of Scotland, where there was some chance of friendship ; but, hugging the Antrim coast, near the Giant's Causeway, ran on a rock and perished. Sorley Boy Macdonell, Lord of Dunluce, came to the rescue, but recovered only five of the crew, certain butts of wine, and three pieces of cannon, which he mounted on his castle and refused to give up. Another wreck occurred at a neighbouring point, and eleven of this second crew found shelter with Sorley Boy, who eventually despatched them over to Scotland.

    Another ship of the first class, La Trinidad Valencera, went on shore in the O'Doherty's country of Inishowen. A large number of the crew succeeded in landing, and were tolerably

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 35

    As the companion tells it

    Coming through Killybegs in Donegal, you are on a coast where ships of the Spanish Armada once sheltered and wrecked. In 1588, three vessels put in here after escaping northwards from earlier disasters on the Sligo coast. The Rata, under Don Alonzo de Leyva, had broken loose from her anchors and run ashore, but her crew were sheltered by O'Rourke of Brefny until they embarked on the San Martin, which had held out in the offing. They met the Girona and the Duquesa Sta. Anna and made their way north, the wind still westerly. The three ships again foundered here. But the crews, 2,000 in number, got ashore with their arms. They obtained fresh stores and a welcome from MacSwiney of Banaght, lord of this country. Having patched up two of the vessels, they put to sea again, abandoning the San Martin. The Duquesa Sta. Anna had no better fortune. She ran upon the rocks in Glennagaveny Bay, west of Inishowen Head. De Leyva escaped and made his way to the Girona, which lay at anchor in Mulroy or Sheephaven. After a week's labour to make her seaworthy, he and the remnant of three crews stood out to make the coast of Scotland, where there was some chance of friendship. But hugging the Antrim coast near the Giant's Causeway, she ran on a rock and perished. Sorley Boy Macdonell, Lord of Dunluce, came to the rescue, but recovered only five of the crew, certain butts of wine, and three pieces of cannon, which he mounted on his castle and refused to give up.

27. Wolfe Tone captured after naval battle off the Rosses

    Letterkenny · town · Donegal · 1798

    The French ship Hoche, carrying Wolfe Tone, fought against four English vessels off the Rosses before striking its colours. Tone was taken prisoner and landed at either Rathmullen or Buncrana, later recognised at Letterkenny.

    Read the passage

    Bompart's ship, carried away her main topmast, which in falling did further damage ; and as a forlorn hope they tried to escape by shifting their course and making to the south-west. Dawn found them virtually surrounded by the English fleet, and Bompart ordered his frigates and the Biche schooner to hold on and attempt escaping ; he himself had no chance to do so. The French officers begged Tone to transfer himself to the Biche, which had the best chance to escape — as she actually did — because his fate, if taken, would be certain execution. But Tone refused to fly while the French fought for his country, and commanded a battery in the action which followed. At seven o'clock, the Rosses bearing five leagues S.S.-W., firing began. The Hoche fought against four English vessels of her own size till reduced to a complete wreck. She struck at 11.20 a.m., and was taken into Lough Swilly. The prisoners were landed, according to one account at Rathmullen, according to others at Buncrana. Tone, in his French uniform, passed with the rest, till recognised at Letterkenny by a man who had been at college with him. He was taken to Dublin, tried by courtmartial, defended himself with dignity and courage, and when sentenced to be Ranged, only pleaded the right due to the uniform he wore as a general in the French army. But the Court, with needless severity, refused to treat him as an honourable enemy, and shoot him. Tone anticipated his fate by cutting his throat in prison with a pen-knife. Life was not extinct when he was found, and, incredible as it sounds, the authorities having caused the wound to be tied up so as to prolong life a few hours, proposed to proceed to hang him. This odious step was prevented by the energy of Curran, who obtained a writ of habeas corpus from the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Kilwarden, on the ground that if Tone was held to be a British subject, holding no military commission, a court-martial had no jurisdiction over him. Such was the lamentable but not ignominious end of a formidable enemy to the English rule in Ireland ; and since the Hoche

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    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 106

    As the companion tells it

    As you pass through Letterkenny, you are in the town where Wolfe Tone was recognised after his capture in 1798. The French ship Hoche, carrying Tone, fought four English vessels off the Rosses until she was reduced to a wreck and struck her colours at 11.20 in the morning. The prisoners were landed at Rathmullen or Buncrana, and Tone, wearing his French uniform, passed among them unnoticed until a man who had been at college with him picked him out here in Letterkenny. The French officers had begged Tone to transfer to the Biche schooner, which had the best chance of escape, because if he were taken his fate would be certain execution. He refused to leave while the French fought for his country, and commanded a battery in the action. Taken to Dublin, he was tried by court martial and defended himself, the book says, with dignity and courage. Sentenced to be hanged, he pleaded for the right due to the uniform he wore as a general in the French army, but the court refused to treat him as an honourable enemy and shoot him. Tone cut his throat in prison with a pen-knife. He was still alive when found, and the authorities had the wound tied up so as to prolong life a few hours and proposed to proceed to hang him. Curran stopped this by obtaining a writ of habeas corpus from the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Kilwarden. The book calls it the lamentable but not ignominious end of a formidable enemy to English rule in Ireland.

28. Cave at Rock of Doon entrance to Fairyland

    Doon · townland · Donegal

    On the south side of the Rock of Doon is a cave believed to give entrance to Fairyland. Stories tell of rash mortals who watched on midsummer nights and saw a great company of 'the gentry,' green-jacketed and red-capped, entering and sallying forth. Many countrywomen believed their dead children had not died but been taken captive by this strange folk.

    Read the passage

    Such is the present sanctity of Doon Well, not less venerable among its solitudes than the pomp and processions of Lourdes. But legend and history also lend an interest to the spot. On the south of the rock is a cave which gives entrance to Fairyland ; stories are told of rash mortals who watched here on midsummer nights, and saw a great company of "the gentry," green jacketed and red capped, entering and sallying forth. Many a woman of the countryside has believed that her dead

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    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 71

29. Derrybeg chapel site and penal-law mass tradition

    near Derrybeg · town · Donegal

    During the penal laws, people of the Derrybeg district assembled in a hidden hollow to hear mass in the open air, with sentries posted in the heather. After repeal, they insisted the chapel be built on this very spot, astride a stream.

    Read the passage

    Leaving Bunbeg, you take a road running eastward along the coast to Derrybeg, about two miles off ; you will know when you get there by a very steep and rather tortuous hill, on which there is more than the usual chance of meeting a cow or donkey, owing to the presence of some cabins halfway down. At the hill's foot a small stream flows under a bridge, and in the tiny hollow of a gorge is Derrybeg chapel, unhappily too well known. In this hollow, when the penal laws existed, the people of the district assembled to hear mass in the open air; the spot itself was secure from observation, and sentries posted in the heather round easily guarded against a surprise of the priest. So when the penal laws were repealed, and Derrybeg grew rich enough to have a chapel — it is wonderful how much money the poorest parishes will contribute for this end — they were determined that the chapel should stand nowhere but in this spot of many memories. The chapel actually stands astride of the stream ; and early in the eighties, on one Sunday a heavy flood came down, burst the culvert under the chapel, and instantly filling the building, drowned several of the worshippers. Worse, however, had to come. In February, 1889, the whole Gweedore district was in a state of suppressed rebellion. The Plan of Campaign had been preached, great evictions followed on the Olphert estate, and troops were sent down to keep the population under. They brought with them the famous battering-ram, which was used for knocking in the walls of cabins whose inmates refused to open to the officers of the law. If these things have to be done, it is well to take the simplest and most efficacious means of doing them; but the necessity was not an agreeable one, and the feelings of the peasantry were inflamed to the uttermost. Their leader was the priest, Father Macfadden, who in all negotiations with landlords acted as a spokesman for his flock; and to the influence which his office gave him among a people superstitious or religious in the highest degree, he added the natural ascendency of a strong character. The Government was anxious to arrest him, but the

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 96

30. Derry burnt in O'Doherty's revolt

    near Derry · city · Derry · 1609

    In 1609, Derry was burnt for the last time during the revolt provoked by Sir Cahir O'Doherty against Governor Paulet. The author notes that Derry has repeatedly risen from its ashes throughout its history.

    Read the passage

    In two years a town was there, capable of housing a thousand men, says Docwra, who prided himself greatly on his work. How he was succeeded by Paulet in the governorship, and how Paulet rashly provoked Sir Cahir O'Doherty into revolt, I have already told. In that revolt, during 1609, Derry was for the last time burnt. Probably no town in the kingdom has so often risen from its ashes.

    In 1609 begins the modern history of the town which has been called, and with reason, the acropolis of Protestant Ulster. The Corporation of London agreed to rebuild Derry, and so

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 141

31. Donegal ends as seat of the O'Donnell princedom

    Donegal · town · Donegal · 1607–1608

    After Red Hugh's death in Spain and the Flight of the Earls, the O'Donnell lands including Donegal were declared forfeit to the Crown. Niall Garv, who had enabled the English conquest, was imprisoned in the Tower of London, ending Donegal's role as a Celtic princely seat.

