Florence Conry, the Flight of the Earls, and Native-Catholic Militancy

Abstract

Florence Conry, the Flight of the Earls, and Native-Catholic Militancy Jerrold Casway In her compilation of the Spanish correspondence of Hugh O'Neill, the earl of Tyrone, Micheline Kerney Walsh tried to vindicate his 1607 "flight" decision. 1 In the preface to that volume, Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich condemned the very term "flight." He declared that this "phrase deserves to be expunged from an Irishman's vocabulary." 2 Kerney Walsh herself disagreed with the position that the flight was an ill-considered escape to avoid English imprisonment, and sought to defend the earls' decision to leave Ireland; she called the exodus a "planned tactical retreat," and asserted that it was neither a "panic decision," nor a "journey into voluntary exile." 3 If Kerney Walsh is correct, then O'Neill and his companions must have been anticipating continental relief and succor. Their supposition was based on the illusory assumption that Spain and Catholic Europe would need only a minimum provocation to provide support for Irish causes. Had O'Neill and his fellow refugees been successful in getting aid, the "flight" term would surely not have taken on negative connotations from future commentators. A key question, however, is whether there was in fact any verification for the backing they so wishfully expected. During the late Tudor Irish wars an ideological association evolved linking the Catholic faith with Irish liberation. Modern historians, notably Hiram Morgan, have characterized this as a "faith and fatherland" creed; an abstraction that matured under O'Neill during the last Elizabethan Irish conflict, the Nine Years' War (1594-1603). Unfortunately for the Gaelic order, this struggle never kindled a projected holy war. Neither was it surprising when England's postwar encroachments against O'Neill reignited the aforementioned "faith and fatherland" expectations of earlier conflicts. In a post-flight letter to Phillip III of Spain, O'Neill asked the king "to liberate that kingdom [Catholic Ireland] from heresy and tyranny." The seductive belief that continental Catholics would sustain [End Page 111] Ireland's struggle remained illusory—but it was precisely this delusion that nourished the "flight" decision. In fact no evidence exists that Spain or Rome offered anything substantial or official to lure O'Neill and his confederates to the continent. 4 It appears, then, that the "flight" decision was based on misinformation if not outright fantasy. What are "flight" apologists like Kerney Walsh and Ó Fiaich overlooking when they defend the decision? The answer may involve the wishful and naive optimism promoted by chauvinistic continental Irish agents, such as Fr. Florence Conry—bellicose clerics who believed that if all else failed, O'Neill's appearance in Catholic Europe might inflame the polity of the Counter-Reformation. In other words, if Spain and Rome were confronted by such a fait accompli, they would accept de facto responsibility for these refugees, and in turn, for the cause of a reformed Catholic Ireland. Florence Conry (Fláithri Ó Maolconaire) was born in County Roscommon in 1560 and died in Madrid in 1629. His family had been hereditary chroniclers of the O'Connors and MacDermotts of Connaught. Trained as a chronicler in traditional bardic arts, Conry had a deep attachment to his native culture and history. Around 1592 Conry, already in his early thirties, went abroad to study theology at the Irish College in Salamanca, where he grew distressed by the favoritism given by Jesuits to Irish students of Old English background. Believing these practices prejudiced native Irish students, Conry incited a controversy with Father Thomas White, the college's founding headmaster. Soon after this clash, Conry left Salamanca and joined the local Franciscan College that he believed was better aligned to the religious expectations of the postwar native Catholic north. Under their auspices Conry recommitted his devotion to his native society and its defenders. 5 [End Page 112] Florence Conry's religious affiliations and commitments complemented his political mission. Closely associated with O'Neill's ally, the lord of Tyrconnell, Hugh Roe O'Donnell, Conry used Counter-Reformation appeals to lobby Spanish authorities for support during the Nine Years War. He even accompanied Spanish troops in 1602 when they landed at Kinsale. Following this failed intervention, Conry returned to Spain with Hugh Roe...