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Showing posts from March, 2020

Assault on the Blackwater

February 1595. Aodh Mor O'Neill through his Gaelic allies has been engaged in a proxy war with the Tudor English in Ireland as they continued their encroachment onto Gaelic Irish lands. Now on the 16th of that month he openly commits an act of aggression against the English in Ulster. A group of Irish soldiers led by his half brother Art MacBaron O'Neill approach the fort, apparently with prisoners in tow. At this stage O'Neill and many local septs and families were nominally "loyal" to the Tudor crown in England.  One veteran of  O'Neills army tells his story of the events on his deathbed many years later. No doubt copious amounts of Poitín and the drying of time had shaped the story, but is that not which makes legends. For the full experience, click on the two youtube links at the bottom of the page and play these songs by the Chieftains while reading. I promise you will enjoy. Kicks in something fierce midway through.   Nice and slow, no hurry.