[MR] Wikipedia: Papal Troops In Ireland, 1580

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On 10 September 1580, some 600 troops from the Papal States landed in
Ireland on the Dingle peninsula to support the Desmond Rebellion. The
soldiers arrived in several Spanish ships, and brought weapons and supplies
to replenish the Irish rebels. The expedition was financed by Pope Gregory
XIII and Philip II of Spain.

The invaders were stopped from penetrating into Ireland by an English land
force, and English ships blockaded the Spanish ships in the harbor. The
Papal forces fortified Smerwick and held out until 10 October when their
Spanish commander, Sebastiano di San Giuseppe, surrendered the garrison
after agreeing to a substantial English bribe. The next day all the common
soldiers of the Papal force were beheaded, sparing only the officers.

You can read about the siege at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Smerwick .

This is pretty nasty history, but the two Desmond Rebellions were extremely
brutal on both sides, as were English policies of throwing the Irish off
their lands to starve and replacing them with Protestant settlers. The
rebellions also pitted various Irish clans against one another, some
opposing the English and others fighting beside Queen Elizabeth's forces.
The clans were settling old private grievances, as well as jockeying for
favor and power under English rule. Then there was the whole issue of
Protestant versus Catholic. Ireland was seen as a sort of "back door" where
the Pope and other Catholic powers might gain a foothold that could lead to
a future conquest of Protestant England.

More about the Second Desmond Rebellion is found here at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Desmond_Rebellion .

Spain made another attempt to wrest Ireland from the English during the
Nine Years War. The Earl of Tyrone and Red Hugh O'Donnell, backed by
Spanish money and troops, headed a nearly successful rebellion between 1593
to 1603. Mismanagement of the English armies by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl
of Essex, led to an attempted putsch against Queen Elizabeth, and his
subsequent execution.

A summary of this rebellion is found at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Years%27_War_(Ireland) .

Irish rebellions, and later agitation, against English rule would continue
until the Irish Free State was founded in 1922. That still was not the end
of Ireland's misery, as friction over the six Ulster counties that remain
British continues to this day.

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