EVERY revolutionary movement in Ireland for centuries has looked abroad for support.
And many countries that have been at war with Britain have sounded out the prospect of getting help from armed groups in Ireland.
That’s worth remembering at a time when we have continuing activity by dissident republican groups in Northern Ireland and a dangerous international scene, with hostility to Britain coming from Russia and Iran.
Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, had been raised partly within the English sphere of influence but ultimately led resistance to Elizabeth I’s rule in Ireland.
With religious wars raging across Europe, he sought the support of Catholic Spain during the Nine Years’ War.
It didn’t work out too well for him and O’Neill and other leading Gaelic nobles eventually left Ireland in the Flight of the Earls in 1607.
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