Parliament held at Oxford Soon after King Iohn being then about Twelve Years of Age came into Ireland from Milford to Waterford as his Father had formerly done The Irish Nobility and Gentry immediately repaired to him but being Received by him and his Retinue with some Scorn and Derision by reason of their long rude Beards quas more Patrio grandes habebant prolixas says Giraldus Cambrensis Hib. Expug Cap. 35. they took such Offence thereat that they departed in much Discontent which was the occasion of the young Kings staying so short a time in Ireland as he did this his first time of being here And here before we proceed any farther we shall observe That by this Donation of the Kingdom of Ireland to King Iohn Ireland was most eminently set apart again as a Separate and Distinct Kingdom by it self from the Kingdom of England and did so continue until the Kingdom of England Descended and came unto King Iohn after the Death of his Brother Richard the First King of England which was about Twenty two years after his being made King of Ireland during which space of Twenty two years both whilst his Father Henry the Second and his Brother Richard the First were living and Reigning King Iohn made divers Grants and Charters to his Subjects of Ireland which are yet in being in this Kingdom wherein he stiles himself Dominus Hiberniae the constant Stile till Henry the Eighth's time and in others Dominus Hiberniae Comes Meritoniae By which Charters both the City of Dublin and divers other Corporations enjoy many Priviledges and Franchises to this day But after the said Grant of the Kingdom of Ireland to King Iohn neither his Father Henry II. nor his Brother King Richard I. Kings of England ever stiled themselves during their Lives King or Lord of Ireland for the Dominion and Regality of Ireland was wholly and separately vested in K. Iohn being absolutely Granted unto him without any Reservation And he being Created King in the Parliament at Oxford under the Stile and Title of Lord of Ireland Enjoy'd all manner of Kingly Iurisdiction Preheminence and Authority Royal belonging unto the Imperial State and Majesty of a King as are the Express words of the Irish Statute 33 Hen. VIII c. 1. by which Statute the Stile of Dominus was changed to that of Rex Hiberniae Let us then suppose that Richard the First King Iohn's Elder Brother had not died without Issue but that his Progeny had sat on the Throne of England in a Continued Succession to this Day Let us suppose likewise the same of King Iohn's Progeny in relation to the Throne of Ireland where then had been the Subordination of Ireland to the Parliament or even to the King of England Certainly no such thing could have been then pretended Therefore if any such Subordination there be it must arise from something that followed after the Descent of England to King Iohn for by that Descent England might as properly be Subordinate to Ireland as the converse Ireland being vested in the Royal Person of King Iohn Two and Twenty years before his Accession to the Crown of England and being a more Ancient Kingdom than the Kingdom of England As the English Orators in the Council of Constance An. 1417 confess'd and alledged as an Argument in the Contest between Henry the Fifth's Legates and those of Charles the Sixth King of France for Precedence Satis Constat say they secundum Albertum Magnum Bartholomeum de Proprietatibus Rerum quod toto Mundo in tres partes Diviso scilicet in Europam Asiam Africam for America was not then Discovered Europa in quatuor Dividitur Regna scilicet Primum Romanum Secundum Constantinopolitanum Tertium Regnum Hiberniae quod jam translatum est in Anglos Quartum Regnum Hispaniae Ex quo patet quod Rex Angliae Regnum suum sunt de Eminentioribus Antiquioribus Regibus Regnis totius Europae The Antiquity and Precedence of the King of England was allo'wd him wholly on the Account of his Kingdom of Ireland Perhaps it will be said That this Subordination of the Kingdom of Ireland to the Kingdom of England proceeds from Ireland's being Annex'd to and as it were united with the Imperial Crown of England by several Acts of Parliament both in England and Ireland since King Iohns time But how farr this Operates I shall Enquire more fully hereafter I shall only at present Observe that I conceive little more is Effected by these Statutes Than that Ireland shall not be Alien'd or Separated