by C R Dempsey
The leader of the guards took the letter from the man’s hand.
“It is what you say it is, but why would the MacWilliam Burkes give us this?”
The captain laughed.
“You must be a poor man indeed if you are in charge of the docks and never received a bribe? How should I know why Theobald Burke is trying to bribe you or the governor, nor do I care. Maybe it’s for the spanking they gave you last October? Maybe they wish to make peace? Now, are you going to take this wine, or what?”
But the captain’s chance to decide was taken away from him when one of his men took an axe to a barrel, and the wine spilled out over the dock. The guards cupped their hands and drank what they could hold from the wine fall.
“It’s real, and it’s good!” called the men, and a couple of them ran off to find mugs.
“That’s the last,” said the captain as the final barrels rolled onto the dock. “I’ll be out of your hair in the morning if it does not displease you.”
But the guards no longer cared. They were too busy dragging the remaining barrels back to their barracks to share the spoils with their comrades. The captain laughed and went back onto his ship.
* * *
Seamus and his men cautiously advanced through the winding streets and into the town. The streets only benefited from sporadic pools of light, so he had difficulty spotting who he was supposed to meet. However, the unidentified man recognised Seamus from the halls of the O’Donnell.
“Come this way and leave the carts in this alleyway,” said the man as he pointed to a dark shadow squeezed between two houses.
The stranger sported a dishevelled appearance with an air of mischief, not a look that would win the confidence of Seamus.
“I warn you now, man, if you endeavour to perform some mischief upon me and my men, you’ll wish never to meet the light of day again after we are done with you!”
“It is I, Damien Burke, who you were sent to meet. It is for the harm that you can do to others that I wish to meet you,” came the reply.
“You should have said so earlier. Lead the way.”
The man led the men to a small house neatly tucked away in a large sheet of darkness near the harbour. Seamus placed his hand on the door frame to prevent Damien from entering, for he still feared a trap.
“Have you got everything we need?”
“Yes, but we need to go inside to get it.”
Damien brought them into the main room of the dreary house and pulled a blanket out from under a table which was pushed to the sidewall. The dust lifted from its resting place, an unwanted intruder in the nostrils of the men.
“There you go. All the weapons we’ll need. The captain has done his job and is waiting for you.”
Seamus bent over and prodded the weapons with his finger so he could give them a superficial inspection.
“Good. Are you also our guide?”
Damien nodded.
“That I am. We must wait for the signal before we make our move.”
They were situated close to the barracks and sat in the darkened house as the chaos of the gift of the wine unfolded. The English soldiers and their Irish lackeys rolled the barrels up the hill to the barracks gate, which was by now flung open with eager hands and greedy eyes embracing the barrels. The English officers had by now lost all control, and they all but gave up. Their cups battled with those of their men to be overflowing with the free wine.
The drunker the men got, the more they wandered off in different groups to find or create some mischief in the town.
“It is time,” said Seamus. “We still need the cover of the night, no matter how inebriated they get.”
Damien nodded and pointed the way towards the barracks.
“How many prisoners are there?” asked Seamus.
“Around thirty or forty. It changes in number, but since the rebellion in Connacht burst into flames, they have mainly been locked in the jail rather than distributed around the loyal local gentry.”
“Do we have enough weapons for all of them?”
“If we get into a scuffle where they all need weapons, then we would all surely die. This was only ever meant to be a quick raid. The aim is the bring them back alive, not make up stories about a supposed glorious death.”
“You’re a good man. You see through all the crap. I always need good men,” said Seamus, who expressed his admiration and appreciation through a good slap on the shoulder.
“Honoured that you would think of me so, but let us survive the mission first. Here, I assume you want an axe?”
“You read my mind!” Seamus took the axe and assessed its quality. “This will do nicely,” he said with a pleased glint in his eye.
They crept towards their objective, sticking to the shadows and avoiding the pools of light from the drunken revellers’ fires. On the occasion they ran into opposition, where someone would ask them why they weren’t drinking, Seamus made his best officer impression, and they would soon scurry away.
They came to the gates where two dutiful men remained on guard. Seamus resorted to the more conventional espionage method of silently slitting their throats, stealing their keys and hiding their bodies where they would remain hidden until at least the morning.
“This way. I used to work here,” said Damien as he unlocked the door and led them into a courtyard. Several guards sat around the fire warming themselves and complaining that they had to remain on duty while the biggest party in years was happening all around them. Seamus pointed to the dark shadows that draped the walls and ordered some of his men to use the cover to surround the guards. He went for the direct approach and walked up to the campfire with two of his men.
“Who goes there?” called a guard as they grabbed their sword and stood up.
“We’re here to transport the prisoners to a safe place,” said Seamus in his most authoritative voice.
“On who’s orders?”
“Hugh O’Donnell’s!” and Seamus plunged his previously concealed dagger into the man’s guts.
The other guards jumped up and took hold of their weapons, only to be set upon by Seamus’s men leaping out from the dark. Soon the guards were all dead, with nobody noticing any commotion. Damien searched the bodies for the keys to the prison door.
“Got them!” he cried in jubilation and ran over to a door hidden in the darkness.
