the policy of the King of Meth the only Irish Prince then in favour with the Tyrant These Northern Nations were the first that brought the Irish acquainted with Traffick and Commerce and with building of Castles and Fortresses only upon the Sea-coasts having hitherto known no other defence but Woods Boggs or Stoakes And last of all by the English in K. Henry 2ds reign An. 1172. After this the Roytelets or petty Princes enjoying their former Dominions till the year 1172. in which Dermot Mac Morogh King of Lynster having forced the Wife of Maurice O Rorke King of Meth was driven by him out of his Kingdome who applying himself to Henry the Second of England for succor received Aid under the leading of Richard de Clare Sir-named Strongbow Earle of Pembroke to be restored to his Kingdom by whose good success and the rest of the Adventurers upon the Arrival of Henry the Second in Ireland his very Presence without drawing his Sword prevailed so far as that all the petty Kings or great Lords within Lynster Connaght and Munster submitted themselves unto him promising to pay him Tribute and acknowledging him their chief and Soveraign Lord But as the Conquest was but slight and superficial so the Irish Submissions were but weak and fickle assurances to hold in Obedience so considerable a Kingdom for no sooner were the Kings of Englands backs turned but the Irish returned to their former Rebellions and the Kings of England had here no more power or profit than the great ones of the Country were pleased to give them for they governed their People by the Brehon Law they made their own Magistrates and Officers pardoned and punished all Malefactors within their several Countries made War and Peace one with the other without controulment and this they did not only during the Reign of King Henry the Second but also in the times succeeding even until the Reign of Queen Elizabeth which Conquest became thus imperfect by reason of two great Defects first in the faint prosecution of the War and next in the loosness of the Civil Government The Conquest of Ireland by the English imperfect till of late by reason of two defects viz. first faint Prosecution of the War the Causes of it As touching the carriage of Martial Affairs from the seventeenth year of King Henry the Second at what time the first overture was made for the Conquest of Ireland until the nine and thirtieth year of Queen Elizabeth when that Royal Army was sent over to suppress the the Rebellion of Tyrone which in the end made an universal and absolute Conquest of all the Irishry It is very evident that the English either raised here or sent hither from time to time out of England were alwaies too weak to Subdue and Master so many Warlike Nations or Septs of the Irish as did possess this Island and besides their weakness they were ill paid and worse Governed And if at any time there arrived out of England an Army of competent strength and power it did rather terrifie than break or subdue this People being ever broken and dissolved by some one accident and impediment or other before the perfection of the Conquest of it as namely Henry the Second by the Rebellion of his Sons King John Henry the Third and Edward the Second by the Barrons Wars Edward the First by his Wars in Wales and Scotland Edward the Third and Henry the Fift by the Wars of France Richard the Second Henry the Fourth Henry the Sixth and Edward the Fourth by Domestick contention for the Crown of England it self Richard the Third not worth mentioning as having never got the quiet possession of England but was cast out by Henry the Seventh within two years and an half after his Usurpation And Henry the Seventh himself though he made the happy Union of the two Houses of York and Lancaster yet for more than half the space of his Reign there were walking Spirits of the House of York which he could not conjure down without the expence of some Bloud and Treasure Henry the Eighth was diverted by his two Expeditions into France at the first and latter part of his Reign and in the middle thereof wholly taken up with the troubles created to him by the great alteration of Ecclesiastical Affairs And lastly the Infancy of King Edward and the Coverture of Queen Mary which were both not-abilities in Law did likewise in fact disable them to accomplish the Conquest of Ireland so that all the Kings of England coming thus far short as to the perfecting of the true Conquest of Ireland let us examine what other impediments were given thereunto in point of Martial Affairs by the Adventurers themselves that first undertook the Conquest of this Kingdom upon their own account That the first English Adventurers had good success in Ireland during the first forty years It doth appear that for the space of about forty years after the first landing of the English in Ireland till the seventeenth year of King John during all which time there was no Army transmitted out of England to finish the Conquest of Ireland that the Adventurers and Colonies already planted there proceeded with so much good success as they gained very large portions of ground in every Province As namely the Earl of Strongbow by his Marriage with the Daughter of Mac Morrogh in Lynster the Laâ—ies in Meth the Giraldines and other Adventurers in Munster the Andeleyes Gernons Clintons Russels and other Voluntaries of Sir John de Courcies retinue in Vlster and the Bourkes planted by William Fitz-Adelme in Connaght The English Colonies being thus dispersed through all the Provinces of Ireland were necessitated But being necessitated for a long time to maintain a bordering War against the Irish at the charge of the English Planters from the twelfth year of King John till the six and thirtieth year of King Edward the Third being about an hundred and fifty years to maintain a continual bordering War between them and the Irish without receiving during all that time any supply either of Men or Money out of England to manage the same So that all the chief Governours of the Realm and the English Lords who had gotten such great Possessions and Royalties as that they presumed to make War and Peace at their pleasure without the least advice or direction from the State being forced to levy all their Forces within the Land who being ill Paid and worse Governed it so came to pass the publick Revenues of Ireland being then inconsiderable to sustain such a charge that as well the Ordinary Forces which stood continually as the extraordinary which were levied by the chief Governour upon Journeys and general Hostings were for the most part laid upon the poor Subjects descended of English race which burden was in some measure tollerable during the Reign of King Henry the Third and Edward the First but afterwards became insupportable in the time of King