from the King of England who cannot hereby dispose of it otherwise than in Legal Succession along with England and that whoever is King of England is ipso facto King of Ireland and the Subjects of Ireland are oblig'd to Obey him as their Liege Lord. To proceed therefore After both Crowns were united on the Death of Richard the First without Issue in the Royal Person of King Iohn He about the Twelfth Year of his Reign of England went again into Ireland viz. the Twenty Eight day of Iune 1210. and Math. Paris tells us pag. 220. Cum Venisset ad Dublinensem Civitatem Occurrerunt ei ibidem plus quam 20 Reguli illius Regionis qui omnes Timore maximo preterriti homagium ei Fidelitatem fecerunt Fecit quoque Rex ibidem Construere Leges Consuetudines Anglicanas ponens Vicecomites aliosque Ministros qui populum Regni illius juxta Leges Anglicanas Judicarent His Son King Henry the Third came to the Crown the Nineteenth of October 1216. and in November following he Granted to Ireland a Magna Charta Dated at Bristol 12 November the First Year of his Reign 'T is Prefaced that for the Honour of God and Advancement of Holy Church by the Advice of his Council of England whose names are particularly recited He makes the following Grant to Ireland And then goes on Exactly Agreeable to the Magna Charta which he granted to England only in ours we have Civitas Dublin Avenliffee instead of Civitas London and Thamesis with other Alterations of the like kind where Needful But ours is Eight years older than that which he granted to England it not being till the Ninth Year of his Reign and ours is the First Year This Magna Charta of Ireland Concludes thus Quia vero sigillum nondum Habuimus presentem Cartam Sigillis Venerabilis Patris nostri Domini Gualt Apost Sedis Legati Willelmi Mar eschalli Comitis Pembrooke Rectoris nostri Regni nostri secimus Sigillari Testibus omnibus praenominatis alijs Multis Dâ—…t per Manus Praedictorum Domini Legati Willelmi Marescalli Apud Bristol Duodecimo die Novembr Regni nostri Anno Primo An Antient Coppy of this Magna Charta of Ireland is to be found in the Red Book of the Exchequer Dublin In February following in the First Year like wise of his Reign
Mankind and on whatsoever Ground any one Nation can Challenge it to themselves on the same Reason may the Rest of Adam's Children Expect it If what I Offer herein seems to carry any Weight in relation to my own Poor Country I shall be abundantly happy in the Attempt But if after all the Great Council of England Resolve the contrary 〈◊〉 shall then believe my self to be â—…n an Error and with the lowest Submission ask Pardon for my Assurance However I humbly presume I shall not be hardly Censur'd by them for offering to lay before them a fair State of our Case by such Information as I can procure especially when at the same time I declare my Intention of a Submissive Acquiescence in whatever they Resolve for or against what I Offer The Subject therefore of our present Disquisition shall be How far the Parliament of England may think it Reasonable to intermeddle with the Affairs of Ireland and Bind us up by Laws made in their House And seeing the Right which England may pretend to for Binding us by their Acts of Parliament can be founded only on the Imaginary Title of Conquest or Purchase or on Precedents and Matters of Record We shall Enquire into the following Particulars 1. First How Ireland became a Kingdom Annex'd to the Crown of England And here we shall at large give a faithful Narrative of the First Expedition of the Britains into this Country and King Henry the Second's Arrival here such as our best Historians give us 2. Secondly We shall Enquire Whether this Expedition and the English Settlement that afterwards follow'd thereon can properly be call'd a Conquest Or whether any Victories obtain'd by the English in any succeeding Ages in this Kingdom upon any Rebellion may be call'd a Conquest thereof 3. Thirdly Granting that it were a Conquest we shall Enquire what Title a Conquest gives 4. Fourthly We shall Enquire what Concessions have been from time to time made to Ireland to take off what even the most Rigorous Assertors of a Conquerour's Title do pretend to And herein we shall shew by what Degrees the English Form of Government and the English Statute-Laws came to be received among us And this shall appear to be wholly by the Consent of the People and