“Can you do that a bit quieter!” hissed Seamus as Damien struggled to open the door.
The door clicked, and Damien smiled back at him. It swung open, and a shaft of light in the shimmying dust brought the men inside what they had forgotten: hope.
“Shut up!” Seamus whispered into the doorway as the shaft of light was greeted by moaning and the rattling of chains.
“Get some light in there,” and one of his men thrust a torch of fire into the darkness of the prison.
“Sorry,” muttered Damien as he slowly backed away. “They took my family once they found out I was a spy for the O’Donnell.”
The interior of the prison lit up with fire torches to reveal the Earl of Clanricarde’s men.
“I’m not leaving without getting what I came for.” cried Seamus, as he raised his axe and sliced off the hand in which Damien held the keys.
The Burkes charged towards the prison door.
“Hold them here,” ordered Seamus, and several of his men ran up to thrust their swords into the doorway, preventing the Burkes from spilling out into the yard. He grabbed Damien by the collar as the latter tried to nurse the stump of his wrist beneath his arm.
“If was laying this trap, I would have your family in the prison, so if anything went wrong, they would be the first to die. But it is not my trap, and drunken English soldiers roam the street. So my guess is that the earl got greedy and organised this ambush all by himself. Would that be correct?”
Damien nodded and shielded the stump of his arm.
“Are the prisoners still there?”
Damien nodded again.
“
What about the captain? Is the boat ok?”
“The boat should have been taken. But I expected more men to be here at the prison. They should have come from behind you as well.”
“So, we still have a chance. You! Guard him!”
One of Seamus’s men ran over and held a sword to Damien’s throat.
They still held the Burkes in the doorway. Seamus gestured to Sean O’Toole, and they took one side of the doorway each. He waved his hand, and his men retreated. The Burkes spilt through the opening in pursuit. When the last man emerged, Seamus’s men found were heavily outnumbered. He nodded to Sean, and they charged with their axes at the rear of the Burkes, caving in two mens’ skulls, which evened the odds. Seamus started swinging. The Burkes were not expecting an attack in the rear, and in a few moments, whoever was not dead had fled.
“Pick him up!” and Seamus pointed at Damien.
“If you help us now, we’ll give you and your family safe passage to Tirconnell. If not, your head will join your hand, rolling around in the dirt.”
Damien needed no more persuasion.
“I will lead you to the prisoners and your boat, but we’ll probably all die before we get there.”
“You lead the way and leave me to worry about the rest.”
Damien got to his feet, and he was offered him some dirty rags with which to wrap the stump of his hand.
“The prisoners are in there,” Damien said, pointing to the door from where the guards poured forth. “The one you are looking for is at the back.”
“Will this set of keys cover all the cells?”
Damien examined them.
“Nothing a sharp axe wouldn’t fix,” came the reply.
“Then hurry through the door. If I find guards that you should have alerted me to, then contemplate your family’s slow death.”
Damien entered and soon returned to wave them in.
They found themselves in a dark, dank dungeon and the prisoners rattled their chains to welcome them in.
“How do I tell the hostages of the Connacht gentry from the criminals?” asked Seamus, the darkness and the neglect the men endured disguised friend and common criminal alike.
“Just let them all out and see who follows us. The rest can act as cover,” said Sean O’Toole. “But hurry. We need to make the tides.”
Seamus inserted the key into the lock of the first cage. The prisoners stared expectantly at him, clawing at the bars, giving him the benefit of the doubt that he was their saviour. He unlocked the door and got out of the way. Some prisoners made straight for the door.
“Let them go,” said Seamus, for he was convinced they were the common criminals.
“Give us weapons so we can fight,” said one who remained.
“Pick clean the bodies of the guards outside. That is all we have to spare. We’ll get more on the way.”
Sean directed the men out into the yard.
“I hope you’ve put something in that drink, for they’ll easily find this rabble trying to get to the harbour,” said Sean.
“First we get Eunan, then we worry about getting to the harbour. I’ve got out of worse scrapes than this.”
Seamus went to the next cage and tried the key. The key clicked with a bit of coaxing, and the men were freed. There was one more cage, but Eunan was nowhere to be found.
“The special prisoners are behind that door,” said one prisoner and pointed to a black monstrosity of a door at the end of the hall.
Seamus looked at his one remaining key.
“You better be it,” and Seamus turned the key in the lock.
No click. The door did not budge.
“We have to go, now!” shouted Sean down the corridor.
“The door won’t budge.”
Sean ran down to help.
“Give it here,” and he took possession of the key and caressed the innards of the lock with the sides of the key.
“You’ve got to treat the lock like you treat a woman!” said Sean.
“Just get the door open before you see how I treat my axe!”
“We need to go,” came a cry from the doorway to the courtyard.
The lock clicked.
“There you go,” said Sean. “All she needed was the gentle touch.”
The door creaked open to reveal two guards with the points on the tops of their axes at the ready.
“Leave this to me,” cried Seamus, and he swung his axe into the doorway.
The two guards were no match for Seamus, and Sean was soon picking the dead guards’ pockets for keys while Seamus banged on all the cell doors, calling for Eunan.
