Legacy
O'Byrne role has been overshadowed by accounts of O'Neill in the Nine Years War. In June 1597, O'Neill attacked on several fronts - Carrickfergus, Newry and Westmeath - in retaliation for the killing of his ally. O'Byrne's sons, Phelim and Redmond, survived their father and were active during the remainder of the war.
On going north into Ulster, Phelim was given charge of the Blackwater fort. In October 1597, the brothers returned south and began active operations at O'Neill's direction with a force under the command of the O'Mores. In 1599, Phelim had a success against the ill-fated army of the Earl of Essex (see Essex in Ireland), and Redmond returned to O'Neill's ranks. After the war, in 1606, Phelim and Redmond received grants of what lands were left to them in their father's estate.
It was under the patronage of Feagh McHugh O'Byrne that part of the Book of O'Byrne, a collection of Gaelic poems, was compiled. A manuscript copy was sold at auction in 2000 at Dublin.
Feagh McHugh O'Byrne is celebrated in the song by P.J. McCall 'Follow me up to Carlow'.
Read more about this topic: Fiach Mc Hugh O'Byrne
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“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)