this he did because he was then in Rebellion against Henry the Sixth and to encourage his Partizans to repair to him in Ireland and by vertue of this Act he Executed William Overy Esq who was Servant to the Earl of Ormond And now the Abettors of Lambert Symnel and Perkin Warbeck which are the Lads mentioned in the new Statute excused themselves upon the aforesaid Act and therefore it was now repealed and all Receivers and Maintainers of Traytors are by this Act made guilty of Treason and Obedience is commanded to be paid to the Great Seal and Privy Seal of England and to Letters Missive under the Kings Signet IV. The Famous Statute commonly called Poyning's Act That no Parliament should for the future be holden in Ireland until the Chief Governor and Council do first certifie the King under the Great Seal of that Land as well the Causes and Considerations as the Acts they design to pass and till the same be approv'd by the King and Council and a Licence thereupon do issue from the King to summon a Parliament and that all Parliaments hereafter holden in other manner be void and of none effect And it is to be noted That this Act was by the Statutes of 28 Hen. 8. c. 4. c. 20. suspended as to that Parliament and by the Statute of 3 4. Philip and Mary it is very excellently and at large explained and by the Statute of 11 Eliz. c. 1. Poyning's Act was again suspended or superseded as to that Parliament in confidence that their most worthy Governour Sir Henry Sydny would not pass any Bills prejudicial to the Queen or the Kingdom but because they had not the same Assurance of their future Governours they did upon second thoughts and in another Session make a Law 11 Eliz. c. 8. That no Bill should for the future be certified into England for the Repeal of Poyning's Act until first such Bill should be approved of by the Majority of both Houses of Parliament in Ireland nevertheless whenever it shall happen that the English and Protestant Interest in Ireland shall overtop its Enemies and make a Majority in Parliamentary Assemblies that Act of Poyning's which was made only to help the English when too weak for the Irish will be obsolete and useless when the Irish Popish Interest becomes inconsiderable V. That all the Statutes against Provisors made in England or Ireland be put in execution here VI. That no Citizen or Townsman receive Livery or Wages from any Nobleman or Gentleman neither engage themselves by Indenture or otherwise to any Lord or Gentleman on pain of being disfranchis'd and expell'd the Corporation and the chief Magistrate to forfeit Twenty Pounds if he fail to punish the Transgressors of this Law and that no Lord or Gentleman shall retain any other but his Officers and Menial Servants on pain of Twenty Pounds VII That none be Aldermen Jurors or Free-men in any Town but such as have been Apprentices or constant Inhabitants there and that no man be Mayor but one known to be Loyal nor no Lord or other be made privy to their Consultations except their Recorder on pain of an hundred Marks and all their by-By-Laws contrary to the Kings Prerogative and Jurisdiction to be void and that this Act be recorded in every Corporation VIII That the Statutes of Kilkenny be confirm'd and executed except those about the Irish Language and riding on Saddles IX That the Subjects keep Bows and Arrows X. That the Captains of Marches do present the Names of their Retinue by Indenture that they may answer for their Defaults and that it be Felony to succour or willingly suffer Rebels or Enemies to pass and re-pass the Marches and that every Proprietor of Land in the Marches do reside thereon or appoint a sufficient Deputy to do so on pain of losing his Estate during his Absence and that all People near the Marches from Sixteen to Sixty be ready on warning in their best defensible Array to defend the same XI That no man compound for the Death or Murder of his Friend or Relation nor revenge it but according to Law XII That no man keep Fire-Arms after Proclamation on pain of Twenty Pounds XIII That it be Treason to stir up the Irishry to make War on the English or any body to make war against the chief Governour of Ireland XIV That one of the Realm of England be Constable of the Castle of Dublin and the like of Trim Lexlip Athlone Wicklow Green-Castle Carlingford Castlefergus repeal'd 11 Car. 1. c. 6. And hence arose the vulgar Error That no man can be Lord Lieutenant of Ireland but an Englishman born XV. An Act about the Records of Vlster Conaught and Trim. XVI That the Lords appear in their Robes every Parliament on pain of one hundred Shillings XVII That no man shall make Peace or War without the Consent of the Chief Governour on pain of one hundred Pounds c. for it is to be noted that before this time every Lord made War or Peace as he pleased without Pay or Commission XVIII That no man take Money or Horsemeat by colour of Gift Reward or otherwise by reason of any Menace and if he do the Giver is to forfeit an hundred Shillings unless he complains seasonably and the Taker is to suffer the Punishment appointed for the Takers of Coyn and Livery XIX That the Souldier shall pay three halfpence a Meal and his Man a Penny and a Penny for six Field-sheaves of Oats and Litter according and whoever refuses to quarter Souldiers at this Rate forfeits twelve pence a time unless he be a Man of twenty Marks Estate per annum and except Cities and Corporate Towns XX. That the Words Cromabo and Butlerabo and such like Words of Faction be abolished XXI That wilful Murder be High Treason XXII That all the Statutes late made in England concerning or belonging to the Publick Weal be henceforth good and effectual in Ireland And XXIII That the Statutes made by the Lord Gormanstown aforesaid he repeal'd and null There were many other Statutes made at this Parliament Lib. D. although they are not Printed Davis 171. One was That the King should have a Subsidy of twenty six shillings and eight pence out of every sixscore Acres of Arable Land in lieu of Purveyance which it seems was together with Coyn and Livery supprest by that Act Rot. Parl. c. 4. And another Act gave Power to the Lord Treasurer to govern the Kingdom on the Death or Surrender of the Chief Governor until the Kings Pleasure were known There was also an Act made in favour of the Knights of St. John's of Jerusalem to resume all their Possessions alienated by Prior Keating or his Predecessor Thomas Talbot and to restore the Jewels and Reliques they had pawn'd to depose the Preceptors they had placed in the Commanderies and that no man but an Englishman should be Prior for the future Another Act made a general
the Pale from appearing at Dublin and forc'd them to defend themselves however they sent his Majesties sworn Servant Lieutenant Collonel Read to represent their Case to his Majesty but he was not only stopped but also Racked at Dublin 10. That the Lord President of Munster by direction of the Lords Justices that Province being quiet put to death Men Women and Children without distinction and mistrusted and threatned the Catholick Nobles and Gentry and Arm'd inferior fellows and the Province of Conaught was used in like manner so that in these Provinces the Catholicks were forc'd on their defence still waiting his Majesties Pleasure and ready to obey his Commands whilst the Lords Justices c. were busie by Addresses to the Malignant Party in England to deprive the Irish of all hopes of his Majesties Justice and Mercy and to plant a perpetual enmity between the Enemy and them 11. That whereas Ireland since the Reign of Hen 2. hath had its own Parliament with equal Power Priviledges c. to that of England and only dependant on the Crown in all which time there is no President that a Statute made in England had any force in Ireland until Enacted there Now by false suggestions an Act of Adventurers 17 Car. hath past in England whereby the Irish unsummon'd and unhear'd are declared Rebels and two Millions and a half of Acres of their Land dispos'd of which Act tho' forc'd on his Majesty and in it self unjust and void yet continues of evil consequence and extream prejudice to his Majesty and totally destructive to the Irish Nation for tho' the scope seems to aim at Rebels only yet the words include all the Irish and takes away many of his Majesties Tenures and much of his Revenue and therefore they protest against it as an Act without President and against the Kings Prerogative and the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom and by colour whereof the Protestant Army disavow his Majesties Authority and depend on the Parliament 12. That strangers in Dublin being banish'd thence by Proclamation were by direction of the Lords Justices pillaged as soon as they got without the Town and what they left in the Town was confiscated and their desire to return under Protection was denyed that Catholicks quiet and under Protection were by the Lords Justices Order sooner destroy'd plundered or killed than those in Action and Quarter daily violated and others that came to Dublin for retreat and shelter were Imprisoned and Tryed for their Lives and Dublin Cork Youghall Kinsale and Tredagh that opened their Gates to his Majesties Forces are worse us'd than the Israelites in Egypt so that it will be made appear that more murthers breaches of publick Faith and Quarter more destruction and desolation and more cruelty not fit to be nam'd were committed in less than Eighteen Months by the direction and advice of the Lords Justices and their Party of the Council than can be parallel'd to have been done by any Christian people 13. That the Lords Justices have against the fundamental Laws procured several Sessions of Parliament tho' Nine parts of Ten of the genuine Members are absent it being inconsistent with their safety to come under the Power of the Lords Justices and in their room are Clerks Soldiers and Serving-men introduc'd into the House of Commons not at all Elected or not Legally Chosen and not having Estates however they have made Orders and releas'd Traytors Impeach'd in full Parliament and passed or might have passed some Acts against Law and prejudicial to his Majesty and the Nation and have also kept Terms only by false and illegal Judgments and Outlaries to Attaint many thousand good Subjects without Summons or Notice and obscure Men are made Sheriffs and Servants and Mechanicks are made Jurors to pass upon the Lives and Estates of those who came in upon Protection and publick Faith Wherefore and to settle the Revenue and prevent desolation and effusion of Blood and to procure the satisfaction of his Subjects who were willing to imploy 10000 men in defence of his Royal Rights they pray his Majesty to give gracious Answers to these Just complaints and to call a Free Parliament in an indifferent place before some Person of Honor and Fortune of approved Faith to his Majesty and acceptable to the People of Ireland who may be speedily Invested with the Government and that in such Parliament their grievances may be redress'd and Poynings Act suspended pro hac vice and either continued or Repeal'd as shall be thought fit and that no matter whereof complaint is made in this Remonstance may debar Catholicks from Sitting and Voting in such Parliament c. Delivered by the Lord Gormanstown Sir Lucas Dillon Sir Robert Talbot John Welsh Authorized by the Confederates 17 March 1642. to his Majesties Commissioners at Trim to be presented to the King Appendix VI. The Substance of the Answer of the Protestant Committee to the false and scandalous Remonstrance of the inhumane and bloody Rebels of Ireland given unto His Majesty at Oxford in May 1644. THAT the Remonstrants were not necessitated to take up Arms for their Religion for they were not troubled or so much as questioned about it for a long time before the Rebellion nor for His Majesties Prerogative for there were no Opponents of it in Ireland except the Remonstrants who have usurped all the King's Prerogatives as well as the Subjects Estates and have printed an Order of their general Assembly to exclude all Temporal Government and Jurisdiction but what is approved or instituted by that Assembly or the supream Council nor for their Lives Liberties and Estates because they had the Protection of the Law and His Majesties Government and not one Instance can be produced that a Papist quatenus a Papist ever suffered unpunished Violence from a Protestant either in Person or Estate except in open Rebellion And as to the just Liberties of Subjects wherein the Protestants are as much concerned as the Remonstrants they were never so fully and freely enjoyed in Ireland as at the Time of the Insurrection so that there was no Necessity to murther and rob the Protestants for the Preservation of the Confederates Nor have any of their Addresses since the Rebellion been slighted or suppressed Their first was from Cavan of the Sixth of November and received a mild and favourable Answer and was forthwith certified to the Lord Lieutenant The second was from seven Lords of the Pale then in Rebellion who refused upon safe Conduct to come to the State but desired Commissioners might be appointed to confer with them and though such a Condescention was thought dishonorable since it was the others duty to come to the Government yet both the Request and Answer were transmitted to the Lord Lieutenant Their third Address was from the united Lords by the Mediation of the Earl of Castlehaven 23 d. of March when His Majesties Army had raised the Siege of Tredagh and were Masters of the Field however
Courts of Exchequer and Commonpleas be removeable at the Discretion of the chief Governour on twenty eight Days notice V. That the Earls of Desmond and Kildare and Edward Plunket Esq as well for Alliances Fosterage and Alterage with the King's Irish Enemies as in furnishing them with Horse and Arms and supporting them against the King's Subjects which is notoriously known to be against the Kings Laws and the laudable Statutes of the Land Lib. D. be attainted of Treason and that whoever hath any of their Goods or Lands and doth not discover it to the Deputy within fourteen Days shall be attainted of Felony By vertue of this Act of Parliament Davis 186. the great Earl of Desmond was beheaded at Drogheda the fifteenth of February 1467. Report makes his Crime to be That of extorting Coyn and Livery And the Irish say it was for an affront he put upon the Queen for being of a noble Race and a generous or rather proud Spirit he despised the King's Marriage with so mean a Subject as the Lady Elizabeth Grey and often said She was a Taylors Widow Perhaps he had more reason than any Man to speak bitterly against such Matches because he had no other Title to the Earldom of Desmond than by the Marriage of his Nephew Thomas the fifth Earl of Desmond to Katherin ni William mac Cormock one of his Vassals for which that Earl was so persecuted by his Relations that he was forced to resign his Earldom to this his Unkle who is commonly called by the Irish Thomas of Drogheda And it would be a very hard case that the Nephew should be so abused for an Act which the King had justified by following the Example and therefore the Unkle exclaimed against that Action as a thing too base to be imitated or excus'd There is also another Vulgar Tradition about this matter which seems very unlikely Lib. P. if not impossible and that is That the Queen should steal the Privy Signet and put it to an Order for his Execution But it is well worth our Observation Davis 185. That as the Earls of Desmond were the first Introducers of Coyn and Livery among the English and the first that broached the distinction between English of Birth and English of Blood and the first Peers that refused to come to Parliament upon Summons so they were the only Peers that ever were executed in Ireland and the only Noble English Family that was by the Hand of Justice extinguished there so that this degenerate Family which of all others was most injurious and ungrateful to the English Government did suffer more by the same Government than any other Family in that Kingdom and those Exactions of Coyn and Livery which were the Foundations of their Grandure did at last prove the cause or occasion of their Ruine in the person of Gerald the fifteenth Earl of Desmond On the twenty sixth of February Edmond Lord Dunboyn Lib. G. for taking Con O Connor Prisoner and delivering him to the Lord Deputy and for other Services he had done the State obtained a Patent for ten Pound per annum payable out of the Fee farm Rents of Waterford forfeited by the Attainder of James Earl of Ormond and also the Prisage of Limerick Cork Ross Galway Youghal Kingsale Dungarvan and Dingle and the Lands of Castle-Richard in Meath habendum during his Life It is plain by many Circumstances and particularly that of his short stay in Ireland that this Lord Deputy came over meerly to serve a turn for as soon as the Earl of Desmond was executed the Earl of Kildare was not only pardoned but also the Lord Deputy hastned to England and left Thomas Earl of Kildare 1467. Lord Justice and afterward Lord Deputy to the Duke of Clarence Selden 841. In whose time John Bold was made Baron of Ratooth This Lord Justice held a Parliament at Drogheda which enacted I. That whereas it was doubted October 1468. whether the Act of 6 Rich. 2. That Women consenting to Ravishers should forfeit their Inheritance were of Force in Ireland it is now put out of Doubt and that and all other English Statutes made before that time are confirmed here II. Against Regrators and Ingrossers He also held another Parliament at the Naas Friday after S. Andrew's Day 1472. which was adjourned to Dublin to the Friday after S. Gregory's Day and enacted I. That Staple Wares be not transported to Scotland without payment of the Custom called the Coquet upon Pain of Forfeiture of the same II. That every Merchant shall bring twenty Shillings worth of Bows and Arrows into Ireland Repeal 10 Car. 1. ch 22. for every twenty Pounds worth of other Goods he imports from England III. That no Grain be transported out of Ireland if the Market Price exceed ten Pence a Peck on pain of forfeiting Ship and Goods But it was all repealed by the Parliament Lib. G. 18 Edw. 4. Nevertheless there was an Act of Parliament this Year of 12 Edw. 4. to this effect That there should be a Fraternity of Arms of the number of thirteen Persons Ex offic magistr Rot. in Castr Dublin Davis 55. of the most Honourable and faithfully disposed in the Counties of Kildare Dublin Meath and Louth viz. three out of each County and four from Meath that is to say Thomas Earl of Kildare Rowland Eustace Lord of Portlester Sir Rowland Eustace Knight for the County of Kildare Robert Lord of Hoath the Mayor of Dublin for the time being and Sir Robert Dowdal Knight for the County of Dublin the Lord Gormanstown Edward Plunket Seneschal of Meath Alexander Plunket Esq and Barnaby Barnewal Esq for the County of Meath and the Mayor of Drogheda Sir Lawrence Taaf Knight and Richard Bellew Esq for the County of Louth And that they and their Successors should yearly assemble at Dublin on S. George's Day and there chuse one of them to be Captain for the next year the which Captain and Brethren shall be created a Society by the Name of the Captain and Brethren at Arms the Captain shall have an hundred and twenty Archers on Horseback at six pence a Day for Meat Drink and Wages and forty Horsemen and forty Pages at five pence a day for him and his Page and four Marks per annum Wages the Captain and Brethren and their Successors to support this Charge shall have twelve pence per Pound out of all Merchandize sold in Ireland whether it be imported or exported except Hides and the Goods of the Free-men of Drogheda and Dublin and the Mayors of Dublin and Drogheda to be the Receivers of the foresaid Poundage the Fraternity shall have Power to make Laws for the good Governance of the Society and to elect a new Brother in the place of any deceasing and the Captain shall have Authority to apprehend all Out-law'd Rebels and others that will not be justified by Law And this was the Original of the
16 of January came to Cahir to Commissioners appointed for that purpose and there he renewed his Oath of Allegiance and delivered his Son Girald to be Hostage of his Loyalty and to be bred after the English manner and by Indenture he renounced that fantastical Privilege which he and his Predecessors had for a long time claimed of not being obliged to appear at the Parliament Lib. D. or come within any walled Town but at their own Pleasure and by the same Indenture did utterly deny and promise to forsake the Bishop of Rome's usurped Primacy and Authority and Covenanted that he would with all his Power resist and repress the same and all that should by any means use or maintain it and that he would contribute and pay his share of Taxes granted by Parliament as the Earl of Ormond and other Noblemen do And afterwards he did come to Dublin and made his Submission in a set Form of Words before the Lord Deputy and Council And it seems that about the same time Hugh Burk made his Submission Ibid. and by Indenture Covenanted to pay the King forty pound per annum for the Captainry of the Burks Country and an hundred Mark upon every Succession of Captainry and to find eighty Gallowglasses and forty Horsemen for six weeks every Hosting and his whole Force for three days whenever the Lord Deputy comes into the Country and also to give Bonnagh or Maintenance for eighty Gallowglasses for six Weeks every year and this Example was followed by many others varying the Proportions of every mans Contribution according to their respective Circumstances And about the same time Lib. 6. was Coyned that Piece of Money Ware 159. which they call King Harry's Groat and two-penny Pieces and Pence of the same Stamp and on the nineteenth of November they were made currant by Proclamation and the carrying them to England was prohibited under severe Penalties The Lord Deputy in the latter end of May went to Limerick 154◠to confer with O Brian about his Submission which I suppose was there performed and soon after he returned to Dublin to meet the Parliament which was summoned to sit there on the thirteenth of June which it accordingly did and continued until the twentieth Day of July and so after several Prorogations and Adjournments mentioned in the Statute Book it was finally dissolved on the nineteenth day of November 1543. There were present at this Parliament the Archbishops of Dublin Ware 160. Cashel and Tuam and the Bishops of Waterford Fernes Emly and 〈◊〉 and to oblige the principal Gentry the King 〈…〉 profuse of Honour than he used to be Enobling no less than six of them at the beginning of this Parliament viz. Edmond Butler Baron of Dunboyne and Bernard Fitz-Patrick Baron of upper Ossory June 11. Sir Oliver Plunket Baron of Louth June 15. William Birmingham Baron of Carbry June 17. John Rawson late Prior of Kilmainham Viscount Clantarfe June 20. and Thomas Eustace Viscount Baltinglass June 29. This Parliament made several good Laws viz. 1. That the King and his Successors be KINGS of Ireland and that it be so proclaimed in every Shire in the Kingdom and that all opposition to this Act or to that Style or Title be Treason 2. That no body shall buy Goods or Merchandizes to sell again except in open Market or Fair on pain of being punished as a Forestaller except Tanners buying Hides to Tan. This Act made perpetual by 11 Eliz. c. 5. 3. That the Plaintiff in Assize may abridge his Plaint 4. That Consanguinity or Affinity not being within the Fifth Degree shall be no principal Challenge against a Jury-man 5. That it shall be Felony in any Servant Apprentices under eighteen years of Age excepted to carry away or inbezil his Masters Goods to the value of forty shillings or upward 6. That Marriages solemniz'd in the Face of the Church and consummate with carnal Knowledge by Persons without the Levitical Degrees shall not be dissolved on any Pretence whatsoever without Carnal Knowledge Vide 2 Eliz. c. 1. 7. That because by reason of Secret Conveyances it is difficult to know the Tenant the Lords may avow the taking of a Distress on the Land without naming the Tenant and that the Avowant shall have Costs and Damages if it be found for him or the Plaintiff be nonsuit 8. That all Religious Persons belonging to the dissolved Abbies and Monasteries c. be capacitated to Purchase Sue c. 9. That the Justices of Peace at their Sessions after Easter and Michaelmas shall appoint the Wages of Artificers and Servants Perpetuated 11 Eliz. cap. 5. 10. That Joynt-Tenants and Tenants in Common may force a Partition by Writ and either of them may have Aid of the other to deraign the Warranty Paramount as in case of Partition between Coparceners 11. That Lessees for Years as to their term only may falsifie covinous Recoveries as the Tenant of the Freehold might do at Common Law and so may Tenants by Elegit or Statute Staple and the Recoverers shall have the same Remedy for Wast and Rent as the Lessors might have had 12. That the Impropriators and other Lay-men entituled to Tithes may sue for them in the Spiritual Court and that in all cases of Appeal from a Judgment for Tithes the Appellant shall pay Costs the Adversary giving surety to refund if it be adjudged against him on the Appeal and upon the Certificate of the Ecclesiastical Judge That he has given a definitive Sentence in case of Tithes two Justices of the Peace whereof one to be of the Quorum may imprison the Party without Bail or Mainprise until he give sufficient Security to obey the Sentence and that all such Writs and Remedies as Fines Writs of Dower c. shall as well be had for Tithes as for Lands by any Person that has a Temporal Interest therein only the Suit for substraction of Tithes must still be prosecuted in the Spiritual Court 13. That the Purchaser of a Signiory or Reversion by common Recovery may distrain or avow without Attornment and that all Avowants may recover Costs and Damage if the Plaintiff be barred in his Action 14. An Act to enable Commissioners therein named to to erect Vicaridges c. 15. An Act against Idlers and Vagabonds which had it been well executed would have reformed Ireland long agone for most of the Mischiefs that have happened to that Kingdom either in War or Peace have proceeded from such loose Fellows as were punishable and might have been reformed by the Statutes against Idlers Rogues and Vagabonds And at another Sessions of this Parliament begun at Limerick the fifth of February 1541. and not 1542 as the printed Statutes make it a former Act restraining the Parliament from sitting any where but at Dublin or Tredagh or from Proroguing or Adjourning above twice or from admiting any Knight Citizen or Burgess to sit unless he were resident at the Place of
agrorum spoliatores per viam and Rape shall be punished with Death without Mercy 16. That no Man shall meddle with any Ecclesiastical Officer or Benefice but pay all their Tithe punctually and half Tithe of the Fish taken by Foreigners on the Coast 17. That Noblemen shall have but twenty Cubits or Bandles of Linnen in their Shirts Horsemen eighteen Footmen sixteen Garsons twelve Clowns ten and that none of their Shirts shall be dyed with Saffron on pain of twenty Shillings 18. That the Lord or Gentleman into whose Country a Theft is traced must trace it thence or make restitution 19. No Histriones Mummers or Players at Christmas or Easter Lastly The Earl of Ormond in the Counties of Waterford Typerary and Kilkenny and the Earl of Desmond in the rest of Munster are made Custodes Executores of these Ordinances with the Assistance of the Bishop of Cashel But we must not leave the Year 1541 Sullevan 79. until we have informed the Reader That Robert Wachop titular Archbishop of Armagh who is famous for riding Post the best of any Body in Christendom although he was blind from his Cradle did this Year introduce the Jesuites into Ireland by the Favour and Countenance of Pope Paul the third John Codur was the first of the Society that went thither and was followed by Alphonsus Salmeron Paschasius Broet and Francis Zapata and the observing Reader will easily perceive the dismal and horrible Effects of that Mission which hath ever since imbroiled Ireland even to this Day But the King to obviate the Designs of the Papacy and to assert his own Supremacy which was his Right by Common Law and was also declared and established by Act of Parliament caused all the Irish that submitted to him to renounce the Pope's Usurpations and to own the King's Supremacy by Indenture O Connor and O Dwyn or Dyn were two of the first that complied with this Form and their Example was followed by O Donel who by his Indenture of the sixth of August Lib. D. 33 Hen. 8 Covenants Quod renunciabit relinquet adnihilabit proposse suo usurpatam Authoritatem Primaciam Romani Pontiâ—icis sibi adherentes nullo modo acceptabit proteget aut defendet nec in patria sua illos aut aliquem illorum permittet sed omni industria diligentia illos quemlibet illorum expellet ejiciet eradicabit aut ad subjectionem dicti Domini Regis successorum suorum coercebit constringet Brian mac Mahon did the like the fourteenth of August And in January O Neal came to Minooth and did the same the thirteenth of May O More perfected his Indenture And on the twenty fourth of May 1542. 34 H. 8. Hugh O Kelly Abbot of Knockmoy surrendred that Abby and made his submission by Indenture in the Form aforesaid Moreover he covenanted to furnish the King with sixty Horse and a Battle of Galloglasses and sixty Kern when the Lord Deputy comes to Connaught and with twelve Horse and twenty four Kerne anywhere out of Connaught and so that Abby was granted to him during Pleasure O Rourk submitted the first of September and Mac Donel and Mac William did the like the eighteenth of May 1543. But because all these Indentures are to be found registred in the Red Book of the Privy Council of Ireland I will trouble the Reader only with the Substance of one of these Indentures by which he may easily guess at the rest HAec Indent Lib. D. fact 26. die Septembris 34 Hen. 8. inter prenobil Vir. Ant. Saintleger Jacobum Comit. Desmoniae Will. Brabazon Arm thesaur ad Guerras Subthesaur Reg. Hiberniae Johannem Travers Armig. magistr ordinatium Osborn Echingham milit mariscallum c. ex una parte Dom. Barry alias Great Barry Mac Cartymore Dom. de Rupe alias Lord Roch Mac Carthy Reagh Thadeum Mac Cormock Dom. de Musâ—ry Barry Oge alias the young Barry O Sullevan Bear suae Nation Capit. Donald O Sullevan suae Nation Primum Barry zoe alias the Red Barry Mac Donough de Allow suae Nation Capit. Donaldum O Callaghane Nationis suae primum Geraldum filium Johannis milit ex altera parte Testatur Quod predict Dominus Barry c. conveniunt concedunt consentiunt pangunt pro seipsis conjunctim divisim haered successor assignat Tenent sequacibus suis ad cum dicto Deputat c. quod tenebunt perimplebunt omnes singul Articulos conventiones pacta condiciones quae in hiis Indentur continentur ex parte eorum c. Imprimis Ipsi quilibet eor recognoscit Regiam Majestat predict haeredes successores suos Reges esse Naturalem ligeum Dom. suum illumque illos secundos post Deum honorabunt illisque obedient servient contra omnes creaturas mundi Ac suam Majestatem haeredes successores Reges acceptabunt tenebunt immediate sub Christo in terris Ecclesiae Anglicanae Hibernicanae supremum Caput illius illor locum tenent Deput vicem gerent in hoc Regno Hiberniae obedient inservient in omnibus servitium suae Majestatis haered successor Regum concernentibus Et quantum in illis conjunctim divisim aut assignat illor est vel fuit usurpator primaciam authoritatem Romani Episcopi adnihillabunt omnesque suos Fautores Adjutores Suffragatores ad sum posse illor precipitabunt abolebunt atque personas spiritual temporal quae promoventur ad ecclesiastica beneficia sive dignitat per Regiam Majestatem seu alios de jure patronos tantum absque aliqua provisione fienda dicto Episc Rom. manutenebunt supportabunt defendent ex hinc omnes singules Provisores alia Rom. pro promotione petentes confugientes apprehendent producent ad Reg. commun legem ib. judiciari rectari secundum statut ordination pro similibus casibus facta fienda The Second Covenant is To submit all their Controversies to the Determination of the Bishops of Waterford Cork and Ross the Mayors of Cork and Youghal Suffrain of Kingsale Philip Roch Esq William Walsh Esq the Dean of Cloyne or any three of them quorum Desmond to be one and the like is in other Provinces mutatis mutandis The Third is About their future Controversies to be decided by the Earl and the said Bishops or two of them quorum Desmond to be one and they may fine or amerce Wrong-doers of which Fine the King shall have one third and the Judges the rest The Fourth is That if the Case be too difficult for the Commissioners it shall be determined by Justices of Assize and no Force shall be used nor Peace broken on Pain of a Fine The Fifth is That they shall help and defend the Collectors of the King's Revenue The Sixth is To obey the Ordinances made by the Nobility and annexed to the Indenture which probably were
of an Incestuous Marriage so directly against the Law of God that no Power on Earth could dispense with it Dr. Burnet's Hist Reform 131. And that Marriage was judicially nulled and made void ab initio by the Divorce pronounced between the Parties by the Archbishop of Canterbury so that by consequence the Issue was bastardiz'd and rendred Illegitimate And II. Because the Crown was entailed upon Queen Elizabeth by Name by the Irish Statute of 28 Hen. 8. cap. 2. as hath been already observed and that Statute was not repealed in Ireland to that time It would be a lame Answer to the first Objection to insist upon the English Statute of 35 H. 8. which gave that King Power to dispose of the Crown by his Will for besides what some will alledg against Bills of Exclusion in general every Body will oppose that wild and unjust Method of Exclusion that has no regard to the Faults of the Party rejected nor to the Merits of the Person to be advanced but Exposes the Right of an Innocent to the Figary of an humersom Man Moreover it is a high Point to delegate the Legislative Power in an Instance of that Importance and if allowed would at once destroy all hereditary Right It is necessary therefore that we have recourse to something more solid and which really was the true Reason and it was this That Mary having gained Possession of the Throne in a Hurry by the Surprize and Confusion of the People in general the Easiness and Credulity of the Suffolk-men in particular and the Envy some bore to the Duke of Suffolk and the Malice others entertained against the Duke of Northumberland the Protestants did believe themselves obliged by the Laws of God and Man to obey the Queen de facto and to acquiesce in the Government that was actually over them and therefore the Clergy and the best and holiest of the Protestant Party chose rather to be Refugees and beg their Bread abroad than to be mutinous and disloyal at Home It is not to be doubted but that they did consult and throughly examine both the Laws of God and the Laws of the Land in that Particular and found by both Sanctions that it was not the Duty of the Subject to dispute the Title of the Prince in Possession this were to make the Rabble Judges of the Rights of Princes and to erect a Judicature above the Legislative Power and to introduce an Appeal from the Parliament to the People As to the First viz. The Law of God nothing was more plain than that a Christian peaceable Temper was commanded in General and a Submission to the King de facto in Particular and the Reason is Because the Power that is is of God for Caesar had no Right especially over the Jewish State but both Augustus and Tiberius were Usurpers and yet it was to them that our Saviour and the Apostles preached Obedience and commanded us To render the things that were Caesars And as to the second viz. The Law of the Land it has no regard to any other than the King de facto it is he that is only King within the Statute of Edward the Third of Treasons it is he only that by the Laws of England can grant Pardons Call and Dissolve Parliaments and Confirm their Acts In a Word It is he only that can do all Acts of Government and he is the Person who can and ought to give Protection to the Subjects and consequently is to have Allegiance from them the King de facto can punish Treasons committed against his Predecessor and his Rightful Successor may punish Treasons done against him and the Reason is Because it is the same continuation of the Regal Government and the Person is not regarded in Law any longer than it is cloathed with the Politick Capacity For the Relation that is between King and Subject Protection and Allegiance is reciprocal and the Obligation is mutual as it is betwixt Husband and Wife and therefore whensoever a King totally ceaseth the Exercise of his Royal Office he is dead in his Politick Capacity with which the Relation is and the Subject is at Liberty ad alia vota convolanda to the Successor and whether this happens by Force or Consent is no more to the purpose than it is whether a Man's first Wife was murdered or dyed of a Fever So that it is Plain That Possession of the Throne by the consent of the two Houses of Parliament does give a Right in reference to the Subject and therefore the Words King de jure are but terms of Art as Ens Rationis among the Logicians to signifie an Imaginary Notion they had no other name for and if this were not so there could be no Peace upon Earth since there is not a Crown in Europe to which there are not several plausible Pretenders whose Claims have many warm and furious Abettors and perhaps it would be very difficult for any man to define what Prescription is sufficient to give more Title to a Throne than is gained by the quiet Possession thereof The Case of Henry the Seventh hath been already mentioned wherein the Judges resolved That the Possession of the Crown and of the Regal Government cleared him of all Incapacities Defects and Attainders whatsoever It is necessary to add That the Preservation of the Community is the End and Design of all Laws and that the greatest Solecism that can be in the OEconomy of a Kingdom is to suspend the Government though but for a Moment And in Truth the whole Society would perish by a very short Interval wherein every Man might do what seems good in his own Eyes It is for this Reason there is no interregnum in England And therefore there always is a King to whom the English Subject owes Allegiance exclusively of all others and that can be no other than the King de facto who is trusted by the Law with the executive Power thereof and who alone doth or can give the People actual Protection If it were needful this might be farther urged because every Man is represented in Parliament and their Act is the Act of every individual Person and it is beyond controversie That every one is obliged to obey the Authority himself has owned and consented to And as to the second Objection it is easily answered That Ireland is a subordinate Kingdom to England and part of its Dominions and therefore whoever is King of England is ipso facto King of Ireland as much as of the Isle of Sheppy or of the Isle of Wight and it was so at Common Law and it is explained to be so by the Irish Statute of 28 Hen. 8. cap. 1. wherein it is enacted That the King and his Successors Kings of England shall be Kings of Ireland and that Kingdom is by the same Act united and knit to the Imperial Crown of England And therefore it follows That Ireland must submit to such disposal of the Crown as
