In 1608, Sir Cahir O'Doherty, a Gaelic lord in Donegal, launched a rebellion against English rule, burning the town of Derry and killing the English governor. O'Doherty's rebellion was a response to the harsh treatment of Gaelic chiefs in the aftermath of the Flight of the Earls. The rebellion was quickly suppressed, and O'Doherty was killed, but it demonstrated the continuing resistance of the Gaelic Irish to English rule.

O'Doherty's Rebellion is a subject of poetic lament in the Gaelic tradition, with bards mourning the loss of another Gaelic leader. The rebellion's failure is often contrasted with the earlier successes of O'Neill and O'Donnell, creating a narrative of decline that pervades Irish nationalist poetry. The burning of Derry is a powerful image in the poetry of the period, symbolizing the fury of the dispossessed.