to the Lord Justice 1422. whose Servants were on the Seventh of May attacked and defeated by the Irish Purcel Grant and five and twenty English more were slain and ten taken Prisoners and two hundred escaped to the Abby of Leix and to revenge this the Lord Justice invaded O Mores Country and defeated his terrible Army in the red Bog of Asby he relieved his own Men and burnt and preyed the Rebels Lands for four days until themselves came and sued for Peace And it seems O Dempsy notwithstanding his Oath of Obedience invaded the Pale and took the Castle of Ley from the Earl of Kildare which the Lord Justice had justly restored to the Earl whereupon Campion makes a severe Remark on the Irish That notwithstanding their Oaths and their Pledges they are no longer true than they feel themselves the weaker In the mean time Mac Mahon play'd the Devil in Vrgile and burnt and spoil'd all before him Camp 97. but the Lord Justice also revenged that Prank and forced Mac Mahon to submit and many other Noble Exploits did this good Governor for whose Success the Clergy of Dublin went twice every week in solemn Procession praying for his Victory over those disordered Persons which now in every Quarter of Ireland had apostatiz'd to their old Trade of Life and repined at the English And when I have mentioned a Deed made 9 Hen. 5. which is to be found Lib. GGG 24. at Lambeth whereby this Earl of Ormond constituted James Fitz-Girald Earl of Desmond his Seneschal of the Baronies or Signiories of Imokilly Inchicoin and the Town of Youghal during his Life I have no more to add but that this Victorious King after he had conquered France submitted to the common Fate on the last Day of August 1422 in the Flower of his Age and the Tenth Year of his Reign THE REIGN OF HENRY VI. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND HENRY the Sixth was but nine Months old at the Death of his Illustrious Father 1422. and therefore the deceased King had by his last Will appointed John Duke of Bedford to be Regent of France Humphry Duke of Glocester to be Governour of England and Thomas Duke of Excester and Henry Bishop of Winchester to be Guardians of the Young King's Person All which was duly observed and the Infant King was proclaimed in Paris and the Nobility that were there swore Allegiance to him James Earl of Ormond continued Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and upon a Petition preferred by the House of Commons to the King about the manifold Murders Robberies Rapes Riots and other Misdemeanours committed by the Irish in England Lib. M. it was enacted there That all Persons born in Ireland should quit England within a time limited except Graduates in either University Clergymen beneficed those that have Land in England or are married there or those whose Parents are English and even such are to give Security of their good Behaviour And not long after came over Edmond Mortimer 1422. Earl of March and Vlster Lord Lieutenant He died afterwards of the Plague at the Castle of Trym which was his own Inheritance And in his stead came John Lord Talbot 1425. Lord Justice In whose time the Barretts a Family of good account near Cork did by Indenture covenant to be obedient to the Earl of Desmond who was exceeding Powerful and lorded it over great part of Munster with a high Hand This Governour resigned to James Earl of Ormond 1426. Lord Justice In whose time John Duke of Bedford 4 Instit 360. Regent of France obtained a Patent for all the Mines of Gold and Silver within England Ireland c. rendring to the Church the tenth Part to the King the fifteenth Part and to the Owner of the Soil the twentieth part And then Sir John de Gray 1427. Lord Lieutenant landed at Hoâ—th the thirty first of July and was sworn the next Day but no mention is made of any thing he did but that he went for England and left Edward Dantzy Bishop of Meath 1428. his Deputy He was for a time Treasurer of Ireland and dyed the fourth of January 1428. Upon Notice whereof Sir John Sutton Lord Dudly was sent over Lord Lieutenant He held a Parliament in Dublin Friday next after the Feast of All Saints 1429. at which it was enacted That the Sheriff upon Pain of Amercement should add to the Panel of Jurors the Place Estate and Mistery of every Juror And in the Preamble to this Act the Lord Lieutenant is Styled The Right Noble and Right Gracious Lord. And on the sixth of the same November the King was crowned at Westminster And soon after the Lord Lieutenant returned and left Sir Thomas Strange 1429. Lord Deputy in whose time the King was crowned at Paris 1431. and took the Oaths and Homage of the Nobility and People there And now happened the famous Case of the Prior of Lanthony which was That a Judgment in the Common Pleas being removed to the Irish Parliament was affirmed there Whereupon a Writ of Error was sent from England but the King's Bench in England would not take cognizance of a Judgment in the Parliament of Ireland to reverse it And therefore the Prior petitions the King That the Record may be transmitted to the House of Lords in England to be examined there Sir Thomas Stanly was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1432. and it seems that he called a Parliament which enacted two Statutes that were afterwards repealed by 11 Jac. 1 cap. 5. And then he went to England leaving Sir Christopher Plunket Lord Deputy 1432. he was afterwards Baron of Killine in Right of his Wife Heir of the Cusacks and his second Son became Baron of Dunsany But Sir Thomas Stanly 1435. Lord Lieutenant returned and gave a Check to the Irish who were insolent beyond Measure and incroaching everywhere on the Pale making the best Advantage of the King's Minority and the Absence of the Military Men in France but the Lord Lieutenant with the Power of Meath and Vriel took Moyle O Donel Prisoner and slew a great many of the Irish And afterwards about Michaelmas he went again to England and left Richard Talbot Archbishop of Dublin 1436. Brother to the Earl of Shrewsbury Lord Deputy he was sometime Lord Chancellor of Ireland and was elected Primate of Armagh but he refused to change his Bishoprick Lion Lord Wells 1438. Lord Lieutenant in whose time a second Law was made in England Lib. M. obliging the Irishmen to return into their Native Country And another Statute was made in Ireland to stop the Passage of any more into England And on the twelfth of June 17 Hen. 6. Robert Fitz-Geofry Cogan granted all his Lands in Ireland being half the Kingdom of Cork to James Earl of Desmond and gave a Letter of Attorney to put him in Possession of Kyrrygrohanmore Lib. G. Downdrinane
take any notice of Ireland and therefore we take no further notice of him than to give this brief Account of the Reason of our Silence in that Particular Hugh de Lacy was made Lord Justice of Ireland as aforesaid And as soon as he arrived he sent Imperious Letters to Courcy to discharge him of his Command and behaved himself so insolently that all was in Disorder Which the Irish perceiving and also that the King of England was preparing for a Voyage to the Holy Land they thought this an happy Opportunity to extirpate the English to which End they had a General Meeting and resolved unanimously to fall upon them Hanmer 169. and in order to it they entred into a League or Association and solemnly swore First To be true to one another and to the common Cause Secondly Never to yield any Obedience to the English again Ibid 162. And to begin the Business they fell upon Roger Poer Governour of Leighlin and barbarously murdered him and most of the Garrison Cormock O Connor Son of Rotherick King of Connaught commonly called Crove Darig because his Hand was red was the chief of the Conspirators he was an Active Valiant Gentleman and of so great Reputation that he was able to assemble twenty thousand Men of his own and the Confederates with which Army he designed first to clear Connaught then Vlster and afterwards the whole Kingdom In the mean Time Courcy Lord of Connaught and Earl of Vlster considering that he should have no Aid nor Help from the Lord Justice endeavoured to strengthen himself the best he could and to that End sent for his Brother S. Lawrence who made more Haste than good Speed for he came away with thirty Horse and two hundred Foot and at Knockmoy in the County of Galway fell into an Ambush the King of Connaught had laid for him and tho' they fought so valiantly that they killed one thousand Irish Men yet the Issue was That this small Army was totally destroyed not one escaping And tho' O Connor in Remembrance and Ostentation of this Victory did there build the Abbey de Colle Victoriae yet when he had well considered the prodigious Valour of that Handful of Men and his own Loss he thought himself necessitated to sue to Lacy for Peace which he soon obtained upon reasonable Conditions About this Time Robin Hood and Litle John were Famous Robbers in England but their Company being dispersed and Robin Hood taken Litle John fled to Dublin and shot an Arrow from Dublin-Bridge to the litle Hill in Oxman-Town thence called Litle John's Shot He was called Litle John Ironically for he was not less than fourteen Foot long believe it who will Hector Boetius affirms The Hole of his Huckle Bone was so big that he could thrust his Hand through it He fled from Dublin to Scotland where he dyed This Year Isabel 1189. only Daughter of Strongbow by Eva Prencess of Leinster was married to William Lord Maxfield Earl Marshal of England He was a great Favourite to King Richard and at his Coronation carried the Regal Scepter whereon was a Cross of Gold He was afterward by King John Hanmer 177. created Earl of Pembrook and had five Sons who were successively Earls and all died without Issue and he had five Daughters among whom his Estate was divided viz. to Joan the County of Waxford to Matilda the County of Caterlough to Isabel the County of Kilkenny to Sybilla the County of Kildare and to Eva the Mannor of Downmass in Leix now the Queen's County in all which they exercised Palatine Jurisdiction Of this Family Thomas Mills in his Catalogue of Honour gives this Account That Richard Earl of Chepstow was nick-named Strongbow because of his exceeding Strength so that he drew an traordinary Srong Bow his Arms were so long that he could stand upright and with the Palms of his Hands touch his Knees That his Daughter Isabel was fourteen Years a Ward to Henry II That her Husband William Earl Marshal was created Earl of Pembrook 27 May 1199 and that she dyed anno 1221 and was buried at Tintern Abbey and that he dyed 16 March 1219. They had five Sons and five Daughters William married Elianor Sister of Henry III and died the sixth of April 1231. Richard died the sixteenth of April 1234. Gilbert married Margaret Daughter of William King of Scotland 1235 and died by a fall from his Horse the twenty eighth of May 1242. Walter died 1245 in Wales and Anselm died the same Month viz the twenty first of December Maud successively married Hugh Earl of Norfolk William Earl of Warren and Walier Lord Dunstanvil Joan married Warren Lord Montchensy the richest Baron in England Isabel married Gilbert Earl of Glocester and afterwards Richard Earl of Cornwal King of the Romans Sybil married William Earl of Ferrers and Darby and Eve married William de Brees Lord of Brecknock and Partition was made between these Noble Coparceners at Woodstock Lib. G. May 3. 31 Hen. 3. About this Time 1190. viz. Anno 1190 the City of Dublin was burnt by Accident 1191. so that it was almost totally destroyed and the Kingdom was governed by William Petit Burlace 11. who held it a very short Time before William Earl of Pembrook and Earl Marshal of England came over Lord Justice or Governour of Ireland he was the third of the Temporal Assistants King Richard had left to the Bishop of Ely for the Government of England he was a Valiant Man and had a great Estate in Ireland 1191. and therefore was thought the fittest Governour for that Country in this Critical Time whilst King Richard was Prisoner in Austria and Earl John was engaged in Troublesome and Ambitious Designs in England In the Year 1194. the Reliques of S. Malachy Bishop of Clareval Cambden 151. were brought into Ireland and with great Reverence and Devotion deposited in the Abby of Mellifont and other the Monasteries of the Cistersian Order It seems the Reputation or Power of this Noble Governour was sufficient to keep Ireland quiet 1197. for we read of little or no Disturbance there during his Time which was about six Years And then he resign'd to Hanno de valois a Gentleman of Suffolk Lord Justice of Ireland who continued in that Government until the Death of King Richard which happened at Chalons in France on the sixth Day of April anno 1199. John Earl of Moreton and Lord of Ireland did on the Death of King Richard without Title ascend the Throne of England Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury was a great assistant to this Usurpation he told the People That John had the Crown by Election which the King did not then gain-say it being no fit Time to dispute the MANNER so he had the THING he aimed at but the Right was in his Nephew Arthur whom he afterwards got into his Hands and caused him him to be murdered as was at that Time generally reported
