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In-Depth Information
K
Kinsale, Battle of
(1601)
The prolonged conflict between P
HILIP
II of
Spain and Elizabeth I of England had peri-
odically involved Spanish attacks on Ireland.
None of these had been successful, but in the
year of the old king's death (1598) the Irish
rebel leader, Hugh O'Neill, earl of Tyrone,
had won a major victory over English forces
in Ulster. This left him and the coalition of
northern lords that he headed in a position
of unprecedented power. In 1599 he offered
peace to Elizabeth on terms that she rejected.
He then offered the crown of Ireland to the
new king of Spain. P
HILIP
III hesitated at first,
unwilling to pursue new military adven-
tures. He had, however, promised his father
to carry on the struggle against England, and
the oppressed condition of the Catholics in
Ireland stirred his religious feelings. Accept-
ing O'Neill's offer, Philip ordered the prepa-
ration of an expedition to aid his new
subjects. Late in 1601, a Spanish fleet con-
veyed a large force of infantry and artillery
to the southeastern coast of Ireland, where
they seized the fortified port of Kinsale and
placed garrisons in several castles belonging
to rebel noblemen. Kinsale lay hundreds of
miles away from O'Neill's northern strong-
hold, and it required much time for him to
mass his followers and accomplish the long
march south to the county of Cork. Mean-
while the principal English commander in
the region, Sir George Carew, had laid siege
to Kinsale. When the earl of Tyrone reached
the vicinity of the siege, it was already late
December, with the weather fast deteriorat-
ing. Nevertheless, he sent a message to the
Spanish commander, Don Juan del Águila,
that he would immediately launch an attack
on the rear of the besiegers. Advancing dur-
ing a storm with unreliable guides in a ter-
rain unfamiliar to the northerners, the Irish
were attacked and routed by Carew, who
then turned his troops about and beat back
the Spanish sortie from Kinsale. The dispir-
ited Irish withdrew back to their home terri-
tory. Deeming the campaign lost, Águila
negotiated a surrender, extracted his troops
from Kinsale and other outposts, and sailed
back to Spain early in 1602.
The Battle of Kinsale marked the end of
any serious attempt by Philip III to pursue
his father's war with England. In 1603 the
Irish rebels came to terms with the govern-
ment in London, and in 1604 Philip III
signed a peace treaty with Elizabeth's succes-
sor. Spain gave generous refuge to Tyrone
and his adherents and to other Irish exiles
for many generations thereafter. The hith-
erto Catholic province of Ulster was rapidly
transformed into a predominantly Protestant
stronghold, the seat of the centuries-long
religious and political quarrels that have
bedeviled present-day Northern Ireland.
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