The Battle of Ballyshannon 1597

The Battle of Ballyshannon 1597

Introduction

Back in 2015, i was commissioned by Ballyshannon & District Museum to create a piece of artwork based on the events surrounding the Battle of Ballyshannon in 1597. The Museum, wanted the piece to show O'Donnell's Castle being assaulted by the English forces in their August 1597 campaign. This would show the castle, but also various aspects the battle.

Once, i had the brief and had familiarised myself with the events, it was time to hit the road and head to Ballyshannon on fieldtrip. I've always found visiting a site, a worthwhile investment of time just to see a place and get a better understanding of the topography. Fieldtrips, can also influence the direction of the artwork as seeing a place sometimes opens you up more to other possibilities you may not have thought of working in the studio, but they can also show you that what you may have envisioned may not be possible also.

My first task was to establish where everything was, the castle, Assaroe Abbey, Assaroe falls, the old ford, Samer island etc. From this i was able to establish different vantage points and likely points of view, then what is visible and not, that way creating ideas for possible compositions and designs cross referencing my photos, my notes and the historical accounts.

One of the most informative pieces of reference i came across while researching the battle, was the fantastic 1770s townscape painting of Ballyshannon by Thomas Roberts (1748-1777). This clearly shows the look of Ballyshannon would have had before it was altered by development. I was able to use this to pinpoint areas of interest (in red) and see the river in its full glory above the falls.

Thomas Robert's (1748-1777) ‘Ballyshannon’, showing Samer island, the old bridge, the Castle & position of fortification on Mullaghnashee in red, Photo © National Gallery of Ireland

the Falls in the 19th century, giving an impression of what the the English soldiers faced, the falls have been modified to harness the waters power (please let me know who owns this).

The real issue trying to envision the area, was not so much the modern townscape, being an old town Ballyshannons urban development would follow the topography closely, but the legacy of the late 1940s Hydro Electric dam's terraforming of the river basin and complete removal of the Heroes "Assaroe" falls (see below). So the first thing i had to try to do was somehow turn back the clock, creating a window into the past, so i had a mental template to set the scene for the artwork. Following the fieldtrips, a trawl of old photos, OS maps and my photos, i was able to recreate a likely riverscape using modern photos.this was the key to figuring out the what direction to approach this, in order to show everything we needed to show.

the position of the various sites in 1597

Contemporary Sources

Another useful resource was the fact the English obsessively mapped their conquest of Ulster, with a plethora of images created by 2 of the more important cartographers, John Thomas and Richard Bartlett (d. 1603). This means we have a contemporary image of Ballyshannon castle, Assaroe Abbey and some other details of the area prior to the battle, some of which are still traceable today (see bibliography). After familarising myself with the area, establishing the relationship between the Castle and the surrounding area, it was time to put pen to paper.

So it begins

After understanding the where and when of the event, it was time to get into the who. This meant, finding out who was involved, the composition of the English force, did it have artillery, cavalry, camp followers etc. Information on the battle itself isnt that easy to source online, compared to other battles of the period, so i had to rely mostly on contemporary sources (see bibliography) cross referencing this with various tidbits of information i could glean and the Annals of the Four masters which luckily had 10 pages on the events surrounding this engagement. Along with Bartletts image of the siege of Enniskillen a few years prior to Ballyshannon.

This event occur's during the Nine years War (1594-1603), when the major Gaelic Lords of Ulster finally rose out against the English Crown and its allies in Ireland. The English were trying to tighten the noose on Ulster to stamp out the rebellion. As there was limited access to Ulster geographically, it was vital for the English to first control strategic points with garrisons as spring boards to launch forays into the heart of Ulster and tighten the noose.

The aerial shot below shows the route the English took, marching went as far as Belleek to cross the Erne at Atha Cuil Uain and then come back towards Assaroe, where they used the Abbey complex to set up camp. They were supplied the following day by ship from Galway and all supplies being unloaded onto Samer island under heavy guard.

aerial view, showing places and routes (copyright unknown, please let me know)

The Castle

Ballyshannon has always been a place of strategic importance, as one of the few accessible crossing points between Connaught and Ulster. Today these important places are marked by towns and many of these had castles and forts guarding the fords. Given the edemic warfare between the clans, English or Anglo Irish lords of Connaught. The Castle was constructed by Niall Garbh Ó Domhnaill in 1423 to control the ford over the Erne, probably replacing an existing structure. The castle was captured and sacked by Conn Bacach O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone in 1522, there was the battle in 1597, following the defeat of the Gaelic Chiefs in Ulster, the castle was transferred to Henry Folliot in 1606. The castle was eventually demolished in 1720 being replaced by a cavalry barracks. In the modern era the site had become a market yard, until it was developed into a car park. So the foundations of the castle are under the car park today.

This Castle (based on the Erne map) conforms to the fortification typology known as a "tower house" common in Ireland and Scotland. In this case (based on John Thomas map 1593) Ballyshannon was a tower house with a "bawn" (surrounding wall) with 4 "flanker towers" on each corner (see clay model). It looks as if it has a thatched roof, the falls, as well as the Abbey are also shown. What condition these structures were in 1597 is an interesting question. The fact the English couldnt break through suggests it must have been well defended and maintained though. Below is a photo of the car park, followed by the same photo with a possible reconstruction of castle superimposed and finally an impression of the Castle placed in a typical landscape of the area.

In this Car park, is the remains of the castle, Seán Ó' Brógáin © 2015

Impression of castle & environs, Seán Ó Brógáin © 2015

Preliminary skecthes & compositional concepts

So following the initial fieldtrip and research, it was time to try to brainstorm and eek out some ideas for the composition & layout. Below are some of these idea's.

my first drawing from beginning of commison, Seán Ó' Brógáin © 2015

Seán Ó' Brógáin © 2015

Seán Ó' Brógáin © 2015

The Final Composition

Below are a series images, showing the progression of the painting. You'll see the changes and adjustments at different stages. There are a number of amendments, which the reader can see. These changes occur either with the adding of colour thus changing the overall look of the composition or just a brainwave.

The main idea i had was to give the viewer a sense of the frenetic energy, chaos or what it may have been like, to be amongst the English & their Irish allies attacking the castle. Although the first sketch looks very different from the final piece, the basic concept stayed the same, a wave of men heading for the walls.

Further Reading (this is not an extensive list)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_houses_in_Britain_and_Ireland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flanking_tower
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conyers_Clifford
https://www.facebook.com/Ballyshannonmuseum/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Roe_O%27Donnell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Years%27_War_(Ireland)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_O%27Neill,_Earl_of_Tyrone
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibbot_ne_Long_Bourke,_1st_Viscount_Mayo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O%27Connor_Sligo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Maguire_(Lord_of_Fermanagh)
https://archive.org/details/annalsofkingdomo06ocleuoft/page/2024/mode/2up?view=theater&q=2025
The Nine Years War, Dr, James O Neill, Four courts press. ISBN: 978-1-84682-754-9
Red Hugh O' Donnell, Darren McGettigan, Four Courts Press ISBN: 978-1-85182-887-6
https://www.enniskillencastle.co.uk/fermanagh-stories/the-maguire-story
https://www.academia.edu/39576270/The_location_of_the_Battle_of_the_Erne_Fords_Belleek_County_Fermanagh_10_October_1593

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The Battle of Ballyshannon 1597

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