twenty pence or two shillings from every one that passed the Seas On the twenty fifth Day of March the King knighted four Irish Kings 1395. Selden tit hon 842. and some other great Lords whereof Mr Selden out of Froisart gives the following Account Four Kings of several Provinces in Ireland that submitted themselves to Richard II were put under the Care of Henry Castile an English Gentleman who spake Irish well in order to prepare them for Knighthood by the Kings Command he informed them of the English Manners in Diet Apparel and the like He asked them If they were willing to take the Order which the King of England would give them according to the Customs of England France and other Countries They answered They were Knights already and that the Order they had taken was enough for them and that they were made Knights in Ireland when they were seven Years Old and that every King makes his Son Knight and if the Father be dead the next of Kin does it and that the manner is thus The new Knight at his making runs with slender Lances against a Shield set upon a Stake in a Meadow and the more Lances he thus breaks the more Honour continues with his Dignity But Mr. Castile told them They should receive a Knighthood with more State in the Church and afterwards being perswaded and instructed especially by the Earl of Ormond they did receive Knighthood at Christ-Church Dublin after their Vigils performed in the same Church and a Mass heard and some others were knighted with them but the four Kings in Robes agreeable to their State sate that Day with King Richard at the Table And so Davit 202. when the King had supplied the Courts of Justice with able Men particularly with Sir William Hankford Chief Justice who was afterwards Chief Justice of England and done his Endeavor to establish a Civil Plantation in the Mountains of Wicklow he returned to England about Midsummer 1394. as I suppose for on the fourth of July 1394 Roger Mortimer Earl of March was sworn Lord Lieutenant Pryn. 294. And not long after the aforesaid excellent Ordinances of 31 Edw. 3. were ratified revived and exemplified and sent into Ireland to be more duly observed than hitherto they had been But the Scene was changed and the Irish despising the weak Forces the King had left behind him began to lay aside their Mask of Humility and to make Incursions into the Borders of the Pale Nevertheless the English were not daunted their Valour supplyed what was wanting in their Number Cambd. particularly Sir Thomas de Burgh and Walter de Birmingham with their Forces slew six hundred of the Irish and their Captain Mac Con and the Lord Lieutenant and the Earl of Ormond wasted the County of Wicklow and took O Birnes House whereupon the Lord Lieutenant made seven Knights But this Victory was much overballanced by the Loss of forty principal Englishmen slain by the O Tools on Ascension-day and not long after by the Death of the Lord Lieutenant himself who was slain at Kenlis in Ossory by the O Birnes on the twentieth of July 1398. And thereupon Roger Gray was chosen Lord Justice 1398. pro tempore until the King sent over his half Brother Thomas Holland Duke of Surry Lord Lieutenant 1398. who landed at Dublin the seventh of October 1398. but did not long continue in that Office before the King pretending a Resolution to revenge the Death of his Cousin and Heir the Earl of March who was slain by the Irish as aforesaid He left the Government of England in the Hands of his Vnkle the Duke of York And on the first Day of June Richard 1399. King of England landed at Waterford with a good Army which he marched to Dublin through the wast Countries of Murroughs Kinshelaghs Cavenaghs Birns and Tooles but the Army was much distressed for want of Victuals and Carriages in those Deserts so that he performed no memorable Exploit save that he cut and cleared the Paces in the Cavenaghs Country and knighted Henry the Duke of Lancaster's Son afterwards Henry V for his briskness against the Irish On the sixth of June being the Friday after the King's arrival Jenico de Artois his faithful Gascoign slew two hundred Irish at Ford in Kenlis in the County of Kildare And the next Day the Citizens of Dublin made Incursions into Wicklow and killed thirty three Irishmen and took eighty Prisoners And on the twenty sixth of June the King came to Dublin and received the Submission of many Irish Lords But whilst he was consulting how to proceed he received the unwelcome News of the Duke of Lancaster's Progress in England whereupon he imprisoned his and the Duke of Glocester's Sons in the Castle of Trym and though he sent the Earl of Salisbury before him to gather an Army in Wales yet the King followed after so slowly that the Army was disperst before he arrived in England with which Misfortune his Courage fell so that on Michaelmass day he tamely surrendred the Crown and gave a just occasion for this true Remark Baker 152. That never any Man who had used a Kingdom with such Violence gave it over with such Patience He was afterwards deposed by Parliament and several Articles exhibited against him one of which was That he forced divers Religious Persons in England to give Horses Arms and Carts towards the Irish Expedition And another was That he carryed into Ireland the Treasure Reliques and other Jewels of the Crown which were used to be kept in the King's Coffers from all Hazard The King created Edward Plantagenet Earl of Cork in the twentieth Year of his Reign And the same Year gave a Licence under the Privy Seal to William Lord Courcy to buy a Ship to pass and repass to and from England And in this Reign happened this famous Case One Thomas a Clerk in England obtained a Judgment at Westminster against Robert Wickford afterwards Archbishop of Dublin and upon Affidavit That the Defendant lived in Ireland and had Goods and Lands there and the Sheriffs Return That he had no Lands nor Goods in England the Plaintiff had a Writ against the said Archbishop in haec verba IDeo vobis mandamus quod de terris catallis ejusdem Roberti Lib. M. jam Archiepiscopi in Terra nostra Hiberniae fieri facias praedict decem libras illas habeatis coram c. This Archbishop died anno 1390 so that this Writ must issue before that time THE REIGN OF HENRY IV. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND HENRY Duke of Lancaster eldest Son of the famous John of Gaunt fourth Son of King Edward the Third upon the Resignation of King Richard procured him to be deposed in Parliament and himself to be elected King and the Crown to be entailed on him and the Heirs of his Body His Claim was as Heir to Henry III but finding that
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
at any Alarm Maurice Fitz Girald as soon as he discover'd O Mlaghlin's Design gave the Signal to Griffith but before he could come up the Irish had kill'd Lacy's Interpreter who interposed to save his Master and had his Arm cut off for his Pains Lacy himself was twice knockt down but Griffith being come he soon ended this Skirmish by the Death of O Mlaghlin whose Head he cut off and sent it into England But Lacy being unable to manage the Kingdom and the King being so perplexed with the Rebellion of his Sons that he could not personally attend the Irish Affairs it was necessary to send for Strongbow into Normandy where the King was and to give him the Government of Ireland Strongbow being sent for did readily wait on the King and being made acquainted with his Majesties Intentions he made it his Request That to avoid Envy and Jealousie Reymond le Gross might be his Colleague in the Government The King replyed That Reymond should be joyned with him as an Assistant but not in Commission And so having express'd much Confidence in the Earl he gave him the City of Wexford and the Castle of Wicklow and sent him to his Government Richard Earl of Chepstow commonly call'd Strongbow Chief Governour or Lord Justice of Ireland at his arrival there found all things in Disorder many of the Irish actually revolted and all of them confederated to shake off the English Yoke the Army also was Mutinous for want of Pay and the Generals Hervy and Reymond were at odds Immediately he put the Army under the Conduct of Reymond 1174. who led them into Ophaly where they met with good Prey Thence he advanced to Lismore and spoiled both the Town and the Country and so by the Sea-side he marched towards Waterford At Dungarvan he found thirteen Boats which he seized and loaded with Prey and Plunder But being detained there a long time by contrary Winds the People of Cork found means to fit out thirty two Barques and manfully assaulted the English in their Boats nevertheless the English Bows and Arrows prevailed and the Corcagians were defeated and their Admiral Gilbert mac Turger slain Whereupon the English under their Admiral Adam de Hereford sailed triumphantly into Waterford Dermond mac Carthy King of Cork came with his Forces by Land to countenance the aforesaid Attempt of the Corcagians by Sea and to seize on the English Boats if perhaps they should be forced ashore as he expected but Reymond met him and gave him such a Brush that he got a Prey of four thousand Cows by the Bargain and brought them safe to Waterford But whilst Reymond was thus busied in Munster he received Advice of the Death of his Father William Fitz-Girald which obliged him to take a Voyage into Wales to get Possession of the Inheritance descended to him By this Accident the Command of the Army fell to Hervy and abundance of Trouble and Misfortune hapned to the Earl For it was not long before Hervy perswaded the Earl to an Exploit 1175. somewhere about Cashel and in order to it to send for more Forces from Dublin but Donald Prince of Ossory having Notice of it surpriz'd them in their March and fell upon them in Ossory where he slew four Gentlemen and four hundred Soldiers being of that sort of the Citizens of Dublin which were called Easterlings With this great Victory the Irish were elevated beyond measure and fansied They had now got a favourable Opportunity to extipate the English And to that End they armed every where and even those Irish whom he had most obliged and those also from whom he had Oaths and Pledges did nevertheless joyn with the rest in this General Conspiracy Rotherick with a mighty Army passed the River Shenin and Burnt and Prey'd the Country even to the Walls of Dublin And Strongbow was coopt up in Waterford in continual Fear of a Massacre thereâ— In this miserable Condition he sent to Reymond into Wales desiring him to hasten over and promised him the Fair Basilia Strongbow's Sister as the Reward of his Expedition Reymond made all possible Hast and with thirty Gentlemen an hundred Horsemen three hundred Archers and Footmen and in twenty Barques arrived at Waterford very seasonably for the Citizens were then conspiring the Murder of the English which by this Accident was postponed for a Time Immediately the Earl Reymond and the Army march'd to Wexford and soon after the Citizens of Waterford murdered the Governour Pursel and butcher'd all the English Men Women and Children except such as saved themselves in Reginalds Tower But they manfully kept that Tower and afterwards regained the City and forced the Citizens to submit to hard Conditions Strongbow and the Army being at Wexford Reymond was married to the Fair Basilia and had with her Idrone Glascarig Fothard and the Constableship of Leinster But in the midst of their Jollity they received Information That Rotherick had invaded Leinster wherefore the next Day they marched towards Dublin But Rotherick at the News of their Approach retreated and Reymond caused the ruined Castles to be repaired particularly the Castle of Trim and so hoped that he might now enjoy his Beautiful Spouse in quiet But the Prince of Limerick was resolved to follow his Blow and continued in open Defiance so that Reymond was forced to march to him September 1176. with twenty six Gentlemen three hundred Archers and three hundred Horsemen David Walsh forded or rather swam the River of Shenin into the Island of Limerick whom by Reymond's Persuasion and Example the rest followed October 1. and took that City and after plundering it they left a Garrison in it under Meyler of S. Davids consisting of fifty Gentlemen two hundred Horse and two hundred Archers and returned Hervey of Mount-Morris by his Letters to the King had suggested That Reymond intended to keep Limerick for himself and that he and Strongbow would monopolize Ireland and several other Falsities which so moved the King's Jealousie that he sent over Robert Power Osbert of Hereford William Bending and Adam of Germeny whereof two were to bring over Reymond and the other two to stay and watch the Earl In the mean Time Letters came from Limerick importing That the Garrison was in Distress besieged by Daniel O Bryan Whereupon it was resolved as well by Strongbow as by the new Messengers That Reymond must undertake to relieve it Wherefore taking with him eighty Gentlemen two hundred Horse and three hundred Archers with some Irish under Morough of Kensile and Donold of Ossory he marches towards Limerick but O Bryan not willing to fight with the Army and Garrison at once raises his Siege and marches towards Cashel 1177. and by plashing the Trees and trenching his Camp he made it as strong as he could It was pleasant to behold the Prince of Ossory who was O Bryans Mortal Foe to tell the English That they must fight valiantly and be Victors or He
and believed Camden's Annals he was crowned on Ascension-Day by the said Archbishop 1199. at Westminster with great Solemnity and not long after he was girt with the Ducal Sword of Normandy by William Archbishop of Roan Hanno de Valois Lord Justice continued so the first Year of King John but then he fell into such Disgrace that he was not only remov'd from his Government Libb GGG but also was obliged to give the King a thousand Marks Lamberh for his Favour and for a Discharge of his Accounts about Ireland And Meyler Fitz-Henry 1200. Natural Son of King Henry I by Nesta Mother of Maurice Fitz-Gerald 1202. was made Lord Justice in whose Time May 4. 1202. King John granted that is confirmed the Archbishoprick of Armagh to Humphry de Tickhul but Ralph le Petit Archdeacon of Meath pretended that the Election fell on him and resolved to contest it with Tickhul 1203. In the mean Time the Pope appointed one Owen mac Gillevider but the King was so angry with him that he prohibited all the Clergy from owning him as Archbishop And to prevent him the King on the Death of Tickhul Ware de Presul 17. anno 1203. confirmed Ralph le Petit in the Archbishoprick Nevertheless Owen so managed the Matter that he enjoyed the Archbishoprick and was restored to the King's Favour He had the Character of an Honest and Worthy Prelate and was present at the Lateran Council in Quality of Primate of all Ireland The King had given to William de Braos and his Heirs the Honour of Limerick with the Appurtenances as Henry II gave it to Philip Unkle of William except the City of Limerick and the Donation of Abbies and Bishopricks the Cantred of the Oastmens and the Holy Island and the Services of William de Burgo which the King retained to be held by sixty Knights Fees But I do not find that William de Braosa had any great Benefit of this Grant for being a bold and a generous Man and abhorring the Murder of Duke Arthur the King's Nephew which he verily believed was done by the King's Command as did likewise John de Courcy they both spoke more than came to their Share And thereupon Braosa fled into Ireland with his Wife and Children from whence he afterwards removed to the Isle of Man and thence to France where he dyed but she and her Son were taken in a Castle in Meath Speed 508. and tho' she sent the Queen a strange Present of four hundred Cows and a Bull all White but their Ears which were Red yet that could not make her Peace but that she and her Son were sent Prisoners to Windsor where they were starv'd to Death as was said And as for Courcy the King to mortifie him appointed his Inveterate Enemy and Competitor Hugh de Lacy 1203. Lord Justice of Ireland and gave him Order to arrest Courcy and send him Prisoner to England But Courcy had some Intelligence or at least Jealousie of the Design and therefore kept upon his Guard so cautiously that Lacy could not surprize him Wherefore he levied an Army and invaded Vlster at Down both Parties met and the Valiant Courcy sent Lacy back with Blows and Shame enough After this Bloody Victory Courcy offered the Combat which the Lord Justice in his Politick Capacity refused to undergo against a Subject and a Traytor wherefore he took a wiser Course and by his Proclamation offered a large Reward to him that should bring in Courcy alive or dead But this not taking effect he dealt with some of Courcy's Servants to seize their Master on Good-Friday whilst unarmed he should be doing Penance and walking Bare-foot about the Church-Yard of Down as he was wont to do every Year They undertook the Matter and effected it with the Slaughter of two of the S. Lawrences who attended their Unkle Courcy that Day But the Traytors paid dear for their Perfidiousness for Courcy with a Wooden Cross which he got in the Church-Yard killed thirteen of them and the rest were sent by the Lord Justice into England with this Pasport which they were obliged not to open till they were in Necessity of it I Hugh de Lacy Lord Justice of Ireland Servant to my dread Sovereign Lord King John To all them that shall read these few Lines greet Know ye That these Men whose Names are underwritten sometimes served Sir John de Courcy late Earl of Ulster but now in Durance in the Tower of London and for a Sum of Mony betraied their own Master into my Hands I deem them no better than Judas the Traytor How hardly soever I have conceived of Courcy I hold them to be a thousand times more damnable Traytors Wherefore let no Subject in the King's Dominions give them any Entertainment but spit in their Faces and suffer them to rogue and wander about as Jews The Lord Justice provided a Barque and Victuals for them but denyed them Pilots or Seamen so that being sufficiently tossed at Sea they were driven into Cork and were there taken and afterward hanged by Order of Lacy who shewed himself Generous in this one thing That though he loved the Treason he hated the Traytor And thus was the Valiant Courcy condemned to perpetual Imprisonment in the Tower of London and that Lacy might personally solicit a Reward for this great Service he had leave to come to Court And Myler Fitz-Henry was again made Lord Justice April 3. 