PEOPLE from Donegal and across the globe will converge on Valladolid in Spain next week to mark the death and funeral of Irish Chieftain and hero Red Hugh O’Donnell.
A re-enactment of the state funeral he was given back in 1602 will take place in the city that was once the centre of power in Spain.
A visit to Simancas Castle, where he died, is part of the organised events which is being run by the Hispano-Irish Association.
Archives detailing his stay and death in the castle will also be the subject of a lecture as well as archives covering the close Irish/Spanish alliances of the time.
Pipers Jim O’Hagan from Derry and uilleann piper Mark Blackwell will also take part in the festivities.
Red Hugh left Ireland after the defeat of the Spanish at the Battle of Kinsale in 1601 to seek the help of King Phillip 11 of Spain to field an army to attempt to remove the British from Ireland.
Just 29 years of age, Red Hugh died in Simancas Castle and because he was held in such high opinion in Spain he was given a state funeral and was buried in a chapel in a former monastery in Valladolid where Christopher Columbus was also buried.
An archaeological dig in 2020 to find his remains in the former monastery, now located under a bank, came to nothing even though some 14 skeletons were found.
Red Hugh’s remains would have been easily distinguished form others as he lost his two big toes because of frostbite.
This happened as he traversed the Wicklow Mountains in winter after his escape from Dublin Castle.
Speaking to the Donegal News this week Eddie Crawford, a keen historian on Red Hugh and the O’Donnell lineage, said he was looking forward to the international gathering in Spain to celebrate the great Red Hugh who was born near Lifford at Mongavlin Castle.
“There will be a large contingent from here and other parts of Ireland. This will be the first time groups like ourselves and other similar groups from countries such as France, USA and Spain will get together. As chairperson I will give a presentation on what our group do and what we hope to achieve, The Irish Ambassador to Spain, Frank Smyth will attend and he will address the event after the presentations. We expect many other dignitaries.
“I work very closely with Carlos Burgos of the Hispano-Irish Association and we have become friends over the last few years. We know there are Irish media coming to cover the two day happenings on September 13 and 14,” he said.
Back in Donegal on September 26 there will be a local celebration of Red Hugh O’Donnell led by Mr Crawford and fellow Donegal enthusiasts.
Plans are moving forward to twin Lifford and Simancas – the birth and death places of the Irish chieftain after Donegal County Council approved the plan earlier this year.
To keep up to date on events see the Facebook page ‘Red Hugh Ó Donnell – The Fighting Prince of Donegal’
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