The
Irish army quickly disintegrated. O'Donnell's men of Donegal and
Connaught, seeing two thirds of the Irish army in retreat, also
marched off to make their seperate ways home, in spite of O'Donnell's
exhortations.
Meanwhile,
Aguila had concluded that the Irish had canceled the two-pronged
attack plan and had not moved from Kinsale. When Mountjoy fired
a volley to celebrate his victory, Aguila took it as a signal
from the Irish to attack, only to see the entire English army
arrayed against him waving Spanish colors captured from Castlehaven.
The Spanish quickly withdrew back into Kinsale, and Mountjoy was
reluctant to storm the town.
On
Januray 2, 1602, Aguila agreed to surrender terms that involved
the Spanish withdrawing from all the fortresses they held. In
return they would be shipped home with their arms, ammunition,
and colors. By the time he returned to Spain Aguila found that
O'Donnell had arrived before him seeking further support, and
found the failure of the joint ventured being unfairly laid at
his feet. He died soon afterward, as did Hugh Roe O'Donnell that
following autumn while awaiting another Spanish expedition that
never came.
The
Battle of Kinsale was the turning point in the nine years war,
although it would continue for another 15 months before O'Neill
finally surrendered at Mellifort on March 30, 1603, six days after
Elizabeth's death - which Montjoy had concealed from him to get
the best terms of surrender. Upon the subsequent learning of the
queen's death, the enigmatic O'Neill wept.
Created
Earl of Devonshire following his successful campaign, Mountjoy
died of pneumonia in 1606 at the age of 41. O'Neill had to give
up his Irish title, but retained his English status as Earl of
Tyrone as did some of the other Irish leaders in Ulster under
the Stewart rein of King James I. Later, however, when they learned
of an English plot to imprison them, O'Neill, Hugh Roe's brother
Rory O'Donnell, and other former rebels tooship for the continent
on September 4, 1607 in an event known as "The Flight of
the Earls." Hugh O'Neill died in Rome in 1616. The lands
of the exiled chieftains were subsequently confiscated and divided
into plantations for Scottish and English Protestant nobility.
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Sources:
Richard
Hooker - World Cultures - Washington State University
Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies
Encyclopedia Britanica
Britiannia
Turning Pont in the Battle for Ireland - Jon Latimer
Elizabeth's Irish Wars - Cyril Falls
Elizabeth's Army - Charles Cruikshank
Irish Battles: A Military History of Ireland - G.A. Hayes-McCoy
hoganstand.com
historylearningsite.co.uk