the chief causes that obstructed the Conquest of Ireland till about the latter end of Queen Elizabeths reign as to Martial Affairs And secondly loosness in the Civil Government of Ireland for not communicating the Laws of England to the Irish I shall now endeavour in the next place to give some satisfaction touching those defects that were observed to be in the Civil Policy and Government of this Kingdome which gave no less impediment to the full Conquest thereof which doth first consist in this That the Crown of England did not from the beginning give Laws to the Irishry though the Irish did often desire to be admitted to the benefit of it and protection of the English Laws but could not obtain it For although King Henry the Second before his return out of Ireland held a Counfel or Parliament at Lismore where the Laws of England were willingly accepted off by all the Irishry and that confirm'd by their Oaths And though King John in the twelfth year of his Reign did establish the English Laws and Customes here and the Courts of Judicature at Dublin and placed Sheriffs and other Ministers to rule and govern the people according to the Laws of England yet it is evident by all the Records of this Kingdome that onely the English Colonies and some few Septs of the Irishry as O Neal of Vlster O Malaghlin of Meath O Connagher of Connaght O Brien of Thomond and Mac Muorrogh of Lynster who were enfranchised by special Charters were admitted to the benefit and protection of the Laws of England for in them onely the English Laws were published and put in execution and in them onely did the Itinerant Judges make their Circuits and Visitations of Justice as namely in the Counties of Dublin Kildare Meth Vriel Catherlogh Kilkenny Wexford Waterford Cork Limrick Kerry and Typperary and not in the Countries possessed by the Irishry which contained at least two third parts of the Kingdome and even in these Counties the said Laws stretcht no farther then the Lands of the English Colonies did extend so that the Irish were not only disabled to bring any actions but they were so far out of the protection of the Law as it was often adjudged no Fellony to kill a meer Irish man in time of Peace from whence it came to pass that in all the Parliament Rolls which are extant from the 40th year of Edward the Third when the Statutes of Kilkenny were enacted till the Reign of King Henry the Eighth we find the degenerate and disobedient English called Rebels but the Irish which were not in the Kings Peace are called Enemies Whereby it it is manifest that such as had the Government of Ireland under the Crown of England did intend to maintain a perpetual Separation and Enmity between the English and the Irish pretending that the English should in the end be able to root out the Irish which the English not being able to effect caused a perpetual War between both Nations which continued four hundred and odd years and might have continued to the worlds end if in the end of Queen Elizabeths Reign the Irishry had not been broken and Conquered by the Sword and since the beginning of King James his Reign had not been protected and governed by the Law Contrary to the practice of the Romans and others c. who communicated their Laws to the Conquered This was contrary to the practice of the Roman State which Conquered so many barbarous and civil Nations and therefore knowing by experience the best and readiest way of making a perfect and absolute Conquest refused not to communicate their Laws to the rude and barbarous people whom they had conquered neither did they ever put them out of their Protection after they had once submitted themselves but rather the better to assure their conquest by all the means imaginable they could allured them to Civility and Learning whereof the antient Britains were a famous instance This was also against the practise William the Conqueror used who governed both the Normans and the English under one Law And against the prudent course that hath been observed in the reducing of Wales partly perform'd by King Edward the First and altogether finished by King Henry the Eighth by dividing the whole Countrey into Shires and Circuits and establishing a Common-wealth amongst them according to the English Government by means whereof that entire Countrey was in a short time so securely setled in Peace and Obedience and hath attained to that civility of manners and plenty of all things as now we find it not inferiour to the best parts of England That the over great proportions of Land granted to the first Conquerors of Ireland occasioned great inconveniencies The next Error in the Civil Policy which hindered the perfection of the Conquest of Ireland did consist in the distribution of the Lands and Possessions which were won and conquered from the Irish For the Scopes of Land which were granted to the first Adventurers were too large and the Liberties and Royalties which they obtained therein were too great for Subjects though it stood with reason that they should be liberally rewarded out of the fruits of their own labours since they managed the War upon their own account and received no pay from the Crown of England whereupon ensued divers inconveniencies that gave great impediment to the Conquest for first Earl Strongbow was entituled to the whole Kingdom of Lynster partly by Invasion and partly by Marriage albeit he surrendered the same entirely to King Henry the Second his Soveraign The manner how Ireland was divided amongst the first Engâ—ish Conquerors for that with his License he came over and with the aid of his Subjects he had gained that great Inheritance yet did the King regrant back again to him and his Heiâ—s all that Province reserving only the City of Dublin and the Cantreds next adjoyning with the Maritine Towns and principal Forts and Castles Next the same King granted to Robert Fitz-Stephen and Miles Cogan the whole Kingdom of Corke from Lismore to the Sea To Philip le Bruce he gave the whole Kingdome of Lymrick with the Donation of Bishopricks and Abbies except the City and one Cantred of Land adjoyning To Sir Hugh de Lacy all Meath To Sir John de Courcy all Vlster To William Bourke Fitz-Adelin the greatest part of Connaght In like manner Sir Thomas de Clare obtained a grant of all Thomond and Otho de Grandison of all Tipperary and Robert le Poor of the Territory of Waterford the City it self and the Cantred of the Oastmen only excepted And thus was alâ— Ireland Cantonized among ten Persons of the English Nation And though they had not gained the Possession of one third part of the whole Kingdom yet in Title they were owners and Lords of all so as nothing was left to be granted to the Natives whose petty Kings and Great ones our great English Lords could not endure
