Reviews (4)

The most comprehensive history on The Earl of Tyrone to date
A study on the influencing factors of key decisions made by Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone and events leading up to the 'Nine Years War" with England. Unlike many other works, there are references to key players in these events including the Earl's brothers Cormac and Airt as well as Hugh Maguire, Red Hugh O'Donnell, and others.
Hugh O'Neill, an Irishman who was taken into custody as a child and trained in the English manner, returns to Ireland. His eldest brother Brian dies leaving him taniste to the title of 'The O'Neill'. Political intrigue ensues when a rival family member claims the title for himself. Meanwhile, the English crown seeks to plant more settlers in Ireland. O'Neill takes the sword for England and earns his title 'Earl of Tyrone'
The temperament and willpower of a man largely ignored by the Crown comes into question as he is dogged by enemies and harrassed by the state. Further problems arise when English troops establish fortifications on his land.
The book becomes a study of the events and circumstances surrounding O'Neills decision to seek aid from the Catholic King Phillip of Spain and turn his back on the tyrannical and genocidal Tudor advance.
The tactics used by O'Neill while negotiating and fighting are the roots of 'guerilla warfare'. The successes at Clontibret, Enniskillen, and the Yellow Ford are mirrored by the Irish failure to win the disasterous battle of Kinsale.
As evidence for the author's conclusions, he includes a letter written by Cormac O'Neill, the Earl's brother, requesting aid from King Phillip II of Spain.
As the author is a historian, all references are cited.
2001 marks the 400th Anniversary of the Battle of Kinsale. This work is a must have for any serious student of Irish history.

The Nine Years War
A 'must read' for any serious student of Irish history.To fully understand why Ireland is in the political conundrum it is you must first understand where the divisions between religion and politics began. TheGeraldine and Butler leagues implemented by Sir Henry Sidney are merely thestart, the ineptitude of Tudor officials the catalyst, and the rising powerof Hugh O'Neill and his confederacy of Irish Lords and Cheiftans who hadbeen wronged by English policy the vehicle. This book paints the most vividpicture of the people and the events responsible for the conflict. A lookat a rare letter written by Cormac Mac Baron to King Phillip II of Spain isused to re-enforce the arguments propounded within the text. The authour, ahistorian, has clearly done more in-depth research on the subject than anyother author to date and accurately describes (for the first time ever) thetrue story of The O'Neill.

an excellent study for any reader interested in early modern
This is a slight revision of my review of the hardcover version. Such a good book should be affordable. Hiram Morgan's monograph is an excellent study for any reader interested in early modern British or Irish history.One cannot understand the contemporary Protestant versus Roman Catholicdistrust, animosity, and cultural divide in Northern Ireland withoutunderstanding the English Tudor's racist Irish policy ofcolonization.

One of Morgan's major contributions is to put the causes ofTyrone's Rebellion into the even broader context of late 16th centuryEurope, where the Protestant-Catholic religious divide, intensified by theCatholic Counter-Reformation, shaped national and international politics,while at the same time, the centralizing tendencies of nations like Englandconflicted with the lordships of Ireland. Morgan places the England-Irelandconflict within the same overarching political and religious context as theSpanish war in the Netherlands. Catholic Spain supported the Irishrebellion.

The author is no polemicist. He has grounded his study inEnglish and Irish manuscript sources and Spanish archives and suppliedreaders with decent maps, and an important revisionist interpretation ofthis crucial but strangely overlooked rebellion.

Tyrone's Rebellion wasled by the controversial Hugh O'Neil, the earl of Tyrone. This outbreak wasthe culmination of growing Irish animosity towards intrusive Tudor policy,but as mentioned above, according to Morgan it was not mere "Tudorrebellion." Despite the Tudor's usually successful strategy ofdivide-and-conquer, the ignorance and heavy-handed tactics of Elizabeth I'sEnglish administrators managed to unite the Gaelic chieftans with theAnglo-Irish (English or Norman expatriates who had become "more Irishthan the Irish themselves") in opposition to English plantation andpacification under the leadership of O'Neil. O'Neil was his own man, andMorgan refutes the old steretype that O'Neil was the "creature"of Elizabeth's court. The rebellion was fomented in 1593-94, broke out in1598 Battle of Yellow Ford), and lasted until 1607 (after Elizabeth I haddied, and been succeeded by James I).