    Read the passage

    All this happened on Michaelmas Day. O'Donnell maintained the blockade by land till the end of October when news reached him that a Spanish fleet had arrived in Kinsale, and instantly abandoning his own country to the invaders — whom he looked to deal with later on— he marched to effect his junction with the Earl of Tyrone, and with him to meet the Spanish forces and attack the English. The result was, by bad generalship, ruinous defeat. Red Hugh left Ireland for Spain to plead for more help, never to return ; he died there by poison. A pacification, false and hollow, succeeded ; Rory O'Donnell, his brother, was recognised and created Earl of Tyrconnell ; but after four years he and Tyrone found themselves surrounded with intrigues, and in despair fled with all their belongings. Their property was declared forfeit and Donegal was among the spolia opima of the confiscation. The unhappy Nial Garv, who more than any man had contributed to this consummation, proffered his claims, and in full settlement of them was sent to rot till he died in the Tower of London. So ends the history of Donegal as the seat of a Celtic Princedom.

    Killybegs.

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 33

    As the companion tells it

    As you come through Donegal, you're passing through what was once the seat of a Celtic princedom, and its end came in the years after 1601. Red Hugh O'Donnell marched south to join the Spanish at Kinsale and met ruinous defeat by bad generalship, then fled to Spain to plead for more help and never returned. He died there by poison. His brother Rory was created Earl of Tyrconnell in a hollow pacification, but within four years Rory and Tyrone found themselves surrounded by intrigues and fled Ireland in despair. Their property was declared forfeit, and Donegal was among the spoils of the confiscation. Nial Garv, who more than any man had brought this outcome about, proffered his claims and was sent to rot in the Tower of London until he died. So ends the history of Donegal as the seat of a Celtic princedom.

32. Grianan of Aileach on Elagh mountain

    near Grianan of Aileach · monument · Donegal · 1101

    On the summit of Elagh mountain stands the Grianan of Aileach, a restored circular stone fort with three concentric ramparts and cyclopean masonry walls eighteen feet high and over twelve feet thick. It was the stronghold of the sons of Nial of the Nine Hostages and said to be named after a Scottish princess; Patrick converted the chiefs there, and in 1101 Murtagh O'Brien demolished the O'Neill palace.

    Read the passage

    But from the lough itself, or from Fahan pier, you will see the monument of a far older past than these petty castles point to. On the highest summit of the range that divides the eastern arm of Lough Swilly from the valley of the Foyle and the town of Derry — on the top of Elagh mountain — stands conspicuous a circular fort of stonework. That is the Grianan, or summer palace of Aileach, and well worthy a visit. Three concentric ramparts of earth and stone enclose a fort or cashel — a ring of cyclopean masonry some five-and-twenty yards in diameter ; the walls are eighteen feet high, and over twelve feet thick at the base. Inside this huge wall, from each side of the entrance gate galleries run, with exits on to the enclosure. This was the stronghold where the sons of Nial of the Nine Hostages established themselves. But according to the legend in the Four Masters, the place took its name from a princess of Scotland, Aileach, " modest and blooming in Alba, till the loss of the Gael disturbed her," and she followed Eoghad of the Hy-Nial over seas, and from the pair sprang sons, who founded Ualriada, the kingdom of the Isles and the Antrim Coast. Here in later days Patrick came, and converted the chiefs, and there was no palace in Ireland more famous, till noi, when Murtagh O'Brien, King of Munster, made a great raid into the North, and demolished the home of the O'Neills.

    The fort as it stands has been restored by a zealous antiquary, Dr. Bernard of Derry ; marks made with tar show the point up to which the wall was intact, before he and his helpers gathered together the wreckage and piled it into its old place.

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 116

33. Lord Leitrim's tyrannical estate management in Donegal

    Donegal · town · Donegal · 1870–1878

    The third Lord Leitrim abolished the rundale system on his estates but enforced absolute landlord control, evicting tenants who sold tenant-right and raising rents on those who made improvements. His capricious cruelty, including forced replacement of livestock sires, made him widely hated; he refused charity to an evicted and starving family.

    Read the passage

    armed ; yet he lived to make old bones. He did his property the immense service of abolishing the old system of rundale, which less energetic landlords allowed to' nourish in all its weediness. But the whole trend of modern legislation, which since the Act of 1870, aims at giving the tenant an interest in his holding, ran counter to his seigneurial ideal. No sort of opposition was allowed to stand in his way ; if one man sold tenant-right to another his method was simple, to evict both. His violence of temper was such that he had been struck off the Magistracy as totally unfit to administer justice ; and to his tenants he was, in plain English, a tyrant. He was not an avaricious tyrant ; he did not want to extort unusually exorbitant rents j but he insisted that every man on his estate should hold his land absolutely at his landlord's pleasure. The very idea of a tenant having a right in improvements made at the tenant's own cost infuriated him, and in such cases he either raised the rent immediately, or ejected the man, to establish his supremacy. Nothing could be more characteristic of his tyranny, even in beneficence, than the step he took to improve the breed of sheep and cattle. He imported bulls and rams of choice breeds from Scotland, but he simultaneously, to enforce the improvement, made away with all the existing sires. Naturally he compensated their owners, but no one likes to be done good to by compulsion. Add to this imperious and arbitrary disposition a capricious temper with violent prejudices, and it is easy to see how horrible injustices were perpetrated. Eviction in that county meant often denial of the only means of livelihood. One family which had been turned out were starving and the clergyman of the parish went to intercede for help. " Sir," he said, " I would not give you a blanket to cover their bones." And thus, in April, 1878, when the news of his death came, it brought that surprise which is always occasioned when a thing long expected happens at the very last. Lord Leitrim was seventy-three when he was killed. What the immediate cause was, and whether it was a public or private feud, no one knows ;

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 110

    As the companion tells it

    As you pass through Donegal, you're in country that was once ruled by one of Ireland's most hated landlords. The third Lord Leitrim abolished the old rundale system on his estates, which was a real service, but he insisted every man hold his land absolutely at the landlord's pleasure. After the Act of 1870 aimed at giving tenants an interest in their holdings, he fought that trend completely. If a tenant sold tenant-right to another man, he evicted both. His violence of temper got him struck off the Magistracy as totally unfit to administer justice, and his tenants called him a tyrant. He was not avaricious and did not extort unusually high rents, but the idea of a tenant having rights over improvements made at the tenant's own cost infuriated him. He would raise the rent or eject the man to establish his supremacy. He imported choice bulls and rams from Scotland to improve breeds, but made away with all existing sires to enforce it, compensating owners whether they liked it or not. Eviction in that county often meant denial of the only means of livelihood. When one evicted family was starving, the parish clergyman went to intercede. Leitrim told him, "Sir, I would not give you a blanket to cover their bones." He was 73 when he was killed in April 1878. No one knows whether it was a public or private feud.

34. Shane O'Neill killed at Cushendun

    Cushendun · townland · Antrim · 1567

    In 1567, Shane O'Neill was defeated by O'Donnell and hemmed in. He turned to the Scots for help but was hacked to pieces at Cushendun, an event that left the Macdonnells directly face to face with the English.

    Read the passage

    Sorley is, Anglicised, Charles, but in reality it is an old Gaelic name, and was borne by Sorley's ancestor Somhairle or Somerled, who defended his lands in Argyll so strongly against the Danes in the eighth century. But Sorley Boy in Irish state papers is Carolus Flavus— yellow-haired Charles — and there is no want of mention of him. He was born in 1505 and lived till 1590 — a warrior till well past eighty. When Sorley became Lord of the Route in 1558, there were hard days for the Macdonnells. The English from 1530 onwards had become anxious to drive out these swarms of Scotch-Irish who poured in year by year ; and in Ulster itself there was the redoubtable Shane O'Neill determined to be lord paramount in the north. In 1563 Shane made peace with Elizabeth and turned on the Clandonnell. In 1564 he defeated them in a skirmish at Coleraine, and in 1565 utterly routed them at Ballycastle and took both Sorley and James, head of the clan. Marching northward, he came to Dunluce, which baffled him; but holding Sorley, he held the key of its gates, and swore to starve the chief if he were not given admission. So 6n that day Dunluce was surrendered. James Macdonnell died in prison and Sorley became head of the Irish branch of the clan. In 1567 he was released from captivity by the bloody death of Shane O'Neill, who, being defeated by O'Donnell and hemmed in, turned to the Scots for help but was hacked to pieces at Cushendun. His death left the Macdonnells directly face to face with the English Nevertheless there were not open hostilities at once. Elizabeth recognised Sorley as Lord of the Route and sent him a patent for his estates. But Sorley, receiving the parchment in Dunluce, swore that what had been won by the sword should never be kept by the sheepskin, and burnt the document before his retainers. In 157 1 Walter, Earl of Essex, set out to colonise Ulster, and by way of a lesson in civilisation invited the O'Neill chieftains to a banquet, and treacherously slaughtered them.

    xvi HIS SUBMISSION TO QUEEN ELIZABETH 239

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 158

35. Sons of Usnach lodged in the Red Branch

    near Navan · monument · Armagh

    Upon arriving at Emain Macha, the sons of Usnach were lodged by King Conor in the mansion of the Red Branch rather than the main hall, which Deirdre recognized as a sign of treachery. She urged them to flee but they refused out of pride.

