280 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



pedient or impracticable, at that time, to operate against the Ulster 

 Irish, under the leadership of the chiefs O'Neill and O'Donnell. 

 The Earl designed forcing his way through Leix, where their brave 

 and capable ally, Owney* Mac Eory 0'More,f had assembled his clans- 

 men, and whatever forces he could muster for the occasion. About 

 seven or eight thousand English soldiers constituted the forces with 

 whom Essex marched southwards, according to 0' Sullivan Beare, and 

 the " Annals of the Eour Masters." Other divisions of his army served 

 to garrison some towns north and south of Dublin. The fort of Mary- 

 borough, then held for the Queen, had been invested closely by the 

 O'Moores,^: and all supplies had been cut off from the garrison. To re- 

 lieve the besieged, and revictual the stronghold was a matter of pressing 

 importance. An anonymous document, § in some few details inaccurate, 

 and in others obscure, graphically describes the Earl's expedition. 

 It is well known that the writer was no other than Sir John Harring- 

 ton, a learned scholar, and the translator of Ariosto. His account of 

 the battle in question, making all due allowance for his sympathies 

 and prejudices, may be credited in great part, he being a participator 

 in the engagement, and an eye-witness of the scenes which he describes. 

 On the 10th of May, Essex left Dublin to join his forces, who had 

 rendezvoused between the town and bridge of Kilcullen, Co. Kildare.|| 

 Thence they were led to Tallacoury, where the Earl of Ormond joined 

 them with 700 foot and nearly 200 Irish horse. Continuing their 

 march, the vanguard took that part of Athy which lay on the south 

 side of the River Barrow. A mile below, the main body forded the 

 river, in order to assault the Castle on both sides at once. So soon as 

 the passage of the river had been effected, James Fitz Pierce, who 

 held the Castle, delivered it and himself into the Queen's hands. 

 Essex remained at Athy on the 13th and 14th to repair the bridge, 

 and to await the provisions and ammunition coming from Naas. On 

 the next day, the Earl prepared for a march forwards into the country 



1300 Horse, and 16,000 Foot, which were afterwards increased to 20,000 men com- 

 plete." See " Hibernia Anglicana," Part i., p. 416. Ed. London, folio, 1689. 



* " The Irish name Uaithne is sometimes Anglicised Anthony, but more fre- 

 quently Owny." — Haverty's "History of Ireland," chap, xxxv., p. 469. 



t " He was, by right, the sole heir to his territory [of Leix], and had wrested 

 the government of his patrimony, by the prowess of his hand and the resoluteness of 

 heart, from the hands of foreigners and adventurers, who -had its fee-simple pos- 

 session passing into a prescribed right for some time before, and until he brought 

 it under his own sway and jurisdiction, and under the government of his stewards 

 and bonnaghts, according to the Irish usage." See Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of 

 the Four Masters," Vol. vi., pp. 2178, 2179. 



X William Camden, referring to Mary-Burgh, says, it is " defended by a garri- 

 son under the command of a seneschal, who with much ado keeps off the O'Mores, 

 pretending to be lords of it." See " Britannia," Gibson's Ed., p. 987. 1695, folio. 



§ Published in " Tracts relating to Ireland, printed for the Irish Archaeological 

 Society," Vol ii. : A Treatice of Ireland ; by John Dyniock. Edited by Rev. 

 Bichard Butler, A. B., M. R. I. A, pp. 30 to 33. 



|| According to the Right Hon. Walter Bourchier's account, they mustered to the 

 number of 3000 Foot and 300 Horse. See " Lives and Letters of the Deverenx, 

 Earls of Essex," 1540-1546. Vol. ii., chap, i., p. 26. Lond., 1853. 



