The Lord Deputy was besieging Kinsale, and Carew joined him there. The siege was continued through the month of November during which time fresh reinforcements came from Spain; and on the 21st of December, O'Neill arrived with all his force. Unfortunately, the Spanish general had become thoroughly disgusted with the enterprise; and, although the position of the English was such that the Lord Deputy had serious thoughts of raising the siege, he insisted on decisive measures; and O'Neill was obliged to surrender his opinion, which was entirely against this line of action. A sortie was agreed upon for a certain night; but a youth in the Irish camp, who had been in the President's service formerly, warned him of the intended attack. This was sufficient in itself to cause the disaster which ensued. But there were other misfortunes. O'Neill and O'Donnell lost their way; and when they reached the English camp at dawn, found the soldiers under arms, and prepared for an attack. Their cavalry at once charged, and the new comers in vain struggled to maintain their ground, and a retreat which they attempted was turned into a total rout.

A thousand Irish were slain, and the prisoners were hanged without mercy. The loss on the English side was but trifling. It was a fatal blow to the Irish cause. Heavy were the hearts and bitter the thoughts of the brave chieftains on that sad night. O'Neill no longer hoped for the deliverance of his country; but the more sanguine O'Donnell proposed to proceed at once to Spain, to explain their position to King Philip. He left Ireland in a Spanish vessel three days after the battle—if battle it can be called; and O'Neill marched rapidly back to Ulster with Rory O'Donnell, to whom Hugh Roe had delegated the chieftaincy of Tir-Connell.

D'Aquila, whose haughty manners had rendered him very unpopular, now surrendered to Mountjoy, who received his submission with respect, and treated his army honorably. According to one account, the Spaniard had touched some English gold, and had thus been induced to desert the Irish cause; according to other authorities, he challenged the Lord Deputy to single combat, and wished them to decide the question at issue. In the meantime, O'Sullivan Beare contrived to get possession of his own Castle of Dunboy, by breaking into the wall at the dead of night, while the Spanish garrison were asleep, and then declaring that he held the fortress for the King of Spain, to whom he transferred his allegiance. Don Juan offered to recover it for the English by force of arms; but the Deputy, whose only anxiety was to get him quietly out of the country, urged his immediate departure. He left Ireland on the 20th of February; and the suspicions of his treachery must have had some foundation, for he was placed under arrest as soon as he arrived in Spain.

The siege of Dunboy is one of the most famous and interesting episodes in Irish history. The castle was deemed almost impregnable from its situation; and every argument was used with Sir George Carew to induce him to desist from attacking it. It was then, indeed—

"Dunboy, the proud, the strong,
The Saxon's hate and trouble long."[[454]]

But the Lord Deputy had resolved that it should be captured. The Lord President considered the enterprise would be by no means difficult, for "he declared that he would plant the ordnance without the losse of a man; and within seven dayes after the battery was begun, bee master of all that place."[[455]] There was considerable delay in the arrival of the shipping which conveyed the ordnance, and operations did not commence until the 6th of June. The defence of the castle was intrusted by O'Sullivan to Richard MacGeoghegan. The chief himself was encamped with Tyrrell in the interior of the country. The soldiers were tempted, and the governor was tempted, but neither flinched for an instant from their duty. The garrison only consisted of 143 fighting men, with a few pieces of cannon. The besieging army was about 3,000 strong, and they were amply supplied with ammunition. On the 17th of June, when the castle was nearly shattered to pieces, its brave defenders offered to surrender if they were allowed to depart with their arms; but the only reply vouchsafed was to hang their messenger, and to commence an assault.

The storming party were resisted for an entire day with undaunted bravery. Their leader was mortally wounded, and Taylor took the command. The garrison at last retreated into a cellar into which the only access was a narrow flight of stone steps, and where nine barrels of gunpowder were stored. Taylor declared he would blow up the place if life were not promised to those who surrendered. Carew refused, and retired for the night, after placing a strong guard over the unfortunate men. The following morning he sent cannon-ball in amongst them, and Taylor was forced by his companions to yield without conditions. As the English soldiers descended the steps, the wounded MacGeoghegan staggered towards the gunpowder with a lighted candle, and was in the act of throwing it in, when he was seized by Captain Power, and in another moment he was massacred. Fifty-eight of those who had surrendered were hanged immediately; a few were reserved to see if they could be induced to betray their old companions, or to renounce their faith; but as they "would not endeavour to merit life"[[456]] they were executed without mercy. One of these prisoners was a Father Dominic Collins. He was executed in Youghal, his native town—a most unwise proceeding; for his fate was sure to excite double sympathy in the place where he was known, and, consequently, to promote double disaffection.[[457]] O'Sullivan Beare assigns the 31st of October as the day of his martyrdom.

The fall of Dunboy was a fatal blow to the national cause. The news soon reached Spain. Hugh O'Donnell had been warmly received there; but the burst of grief which his people uttered when they saw him departing from his native land, was his death-keen, for he did not long survive his voluntary expatriation. The war might now be considered over—at least, until the victims recovered courage to fight once more for their own; but the victims had to be taught how dearly they should pay for each attempt at national independence. Captain Harvey was sent to Carberry, "to purge the country of rebels"[[458]] by martial law. Wilmot was sent to Kerry, with orders to extirpate whole districts, which arrangement is called "settling the country," in the official document from which I quote. On one occasion a number of wounded Irish soldiers were found, who are described as "hurt and sick men;" they were at massacred, and this is called putting them out of pain.[[459]]

Donnell O'Sullivan now found his position hopeless, and commenced his famous retreat to Leitrim. He set out with about 1,000 people, of whom only 400 were fighting men; the rest were servants, women, and children. He fought all the way, and arrived at his destination with only thirty-five followers.[[460]]