Parliament of Ireland 5. Fifthly We shall Enquire into the Precedents and Opinions of the Learned in the Laws relating to this Matter with Observations thereon 6. Sixthly We shall Consider the Reasons and Arguments that may be farther Offered on one side and t'other and shall Draw some General Conclusions from the Whole As to the First We shall find the History of the First Expedition of the English into Ireland to be briefly thus In the Reign of King Henry the Second Dermot Fitzmurchard commonly called Mac-Morrogh Prince of Leinster who was a Man Cruel and Oppressive after many Battels with other Princes of Ireland and being Beaten and put to Flight by them Apply'd for Relief to King Henry the Second who was then busied in Aquitain the King was not then in such Circumstances as to afford him much Help However thus much he did for him By Letters Patents he granted License to all his Subjects throughout his Dominions to Assist the said Prince to Recover his Dominions These Letters Patents are to be seen in Giraldus Cambrensis who was Historiographer and Secretary to King Hen. II. and Accompanied him in his Expedition into Ireland and from him it is that we have this Relation The Irish Prince brought these Letters into England and caused them to be Read in the Audience of many People Beating up as it were for Voluntiers and free Adventurers into Ireland At length Richard Earl of Strigul now Chepstow in Monmouthshire Son of Earl Gilbert call'd Strongbow Agreed with him to Assist him in the Recovery of his Country on Condition that Dermot should give him his Eldest Daughter in Marriage and his Kingdom of Leinster after his Death About the same time Robert Fitz-Stephen Governour of Aberlefie in Wales Agreed likewise with Dermot to help him on Condition that he would grant to him and Maurice Fitzgerald in Fee the City of Wexford with two Cantreds or Hundreds of Land near adjoyning These Adventurers afterwards went over and were successful in Treating with the Irish and Taking Wexford Waterford Dublin and other Places Whereupon Earl Richard Strongbow married Dermot's Daughter and according to Compact succeeded him in his Kingdom A little after the Descent of these Adventurers King Henry II. himself went into Ireland with an Army in November 1172. and finding that his Subjects of England had made a very good hand of their Expedition he obtain'd from Earl Richard Strongbow a Surrender of Dublin with the Cantreds adjoyning and all the Maritine Towns and Castles But Strongbow and his Heirs were to Enjoy the Residue of Dermot's Principality King Hen. II. Landed at Waterford from Milford in Pembrookshire and staying there some few days says Giraldus Cambrensis Rex Corcagiensis Dormitius advenit ei tam Subjectionis vinculo quam fidelitatis Sacramento Regi Anglorum se sponte submisit He freely swore Fealty and Subjection to the King of England From thence he went to Lismore and thence to Cashel where Dunaldus King of Lymerick se quoque fidelem Regi exhibuit The like did all the Nobility and Princes in the South of Ireland Afterwards he marched to Dublin and there the Princes of the Adjacent Countries came to him sub Fidelitatis Subjectionis obtentu a Rege Pacem impetrabant Thus Cambrensis in his Hibernia Expugnata and there he mentions the several Princes that came in vizt Macshaghlin King of Ophaly O Carrol King of Uriel now Lowth O Rourk King of Meath Rotherick O Connor King of Connaught and Monarch as it were of the whole Island with divers others qui firmissimis fidelitatis subjectionis vinculis Domino Regi innodarunt in singulari Rotherico Conactiae Principe tanquam Insulae Monarchâ subditi redduntur universi nec alicujus fere in Insula vel nominis vel ominis erat qui Regiae Majestati Debitam Domino Reverentiam non exhiberet The same Relation we have from Roger Hoveden Annal. parsposter fol. 301. About the Kalends of November 1172. saith he King Henry II. of England took Shipping for Ireland at Milford and Landed at Waterford ibi venerunt ad eum Rex Corcagiensis Rex de Lymerick Rex de Oxenie Rex Midiae fere omnes Hiberniae Potentes And a little afterwards in the same place speaking of King Henry the Second's being at Waterford ibidem venerunt ad Regem Angliae omnes Archiepiscopi Episcopi Abbates totius Hiberniae receperunt eum in Regem Dominum Hiberniae jurantes ei heredibus suis Fidelitatem Regnandi super eos Potestatem in perpetuum inde Dederunt ei Chartas suas Exemplo autem Clericorum predicti Reges Principes Hiberniae
