After the merry Irish fair at Rathmullen, Hugh O'Donnell readily accepts the invitation of the captain of the English trading vessel to board ship. Disaster follows. Clapped into irons, the young prince of Donegal is spirited away to the fortress at Dublin. The English have good reason to fear Hugh; though he is only fifteen, his daring and swordsmanship are the talk of Ireland. In bleak Birmingham Tower, Hugh has little to do through the long months of captivity but plan carefully his hoped-for escape, which is eventually accomplished with the help of Martin, the learned poet who raised him. Hugh and his fellow prisoner O'Neill flee from the tower. Back in friendly territory, Hugh raises an army to rescue his father and set free his land of Donegal. In a glorious fight filled with the clash of steel and the snorting of horses, the Irish with Hugh in command push back the hated English.

Mr. Reilly's novel of sixteenth-century Ireland is authentic in detail and is based on what is known of Hugh O'Donnell, Prince of Donegal.

From the dust jacket