Sir Richard Graeme (sometimes spelt as Graham) was an English soldier noted for his service in Ireland during Tyrone's Rebellion. At the Battle of Aherlow on 16 September 1600 he defeated a force of rebels led by

James FitzThomas FitzGerald James fitz Thomas FitzGerald, called the Súgán Earl (died 1608), was a pretender to the Earldom of Desmond who made his claim and led a rebellion after the last earl, Gerald FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond had been killed in 1583. The preten ...

, the

Earl of Tyrone The Earl of Tyrone is a title created three times in the Peerage of Ireland, and once in the Spanish nobility. It was created for the final time in 1746 for Marcus Beresford, 1st Viscount Tyrone, son-in-law of the last de Poer earls. His son wa ...

's leading supporter in

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

. Although Fitzgerald was able to escape with some of his forces, it destroyed much of his power in the area. At the decisive

Battle of Kinsale The siege of Kinsale (), also known as the battle of Kinsale, was the ultimate battle in England's conquest of Gaelic Ireland, commencing in October 1601, near the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and at the climax of the Nine Years' War� ...

in 1601, Graeme commanded a cavalry unit under Lord Mountjoy. He commanded the

night watch Night Watch or Nightwatch may refer to: Being on duty at night * The nighttime shift worked by a security guard (night watchman) * Watchman (law enforcement), organized groups of men to deter criminal activity and provide law enforcement * One of ...

of horsemen, and his men were some of the first into position as Mountjoy ordered his troops into defensive lines to face Tyrone's advance. The Anglo-Irish cavalry successfully routed both the cavalry and infantry of the rebel forces.Falls p.306 Serving alongside

Richard Wingfield Sir Richard Wingfield KG of Kimbolton Castle (c. 1469 – 22 July 1525) was an influential courtier and diplomat in the early years of the Tudor dynasty of England which included being English Ambassador to France. Life The Wingfield family o ...

and Richard de Burgh, Graeme's men were involved in the breaking of the rebel ranks and their pursuit.

References

Bibliography

* Falls, Cyril. ''Elizabeth's Irish Wars''. Constable & Company, 1996. {{DEFAULTSORT:Graeme, Richard People of Elizabethan Ireland 17th-century English soldiers Irish knights 16th-century English soldiers