Richard O'Farrell

Richard O'Farrell was an Irish soldier of the seventeenth century most notable for his service in the Irish Confederate Wars from 1642 to 1651. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant General. Like many other Irish officers in the decades following the Flight of the Earls in 1607, O'Farrell served in the Spanish Army. He was commissioned into an Irish Regiment and developed battle experience while serving under the veteran Owen Roe O'Neill. In 1641, a major rebellion broke out in Ireland, led by northern Catholics such as Sir Phelim O'Neill and Lord Maguire. While continuing to pledge allegiance to Charles I, they launched attacks on Protestant inhabitants. While much of Ulster and Connaught was seized, an attempt to capture Dublin failed. O'Farrell was one of many exiled officers who returned to join the army of the rebels, who established their own government in Kilkenny. He arrived at Wexford in the company of Rosa O'Neill and Henry Roe O'Neill, the wife and daughter of his former commander Owen Roe O'Neill. Although appointed Colonel of a Longford regiment, O'Farrell's men were soon attached to the Ulster Army of O'Neill. In 1646, he commanded his regiment during O'Neill's victory at the Battle of Benburb. During the Siege of Dublin, O'Farrell was routed by troops led by Lord Inchiquin while attempting to bring a relief convoy to the beleaguered garrison of Dundalk.