1205. The Historians of that Age make honourable Mention of him He died Anno 1220. and was buried in the Abby of Conal which himself had founded and on his Tomb was this bald Epitaph Conduntur Tumulo Meyleri Nobilis ossa Indomitus Domitor totius Gentis Hibernae But Hugh de Lacy's Services were so well accepted in England May 2. 1205. that the King gave him the Earldom of Vlster as fully as Courcy held it the day he was taken except the Donation of Bishopricks and Abbies and because the King had occasion of Lacy's personal Attendance in England therefore he gave Charge to the Lord Justice to defend and preserve Lacy's Lands as he would the Demesnes of the Crown On the 30th of August Lib. GGG 6. A Writ was sent to the Lord Justice commanding him to build a strong Castle at Dublin to defend that City and to preserve the King's Treasure and the Second of November following the King by Writ commanded Walter de Lacy to put Limerick into the Lord Justice's hands because without it he could neither keep the Peace in Cork nor Connaught The same Year the King of Connaught releas'd two Parts of that Country 1206. retaining the Third at the yearly Rent of an hundred Marks and the next Year offered to continue Tenant to the same Third part at the aforesaid Rent of one hundred Marks per Annum to be held per Baroniam and to pay a yearly Tribute of three hundred Marks per
undertaken the Crusado I cannot determine which but for the one reason or the other he was removed and Henry de Londres Archbishop of Dublin April 23. 1219. was made Lord Justice and continued so for five years he was nick-named Scorchvillein Holingsh 32. by the Irish because they said he burnt his Tenants Leases and other Writings which they brought to shew him but this silly Story is not to be believ'd of so Learned a Man and so good a Governour as every body allows this Archbishop to have been especially since it is not denied but that he suffered all his Tenants to enjoy their Farms even according to their Claims It was this Lord Justice that built the Castle of Dublin anno 1220. 1220. And about the same time died at London William Earl Marshal Protector of the King and his Kingdoms Some Irish Antiquary was so silly to think he was call'd Marshal quas◠Mars his Seneschal for he was indeed a very warlike Man He was succeeded by his Son William against whom the Bishop of Fernes complained to the King That his Father had disseis'd the Church of two Mannors for which reason he was excommunicated and so died The King commanded the Bishop to go to the Earls Tomb and to absolve him and promis'd that he would endeavour his Satisfaction Hanmer 176. Whereupon the Bishop accompanied with the King went to the Grave and said O William that here liest wrapped in the Bonds of Excommunication if what thou hast injuriously taken be restored by the King or thy Heir or thy Friends with competent satisfaction I absolve thee otherwise I ratifie the Sentence that being wrapped in thy Sins thou maist remain damned in Hell for ever The King was dissatisfied with the rigour of the Bishop but could not prevail with the young Earl to part with any thing of his Estate wherefore the Bishop confirm'd his Curse and it brought no small Veneration to the Clergy that this Earl and his four Brethren died without Issue which the Superstitious People thought to be the Effect of that Execration The young Earl Marshal had great Contests with Hugh de Lacy Earl of Vlster 1221. so that Meath was wonderfully harass'd between them Trim was also besieged and reduced to an ill condition but it had the good Fortune to escape this Brush Hanmer 189. and to have a strong Castle built soon after to prevent the like Calamities for the future 6 Hen. 3. About this time Davis 15. 123. the King granted to O Brian King of Thomond the Country of Thomond habendum during the Kings Minority rendring an hundred and thirty Marks per annum which is the only Grant made by the Crown of England to any meer Irishman to that time except that to the King of Connaught And before this Davis 124. viz. 3 H. 3. Richard de Burgo for one thousand pound obtained a Grant of all Connaught to him and his Heirs after the Death of the then King of that Country The Lord Justice who was also Archbishop and Legate did in his Spiritual Capacity too much encroach on the Temporal Jurisdiction and therefore upon the Complaint of the Citizens of Dublin Aug. 9. 7 H. 3. he had a notable increpatory Writ sent to him 1222. which is to be found in Prin's Animadversions on the fourth Instit 251. And at the same time the King sent another Writ to the Justice to redress a Nusance to the Harbour and Citizens of Dublin Prin 251. according to the Law of England I find some Reasons to believe that the Lord Justice Londres was sent for to England anno 1220 and his Room supplied by Geofry de Marisco till his Return Octob. 28. the same Year but however that be it is certain that after this Justice had govern'd Ireland five Years he was removed And most probably was succeeded by 〈…〉 William Earl Marshal 1224. Lord Justice In whose Time in May 8 Hen. 3. Lacy was so effectually pursued that he was forced to submit and the same Year was pardoned About the same Time the King prohibited Appeals to be made to the Pope Lib. Z. Z. and by his Letter to the Archbishop of Armagh Lamb. 19. severely reprimanded him for sending to the Pope about Causes Ecclesiastick The King in the fifth Year of his Reign had granted to the Citizens of Dublin towards walling their City three Pence out of every Sack of Wool six Pence for every Last of Hides and two Pence out of every Barrel of Wine sold in their City 1225. and now 9 Hen. 3. he gave them fifty Marks in Mony to the same purpose On the tenth Day of June 10 Hen. 3. A Writ was sent to the Lord Justice to seize on the Country of Connaught forfeited by O Connor 1226. and to deliver it to Richard de Burgh at the Rent of three hundred Marks for the first five Years and afterwards of five hundred Pound per annum except five choice Cantreds near Athlone which I suppose were designed for the Conveniency and Support of that Garrison But on the first Day of August 10 Hen. 3. Geofry de Marisco was made Lord Justice and had a Sallary of five hundred Marks payable out of the Exchequer granted unto him It is probable That soon after his Arrival his Predecessor William Earl Marshal repaired to Court to give the King an Account of his Administration And the Irish were forward to take Advantage of his Absence and the ill Posture of the King's Affairs in Ireland and therefore to make the best Use they could of this Opportunity they made so general a Confederacy that their Army amounted to twenty thousand Men Sperantes says my Author se posse omne genus Anglorum ab Hiberniae finibus exterminare But all this Ostentation came to nothing and this numerous Rabble were without much Difficulty defeated by Hugh de Lacy and Richard de Burgh and their Followers And the Irish General O Connor King of Connaught was taken Prisoner The King Lib. GGG in the fifth Year of his Reign wrote to all the Ports of Ireland Lambeth To make some Gallies in their respective Havens for the Defence and Security of him and his Kingdom of Ireland And in the tenth Year of his Reign he prevailed with the Pope to write to the Irish Bishops to give him a Subsidy 1227. And now the eleventh Year of his Reign the Pope did write to the Clergy To give Subsidiary Aid to the King Which it seems was effectual for I find this Entry on the Roll. 11 Henric. 3. Rex habuit auxilium de Hibernia And the same Year the Lord Justice received a Writ To aid the Episcopal Excommunication with the Secular Arm as was usual in England which is to be found at large Prin's Animadversions Prin 252. 252 and bears Date the eighteenth of January And there was also a Writ or Charter enjoyning
the Observation of the English Laws in Ireland which I have already recited in the Reign of King John Hubert de Burgo or Burgh Chief Justice of England and Earl of Kent Splem Gloss 340. was made Earl of Connaught and Lord Justice of Ireland during Life and because he could not personally attend he deputed Richard de Burgo Lord Justice or Deputy to whom the King sent the following Writ March 10. 1227. for establishing the English Laws in Ireland REX dilecto sideli suo Ricardo de Burgo Justiciario suo Hiberniae Prin. 252. salutem Mandamus vobis firmiter praecipientes quatenus certo die loco faciatis venire coram vobis Archiepiscopos Episcopos Abbates Priores Comites Barones Milites libere tenentes Balivos singulorum Comitatuum coram eis publice legi faciatis Cartam Domini J. Regis Patris nostri cui Sigillum suum appensum est quam fieri fecit jurari à Magnatibus Hiberniae de Legibus Consuetudinibus Anglorum observandis in Hibernia praecipiatis eis ex parte nostra quod Leges illas ad Consuetudines in Carta praedict ' contentas de cetero firmiter teneant observent Et hoc idem per singulos Comitatus Hiberniae clamari faciatis teneri prohibentes firmiter ex parte nostra Forisfacturam nostram ne quis contra hoc Mandatum nostrum venire praesumat ' Eo excepto quod nec de Morte nec de Catallis Hibernensium occisorum nihil statuatur ex parte nostra citra quindecem dies à die Sancti Michaelis anno regni nostri duodecimo super quo respectum dedimus Magnatibus nostris Hibern ' usque ad terminum praedict Teste meipso apud Westmonast oct die Maii anno regni nostri duodecimo And at the same Time he received two Writs about the Debts due from the King to the late Lord Justice Archbishop Londres Burlace 20 21. and a third Writ to pay him an hundred Pound per annum out of the Rent of the City of Limerick and fifty Pound per ann out of the Rent of Dublin But this Justice did not continue long in the Government for his Patron Hubert de Burgh falling into the King's Displeasure both the one and the other were remov'd And Maurice Fitz-Gerald was made Lord Justice 1229. In whose Time viz. 14 Hen. 3. happened the great Case of Coparceners to decide which the King sent over by way of Writ what in the printed Statues is called Statutum Hiberniae And tho' the Lord Justice is there named Girald yet it is by Mistake for Girald Fitz-Maurice who was the Lord Justice's Father died anno 1205. And there is another Mistake in that Statute for it is said to be made 24 Regis whereas the Year 1229. could be but the fourteenth Year of his Reign Now came over Stephen the Pope's Chaplain to demand the Tenths of all Moveables to support the Holy See against the Efforts of Frederick the Emperour Hanmer 191. It was so hard a Tax in Ireland that they were fain to part with not only their Cadows and Aquavitae but also with their Chalices and Altar-Cloaths Not long after died William Earl Marshal Prince or Lord of Leinster 1231. who anno 1223 gave a new Charter to his Town of Kilkenny he was buried in the Choire of the Friers Preachers at Kilkenny and was succeeded in his Estates and Titles by his Brother Richard On the second Day of September 1232. the Lord Justice returned out of England but when he went thither or who was Deputy in his Absence non constat On the seventh of April 1233 Holingshead 27. say some but I think 1234 the English and the O Connors c. had a Battle on the Curragh of Kildare 1234. wherein Richard Earl Marshal Prince of Leinster had very foul Play from those of his own Side so that he was there mortally wounded and died in five Days after To atone for this the Lord Justice who went into England to satisfie the King in that Matter offered to build a Monastery and endow it liberally to pray for the Soul of Earl Richard Hanmer 195. And so at length by the intercession of the King and the importunate Entreaties of the Nobility Gilbert Earl Marshal and the Lord Justice were reconciled 1235. It seems the Alarm was very great on Earl Richard's Death for the King to Comfort and Quiet the Citizens of Dublin assured them by his Writ That he summon'd the Great Men of England Pryn 253. to consult about the Safety of England and Ireland and that their Determinations should be speedily communicated to them at Dublin From whence Mr. Pryn observes That the Laws and Ordinances of the King and Parliament of England did bind Ireland in those Days But it seems that about this Time the Spiritual Courts did encroach too much on the Temporal Jurisdiction 1233. and therefore the King sent over the following Writ REX Co. Lit. 141. Comitibus Baronibus Militibus liberis Hominibus omnibus aliis de Terra Hibern ' salutem Quia manifeste esse dignoscitur contra Coronam Dignitatem nostram Consuetudines Leges Regni nostri Angl ' quas bonae memoriae Dominis Johannes Rex Pater noster de communi omnium de Hibern ' consensu teneri statuit in Terra illa quod placita teneantur in curia Christianitatis de advocationibus Ecclesiarum Capellarum vel de laico feodo vel de catallis quae non sunt de Testamento vel Matrimonio vobis mandamus prohibentes quatenus hujusmodi placita in curia Christianitatis nullatenus sequi presumatis in manifestum Dignitatis Coronae nostrae prejudicium scituri pro certo quod si feceritis dedimus in Mandatis Justiciario nostro Hiberniae statutae curiae nostra in Anglia contra transgressiones hujus Mandati nostri cum justicia procedat quod nostrum est exsequatur Teste Rege 28 Octobr. Decimo oct Regni nostri c. mandatum est Justiciario Hibern per literas clausas quod predictas Literas Patentes publice legi teneri faciat In the Year 1234 died Walter Lacy Lord of Meath without Issue Male so that his great Estate was divided between his two Daughters viz. Margaret married to the Lord Theobald Verdon and Matilda married to Geofry Geneville Whilst the Lord Justice was in England the King of Connaught exhibited a grievous Complaint against John de Burgo That he had entred his Country with Forces Hanmer 195. and wasted the same with Fire and Sword humbly beseeching his Majesty to do him Justice and to bridle such rash Attempts Alledging That he was a loyal Subject and payed for his Kingdom an annual Pension Davis 123. amounting in all from his first Subjection to five thousand Marks and desired the King That he would rid him of that base
