Many of the Anglo-Irish (Gaelic) aristocracy had remained after the ‘flight of the earls’ (Sources 3) and they had continued as leaders of constant skirmishing against the invaders of their land. Sometimes these tussles became open warfare. A full rebellion started on 22 October 1641. “Sir Phelim O'Neill seized Charlemont; and soon afterwards Dungannon, Castlecaulfield, Newry and Lurgan were captured too. Sir Conn Magennis besieged Lisburn, and most of the castles in Fermanagh fell; (the exception was Enniskillen)”.
“Lurgan was taken by a force of native soldiers said to have numbered 1,000 men, and was occupied for a considerable period. Thomas Carte's ‘History of the Life of James, Duke of Ormonde’ (published 1735) states that ‘the outbreak was not entirely unexpected for Sir William Brownlow had been supplied with gunpowder for the defence of his Castle. The attack took place on the 23rd October 1641 (in his later account he changed the date to 1st November) and the raiding parties under the Macans, Magennises and the O'Hanlons burnt the town and murdered several inhabitants. The Castle surrendered and Brownlow was taken prisoner with his wife and children, first to Armagh, later to Dungannon and finally to Charlemont where he was eventually freed by the English’. Terrible massacres occurred: colonists in the centre and the west of the province were most vulnerable. The most notorious incident was at Portadown, where some 80 Protestant captives were thrown off a bridge and piked or shot to death”. That Portadown bridge was just some five miles southwest of Lurgan.
The Armed Response (1649)
With King Charles I beheaded, Oliver Cromwell brought his armies to Ireland in 1649 to win back the country for Parliament and to inflict a final defeat on the Royalist cause, which had been supported by many of the Anglo-Irish families including the Magennis ‘clan’. Their rebellion was put down with a savagery at least equal to that of the Irish rebellion of 1641 His famous cry to his soldiers is still remembered and hated. He wanted them to oust the native Irish, and “to drive them to Hell or Connaught!” .
The titled Magennis family was one of the leading groups in Co. Down. In 1583 Queen Elizabeth I had re-granted Sir Hugh Magennis the whole of the Barony of Iveagh. King James I elevated Sir Arthur Magennis to the title of Viscount Iveagh in 1623. Their barony was a large area that constituted much of modern Co. Down. For various reasons the Magennis family sold off their land, and whereas 85% had been Irish hands in 1610, by 1641 this had been whittled down to 38%. This had left them disillusioned and bitter. They still owned the parish of Donaghcloney that was in the most northwesterly part of that barony. However, their displeasure readily explains why this Irish family had been heavily involved in the uprising of 1641. After their defeat by Cromwell in 1649 the land was forfeited, and the family was banished. Some of them went to serve in the Austrian army under Prince Eugene. Brian Magennis, the second Baron Iveagh was killed in 1703. . The third Baron, Brian’s brother Roger, was killed in 1709, and judging by the date this happened at the Battle of Malplaquet. [This title was resuscitated in 1891, when Sir Edward C Guinness became Baron of Iveagh in 1891.]
“Lurgan was taken by a force of native soldiers said to have numbered 1,000 men, and was occupied for a considerable period. Thomas Carte's ‘History of the Life of James, Duke of Ormonde’ (published 1735) states that ‘the outbreak was not entirely unexpected for Sir William Brownlow had been supplied with gunpowder for the defence of his Castle. The attack took place on the 23rd October 1641 (in his later account he changed the date to 1st November) and the raiding parties under the Macans, Magennises and the O'Hanlons burnt the town and murdered several inhabitants. The Castle surrendered and Brownlow was taken prisoner with his wife and children, first to Armagh, later to Dungannon and finally to Charlemont where he was eventually freed by the English’. Terrible massacres occurred: colonists in the centre and the west of the province were most vulnerable. The most notorious incident was at Portadown, where some 80 Protestant captives were thrown off a bridge and piked or shot to death”. That Portadown bridge was just some five miles southwest of Lurgan.
The Armed Response (1649)
With King Charles I beheaded, Oliver Cromwell brought his armies to Ireland in 1649 to win back the country for Parliament and to inflict a final defeat on the Royalist cause, which had been supported by many of the Anglo-Irish families including the Magennis ‘clan’. Their rebellion was put down with a savagery at least equal to that of the Irish rebellion of 1641 His famous cry to his soldiers is still remembered and hated. He wanted them to oust the native Irish, and “to drive them to Hell or Connaught!” .
The titled Magennis family was one of the leading groups in Co. Down. In 1583 Queen Elizabeth I had re-granted Sir Hugh Magennis the whole of the Barony of Iveagh. King James I elevated Sir Arthur Magennis to the title of Viscount Iveagh in 1623. Their barony was a large area that constituted much of modern Co. Down. For various reasons the Magennis family sold off their land, and whereas 85% had been Irish hands in 1610, by 1641 this had been whittled down to 38%. This had left them disillusioned and bitter. They still owned the parish of Donaghcloney that was in the most northwesterly part of that barony. However, their displeasure readily explains why this Irish family had been heavily involved in the uprising of 1641. After their defeat by Cromwell in 1649 the land was forfeited, and the family was banished. Some of them went to serve in the Austrian army under Prince Eugene. Brian Magennis, the second Baron Iveagh was killed in 1703. . The third Baron, Brian’s brother Roger, was killed in 1709, and judging by the date this happened at the Battle of Malplaquet. [This title was resuscitated in 1891, when Sir Edward C Guinness became Baron of Iveagh in 1891.]
Extending the Plantation
So the parish of Donaghcloney Co. Down, which was made up of 14 townlands, became ‘available' for plantation in 1649. It was split up amongst Cromwellian soldiers in Lord Deputy Fleetwood's Troop of Horse and Regiment of Foot, in lieu of pay. These men sold their newly acquired lands to the commander of the Regiment of Foot, Colonel Barrett; who, in turn passed the ownership of the western half of the parish to William Waring, a fellow officer in Cromwell's army. According to census records, Waring was in possession of the lands by 1659; i.e., immediately prior to the restoration of King Charles II in 1660. He built a large house on his estate in 1667, known as Waringstown House, which still stands today. Waringstown is situated 2¾ miles southeast of Lurgan. Just four years later, in 1671, King James II converted to Roman Catholicism; so the battle between Catholic and Protestant started up again with renewed enthusiasm. In 1688 Parliament invited William of Orange to take the throne. During the uprising of 1688-90 William Waring’s house was occupied for a while by Conn Magennis, who still saw himself as the rightful heir to the land. But in 1690 the Duke of Schomberg ousted him on his way south to the Boyne.
More Historical Background - Rebellion