Affairs of that Kingdome expecting direction from hence the delays whereof were oftentimes through other greater affairs most irksome the oportunities there in the mean time past away and greater danger did often grow which by such timely prevention might easily have been stopped And this is worthily observed by Machiavel in his discourses upon Livie where he commendeth the manner of the Romans Government in giving absolute Power to all their Councellors and Governors which if they abused they afterwards should dearly answer And the contrary thereof he reprehendeth in the States of Venice of Florence and many other Principalities of Italy who use to limit their chief Officers so strictly as that thereby they have oftentimes lost such happy occasions as they could never come unto again The like whereof who so hath been conversant in the Government of Ireland especially during Queen Elizabeths Reign hath too often seen to their great hindrance and hurt That besides the want of Power there were eminent defects observed in the managemet of the publick Affairs of Ireland Besides this want of Power which did hinder the good Reformation of Ireland there were eminent defects noted in the mangement of the publick Affairs of that Kingdom by some of the chief Governors thereof who seeing the end of their Government to draw nigh and some mischiefs and practices growing up which afterwards might work trouble to the next succeeding Governor would not attempt the redress or cutting off thereof either for fear they should leave the Realm unquiet at the end of their Government or that the next that came should receive the same too quiet and so happily win more praise thereof than they before And therefore they would not seek at all to repress that evil but would either by granting protection for a time or holding some emparlance with the Rebel or by treaty of Comissioners or by other like devices only smother and keep down the flame of the mischief so it might not break out in their time of Government what came afterwards they cared not or rather wish'd the worst To this may be added The savoring of the Irish and depressing of the English an ill practice by some of the Lord Deputies of Ireland that when the Irish have been broken by the Sword of one Governour and thereby consequently made fit and capable for subjection another succeeding as it were into his harvest and finding an open way made for what course he pleased bent not to that point which the former intended but rather quite contrary and as it were in scorn of the former and in vain vaunt of his own Councels would tread down and disgrace all the English and set up and countenance the Irish all that he he could thereby to make them more tractable and buxome to his Government wherein he thought much amiss for surely his Government could not be sound and wholsome for that Realm it being so contrary to the former For it was even as two Physicians should take one sick body in hand at two sundry times of which the former would minister al things meet to purge and keep under the body the other to pamper and strengthen it suddenly again whereof what is to be looked for but a most dangerous relapse Therefore by all means it ought to be fore-seen and assured that after once entering into this course of Reformation there be afterwards no remorse nor drawing back for the sight of any such rueful objects as must thereupon follow nor for compassion of their Calamities seeing that by no other means it is possible to cure them and that these are not of will but of very urgent necessâ—ty The Lord Lieutenant The Lord Deputies of Ireland assâ—sted by a Privy Councel or Lord Deputy of Ireland hath for his assistance a Privy Councel attending on him though resident for the most part at Dublin and in emergencies or cases of more difficult nature proceedeth many times in an arbitrary way without formalities of Law Sir Henry Sidney Lord Deputy of Ireland in Queen Elizabeths time The Lords Presidents of Connaght and Mounster instituted in Queen Elizabeths time to enure and acquaint the People of Mounster and Connaght with the English Government again which had not been in use among them for the space of two hundred years before he instituted two Presidency Courts in those two Provinces placing Sir Edward Fitton in Connaght and John Perrot in Mounster The Lord President of Mounster hath one Assistant twelve learned Lawyers and a Secretary CHAP. IV. Of the Title changed from Lord to King of Ireland in the time of Henry the Eighth Of the Titles of the Crown to every part of Ireland and to the whole diverse ways And several claims to the Land of Ireland Of the Revenue and Strength Title altered from Lord to King SIR Anthony Saint-Leger Lord Deputy of Ireland in a Parliament which he held the 33. of Henry 8. caused an Act to pass which gave unto King Henry the Eighth his Heirs and Successors the Name Stile and Title of King of Ireland Whereas before that time the Kings of England were stiled but Lords of Ireland Although indeed they were absolute Monarchs thereof and had in right all Royal and Imperial Jurisdiction and Power there as they had in the Realm of England And yet because in the vulgar conceit the name of King is higher than the name of Lord assuredly the assuming of this Title hath not a little raised the Sovereignity of the Kings of England in the minds of this people And because it hath been doubted by some whether we might Lawfully fight against the Irish I shall for farther satisfaction here insert the Right and Title the Crown of England hath to the Kingdom of Ireland as to every part of it and to the whole divers ways I will begin with the Pedigree of William Earl Marshal Title to Leinster for thereupon depend many Records in Ireland and the King of Englands Right to Leinster Walter Fitz Richard who came from Normandy with William the Conqueror died Lord Strongbow of Strigule alias Chepstow without Issue to whom succeeded his Sisters Son who was created the first Earl of Pembroke and had Issue Richard the inheritor of Leinster by a Covenant and Marriage of Eva the Sole Daughter of Mac Murrough King of Leinster This Richard conveyed to Henry the Second all his Title and held of him the Lordship of Leinster in four Counties Wexford Catherlagh Ossory and Kildare Richard left Issue a Daughter Issabel married to William Earl Marshal of England now Earl of Pembroke Lord Strongbow and Lord of Leinster William had Issue five Sons who died without Issue when every of them except the youngest had successively possessed their Fathers Lands and five Daughters Maud Jone Issabel Sibil and Eve among whom the Patrimony was parted Anno 31. H. 3. Of these Daughters bestowed in Marriage are descended many Noble Houses as the Mortimers Bruises Clares
