Rathlin Island Massacre

Bruce's cave, one of Rathlin Island's caves, etching by Mrs.Gage, 1851

The Rathlin Island Massacre took place on Rathlin Island, off the coast of Ireland on 26 July 1575,[1] when more than 600 Scots and Irish were killed.

Sanctuary attacked

Rathlin Island was used as a sanctuary because of its natural defences and rocky shores; when the wind blows from the west, in earlier times it was almost impossible to land.[2] It was also respected as a hiding place, as it was the one-time abode of St. Columba.[2] Installing themselves in the castle built in the 14th century by the Scottish King Robert the Bruce, the MacDonnells made Rathlin their base for resistance to the Enterprise of Ulster. Sorley Boy and other Scots also thought it prudent to send their wives, children, elderly and sick to the Island for safety.[2]

Acting on the instructions of Sir Henry Sidney and the Earl of Essex, Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Norreys took the castle by storm. Drake used two cannons to batter the castle and when the walls gave through, Norreys ordered direct attack on 25 July.[3] The Captain was killed and Constable of the garrison surrendered. Norreys set the terms of surrender:[3] the Constable, his family and one of the hostages were given safe passage and all other defending soldiers were killed, and [3] next morning, 26 July 1575, Norreys' forces hunted the old, sick, very young and women who were hiding in the caves. Despite the surrender, they killed all the 200 defenders and more than 400 civilian men, women and children.[4] The people killed were families of followers of Sorley Boy MacDonnell.[5] Sir Francis Drake was also charged with the task of preventing any Scottish reinforcement vessels reaching the Island.[4]

The entire family of Sorley Boy MacDonnell perished in the massacre.[3] Essex, who ordered the killings, boasted in a letter to Francis Walsingham, the queen's secretary and spymaster, that Sorley Boy MacDonnell watched the massacre from the mainland helplessly and was "like to run mad from sorrow".[3]

Aftermath

Norreys stayed on the island and tried to rebuild the walls of the castle so that the English might use the structure as a fortress. As Drake was not paid to defend the island, he departed with his ships. Norreys realised that it was not possible to defend the island without intercepting Scottish galleys and he returned to Carrickfergus in September 1575.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bradshaw, edited by Brendan; Hadfield, Andrew; Maley, Willy (1993). Representing Ireland : literature and the origins of conflict, 1534-1660 (1. publ. ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. ISBN 9780521416344.
  2. 1 2 3 Rev. Hugh, Forde. "Rathlin Island". Library Ireland. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Nolan, John S (1997). Sir John Norreys and the Elizabethan Military World. Exeter: University of Exeter Press. pp. 27–30. ISBN 9780859895484.
  4. 1 2 F, Saladin (2011). The Babylonian code Vol 1 The Unholy scriptures. GRIN Verlag. p. 254. ISBN 9783640945443.
  5. ↑ John Sugden, Sir Francis Drake, Simon Schuster New York, ISBN 0-671-75863-2

External links

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