it to a General Assembly to be immediately called To this Declaration and these Propositions the Supreme Council on the 10th of September returned the following Answer viz. To the First That they will Print and Publish Glamorgan's Articles and insist on them as being Obligatory to the King and get them confirmed next Parliament and no interruption shall be given them in the mean time That the Repeal of the Penal Laws was purposely omitted in the Peace as being less than Glamorgan's Concessions and therefore might derogate from them and the Suspension of Poyning's Act was by unanimous Consent omitted for saving of Time To the Second That they shall be sufficiently provided for To the Third No constant Garisons shall be put into Corporations c. nor Levies made but for Publick Service and proportionably to the rest of the Country and some of the Members of the Corporation shall be privy thereunto To the Fourth 'T is implyed else how can they be for the use of the Catholick Youth if the Discipline be not Catholick To the Fifth It is done already and if not shall be taken care of And you shall have Security to have the Penal Laws repealed the next Parliament and shall not be molested in your Religion or Ecclesiastical Possessions till then This Answer so baffled the Congregation that all the Reply they could make was That the Lord Lieutenant was gone out of their Quarters and that the Supreme Council being part of the Confederate Body could be no Security to the rest for what they promised and that the Peace being once rejected could not be reassumed or revived but by a General Assembly And to manifest that they were in earnest they had prevailed with the Bishop of Ossory long before this to Publish a very extraordinary Instrument in form following WHEREAS We have in publick and private Meetings at several times declared to the Supreme Council and others whom it may concern That it was and is unlawful and against Conscience the implying Perjury as it hath been defined by the Special Act of the Convocation at Waterford to both Commonwealths Spiritual and Temporal to do or concur to any Act â—ending to the Approbation or countenancing the Publication of this unlawful and mischievous Peace so dangerous as it is now Articled to both Commonwealths Spiritual and Temporal And whereas notwithstanding our Declaration yea the Declaration of the whole Clergy of the Kingdom to the contrary the Supreme Council and the Commissioners have actually proceeded to the Publilication yea and forcing it upon the City by Terror and Threats rather than by any free Consent or Desire of the People We having duly considered and taken it to heart as it becometh us how enormous this Fact is and appears in Catholicks even against God himself and what a publick Contempt of the Holy Church it appeareth beside the Evil it is like to draw upon this poor Kingdom after a mature Deliberation and Consent of our Clergy in detestation of this heinous and scandalous Disobedience of the Supreme Council and others who have adhered to them in matters of Conscience to the Holy Church and in hatred of so hurtful and abominable an Act do by these Presents according to the prescription of the Sacred Canons Pronounce and Command henceforth a General Cessation of Divine Offices throughout all the City and Suburbs of Kilkenny in all Churches Monasteries and Houses in them whatsoever Given at Our Palace of Nova Curia the 18th of August 1646. David Ossoriensis The Peace being thus rejected the Nuncio like a true Son of Thunder prepares for War and in order to it he borrowed a good Sum of of Money from the Spanish Agent Don Diego de la Torres and he recalled Preston out of Conaught and ordered Owen Roe to intercept the Lord Lieutenant in his return to Dublin In the mean time the Marquis of Ormond who did not suspect that there could be so much Perfidiousness and Treachery amongst Christians went forward from Kilkenny to Carrick and so to Clonmell and though he was denyed entrance into that Town and had notice that Colonel Peirce Butler alias Mac Thomas from whom he expected better things was ready with 500 Horse to disturb his March nevertheless he went towards Cashell but the Mayor of that place sent him word That Owen Roe had threatned that City with utter Destruction if they should Receive or Entertain his Excellency and at the same time he had from the Lord Dilâ—on of Costilo full information of the whole Design to intercept him and thereupon he marched that night to Calan and the next day to Loghlinbridge before Owen Roe who was within 6 miles of Kilkenny could overtake him and so he gotâ— safely to Dublin where he was received with all that Joy which Friends usually express at the arrival of those they gave for lost From Calan his Excellency sent the Lord Digby to Kilkenny to acquaint the Supreme Council with his Return and the Reasons of it and to stay Leiger with them and he also sent some of his Servants for some Necessaries he had left at his own house in Kilkenny but when they came there they found this Inconstant City which few days before had received the Lord Lieutenant with Acclamations of Joy pulling down the Monuments of his Entertainment viz. the Devices on the Gates and Market cross and other Matters of Pageantry and expressing so much Passion and Malice against him that most of his Servants were forced to withdraw and those few that staid were oblig'd to remain incognito However the Supreme Council ordered Sir Lucas Dillon and Doctor Fennell by Letters to assure his Excellency That notwithstanding what had hapned there should be no farther Hostilities us'd whereof Ormond took hold and desir'd them to ascertain a competent Time of Cessation that they might come to a right Understanding Whereunto they made no Reply but in stead of that Ormond had certain Advice from other Hands That Owen Roe had fallen into the Queens County with great violence and had taken several Castles from the King's Party and destroy'd all that oppos'd him and particularly that his Soldiers had in Cold Blood murdered Major Piggot and Fifty others at Disert to whom they had promised Quarter And about the same time the Castle of Athlone was surprized by George Dillon a Friar Uncle to the Lord President and that Place being the Key and principal Fortress of Conaught was a great accession of Strength to the Confederate Party And so the Triumphant Nuncio not doubting but that all was his own came in State to Kilkenny where he caused all the Supreme Council except Plunket and Darcy to be imprison'd and immediately he instituted a new Supreme Council of his own Creatures who to requite his Kindness did in effect commit to him the entire and absolute Power of Governing and Commanding as he pleas'd as well in Temporal as Ecclesiastical Matters But that which was most strange in this
Soldier because he had English Bisket in his Pocket Sullevan 67 O Sullevan tels us that from 1168. to the Apostacy of Henry VIII the English though Catholicks by continual Tyranny and Rapine destroyed the Discipline of Church and State and fol. 67. that the English were Irreligious Inconstant and Heretical being in Dioclesian's Persecution Apostates afterwards Arians then Pelagians then Heathens then Idolaters then Murderers of S. Thomas of Becket and then Protestants in a Word wherever they dare do it they do not spare to asperse the English Nation and Government with most Malicious and Opprobrious Accusations and whoever considers That the Bishop of Clogher did so purge his Ulster-Army that he would not suffer any Papist to be in it that was of English Extraction and the Advice of Mr. Mahony in his Disputatio Apologetica Not to make a Priest of English Race nor to trust any that are so Whoever I say considers this and the true Reasons of it will easily be convinced That the Old English and the Old Irish will one Time or other split upon the old indelible National Antipathy As to the second viz. Interest it concerns the Irish and the Old English both of which have Inteterests incompatible with the New English For when the English Lords usurped Irish Arbitrary Power as aforesaid and the Commons being made Vassals to their Lords and holding their Properties but precariously fell naturally into Licentiousness to the Ruine of the Commonwealth The Duke of Clarence in the Reign of Edward III thought to cure this Malady by resuming those Palatinate Jurisdictions and other great Priviledges those English Lords had so enlarged and abused whereupon the Earl of Desmond broached the distinction between the English of Blood and the English of Birth and the former did not only confederate together but also brought in the Irish to their Assistance and Gosip'd Foster'd Married and Incorporated with them so that the Government was obliged to relax their intended Severity and to let these old Englishmen lord it as they pleased till a better Opportunity should be offered for the intended Resumption However from henceforward the Old English and Irish kept a Correspondence and upon the Reformation became more firmly united by the common tye of Religion and under Pretence of defending Religion and their usurped Jurisdictions they were found together in many Rebellions and their Estates confiscated and given to the new English so that they are united in a common Interest to recover their forfeited Estates if they can and when that is done the Irish have their particular Interest apart to recover their old Estates from the first Conquerors or Intruders As for the third viz. Religion I need not explain the Irreconcilable Antipathy that is between the Roman Catholick Religion and Heresie or between true Religion and Idolatry the Differences of Nation and Interest may be suspended lessned ay buried and annihilated but there is no Reconciliation to be made between God and Mammon This great concern has so silenced all the rest that at this Day we know no difference of Nation but what is expressed by Papist and Protestant if the most Ancient Natural Irish-Man be a Protestant no Man takes him for other than an English-Man and if a Cockny be a Papist he is reckoned in Ireland as much an Irish-man as if he was born on Slevelogher the Earls of Insiquin and Castlehaven are Examples hereof the one being of the best and ancientest Family in Ireland was yet the beloved General of an English Army and the other being the second Baron of England was Commander of the Irish Forces There is also another Difference in Religion between the Episcoparians and the Dissenters which last are branched into several Sects but it is not at all or very little taken notice of in Ireland because they do really manage this Affair more prudently than some other more celebrated Nations and sacrifice these petty Fewds to the common Interest of opposing Popery And that these Distinctions may appear to be neither trivial nor meerly Notional it will be necessary to give Instances of these several Factions in the late Irish Wars and first there was an Army of all meer Irish not an English Papist among them commanded by the Bishop of Clogher and another of meer English all Papists under General Preston And secondly There was an Army of Old English and Irish under the Lords Mountgarrat Taaf c. and an Army of New English commanded by the Earls of Ormond Insiquin c. And thirdly there was an Army of Papists under the Nuntio and an Army of Protestants commanded by the Marquess of Ormond But how stand these great Differences at this Day Why truly worse than ever for as to the first Whereas the Old English were heretofore on the British side in all National Quarrels they are now so infatuated and degenerated that they do not only take part with the Irish but call themselves Natives in distinction from the New English against whom they are at present as inveterate as the Original Irish though perhaps Time may open their Eyes and rectifie that Error And as to the Second whereas at Queen Elizabeth's Death the Protestants had not above a fourth part of the Kingdom the Escheats in Ulster in King James his time and the Act of Settlement since has given them two fourths more so that now they have three Quarters of the whole and thereby more Irish are disobliged than were formerly and their Loss is greater and consequently their Interest to regain it is larger and more pressing than it was in former Times As to the third viz. Religion it 's certain the Papists were never so enraged at the Northern Pestilent Heresie as of late they have been and the Folly Insolence and Cruelty of these last seven Years has justly rendred Popery more odious than ever to the Protestants But was there no way to secure Ireland without Sanguinary Laws and Inhuman Persecutions Yes sure if People would in time have set themselves to repair the State of Ireland as the Jews under Nehemiah did to re-edifie the Walls of Jerusalem viz. every one build over against his own House the Matter had been easily and quietly accomplished for the formidable Bulk of Irish Papists were for the most part Servants or Tenants to Protestants and of their breeding up and if the English would have sacrificed a little sordid Profit to the Publick Good and have countenanced and indulged Protestant Servants and Tenants instead of Papists a very few Years would have put themselves and their Religion out of Danger But at this Day the Provocations are carried so high and the Irish have abused the English to that degree of Barbarity and Ingratitude that it will be hard to perswade the Protestants to trust them again or to live neighbourly with the many more Nevertheless since Extirpations are Cruelty in the Abstract and odious to Human Nature there must be a Method found out to
if valid are a good Title against Mr. Sullevan and his Abettors I will therefore endeavour to Rescue them from his Objections And as to the first though misinformation or false Suggestion may avoid the Grant of a Prince to his Subjects yet that Rule does not hold between Princes else all Contracts Leagues and Treaties in the World would be avoided on slight Pretences of being misinformed in one Point or other Besides the Pope Alexander III. after some Years Experience and full information of the English Conduct and Proceedings in Ireland gave a new Bull of Confirmation as aforesaid Hanmer 141. And says the Book of Houth he besought the Devil to take all those that gainsaid the Kings Title to Ireland but after all the Suggestions were no other but that the Country was Barbarous and needed Reformation which was so true that the Irish Historians themselves do frequently confess it As to the Second the very Bull mentions That the King shall be their Liege Lord and Sovereign And Henry II was accordingly received as King by the Clergy Nobility and People and both he and his Successors had always the Title of Sovereign Lords and did continually exercise and enjoy Monarchical Authority and Royal Jurisdiction in Ireland Daviâ— 2. 4 Inst 357. under the Name and Stile of Lords And Vrban III granted Power to the King to appoint which of his Sons he pleased King of Ireland Moreover Henry VIII by all the Kingdom in Parliament was acknowledged and declared King of Ireland Which Pope Paul IV considering he officiously erected Ireland into a Kingdom Council of Trent 367. and granted it to Queen Mary that so it might seem as if she derived that Title from him or his Authority which she had before by a better Right As to the Third The Peter-Pence which are but a sort of Proxies propter Beati Petri visitationem and must of Necessity determine with the Jurisdiction of the Visitor which is long since banished out of his Majesties Dominions are mentioned by way of Reservation and not by way of Condition and are to be paid by the People and not by the King And the Reformation of the Irish is proposed by way of Direction and Advice and doth not make the Bull Conditional Besides Conversion is the effect of Grace and the Act of God for which no Man can undertake and therefore such a Condition would be Impossible and Void However the English have heartily endeavoured to Reform that People and to bring that Noble Country into a general Practice of True Religion and Civility and though we do not boast much of our Success hitherto yet now that it is likely better and more effectual Methods will be used than heretofore we do not doubt but that they will produce suitable Effects But I have spent too much time about these paltry Bulls and therefore I will leave them and proceed to the solid and legal Titles which the Crown of England hath to the Kingdom of Ireland and the first is that of Descent from Eva Daughter of Dermond Mac Morough who was actually King of Leinster and whose Ancestors were Monarchs of Ireland The second is by lawful Conquest in a just War The third is by many solemn Oaths Compacts and Submissions of the Princes Nobility Gentry and People of Ireland The fourth is by several Statutes and Acts of Recognition And the last which alone were sufficient is by above five hundred years Prescription But two Things are to be wondred at Isti Reges non fuerunt ordinati solemnitate alicujus Ordinis nec Vnctionis Sacramento nec jure haereditario vel aliqua propâ—ietatis successione sed vi armis quilibet regnum suum obtinuit Davis 16. First That the Irish who never observed the Right of Succession but dethroned and succeeded one another by force as they were able sometimes the Posterity of Hiber sometimes of Herimon and sometimes the Issue of Ithy getting into the Monarchy should yet complain of Force in others or that Rotherick O Connor who drove Dermond out of Leinster should think it unreasonable that Dermond should drive him out of Connaugh assoon as he could The Second is That any body in Ireland should dispute the English Title to that Island after they and their Ancestors for above five hundred years have been born and bred under the Allegiance of the Kings of England But that which is most strange is Burks Butlers Breminghams Barryes Roch Condon Power Fitzgirald c. That four parts in five of the Inhabitants in Ireland are of English Extraction and have setled there since the Conquest and by vertue of it and yet many of them are so blinded with an ignorant Zeal for Popery that they have endeavoured to cut the Bough they stand on and have Associated with Mr. Sullevan and his Complices to destroy the English Government of Ireland and have been frequently in Rebellions to that purpose not without expressing Inveteracy against the English Name and Nation and all for want of duly considering that thereby they made way for their own Extirpation since the old Irish who say the Country was given them by God would if they had power no more endure the first Conquerors than the last Settlement Sale of Ireland nor allow the Title of the Fitzgiralds the Butlers and the Burks any more than that of the Boyles the Coots or the Clotworthyes I must yet continue this Digression to give an Account of the Complaints that are made against the English Government of Ireland and they are these First That the English profan'd the Churches and Sacred Places and instances Philip of Worcester and Hugh Tyrrel who took a Brass Pan from the Priests of Down and Gerald Earl of Kildare who burnt the Church of Cashel and put it off with a Jest That he would not have done it but that he thought the Archbishop was in it Secondly That Offices of Profit and Places of Trust were mostly given to Englishmen Thirdly That they suffer none of the Potentates to sit in Parliament but such as are qualified by the English Law and therefore the Parliaments are void Vnde deducitur omnia Parliamenta Regum Britannorum authoritate coacta in Hibernia deincepsque more pristino celebranda prorsus inita infirma injusta violenta esse says my Author Fourthly That Benefit of Law is not given but to the Quinque Sanguines so that the Irish are as it were Outlaws in their own Countrey and may be slain as Enemies Lastly The Irish were perswaded to surrender their Estates on promise to re-grant them in a better and more legal Form whereas really they were cheated and the King reserved a Tenure to himself and gave the Irishman only the Possessions and Profits And for these and other Injuries says Mr. Sullevan pag. 61. the English Kings could never enjoy Ireland quietly but were disturbed with many and almost continual Rebellions Little did this Objector think that his
Pound six Shillings and eight Pence per annum Lib. G. and obtained an Order from the King and Council That all those who had Lands in Ireland should repair thither or send sufficient Men in their Room to defend the Country on Pain of forfeiting their Estates Nevertheless this Lord Justice was so far from subduing the Irish that he confessed he could never get access to know their Countries or Habitations and yet he had spent more time in the Service of Ireland than any Englishman then living So finding he could do no good he resigned to James Earl of Ormond July 24. 1376 Lord Justice In whose time the Counties Cities and Burroughs of Ireland sent Commissioners to the King to Treat and Advise about the Affairs of that Kingdom and not to the English Parliament as some have mistaken it Pryn. 305. And the King did Issue a Writ to the Lord Justice and the Chancellor requiring them to levy the reasonable Expences of these Commissioners from the respective Places that chose them by Writ under the great Seal of Ireland And accordingly John Draper who served for Cork had a particular Mandate to the Mayor and Bayliffs of that City to pay him his reasonable Expences as aforesaid It will not be unuseful to recite this Lord Justice his Commission because the Reader will thereby perceive what Authority he had and will also note the Difference between this brief Commission and the prolix Forms that are now used REX omnibus ad quos Ibid. c. Salutem Sciatis quod commisimus dilecto consanguineo nostro Jacobo le Bottiler Comiti de Ormond officium Justic nostr Hibern Terram nostram Hibern cum Castris aliis pertinentiis suis custodiend quamdiu nobis placuerit percipiend per ann ad Scac. nostrum Hibern quamdiu in Officio illo sic steterit quingent libras pro quibus Officium illud terram custodiet erit se vicessimus de hominibus ad arma cum tot equis coopertis continue durante commissione supradicta c. But by a subsequent Patent the sixth of August he had Power to Pardon all Offences generally or to particular Persons and by consent of the Council to remove or displace any Officer those made by Patent under the great Seal only excepted Ibid. 307. And by another Writ of the same date the former Commission was explained not to extend to the Pardon of any Prelate or Earl for any Offence punishable by loss of Life Member Lands or Goods And the same time Alexander Bishop of Ossory was made Treasurer of Ireland and a Guard of six Men at Arms and twelve Archers at the King's Pay allowed him I have seen a Copy of a Commission to Maurice Fitz-Thomas Lib. G. 13. Earl of Kildare to govern Ireland till Sir William Windsor's return it bore date the sixteenth of February 50 Edw. 3. and Stephen Bishop of Meath was appointed to oversee Munster but because I find no other mention of his being in the Government about this time I have therefore omitted to name him as Lord Justice And so we are come to the twenty first Day of June 1377. 1377. on which Day this victorious King died at Shene in Surry in the sixty fourth Year of his Age and of his Reign the one and fiftieth Lib. M. His Revenue in Ireland did not exceed ten thousand Pound per annum though the Medium be taken from the best seven Years of his Reign THE REIGN OF RICARD II. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND RICHARD the Second only Son of Edward commonly called the Black Prince Eldest Son of King Edward the Third was by his Grandfather declared to be his Heir and lawful Successor and accordingly succeeded him in the Throne on the 21st of June and was Crowned at Westminster the 16th of July following 1377. His tender Age being but eleven years old required a Protector and because it seemed dangerous to commit that great Authority and Power to a single Person it was given to the Kings Unkles the Duke of Lancaster and the Earl of Cambridge and others who thought fit to continue in the Government of Ireland James Earl of Ormond Lord Justice he kept the Kingdom in as good order as those dangerous and troublesom Times would admit of Baker 141. for both the French and the Scots took advantage of the Kings Infancy to disquiet his Dominions but especially the Realm of England This Lord Justice according to the Usage in those days held Pleas of the Crown Lib. G. Lambeth and Gaol-delivery at the Naas on Monday after Valentines Day 1378. and not long after surrendred to Alexander Balscot Bishop of Ossory Lord Justice who continued in the Government until November following Lib. G. and then gave place to John de Bromwick 1379. Lord Justice in whose time Beauchamp Earl of Warwick was by the Parliament of England made sole Protector of the King and Kingdom And then was made that first Act or Ordinance against Absentees Lib. M. Lambeth 138. by the Assent and Advice of the Lords and Nobles of England Davis 38. 199 being in Parliament Whereby it is Ordained That all that have Lands 4th Instit. 356 360. Rents or Offices in Ireland shall return thither but if they have reasonable cause to absent that then they shall send sufficient Deputies to defend their Castles and Estates or contribute two Thirds of the yearly value towards the defence thereof but that Students and those in the Kings Service and those absent for reasonable Cause by Licence under the Great Seal of England shall be excused for one Third of the yearly Profit of their Estates This Act was confirmed afterwards Lib. F. 19 Edw. 4. and by vertue hereof the Mannor of Ballymaclo in Meath was seiz'd into the Kings Hands for the absence of William de Carew but was the next year restor'd to him on his Petition Prin 308. Septemb. 27. 1380. And it is to be remembred That this Act was occasioned by a Petition from Ireland and that it is mentioned in the Body of the Act that the Loss of Ireland would be a Disinherison to the King and his Crown of England Ibid. At the same Parliament at Westminster there was another Irish Petition for Mine and Coigne which I take to be a Liberty to dig Mines and a Mint to coyn Money For the Kings Answer is That for six years to come every one may dig in his own Grounds for any Mineral whatsoever even Gold and Silver paying the Ninth part thereof to the King and sending the rest to the Kings Mint at Divelin for the Coynage of which they shall pay the usual Rates but must transport none to any place except England on pain of forseiting it if it be seized or the Value if he be convict of it unless the Party had special Licence under the Great Seal of
to and from England Fifthly That a certain Fund be appointed for their Pay Sixthly That at the King's Charge he might have a Family or two out of every Parish in England to inhabit Ireland Seventhly To have Power of granting Benefices and of making a Deputy And Lastly That the Demesnes of the Crown may be resumed and the Acts of Absentees may be executed The Lord Lieutenant within a Week after he came to Dublin caused the Earl of Kildare and three of his Family to be arrested and suffered the Earls Goods to be rifled and spoiled by the Duke's Servants and kept the Earl himself in Prison in Dublin Castle until he paid three hundred Marks It is recorded that the Lord Lieutenant was desperately wounded in an Encounter at Kilmainham and hardly escaped with Life but it is not mentioned how nor by whom but it seems he design'd to revenge it and to make a general Hosting for he made Proclamation that all such as ought by their Tenures to serve the King should assemble together at Ross He also held a Parliament at Kilkenny for a Tallage to be granted but what Success he had in these Assemblies is not so manifest as it is that he went to England on the 13th of March leaving Thomas Butler 1409. Prior of Kilmainham his Deputy in whose time the King gave the Sword to the City of Dublin and changed their PROVOST into a MAYOR and not long after the Barbarous Mac Gilmore being routed and pursued by the Savages fled to the Church of the Friers Minors at Carigfergus which he had formerly defaced but they got into the Windows whence this Tory had formerly taken the Iron Bars and there they put an end to his Villany and his Life In Vlster Jenico de Artois the famous Gascoigne behaved himself briskly and slew eighty of the Rebels in a Skirmish he had with them But on the twenty first of May or rather the thirteenth of June the Parliament began at Dublin 1410. and made it Treason to take Coyn and Livery Lib. D. and on the tenth of July the Lord Justice took the Castles of Mibraclide in Offerol and De-la-mare It seems he proceeded to invade O Birns Country with fifteen hundred Kerns or Irish Souldiers and the Consequence was that they betrayed him and half of them went over to the Enemy so that it had gone hard with the Lord Justice if the Power of Dublin had not been there and yet he escaped not without loss for John Derpatrick was there slain The next Year was probably more quiet 1411. for there is nothing recorded of it except some considerable Marriages amongst the Grandees On the tenth of April 1412. O Connor did much Mischief in Meath and took an hundred and forty English and O Tool and Thomas Fitz-Maurice Sheriss of Limerick kill'd each other in a Duel About this time the King granted the Town and Ferry of Inishonan Lib. G. to Philip de Barry and it is to be noted that almost in every Parliament holden in England during this Reign the danger of Ireland is remembred although very little was done for it because of the frequent Troubles in England and so we come to the 20th day of March on which the King died at the Abbot of Westminster's House in the fourteenâ—h Year of his Reign and of his Age the forty seventh He died so very poor that his Executors refused to administer and therefore the Archbishop of Canterbury who is Ordinary to the Court where-ever it is exposed the Kings Goods to Sale and King Henry the Fifth bought them for the value to be paid the Executors to be disposed of according to his Fathers Will Rolls Abr. 906. but it seems he never paid the Money for it was afterwards ordained in Parliament 4 Inst 335 that the Executors should not be sued by the Creditors The Bishop of Meath is said to have been Lord Justice about the Year 1402. But because I do find him omitted by others and do not find that he did any thing worth mention I have therefore not inserted him as Lord Justice in Order THE REIGN OF HENRY V. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND HENRY the Fifth succeeded his Father without any opposition and all the Nobility taking it then for a Law that the Crown belonged to the Heir of him that died last seized swore Homage and Allegiance to him before Coronation 1412. which was not usual in those days but this Magnanimous Prince was so taken up with Designs against France that Ireland was but little regarded in his Reign For the present He continued in the Government Thomas 1413. Prior of Kilmainham who did not long remain therein before he surrendred unto Sir John Stanly Lord Lieutenant he Landed at Clantarf the 7th of October and on the 6th of January after died at Ardee whereupon on the 11th of February the Nobility elected Thomas Crawly Lord Justice He was twice Chancellor and then Archbishop of Dublin and was a Man of fingular Piety and Learning and it is to be noted That the Parliament sate at Dublin the 26th of February so that it could not have above fifteen days of Summons though the Day of the Lord Justice his Admittance to the Government and the Day of the Session be included the Irish burnt the Pale during this Parliament as they used to do and therefore a Tax or Tallage was demanded but not granted and so that Parliament was dissolved after it had sate fifteen Days However 1414. the valiant Jenico de Artois invaded the Territory of Macgenis but was so unfortunate to lose many of his Men at Inor whereupon the Irish grew so insolent that the Lord Justice was necessitated to go out in person However he went no farther than Castledermond and there entrusting the Army with the Military men he remained with his Clergy in Procession and at Prayers for the Success of his small Army and the Event answered his expectation for the English slew an hundred of the Irish near Kilkea but that small Victory was soon over-ballanced by a Defeat which the English of Meath received from O Connor on the 10th of May to the Loss of Tho. Maureverar Baron of Shrine and many others and to the imprisonment of Christopher Fleming and John Dardis This Loss discovered the necessity of sending a Martial Man to the Government of Ireland and therefore on the 10th day of September Sir John Talbot Lord Furnival Lord Lieutenant Landed at Dalkye and immediately made a Circular Progress round the Pale in warlike manner He began with the Birns Tools and Cavenaghs on the South and so passing to the O Moors O Connors and O Ferrals in the West and ending with the O Relyes Mac Mahons O Neals and O Hanlons in the North he brought them all to the Kings Peace but he brought no Forces with him out of England and therefore though he had Strength enough to
discourage the Transportation of Bullion the King shall have twelve Pence Custome out of every Ounce Upon his Return to England the Lord Lieutenant accused the Earl of Ormond of Treason Burlace 78. before the Duke of Bedford Constable of England in the Marshal's Couâ—t but the King abolished the Accusation Richard Talbot 1447. Archbishop of Dublin Lord Deputy he wrote a Tract de Abusu Regiminis Jacobi Comitis Ormondiae dum Hiberniae esset locum tenens Caâ—ton chron And it seems Thomas Fitz-Thomas Prior of Kilmainham was on the Archbishops side for he accused the Earl of Ormond of Treason and the Combat was appointed between them at Smithfield in London but the King did interpose and prevent it Hitherto the English had made but a bordering War in Ireland and that it self but very unluckily and the small Army that was kept on foot was ill paid and therefore more hurtful to the Subject by their Oppression than to the Enemy by their Valour so that it was necessary to send some great Man thither and no Body so fit for it as Richard Duke of York Earl of Vlster March Rutland and Cork Lord of Conagh Clare Trim and Meath for besides his Quality and Valour he had a great Estate in that Kingdom and it answered another Design of the Cardinal of Winchester who did then in effect govern England which was to remove this Duke from the Regency of France to make room for the Duke of Somerset and so he was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1449. and landed at Hoath the fifth of July 1449. But the Duke of York who fathomed their Designs and had other Intrigues of his own would not accept of the Government of Ireland Davis 51. but upon very advantagious Conditions which were reduced to Writing by Indenture betwixt the King and him and are recorded by Act of Parliament in Ireland and were to this effect I. That he should be the King's Lieutenant in Ireland for ten Years II. That to support the Charge of that Country he should receive the whole Revenue certain and casual without Account III. That he should be supplied with Treasure out of England in this manner viz. four thousand Marks the first year whereof he should be imprested two thousand Pounds before-hand and for the other nine years he should receive two thousand Pounds per annum IV. That he might let the Kings Lands to Farm and place and displace all Officers at his Pleasure V. That he might Levy and Wage what Number of Souldiers he thought fit VI. That he might make a Deputy and return at his Pleasure I do not find that this Lord brought over any considerable Forces with him or that he was able to keep any such on foot here not only because his Allowance was but small but also because that small Allowance was ill paid as appears by his passionate Letter to his Brother-in Law the Earl of Salisbury which is to be found Registred by Mr. Campion pag. 99. At his first coming 1450. the Irish were very insolent but he won upon them strangely Lib. M. partly by force and partly by their own Art of Wheedling He held a Parliament at Dublin in October Friday before S. Lukes Day and the Bishops of Leighlin Ossory Down and Limerick were fined for not coming to it This Parliament Enacted many good Laws viz. 1. That no Marcher or other keep more Horsemen or Foot than they can maintain and will answer for and that they give in a List of their Names to the Sheriff c. 2. It suppresseth Coynees Rep. 11. Car. 1. c. 6. Cuddies and Night-suppers and well sets forth the Grievances of those Times 3. That the Accuser shall give Security to pay the Damages of the Defendant if the Impeachment be found untrue 4. That every man may kill Robbers and notorious Thieves and shall have a Penny out of every Plow-land and a Farthing from every Cottage for his Reward 5. That the great Officers of the Kingdom shall not give Protections to any other than their Menial Officers and Attendants This Lord Lieutenant also held another Parliament at Drogheda in April on Friday before S. Mark 's Day which Enacted 1. That if the Remembrancer issue Process against any body that is discharg'd on Record in the Exchequer he shall forfeit his Office and treble Damage 2. That the Chancellor Treasurer and Judges or one of them be present at all Commissions of Oyer and Terminer in the Counties of Dublin Kildare Meath and Vriel 3. That no body shall sell Liquor but by Sealed Measures It seems that some of these Statutes were occasioned by a doleful Letter sent from Cork which the Irish Historians place in the Reign of Henry the Fourth and yet direct it to the Earl of Rutland and Cork and therefore it will be more properly applied to this Time when he was Lord Lieutenant and follows in haec Verba IT may please your Wisdoms to have pity of us Camp 94. the Kings poor Subjects within the County of Cork or else we be cast away for ever for where there was in this County these Lords by Name besides Knights Esquires Gentlemen and Yeomen to a great number that might dispend yearly eight hundred pounds six hundred pounds four hundred pounds two hundred pounds one hundred pounds one hundred Marks twenty pounds twenty Marks ten pounds some more some less to a great number besides these Lords following First The Lord Marquess Carew his yearly Revenues were besides Dorsey-Haven and other Creeks two thousand two hundred pounds sterling The Lord Barnewale of Bear-haven his yearly Revenues were besides Bear-haven and other Creeks sixteen hundred pounds sterling The Lord Uggan of the great Castle his yearly Revenues were besides Havens and Creeks one thousand three hundred pounds sterling The Lord Balram of Emforle his yearly Revenues were besides Havens and Creeks one thousand three hundred pounds sterling The Lord Courcy of Kilbreton his yearly Revenues besides Havens and Creeks one thousand five hundred pounds sterling The Lord Mandevil of Barnhely his yearly Revenues besides Havens and Creeks one thousand two hundred pounds sterling The Lord Arundel of the Strand his yearly Revenues besides Havens and Creeks one thousand five hundred pounds sterling The Lord Baron of the Guard his yearly Revenues besides Havens and Creeks one thousand one hundred pounds sterling The Lord Sleynie of Baltimore his yearly Revenue besides Havens and Creekss eight hundred pounds sterling The Lord Roche of Pool Castle his yearly Revenues besides Havens and Creeks one thousand pounds sterling The Kings Majesty hath the Lands of the late young Barry by Forfeiture the yearly Revenues whereof besides two Rivers and Creeks and all other Casualties is one thousand eight hundred pounds sterling And at the end of this Parliament your Lordship with the Kings most Noble Counsel may come to Cork and call before you all these Lords and other Irishmen and bind them in
York Second Son of Edward the Fourth to whom the Crown did really belong if he were living and this Perkin did personate him so well that there remains some doubt to this day whether he were an Impostor or not but supposing he was it was cunningly contrived to let him first appear in Portugal as a Child that had in a skulking manner fled from the Cruelty of his usurping Unkle besides Portugal was a Place with which the Duchess of Burgundy had not much Correspondence and therefore it could not be suspected that she had a hand in the Cheat but however that be young Perkin set Sail from Lisbon and arrived safely at Cork where he was kindly received by the Citizens and particularly by John Walters an eminent Merchant of Cork who probably was then Mayor and whose Apprentice Perkin had been as they say he wrote Letters to the Earls of Kildare and Desmond for their Assistance against King Henry but before he received their Answers he received Letters from the French King inviting him thither and so to France he went and was royally received and entertained until that King made Peace with King Henry and then Perkin made a seasonable Retreat into Flanders where he was exceeding welcome to his supposed Aunt the Duchess of Burgundy and there we will leave him for a while and return to our â—ord Deputy He held a Parliament at Dublin 1493. on Friday after Midsummer which it seems vacated some Indictments and Inquisitions that had formerly been made to the prejudice of this Lord Deputy by the Means of the Lord Portlester and now the Tables being turn'd and the Votaries of the House of Lancaster at Helm the Lord Portlester himself was questioned in the Exchequer for the miss-management of his Office of Treasurer This Parliament did also repeal a former Act made against the City of Waterford and restored that City to all its ancient Liberties and Priviledges and it is probable that there was also an Act of Parliament now made for the general Resumption of all the Crown Lands that were alienated or granted away since the first year of King Henry the Sixth but none of the Acts of this Parliament are Printed except one for the cleansing of the Water-Course in St. Patrick-street in Dublin and so this Parliament being dissolved in August the Lord Deputy on the sixth of September following resigned to Robert Preston Viscount Gormanstown Lord Deputy to the Duke of Bedford who it seems had not Commission to call a Parliament nevertheless he did call one which met at Drogheda and made several Statutes which were absolutely void for the Defect aforesaid however they were expresly repeal'd by 10 Hen. 7. cap. 23. And these farther Reasons were given for it 1. That the Lord Lieutenant had surrendred his Patent before the Summons And 2. Because the Parliamentary Summons did not issue to all the Shires but to four Shires only On the Twelfth of September this Lord Deputy called several of the Nobility to Trim where they subscribed Articles for the Peace of the Kingdom viz. That no man should make War without the Deputies Consent and that several Extortions and Tributes that were used and demanded should be abrogated and suppressed and that Murderers Thieves and Vagabonds should be punished c. There were present at this Assembly Alexander Plunket L. Chancellor Girald Earl of Kildare the Bishops of Meath Kildare the Lords of Slane Delvin Killeen Houth Trimletston and Dunsany c. And they gave Recognizanse and Hostages for the observation of those Articles and after this he called the Parliament aforesaid In October the late Lord Deputy Fitz-Symons went into England to give the King a full Account as well of his own Government as of the present State of the Kingdom of Ireland and not long after viz. in November following the Earl of Kildare hearing he was impeach'd in England went also thither to justifie himself before the King but the L. Deputy leaving the Government in the Hands of his Son followed the Earl to England and by the Assistance of Sir James Ormond Lord Treasurer of Ireland he so far prevailed that Kildare's Justification was rejected and himself sent over Prisoner to Ireland to the end the Matter might be more fully examined upon the place 1494. by Sir Edward Poynings Knight of the Garter Lord Deputy whose chief Errand was to suppress the Abettors of Perkin Warbeck he came over the thirteenth of September and immediately made great Alterations amongst the Ministers of State Henry Dean Bishop of Bangor he constituted Lord Chancellor Sir Hugh Conway was appointed Treasurer Thomas Bouring was made Chief Justice of the Kings Bench as John Topcliff was of the Common Pleas and Walter Ever was made Chief Baron of the Exchequer all which were Englishmen born and good Lawyers and were sworn of the Privy Council of Ireland This Deputy brought over with him about one thousand Souldiers and resolved to invade Vlster to pursue some of Perkins's Friends that fled thither it is strange he should use the Earl of Kildare's assistance in this Expedition however together they went accompanied with Sir James Ormond who had resigned the Office of High Treasurer they did great Execution on the Irish and harass'd the Territories of O Hanlon and Mac Genis and others It was suggested That Kildare did secretly treat and conspire with O Hanlon to destroy the Lord Deputy for which he was Attainted as shall be shewn hereafter but it seems he was innocent of that Matter not only because O Hanlon cleared him upon Oath two years after but also because he was acquitted in England upon full hearing before the King Nevertheless Kildare's Brother did at this time seize on the Castle of Caterlogh whereupon the Lord Deputy was necessitated to clap up a sort of a Peace with O Hanlon and Macgenis and so having taken their Oaths and Hostages he immediately marched to Caterlogh which after ten days Siege 1494. was surrendred unto him And so in November on Monday before the Feast of St. Andrew sate that famous Parliament at Drogheda which Enacted I. That the Treasurer might appoint his under-Officers here as is used in England and shall account once a year here before the Barons of the Exchequer and such of the Council as the Lord Deputy shall appoint and the same Accounts to be certified into England and finally determined and setled there II. That no Minister of Justice viz. The Chancellor Treasurer Judges Clerk or Master of the Rolls nor any Officer Accomptant shall have their Places but during the King's Pleasure III. An Act adnulling a Prescription which Traytors and Rebels claimed in Ireland The Reason of this Act was because Richard Duke of York at his last being in Ireland did Cause an Act to be made That Ireland should be a Sanctuary for Refugees and that it should be Treason to disturb any body there by any Writ Privy Seal or other Matter from England and
