Second Desmond Rebellion - Rebellion Begins

Rebellion Begins

Fitzmaurice’s small force might well have been crushed rapidly had he not been joined on August 1 by John of Desmond. John Fitzedmund Fitzgerald, like Fitzmaurice, had been a soldier and had a large following among his kinsmen and the disaffected and unemployed soldiers of Munster. It was only after John’s joining of the rebellion that it was joined by these soldiers in large numbers. John and his brother, James Fitzedmund Fitzgerald, the Seneschal of Imokilly, marked their entry into the rebellion by assassinating two English officials, Henry Davells and Arthur Carter in a tavern in Tralee.

John of Desmond and Fitzmaurice together commanded a force of over 3000 men, including a small number of European soldiers, and several thousand native Irish troops. The prospect of further continental reinforcements was hampered though, when Sir William Winter, on July 29, 1579, four days after the landing at Smerwick, seized the ships of the invasion force and cut off their sea-routes.

The Earl of Desmond, who was reasonably satisfied with the English settlement of the first rebellion, initially tried to stay out of Fitzmaurice's rebellion and attempted to raise the Geraldines to put it down. However, he managed to assemble only 60 men –in contrast to the thousands raised at short notice by his brother John, indicating that most of the FitzGeralds and their allies sympathised with the rebellion.

A number of the invasion force went to other parts of Ireland. A small number went to Carrigafoyle Castle on the southern banks of the River Shannon (in northern County Kerry), the seat of the Earl of Desmond. This contingent included an Italian engineer, Captain Julian, who set about perfecting the castle's defences.

Fitzmaurice himself mounted a sortie to Connacht to try to provoke rebellion there. However, he was killed in a skirmish with the forces of the Burkes of Clanwilliam on August 18, after his men stole some horses belonging to Theobald Burke (ironically a cousin of Fitzmaurice). This left the rebellion under the command of John of Desmond, now effectively the leader of the Geraldines.

The rebels were left in control of southern Munster and the English did not have enough troops to re-take it. Drury, the English Lord Deputy, marched 600 men to Limerick, where he was joined by Nicholas Malby, with a force of 1,100 English soldiers. Drury was in poor health and died shortly afterwards. He left the Crown forces under the command of Malby.