"I BEG your Majesty to give them some extra financial aid. Their grant is barely sufficient for their food and in other respects they suffer great want. They are so poor that one must have compassion for them. The Pope gives them a house but not one stick of furniture, and they have neither beds nor chairs. The unfortunates have not money to buy such bare necessities and, as there are many Irish with the Earl, a large sum would be necessary to buy even what would be needed so that they might not be forced to sleep on the floors."
The above extract comes from a letter written in November 1608 by the Marqués de Aytona, Spanish ambassador to the Vatican, to the King of Spain, Philip III. The "Earl", of course, is Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, who along with Rory O'Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell, was the major protagonist in one of the great defining moments of Irish history, namely the Flight of the Earls, 1607-1608.
The letter in question is quoted in From Rath Maoláin to Rome, a fascinating and erudite account of the flight, based on the contemporary narrative of Tadhg Ó Cianáin, published last autumn by the Pontifical Irish College in Rome.
Why did the Earls take flight? Were they, as O'Neill insisted, victims of a nefarious English plot that would seize their lands and take their lives? Or were they deep into a conspiracy to raise another rebellion, with Spanish help, that would chase the English out of Ireland? Or were they were merely victims of misunderstanding and mistrust who panicked? Such questions are sure to get an airing in Rome at the weekend when the Eternal City's Irish community (and many others including O'Neill descendants) gather for a series of events to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the flight. Music, poetry, theatre and academia all have their say in a series of events promoted by the Irish Embassy to Italy and many of which will be held in locations connected to the memory of the Earls.
Historians John McCavitt and Elizabeth Fitzpatrick as well as academic John McCourt will give lectures that deal with both the Earls in Rome and Italy and the Irish in exile, "From O'Neill to Joyce". Poets Medbh McGuckian, Nuala Ni Dhómhnaill and Eiléan ni Chuilleanáin will give readings of their own work while Michael Holohan and Donal O'Kelly stage their play, Running Beast, a music-theatre piece based on Hugh O'Neill.
Irish music and Irish music makers will make themselves heard in the shape of group Téada and singer Róisín Elsafty as well as the remarkable Cross-Border Orchestra of Ireland.
On the religious front - we are in Rome after all - Cardinal Seán Brady will celebrate a commemorative Mass at the Church of San Pietro in Montorio, burial place of the Earls, next Sunday morning.
• For further information see www.theflightoftheearls.net