Queen
Elizabeth was now determined to end the war and complete the pacification
of Ireland. Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, was appointed
lord lieutenant and dispatched from London on March 27, 1599.
In Ireland, Essex took command of an army of 16,000 foot soldiers
and 1,300 cavalry. On May 9, Essex, with a sizable task force,
set out for Munster. Accomplishing essentially nothing, the queen
asked why he didn't strike Ulster instead.
Returning
to Dublin, Essex learned that Sir Donough O'Conner was besieged
in the castle at Colooney by O'Donnell. Essex sent a relief force
led by Sir Conyers Clifford to relieve O'Connor, but Clifford's
force was by O'Donnell on August 15 in the Curlieu hills.
On
September 7, O’Neill met Essex on the Monaghan-Louth border
on the River Lagan to discuss making peace, but Essex was foolish
in allowing this meeting to take place without witness, and the
negotiations raised suspecion with the English court. When Essex
returned to England in November, he was imprisoned and beheaded
in the tower of London.
Essex
was replaced in Ireland by Charles Blount, 8th Lord Mountjoy,
as Lord Justice and Sir George Carew as President of Munster.
A veteran of service in the Low Countries and Brittany, Mountjoy
was unlike those who O'Neill had faced in the past - a seasoned
professional. Mountjoy immediately set about improving the condition
and morale of his troops, riding in front of them, regardless
of danger. He was able to spring constant suprise attacks on the
Irish and kept pressure on those he persued. Mountjoy had an excellent
lieutentant in Carew who largely used the Irish against themselves
in his long campaign against the Munster rebels.
Mountjoy
was determined to secure the town of Armagh. Arriving in Newry
on October 26, Mountjoy built a fort capable of holding 400 to
500 men just eight miles from Armagh. A strong English force led
by Sir Henry Docwa had sailed into Lough Foyle to establish itself
in Derry. Hugh Roe O'Donnell was having his own problems. Hugh's
rival, Neill Garve O'Donnell, had been enlisted in Englands cause
with the promise of receiving the title to the whole of Tyrconnell.
At the same time, Sir Arthur Chichester was established in Carrickfergus,
and was similarly exploiting the divisions between the Clandeboye
O'Neills and the Macdonalds. This way, the war was taken deep
into Ulster throughout the fall and winter of 1600.
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