The great march of O’Sullivan Bere

Following the Battle of Kinsale, Irish resistance quickly collapsed in Munster and Carew, the English general, spread his power over the province.

 

The only opposition left was Donal Cam O’Sullivan Bere, chief of the Beara Peninsula in West Cork. He held out for months in the valleys of the peninsula but eventually even he knew that his days were numbered so he resolved to leave his own territory and march, with all his clan, north to link up with the Ulster Chieftains.

On the last day of the year, he set off with 400 soldiers together with 600 clansmen, women and children and faced the 300-mile trek to what he hoped was safety.

The first day they walked 24 miles over mountains and reached Ballyvourney, where they make pilgrimage at St Gobnait’s Well. There they prayed for a safe journey at the site which had gained Papal recognition only the previous year.

Unfortunately for them, their prayers were not answered. The following day, they were attacked by the MacCarthys as they reached Liscarroll and that was simply a taste of what they faced all through their journey. Their journey took them through many places that would appear again down through the years of Irish history – The Glen of Aherlow, The Galtees, Knocklong, Keeper Hill, Aughrim and the Curlew Mountains.

Occasionally, they met supportive Irish and were able to eat and rest for a while but mostly they had to fight their way northwards through territories of Irish Clans who had submitted to English rule and against troops of English soldiers. They lost people every day some died from their hardships, some were killed fighting while others simply had not the energy to continue.

Their plight is shown by their experiences when they came to the Shannon near Portumna. Their enemies were closing in on them. They killed 12 horses, saved the meat for food and used the animal hides to make small curraghs to cross the river.

Even as they sailed across, they were attacked by the Sheriff of Tipperary, Mac Egan whose men attempted to throw some of the women and children into the river. They did not fare much better on the western shores. At Aughrim they were faced by a large force led by Captain Henry Malbie. By choosing his ground carefully O’Sullivan was able to face his foe and when Malbie was killed in the first attack, O’Sullivan and his men scattered their enemies. Amazing how history repeats itself – 90 years later, also at Aughrim, the ground was chosen carefully but this time it was the Irish leader St Ruth who was killed and the Irish army routes.

Farther north, their greatest enemy became the weather as they battled snow and cold as more of their number died from exposure. Eventually they crossed the Curlews and reached Boyle where they were able to get some rest. The next morning their hosts showed them Leitrim Castle in the distance – home of O’Ruairc of Breffni. That same day, they marched into Leitrim Castle with only 35 souls from the 1000 that had left Beara.

The great march of O’Sullivan Bere to the north and safety started when he led his people from Glengarriff in West Cork on December 31, 1602 – 410 years ago this week.