O'Doherty's Rebellion

O'Doherty's Rebellion took place in 1608 when the landowner Sir Cahir O'Doherty began an uprising against the authorities in the north-west of Ireland. O'Doherty had been a long-standing supporter of the Crown, but having been angered at his treatment by local officials he launched an attack on Derry, burning the town. O'Doherty may have hoped to negotiate a settlement with the government, but after his death in a skirmish at Kilmacrennan the rebellion collapsed with the last survivors being besieged on Tory Island.

Background
Cahir O'Doherty ruled the Inishowen peninsular in northern County Donegal. The O'Dohertys had traditionally accepted the overlordship of the O'Donnell's, but like many other leading Gaelic Lords had ambitions to break free of their control and become freeholders under the Crown. In 1600 at the age of fifteen Cahir joined the forces of the English Governor of Derry, Henry Docwra who were fighting to defeat Tyrone's Rebellion. With the assistance of O'Doherty and other Gaelic lords, Docwra was able to advance from Derry into the heart of rebel territory. Docwra praised his courage under fire, and recommended him for a knighthood.

Although the two of the principle leaders of the northern rebellion Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone and Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell were restored to their lands by the Treaty of Mellifont in 1603, after publicly submitting to the new King James I they were still suspected of being involved with fresh plots. After being summoned to appear in London to explain their behaviour in 1607 they instead departed for the Continent with a group of their followers, in an event known as the Flight of the Earls.

By this time the sympathetic Docwra had been replaced by Sir George Paulet who took a much harder view of the Gaelic lords, including even those loyalists like O'Doherty. Docwra had resigned his command because he felt that English veterans of the war and their Irish allies had been poorly rewarded in the peace settlement after the war, as land promised to them had been returned to Tyrone and Tyrconnell. O'Doherty had not suffered as badly as others, losing only Inch Island.

Canmoyre Woods incident
Tensions were high following the Flight of the Earls and the authorities were concerned that there might be a wider conspiracy amongst the Gaelic lords of the north. This was based partly on the evidence of the Irish Lord Howth who had informed the government of a major plot. In this situation of heightened security concern, the Governor of Derry George Paulet overreacted to reports that O'Doherty and a number of his followers were assembling for a planned revolt and marched out with troops. O'Doherty was in fact taking part in a wood-cutting expedition to the Canmoyre Woods near his home, rather than assembling a rebellion on Tory Island as Paulet had been led to believe.

O'Doherty travelled to Dublin to plead his case before the Viceroy of Ireland Arthur Chichester. Unfortunately his arrival coincided with the escape from Dublin Castle of Lord Delvin, a ring-leader of a planned revolt. Chichester now felt that he now could no longer rely on those who recently he would have trusted with his life and that the Ulsterman was not "free from ill-meaning". O'Doherty demanded that his innocence be publicly declared. Instead Chichester ordered that O'Doherty put up a very large surety bond of more than £1,000, its repayment conditional on his future good behaviour, and banned him from leaving the country (forbidding him from personally going to London to lobby the King). Although no evidence was provided of his involvement in any plot, the incident severely damaged O'Doherty's relations with the government.

Plot
Despite his difficulties, O'Doherty persisted in his loyalty to the crown once he returned to Donegal. In January 1608 he sat on the Irish jury that confirmed the Act of Attainder against the absent Earl of Tyrconnell, stripping him of his lands and title for treason. He also pursued his links at court, through contacts such as the well-connected Sir Randal MacDonnell. O'Doherty's ambition was to become a courtier by gaining a place in the household of Henry, Prince of Wales.

The greatest cause of O'Doherty's move towards rebellion was his hatred of Paulet. While he was in Derry on business, he got into a row with the Governor who struck him in the face. O'Doherty now began to suspect that he couldn't hope for fair treatment from the justice system, and armed force was his best tactic. He was was encouraged by one of his neighbours Sir Niall Garbh O'Donnell, who was possibly being duplicitous and hoped to be awarded O'Doherty's lands in the event of any failed rebellion. Even at this point O'Doherty remained reluctant to undertake rebellion and with "tears in his eyes" he approached English officers asking them how he could regain the approval of the Viceroy. He even turned over one of his relations Phelim MacDavitt, a wanted man, to the authorities but felt this was another sign of the extreme demands being made on him. Ironically O'Doherty's lobbying on behalf of MacDavitt led to his release by the authorities just in time to take part in the rebellion.