    Read the passage

    Then they came to the gate, and they struck a loud stroke with the wooden knocker. The doorkeeper asked them " Who was there ? " and they said, " the three sons of Usnach, with Deirdre and the two sens of Fergus." Then Conor bade them be lodged in the mansion of the Red Branch, and Deirdre still pressed them to fly. " That we will not," says Ulan, " for no cowardice or unmanliness has been known of us, and we will go to the Red Branch." Meat and wine were set before them, and after they had their fill Naisi said, " Bring now the chessboard that we may play." And Conor in his hall asked, " Whom now shall I find to bring me word if her own shape and features still live on Deirdre ? for if her own form live in her, there is no woman more beautiful in the world." " I will go," said Lavaicam, Deirdres nurse, "and bring you tidings,"' Then she came and found Naisi and Deirdre playing at the chess, and she kissed them lovingly ; but, said she, *"* You do ill to be playing on this chessboard, the thing which Conor most grieves the loss of, save of Deirdre alone ; and it is to inquire after the beauty of Deirdre I am come, if it still live on her ; and an evil deed is to be done this night in Eman, treachery and murder. " Then she bade them make fast the doors and windows, and exhorted the sons of Fergus to be faithful to their charge, and she went back to the king.

    " What news have you ? " said he.

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 170

36. Three Armada ships wrecked on Streedagh Strand

    Streedagh · townland · Sligo · 1588

    Three great ships of the Spanish Armada went ashore on Streedagh Strand between Sligo and Bundoran. Later, the Lord Deputy Fitzwilliam found the strand littered with twelve or thirteen hundred dead corpses, shattered timbers, boats, cordage, and huge masts.

    Read the passage

    the coast of Tyrconnell would have met a very different reception; but Ireland had not yet been driven to hold that her best friends were the enemies of England. Three great ships went ashore on Streedagh Strand between Sligo and Bundoran. Another, the Rata, under Don Alonzo de Leyva, broke loose from her anchors and ran ashore ; but her crew were hospitably sheltered by O'Rourke. of Brefny, till they embarked again upon another vessel, the San Martin, which had been able to hold out in the offing. They met the Girona, and Duquesa Sta. Anna, and made their escape northwards, the wind being still westerly : but the three were obliged to put into Killybegs when the ships again foundered, but the crews — 2,000 in number — got ashore with their arms. Here they obtained fresh stores, and a welcome from MacSwiney of Banaght, lord of this country : and having managed to patch up two of their vessels they again put to sea, abandoning the San Martin. The Duquesa Sta. Anna, however, had no better fortune ; she ran upon the rocks in Glennagaveny Bay, west of Inishowen Head. De Leyva, escaping from her, made his way to the Girona, which lay at anchor in Mulroy or Sheephaven. After a week's labour upon her to make her seaworthy, he and the remnant of three crews, stood out to make the coast of Scotland, where there was some chance of friendship ; but, hugging the Antrim coast, near the Giant's Causeway, ran on a rock and perished. Sorley Boy Macdonell, Lord of Dunluce, came to the rescue, but recovered only five of the crew, certain butts of wine, and three pieces of cannon, which he mounted on his castle and refused to give up. Another wreck occurred at a neighbouring point, and eleven of this second crew found shelter with Sorley Boy, who eventually despatched them over to Scotland.

    Another ship of the first class, La Trinidad Valencera, went on shore in the O'Doherty's country of Inishowen. A large number of the crew succeeded in landing, and were tolerably

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 35

37. O'Donnell inauguration stone at Rock of Doon

    Doon · townland · Donegal

    The Rock of Doon was where the O'Donnells were proclaimed lords of Tyrconnell. Each chieftain stood before his clan with feet set in footprints hewn into the inauguration stone, marking where the first chief of Tyrconnell had stood. The stone's fate is unknown—some say it was stolen, others that it was broken up like the O'Neills' stone at Tullaghogue.

    Read the passage

    The historic associations have something also of this legendary vagueness. Here was .the place where the O'Donnells were proclaimed lords of Tyrconnell ; here was the stone of inauguration where each chieftain was bound to stand before his clan, with feet set in the footprints hewn into the stone where the first chief of Tyrconnell had taken his station. The ceremony was performed by the Coarb or successor of Columbkille in the Abbey of Kilmacrenan ; and this succession remained in the family of the O'Ferghails, or Freels, who like Columbkille himself descended from Niall the Ardri. To this family Father Freel belonged, who consecrated the Well.

    So much is certain. But no one knows what has become of the inauguration stone, which, according to the Four Masters, was kept in the abbey ; whether, as some say, it was stolen, or, as others hold, it was broken up, as was the inauguration stone of the O'Neills at Tullaghogue. Accounts differ also as to the ritual of the ceremony. Giraldas Cambrensis, the Welshman who accompanied King John to Ireland, has left a wonderful story.

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 72

38. Battle of the Windmill Hill at Bishop's Gate

    Windmill Hill · street · Cork · 1689

    On May 5th, Hamilton attacked Windmill Hill crowned by Bishop's Gate, drawing a trench from bog to river. A simultaneous sally from Ferryquay Gate and Bishop's Gate on the night of the 6th drove the enemy out, capturing flags now preserved in the cathedral.

    Read the passage

    Be that as it may, there is no doubt about the siege. The enemy encamped in four divisions about the town commanding the roads of access. The defenders were divided into eight regiments two to each of the four quarters. The siege was practically a blockade from the first ; no serious assault was ever made on the walls : and there was no cannon in the Irish army heavy enough to batter them. The enemy's headquarters were out towards Culmore; here Maumont, whom James in withdrawing left in command, was encamped: and the besieged did not leave them long in idleness. On the 21st a party under Colonel Murray sallied out, and in the action had the extraordinary good fortune tokill the enemy's commander-in-chief: though Maumont fell by a bullet wound and not, as is related, by Murray's sword. His command devolved on Richard Hamilton. Meanwhile the inhabitants from the wall about Shipquay gate watched this first trial of forces. In the first week of the siege the fighting was chiefly on the north east side ; cannon were planted outside the gate which knocked about the houses, exposed by the rising ground, but did little other damage. On the 5th of May a more serious attempt was made from the west side upon the Windmill Hill which is crowned by Bishop's Gate. Hamilton drew a trench from the bog to the river and established a battery: but on the night of the 6th a sally was made simultaneously from Ferryquay Gate and Bishop's Gate, and the enemy were driven out with loss. It was in this engagement that the flags preserved in the cathedral were taken and an inscription under a window in the south chancel aisle commemorates it. From this onward the besieged held a space about 250 yards wide defended by a trench along the Windmill Hill and outside the walls. On June 4th the whole line of this entrenchment was assaulted and there ensued what is called the Battle of the Windmill Hill. The Irish horse

    224

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 146

39. Columba's Birthstone at Gartan

    Bellville or Gartan · townland · Donegal

    At Gartan, on a slope overlooking the upper lake, a great flagstone is shown where St. Columba's mother, Princess Ethne, made her bed when giving birth. The stone bears dints said to be from her hands and knees, and tradition holds that whoever sleeps on it will never suffer homesickness, prompting many emigrants to America to try the remedy.

    Read the passage

    But at Gartan there are no memories of Columba's diplomatisings and bickerings ; only memories of his sanctity. They show you, on a slope that overlooks the upper lake from the north, a great flagstone where his mother, the Princess Ethne, made her bed when he was born : the dints are in it yet of her hands and knees. Ethne was too great a lady in her day to have had so rough a couch • but the stone is honoured in tradition, and they say that whoever sleeps on it will never know home-sickness. Many a man starting for America has tried the remedy that was to keep him from the torment that people in Ulster call " thinking long " ; but I doubt it has not helped them, The place of real worship is the "station" of St. Columba above the upper lake, Lough Akibbon. There at least you must go : not that there is much to see ; a graveyard on the hillside, carefully walled in, and a tiny chapel that could never have held fifty people, roofless now, and its east window that once showed ornament, blown in lately by a storm. But the day I went there an old woman was on her knees before the ruined altar, and when she had finished her devotions she showed the " good stone " — from which she said Columbkille gave out holy water. It had certainly been hollowed for some sacred use, though likely enough Columba never saw it. But the memory of his name was then as living as the faith that brought this old woman to step aside on her day's errand to kneel at the place he had hallowed. In the graveyard, they told me, Protestants and Catholics alike were buried, where no quarrellings disturb them. They sleep there quiet and wholesome on the green hillside, with the lovely lake below them. In the very centre stands a new and conspicuous monument, ugly enough indeed, but costly. Some one in Wilmington of the United States erected it in memory of his father and mother, natives of that parish. There you have the very spirit of this country. Hard and stubborn as the soil is, ungrateful

    H 2

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 65

40. Cuellar finds refuge at MacClancy's Castle on Lough Melvin

    near Lough Melvin · lake or lakes · Fermanagh · 1588

    After being wrecked, Cuellar met a Latin-speaking priest who directed him to MacClancy's Castle on Lough Melvin. There he found ten other Spaniards and contrived to obtain special favour by telling fortunes to the ladies of the castle, who also understood Latin.

