at Crevenish Castle, and Cole sent warnings to the Dublin Castle administration. Upon the outbreak of the rebellion that month, Cole led the successful defence of Enniskillen Castle against attacks by Maguire. Cole was one of four Ulster settlers commissioned by Charles I of England in October 1641 to raise regiments to defend the north-west of Ireland: taken into pay by the English parliament in July 1642, these forces formed the nucleus of the Laggan Army. He campaigned against the rebels in Fermanagh, retaking several key castles by 1643. Cole was among the Ulster soldiers who resisted agreeing to the Solemn League and Covenant in January 1644, instead adhering to the Royalist authority of the Marquess of Ormond. Cole again refused to take the oath of loyalty to parliament in May 1644, but must have agreed to do so shortly thereafter. At the end of 1644, he was forced to go to London to defend himself against accusations of royalism and undue leniency towards Catholic rebels. He gave evidence in the trial of Lord Maguire in February 1645, regaining the favour of the Parliamentarians. Cole returned to Ireland in May 1645, bringing with him £10,000 to be distributed among the troops in Ulster. He defeated a rebel force at Irvinestown late in 1645. In January 1649, during the Second English Civil War, Cole's largely-Scottish settler garrison at Enniskillen mutinied and declared their loyalty to King Charles, imprisoning Cole in his own castle. He was released soon after and was in London by June. In December 1649 he was commissioned by parliament to command 800 men to fight in the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, but due to delays in recruiting he never went. He died in October 1653 and was buried at St. Michan's Church, Dublin. Family Cole was married twice. His first wife was Susan, daughter and heiress of John Croft of Lancashire, by whom he had two daughters. He married secondly Catherine Parsons, daughter of Sir Lawrence Parsons. Toegther they had several sons, including Michael Cole, ancestor of the Earls of Enniskillen, and Sir John Cole, 1st Baronet. References 1571 births 1653 deaths 16th-century English people 17th-century English people English knights English soldiers High Sheriffs of County Fermanagh Irish MPs 1634–1635 Irish MPs 1639–1649 Irish Rebellion of 1641 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Fermanagh constituencies People of the Irish Confederate Wars People of the Nine