If there is one moment in Irish history that created modern Ireland, it is the flight of the Earls. Until the Earl of Tyrone and Earl of Tyrconnell packed up most of their families and sailed for Spain at midnight, the English kings and queens had pursued a policy of partnership with Gaelic tribal lords. The Irish Earls hoped to obtain assistance that would unseat the English but instead they made it to France and from there went into exile. Behind them the English were left with a clear field to extinguish the ancient customs of the most Gaelic part of Ireland and they weren’t gentle about it. Today, the astrological effect of this moment can still be seen most clearly in Northern Ireland. Today, two of the most visible results is seen with the bonfires on Eleventh Night and the remaining Peace Walls from the time of the Troubles.
For centuries, the Irish have struggled to hold onto Éire through countless invasions. The Norse. The Normans. The English. The Scots, Welsh and English. They passionately believe that Ireland is theirs and are often willing to spill a lot of blood to convince everyone of the same thing and yet Britain still maintains a foothold in Northern Ireland. The Republic of Ireland has a semblance of independence but the most common spoken language is English followed by Polish followed by Gaelic. The customs of the British dominate.
The flight of the Earls was the deathknell for Irish independence and customs. The Irish Earls were attainted and their lands seized. Whereas before the kings had regranted the land to tribal leaders bringing them into a relationship to the English crown without changing the underlying culture, the new King James I of England chose to create the Plantation of Ulster and grant the arable lands to his Protestant Scots and English subjects. The English took the most Gaelic part of the island and so completely colonized it that today its population is more British than the Brits themselves and Northern Ireland is still part of the United Kingdom.
What did the astrology tell us about Ireland?
The Flight of the Earls horoscope was not about Irish Republicanism. The Virgo north node was in the second house. Virgo is the effect of mutable earth, reformable material. The second house are places of the estate. Warehouses, farmland, crops, storage of all types, material possessions, settlement. The second house is the natural house of fixed earth, Taurus and Ceres. A working farm is a perfect description of a second house place. Putting Virgo and the north node in the second together, we can create the vocabulary that describes the theme of the horoscope. These astrological themes are reformation of farmland, reform the crops, reform material possession, reform storage and warehouses, and reform the settlement.
The Plantation of Ulster fits the archetype depicted by the north node of the horoscope. It was at this time that the term British began to be used in relation to the settlement. The Virgo north node in the second house ruled by the Libra Vesta in the fourth. Peaceful servants (Libra Vesta) in their family home (fourth house) reforming (Virgo north node) Ulster land (second house). The native Irish were not peaceful and so the government policy gave them limited amounts of land.
The King of Spain Hands Ireland to the English
Usually the actor is represented by the ruler of the Ascendant. The Earls were on the move so usually they would be represented by the Ascendant ruler but it seems the motivation here matters. The Earls were reacting to something and that was a fear of the English crown.
The Flight of the Earls horoscope captures a handover similiar in nature of the abdication of the crown of Edward VIII to his brother George VI. The Earls start in Leo as the Sun and end in Aquarius as Uranus. The English start in Aquarius as Uranus and end in Leo as the Sun.
Departing in Leo, the Earls are represented by the 0° Libra (30° Virgo) Sun. The 0° represents the moment when you have gone as far as possible and now must transform into the next phase. The Earls left hoping for a diplomatic arrangement that would grant the support needed to reconquer the island and free it from English influence. This can be seen in the retrograde 0° Taurus (30° Aries) Pluto in the tenth house. Pluto is sought by the Earls for his ability to take by force the Irish lands. The effect of this would be seen in the influence of the 0° Capricorn (30° Sagittarius) Juno. Juno has gone as far as she can go with the foreign alliance and now is rejuvenating government.
Juno is the favored counsellor of state, the wife of Jupiter and queen of the gods. The Earls don’t know that Spain is hoping to hold onto their treaty with the English with its promise that Spain end its military intervention in Ireland and they are unwilling to rejuvenate their old diplomatic efforts with the Earls in Ireland. The Spanish King, the Aries Jupiter, requests the Earls adjust their course and he, in effect, sends them into exile. This is the moment that the Earls become the retrograde Gemini Uranus in the eleventh house. The English take the role of the 0° Libra (30° Virgo) Sun. This is the moment of the handover.
The King of Spain has the treaty he wants and it is with the English. He is finished with attempting to reform (Virgo) Ireland he now wants peace (Libra) with the English. This sets up the entire chart to favor the English, as they become the Libra Sun, and so the transformation from war to settlement (retrograde 0° Taurus (30° Aries) Pluto), foreign alliance to rejuvenated government (0° Capricorn (30° Sagittarius) Juno) and even the nobility in Ireland all come under English control. The old Gaelic order is exiled while a new centralized government reforms the colony of Ulster.
The New English Order
The King of Spain may have made the decision but the English still had to resolve the horoscope. The native Irish are described by the Virgo Mars conjunct Neptune in the third house. The planets of dissolution and martial activity in the house of the neighborhood or the clan. The Irish fought for their independence under powerful Irish nobles and they were abandoned. The Earls took their families with them and this wiped out the best potential claimants to the leadership. The old Gaelic order dissolved away but the war fighters remained.
The north node and south node of this horoscope describes much of the history of Ireland since this time. The Irish Free State and Northern Ireland both also formed under another Virgo north Node-Pisces South Node transit. The nodes work like a factory. The north node represents the raw material that enters the factory while the south node represents the finished goods that leave the factory.
The Virgo north node in the second house is attempting to reform the physical land not of Ulster but of Ireland. The Pisces south node in the eighth house attempts to share or take this reformed land and dissolve it. Whenever you see a Virgo north node-Pisces south node you have the feel of two steps forward, one step back. In reality, this nodal pairing is about securing a portion for the future but that portion seemingly just disappears as if it is lost. It is not lost it is just put away for the future.
The Ulster Irish are represented by the Libra Vesta in the fourth house while the Republican Irish are represented by the Virgo Neptune conjunct Mars in the third house. As the working class Ulster Irish settle Ireland they feed the dissolving Gaelic Irish warriors.
Today, Northern Ireland continues as the Virgo north node while the Republic of Ireland has taken the role of Virgo Neptune conjunct Mars in the third house. The Flight of the Earls astrology did not create the energy for the reestablishment of a Gaelic order instead is about the settlement of Ireland by the British.
Will there ever be another Gaelic order in Ireland?
The Earls were sent into exile and it is possible that a future astrological mechanism may restore the Gaelic Earls to their former position. The Ulster Irish are represented by the Libra Vesta loosely conjunct the retrograde Libra Mercury. Mercury is the messenger and the Earls are under his influence in Gemini. Mercury is also directly linked to the Libra Sun. They certainly have the power to call the Earls (4° Gemini Uranus) from their exile reversing the handover by the King of Spain and restoring them to their original position as the Libra Sun.
While the Irish Republicans may not appreciate this, it is only through the Ulster Irish that they will be able to obtain their ultimate goal of a united Ireland in the control of the Irish. Until that time, Ireland will continue its steady and slow two steps forward one step back dance toward the British settlement of Éire.