    Read the passage

    Cuellar, having fallen behind the others and lost his way, met a Latin-speaking priest, who directed him to MacClaney's Castle, on Lough Melvin, and after some difficulty he got there and found ten other Spaniards, but contrived to obtain special favour by telling fortunes to the ladies of the castle, who, it would appear, also understood the Latin tongue.

    Cuellar stayed for three months with MacClancy, a refractory chief living in a difficult country, and he has left a curious description of native manners and customs.

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 37

41. Dr. Hastings' wedding fee prank at Kilmacrenan

    Kilmacrenan · town · Donegal

    At Kilmacrenan church, Dr. Hastings stopped a wedding service to demand a half-sovereign fee from a notoriously close-fisted bridegroom. After terrifying the man, Hastings relented on condition the money be spent on a new dress for the bride.

    Read the passage

    places confronting him, and the service began, when suddenly the Doctor stopped and said to the bridegroom, who had a name of being close-fisted, "There's a matter of money you know, that's due to me this day: have you it with you?" This was a fee of half a sovereign which Dr. Hastings never thought of exacting. The bridegroom was confounded. "Sure, your reverence, I never thought to bring it: I'll send it to your reverence the first thing." " Have you it with you ? " said the Doctor. "No, your reverence." "Then," said Dr Hastings with a grave face, " not a one of you will I marry to day ; " and with that he shut the book and walked away towards the vestry. The bridegroom who had the neighbours all invited and the refreshments ready was in a terrible way and clamoured entreaties, but Dr. Hastings walked on regardless. Then, just as he reached the vestry door he turned round. " Well, now," he said, " if I forgive you and marry you to-day, will you promise me one thing?" "Anything, your reverence, anything in the world." "Will you mind now and take the money that's owing to me and buy a new dress for your wife ? " The unfortunate man was only too glad to promise, but Dr. Hastings heaped threats upon him in case he should go back on his word, before he would go on with the service and marry them off. All this was done with the utmost gravity and seriousness, to the wild delight of my friend, who sat chuckling in his pew. But imagine a scene like that in the Church of Ireland to-day !

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 68

42. Killing of District-Inspector Martin at Derrybeg, 1889

    near Derrybeg · town · Donegal · 1889

    On Sunday 2 February 1889, Father Macfadden was arrested by District-Inspector Martin outside Derrybeg chapel after mass. The congregation of Gweedore men attacked the police, and Martin was battered to death by the mob, his skull beaten to a pulp.

    Read the passage

    warrant did not admit of seizing him in his own house. On Sunday, February 2nd, however, Father Macfadden determined to celebrate mass, thinking probably that the authorities would not risk so unpopular a measure as his arrest in the chapel. Five hundred soldiers were at Gweedore. In the Derrybeg school-house, two hundred yards from the chapel, on the ground above the stream to the right, were eighty police under the county inspector. From the east of the chapel a private path leads uphill to the priest's house, and during service District- Inspector Martin was sent down with eight men, to take up a position on this path. Father Macfadden came out of the chapel, still wearing the robes in which he had officiated — not less sacrosanct in the eyes of his congregation than the very elements of the mass themselves. He was immediately arrested by Inspector Martin, and demanded to see the warrant; the congregation of peasants, at least a hundred of these wild Gweedore men, gathered round, and when the sergeant tried to force the priest up the hill, they broke out, tore stakes out of the palings, and attacked the police. The inspector was separated from his men, the sergeant with Father Macfadden was in front, and Mr. Martin managed for some time to keep the crowd at bay with his sword. He shouted to his men to fire, but they were already at hand-grips. Much has been made of the fact that Mr. Martin left his revolver behind, " for fear he should be tempted to use it." It would have been a wiser prudence to bring down an overwhelming force. The whole thing passed so quickly that there was no time for word to go up to the force at the school-house. Mr. Martin, turning for a moment, was struck down from behind. Stones were flying, and Father Macfadden's sister opened the door hurriedly to let him in, and was herself shut out, to see the unfortunate inspector being battered to death by an infuriated mob, who beat his skull literally into a pulp. The crowd drew back from the body when their priest shouted to them from an open window, but the work was done.

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 97

43. Lord George Hill's grain store at Bunbeg

    Bunbeg · town · Donegal · 1846–1847

    Lord George Hill built a grain store at the port of Bunbeg, where the Clady river flows into the sea, to suppress illicit whisky-making by giving people an alternative to distillation. During the famine of 1846–47, Government leased the building as a food depot, keeping the remote population alive.

    Read the passage

    I have quoted this singular document in extenso not only because Lord George vouches for its accuracy, but because it gives a clear picture of what must have existed in the backward parts of Ireland, everywhere that the population relied solely on the potato. A certain number of the features remain constant. Ploughs are still probably scarce because the land is so rocky and fields so small. Scythes are not used, but in those days even the sickle seems to have been absent. Bare feet are still common ; and Donegal is one of the few places where a woman may yet be seen riding pillion behind her man. It is, however, an increasingly rare spectacle. But the whole condition of the peasantry is changed, as any one may see with a glance. Paddy M'Kye's list will be useful to any observer who thinks . them wretched at present. Poor enough they are, Heaven knows ! but Gweedore is a paradise to what Lord George Hill found it. It was even then a notoriously uncivilised district ; to cross the border was accounted an adventure, and to visit a fair in it required an escort. For the change it would be wrong to give the credit wholly to external agencies. The Irish people have been busily improving themselves since the schoolmaster was abroad, and if neither Lord George nor any other benevolent individual had helped, the countryside would still be very different from its misery of fifty or sixty years back. Still, it is at least equally certain that the improvement would have come more slowly but for Lord George ; it is by no means certain that without him it would have reached its present stage. Moreover, one of his early acts was to build a grain store at the port of Bunbeg, where the Clady river flows into the sea. The object of this was to put down the illicit whisky-making which was almost a necessity to the people. By the time they had taken their corn to the nearest market, they were almost obliged to take what they were offered rather than waste a journey of fifty miles ; whereas distillation paid better and was conducted on the spot. There was, per contra, the risk of seizure, which meant heavy

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 89

    As the companion tells it

    As you come through Bunbeg in Donegal, you are passing the port where the Clady river meets the sea. Lord George Hill built a grain store here, and it changed this place twice over. When he first came to Gweedore, it was a notoriously uncivilised district. To cross the border was accounted an adventure, and to visit a fair in it required an escort. The peasantry lived in a misery hard to picture now. Paddy M'Kye's list of their condition gives the measure of it. The people relied on the potato, ploughs were scarce because the land was so rocky and fields so small, scythes were not used and even the sickle seems to have been absent, and bare feet were common. One of Lord George's early acts was to build the grain store at this port. His object was to put down the illicit whisky-making which was almost a necessity to the people. The trouble was this. By the time they had taken their corn to the nearest market, they were almost obliged to take what they were offered rather than waste a journey of fifty miles. Distillation paid better and was conducted on the spot. There was, on the other hand, the risk of seizure, which meant heavy penalties. The store gave them an alternative, a place to bring grain without the long journey. Then in the famine of 1846 to 1847, the Government leased the building as a food depot, and it kept the remote population alive. Gweedore is a paradise to what Lord George Hill found it, and this store at Bunbeg was one of the first things he did.

44. MacSwiney of Fanad's coshering custom

    near Fanad · locality · Donegal · 1587

    Birmingham sailed into Rathmullan because he had learned that Owen Oge of the Battle-axes planned to visit MacSwiney of Fanad, on whom the head of the MacSwineys came to 'cosher'—demanding free quarters for a period as was his right. The visit brought a great retinue of harpers, story-tellers, bards, huntsmen and hawkers.

    Read the passage

    How was Perrott to come by his pledge ? The story is told in the beginning of Mr. Standish O'Grady's vivid narrative The Flight of the Eagle, a book which brings Elizabethan Ireland really to life again ; and from it I must condense my narrative. On May 2nd, 1587, Perrott wrote to Elizabeth and her Council : " For O'Donnell, if it would please her Majesty to appoint me to go thither, I will make him and his Mac- Sweenies deliver in what pledges I list. Otherwise, if it please her Majesty, I could take himself, his wife, who is a great bringer-in of Scots, and perhaps his son Hugh Roe (Red Hugh) by sending them a boat with wines." In plain English, Perrott proposed sending an army to coerce O'Donnell, or as an alternative, a kidnapping expedition ; and Elizabeth promptly decided for the kidnapping. It was found presumably that Hugh Roe was the easier object, and accordingly in September, 1587, a big merchantman sailed up Lough Svvilly, and cast anchor opposite Rathmullen. Her master was George Dudall, but the gentleman who appeared as her owner and announced that he came with a cargo of choice wines, was in reality Captain Birmingham of her Majesty's forces. And the reason why he sailed into Rathmullen was that he had heard of a visit purposed by Owen Oge of the Battle-axes to MacSwiney of Fanad, on whom the head of the MacSwineys came to " cosher " or demand free quarters for a period, according to his right. Birmingham had been trading freely and generously for some days, when in came Owen of the Battle-axes at the head of a great retinue. " Harpers rode there, their sheathed instruments of harmony slung behind their backs, or borne by attendants ; story-tellers to beguile the intervals of feasting and music with fragments of ancient epic, and shed a glamour of the romance of old over the tame familiar facts of the present. There rode Owen Oge's bard, who composed poems in his praise, and the professional rhapsodists who recited them, for the bard proper was a silent man ; he composed, but sung not.

