December 31, 1602

After being defeated by the English at the Battle of Kinsale, the combined Irish and Spanish forces of the O’Sullivan Beara’s are driven out of West Cork. Dónal Cam O’Sullivan, chieftain of the clan, begins his long march on this date in 1602. He heads to Leitrim in hopes of gaining sanctuary with the O’Rourke’s of Breffni. Accompanying him are 1,000 men, women and children representing the first large-scale exodus of people from the Castletownbere region.