Mareena's 'Pick of the Week'

25. Rob Roy: O'Sullivan's March by The Chieftains - Film Cuts (1996)

Donal O'Sullivan

Why did I choose this song? The 'O'Sullivan' in O'Sullivan's March was Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare (1561-1618). He was the last independent ruler of the O'Sullivan Beara sept, and thus the last O'Sullivan Beara - a Gaelic princely title.

Donal's father was killed in 1563, but his son was considered too young to inherit the title at the time of the chief's death. Instead, the clan's leadership passed to the chief's surviving brother, Owen. In 1587, Donal asserted his own claim to the clan's leadership. Eager to extend English legal authority over Ireland, the Dublin commission that had confirmed Owen's leadership - who had been knighted by Elizabeth I in order to claim his leadership at the time - accepted Donal's claim, and he now became O'Sullivan Beare

In the lead up to the Nine Years' War (1594-1603) - also known as Tyrone's Rebellion - Donal O'Sullivan initially kept his distance from the rebel cause. In time, Donal joined a confederation of Gaelic chiefs led by Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone and Hugh Roe O'Donnell. In 1603, Dunboy Castle, the stronghold of the O'Sullivans, fell after a vicious 13-day siege. The entire company of defenders was either killed in battle or executed.

Donal O'Sullivan was absent during the siege, having traveled north to conference with Hugh O'Neill. The Earl of Tyrone's letter to Philip II of Spain left him with little hope of a pardon from the English, and he continued his fight with guerilla tactics. Donal O'Sullivan was eventually forced to gather up his remaining followers, including women and children, and set off on a 250-mile march to the north.

The grueling two-week march was the most poignant in Irish history and was marked by incredible suffering as the fleeing, starving O'Sullivans sought food from an already decimated Irish countryside in winter, often resulting in hostility. On January 4, 1603, the remaining clan members - 35 out of the original 1000 - arrived at O'Rourke castle in Leitrim. Many had died along the way from hunger and exposure, and others had settled along the route.

In Leitrim, Donal O'Sullivan sought to gather forces to continue the fight, but resistance ended when Hugh O'Neill signed the Treaty of Mellifont. Donal, along with other members of the Gaelic nobility, fled and sought exile in Spain.