due time to settle the other Constitutions agreable to the Model of England If therefore England had then Sheriffs we need not wonder to find them named in the Irish Modus tho they were not as yet establish'd amongst us for they were designed to be appointed soon after and before the Modus could be put regularly in execution and accordingly we find them establish'd in some Counties of Ireland in King Iohns Time This Irish Modus is said to have been in the Custody of Sir Christopher Preston of Clane in Ireland An. 6. Hen. 4. and by Sir Iohn Talboi Lord Lieutenant of Ireland under King Hen. 4. It was Exemplified by Inspeximus under the great Seal of Ireland and the Exemplification was sometimes in the Hands of Mr. Hackwel of Lincolns Inn and by him was Communicated to Mr. Selden The Tenor of which Exemplification runs thus Henricus Dei Gratia Rex Angliae Franciae Dominus Hiberniae omnibus ad quos presentes Literae pervenerint salutem Inspeximus Tenorem Diversorum Articulorum in quodam Rotulo Pergameneo Scriptorum cum Christophero Preston Milite Tempore Arrestationis suae apud Villam de Clare per Deputatum Dilecti Fidelis nostri Iohannes Talbot de Halomshire Chivaler locum nostrum Tenentis Terrae nostrae Hiberniae nuper factae inventorum ac coram nobis Concilio nostro in eadem terrae nostra apud Villam de Trim. Nono die Ianuarii ultimo praeteriti in haec verba Modus Tenendi Parliamentâ—… Henricus Rex Angliae Conquestor Dominus Hibernia Mittit have formam Archiepiscopis c. and so as before Et omnibus Fidelibus suis Terrae Hiberniae Tenendi Parliamentum Imprimis Summonitio c. and then follows the Modus agreeable in most things with that of England only fitted to Ireland Then the Exemplification concludes Nos autem tenores Articulorum praedictorum de Assensu praefati Locum tenentis Concilii praedicti tenore praesentium duximus Exemplificandum has Literas nostras fieri fecimus Patentes Teste Praefato Locum nostrum tenente apud Trim. 12 diae Ianuarii Anno Regni nostri sexto Per ipsum Locum tenentem Concilium Now we can hardly think it credible says the Bishop of Meath that an Exemplification could have been made so solemnly of it by King Henry the Fourth and that it should refer to a Modus transmitted into Ireland by King Henry II. and Affirm that it was produced before the Lord Lieutenant and Council at Trym if no such thing had been Done This were to call in question the Truth of all former Records and Transactions and make the Exemplification contain an Egregious Falshood in the body of it The Reverend Bishop of Meath in his fore-cited Preface does believe that he had obtain'd the very Original Record said by my Lord Cook to have been in the Hands of Sir Christopher Preston It came to that Learned Prelates Hands amongst other Papers and Manuscripts of Sir William Domviles late Attorney General in this Kingdom who in his Life-time upon an occasional Discourse with the Bishop concerning It told him that this Record was bestow'd on him Sir W. Domvile by Sir Iames Cuffe late Deputy Vice-Treasurer of Ireland that Sir Iames found it among the Papers of Sir Francis Aungier Master of the Rolls in this Kingdom and the present Earl of Longford Grandson to the said Sir Francis Aungier told the Bishop that his said Grandfather had it out of the Treasury of Waterford Whilst I write this I have this very Record now before me from the Hands of the said Bishop of Meath's Son my Nephew Samuel Dopping and I must confess it has a Venerable Antient Appearance but whether it be the True Original Record I leave on the Arguments produced for its Credit by the said Bishop This I am sure of that whether this be the very Record Transmitted hither by King Henry the Second or not yet 't is most certain from the Unanimous Concessions of all the fore-mentioned Antiquaries Cook Selden Pryn c. That we have had Parliaments in Ireland very soon after the Invasion of Henry II. For Pryn confesses that King Hen. II. after his Conquest of Ireland and the General Voluntary Submission Homages and Fealties of most of the Irish Kings Prelates Nobles Cities and People to him as to their Soveraign Lord and King Anno 1170 it should be 1172. held therein a General Council of the Clergy at Cashal wherein he Rectify'd many Abuses in the Church and Establish'd sundry