Reviews (2)

The Ancient Gael
This is a profound book full of fascinating historical data on one of the most complex characters of ancient Irish history. Much of what the author writes is of necessity speculation but he also has researched into the history of the O'Neills & the old gaelic Chieftain order. The result is a facinating drama from the pages of ancient Irish history presented in a most dramatic & colourful manner. Personally I believe here is a story that could transfer the world of cinema & rival & surpass Braveheart in its epic scale & mesmerising characters.There is firstly the young O'Neill born into the most eminent of all Irish families, suddenly orphaned & at risk from his own people. Forced to flee he is taken in by the English & raised to be their pawn. In time he grows to manhood, returns to his people & claims all that is his. At first he has the support of the English as they pit Irish against Irish but eventually he outgrows them & becomes instead the most dangerous foe the Elizabethan armies have ever encountered.He scores victory after vistory over the English, culminating with his destruction of their great army at The Battle of the Yellow Ford. Unfortunately for O'Neill English resources far outweigh his as he well knows & a single defeat will spell his ruin. This comes inevitably at the battle of Kinsale & then all are left to mourn not just the passing of the Ancient Gael & its great Lords but the entrenchment of the English in Ireland which resulted in such pleasures as the Penal Times, 1798, The Great Famine, the War of Independence & today's Troubles in Northern Ireland. All can be traced back to that single defeat at Kinsale. I rate this book as by far the most significant work that O'Faolain ever wrote & believe it should be compulsory for all Irish History students. One curious aside is the comparison between this period of Irish history & the Indian wars in the USA. Certain characters have an uncanny resemblance, Sitting Bull & Hugh O'Neill; Crazy Horse & Hugh O'Donnell; Mountjoy & Sherman(?). Also the desperate struggle to maintain an ancient way of life & the realisation on the part of the indigenous peoples that theirs was a hopeless battle & that eventually a single defeat would bring their end. Yet these people believed strongly enough in their culture to fight for it & as an Irishman I am proud that O'Neill & O'Donnell fought their great foes rather than going quietly into the night. A great book.

Reviews (2)

A Good Resource for Historians and Reenactors alike
The Irish Wars provides a great overall accounting for the composition of Irish and English forces in Ireland from the late 1400's to the early 1600's. Of special interest is the timeline, which has been referenced and replicated by many who regard it as the best overall timeline to date. This makes the purchase of this book 'worth it' on this merit alone.
Many of the passages are partisan, which is fairly common considering that the only Irish who kept any sort of written history at this time, were monks. So, most of the notable references are English. Therefore, a partisan view tends to predominate the text.
The description of Irish guerilla warfare is fairly well covered but could have been elaborated upon substantially as in G.A.Hayes-McCoy's "Irish Battle's". Otherwise, the descriptions of Ceathearn, Galloglaich, and Buannacht are fairly accurate. A telling omission is that Lord Mountjoy disarmed some of his green recruits and gave the pieces (musket) to his Irish recruits, knowing that they were much better shots. Furthermore, the artwork is attrocious. It is loosely based off of woodcuts (Which are represented in the plates) and drawings done by Lucas DeHerre, which were misproportioned to begin with. A copy of a bad original just makes a bad copy. It's unfortunate that Angus McBride, who did the artwork in "The Border Rievers" book of the same Men at Arms series, had not done this one. In "The Border Rievers" he has an excellent watercolor of an Irish Kern and Galloglas attacking a horsed Englishman or Low-Scot Riever.
Minus the artwork and some omissions, this is a great source for historians and reenactors. I highly recommend applying it with other source material, such as "Tyrone's Rebellion", "Elizabeth's Irish Wars", and "Irish Battles".

Isbn: 1851822348
Sales Rank: 2710778
Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. General    3. Tyrone, Hugh O'Neill   

Reviews (1)

Reviews (3)

Great
Very informative. It's so hard to find any good books on the dress of Ireland. Highly recommended for ANYONE interested in customes, SCA, Ren Festivals, and history just to name a few.

The Only In Print Source on Irish Dress
Dunlevy was the curator of ceramics, glass and textiles at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin when this book was first published in 1989.Her degree is in ceramics, actually, and that shows in her discussion of some of the clothing in the Museum's collection.She does a great job of giving us the story of all the Irish textiles in one convenient place, but sometimes it is obvious that she is reading the "file copy" on a garment and hasn't made a study of it herself.Many of her terms are not those of a textile historian and this makes it a little confusing.

I had the great opportunity of examining and cataloging the garments at the National Museum in the summers of '98 and '99.Dunlevy's representation of these textiles is not quite enough information to make reconstructions as many historical re-enactors would wish.But her information is good and interesting and nothing about it is particularly wrong.

And above all, it is the only source on Irish Clothing that is in print.The only other source of merit is McClintock's "Old Irish and Highland Dress" and copies of that are few and far between.Dunlevy also discusses garments that were not yet discovered when McClintock wrote in the 1940s.

It's not the best, but it's the best there is.

Kass McGann Historian Reconstructing History