Battle of Glentasie

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Glentasie
partof=the Clan war between O'Neills and MacDonnells


caption=
result=O'Neill victory
date=2 May, 1565
place= near Ballycastle, Ulster, northern Ireland
combatant1=O'Neills of Tyrone
combatant2=Clan MacDonnell of Antrim
Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg
commander1=Shane O'Neill
commander2=Sorley Boy MacDonnell
strength1=?
strength2=?
casualties1=?
casualties2=c. 3-400 killedThe Battle of Glentasie, fought in the north of Ulster on 2 May 1565, was a victory for Shane O'Neill over the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg, sometimes known as Clan Iain Mor. It forms part of a complex political and military struggle, involving the English and occasionally the Scots, for control of northern Ireland. Although the MacDonalds were a Scottish family, based principally on the island of Islay in the Hebrides, they had long been part of a Gaelic polity in the western sea board that had little to do in any direct sense with the kingdom of Scotland as such.

Clan Iain Mor

In about 1399 Iain - or John - Mor, a younger son of John MacDonald of Islay, Lord of the Isles, married Marjory Bisset, an Irish heiress with extensive lands in the Glens of Antrim. Iain was the heir to lands around Dunyveg Castle in southern Islay, a short distance from Antrim by sea. The location of his inheritance by marriage was to be of some considerable importance. Because it was only a few short sea miles from Islay, the centre of Clan Donald power, a new territorial block could be constructed, in a way that could not if Marjory's inheritance had been in distant Leinster. From this time onwards the chiefs of Dunyveg united their Irish and Scottish lands as Clan Iain Mor, a branch of the wider MacDonald federation.

Until at least the end of the Lordship of the Isles in 1493 the Glens was little more than a personal holding of the chiefs of Dunyveg, whose tenants were mostly native Irish families. However, from about 1500 onwards people from the Western Isles began to settle in the Glens. By the middle of the century the MacDonnells, as they are usually known in Ireland, were fully established as a permanent feature in a bewilderingly complex game of international politics played out between them, the Scots, the English and the native Irish.

England probably had very little interest in Iain Mor's original acquisition of the Bisset inheritance, for Ulster at that time was too far beyond its control. This changed during the reign of Henry VIII, when Tudor power began to press north of Dublin. With the tacit approval of James V, Alexander MacDonald, the fifth chief of Dunyveg, crossed the North Channel in 1532 with 8000 of his clansmen, intending to push his family's power westwards into Tyrconnell and Connacht. The Council in Dublin was so alarmed by this development that it wrote to the king, warning that;

"The Scottes also inhabite now buyselley a great part of Ulster, which is the King's inheritance; and it is greatlie to be feared, oonles thatin a short tyme they be dryven from the same that they, bringinge in more nombre daily, woll, by lyttle and lyttle soe far encroche in acquyringe and wynninge the possessions there, with the aid of the kingis disobeysant Irishe rebelles...that at lengthe they will put and expel the King from his hole seignory there."

Alexander's growing power was based on the simple fact that he was able to ferry troops across the North Channel from Islay and Kintyre at very little notice, responding to each situation as it developed. The English gave the name 'redshank' to these warriors from the Isles. Although similar to their "galloglaich" ancestors, the redshanks did not tend to settle in Ireland, remaining only for the campaigning season before returning to their homes in the Isles. They were to be a regular feature of warfare in Ulster until the end of the century.

omerled the Fair

By the time of Alexander's death in 1539 Clan Iain Mor was established in a crucial strategic position, dominating both sides of the North Channel. The main inheritance passed to Alexander's older son, James. Apart from James, Alexander had five other sons all to be closely involved in the politics of Ulster; but none more so than his youngest, to whom he gave the name Somhairlle. Known in Gaelic as Somhairle Buidehe-Somerled the Fair-he is more widely known as Sorley Boy.

Although the circumstances are not clear, it seems that Sorley was taken prisoner by the English in 1550, in what was probably yet another attempt to clear his family from the Glens. He was held for about a year in Dublin Castle. Not long after his return he led an attack on the English base at Carrickfergus Castle. Walter Floddy, the constable, was taken prisoner, and only released after a heavy ransom was paid. It was reported at the time that Sorley was saying that the "Inglische men had no ryght to Yrland." He was also taking a serious interest in the Route, an area to the west of the Glens occupied by the MacQuillins, an Irish family. Colla, Sorley's older brother, had married Eveleen MacQuillin in early 1552, although the 'alliance' with her family was far from amicable, only serving to stimulate MacDonnell interest in the lands still further.