recorded of the Battel of Glandelory or Glinbury as to the Captains Numbers or other Circumstances save that the English suffered a great Defeat there and that William Fitz Roger Prior of the Kings Hospitallers and many others were taken Prisoners Hanmer 203. and a great number slain which ill Success was somewhat ballanced by a sore Battel which Ralph Peppard and O Hanlon gave to the great O Neal. Thomas de Clare and O Bryan Roe King of Thomond were likewise at odds 1277. and the Briton had tho' the better of it at first so that he took O Bryan and beheaded him yet afterward the Irish drove Thomas and his Father-in-Law into the Mountains of Slevebloom M. S. Fragment 2. and kept them there till for want of better Victuals they fed upon Horse-flesh and thereupon they yielded themselves Prisoners and to obtain their Liberty were forced to give Hostages that they would make satisfaction for O Bryan's Death and surrender the Castle of Roscomon And as if some malignant Star had influenced all the Inhabitants of Ireland to contention the Irish also quarrelled with one another and Mac Diarmund of Mylurg encounter'd the King of Connaught and slew him and two thousand of his Men. Wherefore the Lord Justice was sent for over to give account of this Bustle and why he permitted it as also to answer why he did not in person assist Thomas de Clare against the O Bryans To the first he answered that it was no damage to the King that one Rebel destroy'd another and to the second he gave such an Answer as was satisfactory Stephen de Fulborne 1279. Bishop of Waterford was left Lord Justice till his Return In his time were coyned in England several round Pieces of Money viz. the Penny the Half-penny and the Farthing which by Proclamation were made current in England and Ireland and yet the old Money was not cried down About this time the Irish Petitioned the King that they might have the Benefit of the Laws of England extended to them which produced the following Writ REX Archiepisc Prin 257. Abbatib Comitib Baronib Militib omnibus Anglicis de terra Hiberniae Salutem Ex parte Hibernicorum de terra praedicta nobis extitit humiliter supplicatum quod sibi de gratia nostra concedere dignaremur ut eisdem Legibus Consuetudinibus communibus uti gaudere possint in terra quibus Anglici ibidem utuntur gaudent secundum easdem Leges Consuetudines deduci valeant in futurum Nos autem quia hujusmodi concessionem absque Conscientia vestra eis ad praesens non duximus faciendam Vobis mandamus quod ad certos dies quos ad hoc provideritis viz. citra Festum Nativitatis Beatae Mariae Virginis in aliquibus locis oportunis conveniatis inde diligentem tractatum inter vos habeatis Vtrum sine prejudicio vestri Libertatum Consuetudinum vestrarum etiam sine damno vestro dictam concessionem facere possumus eisdem necne de omnibus aliis circumstantiis hujusmodi concessionem contingentibus de hoc quod inde feceritis nobis citra proximum Parliamentum nostrum quod erit apud Westminster à die Sancti Michaelis in unum Mensem sub Sigillo Justic nostri Hiberniae vel ejus locum tenentis Sigillo dilecti fidelis nostri Roberti Baggot distincte aperte una cum concilio vestro constare faciatis hoc propter absentiam quorundam de paribus vestris quos ibidem interesse non contigerit vel illorum qui sunt infra atatem in custodia nullatenus omittatis ut nos ex tunc habita super hoc deliberatione pleniori inde provideri faciamus quod nobis concilio nostro magis videbitur expedire c. It is certain the Answer to this Writ was in the Negative and I suppose the Reason was That since the Irish generally were not amensnable to the Law but still used and would use their own Brehon-Law and Tanistry it was not fit they should have a general Benefit of the Laws of England but rather that every Person Family or Sept who would give some Assurance or at least Promise of Allegiance and Submission to the English Laws should by Special Writ be admitted to the Benefit of them and therefore we find a Multitude of such Writs and Licences from this time forward and many of them are in this Form viz. Quod ipse liberi sui de corpore suo legitime procreati hanc habeant libertatem And sometimes it is to Them and Their Heirs and sometimes to Them and Their Heirs of such a Sirname But the most memorable Writ of this Sort is that which follows REx omnibus ad quos Prin 258. 6. Rich. 2. c. Salutem sciatis quod de assensu concilii nostri concessimus pro nobis haeredibus nostr ad supplicationem Cornelii de Clone de Hibernia dicto of Fynatha militis Hibernici pro suo bono gestu erga nos pro bono servitio quod nobis impendit tempore praeterito tam praedicto Cornelio qui est de Natione Hibernica quam omnibus aliis de praedicta Natione qui sunt erunt ad obedientiam nostram de sanguine ipsius Cornelii existunt gerunt illud cognomen de Fynatha quod ipsi tempore quo ipsi sic obedientes nobis vel haeredibus nostris existunt uti gaudere possint omnimodis haereditatibus beneficiis libertatibus in Terra nostra Hiberniae predicta prout ligei nostri Anglicani obedientes nostri ibidem gaudent utuntur aliquo statuto vel ordinatione in contrarium edito non obstante c. Robert de Vfsord 1280. Lord Justice returned from England and kept all things in such good Order that nothing is recorded of the two following Years but the unfortunate burning the City of Waterford But he being removed Stephen Fulborn 1282. Bishop of Waterford afterwards Archbishop of Tuam was Lord Justice it seems he had been also Lord Treasurer And then the Irish made great Stirs in Connaught Arlow and Vpper Ossory which cost many Lives but the Loss fell heaviest upon the principal Rebels Mortagh and Art mac Morough were slain by Penquir◠at Arclow and Mac Gilpatrick also met with an untimely Death in Connaught And these Publick Contests were accompanied with Private Quarrels so that Adam Cusack slew William Barret and his Brethren about some Lands they contended for in Connaught It is to be remembred That the Oastmen or Easterlings had generally the benefit of the English Laws by Charters from King Henry to each City That of Waterford is to be seen in Sir John Davis his excellent Discourse pag. 94. And it was this Year confirmed by King Edward Great part of the City of Dublin was this Year burnt 1283. and the Steeple and Chapter-House of Christ Church did not escape the
that Land and to go personally thither and an Army was design'd for him and he was created Duke of Ireland in order to that Expedition and notwithstanding all this on the twenty third of July 1393. the King sent him a Letter to stop his Voyage because his Majesty intended to go to that Kingdom in person For the King was netled with an Answer his Ambassadors received in Germany when they were solliciting for the Imperial Crown that they did not think him fit to be their Emperor who could not keep what his Ancestors had gain'd in France nor rule his insolent Subjects in England nor tame his rebellious Vassals in Ireland and therefore partly to vindicate his Reputation and partly to divert the Melancholy which had seiz'd him on the Death of his Wife he undertook a Royal Voyage to Ireland with four thousand Men at Arms and thirty thousand Archers under S. Edwards Banner It seems that Sir Thomas Scroop was sent before him to prepare for the Kings Reception for I find him named Lord Justice on the 26th of April 1394. 1394. But however that be it is certain that on the Second Day of October Richard the Second King of England Landed at Waterford with a mighty Army whereof he made but small use for the Irish betook themselves to their old Stratagems of feigned and crafty Submissions wherewith they had deluded and abused King Henry the Second and King John in former times However Mowbray Earl of Notingham and Marshal of England had a special Commission to receive the Homage and Oaths of Fidelity of all the Irish of Leinster by vertue whereof Girald O Birne Donald O Nolan Malachias O Morough Rory oge O More Arthur Mac Morough Morough O Connor and others made their humble submission by an Interpreter in the open Field at Baligory near Carlow on the 16th of February They did Homage in solemn manner and made their Oaths of Fidelity to the Earl Marshal laying aside their Girdles Skeins and Caps and falling down at his Feet upon their Knees which being performed the Marshal gave each of them Osculum Pacis Moreover they were bound by several Indentures upon great Penalties to be paid to the Apostolick Chamber viz. O Birne twenty thousand Marks O Nolan ten thousand pounds c. not only to continue Loyal Subjects but that by a certain day prefix'd they and all their Sword-men should clearly relinquish and give up unto the King and his Successors all the Lands and possessions which they held in Leinster and taking with them only their moveable Goods should serve him in his Wars against his other Rebels In consideration whereof the King was to give them Pay and Pensions during their Lives and to bestow the inheritance of all such Lands upon them as they should recover from the Rebels in any other part of the Realm And thereupon a Pension of eighty Marks per annum was granted to Art Mac Murrough Chief of the Cavenaghs which was continued to his Posterity till the time of Henry the Eighth although they did nothing for it But the King having received Letters from O Neal wherein he stiles himself Prince of the Irishry in Vlster and yet acknowledgeth the King to be his Sovereign Lord and Dominus perpetuus Hiberniae removed to Drogheda to take the Submissions of the Irish of Vlster Thither came to him O Neal O Hanlon O Donel Mac Mahon and others who with the like humility and ceremony as aforesaid performed their Homage and Fealty to the Kings own Person in these or the like Words mutatis mutandis Ego Nelanus O Neal Senior tam pro meipso quam pro filiis meis tota Natione mea Parentelis meis pro omnibus Subditis meis devenio Ligeus Homo vester c. And in the Indenture between O Neal and the King he is bound not only to remain faithful to the Crown of England but also to restore the Bonaught of Vlster to the Earl of Vlster as of right belonging to that Earldom and amongst other things usurped by the O Neals These Indentures and Submissions with many more of the same kind for there was not a Chieftain or Head of an Irish Sept but submitted himself in one Form or other the King himself caused to be enrolled and testified by a Notary Publick and with his own hands delivered the Enrolments to the Bishop of Salisbury who on the 25th of June delivered to the Court of Exchequer two Hanapers one containing thirty nine and the other thirty six Instruments which were all there recorded or enrolled so that they have been carefully preserved and are now to be found in the Remembrancers Office and the Copies of them all are to be seen at Lambeth Libro D. In the mean time Lib. G. Lambeth on the first of February the King wrote a Letter to his Unkle the Duke of York who it seems was his Deputy in England signifying that there were three sorts of People in Ireland viz. Irish Savages or Enemies Irish Rebels and English Subjects and that perhaps the Rebels had cause and provocation to do as they have done and that therefore he has given them Truce till Easter and designs to pardon them generally and concludes with a Desire of his Advice in this Particular The Duke and the Council on the 19th of March return an Answer Lib. M. That they had formerly given their Opinion to prosecute the Rebels but that his Majesty being on the Place best knew what was fit to be done and that they did not mislike his Intention provided the Rebels did pay some considerable Fines towards the Charge of the Kings Voyage and also took out their particular Pardons within a limited Time Lib. G. and not long after finding that the King had accepted the Irish Submissions and valued himself upon the Atchievement they send him a congratulatory Letter and humbly pray his Majesty to return to England Several of the Irish Historians one of them misleading another say that the King did call a Parliament at Christmas and about Shrovetide return'd to England but as I am sure he did not return in many Weeks after Shrovetide so I believe he held no other Parliament in Ireland at this time than that there being a great Concourse of the Chief Men of the Land to Dublin to attend the King it is probable the King consulted with them about the publick Affairs and that they complained to his Majesty of such Grievances as needed to be redress'd Lib. G. and particularly That whereas the Chancery us'd to pay into the Exchequer two thousand Marks per annum for the Great Seal besides defraying the Charge of that Court it now hardly pays its own Officers their Salaries because Grants for which the Parties formerly paid an hundred pound are now made for ten shillings and Secondly That James Cotenham Deputy Admiral of Ireland to the Earl of Rutland committed great Abuses and exacted a Tribute of
