THE STORY OF IRELAND

New Zealand Tablet, 4 March 1920, Page 7

THE STORY OF IRELAND

(By A. M. Sullivan.)

CHAPTER XLVIL—HOW THE LORD PRESIDENT GATHERED AN ARMY OF FOUR THOUSAND MEN TO CRUSH DOOMED DUNBOY, THE LAST HOPE OF THE NATIONAL CAUSE IN MUNSTER. Carew set out from Cork on April 20, at the head of his army; on the 30th they reached Dunamark, about a mile north of the town of Bantry, having on the way halted —on the 23rd, at Owneßoy, near Kinsale; 24th, at Timoleague; 25th, at Roscarbery; 26th, at Glenharahan, near Castlehaven; 27th, at Baltimore, where they spent two days, Carew visiting Innisherkin; 29th, “on the mountain, at a place called Recareneltaghe, neare unto Kilcoa, being a castel wherein the rebell Conoghor, eldest sonne to Sir Finnin O’Drischoll, knight, held a ward.” Carew spent a month in encampment at Dunamark, by the end of which time the fleet arrived at the same place, or in the bay close by, having come round the coast from Cork. Meantime his message for a war-muster against O’Sullivan had spread throughout Munster. On the other hand, such effort as was possible in their hapless plight was made by the few patriot leaders in the province; all perceiving that upon Dunboy now hung the fate of' the Irish cause, and seeing clearly enough that if they could not keep off from O’Sullivan the tremendous force ordered against him, it must inevitably overwhelm him. Accordingly, spreading themselves eastward around the base of the Beara promontory, and placing themselves on all the lines leading thereto, they desperately disputed the ground with the concentrating English contingents, beating them back or obstructing them as best they could. Above all, the endeavor was to keep Wilmot’s Kerry contingent from coming up. Tyrrell was specially charged to watch Wilmot — hold him in check at Killarney, and at all hazard and any cost to prevent his' junction with Carew at Bantry. Tyrrell posted his force so advantageously in the passes leading southward from Killarney, and held them so firmly, that for weeks Wilmot’s most vehement efforts to force or flank them were in vain. At length, by a feat which merits for him, as a military achievement, everlasting praise—a night march over Mangerton mountain— Wilmot evaded Tyrrell; pushed on through a mountain district scarcely passable at this day for horsemen, until he reached Inchigeela; thence he marched through Ceam-an-eigh Pass (unaccountably left unguarded), and so onward till he reached Bantry. By this junction Carew’s force was raised to nearly 4000 men. While waiting for Wilmot, the daily occupation of the army, according to the Lord President’s accoimt, was sheep-stealing and cowstealing. At Dunamark Carew was joined by the sons of Sir Owen Sullivan, uncle of Donal of Dunboy; and to the information and co-operation given his enemies by these perfidious cousins, Donal most largely owed the fate that subsequently befel him. On May 14 a council of war was held in the English camp to determine their course to Bearhaven; whereat it was decided to march by the southern shore of the bay, called Muinter-varia, to a point nearly opposite Bear Island; from this point, by means of the fleet, to transport the whole army across the bay to Bear Island; and thence across to the mainland close by Dunboy; this course being rendered necessary by the fact that Donal’s forces defended the passes of Glengarriffe, through which alone Bearhaven could be reached by land from Bantry. On May 31, accordingly, Carew marched from Dunamark to “Kilnamenghe on the sea side, in Mountervarry.” The two next following days were occupied in transporting the army to Bear Island, upon which, eventually, the whole force was landed. A short march across the island brought them to its northern shore, in full view of Dunboy, barely a mile distant across the narrow entrance to Bearhaven Harbor. (To be continued.)