Flight of the O'Donnells

July 20, 1616

The last of the O'Donnell clan leaders departed Ireland for Spain, following the earlier Flight of the Earls. This marked another significant exodus of Gaelic nobility from Ulster, further weakening the old Gaelic order. The departure of these influential families created a power vacuum in Ulster that would soon be filled by Protestant planters, fundamentally altering the region's social and political landscape.