List of all that did pay this scandalous Contribution Lib. P. 174. and yet I am not willing to conceal from him the Account I have met with which is as follows lib. The Barony of Lecale to O Neal of Clandeboy per annum 20 The County of Vriel to O Neal 40 The County of Meath to O Connor 60 The County of Kildare to O Connor 20 The King's Exchequer to Mac Morough 80 Marks The County of Wexford to Mac Morough 40 The Counties of Kilkenny and Typerary to O Carol 40 The County of Limerick to O Bâ—â—an 40 The County of Cork to Mac Carty of Muskry 40 And whilst the English were engaged in England the Irish advantaged themselves of the Opportunity and without Colour of Right usurped many considerable Estates as they had done before in the time of Richard II and these two Seasons set them so afloat that they could never since be cast out of their forceable Possessions holding by plain Wrong the most part of Vlster and upon very frivolous Pretences great Portions of Laâ—d in Munster and Connaugh And so we are come to the end of this unfortunate Reign which determined some Years before the King's Life for he did not dye until the twenty first Day of May 1472. And it must not be forgot That one of the Articles against this King was That by the Instigation of divers Lords about him he had wrote Letters to some of the Irish Enemy whereby they were encouraged to attempt the Conquest of the said Land of Ireland THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND EDWARD Earl of March 1460. Son and Heir of Richard Duke of York immediately after his Fathers Death at the Battle of Wakefield betook himself with all Diligence to gather an Army near Shrewsbury and having got twenty three thousand Men together on the second of February he defeated the Earls of Ormond and Pembrook near Mortimers-Cross and killed three thousand eight hundred of their Soldiers and although the Queen not long afterward defeated the Earl of Warwick at Bernard-Heath near S. Albans yet he wisely made slight of that Misfortune and without any Regard to it marched directly to London where on the fourth Day of March by vertue of the aforementioned Act of Parliament he was proclaimed King by the Name of Edward the Fourth He was as to his Person the goodliest Man of his Time and he was not less Valiant than beautiful On the twelfth of March he advanced against his Enemies and on Palm-Sunday with an Army of forty thousand and six hundred Men he encountred with sixty thousand and obtained so great a Victory that thirty six thousand seven hundred and seventy two of his Adversaries were slain And so being safe in his Throne 1461. he thought it time to put the Crown upon his Head which was solemnly performed on the twenty eighth Day of June In the mean time Thomas Earl of Kildare was on the thirtieth of April chosen Lord Justice by the Council of Ireland and continued so until Sir Rowland Fitz-Eusâ—ace 1462. Lord of Portlester and Treasurer was appointed Deputy to the Duke of Clarence He held a Parliament at Dublin Friday before S. Luke's Day which enacted That ten Pound per annum Davis 96. be received out of the Profits of the Courts to repair the Castle hall It seems that one William O Bolgir was made Denizen about this time Lib. G. and that on the fourth of May 1463. Robert Barnwal was made Baron of Trimlets-Town and it must not be forgot That the Earl of Ormond was beheaded at Newcastle and attainted by Parliament in Englaâ—d ◠〈◊〉 4. and that that noble Family was in Disgrace all this â—eâ—gn for their firm adhesion to the House of Lancaster This Lord Justice was long after this in a very old Age made Viscount Baltinglass by King Henry VIII and now was forced to resign to George Duke of Clarence the King's Brother who was made Lord Lieutenant for Life and deputed his Godfather Thomas Earl of Desmond Lib. M. Lord Deputy in whose time Mints were established at Dublin Trim Drogheda Waterford and Galway to coyn Groats two Penny pieces Pence Halfpence and Farthings And not long after it was ordered That English Mony should advance a fourth Part in Ireland viz. That an English Nine Pence should pass for a Shilling in Ireland and a Shilling for sixteen Pence and so proportionably And it seems the Gold Noble coyned in the time of Edward III. was inhanced higher than the rest for it was ordered to pass for ten Shillings And this was the first time any difference was made in the value of Mony between England and Ireland This Lord Justice held a Parliament at Weys Friday before S. Martin's Day 1463. which the Thursday after was adjourned to Waterford to be held the Monday following It was again on Saturday before the Feast of Edward the Confessor adjourned to Naas Irish Statutes 19. to be held Monday before S. Matthias Day and thence on the Friday after it met there it was adjourned to Dublin to be held Monday before S. David's Day and there on the Saturday after it was dissolved having first enacted I. That all Parliament Men should have Priviledge forty Days before and forty Days after every Sessions And II. That the Attorneys Fees be regulated And III. That clipped Mony should not be currant He held another Parliament at Trim 1465. on Wednesday after S. Lawrence his Day at which it was enacted I. That the like Challenge may be had against the Feofee as against cestuy que use II. That any Body may kill Thieves or Robbers Repealed 11 Car. 1 c. 6. or any Person going to rob or steal having no faithful Men of Good Name in English Apparel in their Company III. That the Irish within Pale shall wear English Habit take English Names and swear Allegiance upon pain of forfeiture of Goods IV. That English and Irish speaking English and living with the English shall have an English Bow and Arrows on pain of two Pence V. That there be a Constable and Butts in every Town And Lastly That no Foreign Vessels fish on the Rebels Coast on pain of Forfeiture And every one that fisheth on the Coast of the Pale to pay a Duty But this Lord Justice who was the greatest Man that ever was of his Family began now to decline in the King's Favour and was obliged to give place to John Lord Tiptoft 1467. Earl of Worcester Treasurer of England and Constable of England for Life Lord Deputy of Ireland he was one of the most learned and eloquent Men in Christendom and held a Parliament at Drogheda At which it was enacted I. That the Governour for the time being may pass into Islands II. That none shall purchase Bulls for Benefices from Rome under great Penalty III. That the King's Pardon to Provisors be void IV. That the
BROTHERHOOD of St. George But to proceed William Sherwood 1475. Bishop of Meath was Lord Deputy to the Duke of Clarence he held a Parliament at Dublin Friday after the Feast of St. Margaret which makes it Treason to bring Bulls or Apostiles from Rome and orders the Lords of Parliament to wear Robes on pain of one hundred Shillings and enjoyns the Barons of the Exchequer to wear their Habits in Term-time and Enacts That if any Englishman be damnified by an Irishman not amesnable to Law he may reprize himself upon the whole Sept or Nation And that it shall be Felony to take a Distress contrary to Common Law which was a very necessary Act in those Times and is the only Act of this Parliament that is printed and though it be an English Case yet it may be useful in other Countries and therefore we will mention That George Nevil Duke of Bedford was this Year degraded 4th Instit. 355. because he had not any Estate left to support the Dignity Henry 1478. Lord Grey of Ruthen Lord Deputy held a Parliament a Drogheda which repeal'd all the Acts of the aforesaid Parliament of 12 Edw. 4. and then he resigned to Sir Robert Preston Lib. G. Lord Deputy who on the 7th of August was created Viscount Gormanston but he held the Government but a little time before he surrendred to Girald Earl of Kildare Lord Deputy he held a Parliament at Naas Friday after the Feast of St. Petronilla which Enacted 1478. 1. That Distresses taken for Rent might be sold And 2. That Non-Residents might be chosen Parliament-men 1480. but on the twelfth of August the Earl of Kildare was made Deputy to the Kings Son Richard Duke of York for four years from the fifth of May following Lib. M. by the Dukes Patent under the Kings Privy Seal quod nota and the Earl by Indenture with the King did Covenant to keep the Realm surely and safely to his power and was to have eighty Archers on Horse-back and forty other Horsemen called Spears and six hundred pound per annum to maintain them and if the Irish Revenue cannot pay it it shall be sent out of England This Lord Deputy held another Parliament on Monday after the Translation of St. Thomas at which it was Ordained 1. That no Hawks should be carried out of the Kingdom without great Custom And 2. That the Pale should have no correspondence with the Irish and it seems this Parliament Naturaliz'd Con O Neal Davis 93â— who had married the Lord Deputy's Daughter What the incomparable Spencer in his View of Ireland relates of the Duke of Clarence and Moroughen Ranagh O Brian is not to be placed in the Reign of Edward the Fourth because George Duke of Clarence was never actually in Ireland whilst he was Lord Lieutenant of that Kingdom but always managed that Province by Deputies and therefore I suppose that what Spencer has related will better suit with the Government of Lionel Duke of Clarence in the Reign of Edward the Third who did indeed marry the Heiress of Vlster and performed the other Atchievements Mr. Spencer writes of It was in this Kings Reign that the Jubile which before was every Fiftieth Year was by Pope Sixtus the Fourth brought to be every five and twentieth year and that the Primacy of Scotland was setled upon the Archbishop of St. Andrews And thus stood the Government of Ireland during the Reign of King Edward the Fourth who between the French King the troublesome Earl of Warwick the discontented Lords and the Attempts of the Wife and Friends of Henry the Sixth found so much work at home that Ireland was in a manner neglected and left to the Protection of the Fraternity of St. George when on the ninth Day of April 1483 the King died in the two and fortieth Year of his Age and of his Reign the three and twentieth THE REIGN OF RICHARD III. King of England c. And LORD of IRELAND UPon the Death of King Edward his Son the Prince of Wales being then at Ludlow was Proclaimed King by the Name of Edward the Fifth and in his way to London was perswaded by the means of his Unkle the Duke of Glocester to dismiss great part of his Guards as well to save the Charge as to avoid giving Cause of Suspicion and Reasons of Jealousie to such as doubted that so numerous an Attendance was entertain'd upon Designs prejudicial to them And so having luckily mounted this first step to the Throne the Duke of Glocester proceeded to confederate with the Duke of Buckingham and the Lord Hastings and by their assistance he first seized on the Earl Rivers and others of the Kings Relations and Friends and then got the King himself into his power and brought him to London using a thousand Artifices to make the People believe that the Queen-Mothers Kindred designed the extirpation of the Ancient Nobility the Slavery of the People and the Ruine of the Kingdom This Duke of Glocester wheedled or bribed to that degree that he was chosen Protector by the unanimous Consent of the Council and afterwards got the Kings Brother out of Sanctuary at Westminster and under specious Pretences of their Security both the Princes were conveyed to the Tower of London in a most pompous and splendid manner and there they were afterwards murdered by the Appointment if not by the Hands of their Unkle King Richard took upon him the Regal Office on the 18th day of June 1483. and before the Murder of his Nephews and he was Crowned together with his Queen on the 6th day of July 1483. and being very busie in England to establish the Crown he had usurped he did not think it advisable to make any Alterations in Ireland but continued in that Government Gerald Earl of Kildare Lord Deputy to Edward the Kings Son who held a Parliament at Dublin wherein it was Enacted That the Mayor and Bayliffs of Waterford might go in Pilgrimage to St. James of Compostella in Spain leaving sufficient Deputies to govern that City in their absence 2. That the Corporation of Ross might reprize themselves against Robbers and that no Persons should alien their Free-hold in Ross to a Foreigner without the Licence of the Portriff and Council of that Town but these being private Acts are not Printed It seems that the next Year the Earl of Kildare as Deputy to the Earl of Lincoln 1484. Lord Lieutenant did hold another Parliament at Dublin wherein six private Acts only were made and not long after conven'd another Parliament at Trim which either did nothing at all or nothing worth mentioning but a subsequent Parliament at Dublin gave a Subsidy of Thirteen shillings and four pence out of every Plow-Land to the Deputy towards his Charges in the Service he did against the Irish wherein O Connor it seems was a Partner or Co-adjutor for he also had ten Groats out of every Plow-Land in Meath for
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-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
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
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