Resumption of all the Grants made by the Crown since the last day of the Reign of King Edward the Second Lib. G. except some Particulars mentioned in the Act and another Act Rot. Parl. c. 41. attaints the Earl of Kildare and his Brother James for High Treason for corresponding with O Hanlon and seizing the Castle of Caterlogh for extorting Coyn and Livery and for treating with the King of Scotland however he was afterward acquitted in England and received into favour and perhaps there was another Act to dissolve the Fraternity of S. George for it is certain that about this time that Brotherhood fell and so I have done with this Famous Parliament when I have told you that it is a Mistake in the Printed Statute-Book to place it anno 1495 because it is manifest That November 1494 was in the tenth Year of this King's Reign It is scarce worth mentioning Ware 43. That during this Parliament the Lord Deputy made another Expedition into Vlster because the Irish fled into their Fastnesses so that he reaped but small Fruit for his Journey In his Absence he left a Commission with the Chanchellor to continue adjourn prorogue or dissolve the Parliament as he saw cause About this time Cormock mac Teige mac Carthy of Muskry 1495. was basely murdered by his Brother Owen Ancestor of the Mac Carthyes of Cloghroe and was buried in the Abby of Kilcrea which he himself had founded But let us return to Perkin Werbeck who set sail from Flanders with about six hundred Men and arrived on the Coast of Kent but he found ill treatment there for one hundred and sixty of his Men were taken Prisoners and afterwards executed Thence he sailed to Ireland where he staid some time in Munster probably at Cork but finding the Irish unable to give him any considerable Assistance and fearing the Forces of the Lord Deputy he went thence into Scotland and by that King's Consent married the Earl of Huntly's Daughter who was nearly related to the Crown of Scotland The King of Scots did invade England in favour of Perkin but finding that none of the English came to assist the Impostor he wasted Northumberland and returned And thus Sir Edward Poynings drove Perkin out of Ireland and suppressed his Abettors and established many good Laws which though for the present they extended no further than the Pale yet their Effect and Influence increased and inlarged as fast as the King's Authority did so that those Statutes are at this day in full force over all the Kingdom And the King finding Ireland in so quiet a condition recalled the Lord Deputy and for his good Service made him Knight of the Garter And in his place appointed Henry Dean 1495. Bishop of Bangor Chancellor of Ireland and afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury 1496. to be Lord Justice and on the twenty sixth of April William Ratcliff was made Vice-Treasurer and John Pimp Treasurer at War and on the twenty fifth of June the Lord Delvin was made General for defence of the Pale and in July Octavianus Archbishop of Armagh held a Synod at Droghedah the Acts whereof are not to be found and in August Hugh O Donel being returned out of Scotland encountred and defeated O Connor near Sligo Whereupon he besieged the Castle of Sligo but without Success for being frightned with the News of the Approach of the Burks of Clanrickard he raised the Siege and retired in hast towards Tyrconnel But Burk was not so satisfied but burnt and destroyed all the adjacent Territories that belonged to O Donel's Partisans But the Earl of Kildare was still kept in Prison in England for Grief whereof his Countess died The Earl was accused of burning the Church of Cashel and many Witnesses were ready to prove it when contrary to all their Expectations he readily confessed the Fact and swore by Jesus That he would never have done it but that he thought the Archbishop was in it Which being uttered with a bluntless peculiar to this Lord did exceedingly work upon the King for whilst the Earl did so earnestly urge that for his Excuse which was the greatest Aggravation of his Crime the King easily perceived That a Person of that Natural Simplicity and Plainness could not be guilty of those Finesses and Intrigues that were objected against him It is reported of this Earl That he desired the King to permit him to have Council to manage his Cause since he was altogether unqualified to deal with such cunning Knaves as his Adversaries The King told him He should have what Counsel he would choose and that it concerned him to get Counsel that were very good for that he doubted his Cause was very bad The Earl replied That he would pitch upon the best Counsel in England Who is that said the King Marry even your Majesty quoth the Earl Whereat the King laughed But nevertheless he so requited Kildare for his Complement that when the Adversary concluded his Oration That all Ireland could not govern this Man the King took that occasion to make reply That therefore he was the fittest Man to govern Ireland Ware 49. And so for his Jest-sake made him Lord Lieutenant of that Kingdom by his Letters Patent of the sixth of August and restored him to his Honour and Estate Nevertheless the King kept the Earls eldest Son Girald as Hostage of the Father's Fidelity which proved to be a matter of Caution rather than of Necessity for no body could behave himself with more Loyalty to his Prince nor more Vigor against the Irish than the Earl of Kildare did from henceforward But to proceed Girald Earl of Kildare 1496. being made Lord Lieutenant in a short time after he had received the Sword marched towards Thomond against O Brian he went through the City of Limerick and took the Castle of Feyback from Finin Mac nâ—marra and afterwards took and rased the Castle of Ballyniti or Ballynice and so returned to Dublin and was reconciled to the Archbishop of Armagh to their mutual Ease and Quiet and to the great Advantage of Publick Affairs which often suffer especially in Ireland by the private Animosities of the Grandees But the Bishop of Bangor was recalled into England and Walter Archbishop of Dublin was made Lord Chancellor in his stead This good Archbishop in a Synod at Dublin anno 1492 procured a Pension for a Divinity-Reader there to be paid by him and his Suffragans and their Successors for ever And it is reported of him That being present when a famous Orator made a most eloquent Speech to the King his Majesty asked the Archbishop How he liked the Oration The good old Man replied That he saw no other Fault in it but Flattery As God shall love me quoth the King That is the very Fault I my self espied The King by advice of the Lord Lieutenant resolved to pardon those great Men that had been concerned with Perkin Warbeck lest Despair might induce
them to new Disturbances And accordingly the Earl of Desmond the Archbishop of Cashel the Bishops of Cork and Waterford and many other of the principal Men of Munster were pardoned and the Liberties and Charters of Youghal were restored and confirmed and their Priviledges enlarged In the mean time dyed Rowland Fitz-Eustace Baron of Portlester who at several times had been Deputy Chancellor and Lord High Treasurer of Ireland which last Place held thirty eight Years And about the same time died Cnoghor mac Trelagh O Brian Chief of Thomond and was succeeded by his Brother Gil duff by Popular Election according to the Custom of Tanistry But it is time to return to Perkin Warbeck whom we left in the Arms of a fair Lady in Scotland that King had already made several Essays in favour of this supposititious Prince but now his Affairs pressed him to make a Peace with the English which King Henry would not hear of unless Perkin were delivered up It was therefore necessary for the Impostor to seek new Quarters 1497. And therefore being secretly supplied by the King of Scotland with Necessaries for his Voyage he embarqued with his Wife and Family and landed safely at Cork the twenty sixth of July he could not have pitcht upon a Place more prone to Rebellion at that time but curst Cows have short Horns and their Ability was not suitable to their Inclinations however he listed one hundred and twenty Soldiers and by the Aid or at least Countenance of the Earl of Desmond he got Conveniences for their Transportation And so finding the Earl of Kildare so firm and potent that no good was to be done in Ireland and receiving an Invitation from the Cornishmen he sailed directly to Cornwal in September and landed safely at Whitsand-bay The City of Waterford which for its loyalty to the Crown against Lambert Symnel had received great Favours and Priviledges from his Majesty was now altogether as vigorous against Perkin and by its discreet behaviour in this Affair well deserved the Motto Intacta manet Waterfordia That City manned out four Ships and sent them in pursuit of Perkin but Fortune did not favour that Generous and Loyal Design This Impostor being thus arrived in England took upon him the Name of Richard IV King of England and as such behaved himself and acted his Part so well that he would often lament the Destruction of his People and would frequently bemoan the Tyranny and Oppressions they lived under which sort of Deportment took with the common People exceedingly insomuch that some thousands of them came to him at Bodmin with them he besieged Excester and assaulted the City with great vigour and Resolution which the Couragious and Loyal Citizens by the help of some of their Country Neighbours as valiantly defended Hereupon Perkin raised the Siege and marched to Taunton and although the Cornishmen continued resolute to conquer or dye yet Perkin perceiving their Courage was greater than their Strength and finding that the King's Army did daily increase whilst his did decrease he privately withdrew to the Sanctuary of Beaulieu in Hampshire and afterwards surrendred himself and being imprisoned in the Tower he made his escape once and attempted it the second time and was therefore together with his Friend John Waters Mayor of Cork hanged at Tyburne where he confirmed the Confession he had formerly made which was to this effect I Being born in Flanders Campion 104. in the Town of Turney put my self in Service with a Britton called Pregent Meno the which brought me with him into Ireland and when we were there arrived in the Town of Cork they of the Town because I was arrayed with some Cloaths of Silk of my said Masters threeped upon me That I should be the Duke of Clarence's Son that was before time at Divelin and forasmuch as I denyed it there was brought unto me the Holy Evangelists and the Cross by the Mayor of the Town called Ino Lavallin and there I took my Oath That I was not the said Duke's Son nor none of his Blood After this came to me an Englishman whose Name was Stephen Poytow with one John Walter and sware to me That they knew well that I was King Richard's Bastard-Son to whom I answered with like Oaths That I was not and then they advised me not to be afraid but that I should take it upon me boldly And if I would so do they would assist me with all their Power against the King of England and not only they but they were assured That the Earls of Desmond and Kildare should do the same for they passed not what part they took so they might be avenged on the King of England and so against my Will they made me to learn English and taught me what I should do and say And after this they called me Richard Duke of York second Son to Edward IV because King Richard's Bastard-Son was in the Hands of the King of England And upon this they entred into this false Quarrel and within short time after the French King sent Embassadors into Ireland viz. Lyot Lucas and Stephen Frayn and so I went into France and thence into Flanders and thence into Ireland thence into Scotland and so into England again But let us return to the Affairs of Ireland 1498. which were briskly managed by the Lord Lieutenant He called a Parliament at Trim which met on the twenty sixth of August in the fourteenth Year of the King's Reign which must be anno 1498. and not 1499. as it is mistaken in the printed Statutes for the King began his Reign the twenty second Day of August 1485. There is but one Act of this Parliament extant and that is To make all the Statutes in England about the Officers of the Custom-house to be of force in Ireland after Proclamation at Dublin and Drogheda A very needless Law certainly since it could have but four Years retro-spect all former English-Statutes being ratified here by Poyning's Act of 10 Hen. 7. cap. 22. In the mean time Henry O Neal who had murdered his Brother Con was this Year served in the same kind by Tirlagh and Con Sons of the former Con And not long after the Lord Lieutenant invaded Vlster in favour of the aforesaid Tirlagh O Neal who was his Nephew by the Mother he was joyned by O Donel Macguire and all Tirlaghs Friends and effectually besieged Dungannon took the Castle and set at Liberty all the Prisoners that Neal mac Art O Neal kept there and forced Neal mac Art himself to submit and give Hostages The Vlster Expedition being over the Lord Deputy in October marched to Cork where he placed a Garrison and forced the Inhabitants of that City and of Kingsale to swear Allegiance and to bind themselves thereunto both by Indentures and Hostages which it seems he thought were stronger Obligations upon them than their Oaths After his return in the beginning of March Ware 's Annals he held
another Parliament at Dublin by the Title of Lord Deputy to Henry the King 's second Son who it seems was about this time made Lord Lieutenant but there is no Record remaining of what they did except some Amercements or Fines they imposed on some that were summoned to that Parliament and did not appear The Lord Deputy began the Year 1499 with an Expedition into Connaught 1499. where he took the Castles of Athleage Roscomon Tuilsk and Castlereagh and placed Garrisons in them And in the mean time Tirlagh O Brian who after the Death of Gil-duff was Chief or Lord of Thomond had great Contests with Sir Pierce Butler about Preys and Bounds of Land which according to the Custom of these Times centred in a Battle wherein the Butlers were defeated and the Sovereign of Kilkenny was slain It seems that there was another Parliament held at Castledermond which Town I suppose was then and still is belonging to the Earls of Kildare on the twenty sixth of August which gave the King and his Heirs an Impost of twelve Pence per Pound of all Merchandize imported to be sold here Irish Stat. 43. Wine and Oyl excepted And it is probable That there were some Orders if not Acts That the Nobility should ride on Saddles Ware 's An. 60. according to the English Custom and should wear their Robes in Parliament And both the Clergy and Laity gave the King a Subsidy The Printed Book of Statutes has only the first of these Acts and places the Parliament in anno 1500. which is undoubtedly a Mistake And Sir James Ware ascribes the aforesaid Act against Customers to this Parliament which is also a Mistake And both these Oversights will appear and 〈◊〉 rectified if you rightly consider the beginning of the King◠Reign the twenty second of August 1485. and that the Earl of Kildare was Lord Lieutenant 14 Hen. 7. when 〈…〉 Act was made and was Lord Deputy when the later 〈…〉 sate And that this change of his Title happened 〈…〉 later end of the Year 1498. It seems that the Male-contents in Ireland having los◠their beloved Idol Perkin Warbeck would not so give out but were active to set up the Bastard-Son of Richard the Third or some body that should personate him but it came to nothing And so we are come to the Year of Jubile 1500. which concludes the Fifteenth Century and brought with it large Indulgences from the Pope Alexander the Sixth to be distributed by his Agent Gasper Pow to all the King's Subjects who would contribute to the War against the Turks but if we may believe Polydor Virgil the Irish had the good Manners to thank the Pope for his Favour and the Wit to keep the Money in their Purses But the Lord Deputy made another Expedition into Vlster probably in favour of his Nephew Tyrlogh O Neal for as soon as he had taken the Castle of Kinard he made Tyrlogh Governor of it and returned On the First of August the Charter of Cork was restored and their Priviledges enlarged by a new Charter which was followed by a sad Accident for David Barry Arch-Deacon of Cork and Cloyne murdered his own Brother William Lord Barry and was himself serv'd in the same kind by Thomas Barry and his Body taken out of the Grave and burnt by Command of the Earl of Desmond And so we must close this Century with the accidental and unfortunate Conflagration of the Town of Galway which was first governed by a Provost then Sovereign and Bayliffs then Mayor and Bayliffs and now by Mayor and Sheriffs and with very wet and bad Weather which continued from the middle of September to the End of Winter Leinster and Munster were indifferent quiet all this Year 1501. but Vlster and Connaught were far otherwise one of the O Connors took the Castle of Sligo by Assault and many private Murders were committed in Vlster O Neal also and the Scots had some Bickerings near Armagh on the 17th of March to the Damage of the later who lost four Captains and sixty Souldiers and to this time we must refer these Bald Verses representing the miserable Estate of Armagh Civitas Armachana Civitas vana absque bonis moribus Mulieres nudae Carnes crudae Paupertas in Aedibus The next Year produced a General Murrain amongst the Cattel all over Ireland and many Murders in Vlster upon private and frivolous Quarrels But in the beginning of the Year 1503. 1503. the Lord Deputy went to England leaving Walter Fitz-Symons Archbishop of Dublin Lord Deputy but he staid not above three Months in England for having done his Business to his Mind he return'd in August with great Honour and new Instructions Girald Earl of Kildare Lord Deputy being returned did about the latter end of Autumn make another Expedition into Vlster where he took and destroyed the Castle of Belfast and placed one Stanton and a good Garrison in Carigfergus and then marched back to Dublin In the mean time Theobald Burk Proprietor of Muskry-Cuirk in Munster was slain in a Skirmish with Donough O Carol and Cornelius O Dwyer but another of the Burks had better Fortune in Connaught for he defeated Malachiah O Kelly and all his Party On the 18th of February Girald Fitz-Girald the Lord Deputy's Eldest Son was made Lord High Treasurer of Ireland of whom we shall read more hereafter But the Irish Lords finding themselves too weak separately to oppose Kildare as they used to do to other Governors many of them confederated together the Principal of them was Vlick Burk Chief of Clanricard commonly called Mac-William Tyrlogh O Brian Chief of Thomond Melrony O Carol c. and got together the greatest Army that had been in Ireland since the Conquest whereof the Lord Deputy having notice he also assembled his Forces and being accompanied by the Lords of Gormanstown Slane Delvin Killen Houth Trimletston and Dunsany John Blake Mayor of Dublin O Donel O Reyly Ware 71. the Bishop of Ardah the Gentlemen of Annaly now Longford and some Townsmen of Drogheda and some others from the North he marched into Connaught and on the 19th of August at Knocklow both Parties met and fought a bloody Battel 1504. which was for some hours very dubious but at last the Lord Deputy got the Victory with the Slaughter of four thousand of his Enemies nine thousand says the Book of Houth and he also took some Prisoners amongst whom the two Sons of Vlick Burk were the chiefest it is prodigious that not one Englishman should be so much as hurt in this mighty Battel and yet in the white Book of the Exchequer it is so recorded Holingshead 79 The Consequence of this great Victory was the Surrender of Gallaway and Athenry the Destruction of that whole Country and the overloading the Conquerors with Prey and Booty Kildare being returned bestowed thirty Tun of Wine upon his Souldiers and the King bestowed a Garter on him and made him a
secret and of great forecast very staid in Speech dangerous of every Trifle that touched his Reputation Kildare was open and plain hardly able to rule himself when he was moved to Anger not so sharp as short being easily displeased and sooner appeased being in a Rage with certain of his Servants for Faults they committed one of his Horsemen offered Master Boice a Gentleman that retained to him an Irish Hobby on condition That he would pluck an Hair from the Earl his Beard Boice taking the Profer at rebound stept to the Earl with whose good Nature he was throughly acquainted parching in the Heat of his Choler and said So it is and if it like your good Lordship one of your Horsemen promised me a choice Horse if I snip one Hair from your Beard Well quoth the Earl I agree thereto but if thou pluck any more than one I promise thee to bring my Fist from thine Ear. But after all this simple Story is founded on a Mistake for the Earl of Ormond whose Name was Thomas lived in England in great Repute all the Reign of Henry the Seventh and afterwards until his Death anno 1515 and therefore the Person intended by the Story must by Sir James Ormond formerly Lord High Treasurer whom I have often mentioned in the Reign of the last King But this digression has been too long 1513. let us therefore return to the Lord Deputy whom we shall find animated with the last Years Success and resolved to invade Ely O Carol early in the Summer but his Preparations being great took up more time than he thought they would require but at last they were got ready and he began his March in August but at Athy he fell sick and from thence was removed to Kildare where on the third Day of September he died and was buried in Christ Church in Dublin to which he had been a liberal Benefactor And thus were the great Designs of this mighty Lord defeated even in the midst of his Career and at the very time when he promised himself most Glory and Success Gerald Earl of Kildare Son of the deceased Earl and Lord Treasurer was by virtue of the Act of Parliament formerly mentioned anno 10 Hen. 7. and by reason of his Place of Treasurer Spelm. Glos 334. made Lord Justice by assent of the Council But it seems that afterwards viz. 32 Hen. 8. there was a Statute made intituled An Act for the electing of the Lord Justice which restrained the Council from electing any body but an Englishman born and not in Orders The Lord of Slane was made Lord High Treasurer and Sir William Crompton Lord Chancellor and all other publick Matters were ordered as well and expeditiously as they could nevertheless so much time was taken up in these Alterations and in the Formalities of State that the Season was too far spent for any military Action this Year so that Daniel Mac william met with little Interruption in taking the Castle of Dunluce nor did the rest of the Irish find any Opposition this Winter but ravaged over the Country as they pleased However they paid dearly for it the next Spring For the valiant Earl of Kildare 1514. who was Heir to his Fathers Courage as well as to his Honour grew impatient at the Insolencies of O More and O Reyly and therefore resolved to attack them successively He began with O More and invaded the county of Leix and beat that Rebel and his Party into the Woods which being done he turned aside into the Brenny and took the Castle of Cavan and having slain Hugh O Reyly and many of his Followers he chased the rest into their inaccessible Fastnesses and then burnt and destroyed the Country and returned loaden with Booty William Viscount Gormanstown was the thirteenth of June made Lord Justice 1515. probably in the Absence of the Earl of Kildare who might then go to England to confer with the King about the Parliament designed to be holden in the Spring But however that be it is certain That Girald Earl of Kildare was by the King made Lord Deputy and on the twenty fifth Day of February held a Parliament at Dublin which by several Prorogations continued until the Thursday after Michaelmas 1517. Ware 92. This Parliament gave the King a Subsidy and made one good Act for those times viz. That no Man shall be compelled by Privy Seal to answer any Complaint in England until the Accuser enters into Recognizance in the Chancery of Ireland to pay the Defendant his Costs and Damages if he be acquit which very much abated that vexatious Course of Proceeding so that it is now obsolete and quite out of use On the third Day of August Ware 93. died Thomas Earl of Ormond at London he had been Embassador into France Privy-Counsellor in England and had Place in the English Parliament above all the Barons He was the richest Subject the King had and left forty thousand Pound in Money besides Jewels and as much Land to his two Daughters in England as at this Day would yield thirty thousand Pound per annum but he left no Issue Male to enjoy his Irish Estate which therefore descended to his Kinsman Sir Pierce Butler Earl of Ormond The Lord Deputy to repress the Incursions of the bordering Irish 1516. and to shew himself as fit for War as Peace invaded Imaly and slew Shane O Toole in Battle and sent his Head to the Mayor of Dublin Thence he marched into Ely O Carol where he was joyned by several Noblemen of Munster and Leinster of English Extraction and particularly by Pierce Earl of Ormond and James eldest Son of the Earl of Desmond and being strengthned with this Supply he undertook the Seige of Lemevan-Castle which the Garrison defended for a Week and then by Night deserted and left it to be demolished as it was by the Lord Deputy With this good Success he was encouraged to attempt the Town of Clonmel which he did with so much celerity that the Townsmen being surprized immediately surrendred upon Conditions And so the Deputy ended this Campeign and returned loaden with Hostages Prey and Glory It is worthy observation That the Irish had great Expectations of Advantage this Year by reason of a blind Prophecy generally believed among them Ware 95. That the poorest and weakest Sept in Ireland should this Year prove the most Powerful and Warlike It is probable that they were encouraged thereby to provoke the Lord Deputy to the aforesaid Expedition But however that be this is certain That Superstition hath been often fatal to the Irish Nation But Kildare finding it necessary to advance his Victorious Arms in Vlster 1517. reinforced his Troops and marched into Lecale where he took the Castle of Dundrum which had been very offensive to the neighbouring English thence he marched against Fylemy Macgenis whom he easily conquered and took Prisoner with the Slaughter of many of his Followers
Faghil Abbot of Derry and Richard O Craghan 1531. who in the behalf of their Master perfected Indentures and swore Fealty to the King in presence of the Lord Deputy Davis 105. at Tredagh on the sixth of May 1531. And at the same time it is probable he made the Proposal mention by Sir John Davis Quod si Dominus Rex velit reformare Hiberniam He and His would gladly be governed by the Laws of England O Sullevan tells us a Story Sullevan 77. with great Ostentation That an English Ship took a Spanish Vessel that was fishing on the Coast of Ireland near the Dursies And that his Grand-Father Dermond O Sullevan Prince of Bear and Bantry having notice of it manned out a small Squadron of Ships and took both the Englishman and the Spaniard and hanged the English Captain but set the Spaniard at Liberty By which may be easily perceived What sort of Inclinations that sort of Men bear to an Englishman and what kind of Loyalty they paid to their King when they murdered his Subjects and cherished his Enemies But the Animosities and Feuds between the Lord Deputy and the Earl of Kildare did every Day increase and at length came to that height that they reciprocally impeached each other in England and Kildare did wisely to sail thither and personally solicite his own Affairs which he managed so successfully that Skeffington was superseded and Girald Earl of Kildare made Lord Deputy in his stead He also procured Alan the Lord Chancellor a Creature of Wolsies to be removed and Cromer Primate of Armagh to be placed in the Chancery July 5. 1532. in his room Nevertheless lest Kildare should grow too powerful the King to ballance him gave the Lord High Treasurers Staff to James Lord Butler who notwithstanding that he was Kildare's Nephew was nevertheless his bitter Enemy and heartily espoused the Quarrels of his Father the Earl of Ossory as it was his Interest and Duty to do But the Earl of Kildare having again gotten the Supreme Power into his Hands little valued the Opposition of his Enemies On the contrary he was transported with the Contemplation of the prodigious Success he had hitherto met with and presumed so far on its continuance that he precipitated himself into many vain and unaccountable Actions for he not only married two of his Daughters to O Connor and O Carol obstinate Enemies to the Crown of England but also with his Forces invaded Kilkenny and destroyed all he found belonging to the Earl of Ossory and his Friends he also persuaded his Brother John Fitz-Girald and O Neal to invade the County of Louth which they burned and preyed without Resistance And all these Extravagances contributed to the Destruction of a Noble Family and to leave this Earl of Kildare an Example to Posterity of the great folly of using Power immoderately On the nineteenth of May 25 Hen. 8. which was anno 1533 and not 1534 as is mistaken in the printed Statutes the Parliament met and enacted I. That sturdy Beggars should not leaze Corn nor any Body out of his Parish And that no Body should give Sheaves of Corn for Reaping or Binding And in all these cases the Corn may be taken away from the Transgressor II. That the Parsonage of Galtrim should be appropriated to the Priory of S. Peter's near Trim. III. That the Royal Fishing of the Banne be resumed into the King's Hands Ware 's Annals 130. But this last Act is not printed At this Parliament the Controversie was renewed between Cromer Primate of Armagh and Allan Archbishop of Dublin about Precedency in Dublin which was determined in favour of the Primate O Carol that married Kildare's Daughter was Tanist and Brother to the deceased O Carol and by the Law of Tanistry claimed the Signiory but the Son of the Desunct being of Age and a brisk Man would not be so served and therefore as Heir to his Father he seized on the Castle of Bi r which the Lord Deputy in favour of his Son-in-Law undertook to besiege and did so but it was in vain for at that Siege he received a Shot in his Head which sent him back faster than he came out and though he regained his Health yet he never recovered his Intellectuals but was ever after as we say A little crackbrained It is reported That when he was wounded he sighed deeply which a Soldier that was by observing he told his Lordship That himself had been shot three times and yet was recovered To whom the Earl replyed Would to God thou hadst also received the fourth Shot in my stead About this time John Allen who had been Clerk of the Council and was now Master of the Rolls a Creature of the deposed Chancellor Alans was sent by the Council into England about Publick Affairs Lib. 〈◊〉 His Instructions were To acquaint the King with the Decay of the Land and that neither English Order Tongue or Habit nor the King's Laws are used above twenty Miles in compass That this Decay is occasioned by the taking of Coyn and Livery without Order after Men's own sensual Appetites and taking Cuddees Garty and Caan for Felonies and Murder Alterages Bienges Saults and Slanciaghs c. And that they want English Inhabitants who formerly had Arms and Servants to defend the Country but of late the English Proprietor hath taken Irish Tenants that can live without Bread or good Victuals and some for Lucre to have more Rent and some for Impositions and Vassalage which the English cannot bear have expelled the English and made the Country all Irish without Order Security or Hospitality Formerly English Gentlemen kept a Retinue of English Yeomen according to the Custom of England to the great Security of the Country but now they keep Horsmen and Kernes who live by oppressing the poor People The great Jurisdiction of the Nobility is another Cause of destroying the King's Subjects and Revenue And the Black Rents which the Irish exact enriches them and impoverisheth the Englishman Also the making of a Native chief Governour and often change of the Lord Deputy are great Faults And ill keeping of the King's Records and putting unskilful Clerks in the Exchequer do occasion much Mischief But the Alienation of the Crown Lands so that the King's Revenue is not sufficient to defend the Realm is the greatest Grievance of all It is probable that these Instructions were kept secret from the Lord Deputy for it cannot be imagined That he would have consented that Articles which in effect were an Impeachment of himself should be communicated to the King and in truth Allen's Errand was to accuse the Deputy and he was imployed so to do by the Archbishop of Dublin the Earl of Ossory Ware 131. Sir William Skeffington and others and he performed his Commission so effectually that the Lord Deputy was sent for by the King's Letter to repair to England and answer the Crimes that were objected against him Kildare
did all he could to evade or at least procrastinate that Voyage which was to be fatal to him and his Family he sent his Wife to use the Interest of her Friends in England and to alledg several vain Pretences and particularly That the ill Posture of Affairs in Ireland could not permit his Absence But all these Contrivances proving ineffectual at last he seriously prepared to begin the Voyage But before he went he furnished all his Castles especially Minooth and Ley with Guns and Ammunition out of the King's Store although he had the King 's express Command to the contrary imparted to him by the Master of the Rolls Allen in the presence of the Bishop of Meath and others and the Act of Attainder also mentions That he furnished the Wild Irishmen being the King 's Mortal Enemies with Arms and Ammunition out of his Majesty's Stores which is not improbable because of his Allyance with O Connor and O Carol. It is certain That Quos Deus vult perdere dementat and the brave Earl of Kildare is a plain Example of it for being ordered by the King to leave a Deputy for whose Fidelity he would answer he substitutes his own Son Thomas Fitz-Girald 1534. a forward rash Youth scarce one and twenty Years old who nevertheless had Qualities worthy of his House and perhaps would in time have exceeded all his Ancestors if by laying this too great Burthen on his weak Shoulders so early they had not broken his Back in the beginning It seems the Earl had some Jealousies of what afterwards hapned and therefore to qualifie his Son 's youthful Passions in some measure before he delivered him the Sword he spoke to him as followeth before the Council at Drogheda where he presently after imbarqued and set sail for England Son Thomas Holingsh 88. I doubt not but you know That my Sovereign Lord the King hath sent for me into England and what shall betide me God knoweth for I know not but howsoever it falleth both you and I know That I am well stept in Years And as I may shortly dye for that I am Mortal so I must in haste decease because I am old Wherefore insomuch as my Winter is well near ended and the Spring of your Age now buddeth my Will is That you behave your self so wisely in these your Green Years as that to the Comfort of your Friends you may enjoy the Pleasures of Summer glean and reap the Fruits of your Harvest that with Honour you may grow to the catching of that hoary Winter on which you see me your Father fast pricking And whereas it pleaseth the King his Majesty That upon my Departure here hence I should substitute in my room such a one for whose Government I would answer Albeit I know that your Years are tender your Wit not setled your Judgment not fully rectified and therefore I might be with good cause reclaimed from putting a naked Sword in a young Mans Hand Yet notwithstanding forsomuch as I am your Father and you my Son I am well assured to bear that Stroke with you in steering your Ship as that upon any Information I may command you as your Father and correct you as my Son for the wrong handling of your Helm There be here that sit at this Board far more sufficient Personages for so great Charge than you are But what then If I should cast this Burthen on their Shoulders it might be That hereafter they would be so far with Envy carried as they would percase hazzard the loss of one of their own Eyes to be assured that I should be deprived of both mine But forsomuch as the case toucheth your Skin as near as mine because as I said before I rest in the Winter and you in the Spring of your Years and now I am resolved Day by Day to learn rather How to die in the Fear of God than to live in the Pomp of the World I think you will not be so brain-sick as to stab your self through the Body only to scarifie my Skin with the Point of your Blade wherefore my Son consider That it is easie to raze and hard to build and in all your Affairs be ruled by this Board that for Wisdom is able and for entire Affection it beareth to your House will be found willing to lesson you with Sound and Sage Advice for albeit in authority you rule them yet in Council they must rule you My Son you know that my late Maims stifle my talk otherwise I would have grated longer on this Matter for a good Tale may be twice told and a sound Advice eftsoons iterated taketh the deeper Impression in the attentive Hearer's Mind But although my fatherly Affection requireth my Discourse to be longer yet I trust your good Inclination asketh it to be shorter And upon that Assurance here in the presence of this Honourable Assembly I deliver you this Sword Thus he spake for his last Fare-well with trickling Tears and having ended he rose up imbraced the Council committed them to God and immediately after imbarked leaving Thomas Fitz-Girald Lord Deputy 1534. to whom both the Allens were bitter Enemies One of them being Master of the Rolls told the Lord Deputy at a Banquet where they were discoursing of Heraldry That his Lordships House gave a Marmoset whose Property it was to eat her Tail To whom the Deputy replyed That he had been fed by his Tail and should take care that his Tail did not eat him Another time the Council waited three or four Hours for the Lord Deputy's coming whereat the Archbishop being dissatisfied he asked the Lords Whether it were not a pretty Matter that all they should stay so long for a Boy Which Words the Lord Deputy over-heard being just coming up Stairs and as soon as he entred he told their Lordships He was sorry they should stay so long for a Boy whereat the Archbishop was somewhat out of countenance The Enemies of the Giraldines had spread abroad a Report that the Earl of Kildare was Beheaded in the Tower and that the same Fate was designed for the Lord Deputy and all his Unkles and Letters were purposely spread abroad to that effect one of which by a strange Accident came to the hands of James de la Hide Principal Counsellor to the Lord Deputy by whose perswasion the Lord Deputy consederated with O Neal O Connor and others and on the eleventh day of June rode through the City of Dublin to Damsgate accompanied with seven score Horsemen in their Shirts of Mayl and there crossed the River and went to S. Mary Abby where the Council according to Appointment waited his coming and whilst he was sitting in Council some of his Followers rudely rush'd into the Council-Chamber Armed as they were and fell to talking aloud until at length Silence being commanded the Lord Deputy spake as followeth Howsoever injuriously we be handled Holingshead 90. and forced to defend our selves in Arms when neither