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 118

45. Monks of Assaroe inter a slain O'Brien

    Assaroe · waterfall · Donegal

    The monks of Assaroe found the body of a slain O'Brien descendant of Brian Boru and interred it. The Franciscan friars of Donegal claimed the O'Briens as their own and persuaded Red Hugh O'Donnell to have the body reinterred with them.

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    the plates of his armour, by a ball, and fell into the river. The monks of Assaroe found his body and interred it ; but the Franciscan friars of Donegal insisted that the O'Briens were always buried in their houses, and appealed to have the body lifted and interred with them, which was done by Red Hugh's order; so great was the contention for the bones of a descendant of Brian Boru. Clifford having crossed the Erne marched down the right bank to Assaroe, and on the same day a ship from Galway bringing ordnance for his support put into Inis-saimer, or Fish Island. The troops then took up a position on Mullaghnashee (the hill on which the parish church stands) and planted their guns there. Probably one of the Four Masters saw the scene, so eloquent is his description.

    " On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday they continued to fire, shooting at the castle with heavy loud-sounding fiery balls from the loud-roaring shot-vomiting guns of that heavy and huge ordnance which they planted opposite the fortress. They sent large parties of their choicest soldiers to the castle with wallrazing engines and with thick and strong iron armour about their bodies and bright shining helmets on their heads with a bright 1 testudo ' of round broad hard iron shields around them to protect them from the shot of their enemies. The resolute attack they made upon the fortress, however, was of no avail to them; and it had been better for them that they had not come this journey against it ; for from the castle were poured down upon them showers of brilliant fire from well-planted straightaimed guns and from costly muskets and some rough-headed rocks and massive solid stones and beams and blocks of timber which were kept on the battlements of the fortress in readiness to be hurled down ; so that the coverings of the razing party wTere of no shelter or protection to them and great numbers of them were destroyed, and others who were severely wounded became so exhausted that they delayed not to be further slaughtered, and turning their backs to their enemies they were routed to the camp."

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 23

    As the companion tells it

    Right beside the road here at Assaroe is where the monks found the body of a slain descendant of Brian Boru. He had been hit in the plates of his armour by a ball and fell into the river. The monks of Assaroe took the body and buried it. But the Franciscan friars of Donegal insisted the O'Briens were always buried in their houses, and they appealed to have the body lifted and brought to them. Red Hugh O'Donnell gave the order, and it was done. So great was the contention for the bones of a descendant of Brian Boru. After that, Clifford crossed the Erne and marched down the right bank to Assaroe. On the same day a ship from Galway carrying ordnance for his support put into Inis-saimer, or Fish Island. The troops took up a position on Mullaghnashee, the hill where the parish church stands, and planted their guns there. One of the Four Masters may have seen it himself. He wrote that on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday they continued to fire, shooting at the castle with heavy loud-sounding fiery balls from the loud-roaring guns of that huge ordnance planted opposite the fortress. They sent large parties of their choicest soldiers with wall-razing engines, thick iron armour, bright shining helmets, and a testudo of round broad hard iron shields to protect them. But the attack was of no avail. From the castle poured down showers of brilliant fire from well-placed guns, costly muskets, rough-headed rocks, massive stones, beams and blocks of timber hurled from the battlements. The coverings of the razing party were no shelter. Great numbers were destroyed, others severely wounded, and they turned their backs and were routed to the camp.

46. Shane O'Neill routs the Macdonnells at Ballycastle

    near Ballycastle · town · Antrim · 1565

    In 1565, Shane O'Neill utterly routed the Macdonnells at Ballycastle, capturing both Sorley Boy Macdonnell and James, head of the clan. James died in prison and Sorley became head of the Irish branch of the clan.

    Read the passage

    Sorley is, Anglicised, Charles, but in reality it is an old Gaelic name, and was borne by Sorley's ancestor Somhairle or Somerled, who defended his lands in Argyll so strongly against the Danes in the eighth century. But Sorley Boy in Irish state papers is Carolus Flavus— yellow-haired Charles — and there is no want of mention of him. He was born in 1505 and lived till 1590 — a warrior till well past eighty. When Sorley became Lord of the Route in 1558, there were hard days for the Macdonnells. The English from 1530 onwards had become anxious to drive out these swarms of Scotch-Irish who poured in year by year ; and in Ulster itself there was the redoubtable Shane O'Neill determined to be lord paramount in the north. In 1563 Shane made peace with Elizabeth and turned on the Clandonnell. In 1564 he defeated them in a skirmish at Coleraine, and in 1565 utterly routed them at Ballycastle and took both Sorley and James, head of the clan. Marching northward, he came to Dunluce, which baffled him; but holding Sorley, he held the key of its gates, and swore to starve the chief if he were not given admission. So 6n that day Dunluce was surrendered. James Macdonnell died in prison and Sorley became head of the Irish branch of the clan. In 1567 he was released from captivity by the bloody death of Shane O'Neill, who, being defeated by O'Donnell and hemmed in, turned to the Scots for help but was hacked to pieces at Cushendun. His death left the Macdonnells directly face to face with the English Nevertheless there were not open hostilities at once. Elizabeth recognised Sorley as Lord of the Route and sent him a patent for his estates. But Sorley, receiving the parchment in Dunluce, swore that what had been won by the sword should never be kept by the sheepskin, and burnt the document before his retainers. In 157 1 Walter, Earl of Essex, set out to colonise Ulster, and by way of a lesson in civilisation invited the O'Neill chieftains to a banquet, and treacherously slaughtered them.

    xvi HIS SUBMISSION TO QUEEN ELIZABETH 239

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 158

47. Shane O'Neill's body buried at Glenarm

    near Glenarm · village · Antrim · 1567

    After Shane O'Neill's murder, his body was wrapped 'for lack of a better shroud, in a keene's old shirt' and buried at Glenarm, the home of the Macdonnell chief. The O'Neills sent to beg that he might rest with his own kin, but the abbot of the monastery refused.

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    English for his overthrow. He had thoughts at first of going to the Lord Deputy at Dundalk with a halter round his neck ; but he bethought him of Sorley Boy and offered freedom and friendship to the chief of the Ulster Scots. At Sorley's advice, as it would seem, he arranged to meet Alexander Og Macdonnell, a surviving brother, who with his levies was encamped on the hill slope north-west of Cushendun. Here Shane came bringing Sorley with , him, and whether the Macdonnells meant fairly by him or no it would be hard to say. There were two days' banqueting, and in the revels Shane's secretary made a rash speech. Shane, he said, was of a mind to marry James MacdonnelPs wife, whom he still kept in his power, and the lady was willing. The Macdonnells swore it was a foul lie that their chief's wife would match with the man who had done to death her husband. The secretary, in Shane's own temper, said that the O'Neill was a match good enough for the Queen of Scots herself ; and Shane, on hearing the debate, struck in and spoke to the same purpose with such arrogance that in a minute dirks were out, and, once the work begun, the Scotch hacked to pieces this scourge of their clan. His mangled body was flung into a pit, but a certain wise Englishman of the nearest garrison, hearing of the result, sent to have the head cut off, pickled it, and sent it to the Lord Deputy with a claim for the thousand pounds that had been set upon it. Fitzwilliam wrote, exulting in the consummation, but wishing to God that the traitor's end had been more in accordance with his desert. The daggers, to his thinking, had done their work too quickly ; and all he could do was to hoist the great Shane's head and leave it to blacken — where so many Irish heads had blackened and were still to blacken — over the gate of Dublin Castle. The Macdonnells were more civilised than this English noble in their vengeance. Shane's body, wrapped, " for lack of a better shroud, in a keene's old shirt," was miserably interred at Glenarm, the home of the Macdonnell chief. The O'Neills sent to beg that this great shaker of Ulster might rest with his own kin. But the abbot of the monastery answered, " Have

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 178

48. Shane O'Neill takes Dunseverick but fails at Dunluce

    Dunluce · townland · Antrim · 1565

    After the battle at the Margy River, Shane O'Neill continued along the coast and captured Dunseverick. However, Dunluce Castle proved too strong for him, though he held its master Sorley Boy prisoner and starved him for three days until the garrison surrendered.