Eclesiastical Laws agreeable to those in the Church of England Ecclesiae illius statum ad Anglicanae Ecclesiae formam Redigere Modis omnibus elaborando To which the Irish Clergy promis'd Conformity and to observe them for time to come as Giraldus Cambrensis who was then in Ireland and other Histoans relate Et ut in singulis Observatio similis Regnum Colligaret utrumque that is England and Ireland passim omnes unanimi voluntate communi Assensu Pari desiderio Regis imperio se subjiciunt omnibus igitur hoc modo Consummatis in Concilio habito apud Lismore Leges Angliae ab omnibus sunt gratantur receptae juratoriâ cautione praestitâ Confirmatae says Math. Paris Can any Concession in the World be more plain and free than this We have heard of late much Talk in England of an Original Compact between the King and People of England I am sure 't is not possible to shew a more fair Original Compact between a King and People than this between Henry the Second and the People of Ireland That they should Enjoy the like Liberties and Immunities and be Govern'd by the same Mild Laws both Civil and Ecclesiastical as the People of England From all which It is manifest that there were no Laws Imposed on the People of Ireland by any Authority of the Parliament of England nor any Laws introduced into that Kingdom by Henry the Second but by the Consent and Allowance of the People of Ireland For both the Civil and Ecclesiastical State were settled there Regiae sublimitatis Authoritate solely by the Kings Authority and their own good Wills as the Irist Statute 11 Eliz. C. 1. expresses it And not only the Laws of England but the manner of Holding Parliaments in Ireland to make Laws oâ—… their own which is the Foundatioâ—… and Bulwark of the Peoples Liberties and Properties was Directeâ—… and Established there by Henry the Second as if he were Resolveâ—… that no other Person or Persons should be the Founders of the Government of Ireland but himself and the Consent of the People who submitted themselves to him against all Persons whatsoever Let us now see by what farther Degrees the Government of Ireland grew up Conformable to that of England About the Twenty-third year of Henry the Second which was within Five years after his Return from Ireland he created his younger Son Iohn King of Ireland at a
Clergy As we find at large in Chron. Gervasii Doroborn p. 1387. Edit Lond. an 1652. The Laws of King John called The Great Charter of King John granted in the 17th Year of his Reign upon the Agreement made between him and his Barons at Running-Mead between Staines and Windsor was but a Confirmation of the Laws of Edward the Confessor and Henry the First as Mat. Paris relates it Anno Regis Johannis 17. venientes ad Regem magnates petierunt quasdam Libertates Leges Regis Edwardi cum aliis libertatibus sibi Regno Angliae Ecclesiae Anglicanae concessis confirmari prout in Charta Regis Hen I. ascriptae continentur The same Historian gives us also at large both Charta Libertatum and Charta de Foresta which are not extant in the Rolls of those times nor to be found in any till the 28th of Edward I. and that but by inspeximus The Laws of Henry III. contain'd in Magna Charta and Charta de Forresta both which are called Magnae Chartae Libertatis Angliae and were establish'd about the 9th Year of Henry III. are for the most part but declaratory of the common municipal Laws of England and that too no new declaration thereof for King Iohn in the 17th year of his Reign had granted the like before which was also call'd Magna Charta And by the English Statute 25 Ed. 1. c. 1. it is Enacted That the Great Charter and the Charter of the Forrest be taken as the Common Law of England By what foregoes I conceive it is very clear That all the Charters and Grants of Liberties from Edward the Confessor's time down to the 9th of Henry the Third were but Confirmations one of another and all of them Declarations and Confirmations of the Common Law of England And by the several Establishments which we have formerly mention'd of the Laws of England to be of force in Ireland First in the 13th of Henry II. Secondly in the 12th of King Iohn Thirdly in the 12th of Henry III. All those Laws and Customs of England which by those several Charters were Declared and Confirmed to be the Laws of England were establish'd to be of force in Ireland And thus Ireland came to be govern'd by one and the