model and photographer Niamh O'Rourke and actor, archaeologist, Dave Swift portray Iníon Dubh and Redshank in a recent Irish photo shoot. |
Iníon Dubh (said, Nee-an doo) is one of the most remembered and beloved heroines in Irish history. Iníon Dubh was her pet name which means 'black haired daughter.' She was Fionnuala Ní Dhónaill née Nic Dhónaill. She was a Gaelic aristocrat, the daughter of the taoiseach of clann Mhic Dhónaill, Seamus Mac Dónaill, and Anna Chaimbeul, the daughter of the third Earl of Argyll, head of clann Chaimbeul. She was multi lingual, speaking her native Gaelic, Latin, and English. She was born on Islay and spent much of her early life in the Scottish Court. She married Aodh Mac Manus Ó Dónaill in the summer of 1569. She moved to the Laggan district of Donegal with some 1,000 Redshanks recruited from clans Caimbeul and Mac Dónaill.
With her husband's health failing, she became the de facto taoiseach of Clann Uí Dhónaill by the mid 1580s. She was by this time also the most powerful person in west Ulster, because she commanded her own army of very devoted Redshanks. An account of her career in Donegal will be included in the book A Short History of the Laggan Redshanks, 1569-1630, which will be published by Ulster Heritage Publishing later this spring.
Iníon Dubh was the mother of Aodh Rua Ó Dónaill who led his west Ulster army to many victories against the English in the Nine Years War (1594-1603).
She lived at Mongavlin just south of St Johnston, in east Donegal. The remains of her castle are still standing. Her legacy still lives in Donegal in the many families there that are of Redshank origins.
(Below, the chapter on Iníon Dubh from the book Finding the McCains which is available on Amazon)
Iníon Dubh
(Below, the chapter on Iníon Dubh from the book Finding the McCains which is available on Amazon)
Iníon Dubh
The River Foyle is
a large, brown water, tidal river, that flows north into Loch Foyle and then on
into the Atlantic Ocean. It begins at the
town of Lifford in Donegal from the confluence of the Finn and Mourne rivers. The Foyle is one of the best salmon fishing
areas in Ireland. The low lands on the
west side of the river are called the Lagan,[1] taking
that name from the Gaelic word lagan,
meaning a hollow or low lying area. In
the Lagan, on the banks of the river, is the small market town of St
Johnston. The lands around St Johnston
are green and fertile and there you will see the many shades of Irish
green. It is a beautiful area where
farms still flourish and time is marked by the changing seasons. In Elizabethan times, this part of the Lagan
was called the Portlough precinct. After
her marriage to Aodh Mac Manus Ó Dónaill, Iníon Dubh settled just south of St
Johnston at Mongavlin castle. This is
also where the McCains first appear in Ireland.
It was a highly
strategic area. Not only was it fertile, rich land, but the Foyle River on the Lagan's
eastern border provided easy access into O’Donnell lands. Troops were needed there to protect the Foyle
river ports. Large number of Redshanks accompanied Iníon Dubh to her new home
there to accomplish this task. Accounts
vary, but the number of Redshanks was certainly over 1,000. There was, throughout her time in the Lagan,
an ebb and flow of Redshanks as the military needs of Clan O’Donnell dictated. Iníon Dubh was aggressive in her efforts to
defend west Ulster from English rule and her weapon of choice were the tall,
fair, broad shouldered Gaels of Argyll.
Iníon Dubh was a
traditional Gaelic woman, but she was also able to interact with the
Elizabethan English on their terms. She spent her teenage years in the Scottish
court and understood the subtle nuances of politics and war. She had command of a large force of Redshanks
and was not afraid to put them into use.
Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh, her contemporary and biographer of her son, wrote
of her “she was the head of advice and counsel of the Cenél Conaill (Clan
O’Donnell), and though she was calm and very deliberate and much praised for
her womanly qualities, she had the heart of a hero and the mind of a soldier,”[2] She has a unique place in Irish history. She was a Scottish aristocrat, her father the
head of Clan Donald and her mother the daughter of the Campbell chief, but she became
a heroine of the Irish in the north.
Iníon Dubh is best remembered for her defense of her sons, who had
glorious but tragic lives as Gaelic warriors.
Iníon Dubh’s main
residence in the Lagan was the castle at Mongavlin. She had a secondary house at Carrigans, just
north of St Johnston. These locations
were not random. Both were river harbors
where the Redshank galleys could easily land.
It is not a large area. Carrigans is only one and three quarters miles
north of St Johnston and Mongavlin is only two and a quarter miles to its
south. The Redshanks of Iníon Dubh
settled around her within the five or so miles between Mongavlin and
Carrigans.
The Elizabethan
English were very cognizant of the Redshanks in Ireland. The Calendar
of the State Papers Relating To Ireland has correspondences of English
officials in Ulster reporting their movements from the mid-1500s onward. The English feared the Redshanks and the
actions of Iníon Dubh in particular.
