The Other Irish Battle Sites - non Williamite or War of Independence

The Sack of Youghal

It is at this point in the turbulent history of Elizabethan Ireland that Youghal becomes relevant. In what Richard Berleth ('The Twilight Lords') calls a coincidence 'at once embarrassingly flamboyant and indisputably factual', a large section of Youghal's defensive wall collapsed within an hour of Desmond's proclamation of rebellion. The walled town had been a stronghold of the Desmonds since gifted by Robert FitzStephen to Maurice FitzGerald in 1215. However, it had long been amenable to English colonists and that was excuse enough for Desmond, along with his relative, the Seneschal of Imokilly, to attack, burn and plunder the town for five days solid. Nothing was spared. Even St. Mary's Church and Our Lady's College, which Desmond's forbears had founded, were 'well nigh demolished'. When Black Tom Ormonde recaptured the town some weeks later, he declared the town's 15th century walls to be in 'deplorable' condition and ordered them fortified. The Lord Mayor, Patrick Coppinger, was hanged from his own doorway for gross negligence. Ormonde claimed it was the sight of Youghal and the gruesome fate of its citizens that turned him against Desmond's 'cankered and alienated heart' ever after.



http://www.turtlebunbury.com/history/history_irish/history_irish_raleigh.htm

It was at Youghal that one of the most poignant scenes of the rebellion took place. When writing his history of the period, Don Philip O'Sullivan Beare, recalled how his father, Dermot O'Sullivan, "..captain of the foot of Bear, with signal valour and agaisnt immense difficulties, scaled the walls by ladders, and the besieged in vain resisting. When pillaging the town a soldier of his, having forced a strong box, took out a sack full of gold and silver, saying, "Here most valiant captain, is a lucky find unless it be a dream." Dermot replied, "Do not my brave fellow, be so greatly charmed with your dream, lest, waking up, you find it be not a true image, but a delusion of the senses." (10)

http://www.odriscolls.me.uk/1538-1615.htm

The early part of the debate was around her address – Inchiquin – which led many people to wonder if she came from this part of the country at all or whether she was, in fact, an O’Brien from Inchiquin in Clare. It was eventually conceded that she did live in Inchiquin – an old name for the area between Killeagh and Cork. You will visit her home there – a fortified round tower castle, now sadly deteriorating rapidly. The visit of Oliver Cromwell did not help as his large guns left a huge hole in the walls. That hole and the ever encroaching sea combine to ensure that, soon, the castle will itself soon fall. Make sure you visit it . You won’t find signposts to take you – you will have to follow my instructions but fear not!

Our Olde Countess is very much a case in point. I have seen her considered to be the wife of the 7th Earl and the 12th Earl of Desmond. I have read that Raleigh confirms her age. He does not. For what it is worth – I believe she was the wife of Thomas , the 7th Earl, known as Baldy Tom