this Journey the Deputy received the Submissions of some of the Irish and drove others of them into Fastnesses About this time the Name of the King at Arms who was formerly called Ireland was changed to that of Vlster and Nicholas Narbon Richmond Herald in England was the first King at Arms by the Name of Vlster Ware 192. and upon his Death Bartholomew Butler succeeded him June 21. anno 1552. But upon the Lord Deputy's Return to Dublin Matthew Baron of Dungannon complained to him against his Father the Earl of Tyrone whereupon that Earl was imprisoned which enraged his other Sons to that degree that they burnt and destroyed that part of the Country which belonged to Matthew On the other side the Baron being assisted by the English resolved to revenge that Injury and at length it came to a Battel which was doubtful for some time but ended in the Defeat of Matthew and the Slaughter of two hundred of his Soldiers English and Irish Nevertheless the Earl of Tyrone remain'd confin'd to stay within the Pale until at the end of three Months he gave Hostages in February and returned to Vlster And about the same time O Connor made his escape out of the Tower of London but was retaken and again imprisoned but Mac Coghlan being weary of wandring in the Woods made his Submission and was restored to his Territory of Delvin And the Publick Records were removed from Birmingham's Tower to S. Patrick's Library in Dublin The Year 1552 1552. was propitious to the Noble Family of the Giraldines for Girald Son of the last Earl of Kildare whose miraculous Preservation hath been already mention'd was now received into Favour and on the twenty fifth of April was restored to Minooth and good part of his Estate and about two years after in the Reign of Queen Mary viz. on the thirteenth of May 1554. he was Created Earl of Kildare Lib. G. and Baron of Ophaly at Westminster But Donough Earl of Thomond who had that Title confirmed to him and his Heirs Males in January last had great Contests with his Unkle Daniel who claimed the Estate by Tanistry but at length by the Mediation of the Lord Deputy they came to an Agreement which is mentioned in an Indenture Tripartite between the Deputy the Earl and Daniel O Bryan Dated May 9 1552. In the mean time Sir Nicholas Bagnal was sent against Hugh Mac Morough and they came to a Battel which was so well fought on both sides that the Loss as well as the Victory is uncertain But the Garrison of Athloan had better Success at Cluan macnoise where they robbed or destroyed all they met with not sparing even the Church-Books The Lord Depury marched to Vlster and repaired and garrison'd the Castle of Belfast but it seems he brought but a small Army in expectation that the Baron of Dungannon would joyn him with his Forces and indeed the Baron designed it and endeavoured it but his Brother Shane O Neal surprized his Camp by night and routed his Army with a great Slaughter Whereupon the Lord Deputy returned to Dublin and intended for England but he was stopped for a while by Sir Henry Knolls whom the King sent over with Intelligence that the Queen of Scots had sent O Connor's son to Ireland to raise new Commotions but as soon as it was understood that his Negotiation was ineffectal the Lord Deputy prosecuted his former Resolution and embarked at Houth on the fourth of December and pursuant to the King's Letter of the seventh of November Sir Thomas Cusack Lord Chancellor and Sir Girald Ailmer Lord Chief Justice were chosen Lords Justices on the sixth of December and soon after one of the O Neals was imprisoned in Dublin for spreading false News about the late Lord Deputy but he was on the thirtieth of December enlarged on Bail In the mean time on the twenty eighth of December Lib. D. Hugh Mac Neal Oge of Clandeboy made his Submission to the Lords Justices or rather to the King and swore Allegiance and Agreed and Covenanted by Indenture to forfeit all if he ever relapsed or apostatized again Whereupon the King granted to him the Abby of Carrigfergus and Liberty to keep three Secular Priests as also the Castle of Belfast But Ireland was unhappy not only by the Civil Dissentions in Vlster between the Earl of Tyrone and his Son Shane O Neal and by the Scarcity of Provisions insomuch that a Kilderkin of Wheat was sold for four and twenty shillings which in the following year was sold for five shillings but also by the Death of Sir William Brabazon who died in July and was one of the most faithful men to the English Interest that had appeared in Ireland from the Conquest to that day The King was advised to lower the Value of Brass Money and to make the Bell-Groat currant at two pence and no more and also to build a Castle at Baltimore to oblige the Fishermen to pay Tribute the former he performed but the later as unpracticable was neglected or postponed The Earl of Thomond and his Unkles Donald and Trelagh were again at open Wars notwithstanding the aforesaid Agreement made between them by the Government February They took the Town of Cluanroad but the Earl defended the Castle for a time but not long after he was murdered by his Unkle Donald and was succeeded by his Son Cnogher whose Mother was Helen April Daughter of Pierce Earl of Ormond 1553. About the same time Teig Roe O Mlaghlin murdered Neal Mac Fylemy of the same Family coming from Molingar but the Murtherer was not long after slain in Battel by the Baron of Delvin and the Garrison of Athloan and in Connaught Richard Burk was at variance with the Sons of Thomas Burk Buckagh the issue whereof was that Richard was taken Prisoner and an hundred and an fifty of his Men slain Nor were the Contests less between Richard Earl of Clanrickard and John Burk the Earl besieged John's Castle but Daniel O Bryan came to John's Relief and forced the Earl to raise the Siege But whilst these things were doing the King died at Greenwich on the sixth Day of July in the seventh Year of his Reign aud the sixteenth Year of his Age. THE REIGN OF MARY QUEEN OF England France AND IRELAND MARY 1553. eldest Sister of the deceased King notwithstanding King Edward's Will and all the Endeavours that were used against her did succeed her Brother in the Throne and although she was Kept out of Possession by the Lady Jane about twelve Days so that she was not proclaimed at London until the nineteenth Day of July Yet there being no Interregnum in England her Reign must be computed from the sixth of July being the Day of her Brother's Death It may seem strange That the Protestants did so easily submit to her or that the Kingdom of Ireland should at all own her for their Queen Because I. She was the Issue
his Excommunication against Queen Elizabeth and as Mr. Sullevan says pag. 70. deservedly deprived her of her Kingdoms we must not expect any more quiet during her Reign but that the bigotted Rebels like Virginal Jacks will start up one after another to disturb the Government of the Heretick Queen and to rescue themselves from the English Laws and the Protestant Religion which are the two things they chiefly hated and abhorred In Munster they met with their Match Sir John Perrot the President was one that knew them well he had experienced that they were like nettles which stung most when they were gently handled and therefore he squeezed them to purpose and so haunted them from one fastness to another 1571. that he gave them no rest so that in a little time he brought James Fitz Maurice himself who was the most valiant and most zealous of all the Confederates to submit simply to Mercy without any Conditions and on his Knees at Kilmallock to confess and lament all his Disloyalties and the Lord President by keeping Itinerant Courts of Justice and using necessary Severity soon brought Munster to that pass that the white Sheep kept the black and the Traveller might safely keep his Road without Arms or Company he also forced the Irish to conform to English Habit and to leave off several of their barbarous Customs and Fashions and he also brought the Irish Lords to contribute to the charge of the War So that on the twenty sixth day of September 1571. Lib. L. The following Lords and Gentlemen Covenanted with him to supply their respective Quota's for six Months viz.  Hor. Shot Gallowgl Kern Mac Cartymore 6 24 126 100 The Lord Barry 6 10 030 020 Mac Carty riah 8 10 040 050 Sr. Donough Mac Teige of Muscry 6 10 020 040 The Lord Courcy 2 04 006 008 Mac Donough 4 08 020 030 And the Earl of Glencar was to command them and in his Absence the Lord Barry they were to divide what Preys they should get proportionably with respect to their Contribution and if there should be need of it they were obliged to encrease their Forces It happened once Hooker 134. that Captain George Bourchier third Son to the Earl of Bath who served under Sir John Perrot in Munster was invited to a Gentlemans Castle to Supper under pretence of Parly and to use Bourchier's Mediation for his Pardon The Captain not at all suspecting any Treachery went thither according to the Invitation but the Perfidious Host thinking that the President would give him better Conditions for Bourchier's Liberty than he would for his Intercession detained him Prisoner and hand-locked him for some time and probably until he obtained his Pardon and what else he desired The Lord-Deputy received Letters of the thirteenth of December giving him leave to return to England and ordering him to substitute in his Place his Brother-in-Law Sir William Fitz Williams and accordingly he did set Sail on the 24th day of March and left Sir William Fitz Williams Lord Justice who was Sworn in April 1572. in St. Patricks Church in Dublin and in January following had a new Commission to be Lord Deputy In his time Brian Mac Cahir Cavenagh was very unruly and under pretence of revenging some Injuries done him by Robert Brown of Malrenkam Hooker 135. he killed Brown and insulted over all his Neighbours but Sir Nicholas Devereux and the People of Wexford not enduring his Insolence resolved upon their own Defence and at length it came to a smart Skirmish wherein thirty Gentlemen of Devereux's side were slain but about two Years after Brian submitted to the Government and was Pardoned and became a follower to Sir Peter Carew and was not only Faithful to him but also loved him to that degree that on Sir Peter's Death Brian pined away and in a little time died also he was the honestest and bravest of all the Cavenaghs and was a younger Son of Cahir Mac Art who was made a Baron for Life by King Henry the Eighth Conaught was disordered by the troublesome Sons of the Earl of Clanrickard Hooker 135. who could by no means endure the severe Government of Sir Edward Fitton President of Conaught and therefore broke out into Rebellion and hired one Thousand Scots to their Assistance The Earl himself was then Prisoner in Dublin and desired Liberty to suppress his Sons and quiet the Country and by advice of the Council it was granted him but he did not perform what he had promised however the same thing was in a great measure effected by a stupendious Victory obtained by Captain Collier who with one Company of Foot defeated and killed most part of the thousand Auxiliary Scots Camb. Eâ—iz 502. The Earl of Kildare for a certain sum to be paid by the Queen had undertaken to prosecute the O Mores and to defend the Pale against them but he did not so effectually perform it but that the O Mores Cambd. Eliz. 201. assisted by the O Connors made several Incursions into the Pale and burnt Athloan and did abundance of Mischief and in Vlster Bryan Mac Fylemy took and burnt Carrigfergus and to these Misfortunes was added a greater than either of them by the Death of the Lord Chancellor Weston on the twentieth day of May 1573. 1573. On the ninth of July the Queen granted unto Walter Devereux who not long before was made Earl of Essex the Moyety of the Signiories of Clandeboy Ferny c. And the Earl was by Indenture obliged to go thither before Michaelmas with two hundred Horse and four hundred Foot and to maintain them for two years and afterwards he was to keep as many Soldiers as the Queen should keep for the Defence of her Moyety not exceeding six hundred and no more and it was agreed that for the first two years the Queen would likewise keep two hundred Horse and four hundred Foot under the Command of the Earl and that every Horse-man Voluntier that will serve gratis for two years shall have four hundred Acres of Land and a Foot-Soldier two hundred Acres at two pence an Acre Quit-Rent and if any of them die within two year the Heir may supply his room in six Months It was farther agreed between them That necessary Fortifications should be made at the equal Charge of the Queen and the Earl and afterwards division should be made by Commissioners and 〈◊〉 division each might for twenty years build on her or his respective share as they pleased And the Earl was to have Timber out of Killulta Woods and might for seven years transport the growth of the Country without paying Custom and for twelve years more should pay no more Custom than is paid in England and he had liberty to transport Arms Money and all Necessaries out of England Custom-free giving notice thereof to the Officers of the Ports Each might dispose of five thousand Acres as they please but more than that quantity
the preposterous Courses they took For they were taught That the Pope was by Divine Right Universal Monarch and Governor of the World P. W. Remonstrance in Preface 6 7. and had Independent Sovereign Authority over Kings and Subjects in Temporal as well as Spiritual Concerns That he might Deprive and Dethrone Kings and had Power of both Swords to which every Soul upon pain of eternal Damnation was bound to give Obedience That he had power to absolve from all Oaths and that those who are slain in the Quarrel of the Church against an Excommunicated Prince die true Martyrs of Christ and their Souls fly to Heaven immediately So that it is no wonder that a People for the most part abounding in Ignorance and Bigotry tempted by the Hopes of Profit in the Plunders and Success of the War and stimulated by a National Malice against the British should be guilty of all that Cruelty and Treachery which they thought Meritorious and was in their Opinion conducive to their main Design of Extirpating the Protestants This tedious and bloody War which was at first begun by the Papists against the Protestants to support the King's Prerogative and suppress the Puritans as they pretended met with such prodigious Turns and Vicissitudes in the Progress of it that the most virulent Faction of the Papists joyn'd with the Puritans and fought for them against the King and against one another and all the Parties in the Kingdom which were * King Ormond Parliament Cooâ— Covenanters Lord of Ardes Supreme Couucil Preston Nuncio Owen Roe Five did one time or other in the War fight against the Faction it had formerly sided with But because this War was on the King's part managed by the Marquis since Duke of Ormond first in the Quality of Lieutenant General and afterwards as Lord Lieutenant it is necessary that according to my former Method I give some Account of Him which perhaps cannot be better done than from a MS. I accidentally met with wherein there are some short memorable Strokes of Him and his Family not unfit to be communicated to the Reader and therefore I have transcribed it as followeth 1. He was born at Clerkenwell in London on the Ninteenth of October 1610. and died at Kingstonhall in Dorset-shire on the 21th of July 1688. This was the 78th Year of his Age in which time he had seen Four Kings and served Three of them for 57 Years with an unshaken Zeal to the Crown 2. That he had seen Three Generations above him as maâ—â—ely his Father Thomas Viscount Thurles his Grandfather Walter Earl of Ormond and his great great Uncle Thomas Earl of Ormond who being a Black Man was commonly called by the Irish Thomas Duff This Thomas who was also Earl of Ossory was a Man of high Courage and Endowments and much favoured by Queen Elizabeth as being also Kinsman to her Mother He was Knight of the Garter Lord Treasurer of Ireland and General of the Army there He lived to the Age of Eighty seven Years and in the Reigns of Five Kings and Queens and died in 1614. So also had his Grace seen Three Generations below him as namely his Son Thomas the Renowned Earl of Ossory his Grandson James the present Duke and his great Grandson Thomas who was playing in the Room before him but a few Hours before his Death 3. That he had for some Years sat with Two of his Sons the said Thomas Earl of Ossory and Richard Earl of Arran in the House of Peers in England and his eldest Son was Knight of the Garter at the same time with Himself 4. That if the Siding and Partaking with the House of Lancaster in the Ancient Quarrels with the House of York which divided and at one time or other involved the whole Nation may pass for nothing it will not appear in all the Records that any Staln of Disloyalty was ever imputed to any that were the Chief Branch of this Family for Five hundred Years 5. That his Grace not to count what Titles they had before was the Twelfth Earl of Ormond and the Seventh of that Name of James He who was the Second James and styl'd The Noble Earl as being by his Mother de Bohun Great Grandson to King Edw. I. was thrice Lord Justice of Ireland And the Fifth James being by Hen. VI. made also Earl of Wiltshire Knight of the Garter and Lord Treasurer of England was Five times made Lord Deputy and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and had a Patent of it for Twelve Years His late Grace the Seventh James was Lord Lieutenant Four times which in all took in about Twenty four Years And if we shall reckon how many of this Family and how often they have been concern'd in that Government it thus appears That from the 31 Hen. 3. 