Scotland was still considered a threat to England and so many Scots in
Ireland was considered an invasion of English ruled land. Iníon Dubh used her Campbell clan connections
to great effect and made many trips to Argyll to visit the fifth Earl of Argyll
and his successor. She would stay for
several months, recruiting her Redshanks, and return with a fleet of Gaelic
galleys to her lands on the shores of the River Foyle.
There is a
description of these Redshanks found in the early 1600s book Beatha Aodha Ruaidh Uí Dhomhnaill (Life
of Aodh Rua Ó Dónaill), written by the seanchaí (historian) of Clan O’Donnell,
Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh:
They were recognized among the Irish soldier by
the distinction of their arms and clothing, their habits and language, for
their exterior dress was mottled cloaks of many colors with a fringe to their
shins and calves, their belts were over their loins outside their cloaks. Many of them had swords with hafts of horn,
large and warlike, over their shoulders.
It was necessary for the soldier to grip the very haft of his sword with
both hands when he would strike a blow with it.
Others of them had bows of carved woods strong for use, with well-seasoned
strings of hemp, and arrows sharp pointed, whizzing in flight.[3]
Ó Cléirigh’s
comments referred to the arrival in Derry of a thousand Redshanks under Dónall
Gorm Mac Dónaill of Skye and Mac Leóid
of Arran in 1594. They were in the
service of Iníon Dubh’s son and part of his troop build-up at the beginning of
the Nine Year's War. Ó Cléirigh was an
eyewitness to these events and his account provides insight into the physical
appearance of the Redshanks in the 1590s.
For centuries Irish and Scottish Gaels had dressed identically in a
saffron colored léine (long shirt to
the knees) and jacket. By the late 1500s,
the unique dress of the Scottish Gaels had developed and the belted kilt was
worn by many Redshanks. The two handed
swords and bows described by Ó Cléirigh were the favorite weapons of the
Redshanks and they were proficient in their use. Ó Cléirigh also noted the dialect differences
in the Gaelic spoken by these Redshanks.
Both the native
Irish and the English made a distinction between the older Scots in Ireland,
the Gallóglaigh, and the newer Scots, the Redshanks. The native Irish called the Redshanks, na Albanaigh, which simply means “the
Scots.” The English called them Irish-Scots,
Scots-Irish, or Redshanks. By the
mid-1500s, some Redshanks were settling in Ulster and not returning back to
Scotland after the campaigning season. In
1542, John Travers, the Master of the Ordnance in Ireland wrote:
… where as a company of Irisshe Skottes
otherwise called Redshankes daily commeth into the northe parties of Irelande
and purchaseth castels and piles uppon the seecoste there so as it is thought
that there be at this present above the nombre of 2 or 3 thousande of them
within this Realme…[4]
In April of 1571, Lord Justice
William FitzWilliam wrote to the Privy Council:
The Scots in the North build, manure the
ground, and settle, as though they should never be removed.[5]
By 1580, Iníon Dubh and her Redshanks began to
dominate the political and military affairs of western Ulster. She was by this time the acting head of Clan
O’Donnell. Some sources say her husband,
Aodh Mac Manus, was growing senile. The reasons
she took the reins of leadership were probably multiple and included her
husband’s age, failing health, and loss of mental clarity. Iníon Dubh’s early life in the Scottish court
and her links to Clan Campbell and Clan Donald gave her the needed connections and
experience to protect her family’s position.
She also had her own army, which she paid and commanded personally, and
her Redshanks were completely devoted to her.
There were many
threats to Iníon Dubh. The children of
her husband by his first wife were rivals to her own children and there was
always the English to contend with. In
1587, John Perrot, the English Lord Deputy of Ireland, wanted hostages from the
O’Donnells to insure that they would not aid the Spanish in their war against
England. Perrot plotted to kidnap Iníon
Dubh and her husband, but only their oldest son, Aodh Rua, fell into English
hands. He was imprisoned in Dublin
Castle. Iníon Dubh threw all her
energies into freeing her son and making him the head of Clan O’Donnell. In 1588, Iníon Dubh attempted to obtain the
release of Aodh Rua by rounding up some survivors of the Spanish Armada that made
land fall in Donegal and presenting them to the English in Dublin as an
exchange for her son. The English took
the prisoners, but had them all executed and kept Aodh Rua in his dungeon
cell. She then told the English she
would work with the Spanish if they did not release him, again with no success.
It was decidedly
unhealthy to cross Iníon Dubh in matters relating to her children. She was in a vulnerable position with her
husband in failing health and her oldest son a prisoner of the English, yet she
managed to hold on to power. Her husband
was thought by some within Clan O’Donnell as unfit to be head of the clan. The first rival to press the issue was Aodh
Mac Calbhach Ó Gallchobhair. He was a mysterious
figure, perhaps an illegitimate son of Calbhach Ó Dónaill, or perhaps fostered
with Calbhach’s family. Whatever the case, he let it be known he could take the
headship. Aodh Mac Calbhach had cooperated
with the English and had been an accomplice in the infamous murder of Iníon
Dubh’s first cousin, Alasdair Mac Somhairle Mac Dónaill. In 1588, Aodh Mac Calbhach attempted to visit
Iníon Dubh at her castle and press the issue.
