Flight of the Earls

The Flight of the Earls (Irish: Imeacht na nIarlaí) took place on 14 September [O.S. 4 September] 1607, when Irish earls Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and Rory O'Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell, permanently departed Rathmullan in Ireland for Catholic Europe during a period of extreme political tension with the English Crown. The Flight's exact motivation is unclear and the subject of debate. They were accompanied by their extended families, retinue, followers and fellow nobility, numbering about 100 people. The earls were patriarchs of the two most powerful clans in Ulster—the O'Neill and O'Donnell clans—and their emigration is considered to symbolise the end of Gaelic Irish society. The earls' lands were later escheated and settled by British Protestants as part of the Plantation of Ulster.

Both earls fought against the Crown in the Nine Years' War (1593–1603), which ended with their surrender. The newly crowned James VI and I granted the earls generous peace terms which allowed them to retain most of their lands and titles. Many courtiers were unsatisfied with the king's leniency, and hostility towards the earls from British officials gradually increased over time. The implementation of English law in Ireland led to financial difficulties for both earls as well as a major land rights dispute between Tyrone and his vassal Donnell Ballagh O'Cahan, which was weaponised by officials such as Arthur Chichester, John Davies, and George Montgomery.

The earls may have been conspiring against the government, and their flight could have been an attempt to evade arrest or execution. The earls were bound for A Coruña, as Spain had allied with the earls' confederacy during the war. They could not reach Spain due to storms and disembarked in Quillebeuf-sur-Seine, France. Spanish king Philip III forbade the earls from entering Spain for fear of violating the 1604 Anglo-Spanish peace treaty. The refugees spent time in Leuven in the Spanish Netherlands, where the earls left their young children to be educated at the Irish College of St Anthony. The earls arrived in Rome on 29 April 1608 and were granted small pensions by Pope Paul V. Their accommodation in Rome was paltry compared to their estates in Ireland. Tyrconnell died of a fever three months later. Tyrone repeatedly demonstrated his intent to return to Ireland and retake his lands, but he became ill and died in 1616 before doing so.

Most of the passengers on the Flight never returned to Ireland. The Flight was declared as treasonous by King James, which led to the acquisition and plantation of the earls' lands. The Flight is considered a watershed moment in Irish history and has been depicted romantically by Irish nationalists.