Kingdom and concludes with Commendations of the Lord Grey and desires he may be Lord Deputy and have Orders to call a Parliament What that Letter mentions of O Neal has reference to a Treaty between the Lord Deputy and him for when he understood that the Lord Deputy design'd an Expedition against him into the North to prevent it he desired a Parly and on the first of July by his Agent Gillaspick O Donel he concluded an Agreement with the Lord Deputy which afterwards was confirmed by Con O Neal himself at Drogheda on the twenty fifth of the same Month. In the mean time the Lord Deputy finding that Fitz-Girald had retired to Munster sent after him the Lord Grey Sir William Brereton and others who had several Skirmishes with his Party wherein nothing was got but Blows whereupon Brereton's Advice on the one side and Fitz Girald's Necessity on the other side produced a Parly the effect whereof was That Fitz-Girald surrendred to the Lord Grey and rode with him to Dubliu By the Lord Deputy's Letter to the King of August 24. he acquaints his Majesty That Fitz Girald and O Connor had submitted the former without any Condition or Promise of Life Lands or Goods and that he intends to send him over by the Lord Grey whilst himself in person goes to assist O Donel against his Son Manus But the Council by their Letter from the Camp to the King of the 27th of August inform his Majesty That O Connor an Abettor of Fitz-Girald's has given Hostages to abide the King's Pleasure and that Fitz-Firald submitted on the encouragements they gave him to expect Pardon for his Life That the Lord Grey is going with him leaving the Lord Butler in his room and they desire the King to thank the Lord Grey for his good Service Nevertheless others say That Fitz-Girald was by the Lord Grey absolutely promised his Pardon but if it was so it was more than he had Comission for and therefore no regard was given to that Pretence but the King being implacably enraged at this dangerous Rebellion caused Fitz-Girald to be arrested in the way to Windsor and afterwards viz. Febr. 3. 1537. he and five of his Unkles were executed at Tyburn although three of them had for a long time opposed their Nephews Extravagancies And thus ended a Rebellion Lib. CCC 85. which cost the King twenty thousand some say forty thousand Pound At which great Expence the King was so disturb'd that he called this Victory a new Conquest and put the Question to his Council how Ireland should be managed to bear the charge of its own Preservation and whether by Act of Parliament every mans Estate should not be made liable to contribute its proportion or whether by vertue of this Conquest the King might not seize on all the Estates in that Kingdom Temporal and Spiritual By a Letter from Stephen ap Harry who was afterward a great man with the Lord Grey of the sixth of October from Waterford directed to Mr. Thomas Cromwel Secretary of State he informs his Honour That the Lord Leonard Grey was gone to England with Fitz Girald and that the Lord James Butler marched to Clonmel where his Lordships Brother-in-Law Garret Mac Shane who could not speak one Word of English met him That thence they marched to Dungarvan which surrendred unto him and thence to Youghal where he had a Gallon of Gascoyn Wine for four pence and thence to Cork where the Lord Barry made great Complaints of Cormock Oge of Muskry and Mac Carty Riagh the former was willing to submit to the Award of the State but Mac Carty Riagh answered That what he got by the Sword he would keep by the Sword The like Controversie was between James Grandson of Thomas last Earl of Desmond and Sir John Brother of that Earl the young man offered to go to England and to submit to his Majesties Pleasure but Sir John said He scorned to contest with a Boy That they marched thence to Mallow and so to Kilmallock and thence to Lymerick where the Lord Butler's Brother-in-law O Brians Son desired Aid against his Father and Unkle and that the Lord Butler would besiege Carrigonel but he could not do it for want of Artillery and therefore marched to Cashel and thence to Clonmel having worthily behav'd himself all this Journey It seems the Lord Deputy had sollicited for the King's leave to return to England by reason of his Age and Infirmities but the King in his Answer thanked him for the taking Fitz-Girald but wished it had been done in another manner viz. by force and tells him That he must continue in the Government of Ireland notwithstanding his Age and Sickness and orders a Parliament to be called as â—â—on as conveniently might be but it is probable that soon after those Letters arrived the Lord Deputy died at Kilmainham in the latter end of December and was honourably buried in St. Patrick's Church And thereupon the Council chose Leonard Lord Grey 1535. Lord Deputy who was but newly returned from England and probably did not bring over so much Treasure as the Army both expected and needed and therefore the Souldiers mutined in January and thereupon the King by his Letter of the twenty fifth of February desires to know who were the Ringleaders of it and orders that as many of the Army as can be spared may be disbanded Lib. H. To which Letter the Lord Deputy and Council return'd for Answer That after the imprisonment of Fitz-Girald they had disbanded five hundred men but that his Unkles being at that time out and the Earl of Desmond O Brian and O Connor linked in a Confederacy it was no proper time then to dismiss any more but that they have now borrowed four hundred Pounds Irish and therewith have disbanded two hundred and fifty Foot and fifty Horse That the Revenue of the Kingdom was but five thousand Pounds per annum whereof a thousand Pound was then insolvent they advise the King to grant a Pardon to the County of Kildare to the end the People of that County may return to their Habitations and they advise That the Kings Lands may be set for a Term of one and twenty years and that a Mint may be erected in Ireland and none but Sterling Money be currant and thereby every Mark of the King's Revenue will be a Pound But I must interrupt the Series of this Discourse to give the Reader an Account of the miraculous preservation of one of the remaining Branches of the Noble Family of Kildare a Child of thirteen years old Brother of the Lord Thomas and Son of the deceased Earl who happened to be sick of the Small Pox at Donoare in the County of Kildare when his Unkles were apprehended whereupon his careful Tutor Thomas Leverouse afterwards Bishop of Kildare had the Child wrapt up warm and in a Cleef or Basket conveyed him into Offaly and after he was recovered he travelled into Thomond
and after half a years abode there they went to Kilbritton in the County of Cork where Elianor Fitz-Girald Mac Carty Riagh's Widow then lived Soon after she married with O Donel and made it one of the Articles of her Agreement That he should protect her Nephew the young Fitz-Girald which he faithfully promised and thereupon they went together to Vlster but they were not there a Twelve-month before the Lady understood that her perfidious Husband had agreed to betray her Nephew and therefore she sent him privately into France and gave him sevenscore Pieces of Gold call'd Portugueses to bear his Charge and afterwards upbraided O Donel with his Treachery and told him That as nothing but the Preservation of her Nephew could have prevailed with her to marry such a clownish Curmudgen so since he villanously endeavoured to betray her in that Particular she would stay with him no longer and so away she went and never saw him more But the Young Fitz-Girald arrived safely at S. Maloes and being sent for up to Paris the English Embassador there demanded him of the French King by virtue of the Peace lately concluded The French King gave him a dilatory Answer and in the mean time Fitz Girald escaped to Flanders at Valencienes he was overtaken by James Sherlock whom the Embassador sent to pursue him but the Governour of that Town committed Sherlock and so Fitz-Girald got safe to Brussels but the English Embassador demanded him there also so that he was forced to remove to Leige and was by the Emperor recommended to the Bishop of Leige and allowed a hundred Crowns a Month for his Expence But he staid there not above half a Year before his Kinsman Cardinal Poole sent for him to Rome and placed him successively with the Bishop of Verona the Cardinal of Mantua and the Duke of Mantua and allowed him an Annuity of three hundred Crowns per annum and the Duke of Mantua gave him the like Pension With them he staid a Year and a half and then removed to Cardinal Poole's Palace in Rome where he continued three Years The next Year after he spent in Service with the Knights of Malta and behaved himself exceeding valiantly Then he became Master of the Horse to the Great Duke of Tuscany and continued in that Office three Years One Day as he was hunting Holingshead 99. in the company of Cardinal Farneze he fell into a Pit twenty nine Fathom deep and had the good Luck within two Fathom of the Bottom to quit his Horse and take hold of some Roots or Bushes that were on the Side of the Pit and by degrees he let go his Hold and gently descended upon his Horse which was dead in the Bottom of the Pit and there he stood three Hours up to the Ankles in Water until his Grey-hound called Griff-hound missing his Master hunted him to the Pit and there fell a howling till the Company came in and with a Rope and a Basket drew him up alive and well to all their Admirations to mine too if I did not think this part of the Story to be a little Monkish And since I am upon Digressions Analecta Hib. Sullevan Cath. Hist. 71. it will be fit to remember That Doctor Traverse who was an active Man in Fitz-Girald's Rebellion and was therefore executed at Tyburn as the Traytor well deserved has nevertheless found a Room in the Irish Martyrology and is mentioned as an Instance of the English Cruelty by the Irish Historians And so we will conclude the Year 1535 with the Consecration of George Brown Archbishop of Dublin Ware de Praesulibs which was performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishops of Rochester and Salisbury on the nineteenth or rather twenty ninth of March he had formerly been Provincial of the Fryers of the Order of S. Augustine Bish Brown's Life in England And whilst he was so he used to Preach That Salvation was to be obtained by the Merits of Christ and advised to make Application to him only for which Doctrine he was much taken notice of He became the first Protestant Convert of the Clergy in Ireland and was an exceeding Charitable and Meek Man He was the first that caused Images and other Superstitious Reliques to be removed out of the two Cathedrals in Dublin and out of the rest of the Churches within his Diocess And he caused the Ten Commandments the Lord's Prayer and the Creed to be placed in gilded Frames about the Altar in Christ-Church Dublin It seems that the King did send Commissioners into Ireland to remove the Pope's Authority thence and to reduce it to conformity with England if so undoubtedly Archbishop Browne was one of the Commissioners as will appear by the following Letter sent by him to Cromwel Lord Privy Seal who was the chief Mannager of that Matter My Most Honoured Lord YOVR humble Servant receiving your Mandate Septemb. 4. 1535. as one of His Highnesses Commissioners hath endeavoured almost to the Danger and Hazard of this Temporal Life to procure the Nobility and Gentry of this Nation to due Obedience in owning of his Highness their Supreme Head as well Spiritual as Temporal and do find much oppugning therein especially by my Brother Armagh who hath been the main Oppugner and so hath withdrawn most of his Suffragans and Clergy within his See and Jurisdiction He made a speech to them laying a Curse on the People whosoever should own his Highness's Supremacy saying That this Isle as it is in their Irish Chronicles Insula Sacra belongs to none but the Bishop of Rome and that it was the Bishop of Rome's Predecessors gave it to the King's Ancestors There be two Messengers by the Priests of Armagh and by that Archbishop now lately sent to the Bishop of Rome Your Lordship may inform his Highness That it is convenient to call a Parliament in this Nation to pass the Supremacy by Act for they do not much matter his Highness's Commission which your Lordship sent us over This Island hath been for a long time held in Ignorance by the Romish Orders And as for their Secular Orders they be in a manner as ignorant as the People being not able to say Mass or pronounce the Words they not knowing what they themselves say in the Roman Tongue The common People of this Isle are more Zealous in their Blindness than the Saints and Martyrs were in the Truth at the beginning of the Gospel I send to you my very good Lord these things that your Lordship and his Highness may consult what is to be done It is feared O Neal will be ordered by the Bishop of Rome to oppose your Lordships Order from the King's Highness for the Natives are much in Numbers within his Powers I do pray the Lord Christ to defend your Lordship from your Enemies On the twenty eighth of April the King sent Orders to the Town of Galway to use the English Order 1536. Lib. H. Habit
and Language and not to forestal the Markets of Limerick nor correspond with the Irish And so we come to the Parliament which began at Dublin on the first Day of May and on the last Day of that Month was adjourned to Kilkenny and did there sit the twenty fifth Day of July and on the twenty first was adjourned to Cashel and on the twenty eighth was from Cashel adjourned to Limerick and there it sat on the second of August and continued until the nineteenth and then was adjourned to Dublin to meet the fifteenth Day of September and so after several Prorogations it was finally dissolved the twentyeth Day of December 1537 and enacted as followeth I. The Attainder of the Earl of Kildare and his Complices This Act recites all their Treasons and Retrospects to the eighth Day of July 20 Hen. 8. II. The Parliament reciting That Ireland is appending and belonging to the Crown of England doth make void and nullifie the King's Marriage with the Princess Katharine his Brother's Wife and doth ratifie the Divorce judicially made between them by the Archbishop of Canterbury It also confirms the King's Marriage with Anne Bullen and prohibits Marriage within the Levitical Degrees and orders that Persons so married shall be divorced and their Children after such Divorce shall be illegitimate Then it entails the Crown on the King's Heir Males by Queen Anne and for want of such to his Heirs Males by any other Wife and for want of such to the King's Heirs Female by Queen Anne and particularizes the Princess Elizabeth and the Heirs of her Body c. And that it shall be Treason to Write or Act against the aforesaid Marriage or the Settlement of the Crown and Misprision of Treason to speak against either of those things and deprives the Offenders of Benefit of Sanctuary it makes the Queen and such Counsellors as the King shall appoint Guardians of the Infant King or Queen if it so happen till their respective Ages of sixteen if a Queen and eighteen if a King and prescribes an Oath for the Observation of this Settlement to be taken by the Subject and makes it Misprision of Treason to refuse it III. The Act of Absentees recites the Inconveniences that have happened by reason of the Absence of those that have Estates in Ireland and then vests in the King the Honours and Estates of the Duke of Norfolk the Lord Berkly the Earl of Waterford and Shrewsbury the Heirs General of the Earl of Ormond the Abbot of Furnes the Abbot of S. Augustins of Bristol the Prior of Christ-Church of Canterbury the Prior of Lanthony the Prior of Cartinel the Abbot of Kentesham the Abbot of Osny the Abbot of Bath and the Master of S. Thomas of Dacres 4 Inst 354. And it was resolved anno 1612. That the Earl of Shrewsbury did lose the Title of Earl of Waterford and Viscount Dungarvan by this Statute Nevertheless he had a very good Recompence in England for his Losses in Ireland And it is not unworthy our Remembrance How this Statute came to be made and the Occasion was thus The King being inclined to make Mr. Ailmer who was then Lord Chief justice of the Common Pleas Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench the Earl of Shrewsbury at the instance of some of his Tenants in Waterford or Wexford opposed his Preferment alledging That Ailmer was a silly fellow and unfit for such a Place whereupon the King repremanded the Lord Cromwel for recommending such a Coxcomb to him the Lord Cromwel begs the King to discourse with Ailmer assuring his Majesty That he was misinformed The King consented and Ailmer being come the King asked the true reason of the Decay of Ireland Ailmer Answered That it was because the Estated Men who used to Reside and Defend their own Estates and countenance their Tenants did now generally dwell in England and left Ireland a Prey to the Natives But that if his Majesty would oblige the Estated Men to Residence or seize their Estates to his own use he would soon find a Reformation The King tickled with this Advice gave Ailmer Thanks and assured him Care should be taken of it next Parliament IV. A Suspension or Repeal of Poyning's Act pro hac Vice V. That the King his Heirs and Successors be Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of Ireland and shall have Power to reform redress c. Heresies Errors and Offences c. And that his Commissioners shall take no Proxies for their Visitations but convenient Meat Drink and Lodging on pain of four times the value VI. That there shall be no Appeals to Rome on Pain of Premunire and that the Chancellor with the Consent of the two Chief Justices the Master of the Rolls and the Vice-Treasurer or any two of them may assign Delegates to Hear and Determine all Appeals to the Chief Governour VII An Act against slandering the King or Queen or their Title c. And that those guilty of High Treason shall not have the Benefit of Sanctuary and that Treasons committed beyond Seas may be tried in Ireland and that all Estates of Inheritance ergo Estates Tail shall be forfeited for High-Treason VIII That the Clergy shall pay Annates or First-Fruits i.e. a Years Profit and shall pay or compound before Possession The Chancellor Master of the Rolls and Vice-Treasurer or any two of them whereof the Vice-Treasurer to be one or any others commissioned by the King may compound and give Instalments That the Bonds for First-Fruits shall have the Effect of Bonds of the Staple and eight Pence to be paid for a Bond and four Pence for an Acquittance and no more IX An Act to vest in the King Sir Walter Delahide's Lands in Carbry in the County of Kildare X. That if the Robber or Felon be found Guilty upon an Indictment by means or Prosecution of the Party robbed that then he shall have Restitution as if it had been done upon an Appeal XI An Act to suppress all Tributes Pensions and Irish Exactions claimed by the Irish from Towns or Persons for Protection XII An Act against the Pope to suppress his Usurpations and that it shall be Premunire to defend or assert his usurped Authority or Jurisdiction and that all Persons Ecclesiastical or Lay That have Office or Benefice c. shall take the Oath of Supremacy mentioned in the Act and the Refusal of that Oath shall be Treason It seems there was much Difficulty to get this Act and the former Act for the King's Supremacy to pass both Houses many of the Clergy opposing them stifly until the Archbishop Brown made the following Speech which being well sconded by Justice Brabazon so startled the rest that at length both Bills passed The Archbishop's Speech was thus My Lords and Gentry of his Majesty's Kingdom of Ireland BEhold your Obedience to your King is the observing of your Lord and Saviour Christ Bish Brown's Life 7. for He that High-Priest of our
Souls paid Tribute to Caesar though no Christian greater Honour then surely is due to your Prince His Highness the King and a Christian one Rome and her Bishops in the Fathers Days acknowledged Emperors Kings and Princes to be Supreme over their Dominions nay Christs own Vicars and it is much to the Bishop of Rome's shame to deny what their precedent Bishops owned Therefore his Highness claims but what he can justifie the Bishop Elutherius gave to S. Lucius the first Christian King of the Britains so that I shall without scrupling vote his Highness King Henry my Supreme over Ecclesiastical Matters as well as Temporal and Head thereof even of both Isles England and Ireland and that without Guilt of Conscience or Sin to God and he who will not pass this Act as I do is no true Subject to his Highness XIII That the King and his Heirs and Successors for ever shall have the twentieth part of the yearly Profits Revenues Rents Farms Titles Offerings and Emoluments Spiritual and Temporal belonging to any Archbishoprick Bishoprick Abbacy Monastery Priory Arch-Deaconry Deanry Hospital Comandry College House Collegiate Prebend Cathedral-Church Collegiate Church Conventual Church Parsonage Vicarage Chantry or Free Chappel or other Promotion Spiritual whatsoever And the King was so well pleased with this Act Lib. H. that he sent a particular Letter of Thanks to the Lords Spiritual for granting him the twentieth part of their Livings yearly for ever XIV That no Subject shall be shaved above his Ears or wear Glibbs or Crom-meals i.e. Hair on the upper Lip or Linnen died in Saffron or above seven yards of Linnen in their Shifts and that no Woman wear any Kirtle or Coat tucked up or embroydered or garnished with Silk or couched ne laid with Usker after the Irish Fashion and that no Person wear Mantles Coats or Hoods after the Irish Fashion except Women Horse-boys Cow-boys and Soldiers at the rising out and Hostings all which may wear Mantles And that every body shall endeavour to learn the English Language and conform to the English Fashion c. XV. And that Benefices shall not be given to any that cannot speak English unless after four Proclamations in the next Market-Town to the Benefice on four several Market-Days a Person that can speak English cannot be got and that then an honest able Irishman may be admitted on his Oath that he shall do his utmost endeavour to learn the English Language and observe the English Order and Fashion and teach those under him to do the like and shall keep an English School in his Parish to that purpose c. XVI An Act for the Suppression of Abbies XVII An Act against transporting of Wool and Flocks XVIII An Act about the Proof of Testaments XIX The Act of Faculties prohibiting the Subjects from paying any Pensions Cences Portions Peter-pence or any other Impositions to the use of the Pope and extinguishing and suppressing them for ever and authorizing Commissioners appointed by the King to grant Faculties and Dispensations as the Archbishop of Canterbury may do in England by vertue of the Act of Faculties there which is made of Force in Ireland XX. That Poyning's Act be suspended pro hac vice XXI An Act for Limitation of Actions on Penal Statutes viz. That Actions in the King's Name be commenced within three years after the Offence and Actions Popular within one year XXII An Act for prostrating the Wares on the River Barrow c. XXIII An Act for uniting and annexing the Parsonages and Vicarages of Dungarvan c. to the Crown XXIV That no body presume to leaze Corn whilst there be any Stacks or Reeks of Corn in the Field And that every man that cannot keep his Child at School do at ten years of Age put him to Handicraft or Husbandry XXV That the Leases made or to be made by the King's Commissioners viz. Saintleger Pawlet c. shall be good and valid any defect of Inquisition or Office c. notwithstanding Lastly An Act for the first Fruits of the great Abbies and Monasteries c. which were not vested in the King by the above Act ch 16. But this Statute is become useless by a subsequent Act that gives all the Abbies c. to the King And these are all the Acts of this Parliament to be found in the printed Statute-Book which I do not pretend to have critically or exactly abridged because I think it necessary for every man that will be nicely instructed in any Statute-Law to read the Statute at large and not to trust to an Abridgment but I have endeavoured to give such an Historical Account of these Acts as may illustrate this Collection and give the Reader some Light into the Affairs of those times Nor must it be forgotten that many of these Statutes are made in the later Sessions of this Parliament Anno 1537. And besides these Printed Acts there was another Law made at this Parliament against Fosterings and Marriage with the Irish and it was thereby made Treason to marry with the Child of any Man who had not swore allegiance and entred into Recognizance to observe it but this severe Law was repeal'd 11 Jac. 1. cap. 5. But whilst the Nobility and Gentry were at the Parliament O Connor made use of the opportunity as he used to do and invaded the Pale his Fury lighted most on the Barony of Carbry in the County of Kildare which he preyed and burnt and to revenge it the Lord Trimletstown and the Vice-Treasurer Brabazon with such men as they could on the sudden get together made an Incursion into Offaly and in like manner wasted and destroyed that Country which obliged O Connor to return home as fast as he could Sir William Brereton was likewise sent to the Confines of Vlster to parly with O Neal who complained That the League made between the Lord Deputy Skeffington and him was not duly observed on the English side so after some Expostulations upon that Point the same Agreement was renewed and confirmed And about the same time the King to reward the City of Waterford for its Loyalty and firm adhesion to the Crown sent to that City a gilt Sword and a Cap of Maintainance But John Earl of Desmond being dead the new Earl James who was a very active or rather a turbulent man began new Disturbances in Munster but he was timely opposed by the Lord Butler who wasted his Lands in the County of Limerick and repair'd and Garrison'd the Castle of Loghguir and it seems that the Lord Deputy came to Kilkenny the twenty fourth of July and having adjourned the Parliament Lib. D. as aforesaid he came to Loghguir the last of July and the next day he went to Carrigonel and took it the second of August and they say for some private Advantage redelivered it to the former Owner on the sixth of August they marched to Bryans-bridge and took the Castles and broke the Bridge but by the improvidence of
Election and had a Freehold of forty Shillings per annum the Town of Drogheda excepted was repealed and in lieu of it this Parliament enacts I. That Electors in Counties must have Freehold worth forty Shilling per annum ultra reprizas on pain of one hundred Shillings and that the elected in Counties Cities or Towns must be resident and the Sheriff shall forfeit one hundred Pound if he makes a Return contrary to this Act and the Party one hundred Pound more II. That on the Death Absence or Resignation of the chief Governour the Chancellor shall issue Writs to all the Privy-Counsellors in the Counties of Dublin Meath Louth Kildare Kilkenny Typerary Wexford Waterford Cork Kerry and Limerick and they being assembled shall chuse a Lay-man of English Birth to be chief Governour during the King's Pleasure and if no such Man fit for the Place can be got then the Council shall chuse two Lay Persons of English Blood and sirname to be Lords Justices to whom the Lord Chancellor shall administer the Oath and give Patents Note this Statute recites That the former Act already mentioned 10 Hen. 7. That in these Cases the Lord Treasurer should be chief Governour was repealed 13 Hen. 7. although the Roll be lost but whether it be so or not is not worth the Enquiry III. An Act touching mispleading and Jeofailes IV. That although all Estates are forfeitable for Treason yet because several of the Nobility lately created and others whom the King designs to enoble are very ignorant in the Knowledg of the Duty of a Subject they are the Words of the Act to the end they may not pretend Ignorance it is enacted That if any Person confederate with the King's Rebels against his Majesty or attempt any wilful War or Invasion against his Subjects or do transgress their Allegiance in any treasonable manner or do break their voluntary Pacts or Covenants made at the time of the King's Grant that then being convict thereof they shall forfeit all the Benefit and Effect of the King's Patents and for the time to come there shall be a conditional Clause inserted into every Patent to that effect V. An Act for the suppression of Kilmainham and other Religious Houses And in a 3d Session of this Parliament held at Dublin on Monday next after the Feast of All saints anno Dom. 1542 and 34 Hen. 8. it was enacted First That Meath be divided into two Shires viz. Meath and West Meath Secondly That Persons bound by Recognisance to appear in any Court shall be excused if they are in the King's Service and if their Recognisance be estreated they shall be discharged by Writ giving a new Bond for their Appearance at another Day And at another Session of this Parliament at Dublin the seventeenth Day of April 1543 it was enacted That the Castle and Mannor of Dungarvan should be united to the Crown And although all these Acts were Seasonable and very Good for that time yet there was not any one of them was of more Advantage to the Crown or that pleased the King better than that of making him King of Ireland for though it is manifest as the Act mentions that the Kings of England did always enjoy Regal Authority and Jurisdiction in Ireland under the Stile and Name of Lords yet the Irish did not pay that Reverence to the Name of Lord as they did to the Name of King or at least those that were traiterously disposed did make use of the distinction between Lord King Ware 161. to deceive and inveigle the Common People as hath been already related And therefore it being believed That this Statute would suppress and silence all those trifling Objections and Pretences there was exceeding Joy at the Publication of it in Dublin which was performed with great Solemnity at S. Patrick's Church in the presence of the Lord Deputy the Earls of Ormond and Desmond and others of the Nobility in their Parliament Robes and several of the Bishops and Clergy and the same Day a General Pardon was given to all Criminals and after much Feasting and Drinking and other Expressions of Joy the Ceremony was concluded with Bonfires And because some of these Laws were not practicable in Munster which was not so much inured to Civility as the Pale and those Countries near Dublin and where the use of the Laws of England except in some Cities and Towns where it was also much corrupted had been discontinued for almost two hundred Years The Lord Deputy and Counsel in magno Parliamento did publish certain temporary Constitutions Pro reformatione inhabitantium hujus Regni in partibus Momoniae qui nondum sic sapiunt Leges Jura ut secundum ea jam immediate vivere aut Regi possunt and they were notified to the Subject by way of Proclamation the twelfth of July 1542 and were as followeth 1. That King Henry be received and called King of Ireland 2. That Bishops may exercise their Jurisdiction in their Diocess according to the Law of God and the Canons 3. That Laymen nor Boys be not admitted to Ecclesiastical Preferments and that such as be in already shall be immediately deprived 4. That the Demesnes of Bishops and the Gleabs of Rectors and Vicars not exceeding ten Marks per annum be exempt and priviledged from Taxes 5. That all those who have Dignities or Benefices Ecclesiastical shall take Orders and Reside 6. That a General Peace be proclaimed throughout Munster and afterwards he that commits Murder or Robbery shall be fined forty Pound half to the King and half to the Lord of the Fee 7. That Larceny above the value of fourteen Pence shall be punished with the loss of one Ear the first time and tother Ear the second time and the third time with Death 8. No Horseman shall keep more Garsons or Boys than Horses on pain of twenty Shillings 9. That every Father shall answer for his Children Master for his Servants Gentleman for his Followers and Brother for his Brethren under his Tuition and shall give in a List of them 10. That every Kerne that has not a Master that will answer for him be taken as a Vagabond 11. That there be no more Exactions to maintain Horse or Foot or Kernes or to war against one another and that no more Coyne or Livery be taken but by the Deputies Order at a General Hosting 12. That nevertheless the Captain of the County must have the usual Contribution of the Country for the Publick and his own private Defence 13. That Petty Larceny be punished by a Fine of three Pound six Shilling and eight Pence whereof forty Shillings shall be paid to the Captain or Lord of the County and twenty Shillings to the Tanist si non est particeps criminis and six Shillings and eight Pence to the Informer 14. That no Man buy Goods above the Value of five Shillings from any suspected Person at his Peril if they prove to be stolen 15. Depopulatores
proved disadvantagious to the State and that lenity to the Irish Rebels has produced no other Effects than that it has encouraged them to relapse and others to follow their Example And of this Shane O Neal affords us one Instance for notwithstanding this Submission it was not long before he rebelled again and Rory O Connor and Donough O Connor followed the same Copy for though they submitted at Dingen and put in Hostages for their Loyalty yet they rebelled once more and therefore were on the twenty fifth Day of February proclaimed Traytors and at length were slain and their Country wasted 1557. In like manner William Odare O Carol was made Governour of Ely O Carol under certain Conditions one of which was To send a certain number of Soldiers to every Hosting but this Condescention and Kindness could not oblige him but that the ungrateful Traytor rebelled next Year and was routed and Thady O Carol was put in his Place And so we are come to the Parliament which began the nineteenth day of June and on the second day of July was adjourned to the tenth day of November to Limerick and then was adjourned to the first day of March to Drogheda but the Lord Deputy who by the Death of his Father was Earl of Sussex went to England on the fourth day of December and not returning before the first day of March the Parliament by his Absence became dissolved It seems that besides the Statutes that are in Print this Parliament enacted 1. That the Queen was Legitimate 2. That the Royal Power was vested in her 3. That her Issue should inherit the Crown and Kingdoms of England and Ireland 4. That Heresies should be punished and three Statutes to that effect were revived 5. That all Acts against the Pope made since 20 Hen. 8. be repealed 6. That the Grants made by Archbishop Brown be void and cap. 12. that First-Fruits be released But afterwards by the Act of the second of Elizabeth cap. 1. the Act of Repeal was repealed and the revived Statutes against Heresie were suppressed the Jurisdiction of the Pope was abolished and cap. 3. the First-Fruits and twentieth Part were restored to the Crown There was also an Act to give the Queen a Subsidy of thirteen Shillings and four Pence out of every Plow-land for ten Years And another to make it Treason to introduce or receive armed Scots into Ireland or to marry with a Scot without Licence under the great Seal The printed Acts of this Parliament are I. For the Disposition of Leix and Offaly II. For making the King's County and Queens County Shire-Ground and entituling their Majesties thereunto III. For making other Counties into Shire-Ground IV. To explain Poynings Act that new Bills whilst the Irish Parliament sits may be transmitted into England for Approbation as well as if they had been sent before the Parliament met V. That Labourers or Cottiers shall not buy Horses more than is absolutely necessary VI. That the Owners of stolen Goods using their best Endeavours to prosecute the Felon shall be reprized out of the Felons Goods if they cannot get their own again VII That no Body shall make Aquavitae without Licence under the great Seal except Noblemen Gentlemen and Freemen of Towns that send Members to Parliament And it is to be noted That this Act which was designed to spare Corn and prevent a Dearth was necessary at that time Yet now the Kingdom is better improved and consequently abounds in Corn this Act though not repealed is become obsolete and a quite contrary Act viz. To encourage the Making and Exportation of Aquavitae would tend very much to the Advantage of Ireland In July the Lord Deputy made an Expedition against the O Maddens whose Country called Silanchia now the Barony of Longford in the County of Galway was last Year on the Murder of John O Madden divided between Malachy Modhar and the Murderer Brasil Duff the Deputy sent a Summons to the Castle of Melik but the valiant Warders not only boasted how stoutly they would defend it but also believing that every Summons was an Affront and as it were a Suspicion of their Courage they assured the Herald That it should not be safe for him to come with any more such Messages to them It is hardly credible That after all this Ostentation these Men of War should desert the Castle the very next Night however they certainly did so and the Lord Deputy placed a Garrison in it and returned On the tenth of August the Lord Deputy advanced into Vlster Ware 220. being accompanied by the Lords of Kildare Ormond Baltinglass Delvin Dnnboyne and Dunsany his Design was against the Scots but they sheltered themselves in the Woods and Bogs so that he did them no other Mischief than that he took some Preys however some of them were thereby perswaded to submit and Daniel Mac Conel and Richard Mac Guilliam received the Honour of Knighthood On the twenty second Day of October the Lord Deputy made another Journey into Vlster And on the twenty fourth day he came to Dundalk and on the twenty fifth he took a Prey and came to Armagh the Rebels still flying before him on the twenty seventh he burnt Armagh except the Church and marched to Newry and so on the thirtieth day of the same Month returned to Dublin And being ordered to attend the Queen in England he first obliged O Carol O Molloy Macgehogan O Doyne Mac Coughlan the two O Maddens and Fylemy Duff to gives Hostages of their Good Behaviour And then on the fourth of December he set sail for England leaving Hugh Curvin 1557. Lord Chancellor and Sir Henry Sydny Treasurer at Wars Lords Justices by Patent dated at Westminster the twelfth of November after they were censed and sprinkled with Holy Water and Mass was celebrated they were sworn at Christ-Church on Sunday the fifth of December and received the Sword from Sir John Stanly the Marshal with whom it was left to that Purpose and they continued in their Office until Sir Henry Sydny Ware 222. Lord Justice was sworn on the sixth of February by the Queen's Command and by virtue of a Commission bearing date the eighteenth day of January he attacked Arthur O Molloy Chief of Fercalia who was brewing new Treasons and favoured and cherished those that were in Rebellion But the Lord Deputy did soon over-run his Country and made Theobald O Molloy Governour thereof and took his Son for a Hostage of the Father's Fidelity and then by Cess in the Pale the Deputy furnished the Forts of Maryburgh and Philipsburgh with Victuals and returned to Dublin where he made Proclamation That no Corn should be carried out of the Pale In the mean time Shane O Neal invaded Tyrconnel designing to reduce it to the former Tribute and Dependance it paid to his House Calvagh O Donel being too weak to resist by Force betook himself to his Politicks and made an Essay by Night on the
to repeal Poyning's Act shall be certified into England until first it be agreed upon by a majority of the Parliament of Ireland IX That the rest of the Kingdom be divided into Shires X. That no Wool Flocks Flax Yarn Sheep-Skins Goat-Skins Calve-Skins or Deer-Skins unwrought nor Beef Tallow Wax or Butter shall be transported until it pay the Custom in the Act mentioned and the petty Duties to Coporations in the Act likewise mentioned on the Penalties therein contained provided Prosecution be made within nine Months after the Offence committed XI An Act for the Impost on Wines XII That the Earl of Kildare's Brother and Sisters be restored in Blood The Parliament was Adjourned to the twelfth of May and then they met and Enacted 1. That Schools be erected in the Shire-Town of every Diocess at the Costs of the whole Diocess by the direction of the Bishop and the Sheriff and the chief Governor shall nominate an English School-master and appoint his Salary whereof the Bishop shall pay one Third and the Clergy the other two Parts the Bishops of Armagh Dublin Meath and Kildare and their Successors shall name English School-Masters for their respective Diocesses 2. That all Exemplifications under the Great Seal and the Seals of the King's Bench Common Pleas and Exchequer subscribed by the Lord Chancellor both Chief Justices and Chief Baron shall be as effectual in all Courts as the Original Record but it must contain a Clause that all those Seals are to it 3. An Act about the Standard of Measures for Corn. 4. An Act impowering the chief Governour and Council to grant Patents to such of the Irish as the Queen shall direct And then the Parliament was Adjourn'd to the fifth of December 13 Eliz. At which Session the Earls of Thomond and Glencar who had reconciled themselves to the State were present and the Parliament made five Acts of no great importance recited in the Statute-Book from pag. 267. to pag. 279. But whilst the Lord Deputy and the Parliament were endeavouring the Prosperity and Peace of Ireland by enacting good and wholsom Laws others were as busie to countermine them and to put all into Disorder and Confusion for some of the looser sort of the Irish Lords were distasted to that degree at the loss of their Captainries and Irish Extortions as also at the Impost on Wine that they resolved by force to rescind those Laws or at least prevent the execution of them and so making Religion their Pretence they confederated together James Fitz-Morris was the Bell-weather of this Flock and the Ringleader of all this Mischief he added to the general Grievances the particular Injuries done to his own Family by the imprisonment of the Earl of Desmond and his Brother Sir John and he inveigled the Earl of Glencar by telling him That the Queen was to be married to the Earl of Leicester and that thereupon the Lord Deputy who married that Earl's Sister was to be King of Ireland and when the Earl of Glencar was once engaged Mac Donogh and many more of the Cartyes came in of course and Fitz Girald commonly called Seneschal of Imokilly was as forward in this Rebellion as any of them and although Sir Edmond Butler who was Seneschal to his brother the Earl of Ormond and consequently hated all the Family of Desmond and had formerly pretended to serve against James Fitz-Morris Yet partly because he did not dare to appear before Commissioners sent by the Lord Deputy to Kilkenny to examine and redress the grievous Complaints made against him and partly for Zeal to the Catholick Cause and Fondness of the Irish Usurpations he sacrificed his private Resentments to the publick Concern and joyned with the rest of the Rebels The Confederates being resolved to make something of this Rebellion if it were possible sent the Titular Bishops of Cashel and Emly Hooker 130. and the youngest Brother of the Earl of Desmond as their Ambassadors to the Pope and the King of Spain to implore Aid and Assistance to rescue their Religion and Country from the Tyranny and Oppression of Queen Elizabeth But the Lord Deputy was not idle but assoon as he had notice of this Confederacy he proclaimed them Traytors and ordered Sir Peter Carew Governor of Leighlin to begin the War which he did and being accompanied by the Captains Malby Gilbert Basnet and others he took Sir Edmund's Castle of Cloghgriman and gave the Spoil to the Soldiers and thence he marched to Kilkenny and upon intelligence that three thousand Men were within three Miles of that City Sir Peter Carew sent Henry Davels to discover them and being satisfied by him that they were not above two thousand he resolved to attack them Captain Gilbert and Davels and twelve more began the Charge which was well seconded by Carew Malby and Basnet and the Success was accordingly four hundred Gallowglasses being slain without the loss of any English Man Captain Malby's Servant only excepted Not long after James Fitz-Morris besieged Kilkenny but both Garrison and Citizens behaved themselves so well that Fitz-Morris was fain to execute his Malice on the Country-Villages and smaller Towns and those he did not spare particularly he robbed old Falco Quiverford of Galan who had been Servant to three Earls of Ormond of two thousand Pounds in Money Plate and Houshold-stuff besides Corn and Cattel Another Party went to the County of Wexford and at a Fair at Iniscorthy committed most vile Outrages ravishing Women and killing or imprisoning every body they met with nor did the Queens County and Ossory fare any better The Lord Power 's Estate and the whole County of Waterford were in the same condition and even the very County of Dublin had its share of Desolation But the Confederates finding no Effects of their former Ambassy sent new Messengers to the Pope and King of Spain and also sollicited Turlogh Lynogh to procure the Aid of the Scots and were so diligent that nothing was left undone that might tend to subvert the Government and clear the Country of all English Men and English Laws The Earl of Ormond then in England troubled at the Disloyalty of his Brethren offered his Service against them and undertook to reclaim them by Perswasion or Force and to that end he arrived at Wexford the fourteenth Day of August being the very Day of the aforesaid Fair at Iniscorthy I should have mentioned That Sir Warham Saint Leger was anno 1566 made President of Munster and now the Lord Deputy having notice that Sir Warham's Lady was in her Husband's absence much distressed at Cork and daily threatned by the Irish he resolved to march that way to relieve her and with six hundred Men only he set out from Kilkenny and came to Clonmel and thence he sent to Waterford for a few Citizens for three days to assist him in his Passage over the Mountains but that City obstinately insisted upon its Privileges and refused to send any Men however Mr. Wise
