Irish soldiers of fortune went into Europe in organized units as far back as the thirteenth century, but the first Flight of the Wild Geese took place in 1607, when Hugh O'Neill and Rory O'Donnell, the respective Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell set sail from Loch Swilly on Co. Donegal. They never returned to their native land. The Wild Geese certainly made their presence felt in the world. They fought in every major conflict from the days of Louis XIV to the last world war.