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    Signal fires blazed on Torr Head, and James Macdonnell, head of the clan, hastened over from Cantire ; but by the time he landed in Red Bay, just south of Cushendun, Shane had taken his castle in the red sandstone cliff and was on his way towards Ballycastle and the Macdonnell sanctuary at Bonamargy. By the Margy river the whole force of Clandonnell arrayed itself against him. Three Macdonnell brothers went into the fight; one was slain, but James, lord of Cantire and Antrim, and Sorley, lord of the Route, were taken. Shane continued his progress along the coast, took Dunseverick, but Dunluce was too hard for him. Still he had in his hands the master of Dunluce, and for three days Sorley Boy was kept without food till the garrison surrendered sooner than let the chief die of starvation. Shane wrote to the Lord Deputy a glowing eulogy of his own zeal in the Queen's service, which had made him lord absolute in the north-east of Ulster. The Lord Deputy commended him and asked for James and Sorley Macdonnell, but Shane declared that he could not consent to" let so precious hostages out of his sight till he knew the Queen's own pleasure concerning them. So James and his wife and Sorley were shut up in a strong castle near Strabane, where neither Queen nor Deputy could reach them ; and there after a few months James Macdonnell came obscurely by his end. Even after death he remained a captive ; Shane buried him with much pomp and circumstance in the O'Neills' own ground at Armagh. But Sorley was proof against sickness — or it may be against poison — and two years later, when Shane made his fatal hosting into Tyrconnell, Sorley was still a prisoner. So after the day when Hugh O'Donnell met the O'Neills at the fords of Swiily and smote them hip and thigh, Shane, hardly escaping with his life, did not know which way to turn. On the north and north-west were the O'Donnells ; on the south the English ; and on the east the Macdonnells, now leagued with the

    xviii MURDER OF SHANE O'NEILL 275

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 178

49. Cucogry O'Clery dispossessed of Boylagh lands

    Boylagh · barony · Donegal · 1632

    Cucogry O'Clery, a scholar and scribe of the Annals, owned lands in Boylagh recorded at an inquisition at Lifford in 1632. He was stripped of his property for being 'a mere Irishman,' a typical instance of the Ulster confiscations.

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    Cucogry O'Clery was a peaceable scholar who owned certain lands in Boylagh, as was reported before an inquisition taken at Lifford in 1632 ; but " being a mere Irishman and not of English or British descent " he was dispossessed and the lands became forfeited to the king. He had, however, other possessions for which the English had no covetous desire, and his will exists bequeathing " the property most dear to me that I ever possessed in this world, namely my books, to my two sons Dermot and John." The Ulster confiscations have never been justified ; but an attempt is often made to represent them as a banishment of predatory savages to make way for civilised men. The case of this patient scholar and scribe, stripped of his land for being an Irishman, is worthy to be remembered by those who wonder at the slowness of the Irish to be wron over by an occasional grant in aid of some light railway or curing station for fish, and may stand for a typical instance of the process by which the Catholic Irish were converted into a nation of Helots — a status from which they are only gradually and painfully emerging.

    Donegal.

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 22

50. Donegal Castle in the siege of 1601

    Donegal · town · Donegal · 1601

    During the attack on the English garrison at Donegal monastery, O'Donnell's forces faced fire from soldiers positioned in both the monastery and the castle of Donegal, as well as from a ship in the harbour opposite them.

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    pleasantly, for killing and destroying, conflict and shooting, were carried on by each party against the other. The English were reduced to great straits and distress by the long siege in which they were kept by O'Donnell's people; and some of them used to desert to O'Donnell's camp in twos or threes in consequence of the distress and straits they were in from the want of a proper ration of food. Thus they passed the time till the end of September when God willed to take revenge and satisfaction of the English for the profanation and abuse which they had offered to the churches and apartments of the psalmsinging ecclesiastics of the monastery of Donegal and the monastery of Magherabeg in which they were quartered and encamped. The vengeance which God wreaked upon them was this, however it cameto pass : fire fell amongthe powder which had been put in the monastery of Donegal for carrying on the war; so that the boarded apartments and all the stone and wooden buildings of the entire monastery were burned. As soon as the spies and sentinels whom O'Donnell had posted to spy and watch the English perceived the brown-red mass of flames, and the dense cloud of vapour and smoke that rose upon the monastery, they began to discharge their leaden bullets and their fiery flashes in order that O'Donnell might immediately come to them to attack the English, for they thought it would occasion too long a delay to send him messengers. The signal was not slowly responded to by O'Donnell and his army, for they vehemently and rapidly advanced with their utmost speed in troops and squadrons to where their people were at the monastery. Bloody and furious was the attack they made upon the English and their own friends and kinsmen who were there. It was difficult and almost impossible for O'Donnell's people to withstand the fire of the soldiers who were in the monastery and the castle of Donegal and in a ship which was in the harbour opposite to them ; yet, however, O'Donnell's people had the better of it, although many of them were cut off. Con Og, the brother of Nial Garv, fell with three hundred others in that slaughter.

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 33

51. Holy Columbkille's cross taken from Dunluce by Perrot

    Dunluce · townland · Antrim · 1584

    When Sir John Perrot took Dunluce in 1584, he carried away 'Holy Columbkille's cross,' a relic he sent to Burghley as being a god of great veneration to Sorley Boy and all Ulster. The cross was of little monetary value, its jewels probably only rock-crystals, and its fate remains unknown.

    Read the passage

    Two other things of interest should be noted about Dunluce. The wreck of the Gerona at Port-na-Spania has been already recounted. From the wreck Sorley Boy recovered three brass guns, which were promptly claimed by Government. But Sorley refused resolutely to give them up — it must have been nearly his last act — and in 1597, when his son Randal fortified Dunluce it was on this ordnance that he largely relied. Also in 1584, when Sir John Perrot took the place, he carried away among the spoil " Holy Columbkille's cross," a relic which he sent to Burghley as being " a god of great veneration to Sorley Boy and all Ulster," though of little price for its jewels— which probably were only rock-crystals. What became of the cross no one knows ; it may some day be unearthed in some old house.

    The bridge at Dunluce has really no great terrors ; it is fairly wide and the drop is not big. But it is a convenient test of your fitness to go over Carrick-a-rede, for if you feel the least nervousness at Dunluce, the wider a berth you give to Carricka-rede the better. The last thing to be done is either by boat or land to visit the cave, and indeed it is well worth while to do both. On the landward side of the round cliff on which stands the castle, the cave begins in a great hole like the burrow of some gigantic badger ; you go down a dusty and stony path into it, and at the bottom, the salt smell of ocean gathered up in this funnel strikes you suddenly. The cave is a long tunnel not above ten yards across, and narrowing towards the exit a hundred yards away. As you stand by the water's edge — or near it, for this is a thing to be done with discretion, waves being capricious, incalculable things— looking back you see the meeting of two lights, the landward, which comes in pinkish over the stones, and the colder light reflected in from off the sea face. Overhead is a strangely regular roof with a strong resemblance to the groining that one sees in Jacobean work : and on each side springs the arch upon which rock and

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 160

52. Lundy's failed stand at the Finn near Lifford

    Lifford · townland · Donegal · 1689

    In April 1689, Governor Lundy drew out his forces to oppose James's Catholic army at the crossing of the Finn near Lifford. The affair was so badly managed that the Protestants beat a disorderly retreat and James advanced along the left bank of the Foyle.

    Read the passage

    preternatural valour by religious zeal. That is not so. " Town companies''" existed in December, 1688; many of those who came in had seen fighting about Coleraine; and a great number were enrolled for active service by Colonel Lundy, who was sent down early in 1689 to be Governor of the town. It is true that their experience of service under him was not encouraging. In April the Catholic army, with James in person at their head, marched northwards. Lundy drew out his forces to oppose them at the crossing of the Finn near LifTord, but the affair was so managed that the Protestants had to beat a disorderly retreat and James advanced along the left bank of the Foyle. On April 15th English ships with two regiments under Colonel Cunningham and Colonel Richards had entered the Lough. Lundy had refused to employ these men against the advancing enemy, and on his return he called a Council of War, at which he declared that the town was incapable of defence and unprovided with food ; that to throw two regiments into it would therefore merely be a useless sacrifice of them. The officers, being commissioned to take their orders from Lundy, sailed reluctantly down the river. Naturally the town was full of rumours of treachery, though it was not yet generally known that the regiments had been finally withdrawn. Matters came to a crisis on the 1 8th. James marched his army to the strand, not far from where the Great Northern Railway station now is ; and while his army was under the walls, the town clerk insisted on publishing the fact that Cunningham and Richards had been ordered to leave the town with their troops. While the Council was still deliberating, those on the walls fired a cannon at the Irish which, it is said, killed an officer near the king's person. Still emissaries went to and fro ; the deciding incident was the arrival of Captain Adam Murray, with a troop of horse, from Culmore. Fifteen hundred foot were at Pennyburn, a little way beyond the present Lough Swilly railway station. Lundy, hearing of Murray's arrival, ordered him back, but he forced an entrance and immediately assumed the direction of affairs. He broke

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 144

53. Rock of Doon and crutches of healed pilgrims

    Doon · townland · Donegal

    The Rock of Doon is a bold scarped hillock standing conspicuously out from the surrounding moorland, reached by a raised causeway across the bog. On a level green space before the rock stands an array of crutches left by healed cripples, all swathed with rags worn in sickness and bleached by weather into conformity with the grey stones.