used all his Tricks to prevent it but finding all other Devices fruitless in shew of kindness he invited the President to his House in Traly the President accepted the Invitation and with an Hundred and forty Persons went into Kerry keeping Sessions as he went Desmond had seven Hundred or eight Hundred Men ready to surprize and Murther him but when the President understood what condition he was 〈◊〉 he encouraged his People all he could and making a Vertue of Necessity resolved rather to give than receive the Charge which he did so bravely that the Rebels were amazed and fled The Countess of Desmond was much troubled at her Husbands Folly and prayed the President to believe that the Earl had assembled those Men only for a general Hunting to welcome his Lordship and desired him to be satisfied He temporized with the Earl at her Request but nevertheless kept Court and Sessions in Kerry whereupon Desmond having no other way with great Clamour impeach'd the President to the Deputy especially for taking of Cesse The Mac an Earla's Clanrickard's Sons were up again in Connaught â— and had gotten two thousand Scots to their Assistance they besieged Ballyriagh or Logreagh one of the Earl of Clanrickard's Castles but Thomas Lestrange and Captain Collier who lay in Garrison there with fifty Horse and an hundred Foot defended the Place so valiantly that they forced the Rebels to raise the Siege with the Slaughter of six Captains and an hundred and fifty of their Souldiers whereat the Rebels were so neâ—led that they immediately fell upon Mac William Oughter and wasted his Country but upon the Approach of the Lord Deputy the Rebels dispersed and thereupon the Deputy divided his Forces and by the help and intelligence of Mac William Oughter he met with and defeated several small Parties of the Irish and killed many and executed some and so having restored Mac William to most of his Castles and being informed that the Scots were retreated to the Routs and the Glinns he Knighted Sir Nicholas Malby and according to the Queens Orders left him Governor of Connaught and then returned to Dublin on the thirteenth of October In the mean time Walter Earl of Essex who had made a second Expedition into Vlster and proceeded successfully there by the means of his Enemies received many Affronts from Court and at length was forced to resign his Command in Vlster with the grief whereof or as others say with a Dissentery he died at Dublin on the twenty second day of September 1576. Sir John of Desmond had repudiated his own Wife to marry the Sister of Mac an Earlas though she was the rejected the Wife of O Rourk and by this means he held Correspondence with his Brothers-in-Law and assured them Aid out of 〈◊〉 if they would hold out but a little longer But this Treason being discovered Sir John was imprisoned and the Earl of Desmond was suspected but â—e was so narrowly watched and so briskly managed that he durst not stir but in his criminal Followers to be tried by â—aw which formerly he had refused to do But it was not the Earl of Desmond alone that was malecontent the Lords of the Pale also began to repiâ—â— and publickly complain'd of the Cess and the father because the Priviledges and Exemptions that some of them claimed were now suppressed by Proclamation whereupon they Petition'd the Lord Deputy and had a Day appointed to make out their Grievances at which time they alledged That they had Liberties and Priviledges which were invaded by the Cess Hooker 145. that the Cess was arbitrary and unreasonable that it exceeded ten or twelve Pounds a Plow-Land and that no Tax could be put on them but by Act of Parliament At another Day the Chancellor answered That the Liberties they pretended to were some void some expired and the rest not to be found on Record that the Cess should be ascertained to five Mark per Plow-Land if they pleased That it was the Queens Prerogative to impose it and that it had been Levied ever since the time of Edward the Third and that Necessity and Self-Preservation required it But the Defendants not contented Cambd. Eliz. 219. with that Answer appeal'd to the Queen and sent over three-Lawyers to negotiate for them viz. 〈…〉 and 〈◊〉 and sent Letters by them to the Queen and Council Dared the Tenth of September Subscribed by the Lords 〈◊〉 Delvin Houth Trimleston c. in the Name of the English Pale The Queen referr'd them to the Council who examined the Lords Kildare Ormond Gormanstown and Dunsany then in England and they all agreed That Cess was constantly imposed time out of mind but prayed there might be Moderation in Levying it Whereupon she finding that the Design of the Petitioners was to oppose her Prerogative sent the Agents to the Prison of the Fleet and ordered the Deputy to do the like with the Petitioners if they persisted in their Sedition but nevertheless the Cess should be moderated and all irregularities in the Levying it punished but the Petitioners were arrogant and stubborn and were therefore committed to the Castle of Dublin and their Agents were imprisoned in the Tower of London but afterwards they submitted and were Pardoned and the Cess was reduced to five Marks per Plowland However the Irish according to their custom of scandaliâ—ing and aspersing every thing that opposes them did 〈◊〉 the Deputy with Calumnies and Impeachments not at all regarding how true or false the Articles were or else this could never be one of them Hooker 147. That the Lord Deputy wanted 〈◊〉 in his Government because it is manifest that he was one of the wisest and most prudent Viceroys that ever governed that Kingdom But whilst these Controversies about the Cess were under Debate and James Fitz Morris who had been at Rome and in Spain was daily expected home 〈…〉 and O Connor with an Hundred and forty 〈…〉 Country and taking the advantage of the 〈…〉 Inhabitants of the 〈◊〉 who celebrated their 〈…〉 with the same Riot and Excess as the Pagans did their 〈◊〉 and so were dead Drunk they surprised that Town and burnt it Rory Oge himself 〈◊〉 like Nero at the Market-Cross rejoicing at these 〈…〉 thence he marched towards Leighlâ—n burning and destroying the Country in his March and particularly the Village at Leighlâ—n Bridge But George Carew who lay there in Garrison being ashamed to be so served issued our with seven Horse and five Shot and valiantly attacked the Tories who by this time were two Hundred and Forty they were surprized and fled but at length perceiving though in the Night the small number of the 〈◊〉 they rallied and pursued the English to the 〈◊〉 and some of them got within the Gaâ—e but were beaten out again in this 〈…〉 Captain 〈◊〉 and sixteen Tories were slain and the English lost two Men and one Horse and all the rest were wounded Rory Oge continued his Depredations and burnt many
that is What credit the Irish Roman Catholick Historians deserve in these matters and certainly it is so very little that I hope the greatest fault that will be found with this Collection will be that I have honoured Mr. Sullevan and others of them with too large a Confutation for besides the direct Testimony of Peter Walsh that these Popish Authors do a P. W. Remonstrance 583. mingle Truth and Lyes indifferently whoever will take the Pains to read their Books will find that they understand one anothers failings so well that when they fall out they do little else but give one another the b Fryar Paul King published innumera mendacia Beling in pref mendacia horrenda ibidem indigesta mendaciorum moles Beling 1. Belingus mentitur quidem splendide says Father Ponce vindiciae Eversae 175. vel mentitus es vel mendacium protulisti ibid. 12. Similiter ibid. pag. 4. 17. 28 c. Lye in a word I have not found one of them tolerable or of any credit except Peter Walsh and Mr. Beling And do think that all the rest of them that I have seen do deserve that Character which Mr. Beling has given to Fryar Paul King Tanquam capis in cudendis Mendacâ—â—s voluptatem ut ab eis etiam ubi rem tuam nihil promovent abstinere teâ—nequeas Beling 69. viz. That they take so much delight in Lying that they cannot abstain from it even where it does them no Serviâ—e This being Premised the first Question will be whether the Irish or English began the Rebellion for beside that the Irish have published b Burlace Epist 120. abroad both by word and writing That the English were the Aggressors R. S. in his Collection of Murders pag. 1. affirms that the Murder of Three thousand Irish in the Isle of Magee was the first Massacre in Ireland on either side But certainly it is more difficult to believe that any one could be so shameless to make this Objection then it is to give it a full and undeniable Answer for the Slaughter at Magee did not happen until the latter end of November and in revenge of the many Murders committed by the Irish on the Scots whom they spared for the first Ten days whilst in the mean time they murdered the English and it is notorious to all the World that the Irish Rebellion broke out the 23d day of October and that there were many Murders committed even that very day and every day after for a long time all which is testified by a Cloud of Witnesses and that the Rebellion was contrived c Review 10. Vindicae eversae 2. plotted and begun by the Irish will appear from the Testimony of the Lord Macguire Macmahon Tirlogh Oge O Neal and Sir John Read in their respective Examinations and by the Confession of the Earl of Castlehaven Peter Walsh the Bishop of Fernes and Father Ponce which two last do endeavour to justifie it as a Holy and Just War And that leads me to the Second Question Sanctum justissimumque decenii bâ—llum vindiciae eversae 1. viz. Whether it were a Rebellion or not for there are some that call it a Holy and Just War others dwindle it to a Commotion and P. W. is reprimanded for calling it a Rebellion As if says the Bishop of Fernes Belli nostri honestas justitia summa est ibid. 35. Our taking up Arms for the necessary Defence of Lives and Religion against the Protestants our Fellow Subjects could be a Rebellion and in their National Synod or Convocation at Dublin Bleeding Iphigenia Anno 1666. the Popish Clergy tho' prest to it refused to beg his Majesties Pardon for that War P. W. Remonstrance 666. for they knew not of any Crime they had committed therein To which I Answer P. W. Letters pag. 33. I must Confess says he I had not that Brazen brow of Impudence to deny either the notoriousness of the Fact or the clearness of the Law in their Case That the Irish Procurator P. W. has not only confessed this horrid Rebellion and proved it to be so but has assured us that all their publick Agents and Commissioners Sir Robert Talbot Colonel Moor the Earl of Clancarty the Lord Birmingham Sir Nicholas Plunket c. and many Thousands of the Irish Nobility Gentry and Lay Proprietors both at Dublin and London in their Petitions Answers Certificates Claims and other Papers acknowledge this fatal Stain under the very Term and Name of Rebellion I should not mention the Act of Adventurers 17 Car. 1. in England which adjudged this War not only to be a Rebellion but also so general a One that they thought several Millions of Acres of Land would be as they were forfeited thereby nor the Act of Settlement in Ireland which stiles it An unnatural Insurrection and Rebellion but that the former shews the Judgment of the King and Parliament of England in the Point and this latter Act was exposed to the censure of the Irish Papists and every word was expung'd which they could contradict But if the Murder of the Kings Subjects in a Hostile manner the declaring against his Religion the Ejection of his Clergy the seizing of his Forts and Castles the besieging of his Towns the fighting of Battles with his Armies the Usurpation of all his Prerogatives the seizing of his Revenues and the Presumption to Act as a Separate State be not a Rebellion it is very difficult to define what is But they Reply The Third Question That if it be a Rebellion and not simply justifiable yet it ought to be excused because the Motives to it and the Causes of it were so pressing as that they were not to be resisted by sensible Men for they were afraid the Monarchy was to be supprest and consequently they Being the a Catholicos ceteris omnibus fideliores Stirpitus devellendos vindiciae Catholicorum 4. Loyalest Subjects to be extirpated by the Puritans and they say they intercepted Letters importing that they must abjure their Religion or be sent to Ameria and they suffered a Thousand Grievances upon Account of b In odium tam Nationis quam Religionis ibidem Nation and Religion and therefore the Congregation of the Clergy in May 1643. declared their Insurrection just To this I Answer That they thought and will ever think the English Government a Yoke of Slavery and they had no other cause to Rebel but to shake that off and so Mr. Bealing one of the greatest and wisest of them ingeniously Confesses Vindiciae Catholicorum 2. Grave jugum sub quo à centum quod excurrit annis tota Natio ingemiscit excutere Statuunt They that speak plain Truth in their Books Printed beyond Sea acknowledge that it was for the Liberty of their Religion Bellum fuit pro Religione susceptum says the Bishop of Fernes in his Epistle to the Archbishop of Paris p. 37. Pro defensione Restitutione Religionis
Congregation at James-town Excommunicated the Lord Lieutenant and Declared against his Authority and they and the Assembly at Loghreah forced him out of the Kingdom Galway treated with the Duke of Lorrain and received his Ambassadour and that Town and Limerick and several Lords and Gentlemen did joyn in a Commission to treat with foreign Princes as appears Appendix 47. All the Kingdom did at length submit to the Kings Enemies and most of the Confederates took the Engagement to that Government which certainly dissolv'd the Articles of Peace and all Covenants with his Majesty with which that Engagement was inconsistent I should not insist upon it that the Peace was null and void from the beginning and impossible to be performed because the King could not repeal Acts of Parliament much less give away those Estates which were sold to the Adventurers for valuable Consideration by Act of Parliament but that the Confederates had by a previous Engagemen there recited p. 205. which P. W. stifly denies and my Lord of Oâ—â—ery probably had not seen pre-ingaged themselves to return to their first Confederacy if the Articles of the Peace were not fully performed to them Lastly Those Articles were not to be binding unless they should be confirmed by the next Parliament and since they missed of that Ratification they are totally vanished and dissolved and have no manner of Obligation upon any Body Another Question may be made The Tenth Question Whether the Quarrels of the Confederates against the Marquiss of Ormond were founded upon a prejudice to his Person a hatred to his Religion or an aversion to his Authority To which I Answer That their Dissatisfaction with that Lord was not at all in respect of his Person or any Qualifications he had except that of a Protestant Vice-Roy but their hatred to him was partly upon the Account of his Religion but chiefly upon the Score of his Authority for altho' they load his Memory with innumerable false and scandalous Aspersions yet those of Heretick and Idolater of Majesty are not the lâ—ast spiteful nor as they thought the least infamous But after all they can forge or say They confess It would be the same thing if any other of the same Religion should have the Government out aliquis alius ejusdem professâ—onis invidiae in Catholicos says the Bishop of Fernes pag. 34. Noâ— in ullam aliam pacem cum Ormonio aut ullo alio Heretico prorege Nuncius conveniret says Father Ponce pag. â—79 and he fairly gives the Reason of it for a Heretick will never be fond of Popery says he Summe timendum est quemâ—unque adversae Religionis non satis prospecturum Catholicae And tho' the Vice-Roy were a Roman Catholicks yet as long as the Prince that Authorizes him is a Pretestant or King of England they will not be satisfied and the Reason of this is plain viz. That such a Vice-Roy must obey the Commands of his Heretick Master P. W. Letters pag 12. and must preserve Ireland in Subordination to England whereas their main drift was to make it Independent or to alienate it to a Foreigner yet this Assertion would hardly be believed but that we can back it with an instance in the Case of the Marquiss of Clanrickand whom they affronted and traduced as bad as they did the Marquiss of Ormond and Father ponce his Book is written to vilifie that Noble Lord who had no fault in him except his Religion nevertheless they treated him with that degree of Insolence as to threaten his Lieutenant General P. W. Remonstrance 585. to rent the Army from him if he did not dismiss his Confessor immediately they also gave up the Towns and particularly Galway without consulting him tho' he was at hand and they treated with foreign Princes contrary to his Express prohibition and others that he did Authorize had the Confidence to vary from his Instructions and to decline his Name and Authority And what better can you expect from a People which as P. W. observes are wholly given up to be instructed by Anti-remonstrant Priests P. W. Letter to the Earl of Essex pag. 19. known maintainers of the most Anti-Christian Maxims of Disloyalty even to the unsheathing of Swords and cutting of Throats And Lastly It may be demanded Whether all and every of the Irish be guilty of those Crimes and Qualities that in this History may seem attributed to them under the indefinite Appellation of Irish To which I Answer That they are not all Guilty but on the contrary there are undoubtedly very many Lords and Gentlemen of worth and virtue in that Kingdom who abhor and detest those Cruelties and Treacheries which the Generality of their Country men have exercised upon the English nor had I the least design to condemn the Innocent with the Guilty or to asperse any Man of Honour or Worth and therefore tho' I have good Warrant even from Scripture Phrase and Example to use the indefinite Expression when nevertheless many particulars are not comprehended in it yet to avoid all Ambiguity or Mistake in this matter I do here once for all advertise the Reader That where ever he finds the word Irish he understand it only of the Irish Rebels or of the Commonalty or Generality of that Nation as the Sense will best direct him THE REIGN OF JAMES I. KING OF England Scotland France AND IRELAND HITHERTO the Irish Historians have represented their Countrey-men Analecta Hiberniae Sparâ—im as if they were influenced by the most abstracted Considerations of Religion and Honour Ogigia in Preface pag. 4. and as if they were agitated by a generous desire of their Native and Original Liberty and excited by an unparallell'd Loyalty to their Ancient Monarchy to resist and endeavour to shake off the Violences and Usurpations of England whilest one Generation following another in Imitation of their Godly and Worthy Ancestors have gallantly endeavoured to deliver their enthralled Nation from Oppression as Pope Urban VIII words it in his Bull and therefore their Historians do boast of the multiplied Rebellions of the Irish as so many brave Efforts to rescue their Nation from the Bondage of those English Collectors of Peter-pence whom they would hardly vouchsafe to style their Kings But now that the Royal Family of the Stuarts hath ascended the Throne to whose Sacred Blood the Irish Nation hath contributed whose Pedigree is founded on the Famous Irish Milesian Princes Prospect Epist Dedic now that the Irish have got their own Countrey-man for their King a King whose Ancestors and first Predecessors were of their own Blood Propositions at Oxford 1642. a Prince not only of Irish Extraction but such a one as is of the Royal Line and even by the Irish Law ought to be King of that Island and was as they say the One hundred twenty first King of Ireland in a direct Line from Adam Ogigia in epist whereof Eleven were before the Flood
Parliament in Ireland till the Eleventh Year of this King's Reign Sullivan 211. and that Sullivan himself brings this very Neal Garuff on the English side again Anno 1608. But to proceed Sir ARTHUR CHICHESTER was sworn Lord Deputy on the Third of February 1604. and soon after establish'd a new Circuit for Judges of Assize for the Province of Connagh 1604. and retrived the Circuit of Munster Davis 265. which had been discontinued for Two hundred Years It must be observed That until this time the Papists generally did come to Church and were called Churchâ—Papists but now the Priests began to be seditious and did not only scandalize the Publick Administration of Affairs but also took upon them to review and decide some Causes that had been determin'd in the King's Courts and to oblige their Votaries on pain of Damnation to obey their Decision and not that of the Law they did also forbid the People to frequent the Protestant Churches and they publickly rebuilt Churches for themselves and erected or repaired Abbies and Monasteries in several Parts of the Kingdom and particularly at Multifernam in the County of Westmeath Killconell in the County of Gallway Rossariell in the County of Mayo Buttivant Kilkrea and Timoleague in the County of Cork Quin in the County of Clare Garinlogh in Desmond and in the Cities of Waterford and Kilkenny Sullivan 206. Intending says Mr. Sullivan to restore the Splendor of Religion And as many as pleased sent their Children to Foreign Seminaries without control And perhaps all this might have passed if they had not as foolishly as impudently publish'd every where and in all Companies That the King was of their Religionâ— 1605. But then the Government was necessarily obliged for the Vindication of his Majesty and to prevent the Growth of Popery and suppress the Insolence of the Papists to publish a Proclamation on the Fourth of July 1605. commanding the Popish Clergy to depart the Kingdom before the Tenth of December following unless they would conform to the Laws of the Land But this Proclamation being too faintly executed as Laws against Popery have hitherto always been produced more Noise than Effect so that it did little service in Ireland and yet furnished the Irish Papists with matter of Complaint beyond Seas where they usually make a great Clamour for a small Matter But on the Fifth of November was discovered the Damnable Popish Plot well known in England by the Name of The Gunpowder Treason the Design of it was to blow up at once the King the Nobility and the Principal Gentry of that Kingdom then assembled in Parliament The Papists did for some time with great Artifice and Confidence impose upon the World that this was a Plot of Cecill's making but finding at length that that Cobweb Pretence was too thin and was easily seen through they laid the blame upon a few desperate Villains as they always do when the Fact is too notorious to be denied But now that Matter is pretty well setled by the Confession of * Wilson Hist of K. James p. 32. Weston of the Earl of Castlehaven the Lord Stafford and Peter Walsh This Year the barbarous Customs of Tanistry and Gavelkind were abolish'd by Judgment in the King's Bench Davis's Reports and the Irish Estates thereby made descendible according to the Course of the Common Law of England and the City of Cork and the Liberties thereof were separated from the County of Cork and made a distinct County of it self reserving nevertheless Places in the City for a Gaol and a Court-house for the County at large In the Year One thousand six hundred and six 1606. the famous Robert Lalor Vicar-General of Dublin and other Diocesses in Leinster for disobedience to the aforesaid Prolamation was apprehended in the City of Dublin it being the Custom of these Ecclesiastical Spies to lurk about the Metropolis of every Kingdom he was in Michaelmaâ— Term indicted upon the Statute of 2 Eliz. cap. 1. for advancing and upholding Foreign Jurisdiction within this Realm but he humbled himself to the Court and voluntarily and upon Oath on 22d December 1606. made a Recognition in haec verba First He doth acknowledge that he is not a lawful Vicar General in the Diocess of Dublin Kildare and Fernes and thinketh in his Conscience that he cannot lawfully take upon him the said Office Item He doth acknowledge our Soveraign Lord King James Davis Rep. 83. that now is to be his Lawful Chief and Supream Governor in all Causes as well Ecclesiastical as Civil and that he is bound in Conscince to obey him in all the said Causes and that neither the Pope nor any other Foreign Prelate Prince or Potentate hath any Power to controll the King in any â—ause Ecclesiastical or Civil within this Kingdom or any of his Majesties Dominions Item He doth in his Conscience believe that all Bishops ordained and made by the Kings Authority within any of his Dominions are lawful Bishops and that no Bishop made by the Pope or by any Authority derived from the Pope within the Kings Dominions hath any Power or Authority to impugne disannul or controll any Act done by any Bishop made by his Majesties Authority as aforesaid Item He professeth himself willing and ready to obey the King as a good and obedient Subject ought to do in all his lawful Commandments either concerning his Function of Priesthood or any other Duty belonging to a good Subject Upon this Confession he was indulged with more Liberty and the free Access of his Friends and would undoubtedly have been enlarged the next Term if he had not privately denied what he had publickly done protesting that his Confession did not extend to the Kings Authority in Spiritual Causes but in Temporal only this being told to the Lord Deputy it was resolved to try him upon the Statute of 16. R. 7. cap. 5. of Premunire and it was discreetly done rather to Indite him upon that than upon any new Statute made since the Reformation Davis Rep. 85. that the Irish might be convinc'd That even Popish Kings and Parliaments thought the Pope an Usurper of those exorbitant Jurisdictions he claim'd and thought it inconsistent with the Loyalty of a good Subject to uphold or advance his unjust and unreasonable Incroachments on the Prerogative of the King and the Priviledge of the Subject which tended to nothing less then to make our Kings his Lacquies our Nobles his Vassals and our Commons his Slaves and Villains Upon this Indictment he was tryed and found Guilty and upon his Tryal his aforesaid Recognition which he made upon Oath was publickly read which netled him exceedingly and the rather because he was asked whether he had not denied this Confession to some of his Friends to which he answered that he had not but only told some of them that he had not own'd the Kings Supremacy in Spiritual Causes which he said was true for the word
more than 50. There were a great many Projects in England for the Plantation of Ulster 1610. but many things that seem'd speclous in the Theory were afterwards found disadvantageous or impracticable Sir Francis Bacon's Notion was signified by his Letter to the King and is to be found in his Reâ—â—scitatio pag. 255. but it is not so exact as rest of that Great Man's Works However the Lands designed for the Undertakers were this Year disposed to them and two Books of Articles were printed for their better direction and it was particularly mention'd in their Agreements That they should not suffer any Labourer that would not take the Oath of Supremacy to dwell upon their Lands But the incomparable City of London was the Soul and Life of the intended Plantation and therefore the Lords of the Council in his Majesty's behalf entred into Articles with that City the Twenty eighth day of January 1609. to this effect First That Twenty thousand Pounds be levied by the City Fifteen thousand Pounds of it to be expended in the Plantation and Five thousand Pounds in clearing and buying Private Titles Secondly That Two hundred Houses be built at Derry and room for Three hundred more and Four thousand Acres profitable Land to be laid thereto and that the Bishop and Dean shall have convenient Plots for their Houses Thirdly That a hundred Houses be erected in Colerain and room for Two hundred more and Three thousand Acres to be annexed thereto and the King to maintain a Bridge for ever Fourthly That the whole County of Colerain be cleared by the City from all Claims except three or Four Irish Free-holders and the Bishop and Dean of Derry and the City to have the whole Territories of Glancanken and Killetragh and the Patronage of Churches Fifthly That the aforesaid Four thousand and three thousand Acres pay a Fee-farm Rent of Fifty three Shillings and four Pence and be held in Free Burgage and all the rest in Common Socage Sixthly That the City shall have all Customs Tonnage Poundage c. for Ninety nine Years at Six shillings eight pence per Ann. and the Fishing of the Ban and Laghfoyl as far as it ebbs Seventhly The City to have liberty to transport Prohibited Goods growing on their own Lands and the Office of Admiralty in the Counties of Tyrconell and Colerain Eighthly That no Flax Hemp Yarn or Raw Hides be transported from Derry or Colerain without Licence of the City-Officers Ninthly That their Land be freed from all Patents of Privilege and all Compositions and Taxes Tenthly That they have the Castle of Culmore keeping a Ward in it Eleventhly That the Liberties of each Town shall extend three Miles each way and shall have such farther Liberties as shall be thought fit on view of the Charters of London Cinque-Ports Newcastle and Dublin Lastly That the King shall keep necessary Forces a convenient time and that the City shall have Seven years to make demand of any thing reasonable and necessary which cannot be now foreseen and that an Act of Parliament shall pass to ratifie these Articles and the City to build sixty Houses in Derry and forty in Colerain with sufficient Fortifications by November next and to finish all by November 1611. But afterwards on the Twenty eighth of March 1611. the Londoners finding that they could not possibly accomplish their Undertaking within the appointed time petitioned the King that they might be permitted to proceed in their Buildings at Colerain and leave alone Derry till the next Year which was granted provided they would finish Colerain that Summer and fortifie or rather inclose Derry It seems the King and Council of England resolved to proceed effectually to the Reformation of Ireland by making Laws and by putting those that were made in execution and by putting that Kingdom under a regular and methodical Government and in order to it on the twenty fourth day of June 1611. the Lord Carew was sent Commissioner to Ireland to inspect Affairs there and to endeavor to lessen the Publick Charge and to inhance the King's Revenue and to provide for a Parliament He had Five Pounds a day allow'd him from the twentieth of May and Four hundred Pounds Imprest he received in England and was to sign next to the Deputy all Orders of Council-board And tho' the Lord Deputy complain'd that the Forts of Halbowling Castle-ni-park Duncannon Gallway and the Castle of Limrick were not finish'd and repair'd and that the Londoners did not proceed to build at Derry tho' they did at Colerain and that it was necessary to keep a considerable Force in the Kingdom nevertheless the Lord Carew and Council did proceed to lessen the King's Charge 13893 l. by reforming the Army which they reduc'd to 176 Horse 1450 Foot and 123 Warders contrary to the Deputy's Opinion who was therefore traduc'd as partial to Military Men and it seems that immediately the Fort of Castle-ni-park that is the Stone-work of it was built and afterwards a Blockhouse was also erected down lower and almost level with the Water and they also setled the Customs in all parts of the Realm On the thirteenth of July 161â— the former Proclamation of the fourth of July 1605. against Titular Bishops Jesuits Friars c. was reviv'd but so faintly executed that I find mention only of the Titular Bishop of Down and four Friars to have been apprehended thereupon There were also Orders issued to tender the Oath of Supremacy to all Magistrates Justices of the Peace and other Officers and to displace those that would not take it And in August there was an Inquisition by Jury to discover the Breaches of Articles made by the Planters and Undertakers in Munster and particularly Whether any Irish contrary to the Plantation-Covenants were permitted to inhabit or dwell on the Lands granted to the Undertakers Moreover there was a general Muster of the Signiory-men or English Inhabitants on the Plantation-Lands at which no body was found so well supplied with British Tenants as Sir Richard Boyle afterwards Earl of Cork for there were mustered of his own Tenants at Tallow Eighty Horsemen One hundred eighty six Pikemen Two hundred and fifty Shot and Six Halberdiers It is observed That all the Goods and Merchandizes exported and imported this Year did not exceed the Value of 211000 l. and before this time there was so little Foreign-Trade that Seven Years Customs probably from the beginning of the King's Reign to April 1609. did amount to no more in the several Ports than as followeth viz. Â l. s. d. Seven Years Customs in Wexford 36 08 10 Ross 53 10 09 Drogheda 215 02 08 Carigfergus 399 06 07 Youghall 70 00 00 Kingsale 18 02 03 Derry Ballyshanon 35 03 10 Cork 255 11 07 Dingle 01 06 06 Waterford 716 03 07 Dublin 1890 02 01 Dundalk 65 19 06 Gallway 72 17 06 Limrick 141 09 06 Dungarvan 00 13 11 But it seems that this was only the Custom of Prohibited Goods and the
even to intimate some Menaces of Rebellion and in a manner delineated and discrib'd how it would be Imanaged And the same day the Papists of the House of Commons did likewise write to the Lords of the Council in England about the new Corporations and the wrong done their Speaker Everard and they exaggerated their Complaints to that degree as if their Extremities and Sufferings were so strange and so intolerable that they wanted Words to express or Patience to bear them and they laid all the blame on the Principal Officers and Counsellors of State And on the twentieth of May the same Men petition'd the Lord Deputy to dispence with their Attendance in the House of Commons because they were afraid of their Lives and they desir'd he would shew them by what Authority those sat in the House that were now in possession of it and they demanded to have a sight of the King's Letters the Grants and Charters of the New Corporations and of the Returns of Elections And the next day being the 21th of May they petition'd the Lord Deputy again importing That if they might be secure of their Lives and have the Benefit of the Law and that the Returns may be rectified that then they would repair to the House and present the Speaker All which the Lord Deputy granted and promis'd and thinking that they sincerely meant as they spoke his Excellency went to the Upper House in expectation that they would joyn with the rest of the Lower House and attend him with the Speaker But in stead of that on the same day they petition'd again That the new Burgesses might be first excluded and not admitted into the House till their Case was debated and determin'd altho they well enough knew that what they propos'd was unpracticable until first a Speaker was setled But their Business was to baffle and avoid this Parliament if possible to effect which they little matter'd what vain Pretences they made use of And therefore tho the Lords had nothing to do with the Lower House yet to make a Clamour as if they had been wonderfully abus'd they also petition'd the Lord Deputy the same 21th of May to the effect aforesaid and in their Petition asserted That the Lord Deputy's Commission did not authorize him to make New Corporations and concluded with a Request to be excused from attending the Parliament and to have leave to wait on the King in England The Deputy told them That the Affairs of the Lower House did not concern them and therefore commanded them to attend their own House and to proceed in a Parliamentary way to the Business of the King and Kingdom But they persisted in their Obstinacy and on the 23th of May they sent him a Writing in the Form of a Petition whereby they positively refus'd to come to Parliament until the King should take some better order to settle Matters as to the Lower House for tho the Houses were distinct yet they made but One Body and were but One Parliament and they protested against all Laws that should be made in their absence and that if any be made the Subjects will reject them as disorderly and unjustly enactedâ— And this was followed with a Petition of the Commons on the 25th of May wherein in a very sawcy and undutiful manner they pressed the Lord Deputy for a sight of the King's Letters about the New Corporations and for their Charters and the Returns of all the Elections and for a Copy of his Commission to hold that Parliament and for License to send Agents to England to acquaint the King with their Complaints Nevertheless the Lord Deputy by Proclamation commanded them to their respective Parliament houses to pass the Act of Recognition of his Majesty's Title assuring them that no other Bill should be read that Session And he also sent a Messenger to every Lord particularly to Summon him to attend the House But the Commons were so far from complying that on the same day viz. the 26th of May. they presented him with a Petition Recognizing the King's Title but utterly refusing to sit in the House unless their Speaker Everard might be approved and the new Burgesses rejected And the next day the Lords did in like manner by Letter Recognize the King's Title but refus'd to come to their House until the Affairs of the Lower House were rectified and setled Nevertheless both the Popish Lords and Commons had such a great Attendance and there was so great a Concourse at Dublin from all parts of the Kingdom which probably did wait but for some Pretence to be in Action that the Government did not think fit to imprison any of the Mutineers but took a wiser Course by adjourning the Parliament that so his Majesty's Pleasure might be farther known The Recusants lost no time but sent over Agents to the King and levied a Tax upon the People to bear their Charges altho' the Deputy publish'd a Proclamation to prohibit any body to contribute to the Charge of the Agents or to levy any Tax for that purpose and assur'd the People that the Agents went over for their own private Business or Caprichio and not for the Publick Good Nevertheless it appears by the Examination of John O Drea and Donough O Drea Lib. T. T. 175. taken upon Oath before Sir Lawrence Parsons that the Tax levied by the Priests and Jesuits for these Agents was Two shillings of a Yeoman and Five shillings of a Gentleman and that the Lords Barry Roch and others carried Priests and other Firebrands of Sedition with them to the Parliament at Dublin to instruct them how to behave themselves there and that there was a Dispensation brought over from the Pope by Fryar Thomas Fitzgirald unto the whole Kingdom of Ireland or rather all the Papists in it authorizing them to forswear themselves in all Matters moved unto them by the Protestants provided they do it equivocally Ita quod interna mentâ— secus opinentur and that the Deponent saw and read it It seems that the King who was of a peaceable temper and to save Charges had improvidently reduced the Irish Army to Seventeen hundred thirty five Foot and Two hundred and twelve Horse was willing to end this Matter in the mildest manner he could and received the Irish Agents kindly and the better to inform himself in this Affair he sent for the Lord Deputy into England and order'd him to substitute Lords Justices Doctor THOMAS JONES Lord Chancellor Sir RICHARD WINGFIELD Marshal who were sworn the Fourth of March 1613. 1613. They had little to do in Ireland because by the Presence of the Lord Deputy and the Irish Agents in England that Kingdom was become the Scene of Irish Affairs which were so well managed by the Lord Deputy that the King was fully convinc'd of the Seditious Designs of the Irish and therefore on the 21th day of April at the Council-Tale at Whitehall he made the following Speech before the Irish
