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Born :
1505 - Not known exactly - possibly Dunaneanie/Dunanynie at
Ballycastle
or Dunluce Castle Died
: 1590 - Dunaneanie Castle, Ballycastle, Co. Antrim and interred in
Bonamargie Friary, Ballycastle.
Sorley came from a large family which included his brothers James, Colla,
Angus, Alexander, Donal and several sisters. He belonged to the Scottish clan of the
MacDonnells - an ancestor had married with Margaret
Bisset, heiress of a large portion of land on the North Antrim coast
and the Glynns (or Glens). James
the eldest son inherited the title of 'Lord of Dunyveg and Antrim Glynns'
but decided to return to his native Scottish Isles accompanied by his wife
Agnus Campbell and left Colla to rule the Glynns in his absence.
Colla married an Evelyn MacQuillan which brought a tentative peace
between the previous opposing clan, he had two sons, Gillaspick and
Randal, Gillaspick died while engaging in a bull fighting at games
in Ballycastle to celebrate his coming of age (probably at the Lammas
Fair). In
1551 the MacDonnells ruled supreme over the Route and Glynns of
Antrim, so much so that the government saw them as a political threat and
attempted to halt their expansion and power base by arresting Sorley Boy
and placing him in Dublin Castle. James Croft was then sent with four
ships to take Rathlin Island and capture Colla MacDonnell but the tables
were turned on their plans and Colla captured two high ranking members of
the expedition, holding them to ransom for the release of
Sorley from Dublin Castle. James eventually handed the title of Lordship
over to Sorley, who became one of the most powerful of the Scottish
settlers in Ulster. He took an active part in the tribal warfare between his own
clan and the MacQuillen's and eventually defeated the latter at Bonamargie, Glenshesk in
1558, acquiring the lordship of the Route in the process. He became too powerful
to be
neglected by Queen Elizabeth I and her ministers, who were also at the
time being bothered by Shane O'Neill. Elizabeth set out to create
friction between the two chiefs - sometimes favouring and winning the
support of one against the other. Shane O'Neill defeated Sorley Boy near Coleraine in 1564;
in 1565 he invaded the Glynns and at Ballycastle won a decisive victory,
in which James MacDonnell and Sorley Boy were taken prisoners. James soon
afterward died in captivity of his wounds, Sorley Boy remained O'Neill's captive until
in 1567, when Shane was murdered by the MacDonnells at Cushendun.
In 1575 after Sorley continued to reject terms and conditions being
demanded by the English government - the Lord Deputy Essex arrived in the
north, Sorley had been pre warned and most of his family sent to Rathlin
Island for what he thought was relative safety, Essex arrived in Ballycastle Bay
with, four frigates under the overall command of Francis Drake and
attacked Rathlin Island, they had sailed from their temporary base at Carrickfergus.
Everyone on the Island bare a handful in the caves, had taken refuge in the castle which was subsequently beseiged - stories
tell of a deal being struck where everyone would be spared if they
surrendered and left the
castle, what happened was a massacre took place of 600 people - only the
few who had taken refuge in caves survived. Sorley's family and those of
his many of his soldiers where amongst the dead.
After this personal tragedy and the massacre of so many local people by
Essex in 1575, Sorley Boy planned and made a
successful raid on Carrickfergus and re-established his power base in the Glynns
and the Route. His position was further strengthened by an alliance with
Turlough O'Neill and by a formidable settlement of followers
from the Scottish islands. Queen Elizabeth appointed Sir John Perrot as
Lord Deputy of Ireland in 1584 and he moved against Sorley and his
supporters along with the Earl of Osmonde, Thomond and Sir John Norris.
They approached the North Antrim area from both the Bann and Glynns side,
Perrott lay seige to Dunluce on September 14th 1584 and on the third day
the castle gave in and surrendered. Sorley Boy had managed to escape to Scotland but
Perrott took the prize of the castle - he also helped himself to the much valued St. Coloumbkille Cross,
along with other valuables from the castle which he send to England as
gifts. Within three months Sorley
was back in Antrim and announced a desire to become a loyal servant of the
Crown in return for his lands but there was no immediate response from the
government, he re-took Dunluce in 1585 and from there continued
his bargaining with the English government. Perrott wanted full
submission from Sorley Boy and was ready to set out from Dublin to face
him but Queen Elizabeth advised him against it. Eventually in 1586, Sorley's negotiations with
the English government led to him obtaining a
grant to himself and his heirs of all the Route country between the rivers
Bann and Bush, with other lands to the east, and he was made
Constable of Dunluce Castle. For the rest of his life he gave no trouble
to the English government. |