The Flight of the Earls Ends Gaelic Ulster
Ireland's two greatest Gaelic lords sail into exile from a small Donegal harbor, and take the old order with them
Quick facts
- Date
- 14 September 1607
- Departure point
- Rathmullan, Lough Swilly, Co. Donegal
- Key earls
- Hugh O'Neill (Tyrone), Rory O'Donnell (Tyrconnell)
- Total departing
- c. 100 people
What happened
On 14 September 1607, Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, Rory O'Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell, and Cuchonnacht Maguire boarded an unnamed 80-ton French warship at Rathmullan on Lough Swilly in County Donegal, together with their families, servants, soldiers, and roughly 100 followers in total, and sailed for La Coruna in Spain. Mounting legal pressure on their lands, religious tension, and disputes over traditional Gaelic rights under the new English administration had made their position in Ulster untenable following their defeat in the Nine Years War. Their departure was permanent: neither earl returned to Ireland, and English authorities used their absence to declare their vast Ulster estates forfeit to the crown.
Why it matters
The Flight of the Earls removed the last major obstacle to a full-scale English settlement of Ulster and is treated by Irish historians as the symbolic end of the old Gaelic aristocratic order, clearing the ground directly for the Plantation of Ulster two years later.
How we know
The Flight of the Earls is documented in contemporary English administrative correspondence and in Irish annals recording the earls' departure, and the event is commemorated at Rathmullan, where the departure point is marked today.
Sources
- History Ireland. The Flight of the Earls: escape or strategic regrouping? · General sourcehistoryireland.com · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- History Ireland. After the Flight: the Plantation of Ulster · General sourcehistoryireland.com · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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