your own Miscarriages Then I sent Commissioners to examine as well the By as the main Business which you first presented to be the Cause of your Appealing to me but in stead of Thanks for that Favour there came yet more new Complaints which because the Council here have already answered I will not speak of Now if you look back to your own Miscarriage and my Lenity you shall find that your Carriage hath been most Undutiful and Unreasonable and in the next degree to Treason and that you have nothing to fly to but to my Grace The Lower House here in England doth stand upon its Privileges as much as any Council in Christendom yet if such a Difference had risen there they would have gone on with my Service notwithstanding and not have broken up their Assembly upon it You complain of Fourteen false Returns Are there not many more complained of in this Parliament yet they do not forsake the House for it Now for your Complaints touching Parliament Matters I find no more amiss in that Parliament than in the best Parliament in the World Escapes and Faults of Sheriffs there may be yet not them proved or if it had been proved no cause to stay the Parliament all might have been set right by an ordinary Course of Tryal to which I must refer them But you complain of the new Boroughs therein I would fain feel your Pulse for yet I find not where the Shoe wrings For First you question the Power of the King Whether he may Lawfully make them And then you question the Wisdom of the King and his Council in that you say There are too many made It was never before heard that any good Subject did dispute the King's Power in this point What is it to you whether I make many or few Boroughs my Council may consider the fitness if I require it but what if I had made Forty Noblemen and Four hundred Boroughs the more the merrier the fewer the better Chear But this Complaint as you made it was preposterous for in contending for a Committee before you agreed of a Speaker did put the Plough before the Horse so as it went on untowardly like your Irish Ploughs but because the Eye of the Master maketh the Horse fat I have used my own Eyes in taking a view of those Boroughs and have seen a List of them all God is my Judge I find the new Boroughs except one or two to be as good as the old comparing Irish Boroughs new with Irish Boroughs old for I will not speak of the Boroughs of other Countries and yet besides the necessity of making them like to encrease and grow better daily besides I find but few erected in each County and in many Counties but one Borough only and those erected in fit Places near Forts or Passages for the Safety of the Country Methinks you that seek the good of that Kingdom should be glad of it I have caused London also to erect Boroughs there and when they are throughly planted will be a great Security to that part of the Kingdom therefore you quarrel with that which may bring Peace to the Countrey for the Persons return'd out of those Boroughs you complain they have no Residence if you had said they had no Interest it had been somewhat but most of them have Interest in the Kingdom qui habent interesse are like to be as careful as you for the Weal thereof I seek not Emendicata Suffragia such Boroughs as have been made since the Summons are wiped away at one word for this time I have tryed that and done you fair Play but you that are of a contrary Religion must not look to be the only Law-makers you that are but half Subjects should have but half Privilege you that have an Eye to me one way and to the Pope another way the Pope is your Father in Spiritualibus and I in Temporalibus only and so have your Bodies torn one way and your Souls drawn another you that send your Children to the Seminaries of Treason strive henceforth to become FULL Subjects that you may have Cor unum and vlam unam and then I shall respect you all alike but your Irish Priests teach you such grounds of Doctrine as you cannot follow them with a safe Conscience but you must cast off your Loyalty to your King Touching the Grievances whereof you have complain'd I am loath to spend Breath in them if you charge the inferiour Ministers of the Country all Countries are subject to such Grievances but if you charge the Deputy and State nihil probatur Indeed I hear not from you but from others there is one thing grievous to the Country that notwithstanding the Composition establish'd in the Provinces the Governours there do send out their Purveyors who take up their Achates and other Provision upon the Country if this had been complain'd of to the Deputy or to me it had been reformed the Deputy himself at Dublin doth not grieve the Country with any such â—urden Another thing there is that grieveth the People which is that in the Country where there is half Peace and half War the Sheriffs and Soldiers in their passage do commit many Extortions For these Grievances I my self will call the Deputy unto me and set down such Orders in this time of Vacation as these Abuses shall be redressed and clear taken away and if any such disorder he sufferd hereafter it shall be only for fault of Complaining and because the meaner sort will perhaps fear to complain I would have such Gentlemen of the Country as are of best Credit to present Complaints which they may do in such manner as the Parties who prefer the Complaints may not be known There is a double cause why I should be careful of the welfare of of that People First as King of England by reason of the long Possession the Crown of England hath haâ— of that Land and also as King of Scotland for the ancient Kings of Scotland are descended of the Kings of Ireland so as I have on Old Title as King of Scotland therefore you shall not doubt to be relieved when you Complain so as you will proceed without Clamour Moreover my Care hath been that no Acts should be prefer'd that should be grievous to that People and to that end I perused them all except one that I saw not till of late that is now out of Door for I protest I have been more careful for the Bills to be past in that Parliament then in the Parliament of England Lastly For Imputations that may seem to touch the Deputy I have found nothing done by him but what is fit for an honourable Gentleman to do in his Place which he hath discharged as well as any Deputy did and divers of you have Confessed so to me and I find your Complaints against him and the State to be but causeless Expostulations To conclude my Sentence is That in the
not to be named did very much scandalize the Patrons of his Preferment Nevertheless his unparallel'd Repentance and the most Pious manner of his Death hath obtain'd for himself the Pity of all good Men and undoubtedly the Mercy of God And it is observable 1637. that the Earl of Cork and this Bishop Atherton did on the 27th of June 1637. joyn in a Petit on to the Lord Deputy and Council to appoint Arbitrators to decide their Controversies and accordingly the Bishop of Derry and the Master of the Court of Wards were Assigned to that purpose and in their Adward which I have seen they recite that the Bishopricks of Waterford and Lismore by the Alienations of former Bishops were left worth but Fifty pound per Annum Revenue in Land and that the Earl had not purchased any thing immediately from the Church but from other Persons for valuable Considerations near Forty years before yet out of Love to Religion and the Professors thereof he was contented to part with some of his Right and so they Adwarded Lismore c. to the Earl and Ardmore c. to the Bishop and this Adward was afterwards confirm'd by the Lord Lieutenant and Council and after that by the King Anno 1638. 1638. Doctor Bedell Bishop of Killmore held a Synod in his Diocess which was a thing very strange and unusual in Ireland Nevertheless it made excellent Cannons or Constitutions which are to be sound in Bishop Bedell's Life pag. 237. But Matters growing high in Scotland and England the Lord Deputy went over to the King and left ROBERT Lord DILLON of KILLKENNY WEST Sir CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD Mr. of the Rolls Lords Justices who were Sworn on the 12th of September 1639. and soon after call'd a Parliament which met on the 16th day of March but did little or nothing until THOMAS Earl of STRAFFORD returned Lord Lieutenant on the 18th of March 1639. and on the 20th the Irish Parliament met again and Granted four entire Subsidies to the King and were on the 17th day of June prorogued to the First day of October following having first made the Twelve Acts to be found at large in the Printed Statutes 15 Car. 1. The first of these four Subsidies was Assessed at 46170 l. but the Second and Third of these Subsidies being in the absence of some Protestant Members with the Army at Caricfergus upon the Motion of Nicholas Plunket Assess'd in another manner did not together amount unto more then 23768 l. 15 s. 0 d. and the Fourth Subsidy was never Taxed at all by reason of the Rebellion that ensued And it is to be Noted that the Protestants paid more than one Third of the Commons part of the Subsidies besides 26480 l. 6 s. 0 d. Granted in Fourteen Subsidies by the Protestant Clergy only and above Three fourths of the Nobilities part of these Subsidies or more for the Nine Subsidies on the Nobility came too 52850 l. 18 s. 4 d. whereof the Confederate Lords paid but 10620 l. 18 s. 4 d. and it is very remarkable that foreknowing the Rebellion as undoubtedly they did they paid not one Penny of the Second or Third Subsidies and the Commons paid so little that of the Three Subsidies on them there was in Arrear when the Rebellion broke out 23855 l. 9 s. 7 d. And yet these Gentlemen or their Advocates have bragged in some of their Libels That they gave the King near a Million of Money But to proceed The Lord Lieutenant upon the Credit of these Subsidies and the annual Revenue which now was improv'd to above 80000 l. per Annum was enabled to raise Eight thousand Foot and One thousand Horse additional to the Veteran◠〈◊〉 they cost the Kingdom in raising clothing and paying them 204057 l. and were design'd to sudue the Rebells in Scotland and awe the Mutineers in England but being mostly Papists who were thereby Train'd to the use of Arms this Army was so offensive to all moderate and thinking Protestants that it brought great dis-repute and prejudice on the Kings Affairs and in the end cost the Lord his lieutenant his Head The Lord Lieutenant was exposed to the Hatred of the Presbyterians Husbands Collections 2 part 245. for imposing a new Oath on the People hereafter mentioned which was so much abhorr'd by many that they quitted the Kingdom rather then take it and he was open also to the Jealousies of the Protestants by bringing over with him Sir Toby Mathews a Jesuited Priest and by the Correspondence that was known to be between Paul Harris another plotting Priest and Sir George Ratcliff the Lord Lieutenant's intimate Friend and by suffering Publick Mass-houses at the Naas so near his own House and by permitting Fryars to dwell in a House of his own which he had built to other Uses But notwithstanding all this it is certain he was no Friend to Popery but only temporiz'd until he should meet with a more proper Season to go through with that Work as himself expresses it About this time Archibald Adair who had been Bishop of Killalla since the Year 1630 was deprived of his Bishoprick upon this Occasion One Corbet a Clergy-man that fled from Scotland for writing a Satyrical Book against the Covenanters called Lysimachus Nicanor was sent to this Bishop for Preferment but he being a moderate Man and perhaps too indulgent to his own Nation did not approve of Corbet that had handled the Scots so severely and therefore he gave no countenance to him but on the contrary told him That it was a bad Bird that foul'd his own Nest which was the sharper because Corby in Scotch signifies a Raven And when Corbet told him That he had hardly escaped with Life but had left his Wife to try the Humanity of the Scots the Bishop replied That he had left her to a very base Office And other things he said which the Government thought too favourable to the Govenanters and tho' they would not be much considered at another time yet now was thought a sufficient Cause of Deprivation and Doctor John Maxwell was made Bishop in his room but the next Year after the Execution of Atherton Bishop of Waterford Adair was made Bishop of that See Nor should it be omitted That this Bishop Maxwell a most excellent Preacher and a hearty Royalist was nevertheless wounded stript naked and left amongst the Dead by the Irish Rebels whose Skeins never distinguished between a Prelate and a Fanatick But the Bishop was accidentally preserved by the Earl of Twomond who travelled that way towards Dublin and afterwards went to the King to Oxford and was the first Man that convinced the King of the innate Hatred the Irish Rebels bore to all those of the Protestant Religion But let us return to the Lord Lieutenant who went again to England to give the King an Account of the good Posture of Affairs in Ireland leaving in his stead Sir CHRISTOPHER WANDESFORD Master of the Rolls
the last Six years over and above 3 d. per Pound Impost and that he had the Consent of the principal of the Council and the Approbation of his Majesty who consented to an Act of Parliament for the Confirmation of it that the Council Sign'd the Proclamations and if any were Pillory'd Whipt c. it was for Perjury or like Crimes and the Fines were only in terrorem little of them being Levied and concludes that he is no Gainer by that Monopoly The Thirteenth Article was That he also Monopoliz'd all the Flax of the Kingdom by his Proclamations of 31st May 12 Car. 1. and 31st January in the same year prescribing and enjoyning Rules and Methods of making Yarn and Thread which the unskilful Natives could not Practise and ordering all Linen Yarn and Thread made in any other manner to be seized which was accordingly executed with Severity whereby multitudes were undone and many Starved To which he Answers That what he did was to incourage the Linen Manufacture in Ireland and to â—â—â—ing the Irish to a more Artificial way of making Linen Yarn Thread and Cloth that the Council concurr'd in the Proclamations which are Temporary Laws in Ireland and that he was a Loser of 3000 l. by this Project for the Good of that Country that the evil Consequences if any were Collateral and Accidental and that the misdemeanors of inferior Officers could not be Charged on him That he never used more than 400 l. worth of Yarn in a Year which could not undoe much less Starve such multitudes as they pretend The Fourteenth was That he impos'd a new Oath to make true Invoyce c. on Masters of Ships c. but the Managers declin'd this Article The Fifteenth was That he Arbitrarily impos'd Illegal Taxes on the Towns of Bandonbridge Baltimore Tallow c. and Cessed Souldiers on them till they paid them and by force of Arms expell'd Richard Butler from Castlecumber and imprison'd several of the O Brenans and their Wives and Children until they surrendred and releas'd their Rights and Estates To this the Earl Answers That when the Country granted the King 120000 l. in Nature of a Subsidy it was agreed between the Lord Deputy Falkland and Them that it should not be entered upon Record but be Levied by Captains by Paper Assignments by Warrant from the Lord Deputy and so it was done and the Money levied on Bandon c. was Arrears of that Contribution and it was levied without Force and that Castlecumber was Legally evicted and what Soldiers were sent there being but twelve were sent to Guard Mr. Wandesford's House against Tories but used no Force to Mr. Butler or any quiet Subject and that it was usual in Ireland to lay Soldiers on Delinquents The Sixteenth Article That he procured his Majesties Order 17th February 1631. that no Complaint should be received in England about Irish Affairs until it were first made in Ireland to the Lord Deputy and that by Proclamation of the 17th of September 11 Car. 1. All Persons that had Estate or Office in Ireland except such as had imployment in his Majesties Service in England or attended there by his special Command should reside in Ireland and not depart without Licence whereby People are hindred from complaining against the said Earl And One Parry hath been punish'd for so doing To this he Answers That it was by him and the Council conceived fit to prevent unnecessary Clamours here but that he never denied Licence except to the Lords of Cork Mountnorris and Roch because there were Suits against them in the Castlechamber and to Sir Frederick Hamilton by the Kings Command which was taken off when he knew the Design of his Voyage was to complain against him and to Lord Esmond for a short time because he was Major General of the Army and he saith that Parry was punish'd for other Misdemeanors by the Consent of the whole Council The Nineteenth was Rushw 494. That by Proclamation of May 20. 1639. he imposed a New Oath viz. I N. do faithfully swear profess and promise That I will honor and obey my Sovereign Lord King CHARLES and will bear Faith and true Allegiance to Him and will defend and maintain His Regal Power and Authority and that I will not bear Arms nor do any Rebellious or Hostile Act against him or protest against any his Royal Commands but submit my self in all due Obedience hereunto And that I will not enter into any Covenant Oath or Bond of mutual Defence or Assistance against all sorts of Persons whatsoever or into any Oath Covenant or mutual Defence or Assistance against any Person whatsoever by force without His Majesty's Sovereign and Regal Authority And I do renounce all Covenants contrary to what I have sworn and promised So help me God in Christ Jesus And that he grievously fined those that refused to take it and particularly Henry Stewart and his Wife were fined 5000 l. apiece and their two Daughters and James Gray Three thousand Pounds apiece and imprison'd them for not paying it and explain'd the Oath to oblige in point of Allegiance to the Ceremonies and Government of the Church establish'd and to be establish'd by His Majesty's Authority and that he would prosecute to the Blood such as should disobey c. whereby many were undone and more fled the Kingdom and that he said If he return'd again he would root out Stock and Branch of the Dissenting Scots To this he answers That it was in a dangerous Time and for the Security of the Kingdom and upon their own Petition and that he had His Majesty's Orders for it dated 16 January 1638. That as to the Fine of Stewart c. it was setled before it came to his Vote so that he did but concur with the rest and that he did not speak against the Scotish Nation but against the Scotch Faction of the Covenanters The Twenty second Article was That he procured the Irish Parliament to declare their Assistance in a War against the Scots and gave Directions for Raising Eight thousand Foot and One thousand Horse which were most Papists and confederated with Sir George Ratcliff to employ that Army to Invade England and subvert the Fundamental Laws and Establish'd Government thereof To this he answers That he rais'd that Army by His Majesty's Order and denies any other Design than to assist and serve the King as they ought There was also some mention made about one Trueman who was executed for a Plot to betray Carigfergus to the Scots touching whom Sir John Clotworthy made this Deposition That Trueman was an Englishman that dwelt not far from Carigfergus and one that was sent about the Country but by whom he knows not but there were vehement Suspicions that he was employ'd to find out those that would engage in Discourse concerning the Scotch Business He spake with one Captain Giles who feigned himself a great Friend of the Scotish Nation and said That he
and gave more Colour and Umbrage for the Suspicions that were then entertained of Him than any other Action of that Time could do And indeed this single Act of theirs did His Majesty more mischief than all the pretended Loyalty of that Party since that time can atone for However to obviate the dismal Effects of that impudent Forgery as much as they could the Lords Justices did Burlace Append 3. by their Proclamation of the Thirtieth of October 1642. publish that Sham to be false and scandalous And it is very observable That this Contrivance of theirs from whence they hoped to derive so much Advantage was the Occasion of their Ruin for the King to vindicate himself from this gross Aspersion was necessitated to devolve the Management of the War upon the Parliament and to consent to the Act of Adventurers which dispos'd of most part of the Rebels Estates and indeed to humour them in every thing relating to Ireland and particularly in giving up Carrigfergus to the Scots And on the same Fourth of November Temple 50. the Parliament of England voted 1. That Twenty thousand Pounds be forthwith supplied for the present Occasions of Ireland 2. That a convenient Number of Ships shall be provided for the Guarding of the Sea-coasts of that Kingdom 3. That this House holds fit that Six thousand Foot and Two thousand Horse shall be raised with all convenient speed for the present Expedition into Ireland 4. That the Lord Lieutenant shall present to both Houses of Parliament such Officers as he shall think fit to send into Ireland to Command any Forces to be transported thither 5. That Magazins of Victuals shall be forthwith provided at Westchester to be sent over to Dublin as the Occasions of that Kingdom shall require 6. That the Magazins of Arms Ammunition and Powder now in Carlisle shall be forthwith sent over to Knockfergus in Ireland 7. That it be referred to the King's Council to consider of some fit Way and to present it to the House for a Publication to be made of Rewards to be given to such as shall do Service in this Expedition into Ireland and for a Pardon of such of the Rebels in Ireland as shall come in by a Time limited and of a Sum of Money to be appointed for a Reward to such as shall bring in the Heads of such Principal Rebels as shall be nominated 8. That Letters shall be forthwith sent to the Justices in Ireland to acquaint them how sensible this House is of the Affairs in Ireland 9. That the Committee of Irish Affairs shall consider how and in what manner this Kingdom shall make use of the Friendship and Assistance of Scotland in the Business of Ireland 10. That Directions shall be given for the drawing of a Bill for the Pressing of Men for this particular Service for Ireland In the mean time the Lords Justices and Council did all that was possible for the Preservation of the Kingdom They on the Fifth of November dispatched a second Express to the King and another to the Lords of the Council and then and not before wrote to both Houses of Parliament and sent a Duplicate of it to the King and they formed a thousand of the stripped English into a Regiment under Sir Charles Coot and soon after they raised two Regiments more under the Lord Lambert and Colonel Crawford They also took care to Victual the Castle of Dublin and to clear an old Well that was in it and to do all things necessary to fit it for a Siege And to prevent any Surprize that might happen by the great Concourse of People to the Castle they removed the Council to Cork-house and often sat there in Council which was a great Oversight and might have been Fatal to them if the Lords of the Pale who soon after went out into open Rebellion had had the Courage to seise upon them there as they easily might have done On Saturday the Sixth of November Philip O Rely Knight of the Shire and the Irish of the County of Cavan sent an insolent Remonstrance to the Lord Justices by Doctor Jones whose Wife and Children they had at their Mercy and impowered him to assure their Lordships That there should be a Cessation of all things till the return of his Answer But tho' the Lords Justices gave a Civil Answer to it and sent the Remonstrance to the Lord Lieutenant to whom the King had ordered them to apply themselves about the Affairs of Ireland yet the very next Munday being the Eigth of November and before any Answer could come these Remonstrants Rendezvoufedâ— at Virginia a Town in the County of Cavan and proved the fiercest Rebels of all and by the Eleventh of December had taken the whole County of Cavan except the Castles of Keighlah and Croghan which were also surrendred to them the Fourth of July 1642. and Thirteen hundred and forty English Persons were thence according to Articles conveyed to Tredagh On the Eleventh of November the Lords Justices published another Proclamation prohibiting all unnecessary Persons from repairing to Dublin which the Irish took very ill and made a great noise about it tho' no Person of Quality or Business was in the least restrained by that Proclamation But their Design was to pick Quarrels and to manage all Accidents to that purpose On the Twelfth of November the County of Wickloe appeared in its proper Colours they murdered or robbed all the English Inhabitants within that County and burnt the principal Houses and laid Siege to Fort-Carew which the Lords Justices had not Means to relieve The Counties of Letrim Longford West-Meath and Louth were already infected and Wexford and Caterlogh followed the bloody Examples of their Neighbours and even the County of Kildare it self began to put on a terrible Countenance and the Irish of the Pale having gotten Arms from their English Neighbors under pretence of opposing the Rebels were the better able to do Execution on those stupid Protestants that so foolishly parted with them to their National and Hereditary Enemies The Lords Justices had by Proclamation Prorogued the Parliament to the Twenty fourth of February but at the Importunity of some Irish Lawyers who pretended great Affection to the King and earnest Desires to quench the Rebellion the Parliament which was a very thin one was permitted to meet on the Sixteenth of November and then it was visible that more were tainted with the Infection than appeared openly in Rebellion for the Popish Members did with great Cunning and Artifice endeavour to varnish or excuse all the Actions and Cruelties of the Rebels and those who seemed most to discountenance the Insurrection did nevertheless cover it over with such a Veil treat of it so nicely and handle it with so much tenderness as if themselves most of them being of the Conspiracy were immediately to participate of the Punishment as well as they were clandestinely involved in the Plot They would by do means have
Cessation pretending that they were just then come to hand and that he was sorry they did not come sooner 2. By the like Action in continuing the Siege of Castle Coot after notice of the Cessation as aforesaid 3. By Publishing the Pope's Bull after the Cessation which was an Encouragement to the Rebels to persist in their Rebellion and did seduce others of the Papists that were not then engaged in it 4. By taking 369 Head of Cattel from the Suburbs of Dublin on the 18th of September 5. By seizing on the Black Castle of Wicklow and murdering the Protestants there And 6. In not sending any formed Troops or Regiments to the King's Assistance as they promised to do And lastly In not paying the 30800 l. according to Agreement But if we are curious to know what was done in England in reference to the Affairs of Ireland we may find That on the 5th of May Sir Robert King Mr. Jepson and Mr. Hill waited on His Majesty with a Bill For a speedy Payment of Moneys subscribed towards the Reducing the Rebels in Ireland Husbands 2. Part. 161. which yet remains unpaid which they prayed Him to pass into an Act but His Majesty desired first to be satisfied how the rest of that Money was disposed of and how he should be secured that what is yet unreceived shall not be misemployed and whether it be fit to compel voluntary Subscribers by a greater Penalty than was at first made known to them viz. The loss of what they have already paid and whether the Power given by this new Bill to Warner Towse and Andrews whose Integrity he has no assurance of be not too great and whether Purchasers and Creditors may not be prejudiced by the Extents mentioned in this new Act. And on the 16th of June both Houses issued a Declaration purporting That the Kingdom of Ireland is in a sad condition but that the Papists are in as much want as the Protestants and therefore if the later were well supplied the former would be easily subdued that their Ambition to be independent from England and their inveterate Hatred against the Protestant Religion Ibid. 217. have been the causes of their Barbarousness to the English that they have been assisted by the Catholicks of other Countries And can it be say they that God's Enemies should be more violent and indefatigable for restoring Idolatry in a Kingdom foreign to theirs than we zealous in propugning God's Truth in our own against Barbarous Traytors and Monstrous Idolaters Shall the common Incendiaries of both Kingdoms strip themselves of all they have to accomplish our Destruction by devouring that rich and fruitful Island And shall the good People of this Nation of the same Blood and Religion with them think any thing too dear to redeem them seeing thereby we secure our selves by preventing the Rebels from coming hither We will therefore even in this distracted time assess 200000 l. on the Kingdom of England to be paid in two Years which will give credit for the present Relief of the Starving condition of Ireland and shall be reprized to the several Counties in the nature of the Adventurers for Land in Ireland Therefore we cannot doubt of chearful Submission hereunto since we cannot expect that God should bless us if we be wanting to our distressed Brethren and indeed to our selves for the malice of the Rebels is such that if they can root us out of that Kingdom they will not despair of extirpating us out of this and therefore we recommend all well-affected persons to a liberal Contribution to such a pious and commendable Work And on the 14th of July they issued another Declaration Ibid. 233. for the farther encouragement of Adventurers And on the 25th of July the Parliament publish'd their long Declaration which deduces the Affairs of Ireland historically from the beginning of the King's Reign and concludes that the Irish Rebellion was projected and incited by those Councils then prevalent with the King and that the Queen and her Priests and the Papists of all the three Kingdoms have been principal Actors and Sticklers therein And on the 5th of September they made an Ordinance That no man upon pain of losing his Ship do transport any Person out of Ireland into England without license c. And on the 18th they made an Ordinance for a Collection for the Clergy of Ireland and on the 18th of October they made a Weekly Assessment for the Support of such Forces in Ireland as oppose the Cessation and on the 24th they order That no Irish man or Papist born in Ireland shall have Quarter in England and in November they ordered That the Solemn League and Covenant should be taken in Ireland But the Cessation being confirmed by Patent under the Great Seal the Lieutenant General pursuant to His Majesty 's repeated Orders was busie in sending Forces to the Kings Assistance in England and because the Soldiers were generally very unwilling to fight against their own Country men whilst the Irish Rebels would insult over their distressed Companions and Relations that should be left behind there was an Oath of Fidelity contrived Sâ—e it Burlace 133. which every one of them were forced to take and several Penal Edicts were published against those who should desert or return and so in January the Regiments of Sir Michael Ernly Sir Richard Fleetwood Colonel Monk Colonel Gibson Colonel Warren c. were sent from Leinster as Sir William Saintleger and Colonel Myn were from Munster and though most of the former met with their Destiny at Nantwich and the later at the Siege of Glocester yet the arrival of these and other Forces out of Ireland did influence the Parliament to consent to the Treaty at Uxbridge which nevertheless did not produce that happy effect which all good men desired And little more than this was done in Ireland except Contests about setting out of Quarters and other Executions of the Articles of Cessation which shall be mentioned in each Province apart and the Preparations for the Treaty at Oxford which shall also be taken notice of in our account of that matter until the 21th day of January at which time JAMES Marquis of ORMOND was sworn Lord-Lieutenant at Christchurch in Dublin and took the following Oath Viz. You shall swear That you shall faithfully and truly to your power serve our Sovereign Lord the King's Majesty in the Room and Authority of Lord Lieutenant and Chief Governor of this His Realm of Ireland you shall maintain and defend the Laws of God and the Christian Faith you shall to your power not only keep His Majesty's Peace amongst His People but also maintain His Officers and Ministers in the Execution and Administration of Justice you shall defend His Majesties Castles Garisons Dominions People and Subjects of this Realm and repress His Rebels and Enemies you shall not consent to the Damage and Disherison of His Majesty His Heirs nor Successors neither shall you
Instruction to explain them Lastly he told them He found no Instruction about continuing Military and Civil Officers They answered They had no Instructions about Civil Officers but they had power and did accordingly intend to employ as many of the Military Officers as should be found fit for the Service On the Seventeenth of November Ormond desir'd their Answer to his Propositions sent into England But the Commissioners answer'd They neither had them nor a Copy of them nor any Instructions about them and therefore they prest for his Excellencies Answer to their Proposals The Marquis repli'd That if they would declare that they had no larger Instructions than those that were shewed he would give a positive Answer But they on the Eighteenth of November desired to be excused from that Discovery Whereupon Ormond demanded Whether they had His Majesties Order for delivering up the Sword and Garisons They answered They had not Then says he Since you bring no Answer to my Propositions Nor Security to any Protestants as you shall Condition withal Nor can inform us what those Ordinances of Parliament are we must submit unto Nor any ways secure such Papists as always adhered to the Government Nor give any Assurance to the Officers Military and Civil for their Continuance Nor take any notice of the Protestant Clergy Nor bring His Majesty's Orders It is not consistent with my Duty to part with so great a Trust in such a manner without the King 's pâ—sitive Command The same day the Commissioners repli'd That all Protestants not having been in the Irish Rebellion should be included in this Treaty and have the full Benefit of the Instructions and that all Ordinances of Parliament shall be construed such as those who have not offended the Parliament do submit to And the Composition for Estates in Ireland shall be in the same manner as is used in England provided it be done within Six Months That they were willing to enlarge his 5000 l. to the Sum he demanded in his Proposition viz. 13877 l. 14 s. 9 d. That they had power of Granting Pensions not exceeding in toto 2000 l. per An. to continue till the persons can receive so much out of their own Estates which they will apply as he thinks fit On the Nineteenth of November Ormond answered That still the Loyal Roman-Catholicks were not secured nor the Civil or Military Officers provided for nor the Clergy considered That the Covenant is enjoyn'd by one of those Ordinances of Parliament That the procuring His Majesty's Directions was the first Article of his Propositions to the Parliament it is the first and fundamental Condition from which he cannot recede in regard of his Oath when he took the Sword and the rather because by surrendring the Government the Irish Parliament will be dissolved which is the greatest and best Security of the Protestants Hereupon the Commissioners desired a Conference and tho' there was but half an hour of the four days expired yet the Marquis consented to a Conference which was to this effect and was the next day by the Commissioners reduced to Writing That Ormond had waved his first Propositions to continue in the Government c. by the Second Overture to Surrender and had notice That the Parliament proceeded upon that second Overture That their Concessions are more ample in some points than his Demands and where they are less or doubtful they will represent it to their Employers in the best manner for his Lordships Satisfaction That as to Loyal Roman-Catholicks the Parliament did not take Cognizance of any such and 't is not probable that their number can be considerable and if they have committed no Crime they need not question their Security That they had power to protect all that would come under Contribution ergo Papists and they will also favourably recommend their Case to the Parliament That as to Civil Officers they have no Instructions about them if they are Offenders they canot expect Security in their politick Capacities but shall have it in Person and Estate As for Military Officers it must be an extraordinary Cause shall displace any of them but it would be of ill Consequence to stipulate their Continuance And that to Clergy and Officers the Pension of 2000 l. per An. should be distributed That there is no Ordinance of Parliament enjoyns taking the Covenant in Ireland nor have they any Orders to suppress the Common-Prayer and impose the Directory That if his Lordship were continued chief Governor he must submit to Ordinances of Parliament That his Lordship's Importunity for Speedy Supplies did not afford time to get the King's Orders That his Letter to the King that he would treat with the Parliament had no Clause desiring an Answer knowing That the necessity and prudence of the Action would oblige the King's Approbation That in his Lordship's Propositions to continue the Government he offered to put all under the Protection of the Parliament without mention of His Majesties Directions And that the King's Orders were not necessary because the Management of the War of Ireland was by Act of Parliament delegated to both Houses That Oxford surrendred without the King's Orders That the Protestant Religion and the Blood of many Thousands of Protestants which are in hazard by breaking this Treaty exceedingly over-ballance the Punctilio of having positive Orders in this Case And that his Lordship's Oath is better observed in concluding than dissolving this Treaty To all this the Lord-Lieutenant replied That the Protestants in general and particularly the Officers and Clergy were concern'd in his Proposals and if the Parliament had proceeded upon his own Propositions of continuing the Government the King's Consent or so much Security or Provision for his Loyal Subjects had not been necessary because it would in a great measure lie in his power to do Right to King and Subject But since they proceeded upon his Second Overture viz. of surrendring the Sword the first Article of that Paper was to obtain the King's Directions and the rest were for the Security of his Loyal Subjects in their Persons Estates and Employments none of which is effected As for the Loyal Papists whose number and Quality are considerable there is no satisfaction given For the Answer that the Parliament took no Cognizance of them is the reason of the Demand and to say That the Innocent need not fear affords but small Security And the Protection given those under Contribution is what is extended to submitting Rebels and is not sufficient for Loyal People that deserve more Countenance and the rather because the rest of their Religion in Ireland have been Faulty That as to Civil Officers There is no manner of Security as to their Employments and to Military Officers not sufficient and the rather because many of them have fought against the Parliament in England and done other disobliging Acts to them That the power of granting a Pension of 2000 l. per An. cannot be applied to Officers