1247. when Theobald Butler Lord of Carrick was made one of the Lords Justices to 1 Jac. 2. 1684. that his Grace was dismist from being Lord Lieutenant there have in the space of Four hundred thirty seven Years been Ten of this Family who have Seven and twenty times been either Lords Justices Lords Deputies or Lords Lieutenants of that Kingdom These Instances are perhaps sufficient to give the Reader some farther Curiosity to know by what Steps this Great Man grew up into the World who had a various and difficult Part in those Revolutions that befel Three Kingdome and the Monarchs thereof And inasmuch as they seem to reflect some Light on part of the following Story I will venture to add what I also found in the same Manuscript as followeth That the said Thomas Duff having no other Issue than his Daughter the Lady Elizabeth he first married her to his Nephew Theobald Viscount Tullough who was a Protestant as well as himself But he soon dying Childless and the young Widow being made very considerable in her Fortune by the Father's Indulgence there came Sir Richard Preston a Scotchman who being much favoured by King James and fortified by His Credentials he obtain'd the Lady and was made thereupon Lord Dingwell in Scotland and Earl of Desmond in Ireland This Earl soon began to stretch and enlarge his Pretensions to the Estate But Earl Walter the Heir at Law opposed him King James was pleased to take upon Him the Arbitration between them but did it with such partiality as Earl Walter thought that he chose rather to be thrown into the Fleet as for Contempt than to submit There he lay a Prisoner for Eight years together his whole Estate Sequestred and Extended his County Palatine of Tipperary which had been Three or Four hundred years in the Family seised by Quo Warranto into the King's Hands and he reduced to a shameful Want The Duke of Buckingham was active in this Oppression but the Cry of it grew so lowd at last that the King relented for what he had done In these Troubles it was that his Grace's Father Thomas Viscount Thurles coming over to prosecute in
went into England to give his Majesty a full account of his happy and successful Administration of the Government for I find he was created Lord Baron of Belfast on the 23th of February 1615 and perhaps then made Lord High Treasurer THOMAS JONES Archbishop of Dublin Lord Chancellor Sir JOHN DENHAM Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench were Sworn Lords Justices on the 11th of February 1615. The Archbishop was the worthy Ancestor of the Lords of Ranelagh And Sir John Denham was the first that raised any Profit to the Crown from the Customs in Ireland which were Lett for Five hundred Pounds the first Year and before his Death which happened the 6th of January 1638 they were improved to that degree that they were farmed at Fifty Four thousand Pounds per Annum But the Papists beginning again to grow very insolent it was necessary to hasten the new Lord-Deputy thither and therefore on the 30th of August 1616. Sir OLIVER SAINT JOHN afterwards Viscount Grandison 1616. was sworn Lord-Deputy he behaved himself briskly against the Papists who were at that time very high in Ireland Mr. Sullivan says He was a Bloody Man and that he swore he would in two Years banish all the Priests and that he levied 600000◠from the Papists for Fines and Forfeitures for not going to Church and that in Dublin only he imprisoned Ninety Citizens for denying the King's Supremacy all which is notoriously 〈◊〉 And about the same time a most Scandalous lying Book was published Entituled Annalecta Hiberniae written by David Rooth Vicar Apostolick at the Instigation and Charge of the Lord M And stuffed with innumerable Lyes and malicious Accusations of the King's Government in Ireland and yet dedicated to the Prince of Wales which is a high strain of Impudence and Folly to dedicate to the Son Reflections and Scandals upon the Father and as if that Author intended to mock the Son as well as to abuse the Father and that his Dedication to him should pass for nothing he has added another Dedication by way of Appeal to all Foreign Emperors Kings and Princes wherein he avers That the Irish look for nothing but that the King would use them like a King i. e. not like a Tyrant and when I have added that he compares the King to Julian the Apostate and Cajus Caligula and the English-men to Dogs and Wild-Beasts I have said enough of the Spirit and design of that malicious Author The Exorbitances of the Papists did indeed at this time oblige the Government to keep a stricter hand over them than hitherto they had done and two things were resolved on to humble them one was to banish all their Regulars which did in great numbers swarm almost every where in that Kingdom And the other was to suffer no Magistrates or Officers but what should take the Oath of Supremacy according to Law and in order thereunto there did issue a Proclamation against the Popish Clergy on the 13th of October 1617. Anno Dom. 1617. And afterwards on the 5th of March 1617 Donogh Earl of Twomond Lord President of Munster and Sir William Jones Lord Chief Justice of Ireland did by Virtue of a Commission under the Great Seal bearing date the 23d of January 1617 seize on the Liberties of Waterford and all their Rent Rolls Ensigns of Authority and their publick Revenues which amounted to Three Hundred and Four Pounds Ten Shillings per Annum and kept Assizes in the City for the County of Waterford The cause of this Seizure was because Nicholas White who from Michalmas 1615. to the 20th of October then next following did exercise the Office of Mayor of Waterford did on the 20th day of October 1615. refuse the Oath of Supremacy being then tendered to him by the Lord President by Virtue of a special Commission to that purpose and that upon his refusal the City Elected John Skiddy who Acted as Mayor till the 1st of May 1616. and then refused the same Oath being tendred to him by the Lord President whereupon the City chose Alexander Cuffe and swore him Mayor on the 27th of May who likewise on the 8th of July refused the aforesaid Oath of Supremacy before the Lords Justices whereupon he forbore to Act any farther in the Mayoralty and so it stood till the 1st of April 1617. at which time Walter Cleer was sworn Mayor and so continued Moreover the City had no Recorder since the Death of Nicholas Walsh Anno 1615 and yet in January 1616 there was a Goal Delivery held before the said John Skiddy without any Recorder and one William Person was then Condemned before him and afterwards by his Order executed for Felony And it appeared that the Statute of Elizabeth of Uniformity had not been given in Charge in their Sessions at Waterford for Two years past and all this was found by Inquisition taken the 5th day of September 1617. In the mean time there were sharp Contests between several great Families in Ireland about their Inheritance Lib. F. F. F. 199. the one was between Katherine Lady Power who was Heir General to the Deceased Lord Barry and the then Lord Barry Viscount Buttivant and that was happily Compos'd by the Kings Mediation and the Marriage of the Lord Barry with the Lady Power 's Daughter and the other was between Walter Earl of Ormond and the Lady Dingwell Heir General of Thomas Duff Earl of Ormond who died Anno 1614. Their Case is to be found the very last Case in my Lord Hobert's Reports and was refer'd to the King who Anno 1618. made his Award and divided the Estate between the contending Parties but the Earl of Ormond thought that Distribution so unequal that he refused to submit to it and therefore endured a long Imprisonment and many other Hardships from the Court but after his Death that Controversie was also happily Compos'd by the Marriage of his Grandson the young Earl of Ormond with the sole Daughter and Heir of the Lady Dingwell and that happy Couple improved that divided and shattered Estate to be the greatest and best belonging to any Subject in the Kings Dominions and are well known to the World by the Names of the first Duke and Dutchess of Ormond In the Year 1620. 1620. The famous Doctor Usher was made Bishop of Meath and not long after there arose a Dispute between the Archbishop of Armagh and the Bishop Elect of Clogher about the Exercise of Jurisdiction before Consecration but after some Expostulations the Controversie was peaceably Compos'd The Year 1621. 1621. was famous for the Congregation de Propaganda fide then Erected at Rome the influence whereof the Subjects of Great Britain and Ireland have felt to the purpose and in the same Year Thomas Viscount Thurles Father of the first Duke of Ormond was drowned It was in this Year that the King to mortifie some of the most active Members of the House of Commons that had fallen under his
and attacked them so briskly that they quickly fled but by reason of the adjacent Bog and the harrass'd Condition of the English Horse there was not much Execution done the number of the Slain not exceeding Five hundred amongst which were the Lord Dunboyn's Brother the Lord Ikerin's Son and Colonel â—â—vâ—nagh and on the English side not above Twenty killed and Forty wounded However it was an entire Victory all their Powder and Amunition the Generals Waggon drawn with Eight Oxen his and the Lords of Ikerin's Sumptures and Twenty Colours being taken and for this great Service the Lieutenant General had a Letter of thanks from the Parliament of England and a Jewel worth 500 l. Soon after arrived at Dublin Philip Lord Lisle Lieutenant General of the Horse and his first Essay was to relieve the Castle of Geashill which with Three hundred Horse and One hundred and twenty Foot he easily effected he was accompanied by old Sir Charles Coot in this Action who at a Council of War told the rest that if they made haste they might easily pass the Defiles and Causeways before the Enemy could get together to oppose them whereto another reply'd that perhaps that might be so but when the Countrey was Alarm'd how should they get back I protest said Sir Charles Coot I never thought of that in my Life I always considered how to do my business and when that was done I got home again as well as I could and hitherto I have not mist of forcing my way and accordingly they went and their march was so swift that they came unexpectedly to Phillipstowne and took it and on their return they followed some of the Popish Lords of the Pale to Trim and forced that place likewise and by Coot's advice resolved to make it a Garison and therefore in order to settle this Affair with the Lords Justices the Lord Lisle guarded by some of the Horse went to Dublin but the next night after he was gone the Irish to the number of Three thousand came in the dead of the night to surprise Trim but the Centinel gave the Alarm and thereupon Sir Charles Coot with all the Horse he could get being not above Seventeen issued out of the Gate and was followed by others as fast as they could get ready The Success was answerable to so generous an Undertaking and the Irish were routed without any other considerable Loss on the English Side except that of Sir Charles Coot himself who was shot dead but whether by the Enemy or one of his own Troopers is variously reported Upon his Death the Government of Dublin was given to the Lord Lambert on the Twelfth of May and tho' in July Colonel Monk had it by the Lord Lieutenant's Order yet as soon as the King was informed that it had been predisposed to the Lord Lambert Monk was removed and the Lord Lambert was confirmed And on the Twenty third of May the Marquis of Ormond publish'd a Proclamation against the Exorbitances of the Soldiers and to supply their Necessities the Lords Justices gave them Custodiums on the Villages in the Irish Quarters which produced good Effects both in relieving the Soldiers and in annoying the Rebels On the first of June came over some Regiments under the Conduct of Sir Foulk Hunks and Lieutenant Colonel Kirke whereupon the Earl of Ormond with Four thousand five hundred Foot and Six hundred Horse marched to the Relief of Athlone and in his way took in the Castles of Knocklinch Trimletstown and Kinkelfe and beat Five hundred Rebels from Ballynecurr but upon his approach the Rebels burnt Molingar and Bullymore and Sir James Dillon and the Irish Army thought fit to withdraw so that the Lord President of Connaught with Fifty Horse and Two hundred Foot met the Marquis of Ormond Five Miles from Athlone and received from him Two Regiments of Foot and Two Troops of Horse and then both these Lords return'd the one to Athlone and the other to Dublin About the same time viz. in June Colonel Monk marching to reinforce the Lieutenant-General took Castleknock and killed Eighty Rebels besides some that he hanged and a while after he took the Castles of Rathroffy and Clongowswood in the County of Kildare and did good Execution upon the Enemy and of Seventy which he had taken Prisoners most of them being murdering Rebels were afterwards executed at Dublin And on the Twentieth of the same Month Colonel Gibson made a prosperous Incursion into Wicklow and killed many of the Confederates and brought home a considerable Prey But on the Twenty first of June the Irish Parliament sat according to the Prorogation and the Lower House voted That the Oath of Supremacy should be tendred to all their Members that so the Rotten ones may be cut off and new ones chosen in their room and to that purpose a Bill was prepar'd and sent into England and it seems that they did proceed to chuse new Members for the Corporations and Counties within their power in stead of those that were in actual Rebellion which was one of the Grievances the Confederates afterwards complain'd of And it is worthy Observation The Proclamation Burlace Append. p. 57. That the Lords Justices and Council finding the Rebellion to be so general that all Degrees and Conditions of the Irish had with hateful and bloody obstinacy either publickly or privately contributed to the Destruction and Extirpation of the Protestants and that those under Protection abused that Favour to murder and rob the English the more slily and securely they did by their Order of the Nineteenth of August revoke repeal and annul all Protections that had been given to any Rebel before that time which was one of the wisest Acts that was done in the whole War for nothing is more experimentally true than this That the English never or very seldom suffered by the Irish at open Defiance but have been often destroyed by their Perfidiousness and Treachery But to proceed In August the Lord Moor Sir John Burlace junior and Colonel Gibson with Fifteen hundred Men two Pieces of Battery and two Field-pieces marched into the Counties of Louth and Meath and took the strong Castle of Sedan with the Slaughter of Five hundred Rebels whereat the Lords Gormanstown and Nettervill were so frightned that the former quitted the Fort of Nabar and the other deserted the Castle of Newtown whereby those Counties of Louth and Meath were cleared of the Enemy And this good Success was followed by more of the same sort for the Captains Piggot and Grimâ—s defeated a Party of Eight hundred Rebels near Athy and killed Two hundred of them and the Lord Lisle in the midst of September marched without controul through West-Meath and Cavan and destroyed the Country burnt the Earl of Fingall's House and his Town of Virginia and at last sat down before Carrickmacross which after one days Battery was deserted by the Cowardly Ward But in October the Rebels to the number of Two
