Examination of Henry McHenry

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The Examinacion of Henry McHenry of Ballymulvannagh in the Parrish of Ballywoollan in the County of Londonderry Gent taken before us at Colerane the eleventh of March 1652
Who being duely examined saith That vpon Sunday morning being the 24th of October 1641 he & his boy onely went from his dwelling at Ballymulvannagh aforesaid unto Dunluce to heare a Masse there. That when he came unto Dunluce he found his father in law Gilduffe O Cahan drinking wyne in his sonne Roger O Cahans house at Dunluce where they sate alone drinking wyne (except for the time that the Masse was celebrated by Neill McLam{} the priest) vntill about one or two of Clock the same Sund{ay}And being demanded in what place the Masse was said that {} he saith he doth not remember. And further this Examinante {saith} That about the said houres of one or two of the Clock in the aftern{oon} of the said Sunday Capten McPheadress with about 15 horse men having swords about them came ryding into Dunluce, {but} this Examinante did not enquire what they came about. Tha{t} sonne after Capten McPheadress & the Scotts came thether A scotch highland man, came into the said house, where they were drinking (whom this Examinant knew not) & whispered this Examinants said father Gilduffe in the eare, upon which he went out of the doores, without saying any thing, and tooke the key of the Castle Gate, from one Tony who kept the Castle and dwelt with Capten Digby, and after that he the said Gilduffe entred the Castle & shutt the Gate, And this Examinante saith, That about halfe an houre after that Capten Digby who had been walking abroad came into Dunluce Towne, and this Examinant went unto him and they together went downe unto the Castle, & his said father opened the Gate <B> unto them & Lett them in, there being onely some few of the Warders of the Castle which were Irishmen within with him. That after the said Capten Digbie & this Examinant were entred the Castle his said father in law told them, that the man whom he this Examinante see Whispter him in the eare, told him that Argiles men were comming over the Bridge at the Bush=Mills, distant about two Miles from Dunluce; That after he was in the Castle with his father & Capten Digby & the Warders, he see the said Capten McPheadres the same Sunday in the afternoone with those Scotts he brought into the Towne and some of the Townsmen come

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come into the Court before the Castle and demanded the Castle for the Kings use, as he this Examinante remembers, & Capten Digby & his said father Gilduffe told him That they would not deliver it untill they heard from the Earle of Antrim. And this Examinante saith, That the said Report of Argiles men comming over the Bushbridge proved false and untrue. And further this Examinant saith, That about 9 or ten of the Clock the same Sunday at night as he remembers, Mr Alexander Mc Donnell the Earle of Antrims <C> brother, & Archibald Stewart Esquire came unto Dunluce and demanded entrance into the Castle, that after by a Candle lighted & sett in the Window, the said Gilduffe & Capten Digby discerned him to be the Earles brother, they opened the Gate and suffred onely him & Mr Stewart to enter, Who after their entrance had a Discourse in the Hall with Capten Digby and his said father Gilduffe O Cahan, but what it was he doth not know. That after about two houres stay in the Castle the Earles said Brother and Mr Stewart went out of the Castle and ridd that night to Colerane as he hath heard Leaving this Examinante & the said Gilduffe and Capten Digby with the said Warders in the Castle. That they kept it & abode there for foure or five nights & dayes and afterwards a Letter from the Earle of Antrim declaring that Capten Digby should have the Charge of the Castle this Examinant and his said father Gilduffe left it & went unto Dunseverick. That from thenceforth vntill the Murder at Portnaw this Examinante went up & downe the Countrye with Mr Stewart to assist him in all things wherein <D> he was required That he hath heard it reported amongst the Irish, That James McColl McDonnell Alester McColl McDonnell, & his brother in Law, Tirlagh Oge O Cahan, were the Chiefe Plotters & Actors in the Murder of the Brittish Companyes lying at Portnaw, & that he hath heard the reason thereof was because they were jealous of the Scotts, who as it was muttred amongst the Irish had an intent to cutt them off; That about two or three dayes after that Murder James McColl McDonnell, Alester McColl McDonnell, Tirlogh Oge O Cahan, Manus roe O Cahan, John Mortimer, Donnell G or me McDonnell Donnell Grome McAlester, with about five hundred men Rendezvoused at

