in a few days after, he besieged Gouvan; and the soldiers mutinying, and
giving up the place with their officers, he caused the governor, Hammond,
and some other officers, to be put to death."--Castlehaven, 107. Ormond
also says, in one of his letters, "the next day Rathfarnham was taken by
storm, and all that were in it made prisoners; and though five hundred
soldiers entered the castle before any officer of note, yet not one
creature was killed; which I tell you by the way, to observe the difference
betwixt our and the rebels making use of a victory."--Carte, Letters, ii.
408.]

admitted within the walls; yet, so obstinate was the resistance of the
garrison, that, to spare his own men, the general consented to grant them
honourable terms. From Kilkenny he proceeded to the town of Clonmel,[a]
where Hugh, the son of the deceased O'Neil, commanded with one thousand two
hundred of the best troops of Ulster. The duration of the siege exhausted
his patience; the breach was stormed a second time; and, after a conflict
of four hours, the English were driven back with considerable loss.[b] The
garrison, however, had expended their ammunition; they took advantage of
the confusion of the enemy to depart during the darkness of the night; and
the townsmen the next morning, keeping the secret, obtained from Cromwell a
favourable capitulation.[1][c] This was his last exploit in Ireland. From
Clonmel he was recalled to England to undertake a service of greater
importance and difficulty, to which the reader must now direct his
attention.

The young king, it will be remembered, had left the Hague on his circuitous
route to Ireland, whither he had been called by the advice of Ormond
and the wishes of the royalists.[d] He was detained three months at St.
Germains by the charms of a mistress or the intrigues of his courtiers, nor
did he reach the island of Jersey till long after the disastrous battle