On
May 22, 1601, Mountjoy arrived back at Drogheda to force his way
across the then fortified ford at Blackwater on July 14, penetrating
O'Neill's territory as far as Benburb. Then, on August 14, Mountjoy
received reports of English pinnaces encountering some 50 Spanish
ship believed to be headed for Ireland when they were driven back
by a storm.
The
Spanish fleet of 33 ships had set sail from Lisbon under the command
of Admiral Don Diego Brochero carrying 4,464 infantrymen, six
guns for use ashore, and arms and ammunition for the rebels. Sailing
to Ireland, Brochero knew that his best hope of reaching the rebel
coalition was in Ulster, but Cork seemd the better naval option.
Mountjoy
reached Kilkenny on September 14, 1601, and a week later learned
that the Spanish fleet had been forced by adverse winds to land
at Kinsale. On November 1, Mountjoy had captured the fort at Ringcurren
from the Spanish commander at Kinsale, Don Juan de Aguila.
The
withdrawal of so many English troops from Ulster, Connacht, and
Leinster made it certain that O'Neill and O'Donnel would be able
to march south, but it was O'Donnel who moved first, plundering
the countryside as he went. Mountjoy dispatched a force under
Carew to meet O'Donnell in Tipperary. Carew blocked O'Donnell
at Ardmayle, but an unseasonal frost hardened the roads on the
only alternate route across the Sleivefelim Mountains into Limerick,
and O'Donnel was able to slip around Carew's force. Carew hurried
to rejoin Mountjoy on November 25. Instead of moving on to Kinsale,
O'Donnell chose to wait for O'Neill.
Meanwhile,
O'Neill was marching to Kinsale, plundering and burning as he
went. Six of Brochero's which had been detached from the fleet
due to storms had reached Ireland at nearby Castlehaven where
they occupied a number of castles, much to O'Donnell's satisfaction.
Only after this did the local populations of Kerry and Cork side
with the rebels.
As
the English and Spanish exchanged artillery fire on December 3
at Castlehaven, Mountjoy learned of O'Neill's approach. With the
addition of 500 to 600 Munstermen and 200 Spanish troops, the
combined forces of O'Neill and O'Donnell now totaled about 6,500.
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