For the English things went from bad to worse after the Carrickfergus raid. Among other things the policy of seeking accommodation with the old Irish chiefs, initiated by Henry VIII, was unravelling. They had hoped that the Earl of Tyrone would eventually be succeeded by his bastard son, Matthew O'Neill, Baron Dungannon. Instead it was his half-brother, Shane, Tyrone's legitimate son, who began to prevail in the internecine struggle that enveloped the O'Neills. Shane, one of the great figures of Gaelic Ireland, was far less compliant than his father and brother, and was soon, like Sorley, a serious threat to English interests in Ulster.

Captain of the Route

Bit by bit the Macdonnells swallowed up the territory of the MacQuillins, completing the takeover by 1555. About this time Colla was appointed as 'Captain of the Route' by his older brother, James of Dunyveg. For the English this was another worrying development, and successive attempts were made by Thomas Radclyffe, Earl of Sussex, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, to remove them. He offered protection to Edward MacQuillin of the Route, ejected from his home by his rapacious neighbours, but this was only good for as long as the English army was present. Colla remained in firm control until his death in May 1558. James then offered the Captaincy to his brothers Alasdair and Angus in turn. Both refused. This was a difficult frontier posting, subject to hostility from the English and risings from the displaced MacQuillins. The honour was then offered to Sorley, who accepted. This change of leadership was the cue for a full-scale offensive by Edward MacQuillin. With his allies and kin he rose in revolt, only to be defeated by Sorley on 13 July 1559 at the Battle of Slieve-an-Aura. Edward was killed in what was to be the last serious MacQuillin challenge to MacDonnell power in the Route.

Despite the success at Slieve-an-Aura, Clan Iain Mor was in a dangerous political position. Both the English and Shane O'Neill, looking at things from their own perspective, considered them to be outsiders. For the English they were Scots, and thus subjects of a foreign prince; for Shane they were rivals in his plans to dominate Ulster. Only for as long as the Dublin authorities and Shane were enemies could Clan Iain Mor be safe in the complex dance of Irish politics. But in the 1560s this enmity was temporarily set aside, with disastrous consequences for the MacDonnells. Both the English and Shane had attempted to make use of Clan Iain Mor; finally tiring of their neutrality, they combined to destroy them.

hane's War

In September 1563 Shane signed the Peace of Drum Cru, coming to terms with the English. In return for his co-operation against the MacDonnells, Elizabeth I was even prepared to recognise Shane as 'The O'Neill', completely reversing the policy of her father of turning Gaelic lordships into earldoms. This was dangerously short-sighted; for if Shane prevailed he was likely to prove an even greater threat to English interests than Sorley or James.

Shane was now ready to take action against his former allies in the Gaelic world. By the spring of 1565 he was poised to make a final push, having taken some preparatory steps the previous autumn. Not expecting an early assault James had retired to Kintyre, leaving Sorley to keep an eye on Shane's movements. Shane acted at just the right time: the traditional campaigning season had not yet begun, so most of Sorley's redshanks were back in Scotland. Outnumbering his enemy by a factor of two to one, Shane advanced to the border of Clandeboy in late April, taking Sorley by complete surprise. Realising he faced something more serious than a raid, Sorley retreated north to organise his defences. Shane's wave then moved irresistibly forward. Sorley tried to stop it at Knockboy Pass, a strategic point that guarded the southern entry into both the Glens and the Route; but against sheer force of numbers it was a futile stand. Now in a desperate situation, Sorley ordered the signal fires be lit along the northern Antrim coast to alert his brother James, while he retreated with his remaining force towards Ballycastle. Shane continued the advance.

Glentasie

James, like Sorley, was not prepared for this crisis. Although he reacted quickly to the fires of Antrim he sailed with only such force as he could gather, leaving Alasdair Oge, his other brother, to follow on with reinforcements. Sorley and James finally combined their forces on 1 May, as Shane moved north from Red Bay Castle, a MacDonnell stronghold now in flames. The best strategy for the MacDonnell chiefs would have been to hold the vital port of Ballycastle, now the only point at which Alisdair Oge's anxiously awaited redshanks could land. However, there were clear dangers in being caught here with an inferior force between the Glens and the sea; and besides, Highland troops never fought at their best from a defensive position. To allow freedom of movement, Sorley and James moved south-west of Ballycastle into the valley of the River Tow, a place called Glentasie. It was here the brothers prepared to make a stand, clearly hoping to draw Shane on and thus allow Alasdair Oge to make an unopposed landing. Tragically for them, Alasdair was too late.