O'Doherty now decided to rise in revolt, choosing to "play the enemy" that the authorities "would not admit for a friend". The night before the rising, O'Doherty had dinner with his friend Captain Henry Hart the commander of Culmore Fort, an important arsenal close to Derry. O'Doherty explained his reasons for rebellion and asked Hart to hand Culmore over to him. Hart refused, even when threatened with death. To save her husband's life, Hart's wife agreed to help betray Culmore. She was able to trick the defenders out of the fort luring them into an ambush by O'Doherty's men.

The rebellion was probably began abruptly without advance planning, as there was little sign of significant preparation. Unknown to O'Doherty, the very day he began his rising instructions were sent from London to Chichester in Dublin that generally granted all his demands.

Derry
Having armed his supporters from Culmore, at two in the morning on 19 April 1608 O'Doherty led around a hundred men on a surprise attack on Derry. Casualties on both sides during the initial assault were comparatively light. O'Doherty was able to take the lower fort without firing a shot, as the guards were asleep. Phelim MacDavitt met with more resistance in the upper fort but was able to overcome it by force of numbers.

The insurgents now hunted down officials who had provoked the attack. In the fighting the Governor Paulet was killed by Phelim MacDavitt while a sheriff named Hamilton was also targeted. Several other enemies of O'Doherty survived because they were not in the town that night. The rest of the inhabitants surrendered when it became clear that resistance was futile. Declaring that he was not there to spill blood, O'Doherty lets a number of English prisoners go but kept important hostages. Every house in the settlement was then burned along with public buildings.

Spread of the Rebellion
Once news of what had happened at Derry reached Dublin and London Paulet was largely blamed for the rising both for his behaviour towards local Gaelic inhabitants, and by not overseeing proper security arrangements for the garrison town. However, Chichester himself later admitted his own partial blame over his treatment of O'Doherty following the Canmoyre Woods incident, observing "all men believed that he had been wronged". The Irish Army had few available troops ready to respond to the outbreak of violence, but Chichester mustered the male inhabitants of Dublin and surrounding counties and sent what forces he could northwards immediately. He also arranged the raising of hundreds of Gaelic fighters in Ulster.

In the wake of the assault on Derry, the rebels grew in support and began to go on the rampage through Ulster. O'Doherty captured Doe Castle, the Scottish inhabitants of Strabane fled urgently for safety, and it was feared that Coleraine was under threat. Sir Henry Og O'Neill, a loyalist Gaelic leader was killed and his town of Kinard was burned. O'Doherty's rising attracted around 1,000 supporters. He was boosted when the O'Hanlons rose near Newry. O'Doherty's forces carefully avoided the former estates of the Earl of Tyrone, as it was unlikely the exiled Earl would be pleased with the sacking of Dungannon, sparing it the destruction handed out to other swathes of Ulster.

It still remained a distinct prospect that the revolt would lead to the Crown offering a favourable settlement to O'Doherty rather than face an expensive war, a common occurrence in Ireland during previous centuries. Nonetheless some of the gathering supporters of his were those who believed the Earl of Tyrone was about to return with Spanish help, possibly as a first stage to restoring Catholicism in England and Scotland as well as Ireland. To encourage such supporters O'Doherty proclaimed that everything he did was "in zeal for the Catholic cause". There was also the possibility that Tyrone would use the threat of his return to pressure for a reconciliation with the Crown and be restored to his title and lands. It remained a continuing concern of the government that Tyrone would lead a Spanish-backed invasion.

Chichester offered to step down from his post once the rebellion was put down, and King James was said to have been "persuaded that the mistaken conduct of the present Viceroy has much to do with these events". In the meantime Chichester's response to the violence was swift, he despatched 700 troops under Richard Wingfield encouraging them to launch a "thick and short" campaign in Ulster. In response some of O'Doherty's forces even advanced towards the edge of The Pale, but this didn't stop Wingfield's speedy advance.

