1603, just after the death of Queen Elizabeth. In the following year England and Spain agreed to make peace with the signing of the Treaty of London. O’Donnell went to Castlehaven and took a ship to Spain. He was well received there but died a few months later, said to be by poisoning by George Carew’s spy, Blake. O’Neill returned to his native Ulster and continued to fight, but his aura of invincibility was broken. He submitted to the crown at Mellifont on 30 March 1603, where he received generous terms. Four years later he decided to go to Spain. O'Neill was accompanied by many supporters and other chieftains. This is known as the "Flight of the Earls". Their intention was always to raise an army and oust English authority in their home province, but the territories they had left behind were soon divided up in the Plantation of Ulster, and they were never able to return. The English administration saw the ideal opportunity to seize most of the land of Ulster, and to bring in Presbyterian Lowland Scots and northern English settlers to farm it. The English had achieved their objectives of destroying the old Gaelic order, ridding themselves of the clan system and the more troublesome chieftains. The result of the battle of Kinsale was devastating to the existing Irish culture and way of life, as the old Gaelic system was finally broken. As the Gaelic aristocracy fled to continental Europe, they left behind a power vacuum that the authority of the English filled. See also Nine Years' War (Ireland) Irish battles History of Ireland (1536–1691) Notes References León Arsenal, Fernando Prado, Rincones de historia española (EDAF, 2008) Richard Bagwell, Ireland under the Tudors 3 vols. (London, 1885–1890) Calendar of State Papers: Carew MSS. 6 vols (London, 1867–1873). Calendar of State Papers: Ireland (London) Nicholas Canny The Elizabethan Conquest of Ireland: A Pattern Established, 1565–76 (London, 1976) . Nicholas Canny Making Ireland British, 1580–1650 (Oxford University Press, 2001) . André Corvisier, John Childs A dictionary of military history and the art of war (Wiley-Blackwell, 1994) Davis, Paul K. (2001). "Besieged: 100 Great Sieges from Jericho to Sarajevo." Oxford: Oxford University Press. Steven G. Ellis Tudor Ireland (London, 1985) . Colm Lennon Sixteenth Century Ireland — The Incomplete Conquest (Dublin, 1995) . Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland: Comprising the Several Counties; Cities; Boroughs; Corporate, Market, and Post