same Common Law with England and those Laws continue as part of the municipal and fundamental Laws of both Kingdoms to this day It now remains that we enquire How the Statute Laws and Acts of Parliament made in England since the 9th of Henry the Third came to be of force in Ireland And whether all or any of them and which are in force here and when and how they came to be so And the first Precedent that occurs in our Books of Acts of Parliament in Ireland particularly mentioning and confirming special Acts of Parliament in England is found in a Marginal Note of Sir Richard Bolton's formerly Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland affixed in his Edition of the Irish Statutes to Stat. 10 Hen. 7. Cap. 22. to this purport That in 13 Edw. II. by Parliament in this Realm of Ireland the Statutes of Merton made the 20th of Hen. II. and the Statutes of Marlbridge made the 52 of Henry the Third The Statute of Westminster the First made the 3d of Edward the First The Statute of Gloucester made the 6th of Edward the First And the Statute of Westminster the Second made the 13th of Edward the First were all confirm'd in this Kingdom and all other Statutes which were of force in England were referr'd to be Examin'd in the next Parliament and so many as were then Allow'd and Publish'd to stand likewise for Laws in this Kingdom And in the 10th of Henry the Fourth it was Enacted in this Kingdom of Ireland That the Statutes made in England should not be of force in this Kingdom unless they were Allow'd and Publish'd in this Kingdom by Parliament And the like Statute was made again in the 29th of Henry the Sixth These Statutes are not to be found in the Rolls nor any Parliament Roll of that time but he Sir Richard Bolton had seen the same Exemplisy'd under the Great Seal and the Exemplification remaineth in the Treasury of the City of Waterford Thus far the Note If we consider the frequent Troubles and Distractions in Ireland we shall not wonder that these and many other Rolls and Records have been lost in this Kingdom For from the third year of Edward the Second which was Anno 1310. through the whole Reigns of Edward III. Richard II. Henry IV. and Henry V. and so to the Seventh year of Henry the Sixth Anno 1428. which is about 118 years there are not any Parliament Rolls to be found yet certain it is that divers Parliaments were held in Ireland in those times The same may be said from Henry the Second's coming into Ireland Anno 1172. to the third year of Edward the Second Anno 1310. about 138 years Perhaps it may be said That if here were such Statutes of Ireland as the said Acts of the 10th of Henry the Fourth and the 29th of Henry the Sixth As they shew that the Parliaments of Ireland did think that English Acts of Parliament could not bind Ireland yet they shew likewise that even in those days the Parliaments of England did claim this Superiority or else to what purpose were the said Acts made unless in denial of that Claim All which I hope may be readily granted without any prejudice to the Right of the Irish Parliaments There is nothing so common as to have one Man claim another Mans Right And if bare Pretence will give a Title no Man is secure And it will be yet worse if when another so Pretends and I insist on my Right my Just Claim shall be turn'd to my Prejudice and to the Disparagement of my Title We know very well that many of the Judges of our Four Courts have been from time to time sent us out of England and some of them may easily be supposed to come over hither Prepossess'd with an Opinion of our Parliaments being subordinate to that of England Or at least some of them may be Scrupulous and desirous of full Security in this Point and on their Account and for their Satisfaction such Acts as aforesaid may be devised and Enacted in Ireland But then God forbid that these Acts should afterwards be laid hold of to a clear other intent than what they were framed for and instead of Declaring and Securing our Rights should give an Handle of Contest by shewing that our Rights have been question'd of Antient Time In conclusion of all If this Superiority of the Parliament of England have been Doubted a great while ago so it has been as great a while ago Strenuously Opposed and Absolutely Denied by the Parliaments of Ireland And by the way I shall take Notice That from whencesoever this Antient Pretence of Ireland's