Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 41.djvu/444

 sage into Lower Connaught, over which he was determined, when strong enough, to exercise the ancient rights of his clan. Hugh Maguire was drawn into the alliance, and, at O'Donnell's instigation, he in June attacked and defeated Sir Richard Bingham at Tulsk, co. Roscommon. When preparations were made to punish Maguire, O'Donnell, instead of closing the fords of the Erne against him, allowed his cattle to find refuge in Tyrconnel; and, as Bingham was credibly informed, spent four days in his company, arranging a plan of defence. ‘As for O'Donnell,’ remarks his biographer, ‘it was a great affliction of mind and soul to him that the English should go back as they had done. But yet, as they did not attack him, he did not attack them, on account of the unprepared state in which he was, and he left a large body of his people at the aforesaid ford, which he gave for Maguire's protection, though he withdrew himself by command of O'Neill, for there were messages between them secretly, without the knowledge of the English.’ But after the capture of Enniskillen early in 1594 he refused to be bound any longer by Tyrone's Fabian tactics, and in June sat down before the castle, vowing not to leave the siege before he had eaten the last cow in his country. News of the arrival of a body of Scottish mercenaries under Donald Gorme MacDonnell and m'Leod of Arran compelled him to go to Derry, but he left the main body of his army under Maguire. During his absence Sir Henry Duke and the garrison of Philipstown made an attempt to relieve Enniskillen, but they were defeated by Maguire with great loss at the battle of ‘the ford of the biscuits.’ The castle was subsequently relieved by Sir William Russell [q. v.], but in May 1595 was recaptured by Maguire.

On his return to Tyrconnel, O'Donnell, in order to throw dust in the deputy's eyes, offered to submit; but the following year, 1595, opened with a marauding expedition into Connaught, in which, it is said by his biographer, O'Donnell ‘spared no one over fifteen years of age who could not speak Irish.’ In April he invaded the Annaly, in conjunction with Maguire and Tyrone's brother, Cormac MacBaron O'Neill, and captured the castle of Longford, the constable, Christopher Brown, who was held to ransom at 120l., his wife, and two thousand head of cattle. The governor of Sligo, George Bingham the younger, retaliated by destroying the Carmelite monastery at Rathmullen, and plundering Tory Island. But on his return he was murdered by Ulick Burke, a cousin of the Earl of Clanricarde, who handed the castle over to O'Donnell. The possession of Sligo was a great acquisition, and laid Connaught at his feet. In August m'Leod of Arran returned with a contingent of Scottish mercenaries, and O'Donnell again invaded Connaught. He successfully withstood a determined attempt on the part of Sir Richard Bingham to recover Sligo Castle, and, in order that it should not fall into Bingham's hands, he destroyed it, together with thirteen other fortresses. He was now practically master of Connaught, and, having interfered to prevent the Burkes submitting to Sir William Russell, he set up a MacWilliam, a MacDermot, and an O'Conor Sligo of his own. Having some time previously repudiated his wife, the daughter of the Earl of Tyrone, he was anxious, probably for political reasons, to contract an alliance with the Lady Margaret Burke, daughter of the Earl of Clanricarde, and, in order to avoid her forcible abduction, the young lady was placed under the protection of a merchant of Galway.

Towards the close of the year O'Donnell and Tyrone consented to an armistice, and in the beginning of 1596 commissioners Wallop and Gardiner were sent to Dundalk to treat for peace. But O'Donnell, though he agreed to go to the Narrow Acre, flatly refused to enter Dundalk, and the commissioners were fain to treat in the open fields a mile outside the town. Liberty of conscience, pardon for himself and his followers, recognition of his claims in Lower Connaught and Inishowen, and exemption from the jurisdiction of a sheriff, were the only terms on which he would treat, and these not being granted he returned home, strongly urging Tyrone to put an end to the cessation. He was confirmed in his determination by the arrival shortly afterwards of a messenger from Spain, bearing a letter to Tyrone. There can be no question as to the nature of the reply sent by O'Donnell, Tyrone, O'Rourke, and the other chiefs, for their letters are extant (, p. lxxviii), but at the time they were successful in deluding the government with their professions of loyalty. Assured of the favour of Philip II, O'Donnell's great object was to postpone an open rupture till the autumn, when assistance from Spain was expected, and to establish his authority in Connaught on a firm basis. With this object, he and Tyrone proffered their assistance to Sir John Norris [q. v.] for the purpose of restoring order in Connaught, and in June O'Donnell actually went thither for the avowed purpose of inducing O'Rourke (Brian Oge) and MacWilliam (Theobald Burke) to submit. Nothing, of course, came of his intervention, and Norris, whose belief in