c. born Subjects to the Crown of England paying ever to the King his Duties reserved Title to Meth. Hugh de Lacy Conquerour of Meth had Issue Walter de Lacy who held the same of King John paying a Fine of four thousand Marks Sterling and hence began all the several Claims there with Alegiance sworn and done by their Ancestors Title to Mounster At the very first arrival of Henry the Second the Princes of Mounster came universally and did homage voluntarily and acknowledged to him and his Heirs Duties and pays for ever John de Courcy Conquerour and Earl of Vlster dyed without Issue Title to Ulster Connaght King John Lord of Ireland gave the Earldome to Hugh de Lacy who who had Issue Walter and Hugh who died without Issue and one Daughter married to Reymond Burke Conquerour and Lord of Connaght Connaght descended to divers Heirs owing service to the Prince but Vlster returned by devolution to the special Inheritance and the Revenues of the Crown of England in this manner The said de Burgo had Issue Richard who had Issue John who had Issue William who was slain without Issue and a Daughter Elizabeth entitled to thirty thousand Marks yearly by the Earldome of Vlster whom Edward the Third gave in marriage to Lionel his second Son Duke of Clarence who had Issue a Daughter Philippe married to Edward Mortimer who had Issue Edmund Anne Elianor Edmund and Elianor died without Issue Anne was married to Richard Earl of Cambridge Son to Edmund of Langley Duke of York fift Son to Edward the Third which said Richard had Issue Richard Plantaginet Father to Edward the Fourth Father to Elizabeth Wife to Henry the Seventh and Mother to Henry the Eighth Father to Mary Edward the Sixth and Elizabeth Several Claims to the Land of Ireland Several claims to the Land of Ireland 1. Mac Gil-murrow King of Ireland with all his Petty Princes Lords and Captains summoned to King Arthurs Court held in Carlion Anno 519. did accordingly their homage and attended all the while his great Feast and Assembly lasted 2. The Monarch of all Ireland and all other both Reges and Reguli for them and for theirs for ever betook themselves to Henry the Second An. Dom. 1172. namely those of the South whiles he lay at Waterford Dermot K. of Corke which is the Nation of the Mac Cartyes at Cashel Donald K. of Limrick which is the Nation of the Obrenes Donald K. of Ossory Mac Shaghlon King of Ophaly at Divelin did the like Okernel King of Vriel Ororick King of Meth Roderick King of all Ireland and of Connaght This did they with consents and shouts of their People and King Henry returned without any Battle given Only Vlster remained which John de Courcy soon after conquered and Oneale Captain of all the Irish there came to Dublin to Richard the Second An. 1399. and freely bound himself by Oath and great Sums of Money to be true to the Crown of England 3. The same time O Brien of Thomond Oconar of Connaght Arthur Mac Murrow of Leinster and all the Irish Lords which had been somewhat disordered renewed their Obedience 4. When Ireland first received the Christian Faith they gave themselves into the Jurisdiction both Spiritual and Temporal of the See of Rome The Temporal Lordship Pope Adrian conferred upon Henry the Second and he gave the same to John his younger Son afterwards King of England and so it returned home to the Crown 5. Alexander the Third confirmed the Gift of Adrian as in both their Charters is expressed at large 6. Vivian the Legate on the Popes behalf did Accurse and Excommunicate all those that fell from the Obeysance of the Kings of England 7. The Clergy twice Assembled once at Cashell secondly at Armagh plainly determined the Conquest to be Lawful and threatnad all people under pain of Gods and holy Churches indignation to accept of the English Kings for their Lords from time to time 8. It would ask a Volume to recite the Name of such Irish Princes who since the Conquest have continually upon Occasions Revolts or Petitions sworn Truth and Faith to the Kings of England and from time to time received Honors Wages Fees Pardons and made Petitions And thus I think no reasonable man will doubt of a Right so old so continued so ratified and so many ways confessed The Kings Revenue in Ireland was spent and wholy exhausted in the publick service and therefore The Kings Revenue in Ireland wholy spent on that Kingdome in all the ancient Pipe-Rolls in the times of King Henry the Third Edward the First Edward the Second and Edward the Third between the Receipts and Allowances there is this entrie In Thesauro nihil For the Officers of the State and the Army spent all so as there was no surplusage of Treasure And here I may well take occasion to shew the vanity of that which is reported in the Story of Walsingham touching the Revenue of the Crown in Ireland which he saith did amount to thirty thousand Pounds a year in the time of King Edward the Third The vain story of 30000 l. yearly Revenue in E 3ds time refuted If this Writer had known that the Kings Courts had been established in Ireland more than a hundred years before King Edward the Third was born or had seen either the Parliament Rolls in England or the Records of the Receits and Issues in Ireland he had not left this vain report to Posterity for both the Benches and Exchequer were erected in the twelfth year of King John And it is Recorded in the Parliament Rolls of 21. of Edward the Third remaining in the Tower that the Commons of England made Petition that it might be enquired why the King received no benefit of his Land in Ireland considering he possessed more there than any of his Ancestors had before him Now if the King at that time when there were no standing Forces maintained there had received thirty thousand pounds yearly at his Exchequer in Ireland he must needs have made profit by that Land considering that the whole charge of the Kingdome in the 47th year of Edward the Third when the King did pay an Army there did amount to no more than eleven thousand and two hundred pounds per Annum as appeareth by the Contract of William Winsore Besides it is manifest by the Pipe-Rolls of that time whereof many are yet preserved in Breminghams Tower and are of better credit than any Monks story that during the Reign of King Edward the Third the Revenue of the Crown of Ireland both certain and casual did not rise unto ten thousand pound per Annum though the medium be taken of the best seven years that are be found in that Kings time The like Fable hath Hollingshead touching the Revenue of the Earldome of Vlster which saith he in the time of King Richard the Second was thirty thousand Marks by the year Whereas in