Orrery Charles Earl of Montrath were appointed Lords Justices And the Lord Chancellor and Earl of Montrath were sworn on the 31 st day of December 1660. as the Earl of Orrery also was on the 17 th of January following Their Instructions were very short and to this effect 1. To read their Commission and Swear those Named for Privy-Councellors 2. To appoint Sheriffs and Justices of Peace by Advice of the Council and to Open the Courts of Justice 3. To promote Peace and Quietness as well in the Army as elsewhere and to hinder any Prejudice to His Majesty 4. To do what they could to encrease the Revenue and advance the Publick Service 5. To prepare such Bills as shall be thought by them and the Council to be for the good of the People and to transmit them to England pursuant to Poyning's Law in order to a Parliament 6. To reduce the King's Concessions to the Commissioners of the General Convention of Ireland into Bills to Pass next Parliament 7. To send over Names of fit Commissioners to Execute His Majesties Declaration for the Settlement of that Kingdom Lastly To cause the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy to be taken by all His Majesties Leige-Subjects of that Kingdom and to proceed according to Law against those that refuse And on the 27 th of January 1660. Dr. Michael Boyle now Lord Primate of all Ireland and Eleven others were Consecrated Bishops in St. Patrick's Church in Dublin with great Ceremony and Formality which I the rather mention because so numerous an Ordination of Bishops in one Day hath rarely if ever been heard of either before or since On the 8 th of May a Parliament was Summoned and Dr. Bramhall Arch-Bishop of Armagh was Speaker of the House of Lords as Sir Audley Mervin was of the House of Commons This Parliament as a Testimony of their Gratitude and Affection to the Duke of Ormond did present his Grace with a Gift of 30000 l. and when the Lords-Justices and Council understood that His Majesty on the 4 th of October 1661. had appointed the Duke of Ormond to be Lord Lieutenant of Ireland they ordered all publick Expressions of Joy to be made in Dublin upon that happy Occasion On January the 14 th 1661. the Lord Chancellor and Earl of Orrery were Sworn Lords Justices on the Death of the Earl of Montrath which happened the 18 th of October And on the 30 th of April 1662 they Published an Indulgence to Dissenters and continued in the Government until the 28 th of July 1662. at which time James Duke of Ormond was sworn Lord Lieutenant But the Session of Parliament begun the 17 th of April and on the 15 th of September the Bill of Settlement passed into an Act in the Parliament of Ireland by which Act and the rest of the Statutes passed that Parliament the King received more profit than all his Predecessors ever got out of that Kingdom This Bill had been exposed to the View and Scrutiny of the Irish and their Council for six Months together and altho they do so very confidently Clamour that they were never heard yet all that they could say was heard and debated even with Favour to them they had Agents there to whom they allowed three Pence per Acre for that purpose and every word in the Bill was Expung'd to which they had any just Exceptionl and at length the matter was determined by the King and Council and the following Order was made At the COURT at WHITE-HALL The 14th of March 1661. Present The Kings Most Excellent Majesty His R. H. the Duke of York Lord Chancellor Lord Privy-Seal Lord Duke of Ormond Lord Marquiss of Dorchester Lord Chamberlin Earl of Northumberland Earl of Norwich Earl of St. Alban Earl of Anglesey Earl of Carlisle Lord Seymore Lord Hatton Lord Holles Lord Ashley Mr. Trear Mr. Comptroller Mr. Vice-Chamberlain Mr. Secretary Nicholas Mr. Secretary Morrice THis day Mr. Sollicitor General making Report to His Majesty in Council from the Committee of this Board for the Affairs of Ireland upon Consideration of several Papers presented to the Board by Sir Nicholas Pluncket in the behalf of some of the Roman Catholicks of Ireland concerned in His Majesties Declaration according to an Order of the 12 th of this Instant That after the Committee had debated the said Papers the Commissioners from the Council and the Parliament of Ireland were called in and heard and presented to the Committee several Papers See them Appendix 40. viz. Instructions given by the Supreme Council and others of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons of the Confederate Catholicks of Ireland to be observed by the Bp. of Fearnes and Nicholas Plunket Esq in the Court of Rome bearing date the 18 th of January 1647. and a Draught of Instructions to France and Spain and a Copy of the Excommunication Published at James-Town and that all the said Papers being read and the said Commissioners being withdrawn and the Committee then calling in the said Sir Nicholas Plunket and asking him whether the Signature of the Instructions to Rome by Command of the General Assembly were his Hand-writing and whether the Draught of the Instructions to France and Spain were his Writing also He acknowledged in the Presence of the Committee that they were and that hereupon it was the humble Opinion of the Committe that the Bill for the Common Settlement of that Kingdom should not be retarded but proceeded upon with all possible Expedition It was upon consideration of the said Report Ordered that in regard the said Romish Catholicks have been already several times fully heard at this Board as to the said Bill of Settlement no more Petitions or further Addresses be required or admitted from them for obstructing the same but the engrossing thereof be proceeded upon without any further delay according as the same is already prepà red and also that Mr. Sollicitor General do send all the Provisoes already allowed of by the said Committee to be likewise Engrossed And it is further Ordered That the Clerk of the Council attending do not only signify His Majesties Pleasure unto the said Sir Nicholas Pluncket that he do for bear coming into or appearing in His Majesties Presence or Court but also give Notice of this Order to the Committees imployed from the said Council and Parliament to be by them transmitted into Ireland Copia Vera Edw. Walker The Act of Settlement thus past there was a Court of Claims erected to adjudge Qualifications of Innocency and Nocency The Period for this Purpose was in Favour of the Nominees who were to attend till Innocents were first restored and by consent of the Irish Agents appointed by the Kings Declaration to be the 2 d of May 1661. but the Irish Parliament enlarged the time to the first of August 1662. and afterwards prolong'd it father to the 22 d of July 1663. And so the Commissioners viz. Sir Richard Rainsford Sir Thomas Beverly
observe That it was a constant Rule with him ever since his coming to the Government in the year 1662. to order the Muster-Master to check the Pay of every Officer and Soldier that did not produce a Certificate of taking the Sacrament twice a year On the 2d of December Circular Letters were sent to the Justices of Peace to make a strict search after the Titular Bishops and Regular Clergy that did not transport themselves according to the Proclamation of the 16th of October and on the 12th of December a Proclamamation issued to quicken the Justices of Peace in searching for Arms c. On the 13th of December issued a Proclamation taking notice of a Letter scattered in the Streets of Dublin intimating a Conspiracy against the Life of the Lord-Lieutenant and promising Protection and Reward of 200 l. to the Discoverer and at length one Jepson a young man newly perverted and two Priests his Abettors were taken and imprison'd for the Fact In the mean time the Lord-Lieutenant took great care to revive the Militia and to Discipline Arm and Array them And on the 26 th of March 1679. there issued a Proclamation to seize the nearest Relations of Tories and to imprison them until such Tories are killed or taken and to apprehend the Popish Priests of every Parish respectively and transport them beyond Seas unless within fourteen days after any Robbery or Murther committed the Criminals be taken killed or discovered And on the same day a Reward of 10 l. for taking a Jesuit or Titular-Bishop was promised by Proclamation And not long afterwards the Lord-Lieutenant and Council by their Letter ordered the Popish Inhabitants to be removed from Galloway Limerick Waterford Clonmell Kilkenny and Droghedagh except some few Trading Merchants Artificers and others necessary for the said Towns and Garisons and by vertue thereof many were expelled but by the stupidity of the Protestants and at their request and upon their Security the Papists were readmitted into those Towns Some time before this there was a great blow given to Popery by the Conversion of Dr. Andrew Sall a Learned and a Pious Man He had been a Jesuit of the Fourth Vow and in great esteem amongst that Party He was afterwards made one of the King's Chaplains and continued a good Protestant till his death On the 3 d of April 1680. the Earl of Anglesey wrote to the Lord-Lieutenant That Hetherington is sent over to Ireland to make good his Information if he can and that it is His Majesty's absolute and unalterable pleasure advised by all the Council to have every individual of the Popish Clergy seized and imprisoned till they petition to be sent over Seas and promise never to return or practice against the State for there is no other way to cure their Madness And that there are those in England that will undertake to apprehend them all To which His Excellency on the 17 th of April returned this Answer That above a year ago two Proclamations did issue against the Popish Clergy with promise of Rewards to those that should apprehend them and that if any in England will undertake it they shall have the promised Reward and his Thanks besides And that to tell him of the insolent Deportment and signal Perfidy of the Popish Clergy of Ireland is to preach to him that there is pain in the Gout and protests That he would rather be rid of Them than of that Disease And for his farther sense of them refers to a Letter of his printed near the end of P. W. ' s Remonstrance In May 1682. His Excellency went to England leaving his Son the Ear of Arran Lord Deputy until his return which happened in August 1684. On the 14th of March 1683. issued a Commission of Grace to the Chief Governour Chancellor High-Treasurer Chancellor of the Exchequer the three Chief Judges Master of the Rolls Secretary of State the second Justice of the Kings-Bench and the two Barons of the Exchequer to grant His Majesty's Title to those that were in possession and to grant Mannors and other Privileges for a reasonable Fine c. and by vertue hereof a Court called the Court of Grace sate at the King's-Inns which at length dissolved by the death of the King which happened on the 6th day of February 1684. As soon as the News of the King's death arrived at Dublin the Duke of Ormond summoned the Council and the next day they proclaimed King James II. great Solemnity but with such dismal Countenances and so much Concern as if they had that day foreseen as many did the Infelicity and Misfortune of the following Reign The Irish are generally a People that bear Adversity better than Prosperity In Tribulation they have shewn some Fortitude and Patience but they never met with the Smiles of Fortune without Transportation and Extacy and upon this extraordinary occasion they grew so extravagant and wild that I dare â—ver That the Irish in the short Reign of King James did commit more Insolencies on the English than These did on Them in 500 years before The Instances of this sort are innumberable and the Circumstances almost incredible It would be too tedious to enumerate the particular Batteries Perjuries Affronts and Murthers and therefore I will confine my self to Generals and of that sort was The desertion of their Cabbins by the Irish for several months together under pretence of a fear of being murdered by the English and this was done throughout the Kingdom and in many Parishes where there were few or no English to be afraid of and the design of all this was to get the English disarm'd and to usher in a practice which was as general viz. Of impeaching the English for assembling together in the night-time And although the Perjuries in this Affair were so notorious that the very Promoters of this Design were asham'd of it yet near 3000 were indicted of this Offence and for Treasonable Words and the like in one Vacation and especially in the County of Tipperary and if the Courage and Integrity of Sir John Mead had not â—topped their Career there the Consequence of this Trick had been fatal to the English of that County and as it was it did them a great deal of harm And in the County of Cork Major Lawless a waspish and inveterate Fellow was the grand Prosecutor but he having more Malice than Wit managed the matter with such rashness and unbecoming vehemence as expos'd him to the Censure even of his own Party And besides a thousand other severities he did to the English he caused Sir Emanuel Moore Edward Rigs Esq and thirty-three Protestants more to be indicted and tried for High-Treason although he had nothing at all to say against the first but that he was a Protestant nor any more to object against the second but that he should say That he had a good Estate in England and if he could not live quietly in Ireland he would go thither However he was so