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at Craigballinoe about a Mile from Dunseverick That the said James McColl and the rest of the Gentleman Last named sent unto this Examinante and to his said father in law Gilduffe O Cahan & his brother in law Brian Modder McHenry being then at Dunseverick, that they should come & joyne with them or they would kill them & burne their houses & plunder their goods, that thereupon out of feare they went to them and marched with them the next day <E> into Dunluce where after the said James McColl and other the Irish Gent: aforemencioned had summoned Capten Digby to surrender unto them the Castle of Dunluce, which he refusing to doe some of them sett, or caused to be sett on fire, the Towne of Dunluce and burnt it, that at the same time this Examinant with others of the Irish were standing upon the Hill a little above Towne, that he did not see or heare of any scotch that were {} at Dunluce, That the next day the said Army marched {to}wards Colerane, and from thence returned over the Bush {} & so marched through the Countrey towards Oldstone. T{hat} this Examinante did not see any of the English or Scotch k{ill’d} by them in all their said March through the Countrey from Colerane to Oldstone, neither did he see any English or Scotch in their March from Colerane unto Oldstone. And being demanded where all the Brittish who Lived in that Countrey were gone, he saith they fled to Colerane and Ballentoy & towards Carrickfergus after that they heard of the Murder at Portnawe for feare they should be killed by the Irish whom they heard were come over the Bann & had <ff> joyned with those who committed the Murder at Portnaw: That when the said James McColl McDonnell, and Alester McColl McDonnell James McHenry this Examinants brother, Tirlagh Oge O Cahan his brother in Law, John Mortimer, Donnell Gorme McDonnell & diverse other Irish Gentleman whose names after so long time he cannot remember were come unto Oldstone they mett with a Party of Irish commanded by Art Oge O Neill of feenagh and joyning with him they summoned the Castle of Oldstone commanded by Walter Kennaday and the Brittish which was forthwith yeilded but upon what Condicions he doth not know, but saith he did not see any of the Brittish kill’d in or neere the Castle; But heard that some women & Children who were in the Castle & had gott quarter were about a Mile from the said Castle neer Clanravell water murdred by Toole McHugh O Hara and his

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his men. This Examinante being demanded whether he did joyne with his father Gilduffe O Cahan and his brother Tirlagh Oge O Cahan in drawing & subscripcion of a Letter sent unto the Brittish in Ballentoy house for surrender of it; he saith he did, and was forced thereunto by his said father & brother And being demanded whether the Letter now shewed him, directed unto Mr fullerton & Archibald Boyd be the same Letter, he saith <G> it is, and that the hands thereunto subscribed is the proper hands of his said father & brother, & of him this Examinante And he saith That he was at Ballentoy the same time that his said Brother Tirlagh brought the Carnon & Sow against Ballentoy house; That there was onely two or three shotts made at the house with the said Carnon; That the Officers who comanded the Irish which besieged Ballentoy were his said Brother Tirlagh, Donnell Grome McAlester, Coll McAlester, and some others whom he cannot remember. And being demanded who commanded the forces who besieged the Towne of Colerane, he saith, it was James McColl McDonnell, Alester McColl, Donnell Gorme McDonnell, Toole McHugh O Hara, his brother James McHenry & Brian Modder McHenry and that he this Examinante came unto the Irish Campe neer Colerane sometimes when the said Officers sent for him, & staid with them two or three dayes and then returned back to Dunseverick where he then dwelt. That he never see any kill’d neere Colerane but heard some were kill’d there. That upon the Scotch Armyes March in May 1642. Into the Root towards Colerane, all the Irish fled over the Bann, and this Examinante also amongst the rest did also flee over. And further he saith not.

Tho: Coote
Rich: Brasier Major

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