would send it we being fleshed in Blood one against the other But whilst the Treaty between Ormond and the Irish was in agitation a Letter of his to the Supreme Council was intercepted and brought to the Parliament and by them shewed to the King who was then in the Isle of Wight whereupon they obliged His Majesty to write to the Lord Lieutenant not to proceed any farther in the Treaty with the Irish but that Letter was interpreted to come from one in Duress and being contrary to express Orders given his Excellency Not to obey any Commands inconsistent with those then received unless they were manifestly for His Majesty's Advantage until His Majesty were at liberty to declare his Sentiments freely That Letter was not much regarded and so after twenty days spent in the Treaty at Carrick the Lord Lieutenant about the middle of November removed to his Castle at Kilkenny upon the Invitation of the Commissioners and to be nearer the General Assembly which was then Sitting in that City he was received with such profound Respect as is usually paid to the Sovereign Authority and had his own Guards with him However it was the middle of January before the Matters relating to the Peace could be adjusted and then they passed unanimously even by the Votes of the Popish Bishops and were on the 17th of January mutually Ratified and afterwards Proclaimed with great Joy and followed by the * * Appendix 44 Declarations of the Popish Clergy expressing their great Satisfaction at this Peace which consisted of the Articles mentioned Appendix 43 which King Charles the second in the Preamble of the Act of Settlement had good reason to call Difficult Conditions Upon this Peace Ormond proposed to get together so good an Army as might by Force or Treaty prevent the Impending Fate of his Royal Master for the undertaken Quota's were as followeth  Foot Horse Munster Irish 4000 800 Leinster 4000 800 Insiquin 3000 600 Conaught 4000 800 Owen Roe if he would come in had 5000 500  20000 3500 But he depended upon a broken Reed for besides that the Irish had delayed the conclusion of the Peace too long to render it serviceable to the King and had exacted such Conditions as would rather hasten than prevent His Majesty's Ruine the Lord Lieutenant was exceedingly disappointed in his Calculation for Owen Roe did not at all come in till it was too late and most of the rest were deficient in their promised Proportions of Men or Money so that he was forced to borrow 800 l. upon his own Credit to enable the Army to march But it must not be forgotten that the Confederates still lay upon the lurch and in order to keep up their Dominion and Power notwithstanding the Peace they did on the 12th of January 1648 make the following Order By the General Assembly WHEREAS the Declaration of the General Assembly of the Confederate Catholicks Ante pag. 152. 〈◊〉 bearing date the 28th day of August 1645 and the Explanation of the 〈◊〉 General Assembly thereupon dated the First of September 1645 did relate to a Settlement of a Peace to be grounded on any Authority from his Majesty as by the said Declaration and Explanation thereupon more at large may appear It is this day ordered and declared by this Assembly ☜ That the said Declaration and Explanation shall CONTINUE and REMAIN in full force and be renewed as of this time and have relation to all Articles for a Settlement agreed on as well by Authority from His Majesty as from his Highness the Prince of Wales or both as if the said Declaration and Explanation had been NOW MADE to all Intents Constructions and Purposes But the Peace being concluded the Irish became very troublesom by their Importunities for Offices and Places of Trust and Honour Sir Richard Blake the very next week after the Peace wrote to Secretary Lane to mind the Lord Lieutenant to make him a Baron and others were as careful of their own Advancement but above all others the Insolence of a Son of Hugh O Connour is remarkable for he on the 9th of March wrote to the Lord Lieutenant to give him a Troop and his Brother a Foot Company or else they would shift for themselves To whom the Lord Lieutenant made answer That whatever he did with great Rebels he would not capitulate with small ones And now how gladly would I draw a Curtain over that Dismal and Unhappy Thirtieth of January wherein the Royal Father of our Country suffered Martyrdom Oh! that I could say They were Irish Men that did that Abominable Fact or that I could justly lay it at the Door of the Papists But how much soever they might obliquely or designedly Contribute to it 't is certain it was actually done by others who ought to say with the Poet Pudet haec opprobria nobis Et dici potuisse non potuisse refelli THE REIGN OF Charles the Second KING OF England Scotland France and Ireland CHARLES Prince of WALES 1648. eldest Son of the deceased King succeeded his Father in the Right of All and in the Possession of some of his Dominions and was by the Lord-Lieutenant first at Youghall where he then hapned to be in his return from visiting Prince Rupert and afterwards at Carrick proclaimed King by the Name of Charles the Second And altho' the new King did soon after by his Letters confirm the Marquess of Ormond in the Government of Ireland and acquainted him That the Kirk of Scotland had caused his Majesty to be proclaimed King on the 16th of February yet he also sent him the bad News of that Kirk's Declaration of the 13th of February against the Peace his Excellency had made with the Irish But the Lord-Lieutenant was encouraged to struggle with that Misfortune by two Accidents that happened in his favour viz. the Arrival of Prince Rupert and the Departure of the Nuncio The Prince being by the mistake of his Pilot put into Crook-Haven did not come into Kinsale till the 10th of February tho' his Brother Prince Maurice arrived above a Fortnight before he brought with him sixteen Frigats and his design was to make way for the Prince of Wales and he thought it a happy Omen that the first News he met with was that of the Peace Wherefore upon Conference with the Lord-Lieutenant at Corke it was resolved to send Capt. Ulbert to the Prince to hasten him for Ireland which was accordingly done and then the News of the King's Martyrdom arrving Prince Rupert proclaimed the new King at Kinsale with all the Solemnity that place was capable of and put himself and all his Officers in Mourning and even the Ensigns Jacks and Streamers of all the Fleet were altered to a colour suitable to the black and dismal Occasion Whilest Prince Rupert staid at Kinsale his Frigats cruis'd abroad and brought in several considerable Prizes and particularly three Corn-Ships which were of great consequence because of
ulla a Rege Vindic. Ever 105. yet as Father Ponce confesses or rather boasts they were endeavouring all they could to resort to their first Confederacy without any regard to the King But as soon as the Assembly understood the Lord-Lieutenant's Resolution to leave the Kingdom without appointing a Deputy they sent the Lords Clanrickard and Dillon and two more to him with the following Publick Act and Declaration of the Assembly The General Assembly's Publick Act and Declaration Dated at Loghreogh the 17th of December same Year 1650 upon and some few Days after Receipt of the precedent Letter from the Marquess of Ormond then Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland WHereas the Archbishops and Bishops met at this Assembly have of their own free accords for removing of Jealousies that any might apprehend of their Proceedings declared and protested That by their Excommunication and Declaration at Jamestown in August last they had no other Aim than the Preservation of the Catholick Religion and People and did not propose to make any Vsurpation on his Majesty's Authority or on the Liberties of the People confessing it belongs not to their Jurisdiction so to do upon consideration of which their Declaration and Protestation and their Professions to that purpose in this Assembly and of his Excellency's Letter dated the 16th of November last recommending unto us as the chief ends for which this Assembly was called the removing of all Divisions as the best way for our Preservation We the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Gentry met in this Assembly conceiving that there is no better Foundation and Ground for our Vnion than the holding to and obeying his Majesty's Authority to which we owe and ought to pay all dutiful Obedience do hereby declare and protest That our Allegiance to his Majesty is so inherent in us that we cannot be withdrawn from the same nor is there any power or authority in the Lords Spiritual or Temporal Gentry or People Clergy or Laity of the Kingdom that can alter change or take away his Majesty's Authority we holding that to be the chief Flower of the Crown and the Support of the Peoples Liberty which we hereby protest declare and avow and also do esteem the same essentially inviolably and justly due from us and the chiefest Mean under GOD to uphold our Vnion and Preservation And do unanimously beseech his Excellency in his great Affections to the Advancement of his Majesty's Service and his hearty desires to this Nation 's preservation to which he hath relation of highest Concernments in Blood Alliance and Interest to leave that Authority with us in some person faithful to his Majesty and acceptable to the Nation To which person when made known unto us we will not only afford all due Obedience but will also offer and propose the best Ways and Means that God will please to direct us to for preservation of his Majesty's Rights and Peoples Interests and Liberties and for begetting ready Obedience in all places and persons to his Majesty's Authority And we do farther declare That albeit Drogheda and all other places which were upon conclusion of the Peace in January 1648 in the Enemies power in this Kingdom the Cities of London Derry and Dublin only excepted were in his Excellency's time of Government and Conduct through many hazards in his person and loss in his Fortune reduced to his Majesty's Obedience God was pleased to bring us to the State and Condition we are at present yet we are fully satisfied that his Excellency had faithful Intentions and hearty Affections to advance his Majesty ' Interests and Service in this Kingdom Loghreogh 7th Decem. 1650. By Command of the Assembly Richard Blake Hereupon his Excellency sent them word That he had sent a Deputation to the Marquess of Clanrickard to Govern the Kingdom provided that their Declaration might be so far explained as to give the Marquess of Clanrickard full satisfaction that the Expressions they made touching the Obedience they owed and resolved to pay unto his Majesty's Authority was meant The Authority placed in his Lordship or any other Governour deriving or holding his Authority from his Majesty and that they esteem it not in the Power of any Person Congregation or Assembly whatsoever to discharge or set the People free from obeying his Lordship or any other such Governour during the continuance of the said Authority in him without which he said he could not in Duty to his Majesty leave his Authority subject to be tossed to and fro at the uncertain Fancies of any Man or Men and without any probability of saving the Nation which could be no otherwise effected than by an absolute chearful Obedience of the People unto the Authority placed over them And so having given charge to the Lord Clanrickard not to accept the Government upon other Terms and having refused a Pass from Ireton which a great Man yet living sollicitous of Excellency's safety had obtained and being accompanied with the Lord Insiquin and the Colonels Vaughan Wogan and Warren and about twenty more in a small Vessel of twenty eight Tun and four Guns he set sail for France about the middle of December leaving ULICK Marquess of CLANRICKARD Earl of Saint ALBANS Lord-Deputy to whom the Assembly applied themselves and besought him to assume the Government as Lord-Deputy of Ireland according to the Power left with him by the Lord-Lieutenant But the Marquess absolutely refused to do it except they satisfied the Proviso mentioned in the Lord-Lieutenant's Letter to them and that he saw such an Union amongst them as might free the King's Authority from the Affronts it had been exposed unto Whereupon they petitioned him again to assume that Authority without which the Nation as they said would be exposed to Ruine and they promised entire Obedience thereunto and for farther manifestation of the Sincerity of their Intentions they made the following Act By the General Assembly of the Kingdom of Ireland Logreogh 24th of Decemb. 1653. ALthough this Assembly have endeavoured by their Declaration of the 7th of this Month to give full Testimony of their Obedience to his Majesty's Authority yet for further Satisfaction and for removal of all Jealousies we do further declare That the Lords Spiritual or Temporal Gentry or People Clergy or Laity of this Kingdom shall not attempt labour endeavour or do any Act or Acts to set free or discharge the people from yeilding due and perfect Obedience to his Majesty's Authority invested in the Lord Marquess of Clanrickard or any other Governour or Governours of this Kingdom And in case of any such Labour Act or Endeavour by which any Mischief might ensue by seducing the people we declare That no person or persons shall or ought to be lead thereby but by their Disobedience on any such grounds are lyable and subject to the heavy Censures and Penalties of the Laws of the Land in force and practised in the Reign of Henry the Seventh and other Catholique Princes Nevertheless it is further
into my hands they have violated the Trust reposed in them by having cast off and declined the Commission and Instructions they had from me in the King my Master's behalf and all other Powers that cou'd by any other means be derived from him and pretend to make an Agreement with your Highness in the Name of the Kingdom and People of Ireland for which they had not nor could have any warrantable Authority and have abused your Highness by a counterfeit shew of a private Instrument fraudulently procured and signed as I am informed by some inconsiderable and factious Persons ill-affected to His Majesty's Authority without any knowledge or consent of the generality of the Nation or Persons of greatest Quality or Interest therein and who under a seeming zeal and pretence of Service to your Highness labour more to satisfie their private Ambition then the advantage of Religion or the Nation or the prosperous Success of your Highness's generous Undertakings and to manifest the clearness of mine own Proceedings and make such deceitful Practices more apparent I send your Highness herewith an Authentick Copy of my Instructions which accompanied their Commission when I imployed them to your Highness as a sufficient evidence to convince them And having thus fully manifested their breach of Publick Trust I am obliged in the King my Master's Name to protest against their unwarrantable proceedings and to declare all the Agreements and Acts whatsoever concluded by those Commissioners to be void and illegal being not derived from or consonant to His Majesty's Authority being in Duty bound thus far to vindicate the King my Master's Honour and Authority and to preserve his just and undoubted Rights from such deceitful and rebellious Practices as likewise with an humble and respective Care to prevent those prejudices that might befal your Highness in being deluded by counterfeit shews in doing you greater Honour where it is apparent that any Undertaking laid upon such false and ill-grounded Principles as have been smoothly digested and fixed upon that Nation as their desire and request must overthrow all those Heroick and Prince like Acts your Highness hath proposed to your self for God's Glory and Service the Restauration of oppressed Majesty and the Relief of his distressed Kingdom which would at length fall into intestine Broils and Divisions if not forcibly driven into desperation I shall now with a hopeful and cheerful importunity upon a clear score free from those Deceits propose to your Highness that for advancement of all those great Ends you aim at and in the King my Master's behalf and in the Name of all the Loyal Catholick Subjects in this Nation and for the preservation of those important cautionary Places that are Security for your Highness's past and present Disbursements you will be pleased to quicken and hasten those Aids and Assistances you intended for the Relief of Ireland and I have with my whole Power and through the greatest Hazards striven to defend them for you and to preserve all other Ports that may be at all times of Advantage and Safe-guard to your Fleets and Men of War having yet many good Harbours left and also engage in the King my Master's Name for whatsoever may prove to your Satisfaction that is any way consistent with his Honour and Authority and have made my Applications to the Queen's Majesty and my Lord-Lieutenant the King being in Scotland further to agree confirm and secure whatsoever may be of advantage to your Highness and if the last Galliot had but brought 10000 l. for this instant time ☜ it would have contributed more to the Recovery of this Kingdom than far greater Sums delayed by enabling our Forces to meet together for the Relief of Limerick which cannot but be in great distress after so long a Siege and which if lost although I shall endeavour to prevent it will cost much Treasure to be regained And if your Highness will be pleased to go on chearfully freely and seasonably with this great Work I make no question but God will give so great a blessing thereto as that myself and all the Loyal Subjects of this Kingdom may soon and justly proclaim and leave recorded to Posterity that your Highness was the grâ—â—t and glorious Restorer of our Religion Monarch and Nation and that your Highness may not be discouraged or diverted from this generous Enterprize by the Malice or Invectives of any ill-affected it is a necessary Duty in me to represent unto your Highness that the Bishop of Ferns who as I am informed hath gained some Interest in your favour is a Person that hath ever been violent against ☜ and malitious to His Majesty's Authority and Government and a fatal Instrument in contriving and fomenting all these Divisions and Differences that have rent asunder this Kingdom the Introduction to our present Miseries and weak Condition And that your Highness may clearly know his Disposition I send herewithal a Copy of part of a Letter written by him directed to the Lord Taaf Sir Nicholas Plunket and Jeffery Brown and humbly submitted to your Judgment whether those expressions be agreeable to the Temper of the Apostolical Spirit and considering whose Person and Authority I represent what ought to be the Reward of such a Crime I must therefore desire your Highness in the King my Master's behalf that he may not be countenanc'd or intrusted in any Affairs that have relation to His Majesty's Interest in this Kingdom where I have constantly endeavoured by all possible Service to deserve your Highness's good Opinion and obtaining that Favour to be a most faithful Acknowledger of it in the Capacity and under the Title of Your Highness's Most Humble and Obliged Servant CLANRICKARD Athenree 20th Octob. 1651. These Letters were as pat to the Duk 's purpose as could be for it justified him in not sending Succours until there should be a New and more Authentick * Null is suppetias missurus antequam alius tractatus concluderetur Vindiciae Eversae 139. Treaty and it also justified his Answer not to Treat any farther with the Agents without his Majesty's †Progredi in tractatu noluit donec de regis voluntate constaret Ibid. Approbation Which being made known to his Majesty he sent the Lord Goring with Letters of the 6th of February from Paris to thank his Highness for refusing farther Treaty with the Irish Agents and to propose to enter into a new Treaty with him about the Relief of Ireland but the Duke by this time had finished his Intrigue at Rome and therefore gave a very short answer That his Majesty had nothing in Ireland to treat for The Year 1651 1651. could not well be otherwise than successful for on the one side the Irish were distracted and divided and on the other side the English Army was rendered Immortal by those constant and seasonable Supplies both of Men and Necessaries that were sent them from England so that notwithstanding their frequent Expeditions
to excuse my self from communicating to you such Observations as I have made On the contrary I have herewith sent you what I have already collected and will as often as you desire impart to you whatever shall fall under my Notice or Observation that is pertinent to your purpose The Interval between the end of the War and Cromwell's Death affords but little matter for an Historian for it was a time of profound Peace and spent in setting out of Lands setling of Titles in Building and Improvements and in transplanting the Irish into Connaught and imposing the Engagement The Government was managed by Commissioners of Parliament viz. Charles Fleetwood Lieutenant-General of the Army Edmond Ludlow Lieutenant-General of the Horse Miles Corbet John Jones and John Weaver Esquires but the Army was under the sole Conduct of Fleetwood In November 1653. the Commissioners of Delinquency sate at Athlone to determine the Qualifications of the Irish for Transplantation into Connaught and they continued eight Months but did not dispatch Business as was expected and therefore Judg Cook was fain to supply their Defect and some of the other Commissioners removed to Loghreogh to set out Lands to the Irish pursuant to Cook 's Decrees But in Anno 1654. Fleetwood was made Lord Deputy and so continued until August 1655. and then Henry Cromwell was made Commander in Chief of the Army and in the Civil Government Matthew Thomlinson Miles Corbet and Robert Goodwin were in Commission with him and to them Mr. Steel the Chancellor was afterwards added And it was in the year 1655. that the Civil Authority which had been discontinued in Cork since the year 1644. was revived and Sir William 〈◊〉 Maurice Roch Christopher Oliver John Morly John Hodder and other ancient Freemen of the City met and elected John Hodder Mayor and William Hodder and Philip Matthews Sheriffs And in the same year the City and County of Londonderry were restored to the Society of the Governour and Assistants of London of the new Plantation in Ulster within the Realm of Ireland this County being the forfeited Estate of O Cahan and other Irish Septs was by King James granted to this Society under certain Covenants of Improvement whereupon they laid out vast Sums of Money in the Management of that Plantation by building Derry Colerain and twelve Mannor-houses c. But Anno 1636. they were prosecuted in the Star-Chamber on pretence of breach of Articles and their Estates sequestred and Anno 1637. Sir Thomas Fotherly and Sir Ralph Whitfield were Commissioned by the King to make new Leases thereof And tho there did pass a Vote of Parliament Anno 1640. to null the Decree of the Star-Chamber yet by reason of the Irish Rebellion following so soon after they were not restored until this year but Anno 1662. King Charles II. gave a new Charter to this Society under which it flourished till of late But to proceed After Oliver's Death the new Protector made his Brother Henry Cromwell Lord Lieutenant and so he continued until the 7th of May 1659. and then the Parliament sent over Ludlow Jones Thomlinson Corbet and Berry to Govern that Kingdom but Ludlow returned in September so that he was not in Ireland when the following Revolution happened For the People being weary of so many Alterations and Changes and despising the Unsteadiness of the Government were generally inclined to the King's Restauration And this humour being fomented and discreetly managed centred in what they desired The Lords of Montgomery and Broghall Sir Charles Coot Captain Robert Fitz-Gerald Sir Theophilus Jones Sir Oliver Saint-George Sir Awdly Mervin Collonel Mark Trevor Collonel Warren and several others were concerned in this Affair January 1659. They surpriz'd the Castle of Dublin and Jones in it and they seized on Corbet and Thomlinson at a Conventicle in St. Warbert-street and they forced or persuaded Major-General Sir Hardress Waller to comply and so they declared for a Free Parliament The Government being thus in the hands of the Army was managed by a Committee or Council of Officers who upon the Petition of the a Alderman Dee Mayor and Aldermen of Dublin did as they had before design'd summon a Convention By this time the Lord Broghill and Sir Charles Coot were come to Dublin and they projected to suspend the Convention until they had modell'd the Army to their mind and got rid of Sir Hardress Waller But he suspecting their Design seized upon the Castle of Dublin so that they were fain to besiege him and in five days forced him to surrender and then they sent Him Jones Thomlinson and Corbet Prisoners to England But the Victorious Confederates were like to Clash amongst themselves one Party being for Articling with the King for the Confirmation of the Estates of Adventurers and Soldiers and the other Party being for His Majesties Restoration without any previous Condition but at length they agreed in this latter Sentiment and the Convention met on the 7 th of February Sir James Barry being their Chair-man Their first Act was to order a Fast and Humiliation for their Sins amongst which the Murder of the King was Enumerated and all their Actions were suitable to this beginning so that they seemed to contend with England which should be most forward in Restoring the King On the 16 th of February The Council of Officers published their Memorable Declaration for a full and free Parliament and the Re-admission of the Secluded Members in the Parliament of England And pursuant to it the Convention published a Declaration on the 12 th of March to the same purpose and afterwards viz. the 14 th of May they accepted of His Majesties Declaration of the 14 th of April from Breda and cheerfully concurr'd to His Restoration And as soon as this was done the Irish Papists who had fat still all this while and contributed nothing to this great Revolution thought to reap all the Benefit of other Mens Merits insomuch that several of them took Possession of their former Estates and this Grievance was so general that the Convention was necessitated on the 20 th day of May 1660. to issue a Declaration for preserving the Peace and quieting Possessions and on the first of June His Majesty in England issued a Proclamation to the same purpose This Convention gave His Majesty 20000 l. the Duke of York 4000 l. the Duke of Glocester 2000 l. and then leaving a standing Committee to Govern the Nation Adjourn'd till the first day of November following On the 18 th of October His Majesty be Letter approv'd of this Convention and so on the 22 d of January it met again Sir William Dumvill being Chairman and so continued until its Dissolution in May 1661. In the mean time the Government was in the Hands of Sir Charles Coot and Major William Bury who were sided Commissioners of Government and Management of Affairs in Ireland but not long after Sir Maurice Eustace Lord Chancellor Roger Earl of
Sir Edward Deering Sir Edward Smith William Coventry Esq in whose stead came Sir Allen Brodrick Sir Winston Churchill and Collonel Cook Sat at the Kings Inus â—â—â—ral times but did not hear Causes till the 13 th of February because the Irish would not venture a Tryal until they had prepar'd Deeds Witnesses and other Conveniences and then in that Month the Commissioners declared thirty-eight Innocent and seven Nocent and in March adjudged fifty-three Innocent and seven Nocent and in April Voted Seventy-seven Innocent and five Nocent and in the remaining Months they decided Six hundred and thirty Claims to the great Loss and Disatisfaction of the Protestants In the Year 1663. Alexander Jepson Mr. Blood Collonel Abbot Major Warren and several others had formed a Plot to seize on the Castle of Dublin on the 21 th of May but the Lord Lieutenant had notice of it from the Earl of Orrery and others and so it was prevented and a Proclamation issued against the Conspirators in General on the 21 st of May and against several of them by Name on the 23 d of May and on the same day the Lord Lieutenant and Council gave an account of it to the Secretary of State and his Excellency Prorogued the Irish Parliament till the 21 st of July and so from time to time until the 26 th of October 1665. and then they Sat and by publick Declaration manifested their Abhorrence of that Plot. Hereupon all the People both Protestants and Papists were disarmed throughout the Kingdom some few only excepted in whom the Government could confide Nevertheless because several Dissenters refused to joyn in the late Plot the Lord Lieutenant on the 29 th of June continued the Indulgence to them until Christmas following And on the 31 st of July 1663. the Lord-Lieutenant and Council upon receipt of His Majesty's Letter in favour of the Lord of Antrim did by their Letter of that date signifie to His Majesty That the Marquess of Antrim did oppose both Peaces of 46 and 48 and did say in open Assembly That not a Man should go out of Vlster when the King expected 10000 out of Ireland And if this Letter takes place in so extraordinary manner it will infringe the Act of Settlement which is the fundamental Security and will hinder Reprisals for such as by Declaration the King is obliged to provide for And in April following His Excellency went for England and left his Son the Earl of Ossory Lord Deputy And about this time the Irish taking advantage of the mad Plot of Jepson 1664. c. aspers'd the English with disloyalty and cry'd up themselves for the only Loyal Subjects and they proceeded so far as to impeach Capt. Knight and Lieut. Salisbury of words which amounted to Treason in Judge Stockden's Opinion but upon strict Examination of the matter the Witnesses were found to faulter and afterwards confessed they were Suborn'd and begg'd Pardon In the beginning of September the Lord Lieutenant returned to Ireland 1665. He landed at Waterford and brought over with him the new Bill of Settlement afterwards called The Act of Explanation which passed into a Statute on the 15th of December and soon after his coming over he raised a Protestant Militia in Ireland and distributed 20000 Arms amongst them And it was this year that Pope Alexander VII issued his Bull to absolve the Irish from the Excommunication of the Nuntio in forma Ecclesiae consueta P. W. Epist to his Remonst xxxii that is as P. W. explains it upon their doing publick Penance for having returned but only so nigh their Obedience to their King as a bare Cessation of Arms in order to preserve His Majesty's Interest when their own could not subsist without it did amount unto On the 16th of December the Lord-Lieutenant did acquaint the Parliament with the great Preparations in France and Holland for War both by Sea and Land so that there was great danger of an Invasion whereupon the Commons voted Thanks to His Grace for the Advertisement and that they would stand by His Majesty with their Lives and Estates and would be assistant to His Grace against all the King's Enemies and to help bear the Expence of the War gave eight entire Subsidies and on the 30th of March they gave four more And indeed it was time to prepare for Defence P. W. Remonst 570. for P. W. assures us the Irish were tampering with France to back their Insurrection by an Invasion In May 1666. 1666. some Corporals and Soldiers of five Companies at Carrickfergus to the number of 200 seized on the King's Money in the hands of his Receiver and possessed themselves of the Gates and capitulated with the Earl of Donegall the Governour and refused to obey him but chose Corporal Dillon to be their Chief and Mann'd the Walls May 25th The Earl of Arran with four Companies of Guards went by Sea in the Dartmouth Frigat to Carrickfergus and arrived there the Sunday after The Mutineers desired time till afternoon to consider designing in the mean time to get Provisions into the Castle but Arran admitting no delay charged one way as Sir William Flower did another and forced the Mutineers into the Castle with the slaughter of Dillon and two of his Companions and the loss of two of the Earl of Arran's Soldiers and the next day in the afternoon the Lord-Lieutenant arrived with the Horse-Guards and then they surrendred at Mercy And this being a time when there was open War with France and Holland and an Invasion expected from France the Mutineers were try'd by Martial Law and ten of them condemned to die and the rest to be transported but upon their submission these last were all pardon'd On the 11th of June the Popish Clergy met in a sort of Convocation or National Synod in Dublin by connivance of the Lord-Lieutenant pursuant to His Majesty's Order and it was expected from them that they would have asked Pardon for the Rebellion in 1641. and have given the King new assurance of their Allegiance by taking an Oath to that purpose framed by their own Procurator Peter Welsh and called P. W. 10. The Loyal Formulary or The Irish Remonstrance But they were so far from doing so that one of their Bishops said They knew no Crime they were guilty of and therefore needed no Pardon and they not only refused to take the aforesaid Oath but prevailed with many that had subscribed that Remonstrance to withdraw their Subscriptions and to renounce that Oath But this matter as it is the greatest Demonstration of what sort of Allegiance the Popish Clergy of Ireland would pay to a Protestant King so it is well worthy of a Treatise by it self something more concise than that prolix else incomparable History which P. W. has afforded it But the Secret of this Affair was deeper than P. W. imagined for the Irish were then ready for a Rebellion and every day expected an Invasion from
whereupon he this Examinant came to Connaught on Wednesday night last and finding the said Hugh come to Dublin followed him thither he came hither about Six of the Clock this Evening and forthwith went to the Lodging of the said Hugh to the House near the Boot in Oxmantown and there he found the said Hugh and came with the said Hugh into the Town near the Pillory to the Lodging of the Lord Mac-Guire where they found not the Lord within and there they drank a Cup of Beer and then went back again to the said Hugh's Lodging He saith that at the Lord Mac-Guire's Lodging the said Hugh told him that there were and would be this Night great Numbers of Noblemen and Gentlemen of the Irish Papists from all parts of the Kingdom in this Town who with himself had determined to take the Castle of Dublin and to possess themselves of all his Majesties Ammunition there to Morrow Morning being Saturday and that they intended first to Batter the Chimneys of the said Town and if the Citizens would not yield then to Batter down the Houses and so to cut off all the Protestants that would not joyn with them He further saith That he the said Hugh told him that the Irish had prepared men in all parts of the Kingdom to destroy all the English Inhabiting there to Morrow Morning by Ten of the Clock and that in all the Sea-Ports and other Towns in the Kingdom all the Protestants should be killed that night and that all the Posts that could be could not prevent it And farther saith That he moved the said Hugh to forbear executing of that business and to discover it to the State for saving of his own Estate who said he could not help it but said that they did owe their Allegiance to the King and would pay him all his Rights But that they did this for the Tyrannical Government that was over them and to imitate Scotland who had got a Priviledge by that course And he further saith that when he was with the said Hugh in his Lodging the said Hugh swore that he should not go out of his Lodging that Night but told him he should go with him the next Morning to the Castle and said if this matter were discovered somebody should die for it Whereupon this Examinant fained some necessity for his Easement went down out of the Chamber and left his Sword in Pawn and the said Hugh sent his Man down with him and when this Examinant came down into the Yard and finding an opportunity he this Examinant leaped over a Wall and Two Pales and so came to the Lord Justice Parsons October 22. 1641. Owen O Conally William Parsons Thomas Rotheram Robert Meredith Appendix III. A Copy of a Letter directed to the Lord Viscount Costilough from the Rebels of the County of Longford in Ireland which he presented to the State in their behalf Nov. 10. 1641. Our very Good Lord OUr Allyance unto your Lordships Ancestors and your self and the tryal of your and their performance of Trust unto their Friends in their greatest Adversity encourageth us and engageth your Honour to our fruition of your future Favours the fixion of our confidence in you before any of the Peers and Privy Counsellors of the Kingdom doubleth this obligation Your Lordship may therefore be pleased to acquaint the Lords Justices and Councel to be imparted unto his Sacred Majesty with our Grievances and the causes thereof the Reading of which we most humbly pray and the Manner of it First The Papists in the Neighbouring Counties are severely Punished and their Miseries might serve as Beacons unto us to look unto our own when our Neighbours Houses are on Fire And we and other Papists are and ever will be as Loyal Subjects as any in the Kings Dominions for manifestation whereof we send herein inclosed an Oath solemnly taken by us which as it receiv'd indelible impression in our Hearts shall be Sign'd with our Hand and Seal'd with our Blood Secondly There is an Incapacity in the Papists of Honour and the Immunities of true Subjects the Royal marks of Distributive Justice and a disfavour in the Commutative which raised Strangers and Foreigners above those whose Valour and Vertue was Invincible when the old Families of the English and the major part of us the meer Irish did Swim in Blood to serve the Crown of England and when Offices should call Men of Worth Men without Worth and Merit obtain them Thirdly The Statute of 2 Eliz. of force in this Kingdom against us and they of our Religion doth not a little disanimate us and the rest Fourthly The avoidance of Grants of our Lands and Liberties by Quirks and Quiddities of the Law without reflecting upon the Kings Royal and real intention for confirming our Estates his Broad Seal being the Pawn betwixt his Majesty and his People Fifthly The Restraint of Purchase in the meer Irish of Lands in the Escheated Counties and the taint and blemish of them and their Posterities doth more discontent them than that Plantation Rule for they are brought to that Exigent of Poverty in these late times that they must be Sellers and not Buyers of Land And we conceive and humbly offer to your Lordships consideration principiis obsta that in the beginning of this Commotion your Lordship as it is Hereditary for you will be a Physitian to cure this Disease in us and by our examples it will doubtless beget the like auspicious success in all other parts of the Kingdom for we are of opinion it is one Sickness and one Pharmach will suffice Sublata causa tollitur effectus and it will be recorded that you will do Service unto God King and Country and for salving every the aforesaid Sores your Lordship is to be an humble Suitor in our behalf and of the rest of the Papists that out of the abundance of his Majesties Clemency there may be an Act of Oblivion and general Pardon without Restitution or account of Goods taken in the time of this Commotion a Liberty of our Religion a Repeal of all Statutes formerly made to the contrary and not by Proclamation but Parliamentary way a Charter-free Denizen in ample manner for meer Irish all which in succeeding Ages will prove an Union to all his Majesties Dominions instead of Division a Comfort in Desolation and a Happiness in perpetuity for an imminent Calamity And this being granted there will be all things Quae sunt Caesaris Caesari and quae sunt Dei Deo and it was by the Poet written though he be prophane in other matters yet in this Prophetically Divisum Imperium cum Jove Caesar habet All which for this present we leave to your Honourable care and we will as we ever did and do remain Your very humble and assured ever to be Commanded Hugh mac Gillernow Farral James Farral Bryan Farral Readagh Farral Edmond mac Cael Farral John Farral in Carbuy Garret Farrel Lisagh mac Conel Farral
England in sending for and impeaching one of the Members then sitting and that it was declared in Print by their order that Ireland if nam'd is bound by an English Statute which is against Law and Custom for Four Hundred Years past and though they had notice of the Protestation made by the English Parliament against Catholicks and their Intention to make Laws for the extirpation of that Religion in the Three Kingdoms and had notice of the cruel and bloody Execution of Priests in England meerly for being Priests and that his Majesty had not power enough left to save one condemned Priest and that the Catholicks of England being the Parliaments own Flesh and Blood must either suffer or depart the Land and much more must the Irish being not so nearly related to them if they should once get Jurisdiction in Ireland yet all this did not prevail with the Remonstrants to take Defensive much less Offensive Arms they still expecting that His Majesty in a short time might be able to yeild them Redress 7. That the Lords Justices c. by untrue Informations and other malicious Contrivances did endeavour to hinder His Majesty from granting Graces to the Irish Committee of Parliament but not prevailing in that they endeavoured to delay and stop them and by misconstruction and misrepresentations of the Irish Parliament endeavoured to possess His Majesty with an ill Opinion thereof and That it had not Jurisdiction in Capital Causes thereby aiming at the Impunity of those Impeached and the Destruction of the Parliament to which that power is essential and that the Lords Justices and their Adherents with the height of Malice envying their Union endeavour'd to sow Dissention in the Irish Parliament and to raise distinction of Nation and Religion and thereby made a Faction which to prevent the Graces passing into Acts Tumultuously cryed to Adjorn the House but being over-voted the Lords Justices said that if they did not Adjorn the Saturday themselves would Prorogue or Adjorn the Parliament on Monday by which means and the multitude of Proxies from Lords that have no Estate in Ireland which is destructive to the Liberty and freedom of Parliament here the Parliament was Adjorn'd on the 7 th of August and tho' the Graces were brought over soon after and the Committee desired the Lords Justices would give notice of them to the People to prevent misunderstanding or despair and an instrument was provided accordingly yet the Lord Justices willing to add Fuel to the Fire of the Subjects discontent did forbear to make such-Publication 8. That many Petitions containing matters Destructive to the Lives Estates and Religion of the Catholicks and directed to the House of Commons in England were promoted at publick Assizes to get hands unto them by Sir William Parsons Sir Adam Loftus Sir John Clotworthy and Arthur Hill Esq and others of the Malignant Party which were the more dreadful because of the said Clotworthy's power in the Parliament of England and his Barbarous and Inhuman expressions in that House against Catholicks and soon after an Order made by that Parliament Not to bow at the name of Jesus came to the knowledge of the Catholicks as also that the Malignant Party there did contrive and Plot to extingish the Irish Religion and Nation Hence some of them considered the deplorable condition they were in by a Statute of 2 Eliz. found amongst the Records but never executed in the Queens time nor discovered till most of the Members of that Parliament were dead which if executed no Catholick could enjoy his Life Liberty or Estate and yet nothing hindred but the Kings Prerogative which the Malignants endeavoured to destroy and then the Plot of Destruction by an Army out of Scotland and another of the Malignant Party in England must be executed the fear of these twofold Destructions and their ardent desire to assert the Prerogative Necessitated some Catholicks to take Arms in maintainance of Religion His Majesties Rights their own Lives Liberties and Estates and immediately thereupon took a solemn Oath and sent several Declarations to the Government and offered to submit to the Parliament of Ireland but the Offers were slighted and the Parliament Prorogued and a Declaration Issued on 23 October Accusing all Catholicks of Disloyalty but upon Application of Catholicks of Quality that the Prorogation was against Law and that a Session of Parliament was the only means to compose matters the Lords Justices knowing that but few would appear yielded to a short Session but limited it so that no Act of Grace or any thing for the Peoples satisfaction might pass that the few that met tho' disarm'd and not permitted a Servant and awed with Muskets presentto their Breasts yet desired leave to sit a short time to expect their fellows and to quiet the Insurrection and that the Graces might be Enacted but this was denied and instead of it a Declaration was propounded that these DISCONTENTED Gentlemen took Armâ— in Rebellious manner which was much resented by the best affected in both Houses but being informed that the Musqueteers had Order to shoot some of them at their going out they through terror gave way to that Declaration 9. However the greater part of the Catholicks and all Cities and Corporations and whole Provinces stood quiet and yet the Lords Justices knowing that many powerful Members of the English Parliament stood in opposition to his Majesty they sent their Addresses to that Parliament stuffed with Calumnies and propos'd to send over Forces to Conquer the Kingdom and they also Arm'd the Malignants in Ireland and the Catholicks even in Dublin and other Cities were not only denyed Arms for their Mony but also Disarm'd and when the Parliament had ordered a Pardon to all that should submit by a day limited Sir William Parsons contriv'd it so that it was publish'd only in two Counties and a short day prefix'd and Freeholders were therein excepted whereby it was manifest the Estates of Catholicks were first aimed at and then their Lives Moreover Sir Charles Coot was sent into Wicklow where he destroy'd Man Woman and Child that had neither Will nor Power to do hurt and others at Santry near Dublin Murdered innocent Husbandmen some whereof were Protestants mistaken for Catholicks meerly to force Fingal to Arms And tho' Complaint was made yet no Redress could be had and therefore the fear of being Murdered oblig'd the Catholicks to quit their Houses and to stand together in their own defence unprovided of Arms as they were hereupon a Proclamation issued 13 December not published till the 15 th requiring George King and others to come in and promising them Protection and another to summon the Lords of the Pale to meet at Council the 17 th But to prevent the effect of these Proclamations the same 15 th of December Sir Charles Coot was sent to burn Clantarf Mr. Kings House and use all acts of Hostility which he performed and this breach of Faith discourag'd the Lords of