Under Wingfield Government forces were able to overrun O'Doherty's own territory in Inishowen, capturing the town of Buncrana and recovering the ruined remains of Derry. They took O'Doherty's residence at Burt Castle, capturing his wife and son and freeing the prisoners taken at Derry who had been held there. The loss of his own castle badly damaged the morale of O'Doherty's supporters, who pressured him into seeking a direct confrontation with Wingfield's army and threatened to leave him if he did not.

Kilmacrennan
Gathering his forces Sir Cahir marched to meet the Crown's troops near Letterkenny in Donegal. Wingfield's smaller force confronted slightly less than 1,000 rebels at Kilmacrennan on ground selected by O'Doherty as it would be difficult for the enemy's cavalry to operate. While some accounts suggest the battle was an epic one, it was most likely closer to a skirmish that lasted for around half-an-hour. During the fighting O'Doherty was struck in the head by a musket shot and killed. The loss of their leader led quickly to collapse of the rebel forces who were pursued by the victorious Crown troops and their Gaelic allies. O'Doherty's head was taken by an English infantrymen, who claimed the £500 reward for it.

With O'Doherty dead, the rebellion began to fall apart. A number of those taken prisoner were tried for treason and executed. Their trials and execution taking place in Lifford in civil courts rather than under martial law. The most prized prisoner taken was Phelim MacDavitt who was discovered in hiding in some woods. He resisted, but was wounded and forced to surrender. He was then executed and his head put on display alongside O'Doherty's at Newgate in Dublin, a common punishment for treason of the era. The speed with which Chichester had responded to the rebellion now brought him praise from London rather than criticism.

Tory Island
While sporadic resistance continued across Ulster, the defeat at Kilmacrennan led to disintegration of the rebel forces. A group led by Shane MacManus O'Donnell withdrew to Tory Island off the Donegal Coast and occupied a castle. They were pursued by the Governor of Ballyshannon, Sir Henry Folliott who surrounded the castle.

In order to receive “Pelham's Pardon”, the commander of the castle Sir Mulmory MacSweeney began to kill his fellow defenders in order to present their heads to the besiegers and secure his pardon. After killing several of them, he was hacked down by his own men who then began killing each other. Those who remained after the infighting were pardoned. Historian Padraig Lenihan notes that "It was a fitting epilogue to the disunity and duplicity of Gaelic Ireland".

Aftermath
Following the Flight of the Earls in 1607 Tyrone and Tyrconnell had been attained for treason and their lands confiscated. To try and promote greater stability and economic development it was proposed to settle English and Scottish inhabitants on these lands in a similar manner to the earlier Munster Plantation. Chichester had originally planned a much smaller group of settlements such as Derry, combined with the long-standing and partially successful policy of Anglicisation of the Gaelic lords. In the wake of O'Doherty's rebellion the King and his advisers now felt that many of the leading Gaelic lords could no longer be fully trusted, and implemented a much more ambitious scheme that led to the planting settlers across eight of the nine Ulster counties. The Ulster Plantation's progress was slow at first, partly due to a widespread belief that the government would still reverse its policy and make a deal to restore the Earl of Tyrone and other exiles to their lands, an uncertainty that only went away when Tyrone died in Rome in 1616.

Although a number of "deserving Irish" were awarded estates, these were much smaller than they had hoped. The Plantation was intended to break up the traditional Gaelic model of a handful of great Lords such as Tyrone exercising domination over their weaker neighbours through the threat of armed force, replacing them with smaller landowners whose primarily loyalty was to the Crown. This appealed to many of the Gaelic inhabitants, but they were disapointed by the amounts of land they received in the final settlement - something which can be directly tied to the outbreak of O'Doherty's rebellion. Amongst those who benefited from the post-rebellion settlement was Chichester, who was granted much of O'Doherty's former lands in Inishowen. Veteran British and Anglo-Irish officers of the 1594-1603 and 1608 rebellions were granted significant estates, with many going on to found landed dynasties.

Due to the increased cost of the Irish security situation, the King inaugurated a new honour the baronetcy, a hereditary knighthood, the sale of which could boost government finances.