It all started with a song. Music inspires my creative Muse, and the writing doesn’t entirely flow until I’ve settled on a soundtrack. This time, however, it wasn’t a soundtrack that got me dreaming of characters and the story that would become Rebel’s Knot. It was one particular song.
After nearly three years fighting the English Parliamentary invaders, the Irish brigades (Tories) began to sue for peace in the early part of 1652. They had very little choice. Neither France nor Spain had come to Ireland’s defence, being more concerned with keeping diplomatic relations with the new English Commonwealth. Aid promised by the Duke of Lorraine had come too little and too late. The Irish brigades had committed themselves well, but the time had come to make terms with the enemy.
In what would be the final months of the Irish resistance against the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, the Irish brigades were at a breaking point. Since Oliver Cromwell landed in Dublin with an invading force in August 1649, the Irish forces (at first centralized, then fractured into autonomous brigades) relied on support from local populations. But by the end of 1651, the brigades were desperately short of supplies and faced the prospect of surrender.
Cryssa Bazos 