Last Charge of the Galloglaich-The Battle of Curlew Pass 1599

 

  
In the late summer of 1599, the Earl of Essex despatched Sir Conyers Clifford with a force of 1,500 foot and 25O Horse to break the siege of Collooney Castle.  The mission was of political as well as military significance. 

The occupant of the castle, Sir Donogh O’Connor was one of the few Irish lords (he was O’Connor Sligo) who had declared for the English Crown.  Currently he was surrounded by about 2,000 of O’Donnell’s Irish soldiers.  A failure to come to his aid would derail English diplomacy in Ireland.  As Lord Deputy Essex could not let that happen.  The force he sent emphasised the importance of the operation.  There were six troops of Horse under the command of Sir Griffin Markham and 17 or 18 companies of foot depending on how up to strength you estimate them to have been. 

 

Sir Conyers Clifford was reckoned to be a capable commander. He was also a courageous man.  Although the Earl of Essex supposedly once cautioned him against rashness.

Sir Alexander Radcliffe who commanded the Van was a competent soldier. Markham was a brave cavalry commander. Clifford was not entirely fortunate in his more junior officers.  Henry Cosby was a man of poor military judgement.  Harrington only survived the investigation in to English defeat at Glenmalure by virtue of political connections and through scapegoating the dead. He still served but could not be trusted with a command.

From a strategic military perspective Clifford’s expedition was to succour O’Connor and then drive O’Donnell out of the Province of Connacht.  These objectives accomplished he would assail the Gaelic bastion of Ulster from the south west.  Essex would then march north from the south east.

Aodh Ruadh O’Donnell Lord of Tirconnell and would be overlord of Connacht would bring these plans to nothing.  He had with him his own soldiers of the New Irish Army, his Redshanks including the picked men of his mother’s body guard.  These were joined by Sir Donnogh O’Connor’s domestic opponents Brian Og O’Rourke and Connor MacDermott who brought their supporters.  Amongst the latter Kern with sword and dart could be found and two companies of Brenny O’Rourke Galloglaich. 

The coming battle would see a Galloglaich charge that swept their enemy from the field. It was perhaps the last time they did so.

Unlike Clifford, O’Donnell’s officers were all tried and tested soldiers who knew their work well. His fearsome cousin Niall Garbh O’Donnell stayed investing Colooney castle with 300 men.  Another 600 were sent to occupy Sligo town to prevent any English reinforcements landing.  Of necessity those men must have been Irish shot. The rest marched to meet Clifford’s advance.

O’Donnell then was about to give battle at a numerical disadvantage especially in terms of modern infantry.  He set about to redress the balance.

It was necessary for Clifford’s army to traverse the Curlew pass.  Clifford knew that would be a dangerous undertaking.  He had received intelligence that the pass was unoccupied.  We must recall here that Clifford was not without supporters among the local Irish adherents of O’Connor Sligo.  He presumably trusted his informant. Indeed, his informant may have told the truth at the time of telling.  Clifford decided to take a chance.  He had pushed his men hard and should have rested them instead he promised them beef to eat in return for one more hard march.

O’Donnell had already sent his shot and Redshanks forward with orders to fortify the pass.  The Kern who knew the ground well went with them.  They made short work of the march and the engineering.  Soon the entrance to the pass was partially blocked with felled trees and further back entrenchments were constructed.  On the flanks of the works were marsh and woods.  The Irish and the Redshanks occupied the barriers.

We have a sketch of the ground published by Boyle Today.

Around 4.pm on the 15th of August the English Army came up expecting to march hard but not to fight.  Once more we can note their failure to send their impressive cavalry to scout the ground.  That said, Clifford had ensured the Van did not lack for fire power for the bulk of his shot seem to have been placed there. The Van also contained cavalry to second them.

The English Van advanced on the barricade of felled trees.  At first, they faced arrows from the Redshanks, then gunfire from the Irish shot and as they closed darts from the Kern.  They returned fire and continued to advance. Sir Alexander Radcliffe commanding the Van had his men well in hand.

We should see this as a regular advance by the English caliver men each group taking it in turns to advance, shoot and reload.  The slower musketeers would advance and volley and reload.  The Irish and the Redshanks retreated up hill to their secondary defences where they stood again. They had benefited from the advantage of cover and taken few if any casualties.

The English were following road which at this point was comprised of stepping stones over boggy ground. The road consisted of "stones of six or seven foot broad, lying above ground, with plashes of bog between them".  It was adjacent to a wood on one side.

