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Stephen Dunford: The Journey of The IrIsh
Farewell Elizabeth my gracious Queen, God Bless thee with thy Council all, Farewell my knights of chivalry Farewell my soldiers stout and tall Farewell the Commons great and small, Into the hands of men I light,
My life shall make anemds for all,
For Essex bids the world good-night.
(Old Ballad-‘For Essex Bids the World Good-Night’)
In 1600, O’Neill, “the arch-traitor,” as Elizabeth, called him, made what can only be desrcibed as ‘a royal progress’ through Ireland ‘to confirm his friendship with his allies and to wreak vengeance on his enemies,’ it was said. He marched at the head of three thousand men by way of Westmeath and Tiperary to Cork, where for about three weeks he remained in the neighbourhood of Inniscarra, near Bandon, and was visited by several of the south- ern chiefs, all of whom swore homage to him. He had now arrived, as one contemporary commentator said ‘at the zenith of his power.’
The Earl of Essex was succeeded as Viceroy by a man who was to attempt a less ortho- dox but more obdurate and effective style of warfare than that already practiced against O’Neill. In 1600, the very experienced soldier, Charles Blount, or to give him his royal title, Lord Mountjoy, landed in Ireland with two thousand men and two hundred cavalry, led by his chosen commander, Henry Dockwra, and in his own words, “set about making war with the spade rather than the sword.” Almost upon arrival, Mountjoy, ably supported by Sir George Carew, President of Munster, posted strong garrisons in most of the commanding positions throughout the country, and issued orders for the systematic destruction of every- thing that could afford the rebels any means of subsistence.
The military destroyed the harvest and slaughtered the livestock, set fire to homesteads and reduced entire districts to famine; furthermore, they offered bribes of money, titles, par- don, and land, to any of O’Neill’s adherents willing to desert him. In fact Carew went as far as to offer £1,000 reward for the capture of James Desmond, the Sugán Earl, who was even- tually betrayed by his kinsman, Edmund Fitzgibbon, known in history as The White Knight. Ironically, the White Knights were known for their loyalty and referred to as ‘the right arm
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