page_title: Second Desmond Rebellion
section_title: 1580 Spanish and Papal landing
hierarchical_section_title: Second Desmond Rebellion / Second rebellion / 1580 Spanish and Papal landing
caption_attribution_description: English: Monument commemorating the Smerwick Harbour massacre Monument at the Field of the Heads (Gort na gCrann) near Dun an Oir commemorating the massacre of around 600 Irish, Spanish and Italian men and women by English troops commanded by Lord Grey of Wilton in 1580. It is said that the victims were decapitated and their heads buried here. The monument dates from 1980; the seaward side bears a cross and a Gaelic inscription 'igcuimhne dhun an oir samhain 1580'
context_page_description: The Second Desmond Rebellion was the more widespread and bloody of the two Desmond Rebellions in Ireland launched by the FitzGerald dynasty of Desmond in Munster against English rule. The second rebellion began in July 1579 when James FitzMaurice FitzGerald landed in Ireland with a force of Papal troops, triggering an insurrection across the south of Ireland on the part of the Desmond dynasty, their allies, and others who were dissatisfied for various reasons with English government of the country. The rebellion ended with the 1583 death of Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Desmond, and the defeat of the rebels.
  The rebellion was in equal part a protest by feudal lords against the intrusion of central government into their domains; a conservative Irish reaction to English policies that were altering traditional Gaelic society; and a religious conflict, in which the rebels claimed that they were upholding Catholicism against a Protestant queen who had been pronounced a heretic in 1570 by the papal bull Regnans in Excelsis.
  The result of the rebellions was the destruction of the Desmond dynasty and the subsequent Munster Plantations – the colonisation of Munster with English settlers.
context_section_description: On 10 September 1580, a squadron of Spanish ships under the command of Don Juan Martinez de Recalde landed a Papal force of Spanish and Italians numbering 600 men commanded by Sebastiano di San Giuseppe (aka Sebastiano da Modena; Sebastian de San José), at Smerwick, on the Dingle Peninsula near the same point where Fitzmaurice had landed the previous year. They had arms for several thousand men, sent by Philip II to aid the rebellion, and paid for by Pope Gregory. Desmond, Baltinglass, and John of Desmond made an effort to link up with the expeditionary force but English forces under Ormonde and Grey blocked them and prompt naval action by Richard Bingham blockaded the Papal force's ships into the bay at Smerwick. San Giuseppe had no choice but to fortify his men in the fort at Dún an Óir.
  In October 1580, Grey de Wilton with up to 4000 troops arrived at Smerwick and laid siege to the garrison.  The invasion forces were geographically isolated on the tip of the narrow Dingle Peninsula, cut off by Mount Brandon on one side and the much larger English force on the other. They had no means of escape. In addition, the English had brought up heavy artillery by sea, which rapidly broke down the improvised defences of Dún an Óir.
  After a three-day siege, Colonel Di san Giuseppe surrendered on 10 October 1580, on agreeing to take a bribe as his reward. Local historian Margaret Anna Cusack (1868) explained that: "In a few days the courage of the Spanish commander failed, and he entered into treaty with the Lord Deputy. A bargain was made that he should receive a large share of the spoils... The English were admitted to the fortress on the following day, and a feast was prepared for them." Grey de Wilton ordered the massacre and the Italian and Spanish mercenaries were beheaded and their bodies thrown into the sea.
  Among the English soldiers present at the siege and massacre was the writer and explorer Walter Raleigh. This was brought against him as a criminal charge in one of his trials. Raleigh argued that he was "obliged to obey the commands of his superior officer" but he was unable to exonerate himself.
caption: Monument at Dún an Óir to the mercenaries executed after the Siege of Smerwick, October 1580
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