{"id":1777,"date":"2008-05-16T19:43:49","date_gmt":"2008-05-16T19:43:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.internationaldiplomat.com\/?p=1777"},"modified":"2008-05-16T19:43:49","modified_gmt":"2008-05-16T19:43:49","slug":"flight-earls-bridge-ireland-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/12h71.com\/?p=1777","title":{"rendered":"Flight of the Earls: A Bridge Between Ireland and Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Flight of the Earls\u2019 is the popular term for the departure of Hugh O\u2019Neill, Earl of Tyrone, Rory O\u2019Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell, and their followers from Ireland in 1607. Still regarded as one of the pivotal episodes in Irish history, the period before and after has left its mark on language, literature, religion, politics and the very genetic make-up of the island of Ireland.<\/i>
\nLough Swilly from which they sailed witnessed a key event – the end of the old Gaelic order – when from Portamurray Pier in the small fishing town of Rathmullan, Co. Donegal, at mid-day on 14 September 1607, a small ship with ninety-nine followers set sail for Spain. The chieftains who could not live with the new English order sought refuge with England\u2019s main enemy with the hope either of making a new life for themselves or living to fight another day.<\/i>
\nWomen of the Flight<\/strong>
\nIn comparison to women in most of early modern Europe, Irish women enjoyed a marked degree of independence from their husbands. They had, for example, rights of independent inheritance, education and freedom from physical abuse that were unique for women of their class.
\nThose who sailed from Lough Swilly hoped to return to establish the Gaelic way of life and perhaps women even more than their men folk had a strong interest in trying to make that happen. In fact women played an important role within the exile community and one of the exiles Rosa O\u2019Doherty only seventeen at the time of the Flight returned to Ireland almost half a century later after the Royalist (and Irish) defeat in the Cromwellian wars.
\n\u201cThat foreign ship has three of our women of the nobles of the soil of Banba, the gentle ladies from Erin for whose loss all sorrowed\u201d.
\nThe three gentle ladies were: Catherine O\u2019Neill who married Hugh O\u2019Neill in 1598, Rosa O\u2019Doherty and her infant son Hugh, Nuala O\u2019Donnell, wife of Niall Garbh O\u2019Donnell.
\n400th centenary (1607-2007)<\/strong>
\nTo mark the quarter centenary, a series of major local, national and international conferences and lectures, exhibitions, social, cultural and school programmes have taken place at home and abroad. In part they have been financed by a special programme of the European Union.
\nIn January 2007 a three-part series Flight of the Earls in English and Irish was shown on Northern Ireland BBC ONE and TWO. The series charts the Earls\u2019 epic journey across Europe as they sought help of allies for a victorious return to Ireland. The series uses dramatic reconstructions of significant battles that led up to the Battle of Yellow Ford three miles north of Armagh (1598) and the Battle of Kinsale, Co. Cork (1601). The programmes also explore the reasons behind why the Earls made such a hasty departure from the shores of Lough Swilly in 1607 and reviews 400 year old documents and manuscripts that refer to the Gaelic leaders\u2019 journey.
\nA Bridge between Ireland and Europe<\/strong>
\nIn March 1608 the last of the Gaelic chieftains, their families and friends – over thirty persons in all, men and women, passed into Switzerland from the frontier at Basel on a journey across continental Europe which began in northern France and which eventually took them to Rome.
\nFrom Basel they travelled to Lucerne, across the lake, and upwards over the high ice-bound reaches of the St. Gotthard Pass, descending by sledge to the milder climate of Bellinzona and Lugano. When they eventually reached Milan, then under the control of Spanish allies, they were welcomed and feted with all protocol and hospitality.
\nThe secret order of the day, however, was that they were to be encouraged to go to Rome, not Spain, and in Rome they eventually arrived on 29 April 1608, never to return to Ireland.
\nSwitzerland (1608-2008)<\/strong>
\nOn 17 March 1608, in a late winter storm the nobles lost a fortune in gold down a deep ravine near the famous \u2018Devil\u2019s Bridge\u2019. The gold has never been found: chronicled as lost treasure of the St. Gotthard Pass!
\nThere has been close cooperation between Ireland and Switzerland for commemorative events to be held around 17 March 2008. They include visits and exchanges between high level government and local officials with active participation in preparation of the programme by many Irish expatriates and Swiss nationals.
\nIn 2008 the Swiss cities of Andermatt, Basel, Berne, Geneva, Lucerne, Lugano and Zurich will hold a series of social events, exhibitions, lectures, concerts and theatre performances for which many national institutions, organisations, corporations and individuals have provided support and goodwill. Notable is the professional Tony Award winning play by Brian Friel Making History about this watershed event in Irish history. It has been touring in Europe since 2005.
\nIn Andermatt, at the heart of the Swiss Alps, at the medieval church dedicated to St. Columbanus, a memorial plaque will be unveiled by 1998 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, John Hume, on St. Patrick\u2019s Day 2008.
\nIta Marguet, March 2008<\/strong><\/i>
\nNote: Acknowledgement is given to all sources used in preparation of this text, specifically on-line source Flight of the Earls: A Bridge Between Ireland and Europe (1607-2007). It follows a published article Flight of the Earls: Ireland and Switzerland (1607-1608) by Ita Marguet, January 2008.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Flight of the Earls\u2019 is the popular term for the departure of Hugh O\u2019Neill, Earl of Tyrone, Rory O\u2019Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell, and their followers from Ireland in 1607. Still regarded as one of the pivotal episodes in Irish history, the period before and after has left its mark on language, literature, religion, politics and
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