“I am here,” called out Eunan, in such a state of neglect that he was unsure whether he was in a dream.
“Bring the keys here, and be quick about it,” commanded Seamus.
Once the keys were in his hands, he fumbled with the lock as Eunan approached the door from the other side.
“We’ve got to go,” came a familiar but, by now, more distant refrain.
“Which is the damned key?” cried Seamus.
“Give them here,” and Sean took the set of keys off him.
Sean logically eased each key into the lock, waiting patiently for the click.
“Hurry!”
The click eventually came, and Seamus brushed past Sean.
“Look at the state of you!” said Seamus as he stood in the doorway and set eyes upon Eunan, wallowing in his punishment pit. “Sure, the rats can grow better beards than you.”
* * *
Eunan huddled in the corner of the boat, wrapped in a blanket, trying to get life back into his frozen bones. The sea gently licked the side of the boat, and the beauty of the Galway coast to the starboard was smothered under his blanket of melancholy. Seamus walked towards him with a vague air of concern.
“Here, have a wet cloth and get some of that blood off you. We have to scrub you down to make you vaguely presentable for when we meet the O’Donnell,” said Seamus as he leant over and offered Eunan a cloth from a bucket of fresh water.
Eunan reached out his hand.
“Thanks,” he muttered and cleaned his face.
“Well, your brief incarceration has not dimmed your skills with an axe,” said Seamus to brighten Eunan’s mood.
“I am honing my skills for when I wreak my revenge on the O’Cassidys.”
“Oh, your day will come soon, I’m sure of it. Now you rest up. It may take us a couple of days to sail ‘round to the MacWilliam Burkes. Try cheering up as well. The jail rats would’ve been more grateful if I’d rescued them instead of you.”
“Thanks,” and in a mumble, Eunan expressed all the gratitude he could raise.
He reached over and dipped the blood-soaked cloth in the bucket.
Sean O’Toole came over to Seamus.
“I’ll leave you be, Eunan,” and Seamus turned his back so he could speak in private.
“That was a close call,” said Sean.
“The captain deserves the generosity of the O’Donnell when the proceeds of this season’s raids are distributed out, and I’ll make sure Red Hugh is told. If those soldiers hadn’t so much drink on them, they would have slaughtered us like a couple of calves. We lost a few men when they tried to spring a trap upon us just before the harbour, but the boy has not lost his prowess with an axe.”
“He needs to recover and quick, for Red Hugh sent word that he would be in Connacht in a week.”
“That soon? Sure there’s nobody to stop him judging by the state of the English and the Burkes in Galway town,” said Seamus. “How’s the haul we got?”
“Most of the prisoners made it back to the ships. We also picked up a couple of criminals since their identity is not credible.”
Seamus slapped his comrade on the shoulders.
“The O’Donnell will be pleased. Now rest up for the rest of the journey, for I fear this could be the only break we’ll get for a long time.”
“I’ll rest when I’m dead!” replied Sean.
“You need to recuperate to avoid becoming dead. Now, do as I say, for I’ll need you fully alert for what is coming.”
Sean nodded his head and took up a blanket that sat on top of one of the cargo boxes. He then sat beside Eunan, for there was no more space on deck with all the human cargo they had picked up. Sean attempted to banish the faces of the men he had killed that day and tried to sleep while the sea was calm. He knew he would have disturbance enough when he awoke.
36
Kilmaine
The time had come for the election of the new MacWilliam Burke. Red Hugh was determined that he would impose the old O’Donnell rights and be the one to confer the title. Governor Bingham would indeed have been informed of the impending ceremony, so the O’Donnell brought the largest army he could muster with him. Along the way to the inauguration in Mayo, he broke down the castles of all of those who either opposed him or would not pledge to him.
Red Hugh’s march to Mayo and the inauguration of the MacWilliam Burke was to be a display of power with a large and varied audience. The most conspicuous target audience was Governor Bingham to show the Crown that tanistry was alive and well, and that both he and they were powerless to stop Red Hugh from appointing who he wanted to lead the Irish clans. The lesser lords of Ulster were among the invitees, including Hugh Maguire, so that the O’Donnell could show them he was the rising power in Connacht. Finally, Cormac MacBaron came with a sizable force to remind O’Neill that Red Hugh was an equal and not a junior partner. It was a powerful statement that he could match what O’Neill had done to eastern and southern Ulster.
Kittagh MacWilliam Burke, a candidate for the title and a favourite of Red Hugh, secured the area around the village of Kilmaine, County Mayo, and waited for his esteemed guests.
* * *
The two ships that escaped Galway moored into a small harbour on Clare Island in Clew Bay after enduring two days of terrible storms on the Atlantic Ocean. During one tumultuous episode, an O’Malley prisoner claimed to have much sway with the O’Malleys because he was a close relative, and the family would shelter them in gratitude for his safe return. Since the worst outcome would be death postponed, Seamus agreed to change course and follow the man’s directions. The O’Malley ships intercepted them once they entered the calmer waters of the bay. The freed prisoner was as good as his word for when the O’Malleys boarded their ship he was recognised straight away. They were taken to the harbour beneath the castle the O’Malleys built to command the bay.