Edward the Second For Morrice Fitz-Thomas Earl of Desmond being chief Commander of the Army against the Scots began that wicked extortion of Coyn and Livery and pay that is he and his Army took Horse-meat Mans-meat and Money at their pleasure without giving any Ticket or other satisfaction for the same This wicked imposition made High Treason by the Statute of 11. The English Plantations in Ireland began to decay H. 4. became afterwards so habitual and general a fault of all the Governours and Commanders of the Army in this Land that in a short time it inforced because the great English Lords and Captains had power to impose this charge when and where they pleased many of the poor English Free-holders to give unto those Lords a great part of their Lands that they might hold the rest free from that extortion And many others not being able to endure so intollerable a burthen did utterly quit their Free-holds and returned into England by means whereof the English Colonies did soon grow poor and feeble and the English Lords became rich and mighty for having placed Irish Tenants upon the Lands relinquished by the English upon whom they levied all Irish exactions and with whom they married fostered and made Gossips so as within one age both English Lords and Free-holders became degenerate and meer Irish in their Language Apparel Arms and manner of fight and all other Customs of life whatsoever That Morrice Fitz-Thomas Earl of Desmond was the first began that wicked Custome of Coyn and Livery But that I may not quit my self so soon of this subject before I give a more particular satisfaction to the Reader touching the evil consequences that ensued upon the general practice of this wicked Extortion of Coin and Livery which indeed was one of the chiefest causes of the sudden decay and ruine of the first English Colonies in Ireland he may be pleased to understand that the forementioned Thomas Fitz-Morrice Earl of Desmond did soon by these oppressive courses grow from a mean to a mighty Estate in so much that his ancient inheritance being not one thousand Marks yearly he became able to dispend every way ten thousand pound per Annum These possessions being thus unlawfully gained could not be maintained by the just and honorable Laws of England which would have restored the true owners to their Land again And therefore this Great Man found no better means to continue and uphold his ill purchased greatness then by rejecting the English Laws and Government and assuming in lieu thereof the barbarous Customs of the Irish whereupon followed the defection of those four Counties Which proved the utter ruine of the first English Colonies in Ireland except those within the Pale containing the greatest parts of Munster viz. Kerry Limrick Cork and Waterford from the obedience of the Law and so successively by the same means and much about the same time the rest of the English Lords and Free-holders in Ireland except those of the English Pale fell away from the English Law and Government in the end of King Edward the Second's Reign and in the beginning of King Edward the third And truly it is here a fit subject of wonder All the English Colonies in Ireland except those within the Pale degenerate into meer Irish manners to consider to what height of baseness the English arrived unto by this defection in so much as within less time then the Age of a Man they had no marks or differences left amongst them of that Noble Nation from which they were descended for they did not onely forget the English Language and scorn the use thereof but grew to be ashamed of their very English Names though they were Noble and of great Antiquity and took Irish Sir-names and Nick-names Namely the two most potent families of the Bourkes in Connaght after the house of the Red Earl failed of Heirs Males called their Chiefs Mac William Eighter and Mac William Oughter In the same Province Bremingham Baron of Athenry called himself Mac Yeoris D'Execester or d' Exon was called Mac Jordan Mangle or d' Angulo took the name of Mac Costello Of the inferiour Families of the Bourks one was called Mac Hubbard another Mac David In Munster of the great Families of the Geraldines planted there one was called Mac Morrice chief of the house of Lixnaw and another Mac Gibbon who was also called the White Knight The chief of the Baron of Dunboyns house who is a branch of the House of Ormond took Sir-names of Mac Pheris Condon of the County of Waterford was called Mac Majoke and the Arch-Deacon of the County of Kilkenny Mac Odo And this they did in contempt and hatred of the English Name and Nation of whom these degenerated Families became more mortal enemies then the meer Irish The Native Subjects of Ireland The Civil War of York and Lancaster furthered the ruine of the English Colonies in Ireland of English Race in Henry the 6th's time seeing the Kingdome thus utterly ruined passed in such numbers into England as one Law was made there to transmit them back again and another Law made in Ireland to stop their passage in every Port and Creek And as one ill fortune happens in the neck of another the greatest part of the Nobility and Gentry of Meth past over afterwards into England and were slain with Richard Duke of York who had been long Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at the Battle of Wakefield in York-shire after whose death while the Wars between the two Houses of York and Lancaster were in their heat almost all the good English blood which was left in Ireland was spent in these civil dissentions so as the Irish became Victorious over all without blood or sweat except onely that little Canton of Land as aforesaid called the English Pale containing the Counties of Dublin Louth Kildare and Meth which last hath since the time of King Henry the Eight been subdivided into three Counties that is to say East-Meath West-Meath and Longford which onely maintained a bordering War and retained the form of an English Government so that by the fourteenth of King Edward the Fourth the State of Ireland was grown to so low an ebbe upon an English account that at their erecting a Fraternity of men of Armes called the Brotherhood of S. George for the defence of the said Pale they exceeded not in number above 200. being all the standing Forces that were then in Ireland and as they were Natives of the Kingdom so the Kingdom it self did pay their wages without expecting any Treasure out of England However the great Lords of the natural Irish and degenerate English being divided into many factions and never conjoyned in any one principle of common interest and thereby consequently becoming very inconsiderable this small spot of ground was valiantly maintained for a long time by the weak but united Forces of the Kings of England Having proceeded thus far in examining
