Cathal O’Connor Faly (Irish: Cathal Ó Conchobhair) (c. 1540 - November 1596), anglicised Charles O'Connor, was an Irish rebel of the sixteenth century. He was known by the Spanish as Don Carlos or Don Carolo - though he is not to be confused with Don Carlos, Prince of Asturias.[1]
Cathal O'Connor Cathal Ó Conchobhair | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1540 Ireland |
| Died | November 1596 (aged 56) Corcubión, Galicia, Spain |
| Other names | Don Carlos |
| Parents |
|
| Family | O'Connor dynasty, FitzGerald family |
As a young man, O'Connor was a political spy for the Catholics in Great Britain. As a rebel, he killed several high-ranking English soldiers before escaping to Spain in the 1580s, where he joined the Spanish Armada.
Early life edit
O’Connor was born about 1540 into the O’Connor family, an Irish noble dynasty that formerly ruled the Kingdom of Connacht. His father was Brian O’Connor Faly (c. 1490 - 1560), Baron Offaly,[1] and his mother was Lady Mary FitzGerald, daughter of the 9th Earl of Kildare.[2] He was a foster-brother of Richard Tyrrell, who went on to command troops at the battle of Kinsale.[3]
Political career edit
O’Connor was taken to Scotland as a child. In 1560, he accompanied representative Henri Cleutin to France, and appealed to Catholic Englishman Francis Throckmorton to "intercede for his pardon and restoration". On Throckmorton's advice, O'Connor became a spy in the service of Mary, Queen of Scots.[1]
In 1563, he obtained a grant of Castle Brackland and other lands in King's County (now Offaly).[1]
Rebellion edit
O’Connor was implicated in the Desmond Rebellions, led by James FitzMaurice FitzGerald and the Earl of Desmond.[1]
In response to the Massacre of Mullaghmast led by Francis Cosby and Lord Deputy Henry Sidney, where over 100 Gaelic nobles were killed, the enraged O'Connor "inflicted great devastation on the English, and often vainly attacked them".[4]
In May 1582, O'Connor and his followers ambushed and captured English Captain Henry Mackworth. They met Mackworth at Eosbrye, Co. Kildare, where he was returning from Dublin to Philipstown, under the pretence of parleying with him. Instead, the group captured him and carried him off to the woods.[5][1] Lord Deputy Arthur Grey ordered Henry Warren, sheriff of King's County, to call for Mackworth's release. O'Connor refused, unless his safety could be granted via royal pardon from Elizabeth I. When the administration refused, O'Connor murdered Mackworth.[5]
Grey had no alternative but to engage in active warfare against O'Connor. The rebel and his followers dispersed themselves among the wilderness of Kildare to escape Grey's incoming forces; they planned to remain hidden until winter for a better chance of retaliation. Eventually, the majority of O'Connor's men submitted and received pardons. Only O'Connor, who had no chance of a pardon, persisted resisting and eluded every attempt by the garrison at Philipstown to apprehend him.[5]
MacFort's "pardon" edit
MacFort, an Englishman, began negotiating a treaty with O'Connor, and a day was arranged between them for MacFort to produce the pardon.[4]
On the day, as agreed, MacFort arrived on horseback and O'Connor arrived on foot with his ally Conal MacGeoghegan. During their parley, MacFort frequently showed the two men a parchment but refused to let them read it. MacFort began to leave, but O'Connor sprang from the high ground, grabbed him around the neck and dragged him off his saddle to the ground.[4]
MacFort put the parchment in his mouth and started to swallow, to stop O'Connor and MacGeoghegan from reading it. The men pried MacFort's jaws open with their hands, and upon reading the parchment, O'Connor discovered it was an order from the Queen for MacFort to capture and kill him. O'Connor and MacGeoghegan killed MacFort for his deception.[4]
Spain edit
O'Connor subsequently fled to Scotland in a pinnace; then, disguised as a sailor, he stowed away on a Scottish vessel to Spain.[3][1][4]
He joined the Spanish Armada under the Duke of Parma in the Netherlands. After the Armada's defeat, he returned to Spain and was dubbed Don Carlos.[1][3] His pension was thirty crowns per month, and he regularly corresponded with Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone.[1]
Death edit
In November 1596, O'Connor embarked the 2nd Spanish Armada at Lisbon with his mother, wife, and children, attempting to sail back to Ireland.[1] The vessel - the Sonday - perished in a shipwreck at the port of Corcubión, Galicia, and O'Connor drowned.[4][1][3]
See also edit
- Giolla Pádraig O'More (died 1548), ally of his father Brian O'Connor Faly
References edit
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Dunlop, Robert. "O'Connor, Brian". Dictionary of National Biography. 41.
- ^ O'Byrne, Emmett (October 2009). "O'Connor Faly (Ó Conchobhair Failghe), Brian". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.006622.v1. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
- ^ a b c d McGettigan, Darren (October 2009). "Tyrrell, Richard". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.008702.v1.
- ^ a b c d e f Beare, Philip O'Sullivan. Chapters towards a History of Ireland in the reign of Elizabeth. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
- ^ a b c Dunlop, R (January 1891). "The Plantation of Leix and Offaly". The English Historical Review. 6 (21). Oxford University Press: 85. JSTOR 546781.