    Read the passage

    The road to Doon Well is one of those by-tracks where the cyclist has to remember that he is still a strange beast. Horses — not fiery, untamed steeds, but decent^ quiet animals in the cart or plough — will still shy at him, and that has to be borne in mind, for one's own safety and other people's. After about two miles up and down hill over waste moorland, you will see on the left the Rock of Doon — a bold scarped hillock or bluff, standing conspicuously out from the rest, with a road, or rather a raised causeway, running across the bog to it. Follow that the best way you can ; there is generally a track made by barefoot traffic along the edge of it possible enough for the machine, and you will notice on your left a tossing series of heathery hills and hummocks. Then the road rises, and as you come to the top of the hill look back and you will see a ring-fence of mountains all about you — Lough Salt quite near at hand, then east of him the Knockalla range above Mulroy, all brown and purple with heather ; beyond them again — on the far side of Lough Swilly, which you cannot see — rise the Inishowen Mountains, Slieve Snacht (Snow Peak) the highest. Then set your face west again, and suddenly you round a corner of the Rock of Doon, and there in front of you, on a level green space, is something like a flight of strange birds — tall and leggy herons. That is the array of crutches, left there by the healed cripples, and they are all swathed about with the rags worn in sickness. Wind and rain and sun have wrought upon these unsightly objects till they are cleansed and bleached and softened into a conformity of tint with the grey stones

    VIII

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 70

54. Sir Cahir O'Dogherty's last stand at Doon Rock

    Doon Rock · rock or rocks · Donegal · 1608

    On July 5th 1608, Sir Cahir O'Dogherty made his stand at Doon Rock against Sir Arthur Chichester's forces. He was a conspicuous figure of remarkable height distinguished by a great Spanish hat with nodding plumes, and a bullet in the first volley reached his brain.

    Read the passage

    But Sir Arthur Chichester, the Lord-Deputy, sent out hotfoot after him, and on July 5th one of the divisions advanced by way of Kilmacrenan, and Sir Cahir made his stand by Doon Rock. He was a conspicuous figure, of remarkable height, and distinguished by a great Spanish hat with nodding plumes ; so it is no wonder that a bullet in the first volley reached his brain. His head was cut off, for there was a thousand pounds set on it in Dublin Castle ; and the story is, that the man who got it set out to travel alone with his burden, but slept the night under the roof of an O'Dogherty, who looked into the bundle, recognised the head, and determined at least to keep the profit in the clan. The original captor only reached Dublin in time to ascertain that the price had been paid some hours before. Whoever got the money, the head reached its destination ; Sir Cahir's head was " set on a pole of the East Gate, called New Gate, and his body was quartered between Derry and Culmore." Phelim McDevitt, his chief supporter, was not long after betrayed to the English, who hanged him at LifTord. All this materially assisted the settlement of Ulster ; indeed, it is probable that when Faulet laid his horsewhip on the Irish chief whom Docwra had knighted, he had a shrewd vision of confiscated lands in case of any outbreak. If so, the forecast was a good one, though it happened to benefit, not Paulet, but the Lord-Deputy, Sir Arthur Chichester, to whom the whole peninsula of Inishowen was assigned after Cahir's forfeiture. Such was the last incident of any note in that pacifying of Ireland, a process which is wholly forgotten by those who owe to it their estates, but which the descendants of those who were despoiled remember with a resentment perfectly unintelligible to the winners.

    When leaving Doon Rock, you get back on the main road which you left for the Causeway, keep straight along to the left, and it will take you back to Gartan, but there is a hill on it too steep to ride down. You will sight Gartan lake before

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 74

55. Annals of the Four Masters compiled at Donegal Abbey

    Donegal · town · Donegal · 1632–1636

    The Annals of the Four Masters, one of the greatest Irish chronicles, was compiled from 1632 to 1636 in the O'Donnells' own abbey at Donegal. The work chronicles Irish history year by year from 2242 Anno Mundi to 1616, written as the old Gaelic order was ending.

    Read the passage

    and warlike tribes were merely nations of savages like the Zulus and Afridis. They had analogies with such races in that they existed mainly for war, that they had no settled hereditary succession, and only in a limited sense any security for private property. But the O'Donnells were devout Christians, founders of monasteries, and many of their chiefs retired to make an edifying end in some of the O'Donnell foundations. They were patrons, too, of literature and learning. Not only did they, after the fashion of all Irish chiefs, maintain bards, but there flourished under their guidance a great school of historians. One of the O'Donnells was himself a writer. Manus, the father of Calvagh, a contemporary of Con Bocagh, first Earl of Tyrone, andof the great Shane O'Neill, built a fortress at Lifford, a frontier castle on the highway between Tyrone and Tyrconnell ; built it and lived in it in spite of the O'Neills and their warriors ; and it was not an easy thing to do. But it was in this " gap of danger " that he spent long years in composing the Life of Saint Columba, the great saint of Tyrconnell, by birth, like himself of the blood of Conall Gulban. Above all, however, the greatest of the Irish chronicles was composed under the auspices of the O'Donnells in their own abbey of Donegal. " The Annals of the Four Masters " is a chronicle of events in the history of Ireland, year by year from the year of the world 2242 (b.c. 1762) to a.d. 1616. Its compilation occupied the time from June 22nd 1632 to August 10th 1636.

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 21

    As the companion tells it

    As you come through Donegal, you pass the town where the greatest of the Irish chronicles was written. The Annals of the Four Masters was compiled in the O'Donnells' own abbey here, under their patronage. The O'Donnells were devout Christians, founders of monasteries. Many of their chiefs retired to make an edifying end in one of the O'Donnell foundations. They were patrons of literature and learning. After the fashion of all Irish chiefs, they maintained bards, but under their guidance there flourished a great school of historians. One of the O'Donnells was himself a writer. Manus, the father of Calvagh, a contemporary of Con Bocagh, first Earl of Tyrone, and of the great Shane O'Neill, built a fortress at Lifford, a frontier castle on the highway between Tyrone and Tyrconnell. He built it and lived in it in spite of the O'Neills and their warriors, and it was not an easy thing to do. But it was in this gap of danger that he spent long years composing the Life of Saint Columba, the great saint of Tyrconnell, by birth like himself of the blood of Conall Gulban. The Annals of the Four Masters is a chronicle of events in the history of Ireland, year by year from the year of the world 2242, about 1762 BC, to 1616. Its compilation occupied the time from June 22nd 1632 to August 10th 1636.

56. Casan na gCuradh — the Path of the Heroes

    Assaroe · waterfall · Donegal

    A starving English army attempted to escape across the dangerous ford at Assaroe called Casan na gCuradh, the Path of the Heroes. Many horses, women, and wounded were swept over the fall, though the strong men got across. The ford can still be seen below the bridge over the Erne.

    Read the passage

    Meanwhile the levy of O'Donnell's urraghts, or vassal chiefs, was coming in ; Maguire from Fermanagh; O'Rourke from Brefny ; and the Governor of Connaught's army was hard put to it between O'Donnell's sorties and the attacks from without. Moreover all the fords now were held from Lough Erne to the sea. But starving men will risk much, and the army was starving; so it was decided to attempt the " rough turbulent cold streamed ford over the brink of Assaroe called Casan na-g Curadh " — (the Path of the Heroes) and they advanced unperceived to this. Many of the horses, many of the women and many of the wounded or those weakened by hunger, were swept over the fall ; but the strong men got across. O'Donnell, full of anger that his prize should escape, pursued him, and there was a running fight from the Erne to Carbery ; but the governor got safe away. He was less lucky the next time he met Red Hugh in fight.

    Of the castle there is now no trace, but as you cross the bridge over the Erne you will see the " path of the heroes " below you. Turn to the left and come to the side of Assaroe; an ugly ford it must be to cross in swollen water, and indeed not easy even on a day when the river sparkles and the sandhills are yellow in the sun between you and the blue Atlantic. It would tempt one to a description, but a better man has done it.

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 24

    As the companion tells it

    Right here at the waterfall at Assaroe is the ford called Casan na gCuradh, the Path of the Heroes. A starving English army under the Governor of Connaught tried to escape across it, risking what the book calls the rough turbulent cold streamed ford over the brink of Assaroe. They advanced unperceived, but many horses, many women, and many of the wounded or those weakened by hunger were swept over the fall. The strong men got across. O'Donnell, full of anger that his prize should escape, pursued him, and there was a running fight from the Erne to Carbery, but the governor got safe away. He was less lucky the next time he met Red Hugh in fight. Of the castle there is now no trace, but as you cross the bridge over the Erne you will see the path of the heroes below you. It must be an ugly ford to cross in swollen water, and not easy even on a day when the river sparkles and the sandhills are yellow in the sun between you and the blue Atlantic.

57. Docwra describes the ruined island of Derry

    near Derry · city · Derry · 1600

    When Sir Henry Docwra arrived at Derry in 1600, he found a forty-acre island-like plot of ground containing the ruins of an old abbey, a bishop's house, two churches, and an old castle. The site was encompassed by Lough Foyle on one side and a wet bog on the other.