ere long afford yearly some competent supply of money towards the filling of the English Exchequer by way of retaliation in lieu of those many and great Summs sent at several times out of England for the support of this so long unhappy Kingdom The premisses being therefore seriously and duly considered I think I may safely conclude that that Eternal Peace of Ireland so solidly discoursed of and stoutly fought for in Q. Elizabeths time And very far proceeded in by K. James Is now absolutely established as I said according to all humane appearance by his gracious Majesty our dread Sovereign K. Charles the Second who long may he live in all earthly happiness so that I suppose it may be now more truly said then ever that Ireland which formerly served but as a Grave to bury our best men and a Gulf to swallow our greatest Treasures is brought by the prudence and policy of her late Kings and Lord Deputies to be an Orderly Common-Wealth civil in it self and in time like to prove profitable to the Prince and at all times a good additional strength to the Brittish Empire PART II. CHAP. I. Of Its Name Climate Dimensions Division Aire Soil Commodities Money and Buildings Name Climate IReland was once called Scotia from the Scots who inhabited there and Scotia major to distinguish it from Scotland in the Isle of Britain But the general Name hereof is Ireland by the Latins called Hibernia by the Greeeks Iernia And though some frame a wrested Etymology from Iberus a Spanish Captain and some from Irnaulph once a supposed Duke hereof as others ab Hyberno aâre the winter-like and inclement air Yet probably the Name proceeded from Erin which signifieth in their own language a Western Land And yet we must not pretermit the Etymon given us by Bochartus more neer the name than most of his other Fancies who will have it called Hibernia from Ibernae a Phaenician word signifying the farthest Habitation there being no Country known amongst the Antients which lay West of Ireland and is seated under the eighth and tenth Climates the longest day being 16 hours and a half in the Southern and 17 hours 3 quarters in the Northern parts It is in length 300. and in breadth Dimension 120. Miles in shape some have formed it like an Egge and others compared it to the Fore-leg of a Boar if the simile breed no offence contains by computation about fifteen millions of Acres it is about halfe as big as England and Wales and much about the same bigness as Scotland including the Islands thereunto belonging Division It was divided antiently into five Provinces each one a Kingdom in it self that is to say 1. Leinster 2. Meath 3. Vlster 4. Connaght and 5. Mounster but of late time the Province of Meath is reckoned for a member or part of Leinster within these four Provinces according to the latest Division are conteined 2328. Parishes Leinster This Province the Natives call Leighingh the Britains Lein in Latine Lagenia in the antient lives of the Saints Lagen and in English Leinster It lyeth Eastward along the Hibernicum Sea on Connaght side Westward it is bounded with the River Shanon the North with the Territory of Louth and the South with part of the Province of Mâ—â—nster The Country butteth upon England as Mounster and Connaght do on Spain The Form Form thereof is Triangle and sides not much unequal from her South-East unto the West point about 80 miles from thence to her North-west about 70 miles and her East coast along the Irish Sea-shore eighty miles the Circumference upon two hundred and seventy miles The Aire Aire is clear and gentle mixt with a temperate disposition yeilding neither extremity of Heat or Cold according to the seasonable times of the Year and the natural condition of the Continent The Soil is generally Fruitful Plentiful both in Fish and Flesh and in other Victuals as Butter Cheese and Milk It is Fertile in Corn Cattle and Pasture ground and now in a much better way of improving than formerly in regard the English do generally affect to inhabite in this Province more than in any other part of Ireland by reason of its neerer Neighbourhood to the Metropolitan City of Dublin and bordering so neer upon England doth thereby consequently afford them both more pleasure and profit It is well watered with Rivers and indifferently well Wooded except the County of Develin which complains much of that want being so destitute of Wood that they are compelled to use a clammy kind of fat Turff for their Fuel or Sea-coal brought out of England The Commodities Commodities of this Country do chiefly consist in Cattle Sea-Fowl and Fish It breeds many excellent good Horses called Irish Hobbies which have not the same pace that other Horses have in their course but a soft and round amble setting very easily Division This Province containeth the Counties of Kilkenny Caterlogh Queens County Kings County Kildare East-Meath West-Meath Weshford Wicklo and Dublin In which are comprehended 926. Parishes whereof 47. Towns of Note and 102. Castles well fortified and able to make good resistance against an Enemy The English being forced to fortifie themselves in their Plantations with strong holds and fortresses against the incursious of the Natives Mounster This Province is called in Irish Mawn in a more ordinary construction of Speech Wown in Latin Momonia and in English Mounster lyeth open Southward to the Virginean Sea Northward it fronteth part of Connaght The East is Neighboured by Leinster And the West is altogether washed with the Ocean Westward The Form Form thereof is quadrant or four-square and in length extended from Ballattimore Bay in her South unto the Bay of Galoway in her North is about 90. miles Her broadest part from East to West is from Waterford Haven to Feriter Haven and containeth an hundred miles The whole Circumference by following the Promontories and Inlets are above four hundred and forty miles The Aire Aire mild and temperate neither too chilling Cold not tâ—o schorching Hot. The Soil in some parts Hilly looking a loft with Wooddy Wild and Solitary Mountains Yet the Vallies below are garnished with Corn-fields And generally all both pleasant for Sight and fertile for Soil The general Commodities Commodities of this Province are Corn Cattel Wood Wool and Fish The last whereof it affords in every place plenty and abundance of all sorts But none so well known for the Store of Herrings that are taken there as is the Promontory called Eraugh that lies between Bautre and Ballatimore Bay Whereunto every year a great Fleet of Spaniards and Portugals resort even in the midst of Winter to Fish also for Cods Division It was in times past divided into many parts as Towoun that is North Mounster whereof Twomond al-Thomond or County of Clare was accounted part of it Deswoun that is South Mounster Hierwoun that is