Iníon Dubh was not impressed. She
addressed her beloved Redshanks about the need for justice and revenge upon
Aodh Mac Calbhach. They attacked Aodh
Mac Calbhach while he was in St Johnstown, killing him and his entire party.
Another of Iníon
Dubh’s rivals was her husband’s son by an earlier marriage, Dónall Mac Aodh Ó
Dónaill. Dónall proclaimed himself as
head of Clan O’Donnell. He also underestimated
Iníon Dubh. She took command of her army
of Redshanks and marched out to meet Dónaill Ó Dónaill in battle. Dónall assembled a formidable host that
included his factions within Clan O’Donnell, along with allied clans. The Battle of Derrylaghan took place on 14
September 1590 when the two armies met to the south of Gleann Cholm Cille near
the village of Teileann. The Redshanks used
their bows to stun Dónall’s army and then closed with their two handed
swords. Dónall’s army was crushed and
he, many of the Irish nobles, and 200 of their men, were killed.
Aodh Rua finally
escaped Dublin Castle in 1592. Iníon
Dubh persuaded her husband to abdicate and Aodh Rua became The Ó Dónaill. Iníon Dubh bought off the last rival claiming
the headship of the clan, Niall Garbh Ó Dónaill, and arranged a marriage between
him and her daughter Nuala.
The English tried
to oust Aodh Rua, but with no success. Aodh
Rua and his Redshanks won several sharp engagements against the English. Then he
allied himself with Aodh Mór Ó Neill and that began the Nine Years War
(1594-1603). In the conflict, Aodh Rua and Aodh Mór Ó Neill
had many victories and defeated every English army sent to destroy them in
Ulster. For seven years they held the
English armies at bay, but both leaders knew this could not last. English pressure on the north was increasing
and the Irish sought Spanish help with the war.
Spain finally managed to land a small force, but in the worst possible
place, on the opposite end of the country.
The small Spanish force landed in
County Cork and were promptly besieged by the English under Lord Mountjoy. Aodh Rua and Ó Neill had no choice, if they
wanted Spanish help, but to march across Ireland to relieve the Spanish
besieged there. In Ulster, the Irish
victories were due to the complete support of the people and the heavily wooded
and mountainous terrain which suited the Gaelic style of war. Many of the Irish victories were fought from ambush
in passes and along winding roads in deep forests or from a fixed, prepared position.
These were styles of warfare that favored
the Gaels. It was a great gamble for
Aodh Rua and Ó Neill to abandon what had served them so well, but they needed
Spanish help to push the English out of Ireland. Against their better judgment, they marched
across the country to Cork to assist their besieged Spanish allies. The Battle of Kinsale was fought on 3 January
1602 when the Irish army attempted to relieve the Spanish. The Irish were forced into open field battle
and were utterly defeated. Aodh Rua took
a ship to Spain to organize further resistance, but he died a few months later,
thought to be poisoned by an English spy.
Aodh Mór Ó Neill
returned to Ulster. In 1607, he also
left for Spain, along with Aodh Rua’s brother, Ruairi, who had become The Ó
Dónaill after Aodh Rua's death. Their
intention was to raise money and an army to continue the war. They set sail from Rathmullan, a small
village on the shore of Loch Swilly in County Donegal, with ninety followers,
many of them the cream of Ulster’s Gaelic nobles, an event known as the Flight
of the Earls. Their destination was
Spain, but they landed first in France. Some made their way to Spanish Flanders,
while others continued on to Rome. Their
plans came ultimately to nothing and both Ruairi Ó Dónaill and Aodh Mór Ó Neill
died in exile.
One of Iníon
Dubh’s last recorded acts was a small piece of unfinished business. Niall Garbh Ó Dónaill had turned traitor in
the end, supporting the English against Aodh Rua. Iníon Dubh implicated Niall Gabh in a failed
uprising in 1608 and he spent the rest of his days in the Tower of London where
he died. Iníon Dubh’s daughter, Nuala,
left Niall Garbh, taking their children with her.
The year of 1609
brought great change in Ulster. The old
Gaelic order had finally been broken and this allowed for the Plantation of
Ulster. The lands of Clan O’Donnell were
confiscated under James I. This included
Iníon Dubh’s lands at Portlough precinct in the Lagan. This part of the Lagan
was planted by Scots. The two main
families of Undertakers in the Portlough precinct were the Stewarts of Lennox
and Cunninghams of Ayrshire. Both
families had close ties to James I and received large grants of land. However, there was already a Scottish
community in the Lagan. Iníon Dubh’s Campbell Redshanks, including the McCains,
were already living in the Portlough precinct.
[1] See Lagan map page 2.
[2] Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh, Beatha Aodha Ruaidh Uí Dhómhnaill,
trans. Paul Walsh (Cork: University College, 2012. http://www.ucc.ie/celt, 39.
[3] Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh, Beatha Aodha Ruaidh Uí Dhómhnaill,
trans. Paul Walsh (Cork: University College, 2012. http://www.ucc.ie/celt, 73.
[4] Hamilton, Calendar, 302.
[5] Ibid., 444.
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