Hugh O’Neill, the hero of Clonmel, was governor and he refused all Ireton’s terms of surrender. The city held out for a year, but again starvation and lack of ammunition forced O’Neill to make terms. Plague also raged in the city, and thousands died from it. Ireton was so impressed with O’Neill’s bravery and soldierly qualities that he gave spe­ cial orders that his life was to be spared, although many of Ireton’s senior officers wanted him killed in retaliation for his defence of Clonmel. It is an ironic fact of history that Ireton died of the plague a few days after the surrender of Limerick, and that when his body was shipped back to England for a state funeral, O’Neill should be on the same ship, bound for imprisonment in the Tower. Before he died, Ireton’s last act was to write a letter to Parliament request­ ing them to “use the brave warrior with all civility and humanity”. O’Neill spent some months in the Tower, but on an appeal by the Spanish ambassador he was allowed to go to Spain, where he entered the Spanish service.