great loss whether it turned to the benefit of the Queen or no is not known But to the Treasurers and Paymasters without doubt it brought in good gain whose avarice which is a diligent searcher of hidden gains may seem to have devised it The Money now generally used in Ireland there being little of English because prohibited to be transported thither beyond the summe of five pounds as I take it for the better encouragement of Trade between both Kingdoms is most of all Spanish Coyn to wit pieces of Eight at 4 s. 6 d. the piece consisting of Plate pieces Mexico and old Peru with half and quarter pieces The new Perues whereof there was a good quantity being not long since called in and by reason they were thought to be abused and falsified converted into Plate to the great benefit of some in Dublin and the no small loss at that time of a great many people in Ireland A piece of old English Gold is hardly to be seen in Ireland except what is closely kept in private hands though there was a great proportion thereof before the late Wars which commonly passed from hand to hand in ordinary Payments There is a small quantity of Brass Coyn that is used there for the conveniency of change I have already hinted Buildings how that the Irish by reason of their Barbarous Laws and Customs did never build any Houses of Brick or Stone some few poor Religious Houses excepted before the Reign of King Henry the Second which seems as manifest as strange by the entertainment of the said King received at their chief City of Dublin Anno 1172. who was unavoidably necessitated for meer accommodation finding there no fit place for his reception to set up a long house made of smoothed Wattles after the manner of the Country wherein he pompously entertained the greâ—t Irish Lords and Princes at Christmas All their Forts Castles Stately Buildings and other Edifices were afterwards Erected by the English except as I said some of the Maritine Towns which were built by the Ostmanni or Easterlings who antiently came and Inhabited Ireland The Buildings of Ireland much improved by the last forty years Peace During the last forty years peace in Ireland there were many lovely Houses built through most part of that Kingdom by the English Nobility and Gentry with delicate improvements in Orchards Gardens and Inclosures correspondent thereunto There was also at the same time by way of imitation the like good indeavours of making handsome Improvements and Buildings by the better sort of Irish both in Towns and Country But the fair Dwellings of the English were so badly handled by the Irish in the heat of the War that scarce any part of them except the main Walls escaped from fireing upon which being generally made of Massy Stone the English have rebuilt and are building besides a great number upon new foundations many fair Structures But that which has been hitherto The Nasty Irish Cabbins a great blemish to Ireland and I doubt will ever hereafter be a blemish to the flourishing state of Ireland in point of Building is the great number of Nasty-Smoaky-Cabbins every where made up of Wattles without any Chimnies wherein the poorer sort of Irish do well which cannot be altogether ascribed to their meer poverty and antient custom but rather much more to the uncertainty of the tenure whereby they hold the same being Tenants only but from May to May that so they may more easily quit their Station and try their fortunes else where for an other year though many times to as little effect in case they find themselves over-much opprest by their Landlords Their Parish Churches were generally as meanly built in Ireland as their practice was in Religion but now that the Country comes to be inhabited by a more civil and better Principled people it may be justly hoped and likewise expected that there will be by degrees a Reformation in this particular as well as in other matters of less moment since the handsome building and adorning of Churches do conduce much to draw the rude people to the the reverencing and frequenting thereof CHAP. II. Of the Inhabitants their Laws Religion and Manners Of their Number Language Stature Dyet Attire Recreations Names and Sir-names I have already declared how it is most probable that the first Inhabitants of this Island came hither out of Britain Inhabitants and Laws now called England and Wales And therefore shall proceed to give some farther Account touching the Laws of this Realm both Ancient and Modern The Brehon Law by which the Irish governed themselves was a Rule of Right unwritten but delivered by Tradition from one to another in which often times there appeared great shew of Equity in determining the Right between party and party but in many things repugning quite both to Gods Law and Mans The partiality and impiety of the Brehon Irish Law As for example in the case of Murder the Brehon that is their Judge would compound between the Murderer and the Friends of the party Murdered which Prosecuted the Action that the Malefactor should give unto them or to the Child or Wife of him that is slain a recompence which they called an Eriach By which vile Law of theirs many Murders amongst them were made up and smothered And this Judge being as he was called the Lords Brehon adjudged for the most part a better share unto this Lord that is the Lord of the Soil or the head of that Sept and also unto himself for his judgment a greater portion then unto the Plaintiffs or parties grieved Sir Edward Poynings the best Reformer of the Laws of Ireland He that gave the fairest beginning to the Reformation of the Laws of Ireland of any till his time was Sir Edward Poynings Lord Deputy of Ireland in the Reign of King Henry the Seventh who finding in that Realm nothing but a common misery took the best course he possibly could to establish there a well governed Common-wealth and to that end he held a Parliament no less famous than that of Kilkenny and more available for the Reformation of the whole Kingdom For whereas all wise men did ever concur in opinion that the readiest way to Reform Ireland was to settle a form of Civil Government there conformable to that of England To bring this to pass Sir Edward Poynings did pass an Act whereby all the Statutes made in England before that time were enacted established and made of force in Ireland Neither did he only respect the time past but provided also for the time to come For he caused an other Law to be made that no Act should be propounded in any Parliament of Ireland but such as should be first Transmitted into England and approved by the King and Council there as good and expedient for that Land and so returned back again under the Great Seal of England This Act though it seem Prima facie to restrain