The Battle of Glentasie began early in the morning of 2 May 1565. Few details have survived; but it almost certainly resembled John Moidertach's clash with the Frasers at the Battle of Kinloch-Lochy. After an initial discharge of bows and arrows the two sides closed in a vicious hand-to-hand encounter, which lasted most of the day. Heavily outnumbered, the MacDonnells fought with great courage, before giving way to the pressure of their enemy. In all some 300 to 400 men of Clan Iain Mor were killed, including Angus Uaibhreach, the brother of James and Sorley. James himself was severely wounded and captured. Sorley also fell captive to the great O'Neill. Alasdair Oge arrived after the battle with 1000 redshanks, but with the situation now beyond recall he retreated back to the Isles.

Glentasie was the most severe defeat ever suffered by Clan Iain Mor, and could possibly have led to their total disappearance from Ireland. But Shane acted with uncharacteristic moderation, breaking his promise to Elizabeth to kill and expel all of the Scots. He simply improved his strategic position by seizing MacDonnell strongholds along the coast, including Dunluce Castle, thus preventing Alasdair Oge seeking revenge in the near future. As for the captives, James was taken to the dungeons of Castle Corcra in Tyrone, while Sorley accompanied Shane on his continuing campaigns. James lingered on in captivity for some months before dying of his wounds. His passing was recorded in the Irish annals:

"His death was very much lamented; he was a man distinguished for hospitality, feats of arms, liberality, conviviality, generosity, and the bestowal of gifts. There was not his equal among the Clan Donnell of Ireland or of Scotland at that time."

hane's Death

Soon after the victory at Glentasie Shane threw off his pretended allegiance to Elizabeth. After Sir Henry Sidney arrived in Ireland as the new Lord Deputy in January 1566 he sought to draw Clan Iain into an alliance against the rebel Shane. This demonstrated the complete failure of English policy in Ulster; for they were now back exactly where they had been some six years before, when Sussex was seeking an alliance with the MacDonnells. Beyond the temporary eclipse of Clan Iain, the treaty with Shane had achieved precisely nothing. The problem for the English lay in the simple facts of geography: Islay and Kintyre were far closer to Ulster than Dublin or London. There could, therefore be no solution to the problem in the north of Ireland without some kind of accommodation with Clan Donald.

Little by little the noose closed around Shane. Under pressure from Alasdair Oge in the east, he was defeated by his western Gaelic rivals the O'Donnells at the Battle of Farsetmore in Many 1567. This reverse, quite as severe as that suffered by the MacDonnells at Glentasie, brought Shane close to ruin. Having alienated almost everybody, he began to look for allies. Sorley had now been his captive for two years, and was the only ace left in the hand of the beleaguered chief. Using him as an intermediary, Shane arranged to meet Alasdair Oge at Cushendun on the Antrim coast. His small party, Sorley included, rode to Cushendun in late May, where they were greeted not just by Alasdair but by a large force of MacDonnell redshanks. Several days negotiation followed with no apparent conclusion. Finally, on 2 June, the MacDonnells cut Shane to pieces, supposedly in the course of a drunken quarrel.

The circumstances surrounding the death of Shane O'Neill are shrouded in obscurity. In these days when conspiracy theories take precedence over notions of family honour, it has become fashionable to see it as part of a carefully laid plot involving the English, instead of a simple revenge killing. The evidence, however, is not conclusive. It does not appear the act was premeditated; for if Alasdair had murder in his heart he could have dispatched the virtually defenceless Shane as soon as he entered his camp. There is little doubt, however, that the MacDonnells had no love for Shane. Once it was clear that he had almost nothing to offer them by way of political advantage, he was of no further use. His death would clearly be welcome to the English, who then might be inclined to make the territorial concessions demanded by Clan Iain Mor. Shane, in short, was of greater service dead than alive. Set against these simple facts there is really no need for secret agreements or hot Celtic passions.

References

* Brady, C., "The Killing of Shane O'Neill: Some new Evidence," in Irish Sword, vol. 15, 1982-3.
* Breathnach, C., "The Murder of Shane O'Neill", in Eriu vol. 53 1992.
* Hill, G., "Shane O'Neill's Expedition against the Antrim Scots, 1565", in The Ulster Journal of Archaeology, vol. 9, 1861.
* Hill, G., "An Historical Account of the MacDonnells of Antrim", 1873.
* Hill, J. M., "Shane O'Neill's Campaign against the Macdonnells of Antrim, 1564-5," in Irish Sword. vol. 18, 1991.
* Hill, J. M., "Fire and Sword. Sorley Boy MacDonnell and the Rise of Clan Iain Mor", 1993.
* Webb, M.," The Clan MacQuillin of Antrim", in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology, vol. 8, 1860.

Irish battles