A figure very familiar in the neighbourhood of Youghal in the time of Spenser and Raleigh was that of the aged Dowager Countess of Desmond, about whom strange traditions floated. Widow of a man who, in 1529, had become Earl of Desmond at the age of seventy-five, and having survived him for seventy years, it is not strange that the 'Old Countess' became one of the wonders of her age. Rumour said that she was born in 1464, that she had been maid of honour at the Court of Edward IV (d. 1483), and that she had danced with Richard III when Duke of Gloucester, of whom she retained memories much more favourable than those which have come down to us. Her husband, Sir Thomas the Bald of Desmond, must have been sixty years of age when she married him. He was the third son of the eighth Earl, beheaded at Drogheda in 1468, and in spite of the efforts at reparation made by Edward IV, he and his brothers were in a constant state of suppressed rebellion; "with banners displayed they sought revenge." The Earl, who seems to have been an eccentric, had divorced his first wife, Sheela MacCarthy of Muskerry, to marry Katherine, who was eldest daughter of Sir John FitzGerald, Lord of Decies, and his cousin; he had on his hands the blood both of his late father-in-law and his first wife's brother. The castle of Inchiquin, where he and Katherine lived, must have seen wild deeds. He was so distrustful of strangers that, instead of bed and board, he provided a halter for them outside his walls "as though all visitors were spies and wizards." He took full advantage of the system of coign and livery instituted by his ancestor, the first Earl of Desmond, for he lived half the year upon his tenants; and he refused to pay one groat of yearly revenue to the Crown, in spite of his immense possessions in Waterford, Limerick, Cork, and Kerry, or to obey any of the King's laws. Henry VIII ordered the Earl of Ossory in 1534 to curb this fierce and grasping man, but he died in the same year at the age of eighty, leaving a grandson by the son of his first wife, who was brought up at the English Court and educated in the royal household. Disloyal Geraldines dubbed him "the Court Page" Earl, and he was subsequently murdered by Sir Maurice Dubh, or Duff, "the Black Geraldine," "a man without faith or truth, cruel, severe, merciless," whose murder of the "Court Page" Earl was the first step "to the overthrow of this honourable house of Desmond, God in revenge thereof not leaving one of the race of Sir John or Sir Maurice alive upon the face of the earth." Sir Maurice's son was the James FitzMaurice who aided Earl Garrett's rising.
After the death of her turbulent spouse the Countess lived on at Inchiquin Castle near Youghal, which had long been looked upon as a dower house for widows of the Earls of Desmond. She made over the property to Garrett, Earl of Desmond, then out in rebellion, but after his attainder it was granted to Raleigh, who recognized her prior claim in two leases drawn up by him. He knew personally the aged lady, who lived not many miles from his house at Youghal. When Boyle obtained Raleigh's lands the old Countess of Desmond, whose jointure came to an end at the age of the 'trust term' of ninety-nine years, leaving her reduced to penury, was obliged to revisit the Court to lay her case before Queen Elizabeth and prove her identity. She was accompanied by her daughter. Landing at Bristol, tradition says that the old lady "came on foot to London, as she was wont to walk weekly at home to Youghal on market-days. But her daughter being decrepit, was brought in a little cart, their poverty not allowing better means." Her appearance at Court created a sensation, and is mentioned in many of the memoirs of the day. Bacon says that tradition gave her sevenscore years, and Raleigh in his History of the World says, that she was alive in 1589 and "many years afterwards, as all the noblemen and gentlemen in Munster can testify." [8] She lived on till 1604, thus outliving at least three�tradition would make it six�of the Queen's ancestors and Elizabeth herself. She witnessed the great power and the downfall of the house of Desmond, caused partly through the misdoings of Englishmen, but largely also by the disregard of all laws, human and divine, by her husband and his kindred. She is said to have died from a fall while picking cherries from a tree in Raleigh's garden.
.http://www.libraryireland.com/HullHistory/Munster2.php

Did William Shakespeare ever visit Youghal ? Could he have? Would he have ? There is not a shred of evidence available to suggest that he did , nothing to suggest that he even considered Ireland. Or , or , or is there some shred of a possibility within the legend itself? Shakespeare was friendly with Walter Raleigh, friendly also with Edmund Spencer. He has a fair amount of Irish connections in his writings and perhaps depicted the first stage Irishman in his plays! One of the connections is the Annyas family – William and Francis Annyas were Mayors of Youghal – Francis was Mayor in 1569, 1576 and 1581 while William Annyas was Mayor in 1553. Now Francis’ sister married Rodrigo Lopez and many people believe he was the person Shakespeare used as the model for the character Shylock ( the Merchant of Venice) – while also, obviously, being aware of Marlowe’s “The Jew of Malta”. The Annyas family were probably hidden Jews, living as Christians but retaining their Jewish religion – this was the accusation put to Rodrigo Lopez and his final words on the scaffold “I love Jesus Christ as much as I love her Majesty the Queen” can be understood in various ways!
By the way, if you want a really harrowing account of the effects of famine and war on people – read Spencer’s “A View of the State of Ireland” which he wrote to describe what the country was like after the Munster Rebellion. Spencer died in 1598 and his widow married a man from Youghal – Tynte – he whose castle can still be visited in the Main Street. The widow who married Tynte is buried in Kilcredan – a church we will visit on the trail.
Raleigh was Mayor of Youghal for two years. Maybe Raleigh invited him over to visit . And most significantly - Shakespeare would have a particular interest in Youghal – the harbour master in Youghal in the 15th century was a Thomas Shakespeare from Bristol. The family name Shakespeare continued to survive in East Cork into living memory when the last member of the family died in Cobh. So Shakespeare could have a family connection and some friends in East Cork. Could have – that is as far as I can go. Could have. So he could have visited Raleigh and Spencer ( or visited Spencer’s widow) and the Shakespeare family in Youghal. http://cycleyoughal.wordpress.com/tale-spins-of-the-spokesman/tracing-the-steps-of-the-old-countess/