held here for the Province of Connaght And being also the greatest Through-fare from Lynster to Connaght and so from thence to Dublin will in all probability cause it in time to become a flourishing place though now but beginning to revive from its late dessolation to its pristine lustre In the Province of Ulster Both situated on the Sea side Carlingford and Dundalke and within the County of Louth likely to be thriving places by reason of their convenient situation for Traffick and the brave planted Countries with English thereabouts Knockefergus Knockefergus the chief of Antrim more proper Rockefergus and in that sence called Carigfergus by the Irish from one of the Kings of the Irish-Scots who there suffered Shipwrack Seated upon a large and capacious Bay which giveth it both a safe and Commodious Port as well by natural situation as the works of Art very strongly fortified by reason of the Neighbourhood of the Scots in Cantire from which little distant London-Derry London-Derry a Colony of Londoners the best built Town of any in the North of Ireland Situate in a Peninsula of forty Acres on the one side environed a great part of it with a River and on the other side impassable by reason of the Soyle alwaies deep and moorish This City being thus strongly situated by Nature and made stronger by Art will with the rest of the chief Towns of this Province soon become very considerable in point of Wealth and Power by reason of the speedy planting of this Northern part of the Kingdome by the great confluence of the Neighbouring Scots with many others who yeerly repair hither out of England and Wales upon the same score which benefit and advantage was timely experimented by the Officers of the Army who have been conceived to be more fortunate especially at first by receiving their Lots in this Province though computed the meanest and so accordingly rated in their Quit-Rents than they who got their respective proportions of Land for their Arrears in the other two Provinces of Lynster and Munster which fell in the main upon the first settlement much short of mens expectations as to this particular In the Province of Lynster Weishford or Wexford Wexford situate on the mouth of the River Slane The first of all the Towns in Ireland which received a Colony of English This Town holds a very good correspondency by way of Traffick with the City of Bristol and hath before it within a Sandy Bar lying between it and the Sea a fair Pool wherein most commonly are taken yearly great store of Herrings which are Transported beyond Sea to the great benefit of this place The River is Navigable by small Boats up to Ynish-corfey about six miles above this Town where there is a good quantity of Iron made which is carryed down this River to be dispersed into several parts of Ireland c. Kilkenny Kilkenny on the River Newre the chief Seat of the Bishop of Ossery and the fairest Town of all the Islands So called quasi Cella Cannici the Cell or Monastery of Canninus a man of great renown in those days for Piety in these parts of the Country This City besides that is situated in a very brave and well inhabited Country is also honored with two Noble Seats of the Duke of Ormond in and neer it that is to say the Castle of Kilkenny in it and Donmore House neer it Ross Ross once populous well Traded and of large circumference but of late very ruinous nothing almost remaining but the Walls which were built by Isabel the daughter of Richard Strongbow Earl of Pembroke the fortunate Conqueror of this Island for King Henry the Second now beginning to be pretty well inhabited and well deserving to be farther improved by the advance of Manufactury and Commerce as being situated upon a brave Navigable River where Ships of four or five hundred Tun may safely ride before the Key of it As yet destitute of any considerable Trade by reason of its too neer neighborhood to the City of Waterford But when the Country thereabouts comes to be better inhabited with English then it may be well hoped this Town will become a place of good consideration and consequence Caterlough commonly but corruptly Carlough Carlough having in it a strong Castle and being the chief of that County is now from a very mean beginning having been wholy destroyed by the late Wars grown to be a very fine Market Town increasing both in Wealth and good Buildings Situated neer a pleasant River Navigable by Boats from Ross hither placed in a fertile and well inhabited Countrey thirty miles from Dublin and in a very convenient Stage thither from the greatest part of Munster and a good part of the Province of Leinster which doth and will hereafter much conduce to its enlargement Tredagh Tredagh more properly Droghedagh situate on the River Boine on the edge of Vlster to which Province belongs so much of the Town as lieth on the North side of that River A very faire and populous City as well by Art as Nature very strongly fortified and furnished with a large and Commodious Haven It took the name Droghedah from the Bridge there built upon the River for the conveniency of passage as the word signifieth in that Language and therefore called Pontena by some Latine Writers Dublin Dublin supposed to be the Eblana of Ptolomie by the Irish called Balacleigh because being seated in a fenny and moorish Soil it was built on Piles as the word doth signifie in that Language Situate at or neer the mouth of the River Liffe which affordeth it a commodious Haven but that the entrances thereof are many times encumbred with heaps of Sand. The City very Rich and Populous as being the Metropolis of all the Island the Seat of the Lord Deputy an Arch-bishops See and an University besides the benefit redounding from the Courts of Justice In those respects well fortified against all emergencies and adorned with many goodly Buildings both private and publick The Principal of which are the Castle wherein the Lord Deputy resideth built by Henry Loundres once once Arch-Bishop here a Colledge founded by Queen Elizabeth to the honor and by the name of the Blessed Trinity The Cathedral Church dedicated to Saint Patrick the Apostle of the Irish Nation a fair Collegiate Church called Christ-Church besides thirteen others destinated to Parochial Meetings Being destroyed almost to nothing in the Danish War it was re-edified by Harald sirnamed Harfarger King of the Norwegians then Masters of most part of the Island and after the subjection of it to the Crown of England was peopled with a Colonie of Bristol men This may be farther observed that though Dublin is not seated in the best and most convenient place that is in the middle yet it is seated in the second best that is over against the middle of Ireland and directly opposite to the neerest passage into