Europe, Ireland and the whole world I: From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, 1350 – 1750: HI2102What were the main causes of the flight of the counts?The 14 September of the year 1607 the Earl of Tyrone Hugh O'Neill and the Earl of Tyrconnel Rory O'Donnell fled Ireland alongside officials, their families and many Gaelic chieftains. They left Ireland from Rathmullen in County Donegal. This flight would become known as the Flight of the Counts. They arrived in the Spanish Netherlands and then eventually made their way to Rome. The flight of the earls led to the most drastic form of the British government's plantation policy in Ireland. The Earls' flight remains one of the most memorable events in Irish history. But what exactly were the reasons for the counts’ flight? The causes have been debated by historians with varying interpretations as to why they fled, but it is clear that the earls' influence in Ireland was greatly diminished in the years before the earls fled. This essay seeks to clarify the reasons for the decline of the Earls' power in Ireland through the exploration of the solidification of British rule in Ireland, as well as key events in the years preceding the Earls' flight, such as the campaign of Hugh O 'Neill and on the Nine Years' War and the Battle of Kinsale and the Treaty of Mellifont after the Battle of Kinsale. The Nine Years' War lasted from the years 1594 to 1603. This war was fought between the Irish earls and the English army. As the Irish Rebellion began to gather its forces, Queen Elizabeth sent the 2nd Earl of Essex with an army of 20,000 soldiers, upset at the lack of progress, the Earl of Essex was recalled to London where he was subsequently tried ...... middle of paper ......treatment of the population by English and Marshal law. The Earls' flight occurred for a number of reasons. The Battle of Kinsale is a key moment in the study of the Flight of the Earls, it triggered the decline of the Gaelic order in Ireland, the loss of the Battle of Kinsale led to the Treaty of Mellifont which is one of main reasons for the fleeing of the earls as we see the loss of power of the earls and the resulting conditions of the Treaty of Mellifont such as the end of Brehon law and the introduction of English law and also the introduction of martial law which seemed to be the final straw in a sense for the Earls. It is important to also note the impact of the plot to eliminate the earls that Mary Frances Cusack alluded to in her work. The impact of all of these events combined is what I believe led to the Earls fleeing into 1607.