Mullaghmast massacre

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The Mullaghmast ( Irish Ár Mhullach Maistean ) massacre took place in 1577 in the Iron Age council of Mullaghmast (also Mullamast ), which is located between Ballytore and Burtown in County Kildare in Ireland . It refers to the execution of members of seven Irish clans by the British military. There were few documents on the massacre until records appeared in the National Library of Ireland. The clans of the McEvoys, O'Devoys, O'Dorans, O'Dowlings, O'Kellys, O'Lalors and O'Moores were affected when they came to Mullaghmast, invited by the English army for peace talks.

Several hundred English families were settled in the Irish Midlands in the 1550s. In the areas of Leix ( Laois ) and Offaly ( Uíbh Fhailí ) land was confiscated and the areas set up as new counties (Leix under the name Queen's County ), which aroused resistance from the local clans. Sir Francis Cosby, the commander of the Queen's troops in Leix and Offaly, drew up the plan for the permanent conquest of the counties. The clan emissaries were surrounded by cavalry and driven into the council. According to tradition, the O'Moores suffered the greatest loss, as 140 of them were killed. English sources speak of 40, Irish of 400 dead. One of them escaped temporarily but was later killed by the English army.

Monster meeting

In 1843 one of the 40 or so monster meetings organized by the “Liberator” Daniel O'Connell to abolish the union between England and Ireland took place in Mullaghmast. It is said to have been the largest, with 10,000 to 15,000 people participating, but that probably took place in Tara .

The song " The Bloody Hole " deals with the massacre.

See also

literature

  • Vincent P. Carey: Surviving the Tudors: Gerald the 'Wizard' Earl of Kildare and English Rule in Ireland, 1537-1586 . Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2002; ISBN 1851825495
  • Vincent P. Carey: John Derricke's Image of Ireland, Sir Henry Sidney and the massacre at Mullaghmast, 1578 . In: Irish Historical Studies , May 1999; ISSN  0021-1214 .
  • Lord Walter FitzGerald: Mullaghmast, its History and Traditions . In: Journal of the County Kildare Archaeological Society , Vol. 1, No. 6, pp. 379-390 (1895).

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