Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 41.djvu/329

O'Brien proceedings are given by Bellings (, Confederation and War, iv. 19). Broghill opposed Inchiquin, but Admiral Crowther took his part, and Lisle was not sorry to get away on any terms. Inchiquin remained 'in entire possession of the command, and in greater reputation than he was before' (, Hist. bk. xi. § 2). He reported to parliament in person on 7 May, and received the thanks of the House of Commons (, p. 246).

Inchiquin now proceeded to reconquer the districts which Castlehaven had overrun. Cappoquin and Dromana, against which he had cherished designs since 1642 (Lismore Papers, v. lll), were easily taken. There was a little fighting at Dungarvan, and twenty English redcoats, who had deserted to the Irish, were hanged; but on the whole Inchiquin's men thought him too lenient (, vi. 486). This was early in May, and he took the field again at midsummer. On 12 Aug. he reported to Lenthall that he had taken many castles and vast quantities of cattle. A detachment crossed the Shannon, and Bunratty was burned by its garrison, though it had taken the confederate catholics much pains to win. 'We stormed and burned the abbey of Adare, held by the rebels, where four friars were burned and three took prisoners' (ib. vii. 788). On 12 Sept. he attacked the rock of Cashel, the strong position of which had tempted many persons of both sexes to take refuge upon it, with their valuables. Failing to make a breach with his guns, Inchiquin piled up turf against the wall of the enclosure and set fire to it. It was the dry season, and the heat disabled the defenders, who were crowded within a narrow space. The rock was carried by assault, and no quarter was given to any one. About thirty priests and friars were among the slain. According to Ludlow (Memoirs, i. 92) three thousand were slaughtered, 'the priests being taken even from under the altar.' According to Father Sail, who was a native of Cashel,  Inchiquin donned the archiepiscopal mitre (, Cromwell in Ireland, App. p. 5).

At the beginning of November, fearing a juncture between the Munster chief and the victorious Michael Jones [q. v.], the confederate catholics sent Taafe into the county of Cork with six thousand foot and twelve hundred horse. Inchiquin at once returned from Tipperary, leaving a garrison in Cahir, and came up with the invader at the hill of Knocknanuss, about three miles east of Kanturk. In a curious letter (, Confed. of Kilkenny, p. 202) he offered to forego all advantage of ground, trusting to the goodness of his cause, and to fight in the open, although his force was inferior. No answer was given, and Inchiquin attacked with complete success on 13 November. Taafe lost two-thirds of his men and nearly all his arms, while the victor had only about 150 killed. Inchiquin received the thanks of parliament, and was voted 1,000l. to buy horses; but he was already distrusted (, vii. 800, 916; Confederation and War, vii. 350;, p. 335; Warr of Ireland, p. 72).

For a time Inchiquin was master of the south of Ireland, and no one dared meet him in the field. At the beginning of February 1647-8 he took Carrick with a small force, threatened Waterford, and levied contributions to the walls of Kilkenny (, pp. 367-73). He returned to Cork at the end of the month, and persuaded his officers to sign a remonstrance to the House of Commons as to its neglect of the Munster army (, vii. 1041). This was received 27 March, and it was at first decided to send three members to confer with the discontented general; but on 14 April came news that he had actually declared for the king(ib. vii. 1060 ;, p. 380). The three members were recalled, all commissions made to Inchiquin revoked, and officers and soldiers forbidden to obey him. He managed to keep his army together, while insisting on the necessity for Ormonde's return to Ireland, and even sent an officer to Edinburgh with a proposal for joining the Scots with six thousand men (Thurloe State Papers, i. 93). Cork, Kinsale, Youghal, Baltimore, Castlehaven, Crookhaven, and Dungarvan were in his hands, and he so fortified these harbours that no parliamentary ship could anchor in any one of them (, letter 575). In spite of Rinuccini, he concluded a truce with the confederate catholics on 22 May, and Ormonde converted this into a peace in the following January. Owen Roe O'Neill [q. v.] advanced in July as far as Nenagh, his object being to reach Kerry, whose mountains were suited to his peculiar tactics, and whose unguarded inlets would give him the means of communicating with the continent; but Inchiquin, whose operations are detailed by Sellings (Confederation and War, vol. vi.), forced him back to Ulster. Ormonde, who was still the legal lord-lieutenant, landed at Cork on 30 Sept., and he and Inchiquin thenceforth worked together, Clanricarde and Preston siding with them as against the nuncio and the hated Ulster general.

The Munster army had been buoyed up with the hopes of pay at Ormonde's arrival, but he had only thirty pistoles, and some of