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The Nine Years War (1593-1603), sometimes known as Tyrone's Rebellion, was one of the most devastating and brutal conflicts to sweep the island. Never would the English Crown come so close to losing its grip on Ireland. It was brought on by a combination of English misrule, Irish ambition and the fortuitous creation of political ties with Spain. A confederation of Irish lords led by the charismatic and exceptionally gifted Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, swept from one victory to another. Part 1 of this series will examine the years of Irish triumph as English nonchalance turned to disbelief and then panic as Irish armies engaged with and defeated all attempts by the Crown to restore English authority.
Tyrone duped the English state into believing it was engaged in a local affair against Hugh Maguire, lord of Fermanagh, for the first two years of the war. While the English fought a shooting war in the west of Ulster, Tyrone raised an unprecedented confederation of Irish lords that set aside parochial self-interest to mount a concerted and coordinated effort to eject English power from Ireland once and for all.
Time and again, English armies were engaged and defeated by modernised Irish forces fighting with a skill and technical sophistication never before seen. This series of Crown defeats came to a bloody climax at the battle of the Yellow Ford on 14 August 1598. The Irish shattered the English field army in a matter of hours. Its commander, Henry Bagenal, was killed along with almost half his men. The battle remains the greatest defeat given to the English by Irish arms and a striking reverse to a period often seen as Elizabeth's Golden Age.
