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The Reformation in England further distanced the Irish, as the majority of Irishmen adhered stubbornly to their Catholicism. Eventually, in Elizabeth's reign, both sides resorted to the use of force on a large scale in a series of bloody wars and rebellions that were to culminate in the Earl of Tyrone's 'Great Rebellion' of 1595-1603. This text by Ian Heath looks at the history, organisation and tactics of the armies of the Irish Wars 1485-1603, armies which included such troops as the fearsome Irish Galloglasses, who bore a deadly axe six feet long with a blade one foot broad!
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EDITOR: MARTIN WINDROW THE IRISH WARS 1485-1603 Text by IAN HEATH Colour plates by DAVID SQUE Published in 1993 by Osprey Publishing Ltd 59 Grosvenor Street, London WIX 9DA © Copyright 1993 Osprey Publishing Ltd All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act, 1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Enquiries should be addressed to the Publisher. ISBN I 85532 280 3 Filmset in Great Britain Printed through Bookbuilders Ltd, Hong Kong For a catalogue of all books published by Osprey Military please write to: The Marketing Manager, Consumer Catalogue Department, Osprey Publishing Ltd, Michelin House, 81 Fulham Road, London SW3 6RB Author's Note: This book concentrates principally on Irish armies of the Tudor period. For fuller details of contemporary English armies the reader is referred to MAA 191 Henry VIII's Army and Elite 15 The Armada Campaign 1588. Artist's Note Readers may care to note that the original paintings from which the colour plates in this book were prepared are available for private sale. All reproduction copyright whatsoever is retained by the publisher. All enquiries should be addressed to: David Sque 14 Penn Hill Ave Lower Parkstone Poole Dorset BH14 9LZ The publishers regret that they can enter into no correspondence upon this matter. THE IRISH WARS 1485-1603 INTRODUCTION Despite the passage of more than three centuries since the initial Anglo-Norman invasion, Ireland at the beginning of the Tudor era remained an alien land, differing from Renaissance England in customs, costume, language, law and land tenure alike. The original veneer of English feudal overlords who might have hoped to anglicise the native 'wild Irish' had long since degenerated to become themselves 'more Irish than the Irish', gaelicised to the point where some could no longer even speak English. Tudor monarchs, like their predecessors, made efforts to redress this decay by attempting, at various times and in assorted ways, to dismantle Irish society, right down to the suppression of native dress and hairstyles. Such efforts inevitably met with little success, and served only to nurture Irish resentment towards the English and to emphasise the cultural gulf that lay between them. The Reformation in England distanced them further, as the majority of Irishmen adhered stubbornly to their Catholicism. Eventually, in Elizabeth's reign, both sides resorted to the use of force on a large scale in a series of bloody wars and rebellions that were to culminate in the Earl of Tyrone's 'Great Rebellion' of 1595-1603, the suppression of which was ultimately to shape the geography of Ireland as we still see it today. It therefore needs little imagination to see that Tyrone's failure was, in the long term, disastrous for both countries. CHRONOLOGY In a country where cattle represented the chief form of wealth and rustling was endemic, feuding and rai