    Read the passage

    " Leaving Captain Atford at Culmore, with 600 men to make up the works, we went to the Derry, four miles off upon the river side, a place in manner of an island, comprehending within it forty acres of ground, wherein were the ruins of an old abbey, of a bishop's house, of two churches and, at one of the ends of it, of an old castle ; the river called Lough Foyle encompassing it all on one side, and a bog most commonly wet and not easily passable, except in two or three places, dividing it from the mainland."

    In two years a town was there, capable of housing a thousand men, says Docwra, who prided himself greatly on his work. How he was succeeded by Paulet in the governorship, and how Paulet rashly provoked Sir Cahir O'Doherty into revolt, I have already told. In that revolt, during 1609, Derry was for the last time burnt. Probably no town in the kingdom has so often risen from its ashes.

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 141

58. Donegal Friary destroyed by fire on Michaelmas Day

    Donegal · town · Donegal · 1601

    On Michaelmas Day 1601, fire reached gunpowder stored in the monastery of Donegal, burning the boarded apartments and all stone and wooden buildings. O'Donnell's forces attacked but were repelled by soldiers in the monastery, the castle, and a ship in the harbour.

    Read the passage

    pleasantly, for killing and destroying, conflict and shooting, were carried on by each party against the other. The English were reduced to great straits and distress by the long siege in which they were kept by O'Donnell's people; and some of them used to desert to O'Donnell's camp in twos or threes in consequence of the distress and straits they were in from the want of a proper ration of food. Thus they passed the time till the end of September when God willed to take revenge and satisfaction of the English for the profanation and abuse which they had offered to the churches and apartments of the psalmsinging ecclesiastics of the monastery of Donegal and the monastery of Magherabeg in which they were quartered and encamped. The vengeance which God wreaked upon them was this, however it cameto pass : fire fell amongthe powder which had been put in the monastery of Donegal for carrying on the war; so that the boarded apartments and all the stone and wooden buildings of the entire monastery were burned. As soon as the spies and sentinels whom O'Donnell had posted to spy and watch the English perceived the brown-red mass of flames, and the dense cloud of vapour and smoke that rose upon the monastery, they began to discharge their leaden bullets and their fiery flashes in order that O'Donnell might immediately come to them to attack the English, for they thought it would occasion too long a delay to send him messengers. The signal was not slowly responded to by O'Donnell and his army, for they vehemently and rapidly advanced with their utmost speed in troops and squadrons to where their people were at the monastery. Bloody and furious was the attack they made upon the English and their own friends and kinsmen who were there. It was difficult and almost impossible for O'Donnell's people to withstand the fire of the soldiers who were in the monastery and the castle of Donegal and in a ship which was in the harbour opposite to them ; yet, however, O'Donnell's people had the better of it, although many of them were cut off. Con Og, the brother of Nial Garv, fell with three hundred others in that slaughter.

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 33

    As the companion tells it

    You are coming into Donegal town. In the autumn of 1601, this place stood at the centre of a siege. O'Donnell's people had the English pinned down, quartered in the monastery of Donegal and the monastery of Magherabeg. The English were starving, deserting in twos and threes to O'Donnell's camp. The siege dragged on until the end of September, Michaelmas Day, when fire fell among the gunpowder stored in the monastery for carrying on the war. The fire took everything. The boarded apartments burned, and all the stone and wooden buildings of the entire monastery went with them. O'Donnell had posted spies and sentinels to watch the English. When they saw the brown-red mass of flames and the dense cloud of smoke rising over the monastery, they did not send messengers. They fired their leaden bullets and their fiery flashes into the air, signalling O'Donnell to come at once. He did not wait. O'Donnell and his army advanced rapidly, in troops and squadrons, to where their people stood at the monastery. The attack was bloody and furious, directed at the English and at their own friends and kinsmen who were there. It was hard for O'Donnell's people to withstand the fire coming from the soldiers in the monastery, the castle of Donegal, and a ship in the harbour opposite them. Still, O'Donnell's people had the better of it, though many were cut off. Con Og, the brother of Nial Garv, fell with 300 others in that slaughter.

59. Electric tramway to Giant's Causeway: fatal accidents and fraud

    near Portrush · town · Antrim

    An electric tramway runs from Portrush to the Giant's Causeway along the road, with an exposed live rail said to have caused fatal accidents to man and beast. Locals were accused of placing dying animals against the rail to extract compensation from the company.

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    A little rise brings you to the brow above Portrush and you run down into that prosperous little haven on this very harbourless coast. Golf has done Portrush a good turn, for the links there are accounted, on the whole, the best in Ireland, and very pretty links they are, even for a sane man or woman to travel over. For the golfer, it seems, they are a paradise — but a paradise which contains a Purgatory — that is the name they give to one famous bunker which, upon a day of golfing, is full of gnashing of teeth. Outside the links, close in to the pleasantlooking beach, lie the Skerries, a range of rocky islets ; and along the road which passes the links runs the electric tramway to the Giant's Causeway, a way paved with contention. The low rail along which runs the electric current — conveyed to the machinery of the cars by a contact with brushes which rub its surface — is exposed by the roadside : and according to the neighbourhood has been the cause of fatal accidents to man and beast. According to the supporters of the company, it was the practice of the natives if they possessed a horse or cow in articulo mortis, to take it and place it leaning against the electric rail ; not in hope to galvanise the moribund, but in order that it might die there and compensation be exacted from the company. On which side the truth lay I have never discovered, but in the meanwhile it will be just as well not to sit on this rail.

    You will follow the line of this tramway from Portrush — and at the time when I travelled the road a very bad line I found it — and sweeping round the point you come in full view of the White Rocks and Dunluce. The White Rocks are a range of chalk cliffs ranging from fifty to a hundred and fifty feet in height in a semicircle around the bay : in front of them is the bright sand with its border of breaking waves, which on most

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 155

60. Murder of Lord Leitrim near Cratlagh wood, 1878

    Cratlagh · townland · Donegal · 1878

    The third Earl of Leitrim was murdered in April 1878 at a spot about 200 yards from the road between Rosapenna and Bunlinn Glen, near Cratlagh wood along the shore of Mulroy Bay. He was a tyrannical landlord who had abolished rundale tenure and evicted tenants who asserted any rights.

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    It is an easy climb to the top of this. The view is one of the most beautiful in Ireland. You have under you Sheephaven, lying like a map, with the huge gable end of Muckish rising up beyond it. To the west is Horn Head and the battlemented outline of Tory, while on the other side of the Rossgull peninsula you are able to track out all the devious mazes and windings of that extraordinary piece of water, Mulroy Bay, which enters by a narrow inlet and spreads out like a fan, and not content with that sends out a great backwater up towards Fanad through another narrow gut, and to finish everything sprinkles the whole of its surface with rocks and islands, so that to know and navigate its tides and channels is a proof of very exceptional seamanship. But you will see Mulroy in all its extent when you start on your next stage to Portsalon. The shortest way, if you like to take it, involves two ferries across two channels of this bewildering lough, but I would certainly have you ride down to Bunlinn Glen at the very foot of Mulroy. It is about ten miles to the lower end of Mulroy from the hotel. The road takes you straight out over the hill past Lady Leitrim's house until you strike the side of the main body of the lake. Thence it winds along, prettily enough, a long heathery slope with steep hills to the right and the lough and its islands lying on the left, and beyond the water the Knockalla mountains rising jagged and fantastic. Presently you come in sight of the first fringe of Cratlagh wood, which runs mostly between the road and the lake for about three miles from Bunlinn, and you are in sight of the scene of a very tragic and bloody episode in which wood and lough had to play their part. About 200 yards from you is the place where the third Lord Leitrim was murdered in 1878.

    The third Earl of Leitrim had served in the army, rising to be a colonel, before he succeeded his father in the title. He was a man by no means wholly bad and possessed qualities which might, under happier circumstances, have made him famous — absolute courage and a perfectly indom-

    Internet Archive highwaysbywaysin00gwyn_0, Chapter 109

    As the companion tells it

    Somewhere around here, close to Cratlagh, you are near the scene of a bloody episode. In 1878 the third Earl of Leitrim was murdered near Cratlagh wood along the shore of Mulroy Bay. He had served in the army, rising to colonel, before he succeeded his father in the title. The book says he was a man by no means wholly bad, and possessed qualities that might under happier circumstances have made him famous. He had, in the book's words, "absolute courage and a perfectly indomitable will." But he was a tyrannical landlord. He had abolished rundale tenure on his estates and evicted tenants who asserted any rights of their own against his. The road past here goes over the hill past Lady Leitrim's house until it reaches the side of Mulroy Bay. Then it winds along a long heathery slope with steep hills on one side and the lough and its islands on the other. Cratlagh wood runs between the road and the lake for about three miles from Bunlinn. Mulroy Bay is an extraordinary piece of water. It enters by a narrow inlet, spreads out like a fan, sends a great backwater up towards Fanad through another narrow gut, and sprinkles its whole surface with rocks and islands. To know and navigate its tides and channels was a proof of exceptional seamanship.