"After St. Odhran, the character which figures most in local tradition is Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare who on the 31st Dec. 1602 left Glengariff with 1,000 followers on his ill-fated retreat to the O'Rourke territory in Leitrim. On the 5th Jan having come through Hollyford, Upperchurch & Templederry, O'Sullivan Beare and his retinue arrived in Latteragh. Philip O'Sullivan, a 1st cousin of Donal Cam,who was sent to Spain as a refugee with Donal's young son and educated in Spain, wrote a detailed account of the retreat in "Historiae Catholicea Compendium" publish in 1621. I quoteL
"He halted in the village of Latteragh, and threw his men into a rather small church and it's enclosure. There was in this village a fort from which he was annoyed the whole night with the firing and salliers of the garrison. He withstood the attack from the fort and monentarily awaited with drawn swords prepared muskets and couched pikes, a large crowd of the enemy assembled not far from the camp; the men going on sentry and to sleep in turns.
It was now the 6th of January when at dawn, a storm of red-hot balls blazed on O'Sullivan as he advanced.
This was indeed a daily salutation with which the enemy honoured him, a farewell as they drew off at night, a greeting as they turned up in the morning."
From Latteragh, O'Sullivan had to make his way to the Shannon. Which route the column followed is speculative - whether down the valley through Kilnafinch or upwards towards Toomevara - neither history not tradition offer any enlightenment.
The local folklore relating to O'Sullivan Beare is, oddly enough, at variance with the "official" story. Local tradition has it that O'Sullivan spent the night on the moat in Garrane and many will tell you that the natives (as opposed to the de Mariscos) were friendly; or perhaps later, more patriotic generations changed the story slightly in it's telling - who knows?"
If you see this link on the moat at Garrane it has other associations with O'Sullivan Beare.
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