Darren McGettigan – författare

The Nine Years War was the greatest challenge that Gaelic Ireland presented to the Elizabethan English state. The role played by the young chieftain, Red Hugh O'Donnell (1572-1602), in the Gaelic confederacy that fought this war, was crucial. Without him, the possibility of such successful and wide-ranging resistance to the expansion of English power in Ireland would not have possible. This book represents a major reappraisal of O'Donnell's role. It is a study of how the abuse of power by English captains and officials led to the growth of anti-English sentiment in the lordship of Tir Chonaill and in O'Donnell's thinking itself, due in large part to his imprisonment in Dublin Castle. It is also a study in how the Gaelic lordships of Ulster proved themselves to be capable of military and political innovation, to enable their leaders to fashion a formidable confederacy which came very close to ending English sovereignty over Ireland.

The late medieval kings of England showed little interest in their Lordship of Ireland. They showed even less interest in the Gaelic Irish population of the island. Richard II, however, was different. This English monarch led two expeditions to Ireland in 1394-5 and the summer of 1399. Once across the Irish Sea, it was Richard's fate to encounter a group of able Gaelic Irish kings, who were probably the most capable and talented of the entire late medieval period. Of these chieftains the most prominent were Art MacMurchadha Caomhanach, king of the Leinster Mountains, and Niall Mor and Niall Og O Neill, kings of Tyrone and high-kings of Ulster. Richard II ended up largely out-negotiated after his first expedition to the island, and unexpectedly outfought during his second. When he returned to his English kingdom Richard was immediately deposed and later murdered by his cousin, Henry, duke of Hereford, who then became King Henry IV. This book is the story of these remarkable encounters between a late medieval English monarch and his reluctant Gaelic Irish vassals at the close of the 14th century. *** "Among the most valuable aspects of the book is its meticulous account of the contemporary sources. Recommended [for] library collections on Richard II, the English monarchy, and medieval Ireland." --Choice, Vol. 54, No. 9, May 2017 [Subject: Medieval History, Early Modern History, Invasions & Conquests, Monarchy, Ireland & the UK]