inconveniencies the Supremacy of Rome and take away or much endanger your Majesties supream and just Authority in Causes Ecclesiastical Administration of Honour and Power not to be endured the said Acts extending as well to seditious Sectaries as to Popish Recusants so as by the Repeal thereof any Man may seem to be left to chuse his own Religion in that Kingdom which must needs beget great Confusion and the abounding of the Roman Clergy hath been one of the greatest Occasions of this late Rebellion Besides it is humbly desired that your Majesty will be pleased to take into your gracious Consideration a Clause in the Act of Parliament passed by your Majesties Royal Assent in England in the 17 th year of your Reign touching Punishments to be inflicted upon those that shall introduce the Authority of the See of Rome in any Cause whatsoever 2. Prop. That your Majesty will be pleased to call a free Parliament in the said Kingdom to be held and continued as in the said Remonstrance is expressed and the Statute of the Tenth Year of King Henry the Seventh called Poyning'â— Acts explaining or enlarging the same be suspended during that Parliament for the speedy Settlement of the present Affairs and the Repeal thereof to be there further considered of Answ Whereas their desire to have a free Parliament called reflecteth by secret and cunning Implication upon your Majesties present Parliament in Ireland as if it were not a free Parliament We humbly beseech your Majesty to represent how dangerous it is to make such insinuation or intimation to your People of that Kingdom touching that Parliament wherein several Acts of Parliament have already past the validity whereof may be endangered if the Parliament should not be approved as a free Parliament and it is a point of high Nature as we humbly conceive is not properly to be discussed but in Parliament and your Majesties said Parliament now sitting is a free Parliament in Law holden before a Person of Honour and Fortune in the Kingdom composed of good loyal and well-affected Subjects to your Majesty who doubtless will be ready to comply in all things that shall appear to be pious and just for the good of the true Protestant Religion and for your Majesties Service and the good of the Church and State that if this present Parliament should be dissolved it would be a great Terror and Discontent to all your Majesties Protestant Subjects of the Kingdom and may be also a means to force many of your Majesties Subjects to quit that Kingdom or peradventure to adhere to some other party there in opposition of the Romish Irish Confederates rather than to be liable to their Power which effects may prove of most dangerous Consequence And we humbly offer to your Majesties Consideration your own gracious Expression mentioned in the Grounds and Motives inducing your Majesty to agree to a Cessation of Arms for one whole Year with the Roman Catholicks of Ireland Printed at Oxford the Ninteenth of October 1643. And let all our good Subjects be assured that as we have for these reasons and with Caution and Deliberation consented to the Proposition to peace and to that purpose do continue our Parliament there so we shall proceed in the accomplishing thereof with that Care and Circumspection that we shall not admit even Peace it self otherwise than it may be agreeable to Conscience Honour and Justice We also humbly desire that such Laws as your Majesty shall think fit to pass may be transmitted according to Poyning's Law and other Laws of Explanation thereof or of Addition thereunto now in force with great Contentment and Security to your Majesties Protestant Subjects but if the present Parliament be dissolved we humbly represent unto your Majesty that so many of your ablest and best Protestant Subjects have been murthered or banished by this Rebellion that few or no Protestant Freeholders will be found in the Countries Cities or Boroughs to elect and chuse Knights Citizens or Burgesses which will be most dangerous to your Majesties Rights and Prerogatives and good Subjects and may beget great disputes in After-times for the repealings of Poyning's Acts notwithstanding their seigned Expressions of their Loyalty yet it plainly appeareth they do not repose such Trust in your Majesties Justice as becomes Loyal Subjects to do and such they pretend themselves to be for that they seek thereby to prevent your Majesty and your Council of England and Ireland of so full a View and Time of Mature Consideration to be had of Acts of Parliament of Ireland before they pass as in prudence is requisite and hath been found necessary by the Experience of well near Two Hundred Years and if their intentions were so clear as they profess we know not why they should avoid the strictest View and Trial of your Majesty and your Councils of both Kingdoms this their desire tending to introduce a grand Diminution to the royal and necessary Power for the Conservation of your regal State and Protection of your good Protestant Subjects there and elsewhere and what special use they aim at in seeking such a repeal your Protestant Subjects as they know not the particular so can they conjecture of none unless the said Confederates have some design by way of surprize to obtrude upon your Majesty in their new desired Parliament some Acts of Justification of their ill-done Actions and for condemning such of your Protestant Subjects as have in their several Degrees most faithfully served your Majesty there which we the rather believe seeing they have vowed by their Oath of Association and the Bull lately published in Ireland since the Cessation the Destruction of the Protestants there when they have the Sword in their hands to put the same in Execution 3. Prop. That all Acts and Ordinances made and passed in the now pretended Parliament in that Kingdom since the Seventh Day of August 1641. be clearly annulled and declared void and taken off the File Answ We humbly desire that they particularize those Orders and Ordinances which may prejudice your Majesties Service for we are well assured that the Parliament now sitting in Ireland on Signification of your Majesties Pleasure therein will give your Majesty full satisfaction or repeal any unjust Orders or Ordinances whatsoever which may be prejudicial to your Majesty And there may be some Orders or Ordinances which may concern particular Persons in their Lives Liberties or Fortunes that may suffer unheard by the admitting of so general a Proposition which is meerly proposed as we humbly conceive to put a Scorn upon your Majesties Parliament now sitting there and to discourage your Protestant Subjects who have faithfully served your Majesty in that Parliament 4. Prop. That all Indictments Attainders Outlawries in the King's-Bench or elsewhere since the said Seventh Day of August 1641. and all Letters Patents Grants Leases Custodiums Bonds Recognizances and all other Records Act or Acts depending thereon or in prejudice of the said Catholicks
bonds recognizances or any Record or acts office or offices inquisitions or any other thing depending upon or by reason of the said indictments attainders or outlawries shall in any sort prejudice the said Roman Catholicks or any of them but that they and every of them shall be forthwith upon perfection of these Articles restored to their respective possessions and hereditaments respectively provided that no man shall be questioned by reason hereof for measne rates or wastes saving wilful wastes committed after the first day of May last past 5. Item It is likewise concluded accorded and agreed and his Majesty is graciously pleased that as soon as possible may be all impediments which may hinder the said Roman Catholicks to sit or vote in the next intended Parliament or to choose or to be chosen Knights and Burgesses to sit or vote there shall be removed and that before the said Parliament 6. Item It is concluded accorded and agreed upon and his Majesty is further gratiously pleased that all debts shall remain as they were upon the 23. of October 1641. Notwithstanding any disposition made or to be made by vertue or colour of any attainder outlawry fugacy or other forfeiture and that no disposition or grant made or to be made of any such debts by vertue of any attainder outlawry fugacy or other forfeiture shall be of force and this to be passed as an act in the next Parliament 7. Item It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon and his Majesty is graciously pleased that for the securing of the Estates or reputed Estates of the Lords Knights Gentlemen and Free-holders or reputed Free holders as well of Connaght and County of Clare or Country of Thomond as of the Counties of Limerick and Tipperary the same be secured by Act of Parliament according to the intent of the 25. Article of the graces granted in the fourth year of his Majesties Reign the tenor whereof for so much as concerneth the same doth ensue in these words viz. We are graciously pleased that for the Inhabitants of Connaght and Country of Thomond and County of Clare that their several Estates shall be confirmed unto them and their Heirs against us and our Heirs and Successors by Act to be passed in the next Parliament to be holden in Ireland to the end the same may never hereafter be brought into any further question by Us or Our Heirs and Successors In which Act of Parliament so to be passed you are to take care that all tenures in capite and all Rents and Services as are now düe or which ought to be answered unto us out of the said Lands and premises by any Letters Pattents past thereof since the first year of King Henry the Eight or found by any Office taken from the said first year of King Henry the Eight until the 21. of July 1645. whereby our late dear Father or any his Predecessors actually received any profit by wardship liveries primer-seisins measne rates ousterlemains or fines of alienations without License be again reserved unto Us Our Heirs and Successors and all the rest of the premises to be holden of our Castle of Athlone by Knights service according to Our said late Fathers Letters notwithstanding any tenures in capite found for Us by Office since the 21. of July 1615. and not appearing in any such Letters Patents or Offices within which Rule his Majesty is likewise graciously pleased that the said Lands in the Counties of Limerick and Tipperarie be included but to be held by such Rents and Tenures only as they were in the fourth year of his Majesties Reign provided always that the said Lords Knights Gentlemen and Freeholders of the said Province of Connaght County of Clare and Country of Thoâ—â—â—â— and Counties of Tipperarie and Limerick shall have and enjoy the full benefit of such composition and agreement which shall be made with his most Excellent Majesty for the Court of Wards Tenures Respits and issues of Homage any clause in this Article to the contrary notwithstanding and as for the Lands within the Counties of Kilkennie and Wickloe unto which his Majesty was intituled by Offices taken or found in the time of the Earl of Straffords Government in this Kingdom his Majesty is further graciously pleased that the State thereof shall be considered in the next intended Parliament where his Majesty will assent unto that which shall be just and honourable and that the like act of Limitation of his Majesties Titles for the security of the Estates of his Subjects of this Kingdom be passed in the said Parliament as was enacted in the 21. year of his late Majesty King James his Reign in England 8. Item It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon and his Majesty is further graciously pleased that all incapacities imposed upon the Natives of this Kingdom or any of them as Natives by any Act of Parliament Provisoes in Patents or otherwise be taken away by Act to be passed in the said Parliament and that they may be enabled to erect one or more Innes of Court in or near the City of Dublin or elsewhere as shall be thought fit by his Majesties Lord Lieutenant or other chief Governour or Governours of this Kingdom for the time being and in case the said Innes of Court shall be erected before the first day of the next Parliament then the same shall be in such place as his Majesties Lord Lieutenant or other cheif Governour or Governours of this Kingdom for the time being by and with the advice and consent of the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon or any seven or more of them shall think fit and that such Students Natives of this Kingdom as shall be therein may take and receive the usual degrees accustomed in any Inns of Court they taking the insuing Oath viz. I. A. B. Do hereby acknowledge profess testifie and declare in my Conscience before God and the world that our Sovereign Lord King Charles is lawful and rightful King of this Realm and of other His Majesties Dominions and Countries and I will bear Faith and true Allegiance to His Majesty and His Heirs and Successors and Him and them will defend to the uttermost of my power against all conspiracies and attempts whatsoever which shall be made against his or their Crown and Dignity and do my best endeavour to disclose and make known to His Majesty His Heirs and Successors or to the Lord Deputy or other His Majesties Chief Governour or Governours for the time being all Treasons or Traiterous conspiracies which I shall know or hear to be intended against His Majesty or any of them and I do make this Recognition and acknowledgment heartily willingly and truly upon the true Faith of a Christian So help me God c. And his Majesty is further graciously pleased that his Majesties Roman Catholick Subjects may erect and keep free-Schools for Education of youths in this Kingdom any Law or Statute to the contrary notwithstanding and that all
Titles between party and party grown after these patents granted are to be left to the ordinary course of Law and that the Counsel-Table do not hereafter intermeddle with common business that is within the cognizance of the ordinary Courts nor with the altering of possessions of Lands nor make nor use private Orders hearings or references concerning any such matter nor grant any injunction or order for stay of any suits in any civil cause and that parties grieved for or by reason of any proceedings formerly had there may commence their suits and prosecute the same in any of his Majesties Courts of Justice or Equity for Remedy of their pretended rights without any restraint or interruption from his Majesty or otherwise by the chief Governour or Governours and Council of this Kingdom and that the proceedings in the respective Presidency Courts shall be pursuant and according to his Majesties printed Book of Instructious and that they shall contain themselves within the limits prescribed by that Book when the Kingdom shall be restored to such a degree of quietness as they be not necessarily enforced to exceed the same 14. Item It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said parties and his Majesty is further graciously pleased That as for and concerning one Statute made in this Kingdom in the eleventh year of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth intituled led an Act for staying of Wool Flocks Tallow and other necessaries within this Realm and another Statute made in the said Kingdom in the twelfth year of the Reign of the said Queen intituled an Act c. And one other Statute made in the said Kingdom in the 13 year of the Reign of the said late Queen intituled an Exemplanation of the Act made in a Session of this Parliament for the staying of Wool Flocks Tallow and other wares and commodities mentioned in the said Act and certain Articles added to the same Act all concerning staple or native Commodities of this Kingdom shall be repealed if it shall be so thought fit in the Parliament excepting for Wool and Woolfels and that such indifferent persons as shall be agreed on by the said Lord Lieutenant and the said Thomas Lord Viscount Dillon Esq c. or any seven or more of them shall be authorized by Commission under the great Seal to moderate and ascertain the rates of merchandize to be exported or imported out of or into this Kingdom as they shall think fit 15. Item It is concluded accorded and agreed by and between the said parties and his Majesty is graciously pleased that all and every person and persons within this Kingdom pretending to have suffered by Offices found of several Countries Territories Lands and Hereditaments in the Province of Ulster and other Provinces of this Kingdom in or since the first of King James his Reign or by Attainders or Forfeitures or by pretence and colour thereof since the said first year of King James or by other Acts depending on the said Offices attainders and forfeitures may petition his Majesty in Parliament for relief and redress and if after examination it shall appear to his Majesty the said persons or any of them have been injured then his Majesty will prescribe a course to repair the person or persons so suffering according to Justice and Honour 16. Item It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between tht said parties and his Majesty is graciously pleased that as to the particular Cases of Maurice Lord Viscount de Rupe and Fermoy c. they may petition his Majesty in the next Parliament whereupon his Majesty will take such consideration of them as shall be just and fit 17. Item It is likewise concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said parties and his Majesty is graciously pleased That the Citizens Free-men Burgesses and former Inhabitants of the City of Cork Towns of Youghal and Dungarven shall be forthwith upon perfection of these Articles restored to their respective possessions and estates in the said City and Towns respectively where the same extends not to the endangering of the said Garrisons in the said City and Towns In which case so many of the said Citizens and Inhabitants as shall not be admitted to the present possession of their houses within the said City and Towns shall be afforded a valuable annual Rent for the same until settlement in Parliament ☞ at which time they shall be restored to those their possessions And it is further agreed and his Majesty is graciously pleased That the said Citizens Free-men Burgesses and Inhabitants of the said City of Cork and Towns of Youghal and Dungarven respectively shall be enabled in convenient time before the next Parliament to be hold in this Kingdom to chuse and return Burgesses into the same Parliament 18. Item It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said parties and his Majesty is further graciously pleased that an Act of Oblivion be past in the next Parliament to extend to all his Majesties Subjects of this Kingdom and their Adherents of all Treasons and Offences capital criminal and personal and other Offences of what nature kind or quality soever in such manner as if those Treasons or Offences had never been committed perpertrated or done That the said Act do extend to the Heirs Children Kindred Executors Administrators Wives Widows Dowagers or Assigns of such of the said Subjects and their Adherents who died on before or since the 23d of Octob. 1641. That the said Act do relate to the first day of the next Parliament that the said Act do extend to all Bodies Politick and Corporate and their respective Successors and unto all Cities Boroughs Counties Baronies Hundreds Towns Villages Tithings and every of them within this Kingdom for and concerning all and every of the said Offences or any other Offence or Offences in them or any of them committed or done by his Majesties said Subjects or their Adherents or any of them before in or since the 23d of Octob. 1641. Provided this Act shall not extend to be construed to pardon any Offence or Offences for which any person or persons have been convicted or attainted of Record at any time before the 23d of Octob. in the year of our Lord 1641. That this Act shall extend to Piracies and all other Offences committed upon the Sea by his Majesties said Subjects or their Adherents or any of them That in this Act of Oblivion words of release acquittal and discharge be inserted that no person or persons Bodies politick or Corporate Counties Cities Burroughs Baronnies Hundreds Towns Villages Tithings or any of them within this Kingdom included within the said Act be troubled impeached sued inquieted or molested for or by reason of any offence matter or thing whatsoever comprised within the said Act and the said Act shall extend to all Rents Goods and Chattels taken detained or grown due to the Subjects of the one party from the other
had scarce a fair Pretence for that Cavil yet to satisfie them those words were by a Second Proclamation of the 29th of October explain'd to extend to none but such as were in Rebellion Their Second Attempt was at the Session of Parliament on the Sixteenth of November where they endeavoured to Palliate the Rebellion and smooth and soften their Protestation against it and complain'd at the Shortness of the Session whereby they were hindred as they said of means to suppress the Insurrection But finding neither of these sufficient they had afterwards Recourse to other as ill grounded Complaints hereafter mentioned and in the mean time they excused themselves to the State that they were not able to raise Men according to their Commissions of Government by which Answer and some other Passages the Lord Justices perceived That even those of the Pale were Tainted with the infection and therefore they recalled the Arms they had delivered out to them and by a great deal of industry they recovered about Nine hundred of them and the rest were treacherously made use of against the State that had too credulously trusted the Roman Catholicks with them at so critical a Juncture In this extremity and want of all things especially Money Application was made to the Corporation of Dublin but that famous City the Metropolis of the Kingdom would not advance more than Fifty Pounds tho' upon so great an Emergency whereby the State was convinc'd that the Rebellion was Universal and that even those the Citizens that did not dare to appear openly in it were yet secretly Well-wishers to the Cause and in their Hearts devoted to the Persons and Designs of the Rebels And this was the more manifest because the Popish Citizens did rarely if at all administer any the least Comfort to the poor and plunder'd English insomuch that the Protestants perished in such Multitudes at Dublin that the Church-yards being full of Graves the Lords Justices were fain to provide two large Pieces of Ground for new Burying-places for them The Lords Justices by their Proclamation of the Twenty seventh of October caused Michaelmas Term to be adjourned and sent Four hundred Musquets by Sea to the Lords Viscounts of Clandeboys and Ardes and also sent Commissions to them to raise the Scots and to receive Submitting Rebels to Mercy and they also wrote to the Lords President of Munster and Connaught to be on their Defence And because of the great Concourse to Dublin and the danger that City was in upon the Complaint of the Magistrates thereof all Strangers were commanded by Proclamation to depart the City upon pain of Death but no body was punished for disobeying that Order altho' there was a second Proclamation against the Harbourers of such Strangers But how general soever this Rebellion was and how cruel soever the Authors of it were Vid. Appendix 10. altho' the very Women and Children were active in stripping and murdering the distressed English yet the Execution could not be so great nor with so little Loss to the Irish but that the English were wheedled to put a Confidence in their Irish Landlords Tenants Servants and Neighbors with whom they had lived kindly and to whom they had given no manner of Provocation and so neglecting the proper Means of defending themselves they were miserably betrayed and perfidiously destroyed by those they trusted it being esteemed a Mortal Sin amongst most of the Rebels to relieve or protect a Heretick But in some places the English to considerable Numbers were embodied together and being in a condition to make some Resistance were promised Quarter and good Articles upon Oath But as soon as they submitted they were also treacherously murdered And thus they were served at Loughell Temple 41. Armagh Belturbet Longford Tullogh New-Town Burlace 71. Sligo and many other Places At first the Rebels did pretend to spare the Scots and to make a Difference between them whom they professed a Kindness for because they were Strangers and their Religion likewise persecuted by the parliament and the English against whom they expressed a most bitter and inveterate Hatred and to disguise their Designs they did actually Forbear them for about ten days till the English were destroyed and then they fell upon the Scots also and made no farther distinction between British Protestants By the First of November the Protestants had very little left in Ulster except Londonderry Colerain and Iniskilling and half the County of Down and part of the County of Antrim which the Government was in an ill Condition to provide for or relieve and had no hopes of retrieving that part of Ulster which was lost and so deeply drench'd in innocent Blood otherwise than by Force of Arms but as to the Counties of Meath West-Meath Longford and Louth which were not yet so deeply plung'd in Robberies and Murthers the Lords Justices had hopes of their Submission and therefore did issue their Proclamation of Pardon to all that would submit within Ten days Freeholders and Murderers only excepted But whilst these things were doing viz. on the First of November the Parliament of England voted a Supply of Fifty thousand Pounds for the Relief of Ireland and that all the Papists of Quality in England be secured and that none except Merchants shall pass to Ireland without a Certificate and that a Pardon be offered to the Irish Rebels and that Owen O Conally the Discoverer of the Plot should have Five hundred Pounds in Money and Lands worth Two hundred Pounds per Annum setled upon him And this Order was 12 November printed in Dublin and dispersed all over the Kingdom but without any Effect For now the Rebels were elevated and had formed a Design against Tredagh whereof Doctor Jones afterwards Bishop of Meath gave timely notice so that it was prevented for tho' the Lord Moor had made a seasonable Entry into that Town nevertheless the Inclination of the Townsmen and of Sir John Nettervill who had a Foot Company there in the King's Pay being manifestly favourable to the Rebels the Place was not safe without a stronger Garison and therefore Sir Henry Tichbourn with a Regiment of Foot and two Troops of Horse was sent from Dublin the third day of November and came safe to Tredagh the next day On the Fourth of November Sir Phelim O Neale and Rory Macguire from their Camp at Newry published That they had a Commission from the King under the Great Seal of England for this Insurrection And one Harison having taken the Seal from an old Patent of the Lord Cawfeild's at Charlemont and fixed it to a forged Commission they sent attested Copies of it in Letters to their Confederates thereby blacking their Insurrection with the worst of Circumstances viz. by laying it to the Charge of His Majesty who upon all Occasions expressed his Detestation of it and by this means they raised more Enemies to the King and created more Jealousies in the Minds of His Protestant Subjects
in England provided that nothing shall be concluded by both or either of the said Houses of Parliament which may bring prejudice to any of His Majesties Protestant Party or their Adherents or to any of his Majesties Roman-Catholick Subjects Party or their Adherents other than such things as upon this Treaty shall be concluded to be done or such things as may be proper for the Committee of Priviledges of either or both Houses to take cognizance of as in such cases heretofore hath been accustomed and such other things as shall be propounded to either or both Houses by the Lord Lieutenant or other chief Governour or Governours for the time being during the said Parliament for the advancement of His Majesties Service and the Peace of the Kingdom which Clause is to admit no construction which may trench upon these Articles or any of them 3. It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said Parties and His Majesty is further graciously pleased that all Acts Ordinances and Orders made by both or either Houses of Parliament to the blemish dishonour or prejudice of His Majesties Roman-Catholick Subjects of this Kingdom or any of them since the Seventh of August 1641 shall be vacated and that the same and all exemplifications and other Acts which may continue the memory of them be made void by Act of Parliament 4. It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said Parties and His Majesty is further graciously pleased that all Indictments Attainders Outlawries in this Kingdom and all the Processes and other proceedings thereupon and all Letters Patents Grants Leases Custodiams Bonds Recognizances and all Records Act or Acts Office or Offices Inquisitions and all other things depending upon or taken by reason of the said Indictments Attainders or Outlawries since the Seventh of August 1641 in prejudice of the said Catholicks their Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns or any of them or the Widows of them or any of them shall be vacated and made void in such sort as no memory shall remain thereof to the blemish dishonour or prejudice of the said Catholicks their Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns or any of them or the Widows of them or any of them and that to be done immediately after concluding of these Articles and at furthest before the First day of October next or in case the said new Parliament be called sooner than the said last day of November then Forty days before the said Parliament And that all impediments which may hinder the said Roman-Catholicks to Sit or Vote in the next intended Parliament or to choose or to be chosen Knights and Burgesses to Sit or Vote there shall be removed before the said Parliament provided that no man shall be questioned by reason of this Article for mesne rates or wastes saving wilful wastes committed after the First of November 1645. 5. It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said parties And His Majesty is further graciously pleased that all debts do stand in state as they were in the beginning of those troubles and that no grant or disposition made or to be made thereof by vertue or colour of any Attainder Outlawry Fugacy or other Forfeiture whatsoever or otherwise shall be of force and this to be passed as an Act in the said next Parliament 6. It is concluded accorded and agreed by and between the said parties and His Majesty is graciously pleased that for the securing of the Estates or reputed Estates of the Lords Knights Gentlemen and Freeholders or reputed Freeholders as well of Connaught and County of Clare or Country of Thomond as of the County of Limerick and Tipperary the same to be secured by Act of Parliament according to the intent of the Five and Twentieth Article of the Graces granted in the Fourth year of his Majesties Reign the Tenor whereof for so much as concerneth the said Proposition doth ensue in these words viz. We are Graciously pleased that for the securing of the Inhabitants of Connaught and Country of Thomond and County of Clare that their several Estates shall be confirmed unto them and their Heirs against Vs and our Heirs and Successors by Act to be passed in the next Parliament to be holden in Ireland to the end the same may never hereafter be brought into any further question by Vs Our Heirs and Successors in which Act of Parliament so to be passed you are to take care that all Tenures in Capite and all Rents and Services as are now due or which ought to be answered unto Vs out of the said Lands and Premises by any Letters Patents past thereof since the first year of King Henry the Eighht or found by any Office taken from the said first year of King Henry the Eighth until the One and Twentieth of July 1615 whereby our late dear Father or any His Predecessors actually received any profit by Wardship Liveries primer Seisins mesne rates Oâ—ster le mains or fines of alienations without licence be again reserved unto Vs Our Heirs and Successors And all the rest of the premises to be holden of Our Castle of Athloane by Knights Service according to our said late Fathers Letters notwithstanding any Tenures in Capite found for Vs by Office since the One and Twentieth of July 1615 and not appearing in any such Letters Patents or Offices within which rule it is His Majesties pleasure and it is so concluded and agreed that the said Lands in the Counties of Limerick and Tipperary be included but to be held by such Rents and Tenures only as they were in the Fourth Year of His Majesties Reign Provided always and it is the intention of the said parties to these presents that the said Lords Knights Gentlemen and Freeholders or reputed Freeholders of the said Province of Connaught County of Clare and Country of Thomond and Counties of Tipperary and Limerick shall have and enjoy the full benefit of such Composition and Agreement which shall be made with His most Excellent Majesty for the Court of Wards Tenures Respites and Issues of Homage any clause in this Article contained to the contrary notwithstanding And as for the Lands within the Counties of Kilkenny and Wickloe unto which His Majesty was Intituled by Offices taken or found in the time of the Earl of Strafford's Government in this Kingdom His Majesty is graciously pleased that the state thereof shall be considered in the next intended Parliament wâ—â—rein His Majesty will assent unto that which shall be Just and Honourable And it is further concluded and agreed by and between the said Parties and His Majesty is further graciously pleased that the like Act of Limitation of His Majesties Titles for the security of the Estates of His Subjects of this Kingdom be passed in the said Parliament as was Enacted in the One and Twentieth Year of His late Majesty King James His Reign in England 7. It is further concluded accorded and
agreed upon by and between the said Parties and His Majesty is further graciously pleased that all Incapacities imposed upon the Natives of this Kingdom or any of them as Natives by any Act of Parliament Provisoes in Patents or otherwise be taken away by Act to be passed in the said Parliament and that they may be enabled to erect one or more Inns of Court in or near the City of Dublin and that such Students Natives of this Kingdom as shall be therein may take and receive the usual Degrees accustomed in any Inns of Court they taking the Oath already mentioned And that they may erect one or more Universities to be Governed by such Rules and Orders as His Majesty shall appoint And it is further concluded and agreed by and between the said Parties and His Majesty is graciously pleased that the said Roman-Catholick Subjects may erect and keep Free-Schools for education of Youth in this Kingdom any Law or Statute to the contrary notwithstanding all the matters of this Article to be passed as Acts of Parliament in the said next Parliament 8. It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said Parties and His Majesty is graciously pleased That Places of Command Honour Profit and Trust in His Majesties Armies in this Kingdom shall be upon perfection of these Articles actually and by particular instances conferred upon His Roman-Catholick Subjects of this Kingdom and that upon the distribution conferring and disposal of the Places of Command Honor Profit and Trust in his Majesties Armies in this Kingdom for the future no difference shall be made between the said Roman-Catholicks and other His Majesties Subjects but that such distribution shall be made with equal indifferency according to their respective Merits and Abilities And that all his Majesties Subjects of this Kingdom as well Roman-Catholicks as others shall for his Majesties Service and their own security arm themselves the best they may wherein they shall have all fitting encouragement And the Places of Command Honour Profit and Trust in Civil Government in this Kingdom shall be upon passing of the Bills in these Articles mentioned in the next Parliament actually and by particular instances conferred upon his Majesties Roman-Catholick Subjects of this Kingdom and that in the distribution conferring and disposal of the places of Command Honour Profit and Trust in the Civil Government for the future no difference shall be made between the said Roman-Catholicks and others His Majesties Subjects but that such distribution shall be made with equal indifferency according to their respective merits and abilities and that in the distribution of Ministerial Offices or Places which now are or hereafter shall be void in this Kingdom equality shall be used to the Roman-Catholick Natives of this Kingdom as to other his Majesties Subjects That the Command of Forts Castles Garrisons Towns and other Places of Importance in this Kingdom shall be conferred upon His Majesties Roman-Catholick Subjects of this Kingdom upon perfection of these Articles actually and by particular instances and that in the distribution conferring and disposal of the Forts Castles Garrisons Towns and other places of Importance in this Kingdom no difference shall be made between his Majesties Roman-Catholick Subjects of this Kingdom and other his Majesties Subjects but that such distribution shall be made with equal indifferency according to their respective Merits and Abilities 9. It is further concluded accorded and agreed upon by and between the said Parties and his Majesty is further Graciously pleased that His Majesty will accept of the Yearly Rent or Annual Sum of Twelve Thousand Pounds Sterling to be applotted with indifferency and equality and consented to be paid to His Majesty his Heirs and Successors in Parliament for and in lieu of the Court of Wards in this Kingdom Tenures in Capite common Knights service and all other Tenures within the Cognizance of that Court and for and in Lieu of all Wardships primer Seisins Fines Ousterlemains Liveries Intrusions Alienations Mesne-rates Reliefs and all other Profits within the Cognizance of the said Court or Incident to the said Tenures or any of them or Fines to accrew to His Majesty by reason of the said Tenures or any of them and for and in lieu of Respites and Issues of Homage and Fines of the same And the said Yearly Rent being so Applotted and consented unto in Parliament as aforesaid then a Bill is to be agreed on in the said Parliament to be Passed as an Act for the securing of the said Yearly Rent or Annual Sum of Twelve thousand pounds to be Applotted as aforesaid and for the Extinction and taking away the said Court and other matters aforesaid in this Article contained And it is further Agreed that reasonable Compositions shall be accepted for Wardships fallen since the 23 d. of October 1641. and already granted And that no Wardships fallen or not granted or that shall fall shall be past until the Success of this Article shall appear And if His Majesty be Secured as aforesaid Then all Wardships fallen since the said 23 d. of October are to be included in the Agreement aforesaid upon Composition to be made with such as have Grants as aforesaid which composition to be made with the Grantees since the time aforesaid is to be left to indifferent Persons and the Umpirage to the said Lord Lieutenant His Majesties Commissioner 10. It is further concluded accorded and agreed by and between the said Parties and His Majesty is further graciously pleased that no Nobleman or Peer of this Realm in Parliament shall be hereafter capable of more Proxies than two and that blank Proxies shall be hereafter totally disallowed and that if such Noblemen or Peers of this Realm as have no Estates in this Kingdom do not within Five Years to begin from the conclusion of these Articles Purchase in this Kingdom as followeth viz. A Lord Baron two hundred pounds per annum a Lord Viscount four hundred pounds per annum and an Earl six hundred pounds Ster per annum shall lose their Votes in Parliament until such time as they shall afterwards acquire such Estates respectively And it is further agreed that none be admitted into the House of Commons but such as shall be Estated and Resident within this Kingdom 11. It is further Concluded Accorded and Agreed by and between the said Parties and His Majesty is further graciously pleased that as for and concerning the Independency of the Parliament of Ireland on the Parliament of England His Majesty will leave both Houses of Parliament in this Kingdom to make such Declaration therein as shall be agreeable to the Laws of the Kingdom of Ireland 12. It is further Concluded Accorded and Agreed by and between the said parties and His Majesty is further graciously pleased That the Council Table shall contain it self within it's proper bounds in handling matters of State and weight fit for that place amongst which the Patents of Plantation and the Offices