From the wood the Irish shot began to fire at effective range. The English Van returned fire. For approximately the next hour and a half an intense fire fight took place.  At first the morale of the English soldiers held up but it was an unequal contest.  Their opponents were better shots and enjoyed the advantage of cover.  Sir Alexander was shot in the leg and some of the English shot began to slip away.  The Redshanks were still shooting arrows from their front.   

Then Sir Alexander was shot in the face.  Propped up by two officers he persisted in his duty although he was no longer able for combat. The main English Battle under Clifford had now caught up with the stymied Van. 

It was at this point that the Irish and Redshank officers considered withdrawing.  They had inflicted many more casualties than they had taken and they had no orders to engage the whole English Army.  They could surely retire on O’Donnell’s main force for further orders.  Connor Mac Dermott thought otherwise.  He was the local man but more importantly he socially outranked his fellow officers for he was possessed of rigdharma (eligibility for kingship) in respect of Magh Luirg an Dagda and the position was then vacant.  He could see victory and they demurred to his view.

 

The shot of the English Van had now run out of powder always a dangerous moment.  Sir Alexander turned to Henry Cosby and ordered him to lead a cavalry charge against the encroaching Irish.  Cosby was reluctant and Radcliffe could no longer do it himself. We have a record of their exchange.

"I see, Cosby, that I must leave thee to thy baseness, but will tell thee ere I go that it were better to die in the hands of thy countrymen than at my return to perish by my sword”

We can note that, like Shakespeare’s character Macmorris, Cosby was Anglo Irish.

Cosby led forward his troop of Horse but they and he declined to charge home.  That was enough for the English shot, they were out of powder, had suffered many more casualties than their opponents and now the Horse who were supposed to second them had visibly failed to do so. They began to waiver and attempted to wheel about to retire.  Sir Alexander shouted orders to no avail for the soldiers would not heed him.

At this point the two companies of O’Rourke Galloglaich led by Brian Og O’Rourke emerged.  As tradition dictated, they gave a great shout.  It was probably “Ui Ruairc Abu!” and then charged.  We have a description of what happened next.

“Like hounds slipped from the leash, O'Rourke's Brenny men (The Galloglaich) went upon the Queen's vanguard... MacDermott's gunmen (The Irish Shot) and archers (the Redshanks) gave way to the right hand and to the left, opening out like folding doors as the Brenny men, with a shout at such an instant changed fortitude to alarm, and alarm to panic terror, went upon the foe.”

The Kern and the Redshanks took to their swords and charged in turn. The English Van dissolved in flight and Sir Alexander was killed.

The English main battle was infected by the panic and joined the route.  Sir Conyers Clifford could not bear the shame of defeat. A Galloglaich in his personal service sought to lead him from the stricken field.  Sir Conyers would have none of it and charged to his death.

The English rearward had now come up. Sir Griffin Markham surveyed the chaos and took drastic action. He led his cavalry to the rescue charging across difficult ground in an effort to stem the Irish pursuit of the fleeing English foot.  He led an uphill charge.

 "amongst rocks and bogs where never horse was seen to charge before"

Normally a charge by English cavalry was fatal, especially to dispersed troops. The ground though slowed the horses and the Gaels must have closed ranks. The best Sir Griffin could do was to temporarily hold the Irish and the Redshanks before his Horse were driven off.  He himself was shot in the right arm. Never the less he slowed the pursuit and in doing so saved most of the English foot from destruction. 

As it was 500 English soldiers had been killed which is to say the equivalent of about 6 companies of foot or a third of the English infantry.  Irish losses seem to have been light as no one bothered mentioning them.

Sir Conyers Clifford’s corpse was identified and the head struck off.  It was brought and shown to O’Donnell who sent it on to Collooney Castle for the edification of Sir Donogh O’Connor.  A message accompanied the head simply saying rescue was no longer possible and submission was overdue. Sir Donogh, the O’Connor Sligo duly submitted and mustered his forces for service in the army of his new over lord Aodh Ruadh O’Donnell.

Sir Conyers Clifford had enjoyed a reputation for honesty among the Irish of Connacht.  It is also likely that his personal courage was appreciated by the victors of the battle. They ensured that his remains were interred in the cemetery of the monastery near Lough Key.

The strategic plan of the Earl of Essex Lord Deputy of Ireland was now in tatters.