An early morning mist cloaks the fields lying outside the walled town of Kinsale in southern Ireland. It conceals what is shortly to decide the fate of the Gaelic and Elizabethan worlds. The full import of the ensuing battle is to ring down through the ages.
In its aftermath, Hugh O’Donnell leaves for Spain to seek assistance. There he encounters an English spy by the name of James Blake. Meanwhile, Hugh O’Neill returns to Ulster to continue the fight.
The English commander Lord Mountjoy rides to Ulster and searches for the Stone Inauguration Chair of the O’Neills so that he might destroy forever the power of the Gaels to rule over others.
Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth is in failing health and Hugh O’Neill prolongs peace negotiations hoping his secret ally King James of Scotland is about to succeed to her throne. But, Mountjoy pushes Hugh to agree to terms advanced under Elizabeth’s name. Yet, unknown to Hugh, Elizabeth has died.
Subsequently, King James of Scotland, whose veins course with Gaelic blood, is crowned King of England and Ireland at Westminster Abbey. Beneath the coronation chair upon which he sits is the calf of the Stone of Destiny – the mother stone of which - sat beneath the O’Neill’s inauguration chair.
King James’ settles English and Scottish subjects on two thirds of the lands held by the Gaelic inhabitants of Ireland. Gaelic customs and the Catholic religion are outlawed. Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone and his surviving captains are reviled by many who resent the consequences of defeat. Midst fresh accusations of treason by English and Scottish settlers, Hugh and those close to him fear for their lives and flee to the Continent hoping to raise an army and return to renew the struggle.
Hugh appeals to his Catholic allies in France, Spain and Rome. However, Christendom – exhausted by religious wars – begins to look upon him as an embarrassing impediment to the emergence of a modern world – one in which religious tolerance is increasingly relevant.
A few years later, a keystone - reputedly fabricated from the splinters of the Stone of Destiny - is set in the arch of a porch of the Church of Ireland in the shadow of the Hill of Tullaghogue. Some say it implies that a desolate peace will reign in Ireland until tolerance abides.
A Desolate Peace is the first broad account of the epic clash between the Elizabethan and Gaelic Worlds. Have a look at a complete list of volumes for this epic 10 volume set. The list also includes release dates for all volumes and links to their summaries.