Missing horses, amputated toes and a lonesome Wicklow bog — the story behind Art's Cross

This cross marks the place where Art O'Neill died in 1592; and it is 421 years since his friend, Red Hugh O’Donnell, died in Spain while trying to organise Spanish support for the Irish rebels

Art's Cross: marks the area where Art O’Neill died in January 1592. Picture: John G O'Dwyer

In the high mountains south of the Wicklow Gap, walkers are sometimes surprised to come upon a large wooden cross and may wonder what or who is commemorated here. The answer is it marks the place where Art O’Neill died in January 1592. Son of Ulster chieftain, Shane O’Neill, Art had, along with his brother, Henry McShane O’Neill, and Red Hugh O’Donnell, been held hostage in Dublin Castle by England’s Lord Deputy as insurance against the two most powerful families in Ulster misbehaving themselves.

Circa 1590, Irish rebel Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone (c. 1540 - 1616), who fought with the Spanish against Elizabeth I and was the last nobleman to remain in Ireland until fleeing abroad in the famous Flight of the Earls. Picture: Hulton Archive/Getty Images